Australian Love Stories by Cate Kennedy Page A

the specs,’ he grunted. ‘Nice tits too.’
    â€˜Shut up about her tits!’ I snapped.
    â€˜Oooh touchy, touchy. I wouldn’t mind a touchy, touchy actually…’
    I hovered around the perimeter of the dance floor and hoped that no one was being sick on my mum’s carpet, or having sex on her bed. I saw Miri with three friends. She had rimmed her eyes with dark liner. It made her look older.
    â€˜Cool party Chris!’ she called.
    I watched her dance, her hips swaying loosely to the music, her body curving and twirling. She caught me staring and Ihurried away. I was in the kitchen making myself a drink when she slipped out to talk to me.
    â€˜Water?’ she queried, raising a dark eyebrow in amusement.
    â€˜I’m hot,’ I said dumbly.
    â€˜Yeh, you are!’’ she winked. ‘Hey, come on. Let’s go up to your room for a bit. Get away from this craziness. And bring something more exciting than H2O !’
    I grabbed a nasty goon bag; the cheapest and most disgusting wine known to man. Miri led the way up the stairs, and I watched her miniskirt twisting. I couldn’t help it.
    She opened my bedroom door and jumped onto my bed, springing around like a little kid on a trampoline, giggling hysterically. I didn’t know what to do, whether to join her. So I set about pouring us some goon.
    â€˜Put that CD on, Chris. The one I made you last weekend,’ she instructed.
    I did as I was told.
    â€˜Well…come sit down and have your drink,’ she patted a spot next to her.
    I did as I was told again.
    â€˜This stuff tastes horrible,’ I choked.
    â€˜I know. But I need liquid courage tonight.’
    â€˜Why Miri?’
    â€˜You know why,’ she said, reaching out and taking my hand. Hers felt small and delicate and soft. I froze.
    â€˜Oh sorry!’ she turned scarlet. ‘I thought…don’t you want me to?’
    Slowly, I nodded.
    She smiled that beautiful, disarming, one of a kind Mirabella De Luca smile. And I did what I’d been wanting to do all along,and swooped in and kissed her. Gently at first, the softest butterfly of a kiss. My whole body was tingling as she slipped her tongue into my mouth. I ran a hand through her hair. Kissing Mirabella De Luca…turned out to be heaven.
    There came a sound of a disturbance downstairs and muffled footsteps on the landing…then…
    â€˜Christine Murray!’ someone screamed hysterically. ‘What on Earth?…stop that. This party is over!’
    My aunty looked angrier than I’d ever seen her.
    â€˜You girl, go home!’ she yelled at a petrified looking Miri. ‘Get out of this house!’
    She paused for a moment to regain her breath. Meanwhile, I desperately tried to figure out how she had even got there. She lived a whole two houses down. Was the party really that loud?
    Aunty Janet let loose at Miri again, this time with twice as much gusto.
    â€˜And don’t you dare come back! Dyke! Queer!’

    â€˜So what happened?’ Ryan asked me at the back of the oval next Monday. I was now only allowed out of the house for school.
    â€˜Aunty Janet walked in on us.’
    Ryan tried to maintain a sympathetic face, but he couldn’t help himself. ‘Ba ha ha…’ He rolled around getting covered in grass and prickles for a good ten minutes.
    â€˜You know when we were little—I thought you were joking about wanting to date Mirabella De Luca. Because she was a four eyed, train-track wearing nerd. But you weren’t, were you? Who else have you had you eye on? Better not have been of my ex-girlfriends!’
    â€˜As if!’ I scoffed. ‘You’ve got terrible taste!’
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