Prologue
Noel
Fifteen Years Ago
They formed a circle around the water tap against the brick wall of the house. One by one they filled a box with different coloured water balloons. As Noel tied one of the balloons, he quickly turned to see his teenage brother laughing and shaking his head at them.
“Make sure Mum doesn’t catch you, Nolan!” George yelled out. His parents had named him after his grandfather who served in Vietnam. His family called him Nolan while others called him Noel, the name he'd rather be called. He was the only Nolan in a class filled with Jakes and Daniels.
“I won’t!” Noel shouted back as he turned his attention back to his group of friends. He gave them all a stern stare. He didn’t want to get in trouble for ruining his parent’s party.
“We can hit those annoying girls across the road with the water balloons. If we hit them enough they’ll leave us alone!” Alex said. Noel looked at his best friend and handed out the small, coloured water balloons.
“Alex, don’t lie! You like like Sarah!” Rob teased. For an eight-year-old, Rob towered over their group of friends. Ever since prep, they had all been in the same class. Except for Rob’s brother, Julian, who was a year younger. Alex gagged before turning off the tap.
“Sarah’s pretty,” Max pointed out as he stared at the blue balloon in his hand. Noel watched as Max shrugged his shoulders at the group.
Alex let out a laugh. “Yeah, pretty annoying!”
Max's face contorted at Alex’s comments. Noel nudged Max with his shoulder and offered a reassuring smile.
“Can we not hit Valerie? She helped me home when I fell off my bike last week,” Noel said. He took a few balloons off Julian, whose small hands were unable to carry as much as the other boys could.
“Fine! We won’t hit her. Rob, go get the water guns and we’ll surprise them from the bushes of old man Peter’s garden.”
Rob nodded at Alex. Noel placed the water balloons in the pockets of his shorts. He adjusted his baseball cap as he quickly rolled the sleeves of the long sleeved shirt his mother chose.
“We should go before we get caught!” Julian warned. Noel led them to the side gate of the fence. Alex reached up, unlatched the gate and held it open for their friends. Noel waited until all his friends made it through the gate and towards the driveway.
“Nolan Parker!” he heard his mother yell. Noel let out a heavy sigh as he nodded at Alex to go ahead before closing the gate. He turned around to see his mother tapping her foot at him.
She's mad!
“Are you going to go hit those nice girls with water balloons?” she asked, already knowing the answer. Like any other boy not wanting to get in trouble, Noel lied.
“No, Mum! I swear! I wasn’t.”
“Don’t you lie to me, Nolan!” The corner of his mother’s mouth twitched. Noel stuck his hands in his pockets and felt the water balloons. His eyes fell to the concrete path instead of his mother’s disapproving green eyes.
He heard footsteps and raised his head to see his father walk over and stand next to his mother. “Come on, Louise. He’s just being a kid!” his father, Marcus, defended.
“Marcus, I don’t want those poor girls’ parents at our doorstep,” his mother explained, the irritated tone in her voice clear. Noel looked at his father and silently pleaded for mercy.
“We weren’t going to hurt them, Mum. We were just gonna scare them, honest!” Noel pouted. He knew his mother hated it when he pouted. It was her form of weakness and he hoped it would get him off the hook.
“Your mother is right, Nolan. You could hurt those girls. How about you come and help me with the barbecue? Then you can go play with the other boys, what do you say?” his father asked. Noel watched as both his parents looked down at him. He let out an irritated huff as he pulled his hands out of his pockets.
“It’s not fair,” Noel mumbled before following his parents back to the party. He watched his parents hold hands, and the sight of it made him want to gag.
Noel walked over to the barbecue. He waited for his father to instruct him on his punishment for an act he hadn’t yet committed. His mother bent down to face him. He squinted his eyes at her before he crossed his arms. His mother’s green eyes mirrored his but hers were shinier than Noel’s. She brought her hands to either side of Noel’s cheeks and pressed her lips on his forehead.
