I hurriedly put the notes away. I couldn’t wait to tell Mouche what I knew and apologize for not telling her what I didn’t. Does that make sense? I think you know what I mean. I piled the diary and our swimsuits into the car.
As I backed out of the driveway in trepidation, Trey wandered over. He had another pre-med exam to study for and thought there would be less distraction off-campus with the house all to himself. Little did he know. He came strolling out just before I nearly flattened the fence with my under-utilized driving skills.
‘Hey, you can’t do that,’ he said.
‘Excuse me?’ I replied in mock outrage.
‘Drive...’ he said.
Suddenly, I was nervous. I was so eager to check out Jet’s place and socialize it had only just occurred to me that Mark might be there. I’d run off and left him standing there alone in the park. Perhaps it was time to make amends at the barbeque.
Trey walked alongside me, opened the door and jumped in the car. ‘Drive,’ he instructed, ‘and wherever you’re going I will come and pick you and Mouche up later.’
It was only twenty minutes away, but I must admit, even with smudge on his face, Trey looked seriously hot and was obviously dedicated to the wellbeing of his sister. I wasn’t about to argue.
Trey burst out laughing when I got stuck with the gear shift at the lights, but when the car rolled back he jumped out and opened my door and said, ‘okay, I’m going to drive...’
Then, I got this feeling (like I said, I’m a bit telepathic), I could read his mind and he was more worried about
my
safety than his. Was Trey crushing on me? It was too much. So many boys, so little time to date them all (I had arranged to meet Peter tomorrow although there was no chance of my becoming romantically attached to him!). Besides, if Mark was out of my league, so was Trey, being even older and more experienced than Mark Knightly.
Trey stopped at the house on the hill, with a sigh.
‘Do you and Mouche know this guy well?’
‘Of course, chill out. He’s friendly with the Princesses. They’re all neighbours.’
‘The older one, what was her name? Melissa?’
‘Missy...she’s seriously conniving...’After all it had been Missy who’d conspired to help me lose my
Teen Alien
audition.
‘Oh,’ he said.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘I went to school with her,’ Trey said.
‘Really?’ I said, suddenly more interested than I should’ve been.
He looked at me with a knowing smile and said, ‘yeah, her family seemed okay.’
‘You met them?’
‘Sure,’ Trey changed the subject. ‘So, look, I will be back to pick you up at six.’
He drove off, very fast, breaking his own speed limit which was way more dangerous than any of
my
driving if you ask me.
The path between the driveway and the actual house was long, and although the house was quite garish, the grounds were nice, although not as nice as those surrounding Mark’s house. The porch overlooked the lakes, which is why the surrounding homes were known as Lake Houses. Jet’s house also had a swimming pool, quite a large one with a waterfall and a spa overlooking the woods beyond. The house below his, which just happened to belong to Brooke, glowed in the foreground. The house opposite belonged to Teegan and Missy. There was a lot of loud music blazing out across the driveway. I wondered if the whole school had been invited to what was morphing into more of a pool party than a barbeque.
I stared at the largeness of Jet’s place, past security gates, towards the house. The ground was damp, muddying my shoes as I hiked to the entrance. Mud splashed the edges of my jeans and my hair was wild. I looked like fright night. I’d have to clean up in the bathroom when I went inside.
Then, as I rounded the corner, to my horror, Mark Knightly, climbed out of the pool. Steam misted atop the heated water. Mark looked up, saw me, wrapped a towel around himself and walked off towards the changing room.
Just as I’d decided he was going to ignore me, he came running out half-dressed, drying his hair.
‘Hey, Phoebe, I wasn’t sure you’d come...’ he said.
‘I...brought Mouche’s swimsuit...’ It sounded stupid and it was all I could think of to say, because
Mrs Jones
always said not to look too eager. Of course, another guide totally contradicted that (the one Tory was following) so who knew what was what until we consolidated strategies later in the week.
As if he could read my thoughts, he seemed surprised and genial as he took the towel off his head and pulled on his long-sleeved cotton shirt.
‘Right this way,’ Mark said amiably.
