"Who are we picking up?"
The cool breeze through the window lifted my hair from the shoulders, whipping it into a frenzy that trailed behind me as the car flew down the freeway. I examined the Gangbang text chain, where everyone had organised who was driving who to our group picnic. Chance and Daria were eldest of the group and the only two eighteen-year-olds, and therefore the only ones eligible for licenses.
Since they were both only on their first year of licensing, they could both on take one passenger. Chance had organised to take Cady, strangely enough, given Alex was living with him. Daria was driving Jace, as usual.
Dad looked over at me. "List, please."
I scrolled through the messages to find the list of our passengers. "Um," I said, chewing thoughtfully on the end of my frappe straw. "We've just got to grab Alex and the new girl, I think. Oh, and I invited Cole Knight, too. But they're already at Alex's, so you just have to stop by the Krisler's."
I'd asked Chance to stop by my house two hours ago to pick up a mystery package—i.e., Knight—and promised him that I would explain later. But really, Knight needed to get out of the house and socialise. I was being a bad mother keeping him locked away. And if he kept being forced upon Austin, I couldn't trust he would have any brain cells left by the time I returned from the picnic.
"Cole Knight?" said Dad. "I didn't know you two were close."
"Uh, they're not," Kaelin interjected from the backseat. I'd told her about Knight yesterday, and she was part of the defence committee of keeping-Knight-secret. It was a small group. "I just have a massive crush on him. I asked Lena to invite him. I met him at this function last year, super cute dude."
Dad's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"
Kaelin laughed awkwardly. She was awful at this. "Um, yeah. But Cole Knight is on my hall pass list, so Jules was like, 'Kae, baby, you should totally go for it. Rock on.' So... that's what I'm doing. Rocking on." Kaelin held her fist in the air with the pointer and pinky fingers extended, in the most embarrassing and half-heartened display of rock I'd ever seen in my whole life.
Her strangely surfer imitation of Julian made me stifle a giggle. Jules was a soft-spoken, sweet and supportive type, a little flirty and gorgeous beyond belief, but had never, in his entire life, said Kae, baby or rock on.
I was never inviting Kaelin on a stealthy recon mission.
"Uh, okay," said Dad, his eyes betraying his utter bafflement. But he was used to Kaelin's pervasive weirdness by this point.
I just shrugged, glad that Kaelin's track record for having a strange approach to life meant that there weren't too many follow up questions. Not that "oh, yeah, we talk and I thought it could be fun" wouldn't have sufficed. Kaelin was forever a go big or go home kind of gal.
I turned around in my seat to look at Kaelin, who was scrolling through my playlist to pick the next song. "How's Jonah getting there?"
"Daria's taking him," said Kaelin, absently.
"I thought she was taking Hartley?"
Kaelin grinned. "Concerned about your new bestie?" she asked innocently. "Don't worry, she's taking Lover Boy too. I think she's having him squat in the back under a blanket or something, so she doesn't get done for overloading."
"That little rebel," I gasped. "She's just got so many layers. I love her."
Dad threw me a quick look of surprise. "Are you into Daria or Jace?"
"I don't think she knows yet," said Kaelin. "She's confused."
"I support you either way, honey!" he said.
"Thanks, Dad."
He pulled off the freeway at the next exit, turning through the complex web of streets and rolling around the roundabouts with the effortless practise that years of dropping me at the Krisler residence had bestowed upon him. While our house had always been the favoured hangout destination—a professional chef tended to sweeten the deal—we had known each other long enough that all of their houses were as familiar to me as my own.
When Dad pulled up in front of the Krisler's cute single-story home, I texted Alex to let him know of our arrival.
Moments later, Alex and an unfamiliar blonde girl emerged from the front door. Alex was wearing his familiar mischievous grin, along with a band t-shirt and deeply embarrassing dad shorts. His new blonde friend embodied the girl-next-door look; her hair was twisted into two delicate braids, and her top was a cute, flirty yellow tie-top, paired with a short white skirt and matching white sneakers. She was, quite frankly, gorgeous. Cady beautiful, but with a sunny smile that Cady wouldn't be caught dead in.
