Risk Read online

  I giggle at her theatrics.

  ‘And what about Callum? How’s he?’

  ‘He has perfect teeth.’ I blush. ‘You should see them. Actually, you can see them – I took a photo.’ I pull my phone from my pocket and show her.

  ‘They look amazing. His parents must be thrilled with that job.’

  ‘I dunno about his parents, but he is. He doesn’t stop smiling.’

  ‘And what about Sierra? Is she settling down after her big trip?’

  ‘Yeah. She’s still pissed off at being banned from everything, though.’

  ‘Well, you can’t blame Rachel and Dave for that.’

  ‘I guess.’

  ‘What time will you be finished on Friday night, then? If it’s after six, I’ll come and get you.’

  ‘Mum, it’s still light for, like, two more hours after that.’

  ‘I know, but the peak-hour traffic will be gone – it won’t take long for me to get to Riley’s.’

  ‘I’ll ring if it’s going to be after six.’ She seems satisfied with that. I do the maths. Sierra should be back by six … no, probably closer to seven. ‘There’s talk of getting pizza.’ I add. But Mum’s not fussed now that she’s given the six-o’clock pick-up rule.

  We sit down to dinner and chat some more. My mind keeps wandering, thinking about Sierra and Jacob together on their date. I dread the three more days I’m going to have to hear all about Big Friday.

  FOUR

  Big Friday comes around and Sierra arrives at school with her face plastered with make-up. She gushes about how she can’t believe it’s Friday. She can’t believe how lucky she is and how amazing it was to meet her soulmate on Mysterychat. At the end of the day, she flies into the bathroom and changes into her Taylor Wolfe shorts and new blue top.

  ‘How do I look?’ she asks me – though she already knows.

  I touch her arm and make a hissing sound. She giggles and leans in closer to the mirror to freshen her make-up.

  Riley comes in to wait for me. We lean against the wall and chat while Sierra keeps layering stuff onto her face. Riley’s still sour. She’s certain Sierra will get me into trouble.

  ‘I have to ring Mum if we’re going to be later than six,’ I say to Sierra. ‘You’re probably not going to be back until seven, though, right?’

  ‘I dunno … But I’ll call you no later than six.’

  ‘I’ve heard that before,’ Riley mumbles.

  ‘What?’ Sierra spins around, hairbrush in one hand, her other hand on her hip. ‘Riley, you’ve been scowling at me all week. What is it?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Riley backs down.

  Sierra glares at her, then turns back to the mirror.

  ‘I’ll wait for you outside,’ Riley says to me.

  Once Sierra’s finished, we go outside and meet up with Riley. Callum and Joel are there, too. We walk across the school grounds as a group. Sierra draws so much attention – both male and female. A guy from our year watches her so intently that he walks into someone and trips over. Sierra pretends she doesn’t notice but the tiny smile playing on her lips gives her away.

  I hug her at the gate.

  ‘Good luck,’ I say. ‘I hope he’s amazing.’

  ‘I hope so too!’ She goes to turn but then stops. ‘Love ya!’ she says and hugs me again, then skips off towards the train station. I stare after her, still hating myself for hating her.

  ‘You are a whole lot nicer than me, Taylor Gray,’ says Riley, shaking her head.

  If only she knew how jealous I really am inside.

  By the time we get to her place, Riley’s in a better mood. Joel and Callum strip off as soon as we arrive and bomb into the pool. I go inside to say ‘hi’ to Riley’s mum.

  ‘Hi, Kirsty,’ I say, just as Poppy, Riley’s little sister, walks into the kitchen in her ballet outfit. Kirsty grabs her keys from the kitchen bench.

  ‘Hi, Taylor,’ Kirsty says. ‘I hate to rush out on you but we’re running late – ballet’s back on already.’ Poppy smiles wide as they disappear into their garage.

  Riley pours four iced waters and cuts a lime into wedges. She places one into each glass and the rest into a jug. We take all of it outside.

  We lean back into the deck chairs, sip our drinks and watch the boys clown around in the water. When Joel sees Riley’s all comfortable, he climbs out of the pool and comes over and tries to hug her.

  ‘Get off me!’ she squeals. He laughs and dives back into the pool.

  Callum swims to the side of the pool and eyes me from the edge. I glare at him.

