The Brink, page 16
‘For real? What, are you worried I’ll hear the plop or something?’
Kaiya makes an aaargggh sound. ‘Gross. Yes. Literally. Oh my God, can you leave?’
‘Okay, okay.’
I wander down the track to the shore, where the waves are breaking in the dark. The moon is strong tonight—not a full moon, but close.
A man is walking up the beach. As he gets closer, I see it’s one of the Brink Island blokes, drink in hand: the muscly guy who always wears motocross stuff. Baz.
‘Hey, it’s Tinkerbell,’ Baz calls. He’s swigging from one of our red plastic cups.
‘How you holding up, princess?’ he says.
I look down and don’t make eye contact. They all had a good laugh when Mason dragged me back to shore on that jet ski. I don’t need to revisit it.
‘Oi, I’m talking to you,’ Baz snarls.
I glance up.
‘That’s right. Embarrassed y’self today, didn’t ya, princess? Never seen anyone so useless. Woosh! Straight off the end, arse-first into the soup.’
Baz sculls the rest of his drink and ditches the cup in my direction. I try to dodge it, but it hits my shin: one more demonstration of my lack of coordination.
‘Stay on land till you grow some balls, kid,’ Baz calls. ‘Jet skis aren’t for little girls.’
He laughs and heads further up the beach to the rock groyne, where he stops to sit and light up.
‘Good riddance,’ Kaiya says behind me.
I almost jump out of my skin. ‘Far out. You snuck up on me.’
‘I didn’t sneak up. I just walked along the track.’ She watches Baz. ‘I meant good riddance to him, not you. I don’t like him.’
‘Preaching to the choir. I don’t like him either.’
Kaiya heads on down to the beach. I head to the outhouse.
18
KAIYA
I’m glad Baz doesn’t stick around the fire pit, but I wish he’d leave the island altogether. Those local guys give me toolie vibes. They’re only hanging around hoping to get one of us girls alone for sex. It’s gross.
Eventually, the others drift back to the fire pit. Jared and Taylor return, side-by-side, and Brayden comes back from up the beach not long after. He grabs Taylor’s shoulder and whispers something in her ear that makes her giggle.
‘No way, Poochy!’ Taylor cries, slapping Brayden’s arm. ‘You did not!’
‘I did, and he loved it,’ Brayden says, miming giving a blow job before wiping the corner of his mouth flamboyantly.
I definitely don’t want to know what that’s about.
‘Let’s play a new game,’ Val says. Her bikini strap keeps sliding off her shoulder and she keeps touching her messed-up hair, like she wants us all to know she and Ryan have been screwing. ‘This is a good one.’
‘Wait, where’s Ryan?’ Aisha asks.
‘Nature called,’ Val replies.
‘“Nature called” is so polite,’ Fezza says. His eyes are as bloodshot as ever. ‘I wish we could be more open as a society and just say Ryan’s squatting over the outhouse dunny pushing out a massive log.’
Mason laughs, but he’s the only one. He hurls a bottle lid at Fezza’s head and it lodges in his afro. Fezza doesn’t notice, which makes him look even more spaced-out.
‘Spit it out, Val,’ Brayden presses. ‘What’s the game?’
‘Truth or Dare.’
‘Fucksakes, really?’
‘What is this, a year-eight sleepover?’ Fezza says. ‘What about Never Have I Ever?’
‘We can play that tomorrow,’ Val says, eyes glinting. ‘Tonight is all about the truth.’
I don’t like the sound of that. Val can lasso the truth into a weapon. It doesn’t help that I’m a bad liar—people can see straight through me.
But Val’s not looking at me right now: her eyes twinkle at Jared and Taylor. ‘This should be fun,’ she says crisply.
Jared’s as bad as Val in the show-off stakes, putting a blanket around Taylor’s shoulders and curling up beside her. I know Jared and Ryan get up in each other’s grill, so sleeping with each other’s exes can’t make their rivalry any worse, but I’m surprised Taylor and Val can remain friends doing the same thing. If Val was still talking to me, I’d be hearing all about it. Aisha’s probably copping it instead.
‘Okay, Fezza, truth or dare?’ Val begins, like she knew she wanted to start with him all along.
‘Truth.’
