If there's one thing that can bring my mother back from the depths of her despair – at losing her license, at going to court, at her fine, her loss of freedom, her humiliation – it is her daughter's graduation formal dinner. For the first time in weeks, Mum is alive, doing my makeup and hair, and helping me zip up my dress, reliving memories of her own senior formal. She's not even drinking.
It's four o'clock and we're almost ready to go. I go to my room to grab my phone off the charger and get my white clutch, and have one last look in the mirror. I'm wearing a backless navy dress. It's a delectably soft material that clings to my figure, with a sweetheart neckline, and it's so simple. There's no cinching or bedazzlement, it's just plain navy all over, and I'm wearing it with very minimal gold jewellery and curled hair. All over it looks simple but sophisticated and effortless, and I'm really happy. My shoes are slim white heels with a thin white and gold strap around my ankle, but they're covered by my dress unless I'm walking. It's actually pretty tricky to walk in these shoes, so I may spend a lot of the night holding onto Lucas's arm, worried about falling over.
I check my phone, thinking of Lucas. We've been messaging each other every day and seeing each other almost as much. We're in this strange limbo before being in a relationship, because we haven't really told anyone about us, and we're not really sure what's happened. Neither of us has said the "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" words, and yet we're acting like we are. Mostly all we do is cuddle in bed and watch movies and swim in the pool and kiss, a lot. Once I started kissing Lucas I just can't stop. That first day at his house we spent hours in bed, lying in his arms and watching movies, before his Dad came home. At night before I go to sleep all I can do is relive those sweet memories, wanting them to last longer than they possibly can.
I don't have any new messages, so I slip my phone into my clutch and walk out to where my parents and brother are waiting.
Dad is driving us to the Shepherds house, where a big group of us is getting together to take photos before the graduation dinner in the city. Dad and Dan are both wearing white dress shirts tucked into dark jeans, while Mum is wearing a knee length red dress, and her hair and make up is just as immaculate as mine is tonight.
'Ready?' Mum asks, putting on another coat of lipstick in front of the mirror in the hall.
I follow my parents out the front door and towards the car. Dan piles into the back seat behind me, all limbs, looking too big for the back seat of Dad's car, while I do my best to make sure my dress doesn't get wrinkled on the drive.
There are fairy lights strung all over Ainsley's back deck, and the jacaranda in the backyard lets in dappled afternoon sunlight through its vibrant purple flowers. The light frames four girls standing on the back deck. Ainsley, Beatrice, Josie and Kate are leaning against the rail, looking out across the yard and down the hill. When Ainsley turns and sees me she runs over and hugs me. I pull back to see her dress. She's wearing a pale pink, almost creamy dress with a lace bodice. Her blonde hair is in a messy braid that is pulled up into a bun, and her makeup is very minimal. She looks like a petite ballerina.
I say hi to Josie, Kate and Beatrice, and follow Ainsley back inside, where the boys are sitting in the lounge room. Julian and Harrison are wearing suits and sitting on the floor in front of the TV playing a videogame, while Lucas talks to Gabriel and Chester. Findlay and Violet are sitting on the opposite couch, talking.
Violet waves and smiles at me when I walk in. I walk over to Watson first and hug him, and tell him he looks good. He's wearing a dark grey suit with a pale pink vest.
'You look amazing, Em,' Watson tells me. I've never had this many compliments in one night and it's starting to make the blood rush to my head.
Julian waves at me from the floor, but Lucas approaches me first. He takes both of my hands in his and grins. He is wearing a sharp black suit with a white shirt, and his hair is combed neatly, which is a first.
'Emily Maisonwood,' he says, pressing his thumbs fingers into my palms gently. 'You are a goddess.'
I laugh, glancing down at my dress and then back up at him.
'I love you when you blush,' he teases.
'You love me?' I ask, sticking my tongue between my teeth as I smile and pushing his hands forward so he takes a step back.
He just laughs and pushes me back. 'You know exactly what I mean, you beautiful evil thing. You know exactly what you're doing. That sweet little thing where you glance down and look bashful and your cheeks go pink, I love it.'
'Well then keep complimenting me,' I tell him teasingly.
He pulls me towards him and kisses me on the cheek. 'You look gorgeous.'
'Thank you,' I say.
Julian and I go to the kitchen to get a few more glasses for the punch that Ainsley's mum has made.
'You're dating Luke now, hmm?' Julian asks me as we pull glass tumblers out of the dishwasher.
