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  The girls ordered Peking duck spring rolls, crispy pork belly and chicken skewers with satay sauce (the latter being Lizzie’s request). Taylor also asked for a Geisha Colada, but the other girls stuck to water. It seemed that they weren’t in a hurry to test out their IDs just yet. Lizzie liked to think it was due to a show of solidarity for her and Zoe, but she knew better. They were either worried about taking in too many calories, or scared to try and pass for eighteen in a properly lit venue.

  As soon as Taylor had finished eating and downed the last of her drink, she jumped up.

  ‘OK girls. Those who are coming with me, let’s go. To you other two, I’m sorry, but I must party.’

  Lizzie waved her off. She didn’t mind, knowing she would be able to join them in a few weeks. ‘Have fun. I’ll see you on Monday.’ She was kind of glad that she had an excuse not to go. She was looking forward to seeing Gabe instead.

  Zoe didn’t look quite so happy to be abandoned, but Lizzie smiled at her supportively.

  ‘It’s OK. I’ll have some dessert if you want to hang around. They have a peanut brittle sundae I’d like to try.’

  ‘I guess I could get the fried ice cream,’ Zoe conceded.

  Taylor, Heather and Cara left without looking back, giggling excitedly.

  ‘Doesn’t it bother you?’ Zoe asked.

  ‘What exactly?’

  ‘That Taylor only ever really looks out for herself?’

  ‘To be honest, I don’t even really care anymore.’

  ‘So why are you still her friend?’

  ‘Habit, I guess.’

  ‘I’m so sick of hanging around with Heather and Cara.’

  ‘So why do you?’

  ‘Same reason I suppose.’

  ‘Did you ever see that guy you dated over summer again?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘I ran into him at a family lunch, but he was pre-occupied.’

  ‘Oh that sucks. Are there any guys at our school you like? Who are you going to the formal with?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I guess I should ask someone soon, but all the good ones are already gone.’

  ‘What about Nick or Josh?’

  ‘I don’t really know Nick. And Josh is going with Tina.’

  ‘Oh right. Well I’m sure something will work out. Are you heading straight home after this?’

  ‘Yep. You?’

  ‘No. I would normally ask if you wanted to come and watch a movie at my place, but I’m off to see Gabe. I had to work all week, so this is the first chance I’ll get to see him.’

  ‘How’s everything going with you two?’

  ‘Good. He’s a real sweetie.’

  ‘He is,’ she agreed.

  The girls ordered dessert and chatted about school and their plans for next year. Lizzie still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she was starting to contemplate a few different options. The more sensible choice would be to do something in Business or Law, but she was also toying with the idea of something musical too. She was top in her class, and she really enjoyed composing both classical and digital music. But of course, that wouldn’t pay as well unless she somehow got really lucky.

  Gabe texted Lizzie to say Jacques was out the front and ready to pick her up.

  ‘I have to go meet the chauffeur,’ Lizzie said, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Ha. Off you go then. Go and enjoy your rich boyfriend and his huge mansion.’

  ‘You’ll be OK to get home on your own? I could ask Jacques to give you a lift?’

  ‘Oh no, that’s fine,’ she said hurriedly. ‘I’ll just catch a cab.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes, of course. I’ll see you Monday.’

  Lizzie went out to meet Jacques, feeling bad for leaving Zoe. The poor girl was being ignored by the guy she gave her virginity to, and now she had to go home alone while her girlfriends were out partying or seeing their boyfriends.

  Lizzie tried to relax in the back of the car. She couldn’t quite get used to the whole pampering thing, but it was easy to see how people did.

  She hopped out at Gabe’s house and skipped up the path to the front door. He was already waiting for her and practically dragged her into his bedroom.

  ‘My parents are having a dinner with some of their boring old friends. I’m so glad you’re here. They’ve been treating me like a circus monkey.’

  ‘What have they been doing?’

  ‘Oh just the usual. Bragging about my grades. Making me talk about what it is we kids do these days in our spare time. But I don’t want to talk about them. I want to talk about you. Or more accurately, I want to do this.’ He grabbed her and started kissing her quite aggressively. He tasted like red wine.

