Page 5 of Autumn Secrets

“You don’t mind? That would be really great, actually. I’m quite nervous to be honest. It’s such a small town; they’re all going to notice that I’m new.”

“Don’t worry, Aurora. They will welcome a babe like you with open arms.” She laughed infectiously, making me poke out my tongue at her. “I’m serious – especially the guys,” she added with a wink. “Do you know what classes you’re in?”

“Yep, hold on.” I went to my desk and grabbed the information Mum had scribbled down for me. I handed the note to Lexi.

“Yay, we have the first class together in the morning.”

“We do? That’s great!” I said and felt a little bit lighter. “So tell me about the school.” What I really wanted to ask was if she knew someone named Adrian Hunter. Images of him kept getting stuck in my mind ever since our meeting at the library. I was quite sure she would know who he was. He wouldn’t be someone who walked around unnoticed, especially not in a small town like this. She might even know him or worse…he might be her boyfriend. I cringed at the thought.

“I don’t think it’s that different to other schools. It’s not very big; I think there are about two hundred students. We all get along quite well. It’s a friendly atmosphere most of the time. You honestly don’t have to worry.”

“And who do you hang out with?” I asked, trying to be subtle.

“Well, there’s a little group of us that hang out together. There’s Jasmine, Mia and myself, and I guess I have to count Will as well. Mia and Will are a couple. They’ve been going out for almost two years now but he’s away until the end of this year on exchange somewhere.”

“What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?” I had to know. This was a small town and if she had any connection to Adrian, I really wanted to know. I didn’t want any surprises that could jeopardise a friendship with Lexi. I really liked her.

“No, no way.” She laughed. “However, I will tell you this: for a small town, we do have many good-looking guys here, ifyou’re interested.”

“And you’re not?” I teased. So, Adrian wasn’t her boyfriend. Maybe I could mention my meeting him after all?

“No, I have too much stuff to concentrate on to drool over boys.”

“And what would that be?”

“You know, like studying hard so I can get into the best university in the country. There are more important things on my agenda right now.” She laughed. “I just want to be prepared, you know?”

“I hear you.” And I did. I too studied really hard and was devoted to school. I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do further down the track, but I wanted to have opportunities when I finally made the decision. I knew I didn’t want to be stuck in the family business, at least not yet.

In the end I decided against asking Lexi about Adrian. I didn’t know Lexi that well just yet and I didn’t really feel comfortable enough to ask her. He probably had a girlfriend anyway and even if he didn’t, he was way out of my league. No, it was better to keep our meeting to myself for now.

Later that evening when the Dawsons had left, I helped Mum clean up in the kitchen. “So, what do you think?” Mum asked. I could see the excitement in her eyes.

“Lexi is great. Thank you for organising this.”I was relieved to know that I would have someone I knew on my first day at school.

“My pleasure. I wanted to see Sarah and David as soon as I got here anyway.” Mum grinned. Lexi and I had only found out this evening that our mums had been best friends since kindergarten. It all made more sense to me now, why she had been so adamant about hosting this dinner party.

I thought about Lexi and our conversation about not remembering each other. Add that to the fact that her parents were so close to Mum, and it was all a bit strange. How could I not remember any one of them, particularly Lexi? I looked at Mum. “It’s weird that I don’t remember Lexi, don’t you think?”

“Well not really, you were only little,” she replied and started the dishwasher.

“Still, I did come back again when I was twelve, for the funeral. Why weren’t they at Grandma and Grandpa’s funeral?”

“They were at the funeral, Aurora.”

“Lexi too?”

“No, she wasn’t there that day. They decided not to bring her.”

“Why—” I didn’t have time to finish before Mum’s phone started ringing.

She picked it up and looked at her display. “Aurora, can we talk about this later? Sorry, I really need to take this call.”

“Sure,” I replied, my head swirling.

“Come and say goodnight, okay? We can talk more then.” She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and left the kitchen with her phone in hand. I blew out the candles that were still burning in the holder on the dining table and went into the living room to watch some TV. I wasn’t tired at all. Mum and I had unpacked everything in here and the room was now decorated with all our furniture and belongings. I curled up on the couch and was just about to reach for the remote, when I noticed the double doors at the other end of the room. Behind those doors was a long hallway with another three or four rooms. One of them was my grandmother’s old library.

I put the remote back on the table and got up from the couch. I hadn’t explored this area of the house yet but I felt a sudden longing to see what was behind those doors. I opened the heavy doors and searched the wall for a light switch. I found it and quickly turned the light on. We didn’t have enough furniture to fill this whole house, so this end still looked exactly the same as when my grandparents were alive. I ignored the first three rooms and headed straight towards the end of the hallway, where the arched doorway welcomed me to my grandmother’s cosy library.

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