She handed Poppy the condoms, then she looked up the number for the Mount Clare clinic and picked up the phone.She wrote down the details of the appointment and passed the page to Poppy.
‘Four thirty on Thursday.How will you get there?’
‘I can get the bus.’
‘You sure?I can drive you if you need me to,’ Nel said, hoping Poppy would decline the offer.How would Lauren react if she discovered Nel was chauffeuring Poppy to and from sexual health appointments?It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘It’s fine, Auntie Nel.I get the bus up there, like, all the time.’
‘What will you tell your mum?’
She shrugged.‘I’ll make something up.’
‘Okay.’
Poppy’s expression changed.She pressed her lips together, suppressing a laugh.
‘What?’Nel asked.
‘I was just imagining having this conversation with Granddad.He would literally die.’
Poppy’s eyes widened, realising what she’d said, and she let out a stifled laugh.Nel got the giggles too.A wave of hysterical grief overcame them and they laughed until tears ran down their faces.When it finally passed, they sat looking at each other, breathless.Nel reached for a box of tissues and held it out to Poppy who took one and blew her nose.
Her face became serious again.‘Thanks for helping me, Auntie Nel.’
‘That’s okay.’
It felt good to be able to help her.She looked so young though, sitting there in her school uniform, all skinny legs and freckles, and Nel felt the sudden urge to protect her from the inevitable pain and heartbreak of living in the world.
‘You know … having sex will change things, Poppy.Fifteen is young to handle the emotions that’ll come with it.’
Poppy nodded.
‘You don’t have to do it until you feel completely ready,’ Nel added, but she sensed it wouldn’t make any difference.‘So, tell me about this boy.Jack.What’s he like?’
Poppy smiled.‘He’s really, like …’ She looked up at the ceiling, searching for the right word, as though she was contemplating all Jack’s extraordinary qualities and finding language inadequate.‘Nice,’ she said eventually, rolling her eyes at herself.
‘Reallynice, huh?’Nel shook her head and clicked her tongue.‘Oh my goodness.’
Poppy’s unexpected visit meant Nel was running behind, so Viv grabbed her a wrap to eat at her desk.She only had fifteen minutes, but she couldn’t resist a little online stalking.If Poppy wasn’t going to tell Lauren about her new boyfriend, then it was Nel’s duty to check him out, surely.Any decent auntie would do the same.
Poppy’s Instagram grid was full of selfies.Poppy laughing.Poppy pouting.Poppy making a peace sign.Poppy and her friends posing in front of a full-length mirror, their skirts short and legs long.Poppy in a tiny yellow bikini, frolicking in shallow waves.
Nel sighed.Social media mystified her.She’d only joined Instagram to follow medical publications and journalists who shared interesting research.She’d been on Facebook since high school, but her current profile was under the name Penny Foal and her ‘friends’were mostly acquaintances from her uni days.She never posted anything.She never even ‘liked’ anything.Her profile picture was the sun rising over Coogee Beach.
She’d closed her first Facebook account, but there was nothing she could do about Maddie’s page.She still checked it every few months.A sadistic habit.Surely it won’t be there this time, she would think, each time she typed ‘Madeline Marshall’ into the search field.But each time her best friend’s beaming face would smile back at her, a shock of red hair cascading over freckled shoulders, eyes twinkling.Frozen in time at sixteen.
It was still there when Nel last checked a couple of months ago.Was it still there now?Unable to resist her curiosity, she opened Facebook and typed Maddie’s name.And there it was.She skimmed down the feed to see if the messages were still there, even though she knew they would be.If the Marshalls hadn’t closed down Maddie’s account, there was no way they would have deleted the comments accusing Nel of murder.
Yes.Still there.She clicked the tab shut, wishing she hadn’t looked.She was meant to be looking up Poppy’s boyfriend!
She went back to her niece’s Instagram profile and scanned her follower list for a Jack.There was only one.Jack Barnett.Nel clicked on his profile.
It was immediately clear why Poppy was smitten.Jack had shoulder-length brown hair, blue eyes and dimples.He held a guitar in every photo.She clicked on a reel of him playing an acoustic version of a Harry Styles song.Hedidseem nice.Talented too.So why was she so worried for Poppy’s heart?
It was almost six o’clock by the time the last patient left.Nel reached for her phone, hoping to see a message from Jimmy, but there was nothing.
Any news on the file?she typed, as Viv appeared in the doorway.