  ‘Hey, slow down,’ she laughed, trying to pull away.

  ‘Why?’ he mumbled as he pushed her onto the bed and started unbuttoning her shirt. He buried his face in her chest.

  ‘Wait, stop,’ she said, squirming away. ‘You’re acting kind of crazy. Have you been drinking?’

  ‘Only a couple of glasses with dinner,’ he said while reaching down the front of her skirt.

  ‘Stop!’ she said more loudly and jumped off the bed. He started coming towards her again.

  ‘I said no!’ She opened the door and ran out. Gabe tried to follow her.

  ‘Don’t you dare!’ she yelled.

  She bolted out the front door and into the driveway. She saw Jacques a few metres away.

  ‘Jacques, can you please take me home? Now?’

  He looked quizzically at Gabe, who was standing in the doorway, panting.

  ‘Lizzie, please stay. We need to talk,’ Gabe said, now looking pained.

  ‘We’ll talk when you’re sober and not acting so psychotic,’ she said, while staring pleadingly at Jacques.

  ‘Hop in, ma’am,’ he said quietly, and then went over to Gabe. Lizzie slid into the back seat and locked the door, while Jacques talked quietly with her so-called boyfriend.

  Jacques soon returned to the car and turned on the ignition.

  ‘Are you OK, Ms White?’

  ‘Yes, thank you. So are you able to take me home?’

  ‘Of course.’

  They drove for a few kilometres before he said, ‘he’s not normally like that, you know.’

  ‘I do know. Is there something going on I should be aware of?’

  ‘It’s not my place to say. But there’s a lot of pressure on that boy.’

  ‘For next year, you mean?’

  ‘Yes. Gabe’s parents are quite specific with how they’d like their son’s life to unfold.’

  ‘And I take it he’s not in agreement?’

  ‘That would be correct.’

  ‘That still doesn’t excuse him for his behaviour tonight.’

  ‘I know. But maybe give him a chance to explain on Monday.’

  ‘We’ll see.’

  Jacques just nodded. Lizzie wondered how much he knew about the family and their personal matters. She assumed it would be quite a bit. Why was it that rich people always ignored those in service positions?

  Lizzie sighed. She was feeling quite fragile, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Gabe’s attitude tonight was partly due to the fact that they still hadn’t slept together. They’d gotten pretty close a few times, but Lizzie just wasn’t ready yet. Was Gabe getting fed up with waiting? If so, they might have to break up. She wasn’t going to be pressured into anything she didn’t want to do.

  When Lizzie got home, she gave Jacques a grateful smile.

  ‘Thank you so much for this. I know you could easily have refused to take me home. You’re not my employee, after all.’

  ‘No problem. You and Gabe make a lovely couple. I hope you can sort this out.’

  ‘Me too.’

  Lizzie went inside and headed straight for her room. She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. The insomnia had returned since she’d deleted Brandon’s music from her iPhone, but she had figu
red it was worth it if it meant she could focus all her attention on Gabe.

  But after half an hour of chaotic thoughts swirling around in her brain, she sat up and punched her pillow. She quickly went to her laptop, plugged her phone in, and copied an Orion’s Head album back onto it.

  She lay back down and put her headphones on.

  That did the trick.

  CHAPTER 17

  Lizzie ignored Gabe’s texts and phone calls all weekend. She even made her dad send him away when he tried coming over in person on Sunday.

  But on Monday, she knew there was no escaping him. He was waiting at the school’s front gate with a big sad frown on his face and a small gift wrapped box.

  He held it out. ‘Please take this. I know nothing can excuse my behaviour from Friday, but I hope this shows a tiny bit how sorry I am.’

  Lizzie wasn’t swayed that easily, but she took the package anyway.

  ‘I’m mad at you.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘You were disrespectful, and a bit scary.’

  He started to tear up. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Are you going to explain to me why you were being like that?’

  ‘I could, but it shouldn’t matter. There are no excuses to justify how badly I behaved.’

  ‘Well you can at least try to help me understand.’

  He ran his fingers through his hair.