  ‘Don’t even think about it.’ I scowl, pretending I don’t want him to do the same to me. He laughs and backflips into the water. I get a full view of his taut, suntanned body spinning around. I stare after the splash and imagine how cool his skin would feel to touch.

  Callum is the perfect distraction but as one hour turns to two, my thoughts head back to Sierra.

  ‘Don’t you and Sierra have to be home by six?’ Callum asks. My heart sinks whenever Callum refers to her. Did they kiss or didn’t they?

  ‘No. I just have to ring Mum if I’m going to be home later than that.’

  ‘Well, you better get your phone ready.’

  I check the time.

  ‘I’m waiting for Sierra to call. She still has twenty minutes. She’s definitely going to call any minute now,’ I say.

  ‘Yeah, right. Just like she definitely stayed at my house when she was sneaking off with Matt,’ says Riley.

  My phone rings. It’s her. A big smile covers my face. I poke my tongue out at Riley and answer the call.

  ‘Hey, Si–’

  Sierra cuts me off before I can say anything else.

  ‘Oh my god! I’m having the best time! He’s a-ma-zing!’ Her voice dances up in pitch then she lowers it dramatically. ‘He’s older than eighteen, but hey, I lied about my age too, so I guess we’re even. And older guys are so much hotter! Oh my god, Tay, we’re already making out!’ I pull the phone away from my ear so her squeal doesn’t deafen me.

  ‘No need to bail out early then?’ I laugh a little too loud. The envy is back. Heat rises into my face. I can’t believe I actually wanted him to be a dick and for things not to work out.

  ‘No, the opposite – I want to spend the night with him.’

  ‘What?’ I start to panic.

  ‘Taylor, come on. Will you cover for me? I would for you.’

  ‘No, Sierra. No way. Organise it for another time.’

  ‘I’ll be back first thing in the morning. It’ll be fine.’

  ‘What if your mum calls my mum? That’s all it’ll take for you to get busted.’

  ‘She won’t. I just called her.’

  ‘Yeah, but she rings Mum for a chat pretty much every day!’

  ‘She won’t tonight, she’s setting up for the fundraiser. She’s running the show so she’s flat out. C’mon, it’s one night. It’s nothing. I’ll be back at your place in the morning. Early. I promise.’

  ‘And what about when your mum finds out you didn’t stay at mine? She’s going to find out as soon as she speaks to Mum.’

  ‘I’ll tell her I ended up staying at Izzy’s. I’m not asking you to lie, just say nothing. It’ll be fine. It’s one night, no big deal.’ She pauses. ‘Oh, we’re going. I gotta go. Love ya.’ She hangs up.

  I’m stunned. Riley is staring at me, waiting.

  ‘Let me guess,’ she says. ‘He’s the sexiest thing she’s ever come across and she’s staying the night. What a surprise.’

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ I say.

  ‘Yeah, well, familiar story. She’s so selfish. I hope you don’t lie for her, Taylor. Let her get busted.’

  ‘Does she even know this guy?’ Callum says. The boys have been listening from the pool. ‘Jesus!’

  ‘Yes, she does, she knows him reeeal well,’ Riley exaggerates, with a nasty laugh. ‘They met last week on Mysterychat. She’s a stupid skank.’

  ‘Oooh,’ Joel starts,
and Callum joins in.

  ‘You’re harsh,’ Callum teases.

  ‘Well, she betrayed me that time with Matt. And I lied for her.’

  ‘Yeah, but nothing happened. You didn’t get into trouble over it and neither did she.’ Joel’s always the voice of reason.

  ‘That’s not the point, Joel. She didn’t come back when she told me she would and I spent the whole time freaking out. She didn’t give a shit if I got into trouble. And clearly she doesn’t give a shit about getting Taylor into trouble, either. What’s Tay supposed to do now?’ Riley’s working herself up as she rants on.

  I punch out a text for Mum: Ordering pizza. Will call you when I’m ready.

  She sends one back immediately.

  No probs. Have fun xx

  A sinking feeling settles in my stomach. I’m on the verge of tears. What am I supposed to do now?

  ‘Oh god. How will I know if Rachel’s spoken to Mum?’ I say.

  ‘Who cares? Let her burn,’ Riley says.

