Chapter 5
February 25th
When Nicole arrived at The University of Sandy Beach on Monday morning, she was shocked when she saw Matilda Shepherd walking on campus, hand in hand with her boyfriend, Ash Green.
Matilda was Tasha's childhood best friend. They had had their ups and downs during high school where they lost their friendship for a while. Matilda was sent to boarding school and she cut ties with Tasha for a while. But that has since made up and everything had been good between the pair ever since.
Nicole hadn't seen Ash since late in year ten and she was surprised to see him. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would want to study a degree at university. So Nicole decided that she would go over and talk to Matilda. Even though they were not the best of friends, Nicole and Matilda did get along better than they used to.
"Hi," said Nicole, "I didn't think you guys were studying here."
"I am not studying here. I was just walking Til here," replied Ash.
Nicole couldn't help noticing the cigarette that was tucked between his fingers. Nicole thought that it was absolutely disgusting to see someone smoking a cigarette and it was made even worse since her boyfriend started it up again. And Matilda had kept her old habit because she too was also smoking a cigarette.
"I am just starting today," said Matilda after she took a puff of her cigarette, "and I asked Ash if he wanted to walk with me. That is what boyfriends do."
Nicole was extremely surprised to see this. She had seen Matilda in year twelve at the end of the year at Amy's wedding. Nicole now didn't like this because Matilda seemed to have changed again. She went from being evil, to nice and then to not so nice anymore. Nicole didn't want Matilda to go back to her old ways and she hated it.
When Matilda was in year ten, she was a rebel and she was influenced by Ash. Nicole knew that Tasha hated this and she knew that she would have hated it if Matilda went back to her old ways. Nicole wondered if Matilda had really learnt her lesson from boarding school and, more importantly, what was going to happen now?
The whole reason why Matilda went to RayBourne Academy was for her smoking; it was a punishment for it and Nicole couldn't believe she had just gone back to her old behavior. Hopefully she wouldn't start drinking all the time at parties again, but Nicole had her doubts. If Matilda could act like this now, it meant that she could change again if she wanted to.
"What are you studying?" asked Nicole, trying her hardest to not breath in the strong cigarette smoke. This is what she now had to do when she was around Riley.
"A bachelor of arts," Matilda replied coldly.
Now it was confirmed.
Matilda had definitely gone back to her old ways and Nicole knew that she had to talk to Tasha about this.
And now Nicole wanted to go.
"Well, I should probably go. I am meeting a friend before class," said Nicole as she tried to remain as calm as possible. She was now wishing that Riley was here with her.
Ash and Matilda just nodded their heads, not even bothering to say goodbye.
Now Nicole knew that this was going to ruin her day.
...
"Nicole?" Lilly Nelson waved her hand in front of Nicole's face, "Nicole? What's wrong?"
Nicole woke up from her trance and she realised that the lecture theatre was now empty.
This was embarrassing.
She looked at her friend and didn't know what to say.
Lilly was a good friend to Nicole and Nicole was usually able to speak to her with no problem.
Today was a different story.
"What's up with you, Nicole?" Lilly continued.
"Nothing. Why do you ask?" replied Nicole.
Of course, there was something wrong.
She couldn't stop thinking of what happened with Matilda.
Nicole wanted to talk to Lilly about Matilda but she didn't know where to start. Matilda had such a long history of being bad and there was too much to talk about. Nicole knew that she would be talking about Matilda for the next week because there was so much to say.
"Firstly, you hardly took any notes in the lecture, and secondly, you are still sitting here when everyone has gone," said Lilly.
"Oh," Nicole replied, she could feel herself blushing. This was so embarrassing.
"So, talk to me. What's going on?"
"How long have we go?"
Lilly looked at the time, "about two hours. Is that enough time?"
Nicole nodded. It would have to do.
So she talked about everything about Matilda that she could think of.
It all came out and Nicole hoped that it made sense.
"Wow," said Lilly after she had heard the long-winded explanation, "I can't believe what I am hearing."
"Yeah, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Tasha is going to be devastated," replied Nicole.
"But you have to tell her. She has a right to know because this is her best friend we are talking about."
Nicole nodded.
"I can come with you, if you like. We are finished after our tutorial. The tutorial that we are actually running late for."
Nicole sat up. Two hours went extremely fast when she was the only one talking. She couldn't believe that they were still in the lecture theatre as well.
Nicole then looked at the time, "yeah, let's go."
"Is Tasha free this afternoon?" asked Lilly as the girls started walking to their tutorial room.
"Yes, she is. This will be a good excuse for you to get to know her boyfriend a little better," replied Nicole.
"They seem to be stuck together like glue, don't they?"
"They do."
Nicole was glad that Lilly said that she would come and talk to Tasha with her. Nicole knew that Tasha would have been devastated but she also knew that she had a right to know. So did Adam and, obviously, they would be together. At least Nicole would have been able to talk to them at the same time and she wouldn't have to repeat herself.