‘Okay…remember, you have to answer honestly. You’re selling more than just weed to the innocent leavers here, yes?’
‘False,’ Fezza says. ‘I’m selling other stuff, sure. But not one of you ferals is innocent.’
Everyone laughs except Val, who smiles very slightly, the way she does when she obtains gossip she’s been seeking for a while. ‘See, it’s easy,’ she says, with a disarming breeziness. ‘And now it’s your turn.’
Fezza pulls a joint from behind his ear and points it at Taylor. ‘I dare you to French me.’
All of us girls groan. ‘That’s not how it works,’ I say. ‘You have to give her the option of truth or dare.’
‘Oh right.’ Fezza looks confused. ‘Truth or dare, then?’
Taylor takes a sip of goon. ‘Um, since I have a vague idea what the dare is, I’ll go for truth.’
‘Okay. Would a girl as beautiful as you ever kiss an ugly bastard like me?’
‘Not if I’d eaten every single magic mushroom in the world. Sorry, Fez. Val, you’re up.’
‘Truth.’
‘Have you had sex with Ryan yet?’
A low oooooh goes around the circle. I didn’t see that coming. That answers my question: Val and Taylor are totally not okay.
‘No,’ Val says stiffly.
‘You have to answer honestly.’
‘I did.’
I have no idea why Val’s bothering to lie.
She’s barely given her answer when Ryan returns to the campsite and cracks a can. I wonder if he would have given the truth away if he’d heard the question.
‘Okay, Jared,’ Val says, regaining her composure. ‘Truth or dare?’
‘Dare.’
Val narrows her eyes. ‘Fine. I dare you to confess to what you did. Admit you spiked my drink.’
‘This is bullshit,’ Jared says. ‘I didn’t spike anything. Is this why you wanted to play this stupid kids’ game?’
Fezza intervenes, putting his meaty hand on Val’s shoulder. ‘Dudes, dudettes, remember this is a game. It’s meant to be fun.’
It’s unusual for Fezza to play the peacemaker, but I’m glad he said something. It was starting to feel like this wasn’t a game at all—more like watching a knife fight unfold, but one where you can’t see the knives.
Fezza mutters something under his breath to Val, who blinks politely and says to the group, ‘Okay, someone else take a turn, then.’
‘Let’s reset,’ Brayden says. ‘Leonardo, truth or dare?’
Leonardo hesitates. ‘Truth.’
‘Okay,’ Brayden says. ‘Of all the girls here, who would you go out with and why?’
Leonardo’s eyes bulge. ‘I can’t say that.’
‘You have to.’
Leonardo’s gaze travels over Val, Taylor and me like a nervous spotlight. For a second I worry he’s going to say me, and I regret being nice to him, but then his gaze settles on Aisha.
‘I guess—I guess Aisha…’ he says, like he’s about to pass out.
‘Aw, you’re sweet,’ Aisha says, as if they didn’t make out last night. I wonder if she regrets it now. Her response tells me she’s never going to kiss him again.
‘My turn,’ Leonardo says. ‘Uh…Bray, same question, but for guys.’
Brayden’s freckled face actually goes watermelon pink, like the question gave him sunburn. ‘Oh, jeez.’
‘Yeah, go on,’ Fezza eggs him on. ‘Which one of us guys is the hottest? It’s me, isn’t it?’
Brayden’s eyes lock with Mason’s. ‘Well, Mason’s the hottest guy here, for sure.’
Mason’s face goes almost as pink as Brayden’s, which doesn’t suit him at all: his jaw is ordinarily so arrogant. The discomfort makes him look different—softer.
‘You mean the dumbest guy here,’ Jared says, tousling Mason’s hair. ‘I’m better looking than that blockhead. Jesus.’
The truths and dares go on for a bit. Mason chooses truth, and Val asks if he really has gonorrhoea. A few people laugh. It seems harsh to bring it up. Val wants to remind everyone she has dirt on each of them; that she’s still the queen bee.
I choose dare on my next turn, and I’m forced to smoke a cigarette—just a puff. It’s gross, but I’m glad I didn’t get asked anything about sex.
