I wait out the front of the staff building, my eyes on the distance. Wait until I tell Juliet about this.
Yesterday, after I got home from Senior’s, I updated her about everything that happened. She was as shocked as I was until she got distracted by a phone call from work.
My phone rings, and I pull it out of my pocket. When I see who’s calling, I blink. It’s Dad. He rarely calls during the daytime, but if Singapore is two hours behind here, it would be lunchtime for him now. He and Mum moved to Singapore three years ago to work for the family company’s Southeast Asian department. The last time I saw them in person was last Christmas.
“Hi,” I say, answering the phone.
“Jasper,” Dad replies. “I got an email from the school. Did you get in trouble?”
“No!” I say in a high voice, then clear my throat. “No. It was Kieran — Kieran Phillips, the guy Senior’s taken in for some reason.”
“Oh, yes, that young man.”
“Right,” I say. “He got into a fight, so I’ve had to talk to Mrs Ferguson — she’s the year level coordinator, by the way.” I always have to remind Dad who my teachers are.
“Why did you have to talk to her? Were you involved in the fight?”
“No, I was just a witness. Well, witness is generous. I saw the aftermath. Dad, they expect me to still keep an eye out for him, because I’m his buddy. They want me to be hisbabysitter.”
“Well,” Dad says, and I can hear him typing on his keyboard. “I’m sure that just means the teachers believe you’re a good influence. Who knows, maybe you’ll change him for the better.”
Yeah right. “I don’t want to deal with him, Dad,” I say. “Can you talk to Senior?”
“Jasper.” He sighs as if I’m the one that’s a nuisance. “You know there’s no point. Sometimes when life challenges you, you have to rise to the occasion, okay? See, at work, your mother and I have to manage a variety of people, many of which we ordinarily wouldn’t get along with…” he drones on about the importance of communication or some shit, and I should pay attention because I barely hear my dad’s voice enough as it is, but I don’t want to hear a stupid lecture from him. I want him to sympathise with me. Even pity me a bit. Maybe I should try talking to Mum.
“Well, I better get going,” he says when he’s finished talking. “Study hard, okay?”
I push down the disappointment. “I will. Bye, then.”
“Bye. Love you.”
“Love — ” I stop when I realise he’s already hung up.
I hang around the front of the school for five more minutes until Senior and Kieran leave the staff building. Kieran’s tie is still goddamn loose, and his hands are in his pocket. Could he look any more nonchalant?
“Jasper,” Senior says when he arrives before me, not looking annoyed the way I’d expect him to. “How was your meeting?”
“Fine,” I grit out.
In silence, the three of us walk to Senior’s 8-seater 4-wheel drive, parked in the parents’ car park. I reach the passenger seat first, and hold the handle, waiting for Senior to unlock the car so I can pull myself in.
“Sit in the back, Jasper. I’m dropping you off first,” Senior says.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind sitting in the back,” Kieran says.
For a moment, I think Senior will insist, but he unlocks the car and gets into the driver’s seat. We get in the car, and I refuse to look at Kieran.
4
Kieran: Mint Breath
I sigh as I step off the bus, my feet touching Easton Grammar soil. It’s like I’ve stepped into hell. A beautiful, shiny kind of hell, but hell all the same.
Last night at dinner, Senior asked me if I wanted to talk about it. I didn’t. I apologised, though, for being such a nuisance. In trouble on my first day at a new school. That must be a record.
Dad called me after dinner and rinsed me for ten minutes straight. Once he stopped shouting, I said, “I know. I know.”
I should have just left the bathroom. I should have ignored that idiot guy. But I couldn’t help myself as soon as he put his hands on me.