'What?' I say. 'Who told you that?'
Julian laughs. 'Lucas did. Well, not in those exact words. He said you're kind of "seeing" each other. Not anything official.'
'Well, I guess that's it,' I say, rubbing a wet glass with a tea towel. 'Are you surprised?'
'Hardly,' Julian says. 'Although admittedly, Lucas does owe me. I made him swear back in grade eight or nine that he would never date you, because I knew it would break Watson's heart. I made Watson swear never to date you too, because it would break Lucas's heart, but I mean, that wasn't ever going to happen.'
I laugh. 'So what does Lucas owe you, now that he's broken his promise?'
'Hmm, I'll get back to you on that. Something funny, I think. I'll tell you what. I'll think over it tonight and I'll have something for you by the after party. That way Luke can get all his humiliation over and done with when we're drunk at the Redwoods' house.'
Julian winks at me and hands me the glass he's holding so I can wipe it down.
'I'm looking forward to it. And hey, I should say, you scrubbed up good tonight,' I say. 'Although with your hair combed back like that you suddenly look really Italian. Your mum must be thrilled.'
Julian touches his hair and laughs. 'Great,' he says. 'I've never looked like a wog, and now I will on my formal night.'
'It looks good, Jules, don't touch it.'
He rolls his eyes. 'Picky woman.'
'Oh, um, I also have something else I should tell you,' I say, glancing back up at the lounge and deck area. Everyone is mingling, the parents are drinking, and no one is paying attention to Julian and me. I can see two of Ainsley's aunts telling her how beautiful she looks. I'm sure she's mortified.
'Uh, so Dad thought it'd be a good idea, since you know, the whole band is here, to invite George. And I know you haven't technically met him, and I know your Mum might have met him or something, I don't know. But I thought I'd give you the heads up. George is coming.'
Julian raises his eyebrows, and I see him look back up at his mum. She's wearing a bold red dress, and her hair is black and wild. Tonight I can see the woman that she was in the eighties, all fiery and energetic as she talks to Karen Shepherd. I remember the photo I saw in Karen Shepherd's study, the photo of Nicoletta at the formal with George.
'I'm sure your parents warned Mum,' Julian says. 'She'll be fine. She's been acting kind of weird since she found out about it all though. Suddenly she's so loud and... happy? I don't even know how to put it. She's just suddenly got so much presence through the house. Dad doesn't even know what's happened. He's used to Mum just doing whatever he says, and now she's talking back. It's weird.'
'That is weird,' I say. 'Come on, I want to try this punch.'
Julian and I place the glasses down on the table next to a large glass drink dispenser. It's full of a bright, beautiful red liquid, as well as thin slices of blood orange, strawberries, and fresh mint. I put a glass up to the silver tap and serve myself some of the punch. It tastes like fresh fruit and bubbly soda.
'Eurgh, floaties,' Julian says, looking into the punch.
I laugh and nudge him, just in case Ainsley's mum heard him, but she's still talking to Nicoletta.
I go and stand beside Lucas, who is now talking to Harrison. I notice that Watson has been avoiding going near Lucas so far this evening, and is now talking to Findlay and his sister.
Julian's dad gets everyone out on the back deck and starts taking photos. He gets Mum, Dad, Dan and I to stand in the corner of the deck, with the early evening light, and takes a photo of our family. In one of the photos Dan puts his arm around me and pulls a stupid face, and I laugh.
Guy gets the Shepherds together for a photo, and then the Langleys, Suleimans and Elmhirsts.
When all the families are done Dad grabs the camera off Guy and the Whitneys get together for a photo. Julian's dad stands at the back, and Nicoletta stands in front of him, swallowing up her husband with her dominating and striking figure. Julian, Findlay and Ana stand in front. Nicoletta tries to run her hand through Findlay's untameable black hair, but he ducks out of his mother's grip, pushing into his brother as he does. Julian pushes back, laughing, and Dad captures a photo of the moment, while Ana shrieks away from her giant brothers and giggles.
Dad then gets all of the Hilverton seniors together for one photo. I gravitate towards Lucas and he takes hold of my hand in the photo. We line up at an angle to the camera, alternating boy and girl. Lucas keeps a hold of my hand throughout the photos, and when we're done he wraps me up in his arms and places a kiss on my forehead.
Just as we're taking "silly" photos, the doorbell rings and Karen runs to the door. There's a shift in the mood, and Lucas squeezes my hand.
