“What’s the matter?” I asked, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. Alex looked completely broken. I expected to hear something truly dreadful. He didn’t even kiss me. He trudged across to the centre of the room, leaving me hanging.
I closed the front door and leaned my back against it as if I was barricading us inside. “Say something, please,” I begged.
After a long minute of silence, he flopped down on the nearest sofa, rested both elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.
I moved to sit beside him.
“Some days I have no clue what I’m doing,” he muttered.
I gripped his wrist, unsuccessfully trying to pull his hands free of his face. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“How am I supposed to deal with her? Do you know, Gabi?” he asked desperately. “If you can give me any insight into what the hell spins through the mind of a sixteen-year-old girl, I’d love to hear it.”
I let go of him and slumped back in the cushion. “What has she done?”
I shouldn’t have sounded as irate as I did, especially considering the story he went on to tell me was so tragic.
“She was supposed to stay at Nicole Lawson’s last night,” he choked. “Imagine how it felt finding out that she spent the night at Mitchell Tate’s dive of a shack.”
“She told you this?” I asked warily. I couldn’t imagine Charli volunteering that kind of information, especially to Alex.
He finally lifted his head to look at me. “No. Jasmine told me. She couldn’t wait to bring me up to speed,” he said bitterly.
My mind reeled as I tried to come up with something supportive to say. “Alex, I know that – ”
He jumped off the chair and cut me off with a disgruntled growl. “She’s sixteen, Gabrielle! I could understand it if she was in a relationship with him but there was nothing!” he ranted. “It’s all around town. Why would she do something like that?”
He looked absolutely stricken. I had no answers for him. I forged ahead anyway, trying to calm him. “It will pass. Gossip is always fleeting.”
He spun back to face me. “Do you really believe that?”
No, I didn’t believe it. I had a sinking feeling that Charli Blake had just committed social suicide.
7.DRAMA
I didn’t see Alex again that weekend. He spent two days holed up with Charli at home. They didn’t even go to the beach. My heart broke, and not just for him. I’d been in Pipers Cove long enough to know it was going to take Charli years to live down the mistake she’d made.
None of us were immune to errors in judgement and a dose of humiliation can be a great driving force when it comes to moving forward. The problem was, I didn’t think sixteen-year-old girls had the wisdom to see it.
No one expected her to show up to school on Monday, least of all me. I expected fifth period French to be the toughest for her. It was the last class of the day and from what I’d heard at lunchtime, the torment had been constant since nine o’clock. Year eleven French was the worst of the worst as far as wretches go.
If she’d failed to show up, not even I would’ve blamed her – but she did show. I wanted to leap of out my seat and offer her an armed escort as she walked in the door. She looked terrible – the kind of look that comes after crying solidly for two days.
The whole room fell silent as Charli slowly took the walk of shame down the aisle to her desk at the back of the class. I thought she’d pulled it off until a boy cowardly called her a slut and tried masking it with a fake cough.
“Who said that?” I demanded.
No one owned up. I felt the best plan of attack from there would be to quickly move on. I ordered them to take out their books and copy the notes on the board.
Charli sat down trying her best to appear unaffected by the cruel words. I knew better. She was blinking at a rate of knots, desperately trying to stop the tears spilling over. She didn’t speak for the whole lesson and made the wise move of making sure she was the last to leave at the end of class.
I called out to her as she passed my desk. “You owe me a detention, Charli,” I said quietly.
She stared blankly at me. It was then that I noticed there wasn’t a hint of colour in her ashen cheeks. Charli Blake was a brat, but she’d always been a pretty brat. Today she looked barely recognisable.
She didn’t even attempt to sass me. Instead, she walked to the nearest desk and dumped her bag down. “You can have me,” she muttered, slumping down on the chair. “I have nowhere to be.”
***
I managed to find reason to detain her afterschool every other day for three weeks. Alex knew all about my strategy. He also knew it was doing very little to save her from the mindless torment. Charli slowly withdrew from the world and he was terrified for her. We spent hours on end talking about it.
“This is the point where you’re supposed to tell me it’s too hard, Gabs,” he said, only half jokingly.
I put my hand to his cheek, turning his face toward me. “I’m not going anywhere,” I insisted. “I happen to think you’re worth it. This is temporary.”
I was telling the truth, but it didn’t mean I always understood his need to take Charli’s drama onboard. I’d observed it from a distance for months.
It wasn’t a traditional brother and sister relationship. Most of the time, Alex had an authoritative hold over Charli. He struggled hard to keep her in line and for the most part, she accepted it. I suspected that was why seeing her fall so far off track was so devastating to him.
“Do you think we’re temporary?” he asked cautiously.
I moved my hand, trailing my fingers along his stubbly cheek. “No, I think we’re fine. I miss you though, terribly.”
I felt his whole body tense through my hand. “I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together lately,” he said quietly. “I just need to keep a close eye on her until – ”
I put my finger to his lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Why do you put up with me?” he murmured beneath my finger. “This isn’t your problem.”
