Nine Letters Long (25 page)

‘
Blade Boys
?'

‘Yeah, that's it.'

‘You really want to see that? It's kind of a blokey movie.'

‘I want to see something really stupid and silly. Something that'll make me laugh.'

‘Well, it's stupid and silly. That's for sure.'

‘Perfect!'

‘Have you spoken to Alex yet?'

‘No.' Evie groans. ‘I'm feeling pretty bad about it.'

‘Why should you feel bad about it?'

‘'Cause she's hurt and she's my friend,' Evie tells him. ‘It kind of all makes sense now – why she was acting so insecure and … horrible.'

‘So you've forgiven her?'

‘Of course I have. We've been friends forever. That has to count for something. Besides, I can't imagine life without her.'

‘She totally flipped out at Zac.'

‘So she should have.'

‘Oh yeah, no, I agree. He's a prick. He deserves it. But –' Seb begins.

‘But what?'

‘But he's pretty cut up too.'

‘He's cut up because of Dana, not because of Alex.'

‘Well, I think after Alex let it rip he felt pretty bad,' Seb tells her. ‘He can't help it. He's always had a thing with Dana and when she showed a bit of interest in him I don't think he knew how to handle it. I told him what an idiot he was but he told me to piss off.'

‘Why would he really think she'd be interested in him? For a start, he's younger.'

‘Yeah, well, we know why, don't we? She wanted his old man to cough up and invest in her business. It was a complete use and Zac just didn't see it.'

‘Stop it; you're nearly making me feel sorry for him!'

‘Zac's dad's a top bloke and a good businessman. I think he sniffed it out.' Seb's voice quietens. ‘Zac'll never tell me that bit. You know, ego and pride and stuff.'

‘Well, let him eat humble pie,' Evie replies. ‘He hurt my friend.'

‘Yeah, Alex is definitely better off without him and now she'll be off my case about Roxy.'

‘If you think he's such a prick, how come you're best mates with him?'

‘I don't have to go out with him!' Seb snorts. ‘And, like you said, being mates for a long time has to count for something.'

Evie agrees. It has to count for something.

 

That afternoon when the doorbell rings, Evie doesn't need to sneak into the lounge room and peer through the blinds. She knows who it is and who is with her.

Poppy is standing in the doorway. ‘Hi,' she chimes. ‘I brought someone over to see you.' Alex appears from behind Poppy. ‘Hi, Evie.'

‘Al.'

Alex gives a little wave and her bottom lip quivers.

‘Oh, Alex.' She steps into the doorway so Evie can wrap her arms around her.

‘I feel so stupid,' she sobs. ‘I thought he liked me.'

‘He wasn't good enough for you, Al.'

‘You knew all along, didn't you?' Alex looks up at Evie, sniffing and wiping her nose on her school blouse. ‘You told me I was going to get hurt and you were right.'

‘Well, I didn't
know that,' Evie says, and hugs Alex again.
‘I've missed you.'

‘I've missed you too.'

‘Let's have a cuppa,' Poppy says to the girls. ‘Celebrate the reunion.'

In the kitchen, Alex tells her sorry tale. Every now and then, Poppy interrupts, adding in a detail Alex forgot, or simply giving her opinion.

‘He told me he's been in love with Dana since he was twelve,' Alex hiccoughs. ‘He started to cry when he told me that.'

‘Can you believe that?' Poppy exclaims. ‘He was crying for himself, not for Alex.'

‘Oh, he did feel bad, Poppy,' Alex tells her. ‘And I did give it to him.'

‘So I heard,' Evie adds.

‘Yeah?' Alex says proudly. ‘They used to disappear for ages, but as if I could've said anything to him. Not even Roxy, her own sister, knew. Well, she says she didn't.'

‘It's all over now,' Poppy nods. ‘Zac has no one. No Dana and no Alex.'

‘Oh, I'm such an idiot,' Alex laments. ‘I know you guys tried to tell me but there was no way I was ever going to take any notice.'

Evie sits there listening to them, a lightness filling her body, her aches and pains dissolving. This is what she wants, what she craves – the normal things in life. Like break-ups and boyfriends and sitting around kitchens with girlfriends. And here it is right in front of her.

‘You guys are my best friends.' Evie says it out loud.

‘Huh?' They look at her, surprised at the change of topic.

‘Well, you are,' she nods. ‘I just felt like saying it.'

‘Evie, I know there's been stuff happening with you, too,' Alex begins. ‘And I haven't been a very good or understanding friend about it, and I always wanted to be that person for you. I feel like I really let you down.'

