Chapter 6
Aurora stared at her phone, feeling guilty that she hadn't answered Trey's text. She considered turning her phone back on, but the malevolent look on Roth's face played across her mind, and she placed the phone back down.
Luckily, she was expecting Suli to Skype with her in a few minutes, so she could spill out her problems to her best friend. She felt excited for the first time since Roth's dreadful visit.
"Honey, are you home?" Judy called out.
"Upstairs, Mum." Aurora replied.
"How was bowling?" Don asked grumpily, and she heard her mum laugh.
"We had a great time, thanks, Dad," Aurora rushed down to greet her parents. "Listen, Suli's going to Skype with me, so I'm going to be busy for a while."
"Alright, love, I'll get dinner started." Judy waved her off, and Aurora took the opportunity to head quickly back up to her room.
She grabbed her laptop and turned it on. It felt like forever since she had talked to her best friend. It helped to ease her fury from earlier, as she set everything up.
"Hey!" Aurora called out the moment her friend appeared on the screen. "You've cut your hair." She blurted out enthusiastically.
"Hey Rory," Suli grinned at her friend, as she swung her straight black hair around. "Yeah, I couldn't stand trying to grow it anymore. This is much easier to handle."
Aurora looked at her friend and raised her brows. Suli's waist length hair had always left her feeling envious. It took her forever to grow her curly hair, so she had decided to keep it shorter years ago.
Looking at Suli's now shoulder length, shiny hair, still invoked envy. Suli had always been the most fashionable out of them. She could dress her trim frame in almost anything and look perfect with her hair only adding to her perfection.
"You're looking surprisingly fashion forward today." Suli mused, disrupting Aurora's train of thought.
"Oh, these are Kiri's, I just borrowed them to go bowling today." Aurora plucked at the shirt, but Suli's dark brown eyes widened with anticipation.
"What happened to work? Let alone who did you go bowling with?" Suli's excitement felt infectious and Aurora grinned.
She had to explain everything that had happened. Suli swore loudly when she heard about Roth managing to get her fired. Admitting that she had met a boy became a lot harder than Aurora had thought it would be. Suli had already had a few boyfriends, but always felt ready for any boy talk that she could get.
"Rory! Tell me the rest of the story." Suli complained.
"I might have, ugh, met a boy." Aurora admitted reluctantly, making her friend squeal with delight.
"Oh, my God, tell me more." Suli's pretty face squished into a demanding expression, as she crossed her arms and Aurora laughed.
"Will you take a chill pill? I'll tell you already."
"Good, I'm going to have to live vicariously through your boy moments, as I'm yet to find a good one here." Suli huffed, as she waved a hand at her friend to continue.
Aurora told her everything about meeting him yesterday and on the beach this morning, including Roth's involvement. When she mentioned meeting his friends and going bowling, Suli jumped around enthusiastically.
"When are you seeing him again?" Suli's thrilled grin had her smiling.
"Um, I don't really know." Aurora didn't want to tell her about Roth threatening to destroy her senior year.
"You have his number, so you should ring him." Suli encouraged.
"Yeah, maybe. Did I tell you that Kiri wants to finish high school with us?" Aurora decided that changing topic was the best plan and it worked.
Suli had never liked Kiri. She had found her sister insufferable, rude, and ungrateful. They had often fought, especially when Suli saw how her sister treated her. Suli told her exactly what Aurora knew she would say, but she let her friend speak.
"Okay, let it go and tell me about your holiday." Aurora interrupted her friend's tirade.
"Boring. There are no interesting boys to even look at." Suli moaned and shook her head regretfully.
"Rory?" she heard her dad calling out.
"Yes, I'm talking with Suli, what is it?" Aurora replied.
"There's a boy down here that wants to talk with you." Dan sounded deeply unhappy about the situation.
"Alright, I'm coming." Aurora replied with a frown, before turning back to her friend.
"Has your little boyfriend come over?" Suli made kissing motions and Aurora groaned.
