Bad Influence, page 11
“Neither do I,” I said. “Hannah says it was lucky I picked an instrument you have to play sitting down.”
Nisha smiled. “So, you feeling better?”
“Yes,” I said. “Nothing makes me feel better about social humiliation than almost breaking my butt.”
Nisha laughed. “It wasn’t social humiliation. Those people are barbaric. At least we saw Evan’s true colours.”
“What do you mean?” I got up from the floor and straightened my pyjamas. “It’s not Evan’s fault Madison said that stuff.”
“No,” Nisha said. “But he didn’t exactly stick up for you, did he?”
“He probably didn’t even see us!” I said quickly.
Nisha rolled her eyes. “Amelia. I saw him. He looked right at us.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Well, maybe he did say something. After we’d gone. We left so quickly it didn’t give him much of a chance. Anyway, he’s new at school so…”
Nisha looked at me like she wanted to say something else, then her phone beeped. “It’s my cousin, Kajri,” she said, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. “I’m going to be staying with her for the holidays.”
“You’re going to India for the whole summer?” I asked.
Nisha nodded. “For most of it. Kajri’s getting married. But Mum and Dad want to take me to Goa and Karnataka and a few other places. So we’ll be travelling too. I can’t wait. Look.” Nisha tapped her phone and scrolled through pictures of sandy beaches, misty hills, elaborate temples, cascading waterfalls. It looked beautiful.
“I’m so jealous,” I said. “I think the most exciting place I’m going this summer will be the inside of Mum’s shop.”
“To be honest, your mum’s shop can be pretty wild.” Nisha grinned.
That night, we watched the entire second season of Extreme Dance, until Nisha’s dad banged on the wall and told us to go to sleep.
“You sure you’re feeling okay?” Nisha whispered after she’d turned off the light. “Did Evan message you?”
I tapped my phone and watched its bluey-glow light up the room. “No. But he knows I’ll see him tomorrow at baseball,” I whispered back.
“And you’re okay?” she said. “You sure?”
“Of course. It was probably a bit soon to introduce me to his friends, that’s all. It’s fine.”
I didn’t usually lie to Nisha. But that night, lying in the dark, I didn’t let her see my tears falling silently into the pillow. Or how stupid I felt. How much of a failure I was. Probably because I didn’t want to believe it myself.
The next morning, I was late getting back from Nisha’s. Dad’s car was already outside our cottage as I ran down the hill. So I knew I’d be in trouble. Dad stood on the pavement with his hands on his hips as I ran up to him panting.
“Sorry.”
“I’ve been waiting almost ten minutes, Amelia!” he said. “Grab your kit and let’s go!”
Only it wasn’t that straightforward because I’d forgotten to pack my baseball bag before I went to Nisha’s last night. I quickly pulled my kit from the bottom of my chest of drawers and stuffed it into my bag.
“Hey,” Mum said, as I ran down the stairs. “Slow down! Did you even have breakfast?”
“There’s no time!” I swear I could hear Dad’s foot tapping impatiently outside. I dashed out of the door, still out of breath.
Dad said, “Finally!” so loudly the whole street probably heard. Then I realized I’d forgotten my glove. “Amelia!” Dad shouted after me as I ran back up the stairs. “That’s the last time you have a sleepover the night before a game!”
“Mike,” Mum said. “I told her it was fine. She’s only a few minutes late. You’ll make the game. Spending time with her friends is more important than bouncing a ball around.”
“Bouncing? That’s basketball, Penny.” I heard Dad’s sigh all the way from upstairs and knew Mum had said it deliberately. “Hurry up!” he shouted. “We’re going to be late!”
“Hey.” Hannah stuck her head out of her bedroom door and blew me a kiss. “It’s only a dumb baseball game.”
