The fact that the phone was Jo's was the only thing that had saved it from being smashed to pieces. Maddie had decided, obviously against her better judgement, to call her father just to let him know she was fine and Jo had agreed to let her use her phone because Maddie was paranoid her father could trace her own phone. She hadn't been talking with him for more than ten minutes and it had turned into another raging argument about her future. More than ever she felt like her life wasn't her own anymore, and that her opinions and choices didn't matter.
Jo had let her rant and rave without interruption, and when Maddie had finally calmed down, Jo had suggested they go into town to get out of the house. Maddie had refused, but Jo had gone in any way to get some groceries, leaving Maddie to quietly fume on her own. What was it with her father and wanting to be so controlling? He never used to be like that. Did he? Her mother, maybe but not her dad. He'd been on her side when she was little but then everything changed when they had more money than they knew what to do with. It was great at first. She had a wardrobe other girls her age would kill for and a house straight out of a magazine. It hadn't taken long for her parents to become a lot more restrictive about everything from what she wore to what she ate. It seemed like every time she turned around, her choices were totally ignored in favour for what her parents wanted.
Despite Maddie's initial reservations, Jo bringing her to Chesterfield for a break had ended up being one of her best ideas. Being away from her family and away from the pressures of her life had given her some perspective. She still had no idea what to do about her life though, and she didn't know how much longer she'd be allowed to stay away before the rumours really kicked into overdrive.
She walked to the top of the stairs on the front veranda of the farm house and leaned her head against a post. She was looking out across the cane field, wondering what she was going to do about her life now that she realised how far she'd fallen when she got a text message. It was Tess.
Going swimming at the dam Want to come?
Maddie looked up toward the farm house. Sure enough, though she couldn't see clearly, she could just make out a couple of people on the veranda. She wasn't sure Jo would let her out of the house given her latest outburst, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. She replied to Tess, telling her to give her ten minutes to ask Jo.
Then she sent her another text.
Is that u on the veranda?
Yes How do you know?
Can see u
The person on the veranda, who Maddie now knew was Tess, waved. Maddie waved back.
I can see u What r u up to?
Maddie considered her answer.
Can only just see u Considering my future
That's a bit deep
Maddie laughed in spite of herself.
U haven't thought about ur future?
Nope What's to think about? Finish school, go to uni, get a job Simple
Maddie looked up. Tess had moved down to the closest corner, and Maddie could see it was definitely Tess now. Maddie text back.
My life not so simple
Ur on holidays How complicated can it be?
Maddie shook her head. She wished she could explain her situation to Tess but she didn't know how to.
Let's just say I have lots to think about
Want to talk about it?
Maddie sighed. She wasn't sure what else there was to say, but maybe talking to someone who didn't know about her situation could give her some perspective. She text back.
Yeah Maybe I'm not sure
K Here if u need
Maddie looked over at the farm house. She imagined Tess standing there, her blond hair tied back, loose strands falling across her face like they had that morning when she'd been concentrating so intently on icing the cupcakes. Not that she'd been watching Tess too closely. She wondered if Tess knew she stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth when she concentrated. Maddie smiled at the memory and text back
Thanks
How's your graze?
Scab off Skin is very pink
That's good How about ur ankle?
Bruising looks worse than it is Starting to go yellow
It'll be gone in a day or 2
The bruise or my ankle?
Ha ha I meant the bruise
Maddie smiled.
Dr let me get rid of my extra legs :)
But 4 legs suit u :-p
Oh so funny Glad to have my own two back
Heading off now Last chance A swim might clear your head Can come get u if ur ankle still sore :)
Maddie smiled. She could certainly do with the distraction but she had no idea when Jo would be back. She could just call Jo she supposed, but then that would give Jo a chance to say no. Instead, she replied to Tess's text with
I'll see u in 5
and then she sent Jo a quick text that said
Gone swimming with Tess Will be back for dinner.
∞
Tess decided to take Maddie up to the dam on Chitty, the old VW Beetle that'd had all the panelling taken off. It used to be the farm vehicle of choice, but it didn't get used much anymore thanks to getting harder and harder to start. Thankfully though, it didn't embarrass Tess today by deciding to be stubborn and they made it to the dam just in time to see Will launching himself off the rope swing and into the water near the tree house.
