Dismissed Read online

  ‘I’ll pretend you didn’t say that because I know you’re freaking out right now. How can I help?’

  ‘You can not tell anyone for a start.’

  ‘Of course I won’t. Do you want me to go with you to buy a test or something?’

  ‘Maybe. Could you drive me now?’

  ‘But I don’t have the car here.’

  ‘We can walk back to your place and then go. Please! I wouldn’t be able to focus this afternoon anyway. And if we hurry, we might get back in time for the last lesson.’

  Lizzie was torn. She didn’t want to skip out, but she knew if it was her having a pregnancy scare, she’d want to know either way as soon as possible.

  ‘OK. Do you think we should just tell the office we’re going…’

  ‘No! I don’t want to have to answer questions. Let’s just go.’

  Lizzie peeked outside. There weren’t any teachers about.

  ‘Alright.’

  They hurried out the front gate and down the path. Taylor slowed her pace once they were around the corner and out of sight.

  ‘Come on. We need to keep moving if we’re going to be back on time,’ Lizzie urged.

  ‘I don’t think I’m going to go back now.’

  ‘Well I’d like to.’

  ‘Fine. But I’m just going to go home after buying the test.’

  ‘Do you want me to stay with you?’

  ‘No. I think I need to do that part on my own.’

  ‘As long as you’re sure. What will you say to Jason?’

  ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.’

  ‘He probably won’t be very keen on the idea of becoming a father.’

  ‘I’m not too fucking keen on the idea of becoming a mother! It’s my birthday next week! I can’t be a pregnant eighteen year old! My life would be over!’

  ‘Oh Taylor. It’s going to be OK. If it turns out you’re having a baby, I’ll help out.’

  ‘Wanna have it for me?’ she joked darkly. ‘You’re already good at all that mum stuff. You can cook and sew. And you’re super sensible.’

  ‘Sorry babe. But I could at least come to your Lamaze classes and be there for the birth.’

  Taylor squeezed her hand. ‘You rock. I’m sorry I’ve been so distant lately. I guess I was worried you would judge me for going out with Jason, when I really do like him. And I think he likes me too.’

  ‘Well he’s stuck around for a while, so that’s got to count for something. How does your relationship work anyway?’

  ‘I don’t know. We see each other two or three times a week. Mostly at my place when Mum’s out, or at the Pancake Parlour.’

  ‘You don’t go back to his apartment?’

  ‘No. Brandon is always there. I still don’t want him to know.’

  ‘And Jason hasn’t let it slip?’

  ‘No. I think he now kind of likes the idea of dating one of his students without him knowing. It’s like this passive aggressive fuck you or something.’

  The girls arrived at Lizzie’s place and jumped in the car.

  ‘Can we go to Chemist Warehouse?’ Taylor asked. ‘They have so many staff that they probably won’t remember me next time.’

  ‘We could go to the supermarket and do self-serve if you’re really worried,’ Lizzie offered.

  ‘Actually, that would be better. Thanks Lizzie. You are such a good friend. I know I’m not the easiest person to deal with sometimes. It’s just you always have everything so together. It’s impossible to compete with you.’

  ‘We shouldn’t be competing in the first place,’ Lizzie said gently.

  ‘I know. But you make me want to do something with my life rather than just cruise through.’

  ‘Why? I don’t even know what I want to do next year. At least you know you want to travel.’

  ‘As if I’d be able to afford it. I have no money saved, and it’s not like Mum is loaded.’

  ‘What about your dad?’

  ‘He saves all his money for his real family.’

  ‘You could blackmail him. Threaten to report him to the tax office if he doesn’t give you something.’

  Taylor laughed in surprise.

  ‘You know, that isn’t such a bad idea. How did you think of something so devious?’

  ‘I’m not as straight as you think.’

  ‘You’re straight, sweetie. But that’s why I love you.’

  They parked in the Indooroopilly shopping centre car park and walked down to Woolworths. Taylor grabbed a Cleo magazine on the way. She suddenly seemed quite nervous, her eyes darting left and right.

