Page 7 of Now and Again

Riley wanted to feel grateful for this big, affluent house, and if the place hadn’t contained her father, she’d have been cartwheeling. But of course, if it hadn’t been her dad’s house, she wouldn’t be in it, so it was a catch twenty-two.

Luckily, the place almost had room enough to avoid him altogether. If only Riley hadn’t come down for dinner last night at her stepmother’s kindly insistence. She wouldn’t have gotten drawn into that argument about tax breaks for the rich. ‘We put alotof money into this country. Everything you buy is taxed and people like me buy a lot of things. High tax on earnings on top of that is unnecessary,’ was his argument. Riley was disgusted, and she couldn’t help but let it be known. Though she’d been raised around money, she didn’t consider herself part of this world anymore. She’d opted out a while back.

Even at eighteen, as Riley embarked on a degree that was his choice (he was paying for it and Mike Powell only paid for what he wanted, a daughter with a BA in business), she knew she’d never follow in his size nines. After she’d graduated from university, she knew she couldn’t take another penny from him. It came with too many strings. She decided to snip them cleanly, make her own money, choose her own path. It was hard at first, but she soon got used to it. And now? She felt like she was her own woman. Whatever she’d lost to gain that feeling had been worth it. Being under his roof again made her uneasy. She was going to get out of this fancy place as quickly as she could.

She had some house shares to look at later in the week. Until then, she was trying to suck it up and play nice. It was hard. Her dad’s attitudes repulsed her. It wasn’t enough to have a lot. He had to haveeverything.

Riley pitied his new wife. Amanda couldn’t have truly known what she was signing up for when she married him and started a family. He’d probably laid on the charm at first. But then she went and got pregnant, didn’t she? She was a tired, hassled mum now, much less exciting than the thirty-year-old he’d seduced in the beginning. Oh, and poor little Mia? As far as Riley could see, Mike Powell was no more interested in his new kid than he was in his old one. They were both useless to him for similar reasons. Mia was finding her independence, too; the word ‘No’ her favourite. Mike could no more tell her what to do than he could Riley.

She was mulling all this as she jogged downstairs to get a biscuit - she had her own cupboard that she stocked herself – when she heard Amanda on the stairs. She was talking to someone. Riley would just jog right past, grab her packet of hobnobs, and bugger off back to the guest bedroom, where she could continue to keep her head down while she rinsed out Rightmove. It didn’t end up working out that way, however. Because standing at the door, talking to Amanda, was Juliet Sullivan.

Riley froze on the steps, her body locked with shock. After it loosened its grip, she wasn’t sure what to do, so for want of a better idea, she began to reverse, silently backing up the stairs. She didn’t get two steps before Amanda called cheerily, ‘Riley! Come and meet Juliet!’

Riley found her mouth sliding into a rictus grin. ‘Yeah, er, hi.’

Juliet’s face was a lot more honest. She looked mortified. ‘Hi,’ she said in the sort of tone you might greet a cobra with. If you ever found yourself forced to socialise with deadly snakes.

As Riley felt her soul trying to leave her body, somehow, her legs took her down the stairs. ‘Nice to see you… again.’

Amanda’s eyebrows jumped. ‘Do you know each other?’

‘Yeah, we, we went to school together,’ Riley told her.

Amanda gaped. ‘Oh, wow! That’s great!’

‘Is it?’ Riley asked her.

‘Yeah, Juliet already knows someone in the house! That’ll make it easier, won’t it?’

‘Make what easier?’ Riley asked with a sinking feeling.

‘She’s going to be around a lot from now on because she’s Mia’s new nanny. She’s starting Monday,’ Amanda told her. ‘And look, an old school friend is right here to make her feel at home. How great is that?’

No. Please,no.

Juliet looked like she was trying to smile her way through this awkwardness. She was making a complete hash of it.Riley could tell she was horrified to find out her new job involved… Well… an old friend.

‘Gosh, I’ve really got to be heading off,’ Juliet said, looking at her wrist. She wasn’t wearing a watch. ‘I’ve got to be at… the dentist.’

‘Oh, well, looking forward to Monday,’ Amanda said, letting her out of the front door. Juliet practically ran out.

Amanda shut the door behind her, looking as pleased as punch. She was a nice woman, but not the sharpest tool in the box. ‘She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she?’ she said to Riley.

Riley nodded. ‘She can be.’

Five

Juliet was running away from Riley, again. But what she couldn’t seem to run from, what her legs could not help her escape from, was the memories she’d been pushing down all week. The memories were a decade old, but they seemed fresh as daisies.

THEN

Juliet was pretending to read a book in the school library. She didn’t even know what book it was; she’d snatched the first thing to hand from a nearby shelf and put it in front of her face as soon as she’d seen India coming in. Juliet knew if they locked eyes, that was it. A serving of cruelty for one.

Juliet peeked over the page to see that she’d gotten lucky. India’s full attention was on a friend of hers as she yammered away about whatever. The friend was Riley Powell. Juliet wasn’t afraid of Riley, strictly speaking. In fact, India never seemed to give her crap when Riley was around. Riley was a bit of a mystery to Juliet. What she did know of her seemed too good to be true. She was one of the best students in the school, but she didn’t show off about it. She was very good-looking but didn’t seem vain about it. She was everybody’s friend without ever trying to be. Juliet didn’t understand her remotely. All she really knew for sure was that Riley had it made.

Meanwhile, everything seemed like a struggle for Juliet. Her grades? Middling. Her looks? Average. Her friends? Few. But Juliet was nearly at the finish line. Just a few more months of school and she was out; on to adult life, whatever that meant.

Juliet didn’t lower the book until India vanished around a bookcase, just in case Riley’s presence wasn’t the protection she believed it to be. That loud bleat of hers could be heard, though. It was way too loud for a library. Though no one told her to shut up. ‘So anyway, I’m doing English lit. I mean, how hard can it be to read a few books and say what you think about them?’ India was saying confidently.

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