The pair raced down the driveway, laughing. Knight followed at a leisurely pace, strolling and holding his hand up to block the sun as it beat down into his eyes. Alex and the new girl reached the car first and slid into the seats next to Kaelin. The new girl's eyes were alight with amusement. I liked her already.
Knight moved around the back of the car, popping the boot and sliding into the extra seat at the back. "Oh, holy shit," said Knight, when he saw the food packed into the back. "I didn't realise we were making a detour through all of South America feeding the children."
"Did I go overboard?" I asked him.
"No, your ship sunk under the weight of an entire supermarket."
"Thank you for the lift, David," said Alex, breathless from running and laughter. "What's up, girls? This is Callie Mason. She's in my French class."
Callie smiled sweetly. It was the kind of smile I'd seen from Daria or McKenna. Kind and friendly. "Hi. Lena and Kaelin, right? It's so nice to meet you, I've heard so many good things." Her accent was American, a pure southern American belle.
"Really nice to meet you too, Callie," I said. "Hey Alex, hey Knight."
Knight nodded at me and winked. "Long time no see."
"Oh, it's been ages. I barely remembered what you looked like!" I exclaimed.
He grinned.
"So, Callie," said Kaelin, appraising the new girl with a welcoming expression. Kaelin was totally weird—arguably a complete nutjob, an absolute basket case—but she had always had the knack for making people feel comfortable. "Did you just transfer to our school this semester?"
"Yeah!" Callie said. "I'm here for a year on an exchange program. I've always wanted to come here, and I thought it would be a lovely change of scenery for my senior year."
"Senior year," Alex repeated. "The lingo is so weird to hear in real life."
Callie shoved his arm lightly. "And I find your lingo weird. But yeah, I'm so excited, and everyone here is so lovely. I mean, Alex has been incredible. I'm so lucky to have found a friend so quickly. Although, I think his brother hates me. He convinced me to help him draw a penis on Chance's cheek while he was sleeping. I really hope he didn't cop a look at my face. Maybe I can pretend it was someone else."
Alex grimaced. "Hence why Chance ditched me and drove Cady. I used permanent marker. He isn't thrilled."
Well, that mystery was solved. Alex's penchant for penis pictures strikes again.
It seemed that Callie, for all of her southern manners and Daria-esque charm, had a mischievous side that was absent in McKenna and Daria. Honestly, I loved her already.
Dad eyed Knight through the rear-view mirror. "Nice to see you, Cole. It's been a while. Tell your parents I said hello."
Knight nodded with a tight smile. "Thank you, David. And for the lift too. I'm sure if my parents were here, they'd say hi back." It was evident that the news of his estrangement was hardly public knowledge. And for all of Knight's refusal to broach the subject, I couldn't image that being kicked out of your home would be an easy pill to swallow.
"So, Callie," I said, noting Knight's discomfort. He nodded gratefully at me for the subject change. "I think I've heard that lots of Americans commit to college in... you guys call it Junior year, right?" Callie nodded. "Are you planning on going to college?"
"I'm not sure, actually," said Callie. "I used to be so set on the American college experience, but now I think I'd kind of dig a gap year; travel, see the world."
"That's awesome," said Kaelin. "I'm not doing the full gap year, but my boyfriend and I are going to defer our first uni semester and backpack through Europe."
Callie's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's awesome. Maybe I'll bump into you there!"
Kaelin and Callie broke into amicable chatter, their voices increasingly high-pitched as excitement built. It was one of the best things about female interaction; 30 seconds, and you were best friends.
I caught Alex's eye, and he hitched a thumb toward Knight with curiosity written all over his face. Knight had joined my father in belting a pitchy rendition of I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. It was horrific, like, practically a war crime.
I'll tell you later, I mouthed at him.
The look he gave me in return said, you better.
It seemed the Cole Knight secret would no longer be kept under wraps. At least it gave me more assistance to smuggle him in and out of the house.
Half an hour later, Dad pulled into the car park of the gardens Daria had declared the best picnic spot ever. I could already see Daria and Chance's cars side-by-side in the lot; both of them were punctual to a fault.
Our motley crew piled out of my father's BMW.
"Did you need a hand carrying anything?" Callie asked. "Alex said you brought all of the food. Something about a chef."
Alex frowned. "No, I said most of the food."
"Alex, you brought coke and mentos. If you're not planning on eating it, it's not food."