Nicole was also glad that Lilly had asked to come because she wanted her new friend to spend more time with her old friends. Nicole had introduced Lilly to her friends a number of times, but that was nothing special. All they really said was hello to one another and that was it. And at least they would get to talk today after they had a talk about Matilda.
...
Nicole and Lilly walked quite fast to Tasha's house and it wasn't long before they were there. And as soon as Nicole and Lilly entered, the girls couldn't stop noticing the state of the house. Amy, Mr Wilson and Mr and Mrs Miller were crowded in the lounge room and it was clear that Catania was with them. She seemed to be crying her head off and someone else was crying.
Nicole had to look twice.
It was Amy who was crying.
"What's happening?" asked Nicole after Tasha just looked at her sister.
Tasha turned her attention to Nicole, "I have no idea. Amy has been like this all day."
"Why is she crying?"
"I really don't know. I am worried about her."
The girls watched Amy and her family. They knew that they shouldn't have watched, but all three of them were quite worried about Amy now. They then headed to the kitchen to grab some food, making it look like they were not listening to what was going on.
"Darling," said Mrs Miller, "you can't get yourself so worked up. It is not good for you or for the baby."
Amy looked at her mother and brushed her blonde hair out of her tear stained face, "I can't help it, mum," she said, "she won't do anything. All she does is cry."
Nicole, Lilly and Tasha just looked at one another.
It looked like Amy was doubting her abilities as a mother.
Nicole believed that Amy was a good mother. She was very protective of her daughter and she looked out for her. That was what any good mother would do for their child.
"Here, honey, let me take her. You need some fresh air," Ian offered.
Amy looked at her still crying daughter. The girls could tell that she didn't want her husband to take the baby. It was understandable, though, because she was the mother and she would have wanted to do everything for her daughter. She was probably wondering why this was harder than she expected. Nicole knew that most young parents thought that had parenthood handled and when it actually happened, it was nothing like they expected.
"Honey, you need a break," Ian continued.
"No, Ian, I need to look after my daughter," replied Amy as she stood up and headed to her room, still crying with frustration.
And when Amy was gone, the girls looked at one another. Nicole felt so sorry for Amy and she didn't realise exactly how hard she was finding it. Nicole just thought that she was being overprotective, but now it was clear that everyone could see that it was something more. Nicole hoped that Amy would be able to sort this out soon because she needed to look after her daughter as best she could.
...
When the three girls made it to Tasha's room, Nicole knew that it was time to talk to Tasha about Matilda. Although Nicole couldn't read minds, she had a feeling that Tasha didn't want to hear any more bad news, but Lilly kept reminding Nicole that Tasha would be able to deal with it better now.
If Nicole kept what she saw about Matilda a secret for a little while, she would risk looking her friendship with Tasha, and Nicole didn't want that. She didn't want to lose her best friend. Nicole was glad that Adam was also there because she was sure that he would be able to make Tasha see sense if he needed to.
"I am sorry, Tasha," said Nicole.
Tasha looked at Nicole with confusion. She had no idea what Nicole was sorry for.
"I have something to tell you that I don't think you are going to want to hear," said Nicole.
Tasha nodded.
"I saw Matilda today," said Nicole.
"Of course, you would have. She is studying her first year of her arts degree this year," replied Tasha.
"She's changed."
"How?"
"She's gone back to what she used to be."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Tasha didn't seem to be too surprised to hear that.
"Are you okay?" asked Nicole.
"Yeah, I'm okay," replied Tasha, "I should have known this would happen."
Nicole nodded.
"I thought she was changing for the better, but clearly a leopard can't change it's stops."
"Has she spoken to you recently?"
"Not really, which isn't surprising. I am sick of pushing it with her, so I was waiting for her to come to me. Clearly she's not interested anymore."
"We are going to have to keep an eye on her," said Adam.
"What's the point?" replied Tasha, "we've tried, and she's not interested. I'm just not going to bother with her anymore."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Tash, hasn't your course taught you not to give up on people?" asked Adam, "you didn't give up on me in year eleven. Don't give up on Matilda."
"I am a counsellor, aren't I?" Tasha smiled.
Adam smiled.
"You think I should help her?"
Adam nodded.
"I'll think about it."
With that, Nicole decided that it was time to stop talking about Matilda. It was time to just talk about anything and it was time for Tasha and Adam to get to know Lilly some more.
"So," said Nicole, "do you think Amy will let us play with Catania for a little while?"
Tasha looked at the time and she shook her head, "I don't think so," she replied, "she would have just put Catania down now."
Nicole just nodded her head. Maybe it was stupid of her to ask if they could play with Catania because of how Amy looked before. Nicole found that she was now a little embarrassed now and she just lowered her eyes. And to take her mind off of this embarrassment, it was time to talk about something else.
"And besides," said Adam, "I am getting sick of babies."
Nicole looked at Adam confused.
"My life is all about babies right now," Adam explained.
"Oh, yes, Stan."
