Young Writers Society

#7: ARGUMENTS WITH FRIENDS

“Do you reckon he’ll come?” Tahlia asked from in front of my mirror. It was Sunday night – the night of what was looking like Pugnacious Dogma’s final concert. For Tahlia, this meant dragging Audrey over to my house at four in the afternoon to get us ready. Or something like that. I was beginning to suspect that Tahlia was just here to use my full-length mirror.

“He said he would,” I replied. Hayden and I had spoken for a while at the record shop yesterday, which had ultimately wound up in me inviting him to come see Eugene and the others play. We’d swapped numbers, and he’d said he would meet me at my parents’ pub, where the boys were performing. “I reckon he’ll be there.”

“Good,” Audrey piped up. “I’m looking forward to meeting the illustrious Hayden Beaufort.”

“Illustrious?” I scoffed. “You two are making a bigger deal out of this than there needs to be.”

“Meh.” Audrey rolled back on my bed, pointing her feet towards my ceiling. From that position, she said, “We’re just making the most of you having crush on somebody. You gave me enough crap about Freddie. You brought this on yourself.”

“Since when did I have a crush on Hayden?” I demanded, “And I thought I was very well-behaved about you going out with Freddie.”

“Ha. Ha ha.” Audrey barked out a laugh. She turned her head to look at me, then deadpanned. “Oh, you were serious?”

“Get lost,” I retorted, giving her a half-hearted nudge with my foot. “There was so much more I could’ve said about you and Freddie that I didn’t. Some of it was pretty clever, too.”

“And Hayden?” Tahlia’s reflection smiled in my direction, her back to me.

“I dunno… he’s, like, interesting.” I shrugged. “Thinking someone’s interesting doesn’t mean you’ve got a crush on them.”

Audrey sat up and grinned. “Admit it, Liv. You’re in lurve.”

“I am not!”

“Are too,” Audrey fired back.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am no- okay, this is real mature.” I sighed. “Fine. I like him. But I’m not scribbling his name on my books or writing love poems or any of that shit. But yeah, I like him. Happy?”

“Very,” Tahlia replied.

“I’ll live,” said Audrey, flopping back down into my pillows. I swivelled around in my desk chair to look at my phone. Still no word from Eugene. In the corner of my eye, I spotted him smiling at me from his photo on my wall. I turned back to Tahlia and Audrey, trying to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to trying confronting him again about his recent weirdness, but I wasn’t looking forward to talking again. Eugene and I had been untouchable for so long that the idea of what existed between us unravelling was a thing I wasn’t willing to acknowledge – much less let anyone else know about.

Behind me, my phone buzzed, and I snatched at it. But it wasn’t Eugene’s name that appeared on the screen, it was Hayden’s. I opened up the text.

See you soon, it read. I felt a smile spread across my face despite myself. A quick rush of butterflies in my stomach. It was freaky how those three ordinary, mundane words were having such an effect on me, but for just a few seconds a let myself feel the quiet thrill of anticipation that they inspired. I put my phone back and swivelled back to face Audrey and Tahlia. Both of my friends stared at me intently – Tahlia had even turned away from the mirror to do so.

“Stop it!” I groaned. “You’re looking at me like I’ve gotten a message from the Queen or something. Urgh… it’s not even that big a deal. People meet people all the time. It happens.”

“Yeah, but-” Audrey began, but was cut off by a sharp look from Tahlia, who stepped away from the mirror.

She adjusted the bow that she’d pinned to the front of the bun she’d spent the last ten minutes carefully sculpting her hair into as she spoke. “Sure. Even though, I think, Audrey has every right to tease you. But could you answer me one question?”

“Okay.”

“Have you told Eugene about Hayden?” Tahlia asked.

“No.” I bristled. “It’s not his business if I like someone. We’re friends, not married.”

I scowled at Tahlia, as Audrey spoke up, adding, “But he’s your best friend, and liking someone tends to be the kind of thing you tell your best friend. You know, like, confiding in them, or whatever.”