‘It doesn't matter now, Al. It really doesn't.'

‘Don't shut me up; I want to say this. I'm sorry I wasn't, well, you know, the way I should've been. And I hope one day you'll tell me what happened. Not now, though,' Alex shakes her head. ‘I've got an overload in this pea-sized brain of mine. But later, I'd like to know, if you're happy to tell me, that is.'

‘You reckon your head's on overload,' Poppy says. ‘You wait. Evie gives brain overloads a whole new meaning.'

‘Poppy!' Evie squeals. ‘I do not.'

The girls shoot her a glance. ‘Okay,' Evie admits. ‘I do.' And she starts giggling, too.

‘Oh, guess what!' Poppy claps her hands. ‘My gran said we call
all
stay with her at the Gold Coast these Chrissy holidays.'

‘Ahh,' Alex squeals. ‘Let's crash Schoolies!'

‘No, we can't go till January,' Poppy says. ‘But still … good, eh?'

‘Yeah,' Evie replies. ‘Wow.'

‘I'm going on a diet tomorrow,' Alex nods. ‘I've seen the nicest bikini. It's got these little …' Evie puts her feet up on the kitchen bench. ‘These little tie things on the side.' Alex stops her description. ‘Hey, Evie, cool shoes. Can I borrow them one day?'

‘Yeah.' Evie wiggles her feet in her new ballet slippers from the markets. ‘This is the first time I've worn them.'

‘Why can't I ever find things like that?' Alex complains. ‘Where'd you get them?'

‘From Petrina's stall at the –'

‘They're … vintage?' Poppy and Alex squeak in unison.

‘Yeah.'

Evie sees Poppy's eyes widen. ‘You don't think?' she begins.

‘What?' answers Poppy.

‘You don't think stuff could, like, channel up through the soles of my feet. Do you?'

Poppy looks at Alex. Alex shrugs. ‘Nahhh,' they say together.

The kitchen erupts in hysterics.

 

‘Dear Athena,' Evie writes that night, snuggled back in her own bed.

Evie falls into a sleep, peaceful, deep and devoid of dreams. At one point, she stirs and the faintest whiff of perfume tickles the hairs in her nostrils. It's just a trace. It's hardly even there but it's unmistakable, fresh and light like a florist's in the morning. Evie smiles, turns over and drifts back to sleep.

J. C. Burke was born in Sydney in 1965, the fourth of five daughters. With writers for parents, she grew up in a world full of noise, drama and books, and the many colourful characters who came to visit provided her with an endless supply of stories and impersonations.

Burke decided to become a nurse after her mother lost a long battle with cancer. She trained at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and later specialised in the field of Oncology, working in Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Units in Australia and the UK. A creative writing course at Sydney University led to a mentorship with Gary Crew and the publication in 2002 of her first novel,
White Lies
(Lothian), a CBC Notable Book.
The Red Cardigan
was published by Random House Australia in 2004. J. C. Burke's fourth novel,
The Story of Tom Brennan
, a gripping story of family love and loss, secrets and revelations, will be published in late 2005.

J. C. Burke lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches with her husband and two children. She does a lot of yoga and a bit of nursing. She loves writing for children and young adults, as they still have an optimistic eye on the world.

Did you miss

The Red Cardigan?

For seventeen-year-old Tom, life is about rugby, his mates and his family, who are well respected in their small country town. But a night of celebration changes his life forever. Tom's older brother, Daniel, starts a fight at the ‘sudden death' prefinal party – then, worse, Daniel is involved in a car accident on the way home. Their cousin, Fin, suffers irreversible spinal injuries, and the two other passengers are killed.

Tom's world explodes as Daniel is sent to jail and the Brennans are forced to leave town. While Tom and his sister, Kylie, adjust to life at a new school, their mother takes to her bed and their father tries to balance the pain of his family with the debt of his paralysed nephew.

What Tom thinks he misses most is football, especially his unbeatable partnership with Daniel. Now he must join St Bennies rugby team – the team that couldn't catch a cold. There are lessons to be learnt as Tom is reminded that a great team is one that plays with unity, spirit and for the love of the game.

Tom escapes to his uncle Brendan's tractor repair business on many afternoons, talking to Brendan and sussing out Tongan football hero Jonny Tulake about his beautiful sister, Chrissy.

The past is never far away. Tom is a survivor, but he needs a ticket out of the past just as much as Daniel. He will find it in many forms …