"You didn't tell me you had a tree house," Maddie said as she pulled herself out of the seat.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Tess said.
"Very," Maddie said. Tess helped her limp over to the old pontoon that was tied to the bank of the dam, and lowered her down onto a towel. She doubled back to retrieve the Esky and put it down on the bank beside the pontoon.
Lizzie was sitting cross-legged on a towel, her phone in her hand. Tess shook her head. "Can you put that down for one minute?"
"I'm just welcoming the new followers," Lizzie said. "The post only went live this morning and already it's been retweeted over a hundred times."
"Can we expect to have you in the real world any time soon?" Tess asked.
"Just give me one minute," Lizzie said, her thumbs working furiously over her screen.
Will swam closer and splashed at Lizzie, who pulled her phone away and scowled at him. "You break it, you buy me a new one."
"If you don't put it away, I'll drag you into the dam," Will said.
Lizzie narrowed her eyes, but put her phone into her bag. "There. Satisfied?"
"Very," Will said. "Now are you girls coming swimming or not?"
Tess looked at Maddie and said, "Do you want to go in?"
"In a minute," Maddie said. "I'll just watch you guys for a bit."
"Suit yourself," Tess said. She pulled off her t-shirt and dropped it beside Maddie and then walked up the bank and over to the tree where the rope swing hung. She took hold of the rope and pulled it to her. "See how far you can get?" she called to Will.
"Okay. But don't be a sook when I beat your ass again," Will replied.
Tess laughed and launched herself off the bank. She waited until she was at the top of the swing and let go. She flailed in the air, just for effect, and splashed into the brown dam water. When she surfaced, she shook her head and wiped her face. Will was already climbing back up the bank, so Tess swam across to give him some room.
He took hold of the rope, pulled it back as far as it would let him and took a running jump off the bank. He let go and splashed down beside Tess. When he surfaced he looked at Tess and seeing he hadn't beaten her said, "Best of three?"
"You're on," Tess said.
∞
Maddie watched as Will and Tess tried to best each other off the rope swing. She didn't really want to go swimming in the dam. She had a thing about swimming in water where she couldn't see the bottom and hoped Tess wouldn't push her to get in.
"Bloody show offs," Lizzie said. She stood up and pulled off her shorts and dropped them onto her towel. "Are you coming in?"
Maddie shook her head. "Nah. I'll just watch."
"Time to show those two how it's done," Lizzie said. She walked over to the rope swing and called, "Amateurs." She took hold of the rope and pulled it back. As she ran towards the edge of the bank, her foot slipped in the grass and she careened off the edge. Instead of swinging out into the dam like Will and Tess had, Lizzie screamed as she skidded across the top of the water before she finally let go of the rope. She surfaced, coughing and spluttering and Maddie couldn't help but laugh.
"I meant that," Lizzie said, as she swam over to Will and Tess.
Maddie watched as the three of them splashed around and dunked each other and thought about Freya and Andy. They were the only friends she had at that moment who knew the real Maddie. Though she could picture Andy jumping off a rope swing into muddy brown water, there was no way Freya would even put a toe in a dam. Despite everything that had happened over the last few months, the two constants in Maddie's life had been Freya and Andy. And Jo, if she was honest, but Jo was a different story all together. Though she was glad she'd decided to take a break from her hectic life, she decided that calling Freya and talk to her about some of the things that had been running through her head would help her decide what to do next. She needed to talk to her about where they were headed and whether they were all still even on the same page.
Tess swam over and rested her arms on the pontoon. "Sure you don't want to come in?"
"I'm quite happy watching you guys show off," Maddie said, nodding over to where Will and Lizzie were trying to dunk each other.
"It's not often we have someone to show off to," Tess said.
Maddie found herself blushing. She looked down at the towel she was sitting on and smiled.
"Hey," Tess said. "You want to see the tree house? It's probably cooler in there."
Maddie looked up. "I'd love to."
"Great," Tess said. She pulled herself up onto the pontoon, and Maddie bit her lip as she watched the water drip down Tess's legs. Tess wrapped a towel around her waist and held out her hand. She lifted Maddie to her feet and Maddie didn't mind a bit that Tess holding her so close to help her over to the tree house made her clothes wet.