I dropped my hand to my lap and shrugged. “I cannot explain why, except to say that love makes us do all sorts of unreasonable things.”
He smiled for the first time in weeks. “You love me?”
It wasn’t a declaration I’d planned to make so soon but it was too late to take the words back. “I can’t find reason not to.”
He put his hand behind my neck and pulled me forward. His mouth easily found mine and before I knew what was happening, we’d found a temporary escape from the drama.
***
Almost a month after the scandal of the century broke, Charli started to show signs of recovery. In a tiny but important step, she’d agreed to spend the night at her best friend Nicole’s house.
Alex was reluctant to let her go but I argued that it would be a good break for both of them. My motives weren’t entirely pure. Without Charli to watch over, he was mine for the entire night.
I made the absolute most of it, starting with a stellar chicken chasseur.
“I love your chicken stews,” praised Alex.
I smiled across the table at him. “Just so you know, I have never served you stew.”
“I know.” He grinned back at me and I realised he’d been teasing me all along. “They’re more like casseroles.”
I shook my head. “You’re incorrigible.”
His smile slowly started to fade and the conversation took a serious turn. “Don’t give up on me, Gabs.”
“Why would I ever do that?”
Alex reached across the table for my hand. I met him half way. “Will you skive work tomorrow?”
I frowned. “I do not know what skive means.”
“Call in sick,” he explained, grinning again. “Spend the whole day with me.”
“That depends,” I replied. “If I spend the whole day with you tomorrow, will you spend the whole night with me tonight?”
“You have to ask???
?
“I’ve never woken up with you in my bed, Alex.”
He frowned at me as if it was something he’d only just realised. He held my hand tighter. “I am so sorry,” he murmured. “Don’t give up on me.”
***
I woke three times during the night, subconsciously expecting Alex’s side of the bed to be empty. But he was there each time, looking as handsome as I’d ever seen him.
The worried frown was noticeably absent, which made me happy. I was beginning to think it was going to become permanently etched across his forehead. He looked young and momentarily free of the drama that plagued him while he was awake.
Feeling a sudden urge to be closer to him, I snuggled in and rested my head on his chest.
“I love you, Gabs,” he whispered, raking his fingers through my hair.
“Say it again,” I whispered back.
“I love you, Gabs.”
I turned my head, kissed his warm chest, closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
8. BLACK RIVER
I was becoming quite skilled at calling in sick to my job. I’d done it twice in three months. That made doing it a third time a breeze. I stuck with my usual lie, feigning a terrible coughing fit before claiming to have the flu.
“You should really get that cough checked out, Gabrielle,” urged Tiffany.
“I will,” I croaked. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Alex received a text message from Charli, assuring him that she’d gone to school. She was a smart girl. She’d thought to attach a photo as proof.
That freed us up to have a wonderful day together with no worries, but when we arrived at his destination of choice I wasn’t confident that it would happen.
We’d driven an hour south and ended up at a river. I was devastated and wasted no time in telling him so. “Take me home.” I didn’t sound as angry as I’d hoped.
Alex turned off the ignition and reached for my hand. “Do you trust me, Gabrielle?”
“Unless you’re planning to throw me in the river you have no reason to ask me such a thing,” I replied, finally sounding irate.
He unclipped his seatbelt and leaned toward me. “I’m going to teach you to swim, if you’ll let me.”
I felt my heart start galloping at the mere thought. I stared through the windscreen at the water. It wasn’t even pretty water. It was ominously jet black and inky.
“In that?” I asked, horrified. “Look at the water!”
Alex’s hand moved to the back of my head, rubbing my scalp with his fingertips in a ploy to calm me down. “I promise you, if you don’t like it, we’ll leave.”
I already knew I wasn’t going to like it but it wasn’t going to get that far. My irrational fear of drowning would prevent me from setting foot anywhere near the water.
“No. I’m not doing it.” The words came out sounding much rougher than I’d planned.
Alex straightened up in the seat and spent an abnormally long time staring ahead at the water. “Okay,” he said finally. “You’ll just have to wait here then.”
“Why? Where are you going?”
He opened the door and began to get out of the car. “Swimming.”
***
Even I had to admit that he’d chosen the perfect day for it. The weather was fine and the day was bright. It wasn’t exactly warm but Tasmania rarely is. Locals like the Blakes’ seemed to have a high tolerance to low water temperatures. If the sun was shining, it was a good enough excuse to hit the water. Most of the time they were sensible enough to don a thick enough layer of neoprene to protect themselves against the chill.
Alex seemed to have lost his mind that day.
I watched through the windscreen in absolute disbelief as he stripped off every piece of clothing. He stood on the bank of the river wearing nothing more than a bulletproof look on his face. I couldn’t even look away. He was truly a perfect specimen of a man.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked through the open window.
His grin broadened and he threw out his arms. “I’m going swimming. Come with me.”
