Betrothed (13 page)

Jack dropped me home on his way to set up for the dance and Jason arrived at seven to pick me up. He strode straight in when I answered the door and nodded approvingly as he took in my outfit.

‘You look hot,’ he said as he dropped a kiss on my cheek. Then he touched the mark on my neck. ‘What’s that?’

‘Just a bruise.’

‘Looks like a hickey to me,’ he accused.

‘Does it? Do you want a Coke or something?’

‘Suppose.’

He sat on the lounge next to Ashleigh while I went to the kitchen. She’d been watching him since he arrived, trying to look inconspicuous and failing. I watched them through the servery as I poured Jason’s drink.

‘Hey, little sis,’ he said. ‘Soz, can’t remember your name.’

‘Ashleigh,’ she said.

He flicked the bell on the tip of her pixie hat. ‘Cute.’

‘Thanks,’ she mumbled, then got up and started towards the kitchen.

Ashleigh pulled me into a corner, making us invisible to Jason. ‘How did
you
manage to get
him
?’ she whispered.

‘I haven’t “got” him and I don’t even think I want him,’ I whispered back. ‘I think I’m going to break up with him tonight.’ I was seventy-five per cent sure about it. I was having a hard time trying to keep up the pretence of caring and didn’t see the point any more. Nothing could make me forget Leif.

‘You’re crazy!’

I shrugged.

‘Can I have him if you break up with him?’ she asked, keeping her voice low.

‘Don’t be so desperate. You’re too young for him anyway.’

‘Am not.’

‘Yes, you are.’

‘I’ll be sixteen in August!’

‘Exactly.’ I dashed back to the lounge room before she could argue, sat down next to Jason and handed him his Coke. ‘Is it all right if Ashleigh gets a lift with us to the dance? It’ll save Dad a trip.’

‘Sure. Where are your parents anyway?’

‘They went out for a few minutes—they’ll be back soon,’ I assured him.

‘Let’s get moving then, avoid the inquisition.’

‘What inquisition?’ I asked, turning to Jason to catch his expression. He looked indifferent.

‘I’m just not really into the whole parent thing.’

The probability had just increased to ninety per cent.

My irritation with Jason grew as we drove to school, and when he parked the car I jumped out and took off with Ashleigh. He soon caught up and moments later we were queuing outside the hall. Jack was taking tickets at the door, Courtney keeping him company. She was pressing close—like a girlfriend. It bugged me and I didn’t know why. I’d seen Jack with girls plenty of times, and it hadn’t bothered me anywhere near this much before. He called us to the front of the line, prompting moans of ‘No fair!’

‘Oh, shut up,’ Jack called down the line. ‘Take it up with the management if you’ve got a complaint. Oh wait, I am the management!’ He laughed. Courtney laughed with him and the whinging and moaning increased. He turned to me. ‘I
love
power.’

‘You do it well,’ I said, then glanced meaningfully at Courtney, whose head now rested on his shoulder.

He grinned and it made me even more irritated.

‘Is Hilary inside already?’ I asked when I had my scowl under control.

‘She went in with Kyle a couple of minutes ago, said they were meeting Peter and Abby up the back. Make sure you wait inside for me. It’s insane in there.’

The hall was packed. The student council had done a great job decorating. The ceiling twinkled like night time and the walls were adorned with magical creatures. To one side of the stage the DJ was playing his tunes, to the other, the silhouette of a fairytale castle loomed with colourful lights jumping around behind it, spilling out through the windows. I spotted Hilary and Kyle standing with Peter and Abby and went to meet them, Jason following behind me. I wanted to tell him to leave me alone. I said hey to my friends and turned to Kyle. ‘What’s up at Hogwarts?’ I asked with a chuckle. Jason sniggered, pushing the odds of me dumping him up another five per cent.

‘Hilary’s idea,’ Kyle said, pushing the round glasses up his nose with a knuckle. ‘What are you supposed to be, Jason?’

‘Prince Charming,’ Jason grinned, putting his arm around me and pulling me against him. He wasn’t my idea of either a prince or charming.

‘Let’s dance,’ I said to Hilary, pushing Jason’s arm away. ‘I love this song.’

We wove our way through the crowd and found a space on the dance floor.

‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, leaning close to be heard above the music.

‘Does Kyle have a problem with your godparents?’

‘No, he gets on really well with them—why?’

‘Jason’s really annoying me.’

‘How come?’