And for some reason that made the tears in my eyes spill. I wished Hannah hadn’t quit so we could go together. Downstairs, I had to rub my eyes so Dad wouldn’t notice I was crying. It wasn’t just Dad being mad at me. It was the thought of seeing Evan after yesterday at the park. How badly I’d wanted to impress him and how it had completely backfired. I should have listened to Nisha and avoided the park entirely.
The weather was sweltering but the air conditioning in the car gave me a false sense of security. As soon as we got to the field, I realized it was not a good day to be ginger. Mum had packed my factor fifty-plus, but suncream and sweat is not a particularly good combination for skin protection. Not for mine anyway. I’d only been out of the car for ten minutes before my arms felt like they were burning.
“Hey,” came a voice from behind me.
“Hey!” I replied, only half turning round. There was no way I wanted Evan to see how embarrassed I was about yesterday.
“You okay?” he asked, bending down to help me with the bag of bats Dad had told me to carry.
“Fine!” I said as breezily as possible when you’re lugging a bag of heavy bats in the scorching heat.
“Listen, about the park…”
“It’s fine!” I said quickly. “Nisha wasn’t feeling very well so we had to go.”
“Oh, right. It’s just—”
I couldn’t bear to hear the word maggot cross his lips, so I made an excuse about needing to go back to the car, and left him to carry the bats to the dugout.
As the away team, we batted first. But after a few decent hits, it was one disaster after another. And by the end of the game, we’d lost by a mile. I’d seen Dad lose his temper over baseball loads of times, but it was always worse when it was the Rockets. I preferred it when he was just yelling profanities at the TV.
“That was lousy!” Dad shouted in the dugout before he let anyone go home. “Absolutely lousy! Harry, if I see you slow up before home base again, you’re off the team! Amelia, your fielding was pathetic! Pathetic! What’s the first rule of catching?”
I swallowed the fist-sized ball of shame in my throat. “Never fear the ball.”
“Exactly. So what were you doing out there? It’s a ball, not a bomb!” Every muscle in my body was clenched as he went through each of us one by one, telling us how lousily we’d played. Except Thomas Cornish. His mum complained last season after Dad called him a worthless lump of cheese. “And, Evan…well actually, you played pretty decently out there, considering.” I accidentally let out an audible phew. “But to lose eight-two? It’s embarrassing! I am embarrassed on your behalf,” Dad said and put his cap back on. He really didn’t need to be embarrassed on my behalf. I was already embarrassed enough for the entire team.
“Your dad doesn’t like losing, hey,” Evan said as we headed towards the car park. My stomach flipped like the ground was unsteady. What was it about Evan that made my stomach go weird like that?
“You can tell?” I said and Evan laughed. For the first time that day I started to relax.
“Want to hang out tomorrow?” Evan said. “Maybe you could show me the best beach.” He still wanted to spend time with me? Maybe the park disaster hadn’t ruined everything after all!
“Sure. That would be nice.” I clamped my teeth onto the insides of my cheeks so my smile didn’t go too wide.
As I got into the car I checked my phone. The screen was filled with messages from Nisha. I scrolled back to the first one so I could make sense of them all.
Nightmare!!!
Literal nightmare!!!
Neighbour told my parents she saw me at the park.
She said everyone was vaping!!!
OMG Amelia!!!
Mum thinks I am in with a BAD CROWD!!!
I tried to explain
That we were only there for a minute then came home
They just made me watch a load of YouTube videos
About the dangers of vaping!!
I told them a million times I would never
I messaged back:
What?!!! They believe you though, right? I’m so sorry!!
I spent the rest of the journey staring at my phone, waiting for a reply that didn’t come. It had been my idea to go to the park. I’d practically forced Nisha to come with me. Guilt sat in my stomach like bile. I was still looking at my phone as I got out of the car, willing Nisha to reply. Suddenly Dad shouted my name and turned as if to throw me a fastball. I was so surprised I dropped my phone and almost tripped over my own feet.
“Amelia, seriously,” Dad said. “Never fear the ball.”