I rolled my eyes. “Cheers for that piece of wisdom, Audrey.”

“Don’t get snarky with me, Liv,” she shot back. “And tone down on the defensiveness. Excuse me for assuming that you guys talk to each other.”

“Both of you, back off,’ Tahlia interjected. She looked at both of us sternly, the softened her tone as she said to me, “But she does have a point, Liv. Are you and Eugene not talking?”

I slumped in my chair, part of me wishing I could fade into the faux-leather upholstery. “I’m not sure,” I said quietly. “Things are kinda weird between us.”

“Is this about the texts you sent me last night?” Tahlia asked.

It felt like ages since I’d texted Tahlia from the bus on the way to the party. I grimaced and admitted, “A little. But you must’ve noticed how strange he’s been acting. He’s not telling me something. Something important.”

“Right.” Tahlia sat down on the edge of my bed next to Audrey. Pulling absently at a loose thread on my doona cover, she said, “Then don’t do the same thing to him.”

“Believe me,” I replied, “I don’t want to.”

***

When Eugene, Theo and Theo’s mum, who was driving us all to the gig, turned up later, everybody piled into Theo’s mum’s seven-seater. Ever since the boys had first started performing, this had been something of a tradition. Theo and Eugene would always leave the venue – leaving Freddie to finish setting up – and even though the rest of were usually capable of getting to wherever they were performing ourselves, they would get one of Theo’s parents to drive the two of them to pick us up. Tahlia, Audrey and I usually tried to meet at the one place so that it wasn’t a completely abhorrent waste of petrol.

During a brief squabble between Audrey and Theo over who was going to sit in the two seats in the very back, Eugene quietly slipped past and sat in the passenger seat, a sullen expression on his face. He hadn’t yet met my eye.

“Okay, so Liv.” We were finally all in the car – Theo and me in the back two seats, with Tahlia and Audrey in the middle row – and Theo turned his head to speak to me. “I’ve been hearing stories. Sounds like you’ve been getting up to some fucking crazy hijinks since I last saw you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Dunno what you’ve been told, but ‘hijinks’ is a bit of an embellishment.”

“From what Tahlia’s said, it sounds like you had embarked on a perilous mission to rescue Freddie from evil, when you met a dashing young gentleman, who fell madly in love with you. You were torn apart, until fate brought you together once more.” Theo grinned.

“As I said, embellishment,” I said, eyebrows raised.

“Well, when you’re stuck with Freddie and that sook over there all day, Tahlia’s gossip is the only thing that keeps you going.” Theo nodded towards where Eugene sat in the front of the car. The quieter, he asked, “What’s his issue, anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “Well, I know part of it, but I don’t quite feel right blabbing about that. But… he’s definitely not telling me something.” Eugene’s confession about the school’s threat to expel him came to mind as I spoke to Theo, but it felt wrong to mention it. Eugene had seemed so shattered when he’d spoken to me about it – to tell Theo without his permission would be a betrayal of trust I wasn’t capable of.

“Well, Freddie’s being even more of a shit to work with.” He grimaced as he spoke. His gently mocking tone was gone, replaced by an angriness that was foreign coming from easy-going Theo’s mouth. “And it’d be nice to have some back-up. Friggin’ idiot won’t even lift a finger for anything that doesn’t concern his drum kit. Usually Eugene would have a go at him, but instead he’s been moping all day.”

“I wish I had an answer, Theo.”

“Not your fault, Liv. It’s just,” Theo said with a sigh, “this is the last time we’ll all be performing together. The band’s over. No more Pugnacious Dogma – not unless you happen to know a drummer.”

I shook my head. Then, I remembered something Freddie had said. “Actually,” I began, “I might just.”

“Shit, are you serious?” Theo asked, as the car pulled to a halt outside the back door of the pub. His eyes widened as the others got out of the car, Tahlia pulling down her seat so that we could climb out.

