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  ‘Mum says… Hey! Are you getting married or something?’ Nico’s brother, Andrew, stood in the doorway, mouth agape.

  ‘Yeah. That’s what’s happening,’ said Nico, as he tried the tie once more before shoving it back into his pocket.

  Andrew ran from the room.

  ‘Muuuuum! Nico’s getting married.’

  His phone beeped again and he checked it. It was from Poppy.

  ‘Don’t 4gt d purple tie. LY MU X U.’

  ‘Jacob! What’s going on?’ His mother marched into his room, a frown plastered on her face. ‘Where did you get that suit from? Where are you going?’

  ‘It’s the Formal,’ said Nico. ‘I told you about it.’

  ‘Well you didn’t mention that it was tonight. I thought it was later in the year.’

  ‘It’s not a big thing,’ said Nico. ‘Just a dinner and some speeches. They like to get it out of the way mid-year. So we’re not thinking about it at exam time.’

  ‘Your father and I still need to know about these things,’ said his mother. ‘It’s a milestone… your shirt is creased. Take it off and I’ll iron it.’ YourfatherandI, like it was one person.

  ‘There’s a limo out the front,’ said Andrew, rushing in, eyes wide.

  ‘That’s my ride,’ said Nico.

  ‘But your shirt—’

  ‘Sorry, Mum. No time.’

  ‘How are you getting home?’ she asked.

  ‘I’m getting a lift,’ he said, though he hadn’t organised anything. He walked to the front door to find his dad standing on the porch.

  ‘Big night?’ asked his father.

  Nico shrugged.

  ‘You want a tie?’

  ‘Nah, I’m right.’

  ‘Have a good time, son.’

  ‘Be careful, Jacob.’ His mother’s words followed Nico into the car.

  He slammed the door shut and slapped Spud on the back as the limo took off.

  ‘Party starter?’ asked Spud, handing Nico a silver flask.

  Nico ignored his mobile as it vibrated in his pocket. Only later, as he waited for Poppy and Sarah, did he think to check it. Just four words.

  ‘I’m going to tell.’

  25

  SARAH

  Six little ducks went out one day

  over the hills and far away

  Mother duck said, ‘Quack, quack, quack, quack’

  but only five little ducks came back

  POPPY AND I got dressed at my place. We were the last stop on the limo pick-up trail and had plenty of time to get nervous, get excited and get nervous again. All my aunties had to come around to watch Poppy and I make our grand entrance into the living room. Poppy had decided on a long, floaty purple dress, very Poppy, while I had chosen a short flippy dress because I just looked like a little girl dressing up in her mother’s dress when I wore something longer.

  There were endless photos taken. Gasps of delight. You would think we were two brides on our wedding day, but the aunts loved a bit of glam and any occasion was a photo opportunity. Even some of my cousins came around for a look. Mum had just happened to make fifty million plates of finger food and of course the aunts had brought their own offerings, so it was turning into a before-the-Formal party.

  Finally the limo arrived, but we were so busy with our photo posing that we missed the honk from out the front. We only realised the limo had arrived when we noticed Nico and Finn standing at the door asking if they could come in. They were holding onto a backpack each, which I assumed had their change of clothes for the after-party.

  The aunts launched themselves onto the boys and there were more photos, more posing, and at one stage I found myself shoved up against Finn, holding Aunt Lili’s baby, Betsy.

  ‘Instant family,’ someone shouted. I think it was my cousin Barbara.

  ‘A kiss for the record,’ shouted Poppy.

  All cameras pointed our way in expectation. I wondered if it were possible to feel any more embarrassed than I was feeling right then and there. I looked up to Finn in apology and he gave a wry smile, then bent down and kissed me right on the lips.

  ‘Whoo hoo,’ yelped Poppy. ‘Do it again!’

  I handed Betsy back to Aunt Lili, pinched Poppy on the arm and kissed Mum goodbye. Dad was frowning, which is something he does when overcome by emotion, so I hugged him and he reminded me to ring when I needed a lift. Finally we escaped through the front door and got into the limo amid cheers from the other passengers. Someone handed me a bottle of vodka and raspberry.

