Fragments (Running On Empty Book 1) Read online

  He gulped down his juice and replied, “Hardly, Trice. I’m not available during the day.”

  I looked at him and while Mamma huffed and got up to answer the phone, I mouthed whore to my brother while he mouthed virgin back at me, as my face heated in a blush. Cheeky shit.

  “Robbie!” Mamma yelled, “It’s one of those girls you were talking about.” We all burst out in laughter, while Robbie choked on his bite. The girl on the phone would have heard what our mother said and automatically what she thought of her.

  Robbie rushed to the phone, and covered the mouthpiece to stifle our laughter. When he finally swallowed the rest of his roll, he tentatively answered.

  “Hello?” followed closely by, “Oh, hey Rach…. No, what’s that? No, babe, there’s no one else. It’s just my mamma messing with you.”

  I covered my mouth holding in another laugh, looking straight at Alex while grinning widely. He held his right hand up the ceiling like he had scored a goal.

  Once lunch was finished, I went back to my room to prepare for the lake. My friends Trinity, Hazel and Theo were due to arrive soon. Anytime we had a spell of this dry heat, our friends bombarded our lake. I rushed in and changed into my black one-piece suit and put my board shorts over the top. I grabbed my Paul Frank towel (anything with a monkey on it just cracked me up) and slipped into my thongs then searched for my sunglasses, hat, and sunscreen. Even though I had an olive complexion, I hated being burned. My skin peeled easily, and since I had been dancing from a young age, our teacher would get cranky if we didn’t take care of ourselves.

  Once I left my room and went downstairs to the kitchen, I stole a glance at Alex and Robbie who were chatting quietly in the lounge room. I could hear a murmur of appreciation followed by a cheer and high five. When they spotted me, their mouths stopped moving as Robbie shot forward on the couch and adjusted his shoe. All the while Alex just smiled at me, acting cool as a cucumber. I had interrupted a private discussion. They usually had their ‘man chats’ in Robbie’s room, and if his window was open, I often heard every single word. My MP3 player was used and abused during that time. I knew too much about the girls at my school and how little they cared about themselves.

  “What’s up, arse-faces? You guys coming to the lake?” I asked, while leaning against the back of the couch. Their shoulders dropped as I didn’t draw attention to their odd behaviour. Last time I had intentionally listened, it was about a girl in my science class who my brother had wooed at a party. The taste of vomit still lingered in my mouth when I remembered hearing about how his ‘tongue’ had made her ‘happy’. Argh.

  “We’re just chilling under the air con. Your feral friends coming today? Rach is, too, so if they can avoid scaring her that’d be good.” Like always, Robbie enjoyed attacking my friends. Especially Hazel. He lived to torment her.

  “Yes, they are, you dick. Besides, they’re the ones who will be nice. But if you can keep your wandering hands at a PG level, that’d be good. I’d rather not have to throw up in the lake.” I looked at Alex directly, waiting for the smart-arse reply, and he delivered.

  “Hey! What are you lookin’ at me for? It’s not like we share!” Both boys started laughing, making me feel like I was on the outside of an inside joke.

  “Well, thank fuck for that!” I threw back over my shoulder, walking towards the crunching sound of tires driving up our driveway. Awesome. My friends had arrived. I couldn’t wait to see them.

  Chapter Two

  “But, so that you may rid yourself from fears,

  I will tell you why I came, and what I heard

  At the point when first I became concerned for you”

  Inferno II lines: 49-51

  Trice

  “Tricky Trice!!! Where you at, woman?” bellowed my friend Trinity. Her father had barely stopped the car before she leapt out. “I need to dive into that lake, my skin is a roastin’.” She turned to the trunk of her car and grabbed her duffle bag. My other friends, Hazel and Theo, climbed out of Trin’s sedan.

  “Later, Pops. I’ll call you when we’re done. Thanks for the ride. Mwah!” She waved, while blowing an exaggerated kiss with her other hand. She could barely manage her duffle on her shoulder, looking like an uncoordinated twig. I waved excitedly, as I watched them walk closer. Trinity was the smallest of the lot, but what she lacked in her five-foot stature, she made up for with her personality. Already, I could see her elbow Theo a few times, causing his steps to falter. Our poor, introverted Theo. I was surprised that he liked hanging out with us, seeing as Trinity lacked a common filter. Hazel walked quickly beside them, clinging to her beach bag, while rolling her eyes at their antics.

