SORROW WOODS (26 page)

“He’s an asshole,” she says bluntly.

“Bethany!” scolds my Aunty Carol. “Don’t swear.”

She shrugs. “Sorry, but he is. There isn’t really another word for him.”

“Why is he one of those?” I ask.

She shrugs, putting her phone down heavily onto the table. “He’s really hot. All the girls

really like him, but he’s a bit of a thug. He likes fighting and he thinks he’s this really important guy, which obviously means he thinks he can be mean to people that are not in the ‘cool club’. He struts around thinking that everyone likes him, but they don’t – they’re just scared of him.”

Angela takes a deep breath and glares at Auden across the table. He frowns at her, which

seems to annoy her. She rolls her eyes at him and then looks away.

“Bethany is just saying that because she really likes him, and I mean
really
likes him, but he doesn’t like her back. And she’s not in the ‘cool club’, and that’s what bugs her the most.”

I glance at the older boy who grins at me and winks.

“I do not like Kaiden Matthews,” she huffs. “and besides, he’s-“

“Alright,” interrupts Angela, “I think it’s time for that family photo.”

Everyone groans, but gets up from the table anyway. Without being told, we all file out into

the garden and stand under the big tree. I wonder how many times they’ve stood here before to

take pictures. Angela sets the camera on the table and presses a few buttons before running back

down the path and joining us.

“How’s it gonna take a picture of us if no one is there to press the button?” I ask, curious.

Angela squeezes in next to me, forcing me closer to Auden, and throws her arm around my

waist. “Just smile,” she says, “and I’ll tell you in a minute.”

I do as I’m told and stare at the camera. It’s only a few seconds before a quick succession of

bleeps sound out and the camera flashes at us. None of us move as Angela skips back across the

grass. She picks up the camera, turning it around. She puts her thumb up and smiles at us.

“It’s a good one,” she calls.

“Thank God for that,” laughs Gary. “Do you remember the last time we had a family

photograph? She made us stand here for about fifteen minutes and took ten pictures.”

My Aunty and Auden laugh. I walk over towards the bench and sit down. I’m not sure how I

should be acting in front of all my family, but it’s tiring having to remember everyone’s names and trying to figure out why my cousins are acting the way they are. Neither Kaiden nor Elodie act like this around me, so I can’t understand why they’re being this way. Maybe Kaiden and Elodie are

different, I think. I don’t know enough people to compare them properly.

I think about what Bethany said about Kaiden and realise that I’m not surprised. He sort of

told me that some people didn’t like him, and I can understand why. I don’t think I’d like him either if I only saw the part of him that wasn’t very nice. I’m grateful that I haven’t seen it, but at the same time I’m curious about it. How can he be so nice and kind to me, yet be this person that Bethany

says he is?

“You okay, poppet?”

I smile at Auden’s nickname for me and nod. He sits down beside me and taps my knee. “Is it

a bit much to take in?”

I glance at my family that are scattered around the garden and look up at him. “A little,” I

confess.

He looks across to the tree swing and sighs. “I thought it might have been. Take your time

out here though. Don’t think that you have to put on a brave face and a smile all of the time,

because you don’t.”

I lean against his thick arm and rest my head against it. “Okay.”

We sit like that for a long time, neither of us really feeling the need to talk. We simply sit

there and watch the rest of the family as they chat, play on their phones, and soak up some sun in the garden. It’s nice being a part of a big family but it still feels so strange.

I listen to the sounds of the sea and think about going to swim again. I don’t feel trapped here

anymore, but I can’t stop thinking about how free I felt when I was swimming in the ocean. Just me and the water. Well, and Kaiden. Just then, the doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it,” I say, as I run through the garden and into the house. I swing the door open and am surprised to find Kaiden standing there with his hands in his pockets. He looks up at me and nods towards the sky.

“There’s a storm coming.”

Now that he’s said it, I can tell that the air that swirls around us feels different somehow.