That night, I posted a new TikTok and dedicated it to Nisha. It was a song called “Firework”. If you listen really hard, you can hear Hannah singing in the background from her bedroom. It got over fifty likes almost straight away. Okay, most of them were Hannah’s friends or people from Orchestra but still, it felt pretty good. My phone beeped with a message.
Nisha: Thanks for the song I’m okay. Mum and Dad believe me about the vaping.
Amelia: Phew! Let’s never go to the park again.
Nisha: Agreed. The park stinks.
I was about to reply when my phone beeped with another message. This time from Evan.
Evan: Awesome TikTok. Love that song.
Amelia: Thanks. What are you doing?
Evan: I’m already in bed You still showing me the beach tomorrow?
My heart lifted like a hot-air balloon.
Amelia: Of course! Message me tomorrow and I’ll show you the sights!
Evan: You could show me some sights now
I pointed my phone out of the window, but it was dark and you couldn’t even see the sea, only greyish clouds. It’s too dark. I figured I might already have something on my phone. What do you want to see?
Evan: Something interesting
And this was it. The moment I misunderstood what Evan meant entirely. Because he meant a photo like The Photo. Before the summer holidays. We’d only kissed twice and he was already asking for That Kind of Photo. I realize that now. But at the time, you have to appreciate I was brand new to all this. Evan was the first boy to even message me apart from Ju-Long about Orchestra practice. He was the first boy who’d kissed me. How was I supposed to know his idea of an interesting photo differed majorly to mine?
I feel kind of stupid saying this now, but I flicked through my pictures and sent Evan a photo of a velvet swimming crab. I’d found it on the beach last weekend and rescued it from a flock of circling seagulls. It’s the kind of thing I find interesting. And that’s what he’d said, right? I even added a message saying, Clawsome or what!
Evan: Woah! Wasn’t expecting that lol.
Amelia: Maybe we’ll see some tomorrow! My favourite beach is the BEST for rock pooling.
Evan: Clawsome!
And I went to sleep with the biggest smile on my face.
The next day, the skies were pouring down with rain.
I messaged Evan: Should we leave the beach for another day?
But he replied: Are you joking? Rain brings out the best creatures!
So I stuck my wellies on, pulled on Hannah’s leopard print cagoule, checked my hair was held firmly in place with the silver grips she’d left in the bathroom, and ran out of the house before she saw me.
Evan was already outside my cottage when I opened the door. I was so glad he was wearing a cagoule and wellies too.
“Where’s your bucket?” he called. I was just about to turn around and fetch one before I heard him laugh and realized he was joking.
“So, what makes this the perfect beach?” Evan said as we stood at the top of the cliff steps and looked down at the bay.
“Look,” I said. “See the sand dunes over there? When it’s not raining, they’re the most stunning shade of yellow. Those spiky tufts of grass are called marram. They’re really important habitats for insects. I saw a tiger beetle up there once. These cliffs are part of a Jurassic coastline, so you can find fossils and ammonites that have fallen onto the beach. And those rocks down there? The crevasses are really deep so they’re the best in Ravens Bay for rock pooling.”
Evan smiled. “Okay, you’ve convinced me.” He grabbed my hand and we set off down the steps.
He was right about the rain bringing out all the good stuff. We saw starfish and prawn, all kinds of anemones and what I think was a long-spined sea scorpion. But we only glanced at it for a second before it darted under a rock. Waves crashed around us and the entire beach was deserted.
As we walked towards the steps to go home, Evan took my hand. It was wet and cold, and my fingers were half-numb, but it still felt incredible. I mean, he must have heard me being called Maggot on Friday. The entire park probably heard it. But it was as though the whole disaster had been completely washed from our minds, like the tide cleaning the shore.
Then, as we reached the bottom of the steps, Evan stopped. “I like you, Amelia.”
