19. Everyone Leave Kylie Alone
19
EVERYONE LEAVE KYLIE ALONE
KYLIE
On Saturday morning, I pull up in front of my parents’ house. On the first Saturday of the month, we meet for breakfast together now that all four of us kids have flown the coop.
I have come straight from the morning running club I joined a few months ago, so I brought a change of clothes to shower here and avoid stinking everyone out. The club meet every Saturday at 6 am, running five kilometres around West End near mine and Tara’s apartment, and it’s been a great way to channel some of my extra energy. I’m glad I’d kept up with my running with Seth and Lincoln, because I’m determined to beat my personal best now. It’s my latest hyper-fixation in a long line of sport related hyper-fixations, and Tara just shakes her head when I am researching all the best gear. But she’s never understood my enjoyment of exercise, not realising that it’s something I need in order to keep the chaos in my mind under some form of control.
Coming from a family of early risers, I’m not surprised when my twenty-year-old sisters, Emma and Dayna, are already sitting in the kitchen, even though it’s only 7:30. Dad is busy at the stove, and Mum is squeezing fresh orange juice.
I give both my parents a kiss, and Will strolls in a few moments after me, screwing up his nose when he gets near me. “Jeez Kyles, you stink.”
“I was just about to shower, asshole.”
“Well, get a move on. This will all be ready in the next few minutes.” Dad waves his hand over all the food cooking on the stove.
I head off to the bathroom and have a quick shower before rejoining the rest of my family at the table.
“So, who was the hot guy in all your photos on your trip?” Emma asks as soon as I sit down, crunching on some maple bacon.
“His name is Seth. He’s Canadian,” I reply, helping myself to some orange juice before loading up my plate with a decent serving of bacon, eggs and hash browns.
“Seth… What’s going on there?” Will asks through a mouthful of food, and I screw my face up in disgust.
“Gross, Will, don’t talk with your mouth full. And nothing is going on there. He lives in Canada.”
“Convenient. You’ll have to catch up with him again when you go,” he says, completely ignoring the part about not talking with his mouth full.
“You’re going to Canada?” Dad pipes up, and I shoot a glare at my brother before sighing.
“Will wants me to go,” I say, looking at Dad before turning back to Will. “And Canada is an enormous country, so even if I were to go, I doubt very much that I’d see him. It’s like me walking up to another random Australian overseas and saying ‘hey, do you know Joe?’”
“Well, he’s in practically all of your photos. And he is freaking hot. You totally should have hooked up,” Dayna says, deciding to add her two cents as well .
“Anyone else wanna weigh in here? Mum, how about you?” I ask, avoiding giving a response to the hooking up statement.
Emma narrows her eyes while she studies me. “Oh!” she gasps dramatically. “You did hook up!”
“Everyone leave Kylie alone,” Mum interjects, and I’ve never been more grateful to her in my life.
I was seconds away from informing the twins they were an accident (the six-year age gap between us has always made their appearance questionable, as far as I’m concerned), and telling Will I was the favourite.
“Well, you know your grandparents would love to have you stay with them, Kylie. Grandma and Grandpa are always telling me how much they wish they got to see you kids more,” Dad says, ignoring all the talk about me hooking up.
“I told her she could work for me while travelling still. As long as she has internet, it doesn’t matter where she is,” Will says to him, and Dad nods.
I might as well not even be here, with all these opinions on who I should sleep with and where I should travel being thrown around. Sometimes I really hate being from a big family.
“Can we please talk about something else? I told Will I’d think about Canada, and I have no intention of telling anyone who I did or did not sleep with in the presence of our parents.”
“And, as your parent, I am grateful to hear that,” Mum replies, giving both my sisters a stern look.
They roll their eyes in unison, something they do alarmingly often, but thankfully, the topic of conversation switches to their university studies, and I breathe a silent sigh of relief.
