Page 11 of Oleander

“You’re gonna be a big brother, Judey. How you feeling?”

“Uncle,” I corrected. “I’m gonna be an uncle.”

“Now you’ll know how it feels.” He grinned. ‘You scared? It’s fine if you are.”

I didn’t know what to say. HowwasI feeling? I was definitely a little scared. Unsettled. Anxious. Sort of too big for my own skin as my sister stared at me and mentally redecorated my room into a nursery.

“I’m looking forward to it.” I settled on, and Luke squeezed my hand again.

“We can start looking at places tonight,” he said, turning to Beth. “I’m sure there’s enough equity in this place by now. And if not, I can leverage some against Green’s.”

Beth nodded, biting her lip. “Well, now that I’m pregnant, my chance at promotion is stymied until I’m back from maternity leave, at least. And the holiday will need to be off. We’ll need every spare penny we can save, babe.”

Luke nodded and shovelled a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth.

I had one thought in my head and it wasn’t babies or holidays or nurseries. It was whether this meant I wasn’t going to get my new laptop.

Three weeks later, the answer to everyone’s prayers came from a most unexpected source:

Caspien.

The sun wasn’t as hot as that first day we’d come, but there was little wind and even less cloud cover, so it wasn’t far off it. When it was lunchtime, we retreated inside out of the blaze to eat in the house’s large, mainly unused kitchen. Stone walls and floor and high windows kept the space cool, and I slunk onto the bench and pressed my back against the cold wall.

Luke was talking about the baby, about names and his hopes that if it were a boy, he’d like dinosaurs and space, and how if it were a girl, she’d look like Beth when Caspien walked in. Today, he was wearing a striped blue and white linen shirt – too big as always – and white shorts some way above the knee. His long hair was twisted up into a knot like a girl’s, though some wisps of blonde tangled about his face. He wasn’t wearing his slippers today but strode towards the fruit bowl, feet bare and smooth legs lightly tanned.

He looked …ridiculous.

No boy I knew would be seen dead dressed like that. Not in front of another boy. Men, even.

But Caspien looked relaxed. Cool and clean and refreshed. He looked French or something.

He snatched up a bright green apple, tossed it into the air, then took a bite of it. When he turned, Luke swallowed his mouthful of tea and lifted his hand in a friendly wave.

“Caspien, how’s things?” Luke asked in that same friendly tone he used with everyone.

I hadn’t seen them interact before and didn’t know how Caspien might react. I braced myself for some scathing comment.

I almost choked on my water when he smiled. I’d never seen him smile before – properly smile – and it made my stomach feel funny.

“Fine, Mr Green, trying not to expire in this disgusting heat. It must be hellish out there.”

“I’ve told you, it’s just Luke. And we’re used to it, aren’t we, lads?” Luke smiled amiably. Harry and Ged mumbled their assent through their sandwiches.

“Make sure you take regular breaks out of the heat and help yourselves to the water in the fridge,” Caspien was saying.Kindly.

My eyes were wide, my mouth too. Who on earth was this person?

“Will do, will do. Thanks, lad.”

Caspien smiled and moved to pour two glasses of water himself before turning to offer us one. When we accepted, he walked over and refilled all our glasses from a jug with ice and lemon, with calm, steady hands. Even mine.

He didn’t look at me as he did it.

“Oh, Luke has some news,” Ged said to Caspien. Like they were friends. Like he might care. Like he was a normal person who could hold a conversation without biting like a small, blonde, venomous snake.

“News?” Caspien asked, eyebrows raised in interest. He glanced expectantly at Luke.

I was still staring at Caspien like he had grown a second head. I honestly did not recognise this person as the same one who’d spatgypsyat me outside on the first day, or the wordarboretumat me last week. They were two distinctly different people, and I didn’t understand why I hadn’t been allowed to meet this one when Luke, Ged, and Harry had. Something hot and bitter simmered in my veins.