  As predicted, we heard Robbie call from the back door.

  “Hey, Ginger Ninja and the misfits are here! Here to join us in the lake? Don’t worry Ginge, you won’t let lost; NASA can see your hair from space.”

  Poor Hazel’s face turned bright red and she moved closer to Theo.

  Robbie laughed, high fiving Alex and strolling out with a towel on his shoulder while calling out again, “Oh, not just your hair but your face, too.”

  I turned to face him with my hands on hips ready to fly when Trin beat me to it.

  “Oh, Robbie. Nice to see you’re still a dickhead. The fact that you keep teasing our friend here specifically each and every time isn’t going to make her fall for you. Surely, there’s an easy gal who you can go and impress with your manhood… or lack thereof.” Robbie’s response was an immediate laugh. It was times like these that I hated my brother.

  “Sorry Haze, you know Robbie’s a dick. We don’t have to go out there if you want. He’s just showing off,” I sympathized, rubbing her shoulder in circles. She bit her lip, shaking her head. As annoying as Robbie was, she never ran away. She just carried on.

  “S’okay, hon,” she hedged. “He’s just a dick. I’m used to it. If he were nice to me, I’d probably faint. Or think he was drunk.”

  The afternoon sun began to peak as we strolled towards the lake. We were all eager to soak away the sweat from our bodies. We had built ourselves a pretty decent setup - a 44 gallon drum cut in half to build a campfire where we would roast marshmallows (and the occasional foil wrapped banana with chocolate); a few canoes and air tires to float in, as well as Dad’s old fishing boat. We also had a few picnic tables to spread out on, too. All in all, it was a relaxing place to be. Gum trees surrounded the area, encasing us in our own private alcove where the wind would gently brush our cheeks.

  When we reached the camp area, we dumped our towels and turned on Robbie’s portable sound system. He plugged in his MP3 player so we could listen to his mix of the day. He was constantly making play lists. He never wanted to be a DJ; he just liked setting the ‘mood’. The chilled rhythm and beat of the strumming of guitars and piano were familiar to me. Jamiroquai’s “Cosmic Girl” started playing and we all had a bit of bop in our step.

  “All right, girls and Theo, I’m heading in. It’s so freakin' hot today.” I kicked off my flip-flops and stripped off my tank while stepping closer to the lake’s edge. I loved dipping my toes in the water. While wriggling my toes, I dug them deeper into the refreshing squish of the mud. I was so relaxed looking down that I failed to notice the shadow looming closer to me. As I turned to see if the gang was following me, I felt a strong arm curl around my back and another under my legs. But the laugh that sounded was what got to me. The loud roar in my ear made me grimace as I looked directly into Alex’s eyes.

  “What in the hell are you doing?” I yelled, squirming and turning in his grasp. The arsehole had a tight grip around my middle.

  “Oh, Bea-Bea, you look hot. Thought I’d help you cool…” and before he finished that sentence, he threw me into the lake. I went down like a stone and managed to swallow mouthfuls of river water. Kicking my way to the top, I choked and spluttered the murky water. I was now

  utterly pissed off. I looked at him with revenge in my eyes.

  “Stop calling m
e that! Oh, and Alex? Sleep with one eye open, you dick. Revenge is best served cold.”

  He tilted his head back, roaring with laughter.

  “No, Bea, baby,” he leered. “The only one cold here is … you.” His eyes trailed down my muddy chest, resting on my boobs. I crossed my right arm over my chest and screamed, splashing with my left hand in his general direction, but he didn’t care. Instead, a look of determination crossed his face as he started to run into the water straight towards me.

  Running in water, if you hadn’t realised, was stupid. You were better off swimming. In my frazzled state, however, my usually coordinated limbs let me down and I felt like I was running/splashing/ being an idiot in the sinking depths of the lake. I looked over my shoulder to see where Alex was but he was gone, leaving a trail of ripples where he had rushed into the water.

