Page 61 of Big Nick Energy
‘Beth,’ he says. ‘Lucy’s sister. How’s your tree?’
‘Very good, thank you. You’re…’
I wave across the room and Beth recognises me, heading over to my corner of the library, occasionally looking back to clock Nick. ‘Yeah, I was told to come over and see why all the Year Nine girls were crowding the courtyard and had rolled up their skirts. Hey, Kay,’ she says, coming over to hug me. Lucy is one of five sisters I’ve come to know over the years and her sister, Beth,is my main contact at this particular school. ‘Why is he here?’ she mouths.
We both watch Nick as a few girls enter the room to talk to him. He carries a pile of books just in case they may want to take one. ‘Long-ish story. He volunteered to help deliver the books, outreach in the community and all that.’
‘Lucy’s boss?’ she says quietly.
‘Yeah… By the way, you girls never told me about him before.’
Beth peers over as he stands there turning his back to the girls so they can’t take pictures of him. ‘Oh, yeah – we call him The Timbersnake.’
‘Because he’s underhand and sneaky?’
‘No, because Lucy saw him getting changed once and…’
‘BETH!’ I squeal. He looks over curiously at both of us.
‘He’s a nice fella. We all get fantastic Christmas trees because of him. In my opinion, he’s almosttoogood looking though.’
‘That’s a thing?’ I ask her.
‘Look at him, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. It’d be like dating Ryan Gosling. I’d spend ninety per cent of my time staring at him, blushing, speechless.’
I giggle. ‘Who are you texting?’ I say, noticing the phone in her hand.
‘The staff room. This last week before the Christmas break is the hardest one in the school year. We all need to find our joy somewhere,’ she says. ‘GIRLS, you are being too much, leave him alone. He’s married.’
I see the alarm on Nick’s face as she says this and I can’t lie, something drops out of my stomach. He’s what now? Married? But he doesn’t wear a ring. It’s not as if it came up or we discussed our situations in detail – at all, in fact. He’s allowed to be married. We’re not together. Why am I emotional? You idiot. I feel it hit my eyes and turn away. He was here because it was a community endeavour, nothing more.
‘What? He’s married!?’ a girl shouts.
‘Yeah, this is his wife so behave yourselves and roll down your skirt. I can see what you had for breakfast,’ Beth replies.
Nick and I look at each other. I’m not his wife.Oh. She was saying that to calm down the girls so they wouldn’t pursue him so aggressively. The girls look over at me and I’m unsure what to do. How does one act territorial? Or wifely?
‘Yeah, I’m afraid I’m spoken for. I belong to her,’ Nick says, shrugging.
I bite my lip as he says that, trying not to smirk. ‘Yeah, I am his wife.’
‘Lucky cow,’ one girl says, looking me up and down as if I’m undeserving.
‘I heard that,’ I say. ‘Not so lucky really. He snores. Loudly. Like a baby elephant.’
‘This is true,’ he says, looking over at me, grinning.
‘His feet are also horrific. Like Monster Munch.’ He gives me a look. I’ve taken this a little far, haven’t I? I see Beth laughing under her breath as these very hard to please teenagers give me evils because I’d dare criticise their new crush.
‘Girls, Mr and Mrs North have brought a lot of books with them today, maybe you should take them as gifts, broaden your horizons this Christmas? No?’ Beth adds, trying to talk us up. Nick looks at me as we’re referred to as Mr and Mrs. I must admit, with the North bit, it makes us sound especially seasonal.
‘But it’s like, reading, miss. It’s like, work.’
‘It doesn’t have to be,’ I say. ‘I’ve wrapped up some of theHeartstoppernovels.’
‘Like that show on Netflix?’
I nod. ‘Plus Mr North wrapped them. And if you don’t take them, it’ll make him sad.’ The group of girls look to him as his bottom lip pops out. They take a book each.