The sky is a mixture of bright blue sky and stormy black clouds. He turns his face back to mine and sighs.

“I need to talk to you about something,” he says.

“Wait there,” I say, shutting the door on his confused face.

I run back through the kitchen and out to the garden where Auden is still sitting on the

bench. “Dad, can I just go out for a bit please?”

He blinks up at me and frowns. “Where are you going?”

“I just want to go to the shop and print out the pictures that I’ve taken. I want to show

everyone.”

He still looks confused but nods. “I’ll just get the car keys.”

“No,” I say, putting my hand gently on his arm. “I mean Kaiden is here. That was him ringing

the doorbell. I was going to ask him if he could take me.”

“Oh,” he says, “right, well, I guess it’s okay if you’re going to go there and come straight

back. We have guests and it’s a little rude to just leave them.”

I glance at my cousins who are still playing with their phones and listening to their music.

Auden follows my eyes and then smiles. “I get what you mean. Go on then and be careful. Don’t

leave his side.”

I lean down and kiss his cheek. “I’ll stay right by him. Thanks.” I turn away from him and run

back through the house. Thankfully, Angela isn’t in the kitchen when I dash back through, so I just grab my camera and open the door again.

Kaiden spins around on the step. “Serena, I really need to talk to you.”

I hold the camera up at him and grin. “Can you talk to me while you take me to get these

printed out please?”

“What?” he says, blinking at me and looking confused. “You want me to take you right

now?”

I nod. “If you don’t mind.”

He shakes his head, but smiles at the same time. “You’re nuts, do you know that?”

I shrug and run to his car. When I hear the lock clicking, I pull the door open and climb in.

“Right,” he says, as he slips into the seat beside me. “We’ll have to run to the mall because

I’m not sure where else they can print the pictures for you.” He starts the car and drives it slowly down the driveway.

Despite the fact that he said he wanted to talk to me, we drive the whole way to the mall in

complete silence. My eyes are watching the stormy clouds that seem to be rolling in above the sea, so I don’t notice that he’s not talking until he pulls into the darkened underground parking garage.

“We need to be quick,” he says, “I’ve only got enough coins to pay for parking for half an

hour.”

I didn’t realise we had to pay for parking, which makes me stop and think about how I’m

going to pay for the pictures to be printed.

“What’s up?” he asks, blinking at me.

I walk into the elevator and look up at my reflection in the mirrors. I look confused. “I’ve

forgotten to bring any money with me. I keep forgetting that you have to pay for everything.”

He smiles and taps the pocket on the back of his jeans. “I’ve got money, don’t worry about

it.”

The elevator pings and we’re soon swallowed up into the busy crowds of the shopping mall.

Kaiden stops when we’re clear of people and looks around.

“I think it’s this way,” he says, walking off in the opposite direction that I was going to go.

He’s being strange. I still think it’s because of what happened when we went swimming the other

night, and I guess I won’t know until I ask him.

Before I have chance to say anything, he pulls me into a shop that has shelves littered with all

different sizes and colours of frames. He walks towards a little machine and hold his hand out.

“Can you pass me the camera please?”

I hand it over to him and turn my attention back to the little machine. He opens up a little

section at the side of the camera and slides a flat piece of plastic out.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“It’s a memory card,” he tells me as he slips it into a thin slot on the machine. “This is where

the camera stores all of your pictures.”

In an instant, all of the pictures that I’ve taken appear on the screen.

“Do you want copies of all of them?” he asks.

I nod.

“There’s seventy-four.”

I blink. “Is that too many? Do you not have enough money to print all of them out?”

He huffs and presses a button on the machine. “It’s fine.”

I open my mouth to ask him what’s wrong, but he pulls the memory card back out and rips a

piece of paper off from the machine before I can say anything. He walks over to the desk where a

young girl smiles at him. She has short, spiky black hair, a ring through her nose, and the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. She takes the paper from him and glances at the clock.

“We’re quiet today so I can get these done for you in ten minutes,” she tells him.