  I hang out at Riley’s house for as long as possible. When Callum says he has to go home, I text Mum for a pick-up.

  ‘You want a lift, Callum?’

  ‘You sure it’ll be okay?’

  I roll my eyes. He lives two streets away from me.

  My stomach is clenched into a tight ball when Mum pulls up in front of Riley’s. I hug Riley and Joel, then slide into the front seat. Mum doesn’t ask where Sierra is. She can’t have spoken to Rachel. I breathe more easily. Callum is a good distraction and chats to Mum the whole way home. If Sierra turns up early in the morning, things will be fine. She can be the one to lie and tell Mum she stayed at Izzy’s, and then what she tells her mum when she gets home is her business. I just have to say nothing and things will work out.

  ‘I’m so tired,’ I say when we arrive home. ‘I think I’ll go to bed.’

  I kiss Mum and she hugs me close.

  ‘Night, love,’ she says with a warm smile.

  In bed, I lie on my back and stare into the darkness. I wonder if Jacob has told Sierra that he also chatted to me for hours. Embarrassment tightens my stomach. I should have told her straight up. If she finds out now she’ll realise why I was acting weird all week. I cringe. They’re probably laughing about it right now. Then again, they’re probably not … I shake my head and try not to think about what they’re doing right now.

  FIVE

  I wake before nine but stay in bed. Nothing will seem out of the ordinary until after ten. But then ten approaches and I still haven’t heard anything from her. I call her mobile but it goes straight to voicemail.

  ‘Damn it, Sierra. Where are you?’ I say under my breath.

  I sit on the side of my bed. Maybe her phone went flat and she sent an email or a DM from his phone. I grab my tablet and check everything. There’s nothing. Only now I start to understand why Riley’s never forgiven her.

  I try calling her phone again. Nothing.

  I’ll go for a jog and hope that she’ll have snuck inside by the time I get back. Mum is in the backyard reading the paper.

  ‘Good morning, sleepyhead.’ She smiles.

  ‘Hey, Mum,’ I say. She knows nothing. She would have woken me if she did.

  ‘You going jogging?’

  ‘Yep. I really, really want to keep going with it this time.’

  ‘Well, if you really, really want to do it, then you will! I’ll have some fruit salad ready for you when you get back.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum.’

  I jog down the street and around the corner, but my anger is taking up all my attention. I slow to a walk, pull my phone out and call Riley.

  ‘Hey.’

  ‘Hi, Riles.’

  ‘Did she show?’

  ‘No … I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘Nothing! If Rachel calls, just tell her the truth.’

  ‘Yeah, but that still gets me into heaps of trouble. Mum’ll kill me.’

  ‘Play dumb then. Say you have no idea where she is. At no stage was she ever staying at your place. You know nothing.’

  ‘Hmm.’ I think it over.

  Riley starts on her ‘I told you so’ speech and I tune out.

  By the time I hang up, I’m no closer to knowing what I’m meant to do, and when I try to jog again, it’s as if my legs don’t want to run. I normally jog around Templestowe and marvel at the size of the houses, but today I’m too distracted to notice them. I slow to a walk again. I have to decide what I’m going to do when I get home: come clean and tell Mum everything, or act dumb and do what Riley said. If I come clean, I’m dead. Mum will probably take away my internet access, like Rachel did to Sierra …

  I think about what I would have done had it been me Jacob wanted to meet. I would have gone, but I wouldn’t have stayed the night, especially if it meant getting Sierra into trouble. She hasn’t considered me at all. She doesn’t care about me, just like she didn’t care about Riley the time she did the same thing to her. Screw it. I’m going to act dumb. She can deal with her own mess.

  I try to picture the scene. Mum will get a call from Rachel. ‘No,’ Mum will say, ‘she’s not here, I haven’t seen her.’ Mum will come and find me. ‘Do you know where Sierra is?’ Now that is the moment I need to be cool. That split second of ‘Crap, it’s going down.’ That’s when I might falter. I’ll have to practise – my innocent expression, my tone of voice, exactly what I’m going to say.

  I don’t think I can do it.

  Right now, I hate Sierra Carson-Mills.

  Mum’s in the kitchen when I return. A huge bowl of fruit salad sits on the bench in front of her. She scoops it into two bowls.

  ‘Let’s eat outside.’

