Page 3 of Now and Again

India gaped for a second before her face split into a wide grin, and Juliet knew she should have never engaged with this idiot. ‘You’re a nanny? God… Wow.’ She left it hanging, but Juliet knew what she meant. The poor girl from school was now, ‘The Help.’ India had to love that.

Though Juliet was not embarrassed about her job, she felt some of that familiar old shame that cruel classmates had always made her feel when she didn’t have the things they had. The nice clothes, the expensive holidays, the lift to school in the fancy car.

Juliet turned away from India, flushed. This was turning into a truly shitty day. Then it managed to get even worse. ‘India, they don’t sell ristretto, so I just got you a latte,’ said a new voice. Actually, not new at all. Juliet was intimately familiar with this voice, though it had not been heard in quite some time. Juliet spun around in shock and found herself facing Riley Powell. Riley stared at her in equal surprise. Several seconds passed.

‘Juliet, I need a wee,’ Max said. Juliet had forgotten he was there.

‘Yeah, come on,’ Juliet said to him, breaking her stare-off with Riley. She pulled the kids away, heading toward the toilets. As she went, she heard India say, ‘Remember her? Juliet something-or-other.’

‘Yeah,’ Riley said quietly. ‘I think I remember her.’

Juliet kept walking. She didn’t want to hear anything else that might be said. Anyway, if she didn’t move fast, Max was gonna pee down his leg. The day she was having, that would really cap it off.

As Juliet stood outside the toilet waiting for Max to go – he was about able to handle that job himself now – she must have drifted. ‘What’s wrong?’ Lily asked her. The kid was always observant.

‘Nothing.’

‘Are you sad?’

‘I’m alright.’

‘You don’t look alright,’ Lily said flatly, her penetrating gaze boring into Juliet.

‘Maybe I am a bit sad,’ Juliet admitted.

‘Because you’re not coming to Canada?’ Lily asked. ‘And you’re going to miss us lots and lots?’

Juliet nodded. ‘Yeah. I will.’

Lily nodded. ‘I thought so.’

‘You’re very smart, Lily,’ Juliet told her.

‘I know,’ Lily agreed. ‘I can spell better than anyone in my class.’ She went on to list all the things she could spell. As she talked, Juliet thought about Lily’s observation. Yes, she was very sad about the big move. But right at that moment, she hadn’t been thinking about that at all. She’d been sad about something else entirely.

Two

Riley Powell was doing her best to tune India out. She was banging on about some guy she’d met six months ago, sure it was true love. Riley found it hard to invest. India met the love of her life on an annual basis. She was six months in, so the new guy would be gone in about three months. Three months after that, there’d be a new one. Riley would have to listen to the same crap again then, so she was just nodding along to all the classics. ‘He’s not like anyone I’ve met.’ ‘He’s so sweet.’ ‘We just clicked.’

As she talked, Riley’s mind was all for what had happened five minutes ago. Juliet Sullivan. Oh yeah, she remembered her alright. Not that she was ever going to tell India aboutthat.

India was still going. ‘So when I met his brother, I just had to sit there listening to him going on and on about how wonderful I am. It was so embarrassing—’

‘Oh my god!’ Riley cried when she couldn’t take any more. ‘Look at the time!’

‘Oh, do you have to go?’ India said, disappointed. ‘I haven’t even told you about Brandon’s classic car collection!’

Riley tutted. She turned to Persephone and Xanthia, not really her friends, more India’s. ‘Guess you guys are in for a treat.’ They nodded like the little lapdogs they were. Neither of them ever had a thing to say, so it worked out well. India talked, they listened, and Riley pissed off when she got too bored. Standard formation.

‘Oh!’ India cried as Riley stood. ‘We haven’t even talked about you. What are you, err, up to?’

An hour they’d been talking, and only now had India remembered Riley was a person with a life too. That was also standard. On this particular occasion, though, Riley was pretty thrilled about that. She had no desire to talk about how life was going right now. ‘India, I’d love to talk more, but I’ve got the dentist at two thirty.’

‘Two thirty?’ India said with a hint of suspicion.

‘I know, haha! Tooth hurty, can you believe it?’ Riley was going to have to work on her lying skills. She pulled her bag onto her shoulder and said, ‘Anyway, text me and we’ll… Yeah, anyway, text me.’ She dashed off out of the park, glad to be free. But, she reminded herself, she’d known India since she was twelve. You couldn’t ditch old friends just because they weren’t perfect.

As she walked out of the park, she hoped she wouldn’t see Juliet again. Her mute shock had been bad enough the first time. She just hoped she’d managed to keep her mouth physically closed. God, how long had it been since she’d seen her? Riley was twenty-eight, so it was ten whole years since school. Ten years since… that stuff.

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