Senior and Jasper greet each other in the kitchen.
“Jasper, help me serve these plates. Kieran, bring the water. Senior, sit down at the table, you’ve already cooked for us so no need to do any more,” Juliet orders.
Senior protests, but the three of us grab everything, so he’s left with nothing to do. Once we sit down and start eating, Jasper, Juliet and I praise Senior’s cooking. He shakes his head and waves a hand, but it’s clear he’s pleased.
While we eat, Jasper recounts what happened at assembly this morning, where Fin presented a speech on school values. He ended up stumbling through the whole thing, and I’m not sorry to admit that it was fun to watch. “I don’t understand how he mispronounced words likeubiquitouswhen he was the one who wrote the speech,” Jasper says.
“He probably didn’t even write it,” I say.
Jasper looks at me, brows drawing together.
“You’re judging him too hard, Jasper. Isn’t Fin your friend?” Juliet asks.
“Yeah, well.” Jasper pushes the food on his plate around.
“Jasper judges everyone a bit too hard,” Senior says, picking up his wineglass. “He has high standards.”
“He doesn’t have to be a dick about it,” Juliet says. “Which reminds me of what happened at work the other day…”
We cycle through various topics. Juliet is talkative and entertaining, and I know Senior and Jasper well enough to converse easily. It’s nice.
Eventually, the conversation leads to university.
“Have you put in your university preferences, Jasper?” Senior asks.
“Yeah,” Jasper replies, and explains all the top universities he’s applying to.
“What about you, Kieran?” Juliet asks.
“I don’t think I’ll go to uni,” I say. I’ve already told to Senior about this, who seemed to understand but told me I might end up changing my mind.
“Oh. That’s fine,” she rushes to add.
Now I feel like I have to justify myself. “I never really considered it. If I did go, I’d probably study something to do with health, or education, or something like that. I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.” When I was a kid, I thought I’d be a mechanic like Dad, but I’m not interested in cars.
“Many people your age don’t,” Juliet says. “There are flexible uni degrees, though, and it’s possible to change courses. A lot of my friends did, when I was at university. Have you thought about which uni you would go to, if you were to go?”
“Not really,” I say. I’ve only done a little bit of research. I tell them about some universities I’ve thought about, scattered in both Melbourne and Sydney. “I checked the course requirements and the scores they want aren’t that high, so I could maybe go to them, if I want to.”
Jasper places his fork and knife on his plate, loud enough to make everyone to look at him. “You can do better than that,” he says, adjusting his fork, so it’s in the centre of his plate.
“What?” I ask.
“Those unis are mid. You can do better.”
“If Kieran likes those universities, he’s free to go there,” Senior tells Jasper in a gentle voice. “Besides, he’s not sure he’ll continue to study.”
“I know,” Jasper says. “I’m only saying…if you are going to apply for uni, should apply for the best ones you can. You never know.”
I open my mouth, then close it.
“I agree with Jasper,” Juliet says after a minute. “Shoot for the stars, or whatever that cheesy quote is.”
“I believe it’s ‘shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you’ll end up among the stars’.” Senior quotes.
“That one. You know every quote under the sun,” Juliet says, before turning to me. “Anyway, that quote is cheesy, but true. Besides, I’m sure if you tried, you’ll get into the university of your choice. Jasper’s told me you’re very intelligent.”
There’s a second of silence.