Where to start? ‘Okay, first of all, he’s always having little digs at Jack. To be fair, Jack’s not much better, but it gets on my nerves and if it comes down to a choice between the two—well,
you know there’s no contest. And then tonight, Jason pretty much tells me he doesn’t want to know my parents. What’s that about? If he liked me, he’d want to, wouldn’t he?’

‘Maybe he’s nervous.’

‘Jason?’

‘Well, you don’t
have
to go out with him.’

Why did I feel like I did? ‘You’re right, as always, and I’m going to end it tonight.’

We danced for a while longer before going back to the others. Jack and Courtney had joined the group, and Jason, according to Kyle, had gone to hang out with his friends for a while.

‘Good,’ I said.

‘What’s the matter?’ Jack asked.

‘Jason.’

‘I warned you.’

‘I’m ending it tonight.’

‘Really,’ he said, and then, ‘Interesting.’

Kyle whisked Hilary off to the dance floor where they danced alongside Peter and Abby. But they might have been in their own bubble.

‘Look at them, Jack. Aren’t they cute together?’

‘Adorable,’ he agreed with a grin. I jabbed him in the belly with my finger.

‘I’m going to the ladies’—dance with me when I get back?’

‘Of course,’ he said, smiling down at me.

I pushed my way through to the toilets. The room was crowded with girls fixing hair and lipstick, the thump of music competing with their gossip. With all the make-up and perfume around, I kept my distance, going all the way to the last cubicle. When I came out, Brittany was waiting for me. I stared at her, stunned. She had to have followed me in.

‘I wanna talk to you,’ she said.

‘Why?’

She used her body to block me into a corner, then, clutching my arm, put her face close to mine. It was round and red and seething. ‘You’d better watch your back, Smith.’

My blood pumped fast and I peered over her shoulder to see if anyone had noticed I was being held captive. Nobody had. The three closest girls were laughing and talking together as they repaired their make-up. I was on my own. I took a deep breath and fixed my eyes on Brittany’s.

‘What’s your problem, Brittany?’

‘You’re my problem and as soon as Jason’s finished with you, I’m gonna make you pay.’

‘You’re threatening me?’

She took a bottle of perfume out of her bag and sprayed her neck. I pulled back from her but there was nowhere to go and she was much bulkier than me—a skin full of muscle and fury. She held fast to my arm.

‘You bet I am,’ she whispered, leaning so close that her nose almost touched mine. Her perfume wafted up my nostrils, sweet and dangerous. I started to wheeze. She brought the bottle up to my face and took aim. It’d be dead easy for her to make me pay. I tried not to breathe and became giddy with the effort. A lungful of that perfume and I’d be back in hospital for a week.

‘You can go now,’ she said finally, releasing my arm when I was coughing and choking from no longer being able to hold my breath. She put her perfume back into her bag and turned and walked away.

Somehow I managed to remain standing as I scrabbled through my bag for my puffer. I found it and took a few good pulls as I hurried outside. I needed air. After a few minutes in the night to recover, I went back inside to join my friends.

‘What do you women do in the toilets?’ Jack asked, glancing at his watch.

‘There was a queue.’

I couldn’t tell him what had really happened, he’d go crazy. He took my hand and pushed a path to the dance floor. We passed Courtney dancing with Ryan. She gave me a filthy look.

‘What did I do to Courtney?’ I asked, when we found a space to dance.

‘Won my heart,’ Jack said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes.

‘I’m serious, she wanted to dance and I told her I was waiting for you.’

‘Gee thanks, that’s all I need, another jealous girl hating me.’ But I wasn’t really annoyed—I felt kind of good, which was a little bit mean and a lot confusing.

‘Speaking of jealous girls, check out Brittany and Simone,’ Jack said with an evil glint in his eyes. The girls were dancing close by—well, gyrating really and dressed in the skankiest fairy outfits I’d ever seen. ‘Imagine waking up and finding that pair collecting your first tooth. You’d superglue the rest to your gums.’

I laughed. ‘And you say you don’t bitch.’

‘I’m not bitching, I’m observing and I observe they’re one frightening pair of fairies. Brittany’s going to unleash one of her mammoth boobs any second. Look at them struggling to stay in her corset.’

‘She looks ridiculous anyway. A real fairy wouldn’t be able to open her wings with something like that in the way.’

Jack cocked one eyebrow. ‘Explain.’

‘Turn around,’ I said. He did. I reached under his cape and drew a line down his spine from between his shoulder blades to below his waist. I leaned close. ‘That’s where Leif’s wings materialised from. You see? That corset—impossible.’