  I follow her to the patio.

  ‘What was Sierra doing this weekend?’ she asks as she’s walking and I’m following behind.

  I wasn’t ready for this. ‘Not sure. But Rachel’s at some fundraiser all weekend so I guess she had something planned for her – Sierra’s still meant to be supervised all the time.’

  When I sit down, I start eating and keep my eyes low. That was my point of no return. It’s lucky that I’m hot and red from jogging – it hides the burning flush that just crept into my cheeks.

  ‘Oh yeah, I forgot. That’d be why she didn’t answer when I called.’

  My chest tightens at the thought of Mum ringing Rachel. Nothing good is going to come of this. Dread settles in the pit of my stomach.

  The doorbell chimes. I just about spit my food onto the table.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ I say, and sprint inside. I open the door.

  ‘Oh, hi, Callum.’ My voice falls flat.

  He laughs.

  ‘You sure know how to make someone feel welcome.’

  ‘Sorry.’ I lower my voice. ‘I was hoping you were Sierra.’

  ‘She hasn’t shown up yet?’ A frown creases between his eyes.

  I shake my head. ‘What are you up to?’

  ‘I’m heading down to the bike shop to get some new grips,’ he says. ‘I thought you might like to walk with me.’

  Was he especially hoping to see Sierra?

  ‘Sure. I’ll come. I’m just having some fruit salad. You want some?’

  ‘Ah, you’ve twisted my arm.’

  We walk out to the patio where Mum is.

  ‘It’s Callum and his beautiful teeth,’ I say.

  ‘Let me see,’ Mum says. ‘My word, your orthodontist has done an outstanding job.’

  Callum beams. I look him up and down. He’s fit. His skin is clear; his messy straight hair looks wicked. Again, I notice a whole new confidence about him. He stands taller, somehow.

  ‘We’re going to walk down to the bike shop. Callum’s picking up some handlebar grips,’ I explain.

  A smile plays on Mum’s lips. ‘That’s nice,’ she says. But the ‘nice’ is loaded with speculation.

  I look at her with a raised eyebrow. She smiles back with pursed lips. She thinks Callum has a crush on me. She’s been saying it for a while now
. I haven’t told her that he supposedly kissed Sierra.

  I dive into the shower to rinse off, then choose a short, paisley-print Roxy dress, slip on my Havvies and tie my hair back. When we get out the front and start walking, Callum turns to me suddenly.

  ‘What if this Jacob guy’s a nut case and Sierra’s in trouble?’

  I laugh. ‘He’s not, trust me.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Because I spoke to him, too. I’ve even seen a picture of him,’ I say.

  ‘Yeah, but how do you know it’s actually him?’

  ‘But she called Friday night, remember? She said she’d already made out with him and wanted to spend the night. She was obviously happy with him. Don’t worry about it. She’ll turn up sometime today.’

  ‘What if he’s a rapist or serial killer?’ Callum laughs when he says it, though from his voice I can tell that part of him is kind of being serious.

  ‘Last time I heard, rape is when there’s no consent … and if he were a killer, wouldn’t he just go out and kill people? You know, off the street? Why would he go to all the trouble of emailing and sending photos, leaving evidence so the cops could catch him?’

  ‘I dunno.’ Callum half-laughs again.

  I smile. ‘I think you watch too many movies.’

  ‘Yeah … But Taylor, she doesn’t know the guy. And she hasn’t shown up when she said she would. Aren’t you even the tiniest bit worried?’ Callum’s stopped pretending he’s joking.

  ‘Callum, I hate to say it but no, I’m not worried. It’s Sierra. She’s done it before. She did this exact same thing to Riley when she ran off with Matt and when she came back she was all like, “God, chill, guys. I was just having some fun.”’

  I look at Callum and feel bad. Maybe all of his worrying is because he does have a thing for Sierra and I’m being insensitive. Maybe he tried to kiss Sierra and it was she who said no. ‘Sorry,’ I say.

  ‘You don’t have to say sorry to me. And I know she’s done it before … I just have a bad feeling about it this time,’ he says.

  We get home, and even though I know that Mum would have called me if she had heard from Rachel, it’s still a relief to arrive home to find Mum not waiting at the door, pacing or yelling or looking worried. I take a deep breath of relief. She still knows nothing.