People start choosing more dares. Dumb stuff, like singing pop songs or going skinny dipping or having a puff of Fezza’s joint. It’s all fun until Aisha gets dared to chug a funnel of beer and just as she finishes it—to everyone’s cheers—she spews it all back up, spraying almost everyone in the circle.
Everyone scatters in disgust, heading off to the beach and the outhouse to wash themselves, while I take Aisha to the bathroom in the red shack and rinse her hair with the shower hose. I gently suggest maybe she’ll want to call it a night, but she’s not having a bar of it.
‘I swear I’m not even that drunk,’ she insists. ‘Embarrassed, but not drunk. The beer was just too fizzy, and too much at once. Don’t even think about putting me to bed, Kaiya. The party’s just getting started.’
For what it’s worth, she doesn’t seem that drunk at all. I pat her hair dry with a towel, wait as she brushes her teeth, and then we head back outside to join the others.
The vibe around the fire pit has changed when we get back. Some of the others are still up at the outhouse. I guess everyone getting splattered with regurgitated beer was enough to kill the mood, at least temporarily.
‘Let’s play a different game,’ Brayden suggests once everyone’s back.
‘No!’ Val says, louder than usual. ‘No, we should keep playing. One more round each. Come on.’
I don’t understand why she’s so frantic about it until her eyes zero in on me. ‘Kaiya. I’ve saved the best one for last. Truth or dare, hun?’
I’m worried the dare might be sexual, so I choose truth. The lesser of two evils. But somehow I played right into her hands.
‘So, Kaiya,’ Val says. ‘How old were you when you lost your virginity?’
I feel like such a caricature, the way my mouth falls open in shock, like some reality-TV contestant who just got slammed by her on-screen nemesis. But I can’t help it. This is the lowest blow ever. The most petty thing she could do to me.
‘Wow,’ I say, sculling what remains of my drink. I know there’s no point in lying: Val would only make more of a display of me. I wonder if this whole game was designed to get me to have to admit this publicly.
‘Go on, Kaiya. Everyone else revealed their secrets. You can’t back out.’
‘Fine. Here goes. I’m still a virgin.’
There’s a total lack of reaction around the circle, which is worse than mockery, because it tells me they all already knew.
‘No shame in that, babes,’ Aisha says. ‘We all develop when we’re ready.’
I know she means well, but it sounds so condescending, like a grown woman talking to her kid sister. I narrow my eyes at Val. ‘Happy?’
‘So happy I could die.’
I feel my eyes flash at her—like a warning light. My face is hot. I’m so mad she tried to humiliate me. I want her to feel the same humiliation.
I turn to Jared, since it’s my turn. ‘Jared. You’re up. Truth or dare?’
‘Dare,’ he says. I wonder if he can read the vibes of sheer rage emanating from me.
I grin back at him. ‘I dare you to make out with me.’
‘Holy shit,’ Fezza says.
Jared can’t wipe the grin off his face, and he mobilises instantly, deliberately avoiding both Val and Taylor’s eyes as he crawls across the sand towards me.
Our lips meet. We kiss. I let him slip his tongue in for a second or two before I pull away.
Val is on her feet. ‘What was it you said about me being so pathetically high school? You’re such a fucking hypocrite, Kaiya.’
I grin back at her, making a show of wiping Jared’s saliva from the corner of my mouth. ‘I can’t help being popular,’ I say. ‘I guess guys are just more into virgins, huh?’
‘Big talk from the least popular girl on this island,’ Val retaliates. ‘Sorry, Kaiya, but I don’t think anyone here actually cares about you, hun.’
‘Maybe nobody here cares about me,’ I say, ice-cold, ‘but at least my parents do.’
It’s the meanest thing I’ve ever said, and I make a point of looking dead into Val’s eyes as I say it. I expect to see her glare and quip something sarcastic, but for once I get what I want. She’s a wounded animal; I see the pain in her eyes, the same pain she made me feel.
I’m used to her hurting me, but this is the first time I’ve deliberately hurt her back.
It doesn’t feel as good as I thought it would.
19
MASON
Watching Jared kissing a girl is torture. Thankfully, Kaiya breaks away fast. Jared crawls back to his milk crate, dazed and grinning. He swigs his drink, so much swagger in his vibe, like he expects a parade in his honour.
‘Okay, one more round, then I’m done with this game,’ he declares. ‘Mase. Truth or dare?’
