Frankie and Joely (10 page)

‘Just don't go out with Macleod. Okay?'

‘You my dad now, too?' she says as she lets go of the strings, shutting him out.

Angry, he tosses the rest of his cone at a bin and misses. Everything sucks today.

Chapter 18

‘Mum? Can you hear me? Mum?' Frankie yells into the phone. She walks back and forth in front of the farmhouse, trying to find a spot to get three bars.

‘Frankie? Where are you, honey?'

‘In the country. Remember? With Joely. I'll be home soon. You okay, Mum?'

‘Yeah. I'm good,' she says, but Frankie doubts it.

‘Is that guy still there?'

‘Luke? Yeah. He's lovely, isn't he?'

Frankie wants to shout into the phone, but she knows it won't do any good. Her mum won't listen anyway. ‘I stocked up on canned soup for you. It's all in the cupboard. Make sure you eat some. Mum?' But the signal's gone or her mum has hung up by mistake.

It's not like Luke's the first sleazy guy her mum has hooked up with, but he's the first one Frankie's felt she needed to escape. She doesn't know how to handle him, what to do when he stays up at night and tries to talk to her. He hasn't touched her. And if he does, she'll find a way to fight him off. He doesn't actually frighten her. She just wishes that for once her mum's boyfriend would be into her mum.

‘Bit hot out here, Frankie,' says Ged as he walks outside in his shorts and singlet, pulling on a boot.

‘Do you need some help? On the farm? Right now?'

Ged laughs. ‘It's too hot for working.'

‘Please?' Frankie wants to be useful,
needs
to be useful. She can see Ged thinking about it and wants to hug him for not blowing her off.

‘Yeah, alright. You can help me check the fence in the bottom paddock. But you need a hat.'

She nods, already moving inside to grab one so he won't change his mind.

Frankie walks behind Ged, letting him take charge. She knows he doesn't need help, not really, but she appreciates being here. She watches him shake a post, and kick the bottom of the wood.

‘This one also needs to go. That's pretty much this whole line,' he says, as if she should be keeping note.

Slowly Ged pulls out a hand-drawn map of the paddock. He hands it to Frankie with a short stub of a pencil.

‘Mark the posts off on the side of the paddock nearest the road,' says Ged.

Frankie nods, happy to actually do something. As she's marking lines through the posts, Ged wipes the sweat off his face.

‘What'd you reckon that is?' Ged says, pointing at something in the ditch across the road.

Frankie sees flies circling before they get there, then spots a smattering of dead flowers hanging across a tree branch. The flies are buzzing crazily as Ged lifts up one side of the branch exposing the folded kangaroo below, its body all crumpled like it had been pushed into a coffin that was too small. The smell is rancid and Frankie tries to block her nose. She wonders if the flowers were Joely's doing. The thought makes her worry about her friend and how sensitive she is, how upset she gets about things sometimes.

‘I think that's the kangaroo they hit on the motorbike,' says Frankie, unable to look away.

Ged drops the branch, scattering the flies for a second and giving death back its privacy. ‘Well, I think I need a lemonade. What about you?'

‘Sure.' But Frankie's disappointed. She was hoping to farm with Ged all afternoon, not do twenty minutes of work and then head back.

Ged's already started walking. She can't stay out here on her own, so she falls in line, following the prints his boots make in the dust.

Chapter 19

‘What do you think? It was only three bucks.' Frankie twirls around, showing off a strapless orange dress.

Joely thinks Frankie looks like a little girl, testing out how cute she is in front of her mum. ‘You look like a beautiful sunflower,' she says instead. Only Frankie could wear
that
colour. ‘But it is just the Payne Cinema. I know Mack thinks it's a big deal, but it's really not.'

‘I don't care. I've been wanting to wear this dress forever!'

Joely looks at the blister brewing between her toes. ‘Can you look at this?' She holds up her foot to show Frankie.

‘What am I looking at?'

‘A blister,' groans Joely. ‘Stupid thongs. It always happens when I get new ones that aren't broken in properly.'

Frankie leans down to study Joely's toes. ‘Ow, you poor thing. You need a bandaid. Maybe ten bandaids. Are we walking into town?'

‘Unfortunately, yes.' Joely hoped Ged would offer to drive them in, but so far, no luck. ‘Or we can ride.'

‘Nah. That's okay. Someone might steal our bikes,' jokes Frankie.

‘That'd be a real shame.'

‘You sure the bus isn't running?'

‘Yes. Stops at seven.'

‘You ready?' says Frankie

‘I'm just going to change.'

‘Why?'

‘Because
you
look gorgeous.' Joely's still in the singlet and shorts she changed into when they got home from the dam. She hates how freckly her shoulders are. If they run into Rory then she wants to look as good as she can, and that means hiding as much skin as possible.

