Emily
When I go into the room after Roderick's announcement, I find Byron and Kelly ungracefully splayed out on my bed and James and Ava sleeping squished together on the sleeper couch.
So much for a hookup, I scoff, but what if Roderick was right? What if I just got there too late?
It's unlikely. It's very unlikely that goodie two shoes Ava would cheat on Mat. Whatever problems they may be having. Ava is exceptionally prudish.
I was totally shocked when she told me that she and Mat had slept together. After all, she refused to sleep with all her other boyfriends and William had even broken up with her because of it. When I asked what had happened when she'd lost her virginity, she hadn't want to talk about it so I doubt it was wonderful, but it appears they continued doing it again, up until the workshops, that is.
When everyone has either left or found a place to pass out, I unlock my mom's room and curl up next to her.
"Is that weird boy still prowling around?" she asks.
She must mean Roderick.
"No, his friends came to fetch him."
"Who was in the garage earlier?"
"No one. I locked the garage after the last time."
"It sounded like Terence," she says. "Where is he now?
"Passed out on the air mattress in the lounge."
"And Andrea?"
"She's with Ronel in her room."
"Tauriq?"
"On the two-seater in the lounge.
She doesn't ask about Ava so I'm assuming she heard what happened since my room is right next door.
"Did anything interesting happen in my room?"
"That girl, Terence's sister, is a handful. They were struggling to get her to sleep."
So no hook ups then.
I don't get much sleep because my mom's alarm goes off at 5am and she gets up and starts cleaning. I lay in bed for another hour before I get up to help her.
James is the first person to get up. I'm cleaning the kitchen when he comes in looking lost and a bit dazed.
"Would you like some coffee," I ask.
"Please," he said. "I have to go to work."
"You're working today."
"Yes."
James was never chatty with me so I don't ask about what Roderick says he saw. When James leaves an hour later, he gives me a quick hug goodbye.
I don't know what I feel about the idea of James and Ava potentially getting together. James is a good guy better than any of the other guys Ava has dated and he'd be good for Ava but a part of me is jealous that once again it's Ava that might be at the centre of a romance, and this time with a really nice guy. I did try to flirt with James in the beginning, who wouldn't, but he wasn't receptive and he is way out of my league in any case.
James is barely gone when Ronel comes barrelling into the kitchen. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are shining.
"What happened? Why are you so excited?"
"I kissed James," she squeals.
"What?"
"I saw him going into the bathroom to brush his teeth and I knew it was my chance."
"To do what? Where is Tauriq? Why did you kiss James? Do you know that Roderick says he hooked up with Ava last night?"
"Roderick lied about hooking up with Ava?"
"No, he says he saw James hooking up with Ava."
Ronel looks deflated.
"Oh. That doesn't sound right."
"I know. Why did you kiss James?"
"I wanted to. I made up my mind last night that I want to be more adventurous, be the kind of girl that makes the first move so I first asked Terence, but then when I looked for him later he was missing."
So Ronel went in search of him again after I took her room keys from her.
"So this morning, I thought, well, I'll just go and kiss James."
"Did he kiss you back?"
"Not at first. Oh my god, he is such a good kisser. He made my toes curl."
"Where's Tauriq?"
"I tried to send him home but he wants to go out later. So I sent him to the shop to get snacks."
"There's more than enough snacks left."
"I kow. I needed to get rid of him."
"Ronel, why are you still with him if you don't want to be?"
"I do want to be with him but sometimes I just wish he was more fun. He's such a stiff board. He doesn't drink, he won't go to clubs with us. It took him over a month to kiss me and he's too much of a gentleman. I need more excitement."
"Nothing that you're saying is bad. There are girls out there wishing for a guy like him and here you are, treating him like shit."
"Stop being so judgmental. You sound like Ava."
She stomps out of the kitchen.
I'm antsy for Ava to wake up and after another hour, she finally does.
I corner her while she is making coffee.
"Ava," I say, as she looks at me. "Did you hook up with James?"