We're all pretty silent, listening to Karen walk down the hall, saying, 'It's so nice to see you.'
She comes through to the kitchen area, and behind her is George, but different from the George we met at the Two Soap Dolls concert. This isn't Scott Richard anymore, this is George from Dime's the Limit – older, more tired, but we can see it now. He's lost the beard and he looks neat in a dark suit. I can see some of the good looks that made girls fawn over him in the eighties, but he looks like he has seen a lot more to the world than that young boy in the band. The weight he has gained makes him look more like a middle aged, respectable businessman, compared to the band manager we saw at the concert.
Behind him is Lexington, looking gorgeous in a short white dress, with her long blonde hair curled ever so slightly. Beside me I notice that Julian shifts. Findlay, who was standing beside his parents, launches forward past George and greets Lexington, and brings her in.
'Uh, hi,' George says to the dead silence. 'This is my daughter, Lexington. I believe she knows a lot of you,' he looks towards us.
Lexington looks nervously between Findlay and then at the rest of us.
'Hey,' I say. 'There's glasses over there next to the punch. You should try some.'
'Thanks,' Lexington says warily, and she follows Findlay towards the punch.
George makes his way towards my dad and Lucas's dad, and then the rest of us start talking again, making the awkward silence disappear.
I glance up at Lucas.
'Well, it was always going to be awkward,' he says, and I smile.
The adults stay out on the deck, so the rest of us head back inside. Lexington hovers behind her ex-boyfriend, but I try to include her in the conversation I'm having with Lucas and Findlay. It's kind of weird for her to be here, but at the same time, I guess she's only just met her dad and he needs to re-join the band on their tour sometime soon, so she's spending as much time as possible with him.
Julian has separated from the rest of the group and he makes a suspicious detour into the kitchen.
Findlay turns to Lexington to say something, and Lucas puts an arm around me, but I still have my eye on Julian. I catch Ainsley's eye across the room where she's talking to the girls, and we share a curious expression.
'Hey, come here,' I say, taking Lucas's hand and leading him away from the group and out of the lounge room into the dining room. I turn around and kiss him. He kisses me back, curling his fingers into my hair and running one hand down my arm.
'I want to stay like this forever,' Lucas whispers into my lips. 'I have a limited time to be with you before you go away, and I want to spend every second of it kissing you. I don't care about stupid formal dinners and after parties. I just want to kiss you.'
I smile and kiss him again. 'Well if you manage to make it through this stupid formal dinner and this after party at Micah's house, then we'll go back to your house and there'll be plenty of time for drunk kissing.'
He grazes his lips along my jawline. 'More than drunk kissing, I hope.'
I laugh into his shoulder. 'Are you going to spend the whole night thinking about this?'
He pulls back. 'I'm going to spend the whole night thinking about kissing you, yeah.'
I smile. 'I guess you've got a lot of catching up to do, since I've spent like eight years thinking about kissing you.'
Lucas laughs. 'I'm already caught up, don't you worry.' He presses his lips into mine again.
'Come on, we better get back into the lounge before anyone notices we're gone,' I say when we pull away. He holds onto my hand as we exit, walking past the kitchen. I notice Julian put something back into a cupboard.
'What are you up to?' I ask Julian.
'I'm not gonna lie to you, Em. I just borrowed some alcohol from Ainsley's dad. Two sneaky shots before the formal,' Julian laughs.
'Borrow,' Lucas repeats.
'Julian!' I exclaim. 'You know you're not allowed to be drunk at formal. They'll expel you before you graduate.'
Julian rolls his eyes. 'Em, it'll be out of my system by the time we get to the formal, don't worry. I just need it for this pre party. It's just weird with Lexington here, and Findlay acting like a hero as if she's some darling little damsel in distress because of her brand new daddy.'
'Jules,' I say warningly. 'You're being a dick.'
Julian shrugs. 'Chill, dude, I'll be good. I'll act natural, and then we'll get in the cars to the formal and Lexington and Findlay won't come, and by then I'll be fine.'
'Fine,' I say. 'Just be good. No trouble tonight.'
'Yes, boss,' Julian says.
The atmosphere has loosened up considerably when we move back into the lounge room, I assume because most of the adults are having a few drinks and are now talking freely with George as if he didn't disappear for sixteen years. Lucas, Julian and I find our way back into the conversation inside, and I notice that Julian acts completely sober throughout it all, so I've completely forgotten about it by the time we get into the cars to head into the city.