“Mum!” Noel whined as he pulled away. His mother laughed as he quickly wiped her red lipstick off his forehead.
“Mama loves you, Nolan. Help your father out before you go play with your friends. I’ll be with Gillian if you need me.” Noel nodded his head.
His mother walked over to Gillian, Alex’s mother, who stood near the drinks table. Gillian’s long brown curls flew with the warm wind. She didn’t look very happy but when her eyes met his, she smiled.
He took off his baseball cap and placed it on a clear spot on the table near the barbecue. Noel took the large silver tray and held it out for his father. One by one, cooked sausages were placed on the tray. Minutes later, hamburgers and steaks followed.
Noel’s arms started to tire as he held on to the heavy tray of barbecued meat. His father looked down at him before taking the tray from Noel and placing it on the table. “Thanks, champ! Just between us, you go and chuck some water balloons at them girls. But don’t make any of them cry, Nolan. Your mother won’t be happy. Got it?” His father winked at him as he turned over the skewers.
“Sure, Dad!” Noel said as he quickly turned around and made his way to the steps of the deck. He stepped off the final step and ran past a group of younger children on his way to the gate.
“Can I play, too?” he heard a small girl’s voice ask.
“No! Go away, we don’t like you!” he heard another little girl shout. Noel turned around to see his best friend’s little sister’s face sadden. The other little girl laughed as she ran away with the other children. Clara’s curly ponytail swayed as she turned around and ran to her father. Noel watched to see James Lawrence frown before he lifted his daughter and placed her on his lap.
A smile returned to Clara’s face as those golden-brown eyes shimmered. Noel smiled at the sight. He had always secretly looked out for Clara when Alex couldn't. Once, when Alex and the other boys played football, Noel took Clara by the hand and took her out to the local ice cream truck. He liked to see her smile ever since she was born.
Noel noticed her father whisper in Clara’s ear before she jumped off his lap and ran towards the end of the garden. James got off his seat and turned his back on Clara. Noel could see her run towards the edge of the garden before she fell over. Without even thinking or alerting Clara’s father, Noel ran after her.
He heard her small cries as he reached her. Noel noticed the dirt that covered her dress and then the blood on her knee. He feared she may have twisted her ankle, but was relieved to see the scrapes on her knee and the dirt on her hands.
“Clara, are you okay?” he asked sweetly as he sat on the ground with her.
“Go away, Nolan! I want Alex!”
Noel reached out for her small hands but Clara pulled away.
“No! I hate you!” she shouted, and Noel let out a laugh.
“No you don’t,” Noel corrected. He took her hands and brushed off the dirt. Noel scooted forward, wiped his hand on his shorts before wiping Clara’s tears away. Clara’s stopped crying, and he smiled at her.
Noel’s hand reached up his right arm and started to unroll his sleeves. He looked down at Clara’s scraped knee. “It’s going to sting a little bit, Clara,” Noel warned before wiping away the blood from her knee with his sleeve. Clara let out a small cry before her tears returned. He didn’t like to see her in pain. He wanted to distract her so he could help her back to their parents.
Looking around he noticed his mother’s purple tulips. He remembered the times when Clara was over and always walked over to the flowerbeds.
Mum's tulips will do.
Not caring about getting in trouble, Noel pulled out a purple tulip. He shook off the dirt and broke off the roots. He faced Clara to see her smile return. He felt his own smile develop at the sight of hers.
“Take this tulip, Clara. It isn’t half as pretty as that smile of yours,” Noel said as he held out the tulip to her. Clara’s smile grew as her golden-brown eyes twinkled.
Clara took the purple tulip in her small hand and said, “Thank you, Nolan.”
Noel smiled and then shrugged at Clara. “It’s just a tulip. No big deal.” He watched Clara twirl the tulip between her fingers as that smile of hers stayed.
Mum is going to kill me but I don’t care. Not like it’s anything important. It’s just a flower. She won’t notice it missing anyway.