‘But you'll die in that,' says Frankie, looking at the long-sleeved top Joely is changing into.

‘It's quite cool, actually,' lies Joely, knowing that the shirt will be sticking to her body within seconds of being outside.

Joely follows Frankie down the hall, watching the way she walks, amazed she can make even thongs look beautiful. Joely's already regretting wearing hers, but she can't face sneakers. Not when the rest of her feels so hot.

‘Pile in the car, kids. I'll drop you in,' shouts Ged from somewhere in the house.

Joely squeals, delighted. At least now she might make it to the cinema without her blister bursting.

Frankie's squashed in the back of the car between Joely and Thommo. Thommo's knee presses into hers and she wonders why he hasn't moved over to make some space. He's not looking at her, just staring out the window like there's something to bother looking at. Frankie keeps glancing from Joely's knee to Thommo's, trying to work out who has more freckles. She thinks maybe Joely's winning, but then Thommo's aren't quite as dark as Joely's, so they aren't as easy to see.

Ged pulls up in the main street and Frankie's surprised to see so many people around. She expected a dead town, not crowds.

‘Out you get. You'll have to walk back because I'll be asleep!' Ged laughs as they pile out. Frankie wishes he were her dad.

As they cross the road, Frankie spies the queue coming out of the old hall and she starts giggling. She can't help it. She's so excited that if she doesn't let it out, she might burst. It's dark and it's hot and the air feels almost electric. And hopefully she'll see Rory.

‘What's so funny?' snaps Mack.

‘Nothing. Just excited.' She grins and links her arm through Joely's, pulling her along to join the queue.

Every teenager in Payne must be here. Frankie scans their faces as they stare at her, checking out her dress, her thongs, her hair. She knows she's being pulled apart, but changing schools so often has made her immune to it. Besides, she's got her army around her, although Mack's already gone off to find his mates. Whatever.

‘Thommo!' calls a girl.

Frankie turns and sees bouncy curls, pink lips and a strappy dress.

‘Hey,' says Thommo, blushing redder than ever.

The girl walks up to them. She glances quickly at Frankie and Joely, but then focuses all her attention on Thommo. In that second Frankie can see how she feels about him.

‘How's your holiday been?' the girl asks, as she edges closer.

Thommo nods but doesn't say anything.

Frankie feels sorry for her. It's like watching her mum try to impress a new boyfriend. ‘I'm Frankie,' she says, holding out her hand. The girl looks surprised but then takes it, shaking fast and hard. As she lets go, she grins and Frankie notices the lines of silver on her teeth.

‘Maggie. I'm Maggie. I go to school with Thommo,' she babbles.

‘This is Joely. She's Thommo's cousin.'

Maggie checks out Joely and giggles. ‘You look just like him.'

Thommo's still said nothing but ‘hey' since Maggie walked up. Frankie can't work out if that means he likes Maggie or he doesn't. The queue is shuffling forward and he seems desperate to move, to dive into the cinema and get away.

‘I don't really look like him,' says Joely, screwing up her nose. ‘Do I?'

Maggie nudges Thommo with her elbow. ‘You going to the dam for New Year's?'

‘Dunno,' he says. ‘You?'

‘Yeah. Course. Everyone's going.'

Thommo nods and Frankie wonders what's happened between them.

‘I hope you do,' says Maggie, touching Thommo on the hand. He pulls back sharply, and Maggie darts away to rejoin her friends.

Frankie looks at Thommo and imagines what it would be like to kiss him, to make him really blush.

‘She likes you,' she says, nudging him with her elbow and feeling the prickle of hairs on his skin.

‘Does not,' he mumbles.

Frankie laughs and follows the others through the door.

Chapter 20

The cinema's cold, airy and packed full of teenagers trying to escape Payne on one of the hottest nights of the year. The movie isn't new. It's an American comedy that's been around for ages. But Thommo doesn't care. He's sitting next to Frankie so he can't concentrate on the movie anyway. He keeps peeping sideways to see bits of her. Her leg. Her arm. Her fingers. He hopes she doesn't think that he likes Maggie. He'll have to avoid her at the dam and stick with Frankie as much as he can.

On screen, someone falls off a horse and Frankie laughs. Thommo smiles at the sound. He has no idea what's so funny about falling off a horse, but she seems to be enjoying it and that's all he cares about.

He risks edging his elbow to the armrest and brushing against Frankie's. She leaves hers where it is and Thommo feels his heart racing at her closeness.

As the credits roll and the lights come on, Thommo wishes movies were running all night so he could stay where he was.

Frankie and Joely laugh as they start filing out of the seats.