  ‘Relax. Someone will think you’re trying to shoplift or something.’

  ‘Can you do it?’ she asked. ‘I’ll wait over here near the makeup. Just get one that’s easy to use.’

  ‘OK. Hang on a minute.’ Lizzie went over and looked at the different brands. There was one that had a digital read-out on the stick. She decided it would be the easiest to interpret, so she grabbed the box.

  ‘Let’s go,’ she said a moment later. ‘Do you want me to pay for it too?’

  ‘No, that’s fine. I’ll take it from here.’ Taylor snatched the package off her and tucked it behind the magazine, holding them both close to her chest.

  ‘We’re not going to see anyone we know,’ Lizzie reasoned. ‘They’re all still at school.’

  ‘But there are parents, and maybe even teachers who’ve left early.’

  ‘I don’t see anyone I recognise.’

  Taylor surreptitiously scanned the two items at the checkout and jammed them into a bag. ‘Can you drop me at home?’

  ‘Sure.’

  Lizzie drove Taylor over to Bardon and pulled up in the driveway.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want any moral support?’

  ‘Yes. Thanks anyway.’

  ‘Will you call or text when you find out?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Promise?’

  ‘Yes! Now go back to school. You might still make Music class.’

  ‘As long as you’re sure.’

  ‘I am! Leave!’

  Lizzie looked at Taylor one last time to make sure, and then drove back to school. She parked in the car park and checked her watch. It was already halfway through Music. She didn’t think it would be worth going in so late, so she went to her locker to collect some books and prepared to head home early.

  She belatedly realised that she had abandoned Gabe at lunch, so she quickly texted him to let him know that everything was fine.

  She’d just started walking back to her car when she heard someone coming up behind her.

  ‘Lizzie?’

  Shit. Again?

  She turned around. ‘Hi Mr Thomas.’

  ‘Do you have a free lesson now?’

  ‘Uh, sort of.’

  ‘What do you mean sort of?’

  Lizzie mentally groaned. Why couldn’t she have just said yes?

  ‘I was… um…’

  ‘Don’t tell me you’re cutting class? Didn’t you just promise me that you were going to make more of an effort?’

  ‘I had something important to do.’

  ‘So important that you’d risk detention and a note home to your father?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You better fill me in then.’

  ‘I can’t. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Well then I guess we’re just going to have to go see Mr Jenkins.’

  ‘No! Please don’t.’

  ‘You have five seconds to explain, before I go to the office and report you.’

  Lizzie panicked.

  ‘I was helping Taylor.’

  As soon as she said the words, she regretted them.

  He narrowed his eyes.

  ‘With what? Where is she?’

  ‘At home.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘She’s sick.’

  ‘Then why didn’t she go to the sick bay?’

  ‘Because Taylor doesn’t do things by the book.’


  ‘OK, I’ll give you that. So, what? You drove her home?’

  ‘Yes. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.’

  ‘Is she alright?’

  ‘I don’t know. I hope so.’

  ‘What’s wrong with her?’

  ‘Girl stuff.’

  He wrinkled his nose. ‘Say no more.’ And then he frowned. ‘Hang on, is that just your way of getting me to stop asking questions?’

  ‘No! But I would rather not talk about Taylor’s personal problems if that’s OK.’

  ‘Personal problems? I thought you said she was sick.’

  ‘She is.’

  Lizzie’s phone rang. She ignored it.

  ‘Aren’t you going to get that?’ he asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘What if it’s Taylor?’

  ‘She can wait.’

  ‘You should answer it. It might be important.’

  ‘She can leave a message.’

  ‘What if she needs you?’

  Lizzie shakily pulled the phone out of her bag and pressed the answer key.

  ‘Hello?’

  Brandon snatched the phone out of her hand and pressed the speaker button just as Taylor shouted through the receiver, ‘I’M NOT PREGNANT!’

  Lizzie grabbed the phone back and stabbed the button to turn off the speaker, and then held it back up to her ear while glaring at Brandon.