He nods and hands over some money. “We’ll just wait over there.”

I look to where he’s nodding and leave him talking to the girl whilst I sit myself down. When

Kaiden sits next to me, he picks up a magazine and starts to flick quickly through it. I realise sitting in the middle of a shop is not the place to talk, so I pick up my own magazine and soon find myself

absorbed in the pictures of deserts, waterfalls, and forests.

“Mr. Matthews?” Kaiden and I look up at the girl. She smiles and holds up a paper pocket.

“Your photos are ready.”

He glances at me and then moves towards the desk, taking the pocket of paper from her.

“Thanks,” he says, turning and handing them to me. “There you go.”

“Thank you.” I follow him out of the shop and flip open the little envelope and find myself

staring at the very first picture that was taken on my camera of me and Angela. The next one is of Kaiden and me.

“Look,” I say, flipping through more of the pictures and holding them out so he can see them.

He spins around and huffs. “Look at what, Serena?”

The tone of his voice makes me think he’s annoyed with me, but I have no idea what it is

that I’ve done wrong. Maybe it’s because he had to pay for the pictures. I make a mental note to ask Auden to give him the money back. I hold the picture of the two of us in my hallway out to him. “It’s us, just like how I remembered it.”

His eyes hold my gaze for a second. Then he sighs deeply and looks down at the photograph.

Kaiden

I look at the picture of the two of us smiling happily at the camera and know I’ve behaved like an idiot. Serena hasn’t done anything wrong here, yet I’m still acting like a jerk to her. I stare at the way her hair shines next to my face and the way my arm links around her waist. I look back up and find her smiling at me. I’m an asshole sometimes.

“It’s cool, isn’t it?” she says excitedly.

I nod.

She pulls some photographs out and starts to flick through them. “I know it’s probably

boring to you, but I’ve never seen a picture that I’ve taken with a camera before.”

It’s not boring. How could I be bored looking at her face when she’s smiling, or when she’s

sitting in the middle of a garden full of bright flowers, squinting in the sun?

“It’s not that,” I say with a sigh. “I just really need to talk to you.”

She stops looking at the pictures and looks up at me. “So talk, Kaiden.”

I pull her arm and start to direct her towards the exit. “Where are we going?” she asks,

looking around.

“To the car,” I tell her, ready to get her out of here.

“Kaiden,” she huffs as she resists against my arm, reminding me how strong she is, “I can

walk and direct myself.”

We stop and stare at each other. I know she’s confused and upset and doesn’t really

understand. I also know that it’s me that needs to put it right.

“Kaiden Matthews, stay right where you are!”

Serena’s eyes widen and flick behind my head to where Anastasia’s squeaky voice has just

rung out. Shit, I think. Double shit. Serena frowns and flicks her eyes back to me. I sigh and turn around. Anastasia charges towards me before stopping inches from my face and puts her hands on

her hips. Her eyes dart between the two of us.

“What the hell are you doing?” she shrieks. “I thought you said you were busy with your

Dad? You know I asked you to come shopping with me!”

“I was with my Dad. Earlier,” I explain, knowing that regardless of what I say, she’s going to

be mad.

She points towards Serena. “So why are you here with
her
?”

Serena is standing with the photographs in her hand looking worried. Anastasia isn’t exactly

great at holding back her thoughts, or her temper. “Hi,” she says, smiling at Anastasia, “I’m Serena.”

Anastasia turns her whole body towards Serena and laughs. “I know who you are, Serena

Scott. You’re the girl that can’t stay away from my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Serena repeats, as she shoots me a look.

“Yes, that’s what I said, and I think you should leave him alone and go and make some new

friends. He’s already got plenty and he’s also got me, so he doesn’t need sad little Serena clinging on to him for dear life.” She looks Serena up and down, no doubt judging what she’s wearing and trying to determine whether or not she’s any threat. “It’s quite sad really.”

Serena doesn’t say anything back. Instead, she just stares at Anastasia. I want to reach out