No way is Jared getting a truth out of me in front of everyone. ‘Dare.’
‘Okay. Dare you to do a nudie run.’ He points north. ‘To the rocks and back. And you have to take your clothes off here, by the fire, where we can all see.’
I shrug. I’m not ashamed of my body—I keep my rig tight and I like showing off. This is a cinch.
‘But you have to do it with Brayden,’ he finishes dramatically.
Everyone laughs. I stare at Jared with contempt. This is typical. Brayden said I was better looking than him so he’s going to make gay jokes about us now.
‘No dramas,’ I say.
‘See, Brayden? I got your back,’ Jared says.
‘Yeah, a nudie run wasn’t what I had in mind,’ Brayden says, sliding his pants down like he’d rather do anything else.
We get down to our jocks. Brayden’s wearing a jockstrap from some designer brand. If we didn’t know he was gay before, we do now. The girls are howling with laughter at both of us. I thought at least one of them would be impressed with my muscle definition, but apparently girls don’t care about that.
‘When I say “go”, drop your dacks and run,’ Jared says, enjoying being in control. ‘Ready. Set. GO!’
I yank my black-and-yellow Tradie jocks down to my ankles. The girls shriek. I don’t stick around for them to check out my junk. I start sprinting. Brayden does the same.
‘All the way to the rocks,’ Jared calls.
I catch a glimpse of Brayden’s butt—bare, hairless and freckled—before I leave him in my dust. I’ve always been fast. He swears as I easily outstrip him, and I can’t help but sneak a glance over my shoulder at him—and his junk. His dick is smaller than mine, flopping up and down against his bouncing nads and his red pubes.
‘Take a picture, it’ll last longer!’ Brayden shouts. ‘I thought I was meant to be the homo.’
‘You are!’ I shout back. Something giddy has come over me, like there’s a drug coursing through my blood. Knowing he’s gay makes me feel like I can say or do whatever I want around him. It’s exhilarating. I’m disappointed to see we’re close to the rocks already. I want this to last longer.
I turn slightly as I run, letting Brayden catch a glimpse of my own tackle bouncing up and down—a little painfully—against my balls. ‘You must be enjoying the view, ay? Or are you more of an arse man?’ I slap my own buttocks.
‘Oh my God,’ Brayden says. ‘What is that?’
‘Just my butt cheeks. Settle down.’
‘No.’ There’s fear in his voice now. His eyes are trained on something ahead. ‘That.’
I follow his gaze. We’ve reached the rock groyne that extends into the shallows.
‘Oh, shit,’ I breathe, slowing down.
Sprawled over the sharp rocks that spike out of the shallows is the shape of a man.
The moon creeps out from behind the clouds and a silvery light illuminates the guy’s face.
His eyes are open, but they’re unblinking, staring emptily at the night sky. His head is tilted on a sickening angle.
He’s dead.
20
LEONARDO
‘I bet Brayden cracks a fat,’ Jared says, watching the two boys sprint down the beach.
‘That’s rude, Jared,’ Taylor says. ‘Just because he’s gay doesn’t mean he wants to have sex with every guy.’
‘How is it rude? I’m straight, and I wanna have sex with every girl.’ He glances deliberately at Val. ‘Well—almost every girl.’
‘You’re disgusting,’ Kaiya says, twisting a finger through the belt loop on her denim shorts. It’s a weird habit she has when something bugs her: she tugs at that loop the way you yank a loose thread off a woollen jumper. Of course, denim’s too tough to unravel.
I’m happily drunk again. A quiet background player in a raucous group. It feels good but not quite as good as the last two nights. I was wrong before: I thought drinking, or hooking up with a chick, were rituals I had to complete on my path to manhood. But even though I love the fuzz of alcohol and the rush of kissing Aisha, they didn’t change anything permanently.
What’s a guy gotta do to change for good? What am I missing?
I completely lose that train of thought when Mason and Brayden race back, shouting their heads off.
At first I think they’re being funny. I think everyone does.
‘Calm down, Mase,’ Jared says. ‘Brayden’s not gonna rape you just because you’re starkers.’
But when they get close enough, we see the horror on their faces.
A cold stone drops into my stomach before Mason speaks.