  ‘That’s great, Taylor. Can I call you back in a second? A teacher is coming.’

  ‘No rush. Yay! I’m so happy!’

  Lizzie hung up the phone and stared at Brandon, who had a strange expression on his face.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Lizzie demanded. ‘You’re lucky I don’t report you to the office. That was highly inappropriate.’

  He didn’t say anything for a minute. But eventually he managed to ask what he was thinking.

  ‘Lizzie, is Taylor still sleeping with my brother?’

  ‘No,’ she said unconvincingly.

  ‘Tell me the truth.’

  ‘It’s not my place to say.’

  ‘I need to know.’

  ‘I don’t really talk to Taylor that much anymore.’

  ‘That’s bullshit. You just drove her home so she could do a pregnancy test.’

  ‘Um, Brandon. You do realise you’re not acting like a teacher right now, don’t you?’

  ‘Fuck! I can’t believe he’s still having sex with her, after I warned him off months ago.’

  ‘He probably kept doing it because you told him not to.’

  ‘Probably,’ he admitted. ‘But he’s done it now for the last time.’ He stalked off to this van.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Lizzie asked, worried. ‘Please don’t tell him about any of this.’

  ‘That brother of mine needs a wake-up call,’ he said determinedly. ‘And I’m going to give it to him.’

  Lizzie watched him drive off.

  She didn’t like the sound of that one little bit.

  CHAPTER 16

  Lizzie braced herself for the fallout, but it never seemed to come. She saw Taylor at school the following week and tried to casually ask if anything had happened with Jason.

  ‘Did you talk to him?’

  ‘No. Why?’

  ‘I just wasn’t sure whether you would tell him what happened.’

  ‘Why would I do that? Nothing did happen.’

  ‘But you’re supposed to be a couple and he should be supporting you if you need it.’

  ‘Lizzie, I don’t know if you’ve met Jason, but telling him that I might be pregnant would be the absolute last thing he’d want to hear.’

  ‘Doesn’t that tell you something?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So you haven’t heard from him at all since Friday?’

  ‘Only a text to say he was going to Byron Bay for a few days and he’d call me when he got back.’

  Lizzie wondered if Brandon had anything to do with that, and if Jason was in fact in Byron Bay.

  ‘Will he be back for your birthday?’

  ‘No, which is a bit of a shame. But he should be back for the celebration on the weekend.’

  ‘You’re not upset he’ll be away on your actual birthday?’

  ‘Lizzie, we’re not married. And I’ll be at school most of the day anyway.’

  ‘It’s your eighteenth though.’

  ‘I know. Which is why this weekend is going to be epic! You’re still coming out, aren’t you?’

  ‘Maybe for a while. I assume you’ll want to head out clubbing after dinner?’

  ‘Yeah, but that won’t be until late. And you can always try sneaking in with us.’

  ‘No thanks. I don’t mind waiting a few weeks until I can finally do it legally.’

  ‘I’m so excited for both of us! Is everything sorted for your birthday too?’

  ‘Kind of. Except I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out after dinner, because no one else is going to be eighteen.’

  ‘But I will be! And Jason is old enough!’

  ‘I do not want Jason at my birthday.’

  ‘Well not at the dinner, obviously. But after.’

  ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t want to hang out with him. Ever.’

  Besides the fact that he was a tool, he was a constant physical reminder of Brandon that she didn’t need.

  Taylor looked slightly hurt. ‘You just don’t get him.’

  ‘I think it’s you that doesn’t get him Taylor.’

  ‘How could you say something like that?’

  ‘If he was a good guy, he’d be here for your birthday.’

  ‘Hey, he can’t help it that he had a trip planned before we even met.’

  ‘Fine. I don’t want to talk about him anymore, OK?’

  Brandon walked past at that moment. ‘Hi girls. How’s everything this morning?’

  ‘Fine thanks,’ Taylor answered for both of them. Lizzie was still angry at him for snatching her phone and invading her privacy.

