invite Virginia back for dinner,’ announced Mum as I organised a swim bag. ‘I will make something special. I will make sure you father is home for dinner.’ Dad was on the local Council and was notorious for working long hours there.
‘She might be busy,’ I said, not wanting Virginia Sloan to be checking out my life. Suddenly my home seemed shabby and worn. The things that had until then been familiar and dear to me seemed suddenly ridiculous and out of date. There was no way I wanted her near my bedroom with its single bed and collection of Beanie Bears that Poppy and I had been so mad about a few years before. I thought about packing the bears away, but I didn’t really have time.
‘Just ask her,’ insisted Mum. ‘Maybe I will ask her when I drop you off—’
‘No! I will ask her. I promise.’
‘How are you getting home?’ she asked me.
‘We’ll work it out,’ I said. ‘Is that Poppy at the door?’
I opened the front door to find Poppy dressed in some kind of hippy gear, a huge floppy hat that could have doubled as the Opera House, and an oversized pair of sunglasses. She hated summer. Her skin was so fair and translucent that you could see the blue bits of her veins showing through. Poppy would keep out of the sun whenever she could. If she couldn’t, she’d wear clothes that covered her from nose stud to toe ring.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘Are you ready?’
Virginia lived on the outskirts of town in what the land developer had called The Heights but was known locally as Mansion Acres. I drove to her house in Mum’s manual car, clunking through the gears and car-hopping whenever I took off from a standing position. When I got to Virginia’s I added the time to my Learner’s Log. I had five months to get my hours up and was driving whenever I could. Mum got out of the front passenger seat, a little shaken from the ordeal. I could tell she was desperate to come and have a look inside the Sloan mansion, so I ushered her quickly back into the car and closed the door firmly on her as she settled into the driver’s seat. I thanked her for the lift.
‘Remember dinner,’ said Mum. ‘You too, Poppy.’
‘Thanks, Mrs L,’ said Poppy, shifting the weight of her swim bag onto her other shoulder. ‘Hurry up, Sair, I’m melting.’
The front door opened and Virginia waved my mother goodbye, although they’d never met. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Mum driving into the nearest power pole, so intent was she on peering back at our host.
‘You’re invited to dinner,’ said Poppy, as she gave Virginia a warm hug.
I felt rather than saw Virginia pull away as if shocked by the contact.
‘Oh,’ she said.
‘Mrs Lum is an awesome cook,’ continued Poppy. ‘Wow, how cool is your house!’
Virginia’s house was…big. I don’t know how else to describe it. We were standing in the entry hall — I think that’s what you would call it, because I’d never actually seen an entry hall until then — which was bigger than our kitchen at home. On the wall was a portrait of the Sloan family, and underneath it was a skinny table, which held a vase of flowers that were real. My Aunt Elya had flowers in the best room of her house, but they were silk flowers and were perfectly fine as long as you didn’t expect any perfume when you sniffed them.
‘It’s so hot already,’ Virginia moaned, as if the weather were a personal attack on her comfort. ‘Thanks for coming. I was so bored. I did Pilates this morning then my voice coach cancelled, so there’s nothing else on for me today. Are you hungry? I have food. Mum and Dad are at work, but my brother Oliver is here. Somewhere. Maybe we should get a swim in before it gets too hot to be outside.’
I wanted to ask Virginia where her usual friends were and whether she had got back together with Finn. I guess that’s why I was really there — to find out about Finn. But I didn’t really know Virginia that well and it just seemed, well,
‘She might be busy,’ I said, not wanting Virginia Sloan to be checking out my life. Suddenly my home seemed shabby and worn. The things that had until then been familiar and dear to me seemed suddenly ridiculous and out of date. There was no way I wanted her near my bedroom with its single bed and collection of Beanie Bears that Poppy and I had been so mad about a few years before. I thought about packing the bears away, but I didn’t really have time.
‘Just ask her,’ insisted Mum. ‘Maybe I will ask her when I drop you off—’
‘No! I will ask her. I promise.’
‘How are you getting home?’ she asked me.
‘We’ll work it out,’ I said. ‘Is that Poppy at the door?’
I opened the front door to find Poppy dressed in some kind of hippy gear, a huge floppy hat that could have doubled as the Opera House, and an oversized pair of sunglasses. She hated summer. Her skin was so fair and translucent that you could see the blue bits of her veins showing through. Poppy would keep out of the sun whenever she could. If she couldn’t, she’d wear clothes that covered her from nose stud to toe ring.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘Are you ready?’
Virginia lived on the outskirts of town in what the land developer had called The Heights but was known locally as Mansion Acres. I drove to her house in Mum’s manual car, clunking through the gears and car-hopping whenever I took off from a standing position. When I got to Virginia’s I added the time to my Learner’s Log. I had five months to get my hours up and was driving whenever I could. Mum got out of the front passenger seat, a little shaken from the ordeal. I could tell she was desperate to come and have a look inside the Sloan mansion, so I ushered her quickly back into the car and closed the door firmly on her as she settled into the driver’s seat. I thanked her for the lift.
‘Remember dinner,’ said Mum. ‘You too, Poppy.’
‘Thanks, Mrs L,’ said Poppy, shifting the weight of her swim bag onto her other shoulder. ‘Hurry up, Sair, I’m melting.’
The front door opened and Virginia waved my mother goodbye, although they’d never met. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Mum driving into the nearest power pole, so intent was she on peering back at our host.
‘You’re invited to dinner,’ said Poppy, as she gave Virginia a warm hug.
I felt rather than saw Virginia pull away as if shocked by the contact.
‘Oh,’ she said.
‘Mrs Lum is an awesome cook,’ continued Poppy. ‘Wow, how cool is your house!’
Virginia’s house was…big. I don’t know how else to describe it. We were standing in the entry hall — I think that’s what you would call it, because I’d never actually seen an entry hall until then — which was bigger than our kitchen at home. On the wall was a portrait of the Sloan family, and underneath it was a skinny table, which held a vase of flowers that were real. My Aunt Elya had flowers in the best room of her house, but they were silk flowers and were perfectly fine as long as you didn’t expect any perfume when you sniffed them.
‘It’s so hot already,’ Virginia moaned, as if the weather were a personal attack on her comfort. ‘Thanks for coming. I was so bored. I did Pilates this morning then my voice coach cancelled, so there’s nothing else on for me today. Are you hungry? I have food. Mum and Dad are at work, but my brother Oliver is here. Somewhere. Maybe we should get a swim in before it gets too hot to be outside.’
I wanted to ask Virginia where her usual friends were and whether she had got back together with Finn. I guess that’s why I was really there — to find out about Finn. But I didn’t really know Virginia that well and it just seemed, well,
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