They push into the foyer. Frankie's suddenly gathered up by the crowd and Thommo loses her. He knows it's crazy to feel panicked, but something feels wrong about her disappearing. It's as if the town has swallowed her up for his own good. He starts pushing madly against the people in front of him, needing to get outside where he can find her.

‘Piss off, Thommo,' says a guy from school. Thommo rolls his eyes, but stops pushing. Last thing he needs is a fight.

Finally, they move through the corridor to the candy bar. It's packed. Thommo looks around, scanning every face. Then he sees a girl in an orange dress shining in the light from the chipped chandelier. She's laughing. He looks to the side to see why.

Rory Macleod.

‘Here, you do it,' says Rory, handing her his phone.

Frankie types in the
right
number this time and hands it back. ‘Can't believe you waited for me the other night. I told you it was five, four, four not three, four, four!' Frankie laughs at the thought of him standing on the road near Joely's dead kangaroo, wondering where she was.

‘Want to go hang out?' he whispers, leaning close, making her skin prickle.

‘Can't. I'm with Thommo, Joely and Mack. Although Mack's buggered off somewhere.'

He shrugs. ‘So you can too. Make an excuse.'

She shakes her head. ‘Nah.' As much as her body wants to, she won't ditch the friends she came with for a boy.

‘Tomorrow then?'

His hand finds hers and squeezes it. She hopes nobody around notices. She nods. ‘Yeah. Tomorrow.'

Despite being in the middle of a hundred people, she wants him to kiss her. His mouth is so close. She could lean up, brush her lips against his and nobody would even notice. But they probably would. Mack would see, or worse, Thommo. Then she'd have to explain herself and she doesn't want to do that.

‘Tomorrow,' she says again, and walks away, hoping Rory is watching her.

Outside the air is full of insects. The lights at the front of the old cinema are sending them crazy. Frankie weaves her way through to where it's dark and clear and sees Thommo and Joely off to one side.

‘Finally,' Joely says as she walks up. ‘Where have you been? My feet are killing me. The blister's popped.'

Frankie shrugs, pleased Joely didn't see her talking to Rory. ‘Toilet.'

Thommo shoots her a look.

‘I've got to go, too,' Joely says, heading back into the crowd. Frankie's pretty sure she's fake limping and it makes her smile.

Joely knows she only has a few minutes to find Rory if he's here. She's looked at so many faces tonight but none of them are his. As she swings in through the door she sees his blond hair.

It's him.

She knows it, even though he has his back to her. It's the way he stands.

He has to see her. Otherwise she's worn this stupid long-sleeved shirt for nothing. Plus her hair is out, and she can't leave it for much longer. It's making her neck all sweaty and yuck. She walks past, wanting to pretend that it's a coincidence that she's found him. But he doesn't see her, so she walks past again, in the other direction. She waits for him to see her this time and, as his eyes look up, she smiles.

‘Rory. It's me, Joely,' she says, suddenly panicked that he doesn't remember her name.

‘Hey Joely.'

She relaxes, giggling a bit and steps closer, breathing him in. ‘Did you like the film?' she says, not caring if he did, but wanting to make small talk.

He shrugs in that Frankie way.

‘You going walking later?' She hopes he understands what she's asking, that she doesn't have to spell it out and explain that she wants to meet him down by the kangaroo. He looks straight at her this time, and she wonders what he sees.

‘Nah. Not tonight,' he says walking away. ‘I've gotta go.'

‘Okay. Me too. I'll see you tomorrow maybe. At the pool?' Joely doesn't know if it's okay that he didn't touch her. She hoped for more. But then at least she saw him and he remembered her. That's a good sign. Isn't it?

Walking outside, she realises how sore her right foot is. She slips off her thong and sees the bloody mess between her toes. It's going to kill to walk all the way home. She reaches Frankie and Thommo, and notices they aren't talking.

‘Look at my foot. I can't walk home,' whinges Joely.

‘Come on, you'll be okay. It's a beautiful night,' says Frankie, looking up at all the stars. It's a sky of dots, like Joely's freckles, only sparkling.

‘But look,' says Joely, hopping around on one foot so Frankie can see how bad it is.

‘Gross.'

‘Yeah, I really can't walk all the way home. We'll have to call Ged.'

Up until this point, Thommo's been standing off to the side, as if he wants to distance himself from Frankie. Or maybe he's waiting for Maggie to see him.

‘Wait here,' says Thommo. He runs across the road into the darkest part of the street.

‘Do you think we'll ever see him again?' Frankie jokes in an ominous voice. Joely doesn't answer.

Frankie tries to see what she's looking at, but Joely just seems to be staring blankly at the group standing near the cinema doors.

‘Joel? You okay?'

‘Yes,' says her friend.