I followed his lead, navigating manicured gardens.
‘We didn’t actually realize we were going to have a barbeque until this morning, but I would’ve invited you in the park, if I’d known.’
Even after I’d
insulted
you? I thought.
‘You got my note?’ he said suddenly.
‘Ah...yes,’ I admitted.
Then something happened that was rare. He smiled. One of the most beautiful, sincere smiles I’d ever seen and I was suddenly very happy. I smiled in return, and it might have been the start of something save for Teegan and Tory running down the lane and yelling out, ‘Phoebe! Phoebe! Did you bring your swimsuit?’
Honestly, those girls acted like I was their new best friend. The dating game was bringing us closer together.
We shared secrets.
Neither of them had, so far as I knew, manoeuvred ‘the’ date with Mark – but we all had our social diaries full up for most of the next month. There was also the wedding between Mr Frames and Miss Love coming up. Oh, my head was just filled with possible social complications.
‘C’mon’, Mark said, ‘I want to introduce you to my sister’.
Together we all walked up the garden path towards Jet’s house which seemed less garish in the afternoon sun. Jet met us at the door with a welcoming smile.
Nobody’s parents were there and it seemed like Jet’s neighbours were on their best behaviour, though I was a little surprised they’d been asked. Although I’d only taken piano lessons for a few years before turning to dance, I was impressed by the beautiful (and tasteful) Steinway in the corner of the lounge room overlooking the garden.
‘Do you play?’ Jet asked in a friendly manner, whilst leading me through the living room to meet Petra.
‘Not very well.’
Mark’s younger sister seemed to appear from the shadows. She was standing in a cream, summer dress with a sweater draped over her shoulders, like a beautiful ghost. Her skin was pale but she was not as thin as I’d been led to believe. She smiled at me from the stairs she walked down, and glanced with relief at the face of her brother.
‘Oh, Phoebe, I wanted to introduce you to my sister, Petra.’
I liked the way he said my name. Mark’s sister smiled shyly and said ‘hello’ in a neutral voice.
I felt like I should take the lead in any conversation between us as her shyness was obvious and Mark seemed so concerned that we would like each other.
‘My brother,’ she hesitated, ‘told me that you play piano...Phoebe.’
‘I took some lessons once, but I play quite badly.’
‘Yes,’ Jet said, ‘she’s a much better actress.’
Mark frowned at Jet.
‘Well, my brother said you play and sing beautifully.’
My cheeks flushed. I smiled.
Mark and Jet had gone to organize lunch by then. I looked over at the boys, surprised.
Then Mouche walked in with Teegan and Freya. As Mark looked up along with Jet and Petra, I must admit I think I saw his eyes flicker slightly at the stunning sight of Mouche and her ‘back-up’ singers wrapped in the sarongs Teegan’s mother had brought back from Hawaii. They all looked like cover girls and the edges of my jeans were thick with mud. Was it just me or did anyone else notice Teegan sniggering?
I excused myself to change into my swimming costume and Mouche gave me an excited smile when Jet and Mark had turned their backs to ready the lunches.
‘A man who can cook,’ Tory said, looking at Mark in the kitchen, ‘now that’s a rare find...’
Petra sat on the edge of the pool, wrapped in a huge towel, sipping a drink and smiling, looking very glad to be in company. She had offered to play ‘something special’ on the piano for me before I left and I was looking forward to it. I suddenly wished I’d kept up my lessons, although it doesn’t pay, according to
Mrs Jones’
advice, to ‘
best everyone else around you at everything
.
This can be overwhelming to a man,
and galling for other girlfriends.’
Teegan whispered something, then giggled as we observed Mark and Jet flirting with Brooke and Freya who had just arrived to join Jet’s neighbours. This didn’t make us feel special, so Mouche sent a quick text out and before we knew it two new boys from our acting class showed up with towels and soda and a bag of pretzels.
Mark and Jet looked surprised. Mouche said, ‘I hope you don’t mind, we thought it would be nice to add some more people to the mix, since you guys don’t know everyone yet at Sunrise.’