I raised an eyebrow at them. "Coke and mentos?"
Callie sighed. "He wants to create an explosion in Chance's face as revenge for ditching him as a lift."
I bumped him with my shoulder. "We were way more fun anyway."
"It's the principle of it all!" Alex proclaimed.
Knight patted Alex's back in agreement.
"In terms of helping me carry," I said. "Thanks for much for offering, Callie. It would be handy. I may have asked Natia, the chef, to go slightly overboard."
Kaelin popped the boot and stared. "Oh, holy shit."
Sandwiches, fruit platters, charcuterie boards, cupcakes, carrots, meats, brownies, icy poles, salads, potatoes, an entire ham, chips, chocolate bars, fairy bread, lamingtons, sushi, Nutella, tins of condensed milk, wraps, focaccias, finger buns, pastas... it was quite a selection. Admittedly, I may have gone slightly overboard.
Alex picked up the ham. "I didn't realise we were also providing Christmas lunch for a nearby family."
"Gross excessive waste," said Kaelin. "I love it."
I picked up the condensed milk. "Time to lift some weights."
The five of us collected the food, balancing it carefully to ensure we were carrying the maximum amount of food possible. It became increasingly inevitable that two trips were required to carry all of the food.
"I'll wait," Dad said, leaning back in his seat and pulling his newspaper from the side car door.
We picked our way carefully across the lawn to avoid dropping food for the seagulls to collect. Under a large oak tree, Daria had set up a large picnic blanket with enough sun to dapple the ground but shady enough that we wouldn't be forced to squint.
I became increasingly thankful for the shade when I saw Jace and my breath hitched. He was sitting next to Daria, his laugh full-bodied as he listened to her story. Shade was good. Light was the enemy. Shade meant that Jace Hartley was of this world. Pretty, sure. But it was a kind of pretty that didn't make my chest ache.
Don't think about Jace Hartley, Lena. You have a date tomorrow night. You are friends. Most of the time, you don't even really like him. Remember that time you wanted to stab him with a pen?
My breathing evened out at the same moment as Callie's caught, having clearly realised the crew that we were walking towards. It wasn't surprising, really. Cady received lots of double takes like this; she was undoubtedly the most beautiful person I'd ever met.
"You have hot friends," Callie said. She looked the boys up and down appreciatively, a sultry look passing over her expression. Okay, not a Daria/McKenna carbon copy. "What about him?" She subtly gestured at Chance, who was doodling on a sleeping Jonah's arm. "I didn't get a good look at his face before, but he's cute."
I shook my head. "No go, my friend. He plays for the men's team. As the penis on his left cheek that you helped to orchestrate would suggest."
"How about him?" Her eyes immediately slid to Jace and came alight, an action that made me want to throw up. It was rather evident that her appreciation of Chance had been a misguided attempt to play off her reaction to stupid Jace Hartley. Maybe even the dappled sunlight was enough to give him his superpowers.
"Not that one," Knight said. "He plays for the Lena Montez team."
Callie looked apologetic. "Oh, sorry. Is that your boyfriend?"
My stomach lurched. "Yeah, uh, no. I hated him with every fibre of my being about a week ago. Go for your life. Though as your aspiring friend, I would like to warn you. Terrible guy."
Kaelin frowned at me.
"What? I'm allowed to say that now, 'cos we're friends."
Callie smiled at me. "Oh, I'm not really looking for anything, so don't worry about me trying to steal your friend or anything. He's just really hot."
"Sure, if you're into Lucifer-incarnate," I said automatically. Oh, shit. Was that a friendship thing to say?
Callie stuck her tongue out slightly as she tried to rebalance a packet of crackers atop a watermelon. "If Lucifer-incarnate looks like that? Then yes I'm into it."
I laughed lightly as Callie strutted her way forward, moving quickly to catch up to Alex and Kaelin. Knight and I trailed a quite a few metres behind, but I could still hear the sound of her introducing herself to the group with a bright smile and pleasant round of compliments and greetings. She really was a lovely girl. It didn't stop the unfamiliar tug deep within my gut.
Knight fell into step beside me. I could see that he was grinning. "Someone jealous?"
I ran my tongue over my teeth. "Nope."
Knight smirked. "Yeah, okay."