  ‘Let’s get this party started,’ said Finn, as he downed his first beer.

  SILVER VALLEY HAS one reception venue that was built about ten years ago. It’s a hideous block of concrete with white pillars out the front, a water feature with a dribble of water that is just annoying and a little enclosed courtyard for those who are desperate to have a smoke. I’m not sure what the architects had in mind when they designed it, but to me it was Roman Baths meets Chinese Imperial Palace with a touch of Silver Valley Mall. Still, it was the only venue going. It was where Aunt Lili had her wedding reception, and my cousin Michael celebrated his 21st there too, so it was a familiar sight when our limo pulled up at the front.

  I was standing at the main door, directing guests to their tables, when Virginia stormed in and headed straight to the ladies’ room. Close behind, like two little puppies, followed Loz and Tamara, who stopped long enough to inform me that the chauffeured Jag hadn’t turned up. There’d been some mistake with the booking and in the end Cooper had picked them up in his own car. I felt sorry for Cooper as he came over to check his table number. He was almost unrecognisable in his suit and tie and for a second I didn’t know who he was.

  ‘Bad news about the Jag,’ I said, as I marked him off my list.

  He muttered something before going off in search of his table. Then someone came over to relieve me on door duty and I went back to my own table, which was noisier than the rest of the tables put together. Inside the main ballroom, the dim light was punctured with the light of silver candles on each table and in large candelabras in the corners of the rooms.

  Poppy was in full swing, telling a story about her stepfather, Carl, her bracelets jangling as her hands sketched events mid-air. I sat next to Finn, so gorgeous in his suit, and leaned back in my seat as a waiter placed a table napkin on my lap. Nico had had a couple of beers in the limo and I watched him knocking back another one as Poppy continued her story. He must have felt my eyes on him for he looked over, raised his glass in salute, and drained it.

  When first course arrived, I accidentally knocked the napkin from my lap. As I bent to retrieve it, Finn bent down as well, our hands meeting under the table.

  ‘Got it,’ I said, hating the shake in my voice and the way a blush had begun to spread from my neck up.

  Finn leaned in to me and said, ‘You really do look great tonight, Sarah.’

  ‘Sorry about that whole… thing at my house. My family are out of control sometimes,’ I said.

  Finn shrugged as if he didn’t mind.

  I smelled his aftershave and the hint of something stronger on his breath than light beer as he whispered a joke into my ear about one of the teachers who had just walked past.

  Then Nico abruptly stood up from the table, shoved his mobile into his suit coat pocket, and moved off to the courtyard outside. Poppy followed him with a shrug but I wasn’t paying much attention because Finn was still murmuring in my ear and I was feeling dizzy.

  From then on it was like the night was on fast forward; a blur of people posing for mobile cameras and loud music and crazy dancing that left my feet aching and my head throbbing. The teachers left some of us for dead on the dance floor, and at one point our English teacher, Mr Zable, attempted to break dance while we all clapped around him.

  During one slow song Finn grabbed me for a dance and held me close as I wound my arms about his neck. I wanted time to stop just then. I wanted to sway forever in Finn’s arms as they tightened over m
e, his lips close to my temple. Then the music changed pace again but he didn’t let go, and we swayed slowly while people jostled around us. At one point I opened my eyes to see Virginia staring straight at me, the shock and confusion in her eyes so intense that I let go of Finn and stepped back from him.

  By then Poppy and Nico had joined us on the dance floor and we joked around, although I could tell Nico’s heart really wasn’t in it. Finn pulled out his phone and took some photos and we posed like magazine models, all pouting lips and dramatic expressions. We swapped partners for the next slow dance, and Nico’s palm was sweaty as it held my hand. He was trembling and the fixed smile plastered on his face didn’t fool me for a moment. I led him off the dance floor and back out to the courtyard. I grabbed a glass of water on the way, and made him sit on a low concrete seat.

  ‘Nico, what is going on?’ I really wanted to be back with Finn, but a little bit of alcohol had given me enough courage to finally confront Nico in person.

  He shook his head and I stood waiting in silence until he finally sighed, pulled out his mobile, punched a few buttons, then handed it to me.