  My heart began to race. I knew that he was underwater and that petrified me. I knew that he was lurking under the surface, and as the water was murky, I couldn’t see him. The anticipation made me scream as I continued to race away. Thinking I could outsmart him, I ran in another direction, hoping he couldn’t see the movement of my legs. The river reeds that grew tickled my calves as I used them as leverage to push further still, but it was to no avail. A hand gripped tight around my right ankle and I screamed like a banshee. Alex’s hand pulled hard on my leg, crashing me down into the lake. He soon released me and we both surfaced; me spluttering and him laughing. Prick.

  “Cooled down now?” he smirked.

  I growled at him and walked away. He gripped my arm, but I managed to pull it away, glaring at him. He held both his hands up beside his head. “Ease up, girly, I was just mucking around.”

  I gave him the bird and swam towards my friends who were now in the lake laughing at me. “Thanks guys for trying to save me. You’re the best!” I exaggerated giving each of them the bird, also.

  “No way was I going to dive into that one. Besides, you are the funniest chick to watch running in water. You looked ridiculous!” Trin exclaimed.

  I looked over my shoulder at Alex to give him the stink eye, but couldn’t make eye contact as he was floating peacefully with all his limbs stretched out. His skin seemed really tanned and I could see he had been hitting the gym recently. His chest and arms looked well defined and muscular. No wonder he had a grip like an ape. Arsehole. I couldn’t believe how long he could stay under water, like a freaking fish. When we were younger, I once asked him how he did it, and he’d looked at me sadly and said, “There are times, Bea, when you just can’t be seen.”

  “Trice, you know if you took a photo, you could stare at it longer than what you’re doing right now,” Trinity joked. I snapped out of my gaze and looked back quickly, blushing.

  “Piss off, Trin,” I mumbled, “he’s not my type.” Trin smiled, clapping her hands and automatically started jumping and delving into gossip mode.

  “That’s right! We know your type! It’s that guy at the country market, isn’t it? The curly-haired guy who flips pancakes?” I stared at Trin, giving her the shut-the-fuck-up look, and glanced around to see where Robbie was. If he knew I had a crush, he would terrorise the poor guy.

  “I don’t even know his name or if he even notices me-” I said. It was bullshit, though. I did know his name, and he did know who I was.

  The country market occurred twice a month near the boathouse. All the growers from our town, as market craft stalls, turned up to sell whatever they made and produced. A lot of it was crap, but the food tents were always good.

  The pancake tent belonged to the Morrison family. They had three sons and all of them were really good looking. They didn’t go to my school, but I knew about them. All three were tall, dark eyed and dark haired and really, just… hot.

  Clint was the eldest and was off to university the following year. He’d already finished school, but had stayed back to earn some money. Marcus, the middle son, was seventeen and flirted with every girl that came to the line. He knew Robbie through football, so it wasn’t a surprise that he was a bit of a man whore, too. Kyle- the hottie, ‘sigh’- was my age and really shy. He had a dimple in his left cheek and deep brown eyes.

  It was that nervous moment, when I had tried to hold pancakes from his stall while adding syrup, all the while under his and everyone else’s gaze, that had me worried. There was just too much social pressure to chat with him as I felt like a klutz while balancing my plate. Lately, though, we had graduated from saying “Hi” to a few simple sentences. Amazing! Last time, however, I had been so excited to chat that the adrenaline burned out, so when he asked if I was having fun, I could only mumble an embarrassed, “Yeah.”

  “Oh, he’s noticed you, all right-” Hazel interrupted my thoughts. “Remember that time he put the icing sugar in a shape of a heart on your pancakes?”

  Bugger, forgot about that. I did remember.

  “It was Valentine’s Day, hon,” I groaned. “He did that to everyone.” Haze shook her head and before I could swat her away, Theo interjected.

  “I didn’t have it on mine. Neither did these two chumps. So, I reckon our little Baker’s Man might have a little thing for our Tricey.”

  I blushed as I remembered the extra attention he did pay into getting that heart right. I continued to stroke my arms back and forth in the river contemplating what they had just said. “Nah, I’m not his type. He’s too hot. You guys want to go and eat some Pringles?” I was hoping to distract them from discussing this further.