"I don't know, but I'd better go and find out. Text me when you can talk next." Aurora said quickly.
"I've never been the one to stand in the way of true love." Suli gushed.
"Seriously?"
"I can't wait to find out more," Suli giggled at her friend's exasperated look. "Catch you later, girl." She waved.
"Bye, Suli," they signed off just as Dan called out to her again. "Coming."
Aurora shoved her computer onto her desk, before she ran quickly down the stairs. She came to an abrupt halt at seeing Trey. He sat on the lounge chair seeming completely at ease. She blinked, making sure that she wasn't seeing things, before venturing further into the room.
"Hi, Trey." She said when he smiled at her.
"Hey, are you ready to go?" he asked enthusiastically.
"Go where exactly?" she asked, as her fingers clutched at each other.
"Pizza party. I invited you to come over because my friends and I are going to have pizza." He smiled in a way that set off butterflies fluttering through her chest.
"I, uh, changed my mind." She looked around the room, which contained her curious parents and Trey.
"Laura thinks that I've done something to annoy you, which is why you decided not to come over."
"It wasn't you, Trey." She replied quickly.
"I figured that Roth had said something." Trey looked at her seriously, but Aurora glanced around the room and said nothing.
"Honey, you should go and have pizza with your friends." Judy said with a grin, while Dan grumbled under his breath.
"Are you sure that you don't mind?" Aurora asked, feeling torn with what to do. She wanted to join Trey, but Roth's threats to destroy her last year of school overtook her thoughts.
"He's not invited." Trey spoke softly, but Aurora flinched.
"Rory, you should go and have fun." Judy encouraged with a wave of her hand out the door.
"Not too much fun." Dan added in, but Rory still wavered.
"Laura is going to yell at me if you don't turn up." Trey told her with a forlorn look and Rory sighed.
"Okay, I'll come over." She agreed, hoping that she could live with Roth's behaviour for the next year.
"I've brought the car." Trey tipped his head towards the door.
"Just let me get changed." Aurora told him, mostly because she wasn't ready to face having Roth destroy her life more than he already did.
She stared at her wardrobe blankly feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension. She pulled out one of the nice dresses that Queenie had insisted that she take and pulled it on. As she walked back downstairs, she could only wonder if she wasn't destroying her own life.
She left her house and found herself in his car without as much hassle from her dad as she had expected. She let out a breath, as she sat back against the leather. Her indecision over what to do meant her mind was going back and forth frantically.
"Are you going to tell me what he said?" Trey asked into the quiet, and she closed her eyes.
"It doesn't matter." She muttered.
"Yes, it does, Aurora," Trey thumped the steering wheel and continued driving. "I'm not taking you to pizza until you tell me what he said." He demanded, as he pulled into one of the car park spaces at Toowoon Bay.
"Trey, you don't have to live here and put up with him, so it makes life much easier for you. Let this go and I'll come to your pizza party." Aurora bargained, not wanting to discuss Roth.
"You shouldn't have to deal with the way he treats you. If it keeps up then I'm going to sort him out." Trey thumped one fist into the other.
"Are you trying to make my life more difficult?" Aurora stated in disbelief.
"What do you mean?" Trey asked with a puzzled look.
"Let me make this simple; you will be gone at the end of the holidays, but I have to live here and deal with Roth at school. He's already threatened to destroy my last year of school, so don't make it any worse!" Aurora told him firmly, and he let out a whistle.
"I can see why you didn't want to call me back." Trey said softly, as he put the car in gear and drove off.
She bit down on her lip, hating that she had admitted what Roth intended. She stared out of the car window, as she considered that maybe she was better off if she avoided Trey from now on. No good could possibly come from hanging around him and his friends when Roth came threatening.
"You can just drop me here and I'll walk home." She said quietly, making Trey frown.
"Why would I drop you anywhere? We are having some pizza, remember." He pulled up outside of his house, before he glanced over at her.
"Why aren't you listening to me?" Aurora crossed her arms and faced him feeling defeated.