Her expression is complete surprise. Not embarrassed surprise or horrified surprise, just "what the fuck" surprise and that is all the answer I need. She mumbles something that I don't catch. I'm relieved. Roderick is a delusional liar.
"I knew it wasn't true. Roderick said he saw you guys kissing."
Ava looks confused.
"Who's Roderick?"
"He works with us at the mall."
I see recognition dawn in Ava's hazed eyes.
"Imagine if it had been though. James would have hooked up with three different girls, three days in a row."
Ava startles.
"Three?" she asks, raising a curious eyebrow before dropping it and wincing.
"The first was that girl at the matric ball on Friday night..." I continue.
"Yes, I know about her!" Ava says a little shortly. She must have a terrible hangover.
"Who's the third girl?" she asks.
"You mean second," Gosh. Maybe she's still a bit drunk actually. Ava is usually sharper than this. "Ronel. She cornered James in the bathroom this morning before he left for work. She said he's a really good kisser."
"But where was Tauriq?"
"He'd gone to the shop but that's not the point. Roderick insists he saw you and James hooking up. But he's clearly a liar and do you know, he flirted with me during the whole bus ride and then the minute he came here he was asking about you? Clearly he's not a trustworthy. Such an ass. Later I saw him with his hands under the skirts of another girl from the bus but I don't think that lasted long because when I got back Roderick was gone and the girl was talking to Terence.
"Tauriq was glued to Ronel the whole night but she slipped away from him a couple of times and tried to flirt with Terence. I think he's starting to suspect that she's cheating, or was planning to cheat, and Andrea, oh my gosh, Andrea disappeared early in the evening already with one of Tauriq's friends, that girl with the curly hair. I thought maybe she'd go to the garage but Terence and I checked and it was locked, so who knows where she disappeared to. She reappeared later looking smug and disshevelled. I don't know what happened to the girl. I think that means she and Simon are on the outs again. He must be back with his wife. But where was Mogamat?"
Ava looks a bit dazed and it takes a few seconds for her to realise I've asked her a question. She shouldn't be drinking coffee. She's clearly still drunk and needs to be drinking water.
"I told you last night, didn't I?" she replies when her brain eventually catches up with me.
"No, you drunkenly rambled on about being abandoned and not caring and some other stuff about a fight and I don't know what else. And then you and James and Byron and Kelly all went to the room together."
"Oh, I thought I did," she replies.
"Well?"
"He left."
"He left?" I'm furious. I've never liked Mogamat but this is the rotten cherry on top of a really shitty cake. How could he just leave Ava alone on her birthday? I'm glad James was there to look after her.
"Your boyfriend of two years left you - on your birthday? When did he leave? Why did he leave?"
"Before the party even got started. No one else was here yet."
She takes a sip of her coffee. I really should get her some iced water.
"We got into a fight and he left."
"What did you fight about?"
"At this point everything. I feel like our relationship is just one big fight. My friends from college mistook the dates and went to a music festival and then my cousins didn't pitch and I was feeling a bit down and forgotten so I went to him for comfort and he suggested we leave."
I'm sure my eyes are about to pop out of my head.
"It turned into an argument and then he left."
"So he just left!" I reply, gobsmacked. "Dammit, if I had been you, I would have hooked up with James just to spite him. Asshole! Yoh! I wish I had your self-control. You're the only person I know who doesn't go to parties and get drunk and hook up with guys."
And I mean it. Sometimes I hate Ava but I've always admired her self-control.
I remember how disappointed she was when she and Mogamat first slept together and then after those workshops, she told us that she would tell him that she wanted to stop.
Andrea had initially been furious at Ava when she heard that she had lost a virginity but later when Ava said she wanted to stop Andrea changed her tune and said that you only live once so why stop a good thing when it was going well but I had warned her though that Mogamat might not like it and would probably break up with her.
Well, that was how I had felt then. I was surprised when I had been wrong. They'd had a chaste relationship, albeit rocky at times, for more than a year. But it seems as if Mogamat may have been more frustrated than he let on because why else would he abandon Ava on her birthday?