I furiously shook my head. “Never!”
I giggled then because I couldn’t help myself.
“Last chance,” he warned, taking a few backward steps toward the water.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I couldn’t take my mind off him either. I might not have been brave enough to venture into the water, but I was brave enough to try and coax him out.
I got out of the Ute and slammed the door hard, making sure I had his full attention.
“You’ve changed your mind?” he asked sceptically.
One at a time, I kicked off my shoes and continued walking toward him. “No. I am firm in my decision.”
His wide smile would have been visible from space. “So what are you doing then?”
I peeled off my shirt and tossed it to the ground, secretly hoping it wouldn’t get dirt on it. “What does it look like I’m doing?” I asked haughtily. “I’m disrobing.”
I could tell that he’d tried his hardest not to laugh – for at least a second. “Disrobing?” he repeated. “I love it when you talk dirty, Gabs.”
I was paying too much attention to Alex and not enough to where I was walking. The sharp stone I stepped on made the decision to take my shoes off a bad one. I stumbled to the side, somehow managing not to fall over.
“Do you want me to come and get you?” called Alex.
“No,” I quickly replied. “I cannot trust you not to throw me in the dirty river.”
Alex didn’t try hiding his laugh this time. It was so loud that I heard it echo across the water. “It’s not dirty,” he said finally composing himself.
I was close enough to get a good look at it by that stage. It looked positively toxic and no less black than it had looked from the car.
I shimmied out of my skirt, keeping my eyes on the water the whole time.
“It looks like a giant bowl of cola,” I complained. “It’s filthy.”
“The tannin makes the water brown,” he explained. “It’s organic. Look at the trees on the banks. See how they grow right into the water?”
I looked to the edge of the water on the far side of the river. There was no bank. The thick bush ended where the water began.
“The tannin seeps out of the bark. That’s what colours the water,” he continued.
“Are you sure that is true?”
“That’s the scientific explanation.” He grinned at me. “But I know a better one.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me,” I demanded.
“Finish disrobing first,” he teased. “You’re only half way there.”
I looked down, suddenly acutely aware that I was dressed in nothing more than my underwear. The only positive I could find is that my bra and panties almost matched.
I looked toward Alex who was now just a few yards away, still standing buck naked at the waters edge. “My plan was to get naked and coax you out of going swimming,” I revealed.
“Well, it’s never going to work now, is it?” he asked slyly. “You’ve just lost the upper hand by telling me your game plan.”
I gave it my best shot anyway. I unhooked my bra and dropped it to the ground. “All you have to do is come over here and you can have me,” I taunted.
His smile didn’t waver. “I already have you.”
Damn, he was good.
All I had left between victory and me was my panties, but I didn’t feel like I was winning. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was around, I slipped them off and tossed them at Alex. They missed him by a mile and landed in the dirt but he didn’t seem to notice.
“You are so bloody beautiful,” he told me.
“Thank you,” I replied, walking toward him. “Now tell me your version of why the water looks like black tea,” I demanded, taking his hand as he reached out to me.
“I’ll tell you when we’re in the water.”
“No,
Alex.” I shrugged free and turned around with the intention of hightailing it back to the car. His firm arm looped around my middle, stopping me from taking a single step. I could feel the warmth radiating off his body as he held my back to his chest. “Why are you so afraid?” he whispered in my ear.
“Because I can’t swim,” I replied shakily. “I’ll drown.”
“I promise to keep a firm hold on you,” he told me. “There is no way you’re going to drown today. Walk with me.”
Our feet shuffled in the dirt as he turned us around to face the water. “Baby steps, Alex,” I muttered.
We took short steps forward until we were standing knee deep in the water. It was so cold that it made me suck in a sharp breath.
“Still want to hear my story?” he asked, humming the words against the side of my neck.
“Yes.” My voice sounded tiny and terrified.
“It’s about a couple of fairies called Tansi and Rhosyn,” he began.
Fairies? Perhaps the cold water was making him delirious.
“Nonsense,” I whimpered.
“Hear me out,” he urged. “Tansi had a pretty spectacular job. She was in charge of making sand jewels.”
I’d never heard of sand jewels. Even after all this time there were still many English terms that confounded me.
In a shaky voice, I asked him to explain it to me. “What do they look like?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen one,” he replied. “Legend has it that they’re the most beautiful, bright jewels on earth, but they’re extraordinarily rare. Very few people have seen one.”
“You’re making this up,” I scoffed, still trembling.
“I’m not,” he insisted. “Tansi would spend months gathering sand and making it into jewels. Then she’d have to hide them.”
“Why?”
“Because sand jewels are the most precious gem on earth, and each one takes 709 years to make.”
I could overlook the very precise manufacturing time he’d given me. For some reason, I was more curious as to how they were made. He didn’t skip a beat when I asked him. It almost made me believe he wasn’t making it up as he went along.
“Tansi sources the finest sand and moulds it into the shape of the jewel. Then it has to cure.”