Jack turned back to me. He had a wicked gleam in his eyes. ‘You’d pretty much have to get half naked to get your wings out.’

‘Pretty much.’

The gleam turned into a leery grin. ‘I’d like to see that. Get your gear off, Marla—show us what a real fairy looks like.’

‘In your dreams,’ I chuckled.

Still smiling, he put his arms around my waist and brought me close.

‘Mmm, sometimes,’ he murmured against my ear.

Outrageous flirt that he was, I never could tell when he was being serious. In any case, a shiver ran through my body, silencing me for a while. When I found my voice again I said, ‘I don’t even know what made me think about that. I’ve been so good at forgetting Leif lately.’

‘Who wouldn’t think about undressing when I’m around?’

‘I’m fairly sure you’re the one who mentioned undressing, Jack.’

He laughed and gave me a squeeze.

‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if Leif were real?’

‘Not for me.’

‘Why?’ I asked, looking up to him.

‘Well, Kyle’s already nicked one of my girls. It would be nice to keep you for myself.’ His face wore that mischievous lopsided grin that never failed to make me smile.

‘So I’m
your
girl.’

‘Well, aren’t you?’ His face was all serious again.

‘I guess I kind of am.’

A moment later the song changed to a slower one. Jack held me closer still and we slow danced for a while. His breath was warm against my hair and his body pressed to mine felt nice. No—more than nice, it felt lovely. Hmm, if he offered me something more than friendship right now, I wouldn’t be able to resist. I closed
my eyes and lay my head on his shoulder, turned my face so that my lips just touched the base of his neck as I swayed in his arms. I wanted to kiss him and did, just a little. Subtle—I didn’t think he’d notice. But he might have, because a moment later I felt his hand slide up from where it rested on my hip to caress the bare skin between my shoulder blades. I shivered in his arms and held my breath as he leaned in and pressed a soft slow kiss to my temple. And then another. I could feel his breath at my ear, his fingers splayed on my skin. I knew that any moment now, Jack was going to whisper the words that would change our friendship to something else. We were just about to cross the line mum had drawn for us five years ago, and I realised suddenly how much I wanted to, had
been
wanting to.

‘Marla, I . . . ’ he started. But I didn’t get to hear what he was going to say because Jason came and spoiled our moment by cutting in. Jack resisted for a little while, held me to him as his eyes kept mine. Somehow I knew exactly what he was thinking—we had all the time in the world. There was no hurry. He smiled and squeezed me closer for a moment before leaning down to kiss my cheek. It was a chaste kiss—one that brought me back to our friendship. He released me then and I watched him step away.

‘Don’t know if I liked the look of that,’ Jason said as he put his arms around me. The words were light but his tone was anything but, and the way he held me practically screamed
mine
.

‘Jack’s my best friend,’ I said, noticing for the first time just how much shorter than Jack Jason was.

‘Relax,’ Jason chuckled. ‘What’s up with you tonight anyway?’ He took my arms, which hung by my side, and put them around his neck before returning his to my waist.

‘Nothing’s up.’

He leaned close and whispered, ‘Are you sure? You seem pissed about something.’

‘What was with you not wanting to see my parents tonight?’

‘Is that all it is?’ He laughed.

‘No, but I think if you liked me you’d want to get to know them.’

‘I do, but I want to get to know you first—that’s all babe.’ He leaned towards me and I knew he was coming in for a kiss. I’d managed to avoid it so far. I went to pull away, but he was fast, his lips locking to mine before I could protest. And then all I could think about was Leif. I could hear him in my mind, his voice calling my name and for an insane moment, I felt like I was betraying him. And then he was yelling, demanding I get away from Jason, his voice getting louder and more persistent until it was an all-consuming booming in my head, drowning out every other sound in the room.

‘
Marla!
’

I was torn apart from Jason who, in the same moment, lay sprawled on the floor. And outshining all else around him was Leif, exactly as I recalled him from my dreams—stunning, naked from the hips up and breathtakingly beautiful. I had to be dreaming—either that or I truly had succumbed to madness. I stared up at him, squeezed my eyes shut, opened them again, scrubbed at them with my fingers. But the vision remained—Leif, my betrothed, in all of his radiant glory, his dark and hypnotic eyes holding mine prisoner. And then I realised he didn’t look
exactly
as I remembered him. He was simmering with anger. No, that was an understatement; his eyes glittered and flashed with a wildness I’d never seen before.