taking control, “if I was a girl—and I am—I would want a boy, or whoever, to tell me what was what and how they felt, right? So do it, man. Stop dithering or it’ll be too late.”
“Maybe it’s too late already,” Sai said.
“And there speaks the voice of doom,” Austin snorted, causing laughter amongst all of us.
After that, I felt like maybe everyone was a bit fed up with me banging on about my love life, or lack of it, so I decided to change the subject and get back to the thing that had brought the four of us together.
“Can you believe we actually roll out GenNext next week, guys? It’s so amazing how it’s all come together in less than two months. How are we going to celebrate? Shouldn’t we have some kind of sick launch party?”
We were all slumped on a slightly damp abandoned sofa, heads back, looking into the evening sky.
“What, with just the five of us?” Ava said. “How rubbish would that be?”
“We need to get the word around. We want people to check it out, at least the kids in our own school. How do we announce it if not by throwing some kind of event?”
“I’ve got an idea about that,” Sai said. “There’s a party on Friday where literally anyone who’s anyone cool and important is going to be.”
Austin sat up, excited.
“And we’ve been invited?”
“No, not exactly,” Sai said. “Well, not at all, actually. But I sort of have, and—”
“They said you could bring friends,” I said, also sitting up.
“Again, not exactly. But I could get us in, ’cause it’s a kid in our year and I help him with his homework. Actually I end up doing most of his bloody homework, so he owes me a favor.”
That was when the penny dropped with Austin.
“Hunter? Hunter’s having a party? What, at his mum and dad’s ridiculous palace on Underwood Road?”
Sai nodded and I groaned.
“I heard it’s gonna be sick,” Sai said. “A pool party with DJs, girls, drinks, everything. Bad things are gonna happen, I tell you.”
“Really, Sai?” Ava said. “Bad things?”
Austin was taking it all in, staring into the night air like he’d been hypnotized.
“That’s so amazing,” he said, temporarily lost in another world.
“But you don’t even like Hunter,” I reminded him. “You called him a knob-head.”
Austin leapt up, suddenly very animated and waving his arms around.
“No, it’s perfect!” he yelled. “We can make some flyers and pass them around.”
“Oh yeah, ’cause when I’m at a kick-ass party, there’s nothing I like better than to sit down with a really good flyer,” Ava said.
“Or I could put together a business card design with some info included,” Sai said. “Make it look like something cool and a little mysterious that people want to discover for themselves.”
“Better,” Ava said, nodding.
“Look, J, it doesn’t matter whether we like Hunter or not—the main thing is that everyone else does,” Sai said. “We need to be there, mate, and that’s all there is to it.”
“But—”
“Ella’s bound to be there—it’s her crowd—and you did say you haven’t seen enough of her the last couple of weeks.”
I hadn’t thought of that, and yes, I know it was a bit shallow of me, but that’s what love does to a man. That was when I caved. That was when I sold my soul. That was when I agreed to go to Hunter’s party.
THE PARTY
Hunter was a kid who knew how to splash the cash around, despite the fact that he was only seventeen. Now obviously I wasn’t exactly what you’d call close buddies with him—far from it after the unfriendly welcome during my first few weeks at St. Joe’s—but in the short time I’d been there I’d noticed he was constantly designer-labeled up to the eyeballs, with the most expensive boots, jackets and bags and the coolest gadgets money could buy. It was also apparent that about fifty percent of the girls from Year 9 upward wanted to be his girlfriend, and he seemed to have this strange,
“Maybe it’s too late already,” Sai said.
“And there speaks the voice of doom,” Austin snorted, causing laughter amongst all of us.
After that, I felt like maybe everyone was a bit fed up with me banging on about my love life, or lack of it, so I decided to change the subject and get back to the thing that had brought the four of us together.
“Can you believe we actually roll out GenNext next week, guys? It’s so amazing how it’s all come together in less than two months. How are we going to celebrate? Shouldn’t we have some kind of sick launch party?”
We were all slumped on a slightly damp abandoned sofa, heads back, looking into the evening sky.
“What, with just the five of us?” Ava said. “How rubbish would that be?”
“We need to get the word around. We want people to check it out, at least the kids in our own school. How do we announce it if not by throwing some kind of event?”
“I’ve got an idea about that,” Sai said. “There’s a party on Friday where literally anyone who’s anyone cool and important is going to be.”
Austin sat up, excited.
“And we’ve been invited?”
“No, not exactly,” Sai said. “Well, not at all, actually. But I sort of have, and—”
“They said you could bring friends,” I said, also sitting up.
“Again, not exactly. But I could get us in, ’cause it’s a kid in our year and I help him with his homework. Actually I end up doing most of his bloody homework, so he owes me a favor.”
That was when the penny dropped with Austin.
“Hunter? Hunter’s having a party? What, at his mum and dad’s ridiculous palace on Underwood Road?”
Sai nodded and I groaned.
“I heard it’s gonna be sick,” Sai said. “A pool party with DJs, girls, drinks, everything. Bad things are gonna happen, I tell you.”
“Really, Sai?” Ava said. “Bad things?”
Austin was taking it all in, staring into the night air like he’d been hypnotized.
“That’s so amazing,” he said, temporarily lost in another world.
“But you don’t even like Hunter,” I reminded him. “You called him a knob-head.”
Austin leapt up, suddenly very animated and waving his arms around.
“No, it’s perfect!” he yelled. “We can make some flyers and pass them around.”
“Oh yeah, ’cause when I’m at a kick-ass party, there’s nothing I like better than to sit down with a really good flyer,” Ava said.
“Or I could put together a business card design with some info included,” Sai said. “Make it look like something cool and a little mysterious that people want to discover for themselves.”
“Better,” Ava said, nodding.
“Look, J, it doesn’t matter whether we like Hunter or not—the main thing is that everyone else does,” Sai said. “We need to be there, mate, and that’s all there is to it.”
“But—”
“Ella’s bound to be there—it’s her crowd—and you did say you haven’t seen enough of her the last couple of weeks.”
I hadn’t thought of that, and yes, I know it was a bit shallow of me, but that’s what love does to a man. That was when I caved. That was when I sold my soul. That was when I agreed to go to Hunter’s party.
THE PARTY
Hunter was a kid who knew how to splash the cash around, despite the fact that he was only seventeen. Now obviously I wasn’t exactly what you’d call close buddies with him—far from it after the unfriendly welcome during my first few weeks at St. Joe’s—but in the short time I’d been there I’d noticed he was constantly designer-labeled up to the eyeballs, with the most expensive boots, jackets and bags and the coolest gadgets money could buy. It was also apparent that about fifty percent of the girls from Year 9 upward wanted to be his girlfriend, and he seemed to have this strange,
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