  ‘Mum and Dad want me to go to the States next year and study at Harvard.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t know. So they can look cool to all their friends?’

  ‘And I take it you don’t want to go?’

  ‘No! My whole life is here. You’re here. I don’t want to go over to the other side of the world where I don’t know anyone and study with a bunch of preppy arseholes.’

  ‘I’m sure they’re not all bad. It could be a good opportunity.’

  ‘But I don’t want Mum and Dad mapping out my life for me. I already thought it was enough to stay here and do that stupid Economics degree. But apparently not. My Aunt Gayle even tried to talk to them for me, but they wouldn’t budge.’

  ‘That’s a shame. So what do you want to do?’

  ‘I’d actually quite like to be a stand-up comedian.’

  Lizzie stared. ‘I never knew that. How come you haven’t mentioned this before?

  ‘Because it’s not going to happen.’

  ‘But you’re really funny. You’d be great at it.’

  ‘Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not going to find out. If I ever want to have any type of relationship with my parents.’

  ‘That’s so sad. I think you should do what makes you happy.’

  ‘That would be nice,’ he agreed. ‘But that’s not how things work in my world.’

  ‘Well I’m not sure if that’s quite a good enough reason to justify how you acted. I’m still mad at you.’

  ‘I don’t blame you. I still think you should open your present.’

  She slowly ripped off the paper, and found herself looking at a jewellery box.

  ‘What’s this?’ she asked nervously.

  ‘Open it.’

  Lizzie popped open the small velvet box and discovered a pair of diamond earrings.

  ‘Oh my God! Gabe!’

  ‘Do you like them?’

  ‘They look really expensive.’

  ‘Would it be better if I told you they weren’t real diamonds?’

  ‘I don’t know. Are they?’

  ‘I’m not saying.’

  ‘Well thank you. They’re beautiful,’ she said begrudgingly.

  Taylor staggered past just as Lizzie was fixing them to her ears.

  ‘Ugh, I am so hung over,’ she groaned, and then perked up when she saw Lizzie.

  ‘Did you give those to her?’ Taylor demanded of Gabe.

  ‘Yes. She deserves them.’

  ‘What? Did she finally put out?’ Taylor chuckled.

  ‘Taylor, please fuck off,’ he said.

  Lizzie bit back a grin. She’d never heard Gabe be outright mean to Taylor before.

  ‘Fine,’ she sniffed. ‘I’ll see you later Lizzie. When your dickhead boyfriend isn’t going to interrupt.’

  Gabe turned back to Lizzie. ‘Sorry. Was I too rude?’

  ‘Borderline. But she’ll get over it. She’s never really talked to you very nicely.’

  ‘Oh, and I meant to say, please don’t think that the other night had anything to do with us not… you know…’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes! I mean, I want to, of course. And if it happens, then good. But if it doesn’t, that’s totally fine.’

  The bell rang.

  Gabe squeezed Lizzie’s arm. ‘I’ll see you at lunch? I brought a culinary masterpiece for you to try today.’

  ‘We’ll see,’ Lizzie said cautiously. ‘You can’t just buy your way back into my affections with a bunch of stuff.’

  ‘I know. But I’m going to do everything I possibly can to make it up to you.’

  Lizzie walked off to Maths. She wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Her boyfriend would have to work for her forgiveness.

  ***

  Lizzie spent the next few weeks keeping her distance from everyone. Taylor had wormed her way further into Heather and Cara’s circle, and they were going out drinking together most nights. Lizzie didn’t mind. She had work and school to keep her busy, and if she was completely honest, life was much easier without Taylor’s drama. Things were still a little uneasy with Gabe, but for the most part, their relationship was ticking along OK.

  The only person she saw more of, was Zoe. They sat together in all their shared classes and hung out occasionally on the weekends. She was a lot less work than Taylor, and Lizzie wondered why they hadn’t discovered each other’s company before.

  Lizzie’s eighteenth happily fell on a Saturday. She talked with Zoe, and they decided to have a couple of drinks at Lizzie’s house and then go out to dinner. Zoe’s birthday wasn’t until February, so Lizzie didn’t think it would be fair to organise something she couldn’t participate in.