As I clambered over the seat, I tried to recall Freddie’s words from Friday night. I’d asked him about Trifecta, why there were only two members. Old drummer quit and the bassist filled his shoes, he’d said in response. A few minutes later, Hayden appeared, talking about when he’d been in the band. I hadn’t put too much thought into it, at the time, the fact that if he’d just left the band, that would mean he was the drummer.

I smiled at Theo, as I put two and two together. “I’m thinking there’s someone you might wanna meet.”

“Mysterious isn’t your colour, Liv. More info?” Theo closed the car door. He quickly glance over at Eugene, who stood on the other side of Tahlia and Audrey. Theo beckoned for him to come to us, then nodded at me to continue.

“I’m not making any promises,” I said, “But Hayden, the boy I met, used to be in a band called Trifecta. And, well, he played drums for them.”

“And you reckon he’d consider joining Pugnacious Dogma?” Theo’s eyes lit up, and he was back to being the boy I was used to. I’d never quite considered how much Pugnacious Dogma had meant to Theo, even though he had been the one to get the ball rolling three years ago, when the band had formed. He was insanely talented, but the passion behind that talent had always been hidden behind a carefree smile. He was probably feeling the sting of Freddie’s actions more than anyone.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, careful not to get Theo’s hopes up too high. I still wasn’t entirely clear on Hayden’s motivations for leaving Trifecta, but the look in his eyes as he’d watched them perform gave me hope that he’d at least consider it. “But it wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?”

“Liv, you are a fucking lifesaver.” Theo turned to Eugene. “Isn’t she, mate?”

Eugene gazed at Theo without speaking, then looked away, running a hand through his short hair. Then, very quietly, he said, “Theo, you’ll need to help Freddie finish up in there. I’ll be in there in a moment.”

“Eu-” Theo began, confused.

“Just go,” Eugene interrupted, “I need to talk to Liv, first.”

From the expression on his face, Theo seemed to be biting back a retort, but instead he turned and followed the others through the doors. We were out the back of the pub, in the car park. Usually, the only times these doors were used was for deliveries, but it was so much easier to get equipment in through these doors than through the front. Right now, the parking lot was full enough of cars, but empty of people, and mostly quiet – aside from the soft roar of the cars on the main road fifty metres away.

“Liv, I haven’t been honest with you,” Eugene said, his voice strained. “I was hoping all this’d just blow over, and we could all get on with our lives. I screwed up, and then I made things even worse, and now I can’t…”

“Can’t what?” I asked. “Tell me, this time.”

“I was going to tell you on Friday,” he said numbly, “After you got back. But then you came back, and you had this look in your eye and I just couldn’t.”

“Hm.” I kicked at a stone that had come loose from the car park’s bitumen. “So what’s different now? Are you just going to give me another hug, pretend that things are normal between us?”

“No,” Eugene replied abruptly, although there was a hint of a quiver to his voice. “What’s different is that this isn’t just going away, like I hoped it would.”

“What isn’t going away?”

“What’s his name, Hayden? They guy you met?” he asked, his change in topic taking me by surprise.

“What’s he have to do with this?” I demanded, raising my eyes to glare at Eugene. This awkwardness, the sensation of being a few words from fighting, was difficult. I could see it in the haunted look in Eugene’s eyes, and I knew that my voice was betraying it.

“You and Theo are so set on solving this,” Eugene dismissed my question with a shake of his head. His voice became louder, angrier. “Find a drummer, problem solved. All Theo’s spoken about today is ways we could convince Freddie to stay. And then you rock up, with a new drummer boyfriend-”

“Hayden’s not my boyfriend,” I snapped. “And even if he were, it’d be irrelevant. I thought you were going to tell me what’s going on.”

“I am.”

“So?”

“What I told you, about the school threatening to kick me out, it was true. Mostly.” Eugene bit his lower lip, closing his eyes as he spoke. “But it wasn’t cos of my grades.”

“And?” I prompted.

“And it’s not Freddie’s fault the band’s breaking up,” he said. “It’s mine.”