  ‘Whyd u leev me? Y didnt U tell police?’

  ‘What is this?’ I asked.

  ‘Ever since that day… someone’s been sending me texts. Texts about the girl we left there.’

  ‘Well, ghosts can’t text.’

  ‘I know that.’ Nico stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets.

  ‘So what are you saying?’

  ‘I’m saying that someone has been sending me prank texts. I’ve even had a couple of calls—’

  ‘Male or female caller?’

  ‘I don’t know. Not sure.’

  ‘You need to tell someone—’

  Nico stopped pacing and stood close to me. ‘Who do I tell, Sarah? My parents? The police?’

  ‘But who do you think…?’

  ‘There were five of us there. And I’m not calling myself, so that leaves four.’

  ‘Do you think it was one of us?’

  ‘No. Yes. I… I don’t know.’ Nico grabbed the glass and drank the water in one gulp. ‘I could go to jail, Sarah. I’m nearly eighteen, I could go to jail. I didn’t do anything—’

  ‘You’ll be fine, Nico. We’ll just tell the police exactly what happened.’

  ‘I touched her face. What if they have my fingerprints on her face?’

  ‘Can they do that?’

  ‘I don’t know. And now there’s another girl…’

  ‘Does Poppy know about the calls?’

  Nico shook his head. ‘She knows something’s wrong, but I haven’t told her—’

  ‘But why not—’

  ‘I’m gonna fail Maths. My game’s gone to shit. The coach is talking about dropping me to the Seconds. That’s all I ever wanted to do, Sair. Play football. Don’t you see? Poppy’s the only good thing I’ve got. When I’m with her… I don’t want to think about that day. I don’t want to ruin us too.’

  ‘Maybe she could help you?’ I was thinking of Poppy’s Power.

  ‘No. I don’t want her involved.’

  A couple came out into the courtyard, but the night was cold and it soon had them shivering and back inside within a minute.

  ‘I think it’s the person who took the shirt,’ I said finally. ‘The person phoning you. I think it’s them.’

  Nico nodded. ‘But who is that?’

  I thought back to that day. Poppy offering to get the shirt then coming back to my place without it. She’d said she couldn’t find it, but what if she had? What if she found it and took it home? I shook my head. It didn’t make sense. Poppy loved Nico. She wouldn’t try to mess with his head. What if she took it home and hid it because she thought she was helping… and then someone else took it? But how would they know? And Poppy would have told me. Eventually. She could never keep secrets from me. It wasn’t making sense.

  ‘Are you trying to hook up with my boyfriend?’ Poppy had found us in the courtyard and she was looking flushed from dancing.

  Nico held his hands in the air in mock surrender. ‘I told you that would never work, Sair. This girl’s got ESP.’

  Poppy shook her finger at us both. ‘Come on, you two. You don’t want to miss out on the speech.’

  Inside, the lights had been turned up and the atmosphere had lost some of its magic. Mrs Van Rosen made a short speech about how proud she was of us and how we needed to focus on the rest of the academic year, then somebody threw up in the cloakroom and people started leaving. Some of the girls got changed in the ladies rest room. A few were going straight home, but most of us were headed for Tamara Deng’s house for the after-party.

  My plan was simple. Poppy, Nico, Finn and I would get a taxi to my place where we would change out of our glam clothes and into something more comfortable. Then we would taxi on to Tamara’s and Dad would pick us up from the after party when we were ready. The one hitch in my plan was that I hadn’t organised a taxi.

  ‘Let’s just stand near the road,’ suggested Poppy. ‘A taxi’s sure to pass by soon.’

  We’d only been waiting for ten minutes when Cooper drove past us in his white hatchback, then did a U-turn back to where we were waiting.

  ‘Are you going to Tamara’s?’ he asked.

  ‘We just have to detour to Sarah’s first,’ said Poppy. ‘Not many taxis around this time of night.’

  ‘We can do that. I’ve got room,’ said Cooper. ‘I seem to have lost my dates.’

