223
The farm, as Alex explains to me, is their grandparents' second property. It is half an hour out of the center of Hobart where the city turns to bush. The farm itself has a little house to the front of the massive block, and six sheds lining the left hand side. The rest is grassland and trees, stretching out for acres.
On the way I learnt which twin is which, and that Fletcher is the tall one and Samuel is the small one. Given their complete opposite statures, it is still easy to tell they are twins by mannerisms.
Alex parked the car beside the huge willow tree in the middle of the yard, where two swings hang off it's branches. Willow and I sit on them while the twins stand in front and Alex stands beside me, his hand on the rope that holds my swing up.
"What do you guys do out here?" I ask, swinging my legs back and forth.
"Usually we play pool in the second shed," Fletcher pipes up, pointing to the larger shed across the yard.
"Or we play spotlight when it's dark," Samuel adds.
"Or just relax," Willow smiles, her hands curled around the rope of her swing.
"But today we're going to do something different," Alex says. I look up to see an excited smile on his lips. "Today we're going to teach you how to drive."
My stomach drops and my eyes widen. "No, you're not."
"I can if you want a more experienced driver to teach you," Fletcher lulls, crossing his muscly arms over his chest.
"Will you quit flirting with her? She's two years younger than you and lives in a whole other state." Alex punches him on the arm and it doesn't look like it was a soft punch.
"Du bin ein kartoffel," Willow mutters, pulling her light hair into a ponytail.
"Don't insult me in a language I don't understand," Fletcher grumbles but his sister just laughs.
"Learn it then."
"We're getting a bit sidetracked, aren't we?" Samuel asks, interrupting his siblings before they can go on any further. "Alex is only here for two days and you two are going to fight the whole time?"
They look at each other and shake their heads. I involuntarily smile at how much they value Alex being here.
"Time for Dakota to learn to drive," Willow beams, getting off her swing while I sink further into mine.
"I-" I start to protest, but Alex shushes me.
"You'll be fine."
"I won't."
"You will."
"I'm really bad."
"I doubt that."
"And now who's the one flirting?" Fletch interrupts suggestively.
"Yeah but I'm allowed to," Alex defends.
"Says who?" I ask. Fletcher and Willow burst laughing, as Samuel says, "You just got burned little cousin."
"You're going to pay, Koda," Alex grumbles, before taking my hand and practically dragging me to the car. After the last time this happened, I really don't want to try this again. Alex has managed to get me in the driver's seat but I won't start the car.
"This is a bad idea, Alex. This did not go well last time."
"Your parents tried to teach you in a manual, didn't they?"
I frown. "How did you know that?"
"I have my sources. Anyway, this is an auto. No clutch, no gear shift. Just accelerator and brake. It's easy."
"Says you. You're good at everything," I huff, staring at the wheel in front of me.
"Do I need to remind you of my dancing efforts? I can't do everything, Dakota." Just the thought of Alex dancing has me laugh.
"Moving on," he says, and starts telling me what to do. Turn the key in the ignition, put foot on brake, shift into drive, lower handbrake, softly press accelerator, softly press brake.
Within minutes I am driving in circles around the yard with very little instruction from Alex. Willow is the only one still in the yard and she gives me the 'thumbs up' every time I go past.
"Feeling a bit more confident?" Alex asks as I go for my tenth lap.
"I can drive!" Is all I can say, with the biggest smile on my face.
"See? It's easy when you know how," he tells me.
That it is. We circle the yard a few more times before the sun begins to set and Alex says we have to go home. He asks if I want to drive back to the city but I remind him that I don't have a license. So we switch places and everyone climbs in the back.
Willow is full of praise about my driving skills and the twins agree, but then move on to catching up with their cousin. I stay quiet as Alex tells them all of what has been happening since the last time they saw him. We are back in the city by the time they move on to what I have deemed a touchy subject.
"Your parents are coming tomorrow, aren't they?" Samuel braves the topic and I notice Alex grows stiff, nodding.
"I think Oma said they will be here at eleven. When's your flight home?" Willow asks, her voice careful.
Alex turns down the familiar street with all the holiday houses as the sun sets behind the horizon. "It's at one."
"Do you want me to take you to the airport before?" Fletcher offers. I contemplate asking why Alex is avoiding his parents but I have to wait until he's ready to tell me.
"You know Opa won't like that," Alex tells them, pulling into his grandparents' driveway.
"He's just wants to fix things between you all," Willow tells him. The car is off but no one moves.
Alex rakes a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. "Some things can't be fixed."
"Oma will understand. How about we leave at half past ten?" Fletcher asks, opening his car door.
"Okay."
"Okay," the twin nods, before trying a smile. "Let's go get some dinner."
It's hard to get through dinner pretending that I'm not worried about Alex. Everyone is laughing and having a good time, eating exquisite German food while I try to join in. It's hard because I've never thought to worry about Alex before. He's always the strong one, the one who's always mucking around, never serious. And in the past half hour I've seen the opposite of what I thought him to be, and it's hard to not ask what causes it.
He's not thinking about it now though, as he is laughing with everyone else. I suppose if he can forget about it for the moment then so can I.
"We eat apple strudel for dessert," Jana says as Willow and I help her clear the table. I'm not sure I can eat anything more. I am so full I feel like my stomach will explode and from the groan from Willow, she is thinking the same.
The boys are, however, not.
"Woohoo, strudel!" Samuel exclaims.
"Thank God, I'm starving!" Fletcher adds.
"I hope you made enough, Oma!" Alex grins.