  “Who’s too hot?” Alex asked, right behind me. I flinched as my hand flew up against my chest with a fright.

  “For fuck’s sake, Alex, warn a girl, would ya?”

  He ignored my comment and looked at Theo.

  “Who’s she talking about?”

  I looked directly at Theo and mouthed, don’t you dare, but Alex caught me.

  “What’s going on?”

  Then as he looked at me, a slow smile started forming on his face.

  “Oh, Bea-Bea has a crush? Is that it?”

  My face darkened with embarrassment and then my friends laughed aloud. Traitors.

  “I don’t even know him; he’s cute, that’s all. Please don’t tell Robbie,” I pleaded.

  “S’okay Bea, you’re allowed to crush. Just don’t let him hurt you, okay?” His hand rubbed my shoulder as I rolled my eyes. It was bad enough having one overprotective brother, and Alex always felt like another.

  “Thanks, Alex. Can we stop talking about this? I want to swim around, not just paddle in the shallow end.” With that, I turned and dove away, swimming to the farther end of the lake. My trio of traitors followed me, and Alex stayed where he was. Robbie approached him with Rach who must have just arrived. Poor Alex, he was about to be the third wheel.

  “We are so talking about this,” Trin muttered. “We need a plan to get you guys to pash. Sweet sixteen and never been …”

  I launched at Trinity, covering her mouth. With that, all thoughts of swimming went away as us young kids—except Theo who just rolled his eyes at Trin’s theatrics—planned out my first kiss with Kyle.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Trin teased. “You’ve pashed before. My mistake!” She winked.

  Cheeky cow!

  Our Saturday continued like most did during the hotter months. We overstayed in the lake, watching our hands and feet prune, followed by eating Mamma’s homemade pizza. It was too hot for a bonfire, but the nights were cooler, so we would lie on picnic rugs on the grass and stargaze, spinning tales of all sorts of dreams and ideas that we had. Trin and Theo decided that after school they would take a year off and explore the world. Both were adventurous, despite Theo looking like a recluse. His blue eyes were so expressive, but he often used the front part of his dark hair to flick over them. He usually wore torn jeans and dark shirts.

  “How’s that solo of yours going, Trice?” Hazel asked, rolling onto her side and snatching the final chip.

  “Yeah, I’m getting there. There’s just so much
pressure, you know?” I murmured.

  “Babe, if anyone is going to snatch up that position at the academy—it’s you.” Trin clapped, flicking my forearm, and rewarding me with her killer smile.

  “You, babe, are going places. Nail the routine, get the place and train up for Melbourne!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled. “Piece of cake. Why am I so stressed?” I flicked my hair over my shoulder feign indifference. “It’s not like it’s my whole future or anything. It’s not like I’m competing against thirty other girls!”

  “Trice, I think you need to lighten up, sweets,” Hazel cooed and reached forward to squeeze my hand. “You will be fine.” I squeezed hers back and nodded. They were both right. I loved dancing and knew that I was pretty decent; however I had doubts over whether or not it would lead into a career that would take me away. And that was what I wanted. I was tired of this town.

  Both Robbie and Alex were keen to head to the city after their final year, though Robbie was undecided about what he wanted to do. Alex had always shown an interest in physiotherapy. Robbie often joked that Alex just wanted to do that to feel up the babes, but I knew it was more than that.

  “Trice,” he’d whispered to me once, “I need to help people. All that blood and shit, I can’t do—but I can help them heal. I can try to make it all go away.”

  Unfortunately, I knew all too well why he was driven to fix people.

  By nightfall, with my friends gone, I lay on the picnic mat gazing up into the luminous sky. Apart from the river, this was something else that I loved about the country. When I was little, my brother and Alex would point out constellations and make me learn them. Lily would occasionally join us, but she preferred hanging out with her own friends. Now if we were all together, we’d just gaze up and enjoy the peacefulness. It was under these stars that we made our life choices.

  “Why are you here all alone, Bea?” Alex muttered as he walked over. “I thought with all your clucky gossiping, you would’ve gone to bed exhausted hours ago.”