Nicole remembered that Stan's little brother, Stan, and his girlfriend, Chloe, had welcomed their son earlier this month. Nicole understood that Adam would have been sick of babies right now and it was probably like he couldn't escape from them.
"That must be hard to get used to," said Nicole, "Stan being a dad."
"It's so weird," replied Adam, "my little brother is a dad."
"What have they called their son?"
"Henry."
"That's a nice name."
"It is, but I don't know what to do. I can't sleep at home because Henry cries. I can't sleep here because Amy and Catania are crying."
"Just get some really good ear plugs," said Lilly, "they might be expensive, but they'll be worth it."
"Right now, I'll give anything a try," replied Adam.
And Nicole hoped that Adam was right. He needed to be able to handle everything in his life this year. At least he had his best friends to help him.
...
At the end of the day, Nicole was glad that Lilly and her friends got along. Nicole was now in the paddock at home with her horses. She was seated on the ground in the middle of the paddock and she was just watching the horses. Nicole smiled as she saw Blue walk up to her. Nicole then picked up a handful of grass and fed it to the brown gelding. Blue chewed it happy and looked at Nicole as if he was asking for more. Nicole happily fed him some more grass and she kept smiling at the horse.
But Nicole kept thinking of how tough her friends had it at the moment.
Her life was easy right now.
She felt so sorry for them.
Nicole was distracted from this when she saw Riley enter the paddock and he came by and sat down with her. Nicole wondered what Riley said to her father because he was home right now and Riley would have bumped into him for sure. Maybe they would have just looked at each other as Riley made his way out to the paddock.
"Having fun, babe?" asked Riley.
Nicole nodded, even though she had lots of stuff on her mind.
"What's on your mind?" asked Riley.
"Everything."
"Like what?"
"Things are tough for my friends at the moment."
"How?"
"Well, Tasha is at home dealing with her sister who's struggling being a mum, and Adam is at home dealing with his little brother who has become a dad when he shouldn't have become a dad."
"Do you want to hear my opinion?" asked Riley.
Nicole nodded.
"This is just a part of the adult world. They are going to have to deal with stuff like this."
"But what if they make bad choices because of it? Or what if they die?"
"How would they die? The babies won't kill them."
"Take Adam, for example. What if he has had no sleep because he can't get sleep anywhere and he's driving. And then he's so tired he crashes into a tree."
"Why can't Adam sleep?"
"Because there is a crying baby at his place and a crying mother and baby at his girlfriend's house," said Nicole.
"Well, he's just going to have to find a way to deal with it," replied Riley.
"How would you deal with it?"
"Not have kids yet."
"He hasn't had kids, though."
Riley laughed, "I know, it was a joke."
"Well, be serious. How would you deal with it?"
"I don't know. I just would. I mean, I didn't deal with the teacher's aide job the best at first."
Yeah.
He smoked.
He was stressed.
Nicole didn't like it.
"But it got better, and hey, it led me to a better job," said Riley.
Nicole beamed at Riley, "are you serious?"
Riley nodded with a smile, "your boyfriend is now a fully qualified teacher."
"Riley, that's great. What grade are you teaching?"
"The preps."
"Oh, that's not so great."
Preps would have stressed him out.
Preps were little trouble makers.
Now he would smoke.
"Why not?" asked Riley.
"Preps will stress you out and then you will smoke," replied Nicole.
Riley laughed, "I actually like working with preps, babe. It's the older year levels I struggle with. I learn that when I was on placement."
"So, you like working with preps?"
"I do. And some of the kids say the funniest things."
"Really?"
Riley nodded.
"Well, I am glad you like it."
"Me too."
Nicole then had some other thoughts pop into her mind and she knew that Riley needed to know about them. She wanted to tell Riley that she loved him; she really wanted to, but she was worried that she would lose her nerve and not be able to tell him. She wanted to tell him.
But was it actually as hard to tell Riley that she loved him as she was making it out to be?
It didn't have to be that hard.
It had to be easy.
Nicole then decided that she was going to do it.
She wasn't going to be scared.
If she could let Riley kiss her and not be afraid, then sure she would be able to do this.
Nicole then looked into Riley's eyes.
She knew that she would be able to do it.
"Riley," she said, "I love you."
Riley smiled and placed his two hands on Nicole's cheek before giving her a kiss, "say it again," he said.
"I love you," Nicole said again. This time it was easier for and Nicole knew that she really loved Riley.
Riley smiled and kissed Nicole on the lips again, more passionately than usual, but Nicole found that she didn't mind.
She liked it.
"You don't know how long I have been waiting for you to tell me that," said Riley.
Nicole then pulled away, unsure of why Riley just told her this. She thought that it was a little rude.
"Don't worry, babe," Riley smiled, "I was happy to wait and I knew that you were not ready. I am just happy to have told me because I love you too."
Nicole smiled, a little embarrassed that she had just jumped to conclusions yet again. She loved Riley and she was so glad that she had finally told him.
She couldn't help but smile.