  He said it in a wistful sort of way, ducking his head, which pulled at my heartstrings, so I hopped in the back and waited for the others to follow. ‘Address, Madam?’ he asked.

  AT HOME, DAD was asleep on the couch while the muted TV played its late-night rubbish. A woman was writhing around on the screen, a flashing phone number urging the viewer to ring now covering her modesty. Cooper waited in the car while I directed the other two boys to the bathroom to change. Poppy and I crept upstairs to my room.

  I was searching for one shoe when Poppy, only half-dressed, lay down on my bed with a groan.

  ‘I feel awful,’ she said.

  ‘You need to hydrate,’ I said. ‘Come on. Get dressed and I’ll get you some water downstairs.’

  ‘But it’s so comfy here.’

  I grabbed Poppy’s hand to help her up, but instead she pulled me down next to her.

  ‘Remember when I used to come for sleepovers and we’d talk all night?’ she said. ‘How come we don’t do that anymore?’ She positioned a pillow under her head.

  ‘I don’t know.’ I was impatient to get back down to Finn but Poppy moaned again. ‘How much did you have to drink?’ I asked.

  ‘I’m not sure. Not that much. I don’t remember.’ She pointed to my huddle of Beanie Bears on the shelf above my desk. ‘Do you remember that Beanie Bear catalogue? We spent so much time choosing our next bear. Your favourite was the Doctor Bear and mine was the Mermaid.’

  ‘Actually, my favourite was the Monkey Bear,’ I said. ‘I just pretended the Doctor Bear was my favourite.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Really.’

  ‘But, Sair, you never have to pretend with me.’

  All was quiet for a moment, then Poppy said, ‘I’ve been thinking about Marley lately. Especially today.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Marley. The girl—’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘You used to believe in ghosts,’ said Poppy. ‘What changed your mind?’

  I shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘So what do you believe in, Sarah? What do you think happens to us when we die?’

  I was Sarah Lum. Dux of the school. The girl with all the answers. But for once I didn’t have one. ‘I don’t know, P. I haven’t worked that bit out yet. Ask me in ten years.’

  Poppy yawned. ‘Okay. I’m so comfy here. Maybe you should go to Tamara’s without me.’

  ‘No. Come on. You’re the party girl. And this is the after-party to end all after-parties. I can’t go without y
ou.’ I pulled Poppy up and helped her with her shoes while she finished dressing.

  Downstairs the boys were waiting quietly for us near the front door. Dad stirred on the couch, but he didn’t wake, so I let him sleep. When we opened the door, a gust of cold air hit me in the face and for a moment I had second thoughts. It was so toasty warm inside. It would be easier not to go to Tamara’s. But the others were already at the car, so I pulled the door shut quietly and ran after them.

  26

  SARAH

  And hand in hand

  on the edge of the sand

  they danced by the light

  of the moon

  TAMARA LIVED IN Mansion Acres, not far from Virginia as it turned out. There was security on the front door to Tamara’s home and no one was getting past without an invitation. The guard, a muscled woman by the name of Joelene, was dressed in black and had a fearful grin that showed you didn’t want to mess with her. I watched a couple of people being turned away, no one I knew, and I waited for an outburst or scuffle, but they seemed to sense Joelene was on a short leash.

  ‘Have a good night, fellas,’ she chirped after their retreating backs. ‘Right, names,’ she said, checking her clipboard as we filed past.

  Inside, the lights were dim and the music was loud. Cooper left us as soon as we arrived, but the rest of us huddled together.

  ‘First stop, the bar,’ said Finn, and we followed him through dancing bodies and tight huddles until we reached the back garden which was dark except for the fairy lights strung in a few trees and a couple of braziers filled with cheery fires.

  I realised Finn had been here before, probably many times with Virginia, and then suddenly she was there, as if my thinking of her had made her appear.

  ‘Helllooo,’ she said, swaying a little on her feet. ‘Have you seen Cooper?’

  Poppy moved forward to speak with her, but Finn pulled me away. We walked around to the left side of the house to find a spa bubbling away, steam rising into the cold night air and a couple of people already sitting in it.

  ‘Wait here,’ said Finn. ‘I’ll find us a drink.’