"I'm listening, but I refuse to let Roth win; it's as simple as that. Now come on." He stepped out of his car to walk around and open the door for her.
"What took you so long? Some of us are starving in here." Laura grinned at the two of them, while waving them inside.
"You shouldn't let him win either." Trey reached out a hand to her, those emerald green eyes serious but encouraging, while she pondered what to do.
"You're right." She grasped his hand and let him pull her from the car.
"I sure know it."
"Smarty pants." She poked out her tongue at his smugness, and tried to ignore how wonderful it felt to have his hand in hers.
"C'mon and you can meet my other friends."
Entering Trey's doorway had Aurora's eyes bugging out. There seemed to be people everywhere, mostly taking up the lounge room. Some of them she recognised from school, but most were strangers or the boys who she had met earlier.
"This is your gang, huh?" Aurora asked, as she stared around the room.
"Some of them. I guess you know Luke and Tony," Trey pointed to the guys from her school, who glsnced at her in surprise, but grinned in welcome.
"Good to see you, Rory." Luke said before concentrating back on the cards in his hand.
"What are you doing?" she stared at the group of guys.
"UNO battle. Whoever wins gets to choose the pizza toppings." Tony smirked and showed her his hand with three 'collect four' cards.
Aurora laughed at the crazy game. Who played a game to choose the toppings on pizza? It seemed so weird, but also rather intriguing. She waved to Mick and Nathan who were also playing.
"Hey, bowling champ." Nathan called out.
"Hi, Nathan."
"C'mon, there are more people to meet." Trey turned her around, only to see by his beaming mother, who appeared stunning in her elaborate gown.
"Aurora, you're back. That dress is perfect on you." Queenie pulled her in for a quick hug.
"Thank you." Aurora replied with a blush, enjoying her exuberance.
"Aurora, this is my dad, Treyson Arlington." Trey introduced her to his solemn looking father.
His brown hair was beginning to grey, but he had a friendly face that reminded her of Trey. His fancy suit sat impeccably on his shoulders creating a sophisticated air around him.
"Hello, Sir." Aurora greeted him.
"It's nice to meet you, Aurora, and please, call me Treyson," The man nodded before turning to his son. "Rules?"
"No drinking, no smoking, or drugs. No more than ten people in here at one time. No sex in any of the rooms either. No more parties if these rules are broken." Trey stated clearly and his father nodded in a pleased manner.
"I'm glad that we've got it all clear, son. Now you two have a goodnight." Treyson led Queenie towards the front door without another word.
"You have very trusting parents." Aurora stated, as she watched them leave.
"Everyone I invited knows that if they break the rules then they will never be allowed back in here. Trust me; everyone that's here chooses to abide by those rules. If they wanted to go out drinking or partying they would." He gestured around the room at his friends.
"That makes sense. Who have I got left to meet?" Aurora asked.
"They're probably out with Laura." He made a face that was close to a grimace, as he led her out onto the deck.
"Finally, what's with the slow motion, Trey?" Laura rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you're here, Rory. These are my friends CeCe, Manda, and Kay."
Laura pointed to a flirty looking brunette first, who stared blatantly at Trey. Manda was the one with the beautiful caramel skin and long black hair, while Kay was a bubbly looking blonde.
"I haven't seen you in such a long time, Trey." CeCe said dramatically, before Aurora could even offer a greeting.
"It's nice to meet you all." Aurora told them with a smile, and they all returned a greeting except for CeCe.
"C'mon, Aurora, I'll show you around." Trey didn't answer the girl, but dragged Aurora back inside.
"I think someone's got a crush." Aurora teased, once they were out of hearing range.
"I'm pretty sure that Laura invites her just to annoy me." Trey huffed.
"I'm sure Laura said earlier today that she's the only girl." Aurora puzzled over that fact.
"Yeah, she's the only girl that we let hang around us when we're just doing stuff. With parties, I let Laura invite other girls so that she doesn't feel left out." Trey shrugged awkwardly.