Jana rolls her eyes at her grandsons, stacking the dishes on the sink. Willow and I copy her and put what we collected beside them. "I raise you boys and you think I do not know to cook more?"
She walks behind Willow and I to the fridge and pulls out two large plates of apple strudel. I can't imagine the plates empty but then again, there are three teenage boys who are still hungry after dinner.
Jana sets the plates on the table and Willow brings out dessert plates, while I take cutlery to the table. We all sit back down and as much as my full stomach is telling me not to, I take a piece and put it on my plate.
"This is a bad idea," Willow mumbles, taking a piece as well.
"Tell me about it," I grin, and take a bite.
I do not regret eating this. At all.
The table is silent apart from the scraping of spoons on the plates. The boys get seconds, and thirds, and fourths, until there is no strudel left on either plate.
"Are you hungry still?" Jana asks with confidence, clearing the empty strudel plates.
"I could eat," Fletcher jokes, before shaking his head. "No, I'm very full. Thank you Oma."
"Yeah, thank you," Samuel and I say, while Willow and Alex say, "Danke, Oma."
"You are welcome. I make bed already. Willow and Dakota sleep in two spare room. Boys sleep in children room. Okay?"
"Why does Willow get the other spare room?" Samuel groans. His grandfather flicks him behind the ear.
"She is girl. She get room." Cristof's accent is much thicker than Jana's, almost too thick to understand. I don't think he speaks much English, or the English he does speak is very basic.
Willow beams at her grandfather and we all offer to help clean up.
"No, I do it. You all have shower and get ready for sleep."
So we leave. Alex and I get our bags out of the car and he shows me to the room I will be sleeping in. It has a single bed along the wall with the window, a bookshelf along the back wall and a bedside table with a row of photo albums on it.
Alex brings me a towel and shows me the bathroom, leaving me to have a shower. I wasn't expecting to not be in Queensland so I only brought a singlet and shorts for pajamas, which I now realize are not warm enough.
Once I am dressed I pad back down the carpeted hallway to the spare room I'm sleeping in. I rifle through my bag and find Alex's hoodie that I borrowed yesterday morning, so I put that on and revel in the warmth.
I pick my phone out of my backpack and see that it is nearing 11pm. I sit on the bed and look through my text messages, having many considering I haven't checked my phone since Friday. There are messages from Olive, Mum, Levi and Alise, none of which I can be bothered to respond to right now.
There is a knock on the door and I lock my phone, setting it on the bedside table. "Come in."
Jana appears in the doorway, a dressing gown wrapped around her tiny frame. "Dakota. How you find the room?"
I smile. "It's very nice. Thank you."
"It not a problem. Very nice to have you with us. I hope you come back with Alex again. He is happy with you."
I look down, my thumbs twiddling. "I don't think it's me. He is happy being here," I tell her.
"No no no. You are mistaken," she says, coming into the room. She sits on the edge of the bed and takes my hand in between hers. "He is happy when he is here but more now that you are here." She pauses, waiting for me to look at her before speaking again.
"You know, I raise Alex for most of his life. His mother and father, my son, they were not home often. Always working. Always always. Alex brother did not mind but Alex very much did. He, how do you say. He find it not easy to be away from them but they keep going away. One time they leave and did not tell him goodbye. They not want to deal with him, and then they not return for two year. So I look after. All the time they go I stay with him, and until high school we look after the boys. I see Alex grow up. I see him happy and sad and angry and excited. But I never see him more happy than he is now. It because of you, I know."
I bite my lip. I don't know what to say.
"I hope you two stay close friend. I like to see him happy."
I nod. "We will. Alex makes me happy too."
"Good," Jana tells me, squeezing my hand before standing up. "I go to bed now. You as well. I see you in the morning."
I nod again. "Goodnight, Jana."
She closes the door behind her and I lie back in bed, not being able to get the smile off my face. His grandmother said I make him happy and I don't know why but I liked hearing that.
"Nice jumper."
My heart beats faster and I sit bolt upright. Alex is sliding through the door and closing it behind him, wearing sweats and a t-shirt.
"I hate you," I grumble, working hard to return my heart rate to normal. In the lamp light Alex pads across the floor and sits on the bed where his grandmother had been sitting a minute before. I'm sitting facing him, my legs crossed and my hands in his jumper's pockets.
"No you don't."
"What are you doing here?" His grandmother, as supportive of our friendship as she is, does not want girls and boys sharing a room in this house. I'm not about to disrespect her wishes.
"I came to collect," he beams and I shush him.
"Keep your voice down," I whisper and frown. "To collect what?"
"You said you would kiss me if I told you what I said in German, remember?"
I forgot about that. "Tell me."
"Kiss me."
"You first."
His hands slide to my waist and he kisses me. I can feel his smile against my lips but I push him away.
"That's not what I meant." I say, biting my lip to keep the smile at bay. I can't afford to be smiling like I'm about to after that. Friends, I have to remind myself, although friends is the last thing we feel like now.
"I know. But now my part of the bargain. I said 'can I please eat palatschinken'."
I cross my arms. "I kissed you for that?"
His brown eyes are gleaming as he shakes his head. "You kissed me because you want to."
I don't deny it. "Tell me something else in German."
"Bitte?" He asks, before translating. "Please?"
"Please." I stick my tongue out at him. My phone buzzes on the bedside table but I ignore it.
His eyes flick up and he hesitates, before looking back down at me with a soft smile. "Ich liebe dich."
I love and hate the way his eyes are melting mine. "What's that?"
"This," he says, kissing my forehead and standing up. He moves to the door and smiles, whispering; "I won't tell you for anything."