As Frankie glances again to where Joely's looking, she notices Rory staring back at them, a slight smile on his face, and she can't decide whether the smile is aimed at Joely, or her, or someone else entirely. It's creepy and thrilling at the same time.

‘Joely!' yells Thommo from the other side of the street. ‘Come here.'

‘Is that a wheelbarrow?' says Joely.

Frankie laughs. ‘I think that's how you're getting home!'

Thommo pushes the old wheelbarrow down the middle of the road. Frankie walks alongside, reaching out to squeeze Joely's good knee every now and then. Joely tries not to yell out in pain each time the wheelbarrow hits a bump and her elbows and ankles come down hard on the metal. She's sure Thommo's deliberately choosing the roughest path to punish her for something, but she isn't sure why.

‘Thommo, are you okay?'

‘Just sick of pushing this fucking wheelbarrow.'

‘I'll walk,' says Joely, dreading that he'll actually put her down in the middle of the road and make her hobble the rest of the way home. But he keeps wheeling, his arms straining as he pushes her up the hill.

Joely watches Thommo and is struck by how little she knows about him. He's still a little child in her head. A dirty, grinning boy whose job it was to collect the eggs each morning and let the chickens out. Now the chickens are gone and he's tall, almost as tall as Mack, and Joely has no idea what he thinks about.

‘What's your favourite subject at school?'

Thommo laughs at her, but still doesn't look happy.

‘What?' she says.

‘You like school. Most of us hate it,' says Thommo.

‘You must like something?'

‘Woodwork. Playing footy. And hassling Mr White.'

‘That's it?'

Frankie drops back a bit so she's closer to where Thommo is. ‘Sounds pretty good to me,' says Frankie.

‘You like woodwork?' Thommo shoots the words like bullets and she shrugs to duck them.

Suddenly, Thommo stops, dropping Joely hard in her metal chariot. ‘What's with the shrug?'

‘Nothing,' says Frankie.

‘Why do you always shrug?'

‘I don't.'

‘Yes you do. All the fucking time.'

‘Stop swearing at me.'

‘Stop shrugging at me.'

Frankie stares at him, tears threatening to spill.

‘Thommo, leave her alone,' says Joely.

‘Fine. I'll leave you both alone.'

He walks off, his big feet scuffing in the dust. Joely stares after him, scrunched up in the wheelbarrow, wanting to call out, to plead with him to come back and push her home. But she can't. Not now. She has to stay on Frankie's side.

Frankie tries lifting the handles and struggles to keep the wheelbarrow straight, but it wobbles, the front tyre turning left and right, and she drops it down before Joely is tipped on the road.

‘Sorry. I thought I could push you home.'

Joely smiles at the thought of Frankie carrying her all the way.

‘Shove over,' says Frankie.

‘What?'

‘Shove over.'

Joely wriggles to the front of wheelbarrow. It's like sitting at the dud end of the bath with the taps, and not being able to lean back and relax into the curved enamel. Frankie climbs into the other end, and their legs squash together in the middle. Joely tries to move slightly, so their skin doesn't touch, but in the end she gives up. Frankie's left foot is wedged under Joely's leg anyway.

‘Let's paddle home,' says Frankie, stretching out her arms and rowing with imaginary oars.

‘We could fly,' says Joely.

‘Or drive.'

‘Or just sit here and wait for someone to come along.'

Frankie turns to her friend, her face as serious as Joely has ever seen it. ‘Why did he yell at me, Joel?'

‘I don't know, Frank.'

‘I thought he was sweet. I thought we were friends.'

Joely doesn't know what to do. She always feels uncomfortable in these sorts of moments. She reaches out and strokes Frankie's hand. But after a couple of strokes, her hand sits awkwardly on Frankie's and she wants to move it, but she can't. So she waits. Finally Frankie shifts her hand and Joely can pull hers away without feeling like she's let her friend down.

‘Do I really shrug all the time?'

‘No,' says Joely, wondering why she can't just tell Frankie the truth.

‘I don't mean to.'

Joely shrugs in solidarity, making Frankie laugh. So Joely shrugs again, liking the happy sound of her friend. Soon the
two of them are shrugging back and forth squashed into
the small wheelbarrow, laughing into the summery night air.

‘What the fuck?' booms a voice from the dark.

As he steps closer, Joely laughs at the expression on her cousin's face.

‘Just in time, Mack!' Frankie climbs out of the wheelbarrow. ‘Thommo left us here and Joely's got a popped blister. Can you push her home?'

‘Just walk, will ya!'

‘Please?' Frankie dances in front of him, twirling her orange dress.

Mack picks up the handles on the wheelbarrow and starts pushing, as Frankie whistles some song Joely should know but doesn't.