  She had been indecisive about whether to invite Taylor, but in the end Taylor had remembered without any prompting and invited herself, Heather and Cara.

  ‘If you don’t want them there, you should just say,’ Zoe had reasoned.

  ‘Yeah, but you know Taylor. Once she gets an idea into her head…’

  ‘OK. But it’s your birthday.’

  ‘If they get too crazy, we’ll ditch them.’

  ‘Sounds good.’

  Zoe came over to Lizzie’s house at six on Saturday evening. She was wearing a long hot pink skirt with a slit up the thigh, and a black boob tube. Her auburn hair fell in gentle waves around her shoulders, and her porcelain skin was made up beautifully.

  ‘You look amazing!’ Lizzie said, impressed. ‘I’ve never seen you all fancy.’

  ‘Well, you know. Sometimes it’s fun to dress up.’

  ‘That it is,’ Lizzie agreed. She had also made a bit more effort than usual, wearing an emerald green dress with a deep v-neck, and a pair of cream heels.

  Lizzie poured them each a glass of champagne. ‘Here’s to a fun night.’

  ‘Cheers!’ Zoe said, smiling. She sat down in the living room and started looking through her phone for music to play through Lizzie’s Bluetooth speaker.

  The doorbell rang. Lizzie answered it.

  ‘Gabe! I thought I was meeting you later!’ Originally, he had been going to come to the dinner, but when he found out he would be the only guy amongst a bunch of girls he didn’t like, he had asked to see her separately afterwards.

  Gabe produced a bouquet of roses from behind his back. ‘I wanted to give you these first. And this,’ he added, leaning forward and giving her a kiss.

  ‘Thank you. You’re very sweet.’ She showed him her ears. ‘I’m wearing your earrings.’

  ‘Good to see. So are you just waiting on the girls?’

  ‘Yep. Zoe’s already here, b
ut the others should be here any moment.’

  ‘I didn’t know you were friends with Zoe,’ he said, looking slightly confused.

  ‘Huh? I’m sure you did. Haven’t you seen us talking at school?’

  ‘Yeah, but I meant like good friends.’

  ‘Oh. Well, yeah, since Taylor has decided Heather and Cara are more fun than me, Zoe and I have hung out a bit more.’

  ‘Right. How funny I didn’t notice before.’

  ‘It’s OK. I know you live in your own little world.’

  He gave Lizzie a hug. ‘I must do. Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it then.’

  ‘I’ll meet you in the Valley at ten?’

  ‘Can’t wait.’ He waved and left.

  Lizzie inhaled the scent of roses as she carried them upstairs.

  ‘Oh, they’re pretty,’ Zoe said.

  ‘From Gabe.’

  ‘Naturally.’

  ‘He didn’t know we were friends. Isn’t that odd?’

  ‘I guess. But then you two are pretty oblivious to the rest of the world when you’re together.’

  ‘That’s true. But it seemed like he was weirded out by it or something.’

  ‘I get the impression that he can be a bit of a control freak. He probably just thought he should know already.’

  Gabe a control freak? Lizzie didn’t think that at all. But then maybe she did have blinders on when it came to him. He had certainly showed a darker side to his personality on Taylor’s birthday.

  Lizzie didn’t have time to think more about that though, because the doorbell rang again, and this time it was Taylor, Heather and Cara.

  ‘Happy birthday!’ they screamed as they ran up the stairs to air kiss Lizzie. Lizzie recoiled slightly at their excessive display.

  ‘We have a surprise for you tonight,’ Taylor said mysteriously.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘You’ll see. Finish your drink and then come with us. You and I are going in a cab, but Heather is going to drive the other two so she can fill Zoe in.’

  Zoe looked at Lizzie worriedly.

  ‘I promise I had nothing to do with this.’

  ‘I believe you.’ She turned to Taylor. ‘What about my dinner reservation?’

  ‘All sorted. Just go with the flow. We’re taking control tonight.’

  Lizzie downed the rest of her champagne and nervously followed Taylor to a cab waiting outside.