  ‘Are you two sorted with your assignments?’ he asked.

  ‘Yep,’ Taylor replied.

  ‘Almost,’ Lizzie added.

  ‘Good. I’ll see you a bit later.’

  Taylor watched him walk away.

  ‘He’s such a douchebag.’

  Lizzie raised any eyebrow in surprise. ‘Do you really think that?’

  ‘I just hear stuff from Jason and he sounds like such a dick. For example, he always has to have the final say in the band when they’re recording. Jason never gets to make suggestions.’

  ‘I find that hard to believe.’

  ‘It’s true. And if Jason has an important meeting that runs over into a band practice, Brandon gets super mad without even listening to the reason why.’

  Lizzie hid a smile. She imagined Jason would consider having sex with Taylor or getting stoned an important meeting, and Brandon would see right through it.

  ‘Jason also wants to record his own stuff, but Brandon won’t let him,’ she continued.

  ‘What do you mean he won’t let him?’

  ‘He said Brandon wants him to dedicate all his energy to Orion’s Head. I mean, I get it from Brandon’s perspective. He wouldn’t want to have to compete with his brother, especially if it turned out he was better solo than him. But it’s a bit selfish.’

  Lizzie gaped. Did Taylor really believe that? She was sure it would be hard enough trying to motivate someone like Jason to pull his weight in a group situation without adding solo ambitions into the mix. She didn’t blame Brandon if he did ask him to contribute all his creative efforts to the band.

  ‘Well, I guess that’s something they need to sort out themselves. Why are you trying to impress Brandon in English then if you don’t like him?’

  ‘I’m not. I’m just ripping off all this stuff I found online. I google the questions just before we go into class. He doesn’t even realise. He’s so dumb.’

  ‘Maybe he just trusts his students to actually do the work.’

  ‘Pfft. Wh
y bother? None of this will matter next year anyway.’

  Lizzie didn’t agree, and she found that her views were becoming more and more opposite to Taylor’s. She knew it was only a matter of time before they no longer had anything in common. And she suspected it would be sooner, rather than later.

  ***

  On Saturday night, Lizzie found herself out at the Kwan Brothers restaurant with Taylor, Heather, Zoe and Cara. She wanted to be supportive of Taylor for her birthday, but she wasn’t feeling very tolerant towards Heather and Cara.

  Tonight they were hyperactive because Cara had borrowed her older sister’s ID and was going to use it to try and get into a club with Taylor. Heather had gone one better and actually gotten a fake ID. So that just left Zoe and Lizzie to fend for themselves afterwards.

  Taylor had repeated her final year of primary school, which was why she was already turning eighteen. And Lizzie had moved up from Victoria halfway through Year Four, so she’d been kept in that grade in Queensland rather than put in the class above with kids her own age. Which was why she was about to turn eighteen too. Even Gabe wasn’t going to turn eighteen until March next year. He’d recently started making jokes about Lizzie being a cougar, and he mentioned it every time he saw her driving. ‘The cougar in the Kuga,’ he laughed. Lizzie had found it amusing at first, but now she was getting a bit sick of his teasing.

  When Heather and Cara weren’t paying attention, Lizzie whispered in Taylor’s ear.

  ‘If the girls are going out with you, won’t they see Jason?’

  ‘He’s not coming clubbing.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I’m going to meet him after.’

  ‘Won’t it be really late by then?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘Was that always the plan?’

  ‘Sort of. Brandon wanted to do some recording first or something.’

  ‘Oh, OK.’

  ‘It would have been weird trying to explain everything to the girls anyway. I don’t trust Heather not to spread it around the school.’

  ‘Are you guys talking about me?’ Heather interrupted.

  ‘We were just saying how much we liked your hair tonight,’ Taylor said, lying smoothly.

  Heather beamed. ‘Thanks. I did it myself.’

  Heather’s hair looked the same as it always did. She had it styled in a messy fishtail braid, with her fringe loose and swept to one side. She was a pretty girl, but her personality made her ugly to Lizzie.