I turned around. And I don’t know what came over me (okay, I’d been repeating this Amelia Earhart quote about courage in my head a hundred times) but I kissed him. I kissed him. I’d completely forgotten about my ChapStick, but our lips met at exactly the right angle and I did it the way I’d practised. It felt magical. Like when I play a piece of music with no mistakes. Our faces were damp from the rain, but somehow that made it feel nicer. Evan had the biggest smile on his face afterwards. Probably so did I, but I was too blown away to care.
Evan put his sandy hand in mine and a tiny tremor went up my arm. And I got this feeling like it meant everything would be okay. If Evan liked me, there had to be a way to convince his friends to like me too. We were hand in hand on my favourite beach. Waves crashed like a percussion section in the background. My lips tasted salty from his kiss. I wanted to call out, “TO ADVENTURE!” like Amelia Earhart at the top of my lungs. But on reflection I am so glad I didn’t.
When I got home, Hannah was mad about her cagoule being soaked and sandy. And Mum was annoyed I’d gone out in the rain. But nothing could bring me down from that cloud. My third kiss. Lucky number three – was perfect.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked my TikTok. 204 likes for “Firework”! I tapped to see who they were. Loads of people from Orchestra. But also some people from the year above. People in Evan’s year! And the comments were amazing.
This rocks!
So cool Amelia!
Love love love!!!
Obsessed
Bowing down!!
That night, I went to sleep imagining Evan kissing me at the top of the hill, in front of everyone from school. At my locker. Under the beech trees. Even in the music corridor! I imagined us kissing everywhere, like I’d seen some couples doing at school. I imagined everything. From meeting in the library at lunchtime to holding hands on the way home down the hill. I imagined us reading the same book. I even came up with different scenarios of him asking me to be his girlfriend. I was certain it would happen soon. And then the name Maggot would be gone for ever.
In science on Monday, we were learning about parts of the eye. “Turn your attention to the board, everyone, please,” Mrs King said, as she displayed a picture of a dissected eyeball. “Who can tell me the names of the different parts?”
The entire class let out a collective, “Yuk!”
Mrs King blinked a few times then looked at me. “Amelia? Perhaps you can tell me.”
“Only if it’s a maggot’s!” DJ shouted.
Lachlan added, “Maggots don’t have eyes, idiot.” And they both fell about laughing.
“Erm, gentlemen!” Mrs King said firmly. “I have no idea where this idea has come from, but I can assure you that maggots have eyes. All over their bodies, in fact, or at least light-sensitive cells, that are essential for their survival. People see them as insignificant grubs, but believe me, scientifically speaking, maggots are fascinating! They are of vital importance in terms of ecology, medicine, recycling. And not only that, they are useful in the world of forensic science too. The presence of maggots can help to determine the time of a corpse’s death. So, dismiss them at your peril!”
By this point my face had gone bright scarlet. I felt Nisha’s hand squeeze mine under the desk.
“Anyway, let’s stick to human anatomy for now, please,” Mrs King said. “Amelia – you were about to tell us the different parts of the eyeball.”
Thankfully the bell went so everyone headed out to break. Nisha and I volunteered to stay behind to put the books away, which wasn’t easy considering my hands were shaking with humiliation.
“Don’t let DJ get to you,” Nisha said. “He’s such an idiot. You need to keep your confidence up for the competition tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah,” I said. With everything that was happening with Evan, I’d almost forgotten about the debate final. I collected the last textbook from the back bench and sighed. “I just wish there was something I could do to make them drop the whole maggot thing.”
“You heard Mrs King,” Nisha said as we headed out of the lab. “Maggots are actually vital and fascinating creatures.”
“I guess,” I said, trying to suck up the dejection I felt. Nisha linked my arm as we headed over to the library. “Mrs King said maggots help in forensics, right? Maybe I can handle being named after a creature that is essentially an honorary member of CSI.”
But even as I said it, I didn’t mean it. Now Evan was at St Clement’s, I needed to lose the Maggot name and fast. But it was more than that. How was I ever going to get the popular crowd to like me if I still couldn’t convince the idiots in my class that I was even human?