I’m loathe to admit it, but the idea of seeing Seth again may be something I’m taking into consideration if I follow my brother’s advice and head to Canada for a while. I refuse to let my thoughts go any further, though. I only know he’s from a small town in British Columbia, but maybe there aren’t that many Seth James’ in BC… It would seem more than a little stalkerish to just suddenly ar rive in his country and ask him to make plans to see me though. And I don’t want to chase after a guy. Regardless of how amazing his abs are.
I spend the rest of the day hanging out with Tara on the couch, binge watching an old sitcom on Netflix while she keeps glancing at the time on her phone. I wait for a message from Will, backing out of coming tonight, but it never comes. By the time Tara and I arrive at Jake and Bri’s apartment, she’s an anxious mess.
“It’ll be okay, T. This is a good thing,” I say, squeezing her arm while we’re riding the elevator up to the penthouse apartment.
She says nothing, but gives me a very fake looking smile, her face pale. I could throttle my brother for putting Tara through this. Well, if I was going to throttle anyone, it was going to be Annelisa, but Will was the one who hurt my best friend by cutting her out of his life.
I just want to enjoy a night with my friends, but we need to get through the awkward stuff first. When Jake opens the door, Tara and I both give him a hug before going in search of Bri. We find her sitting on a sun lounger on the terrace, her legs covered by a blanket, with their little dog, Maddie, curled up beside her. They’ve set up three outdoor heaters to take some of the late afternoon chill out of the air.
“Hey,” Bri says, getting to her feet and hugging us both, her long blond hair flowing down her back.
“Hey. The place looks great, as always,” I reply, looking around at the various pot plants and garden beds that Bri has added since I was last here.
She and Jake split their time between this place and their house in Stanthorpe, but we haven’t seen them as often recently. Jake has taken over his father’s small electrician business, so they haven’t been coming back as regularly, which saddens me. I’d become used to having Bri around again after she returned from Sydney .
“Thanks. You should see what I’ve done with the garden at home. I’ve discovered I have a green thumb and have started a veggie patch. We even got chickens,” Bri says, her eyes lighting up.
I laugh. “You’re turning into a real country girl now.”
“She fits right in out there. She looks very cute in her gardening overalls and gumboots,” Jake says, joining us outside.
“Bri looks cute no matter what she’s wearing,” I reply.
“Yes, she does.” Jake grins, squeezing Bri’s shoulders and dropping a kiss onto the top of her head. “I’m just getting dinner sorted. Do you ladies want any drinks?”
“I’ve got a bottle of wine out here in the fridge. I’ve got us covered.” Bri turns over her shoulder to give Jake a quick kiss.
“No worries. Do you want something other than wine, Kyles?” Jake asks.
This is why Jake Boyd was the guy we all lusted after in high school. He notices everything and takes care of everyone all the time. While our friends know I’m no longer drinking, sometimes they forget, but Jake always makes sure I have other options.
“I’m okay with water, thanks Jake.”
He nods and heads back inside. The three of us chat for a while, Tara and I filling Bri in on our trip. When we hear the intercom ring inside, Tara tenses up beside me, and Bri shoots me a questioning look.
“Will’s coming,” I say.
“Oh. But that’s good, right?” She looks at Tara, who shrugs.
“I guess. I’m still pretty hurt by it all.”
That one sentence is more than Tara has said to me about the situation in the last year. She’s avoided going into too much detail and now that I think about it, it’s been me ranting about Will’s bullheadedness and Tara has said nothing in reply each time.
Shit… I’ve been such a terrible friend.
Have I done the wrong thing in insisting that they both be here tonight? I was so eager to get everyone back to normal, but maybe there was no going back from this ?
Too late now though. I can hear my brother’s voice inside, along with Bri’s sister Morgan and her husband Chris. Within minutes, everyone is out here with us, Jake leading the way with a baking dish in his hands. The others follow behind, carrying various items, and the three of us join them over at the table. There’s a moment of awkwardness. It’s the first time we’ve all been together in over a year, and the absence of Annelisa is like an elephant in the room.
Tara and Will glance at each other before looking away, and the rest of us fidget in our seats.
I have never handled awkwardness well, so my mouth opens up and blurts out, “So, I think I’m going to move to Canada for a while.”
Well, that’s one way to make a decision…