He heard the girls standing up to leave the deck. With a panicked look, he gestured Aurora to the stairs and began walking up them. She followed him up with a giggle, feeling quite amused that he really wanted to be away from those girls.
"C'mon in." Trey pushed open a door and turned on the light.
Aurora had never found herself in a boy's room before, but the tidiness of this one had her looking at Trey in surprise. A huge bed graced the middle of the room, while a desk looked straight out at the view of Blue Bay. A telescope pointed to the heavens, while another wall sat covered in a huge bookshelf with a couch next to it. Surfboards proudly stood, almost too numerous to count and Aurora felt awed by his room.
"Are you sure by your dad's rules that I'm allowed in here?" she asked before stepping through the doorway.
"I'm not planning anything bad, honest." His wicked look belied his words, making her heart begin to pound with a strangely pleasurable sensation.
"We have a winner!" a voice hollered out from downstairs.
"I guess I'll have to leave my plans for another day," Trey sighed with disappointment, although his grin made her wonder if she was missing something great. "It's pizza ordering time." Trey finished ruefully, as he backed out of his room and shut the door.
"I'm not sure which will prove more interesting." Aurora mused.
"Which what?"
"Your unfulfilled plans or watching someone choose random pizza toppings." She grinned at him, shocking herself with her own flirting ability, especially when his mouth gaped open.
Aurora laughed heartily over the bizarre way that they ordered pizzas. Nathan had won the intense UNO battle, and he seemed to plan the most diabolical of toppings.
There were groans all around, but mostly from the girls with the amount of fattening toppings. Aurora didn't mind, her theory was that if you were going to eat pizza then you might as well enjoy it.
"I'm choosing the movie if you get to choose that as food." Laura huffed and she disappeared from the room.
"If you make it some rom com then I'm going to cut your hair in your sleep." Mick warned and everyone burst into laughter.
"Oh, it won't be a rom com." Laura called back in a muffled voice.
"No kids movies either." Nathan shouted.
"Look, not everything has to be your way." Laura poked her head out of a room to point a firm finger between her brothers.
"Dammit, Tiny, don't bore us, please." Mick pleaded.
"No! Not Pride and Prejudice." The groans in the room were all male, as Laura came back into the room and placed her selection on the table.
"Fine, but you owe me one." Laura then added the one that she had held behind her back, which seemed to be a car chase movie, which mollified the boys.
"Who's up for strip UNO until the pizza gets here?" Mick asked suggestively, as he peered at the girls.
"Hell, no!" Laura smacked her brother in the back of the head.
"Truth or dare?" Nathan replied just as provocatively.
"That one I can live with." Laura agreed.
Aurora wasn't quite sure if she wanted to join in, but Trey tugged her down beside him when they all sat in a big circle. She sat nervously looking around at the faces with a gulp.
"So who's going first?" Mick raised his brows with a diabolical grin.
"You. Truth or dare?" Laura looked cheekily at her brother.
"I'll take dare."
"Really? Are you sure that you want to choose dare?" Laura tapped a finger on her cheek with a sly smile.
"Bring it on." Mick cracked his knuckles.
"I dare you to run outside, do a quick skinny dip and come back." Laura beamed at her brother.
"Yeah, that's so tough, Tiny." Mick snorted and a thrilled grin spread over his face.
"Did I happen to mention that the reason the girls and I came inside was because of the people we saw out there." Laura sounded innocent, but Mick's face dropped into dread instantly. The room fell into laughter, everyone obviously aware of something that Aurora had no clue of.
"Their neighbours closest to them are a middle aged couple who are always trying to get them into trouble with their parents." Trey whispered to her and she nodded in understanding.
"Let's see this dare!" Laura taunted, as the doorbell rang.
"That was quick," Trey muttered. "Would you mind getting the door and I'll get the money?" Trey looked to Aurora who nodded.
She went to the door with a grin on her face, still shaking her head at the antics of Laura and Mick. Opening that door brought back all of the dread that she had conveniently forgotten from earlier in the day. Why couldn't Roth just leave her alone?