"Yes, I'll bring her home later. Give him my number if he wishes to check on her. Okay. Bye." He hung up the phone and dumped it in the centre console, then started the engine.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're very welcome."

I sat back then and rubbed under my eyes where the tears had dried in the heat, making my skin stiff. Even my nose felt dry and swollen.

We sat at the exit sign for a second until the traffic passed, then David took off down the street, going slightly over the speed limit. "How long have you had your licence?"

"A while." He looked at my forehead and frowned; I wiped the sweat away with the back of my hand. "Oh, sorry, Ara. I don't really feel the heat as much as most people. Here." He turned on the air-conditioner. The suffocation of the heat eased after the first blast of hot air passed and the chilly wind blew against my face. "Is that better?"

With my nose pressed to the vent, I nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"If you get hot or cold, Ara, you really need to tell me. It's just not something I think about."

"Why?" I sat back in my seat and angled the vent to blast along my hairline.

He grinned. "I'm insensitive."

"Yeah, you're so neglectful of others' feelings, David."

"I know. Sometimes I lose sleep over it." He laughed.

"Mm, I don't know how you live with yourself," I joked.

"Takes practice." And he meant that, I could tell. And I was sure it was aimed at me.

"What are you saying?"

"Regret. It takes time to live with it." He reached across and took my hand again. "You called your mom Vicki the other day."

I felt numb then, not just from the crying but the stupidity. "Did I?"

"Yes. And if I am good at only one thing, Ara, it's deduction; I think I've known for a while now that your mom died. I just don't know why you pretend she hasn't."

I rolled my face slowly toward my chest. "Because I didn't want people to ask how she died. Didn't want them to feel sorry for me."

"People only feel sorry for you when there's good reason, Ara. Your mom's gone. People just want to help."

"I know." But I didn't want their help. Every ache was a step toward redemption.

"Redemption?' David said.

I looked up at him quickly. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Uh-" He looked at the road again, his face grey. "Yes. Didn't you mean to?"

I couldn't believe my own carelessness. "No."

"What did you mean by that-about redemption?"

"Just that...when you do something wrong, sometimes you can make up for it."

"By doing what?"

I blinked a few times and the dried tears made my skin crack a little. "Suffering."

The car slowed for a second, then, as David sat taller, his fingers tighter on the wheel, it went back up to speed.

I flipped the visor mirror down and gasped at the mess David had been looking at for the last five minutes. My life was over. I wiped the smudges of black mascara from under my eyes, using the remaining tears around my lashes to smooth it away without too much of a problem. But I couldn't wipe away the blotchy patches of red under my skin and worse, my nose, whenever I cried, turned bright pink-forming a giant rouge smudge across my face. "I look like a clown," my voice quivered.

"You look-" David turned my face with his fingertips, "-adorable."

Right. Adorable. Was he serious? I folded my arms across my chest, looked out the window and focused on my breathing. The passing houses and tree-lined streets were all the same around here. Pretty, with that old-style, Halloween kind of feel. It felt like it should be autumn and everything sort of orange and brown, with the slight hint of cinnamon in the air. But the summer had this magic little place trapped in its grasp, making everything yellow and gold, and a little wilted.

The trees thickened as we turned onto a narrow road with dirt strips on both sides, and my squinting eyes relaxed as the sun's glare disappeared over the canopy. "David, where're we going?"

"Somewhere quiet, where no one can hear us."

I laughed. "That sounded kinda creepy."

He laughed too. "Sorry. I realised that just as I said it."

I sat taller to take a good look at the deserted forest road. "Why should we be where no one can hear us?"

"Because, you need to talk. And you won't talk if you think someone might hear you."

I looked away, pinching the base of my thumb with my fingertips. He was right; I did need to talk, but I didn't want to talk to him. He had this delusion that I was some nice, sweet girl. He didn't know the real me-the one that I was trying not to be anymore.

"Let me guess-" He smiled, watching the road carefully, taking the curves with a kind of precision that put my dad's driving to shame. "You don't wanna talk to me about it. Am I right?"

"I'm sorry." I looked out the window. "It was nice of you to bring me out here, but I don't-"

"I'm not going to let you go until you talk to me."

"And what are you going to do? Torture a confession out of me?"

He tilted his head a little, keeping his eyes on the road. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Well, it won't work. I have my reasons for not wanting to talk, David."

"And they mean nothing to me. You're talking. Period."

"You can't make me." I folded my arms and stared ahead, biting my teeth together.

The car slowed dramatically, gravel crunching under the tires as we pulled onto the side of the desolate road. "Ara?"

I shook my head.

"Ara?" David said again.

Begrudgingly, I twisted my neck to look at him. I felt kind of like a spoilt kid throwing a tantrum.

"I'm sorry," he said, turning his whole body to face me. "Sweetheart, you're taking things a little too seriously. I meant no harm. Really. And the more I think about it-" he rolled back in his seat and faced the front, a cheeky grin stretching the corners of his mouth, "-the more I think I might just have to kidnap you until you do talk to me."

A small smile crept onto my lips. I pressed them together firmly to keep it hidden.

"Ara, please don't be so moody. It's okay to smile."

I let my arms fall away from my chest with the release of a long breath. The ogre was obviously dominating my mood right now. I should've eaten more at lunch. "I know you have the best of intentions here, David. But this is really nothing to do with you." I tried to sound polite, but the words came out sounding so mean.

"I can help you," he said after a second. "I want to help you. All the bad things, Ara, all the pain you feel-" he reached for my hand; I let him take it, "-I can make it all hurt less. But you have to let me in."

"I can't," I said in a breaking whisper and turned away.

"Come."

"Where?" I looked back at him.

He smiled and opened his door, allowing the clammy air to mingle with the pleasant, artificial cool. "Somewhere better."

"I hope you don't think I'm getting out in the hea-"

"Let's go." David appeared on my right, opening my door.

"How did you get there so fast?"

"Come on." He grabbed my hand, leaning in to unbuckle me. "I wanna show you something."

Chapter Eight.

The trees opened out to a forest trail before us, and the sun streaked through gaps in the tightly laced canopy, splashing long, dust-filled beams across the path. Above us, the summer heat looked on, forbidden to taint the cool, kind of clay-scented air.

"Watch your step here." David steered me around a small cluster of rocks hidden beneath a pile of leaves.

"Thanks. I totally didn't see that."

He gave a soft nod, sliding his hand off my lower back. "I know."

"So, where are we going exactly?"

"South-west."

"Hm. Helpful." I looked to the path ahead, then up at the ball-shaped glare of the sun through the trees, using my hand as a visor. "But actually, we're going slightly more south."

"True." David nodded. "The path we're on heads south, but turns to the west up ahead." He stopped walking and looked at me. "Wait, how did you know that?"

"I'm Aussie." I used my best homeland-sounding accent. "My friend Mike taught me how to roughly guess my direction by looking at the sun-said it would come in handy if I ever found myself in the bush...with a strange guy...who might not turn out to be so nice."

"Right." David wiped a hand across his grin as he started walking again. "Sounds like Mike's a smart man."

"Yeah." I followed after him, making no real effort to catch up. "Taught me some defensive moves, too."

"Is that so?" He sprung up right in front of me, catching me as my face hit his chest. "You weren't hinting at me about anything, were you?"

"How did you get there so fast?"

"I was standing right here, waiting for you. You really should watch where you're going."

I glared up at him quizzically.

"Ara? I asked you a question. Were you suggesting I'd be capable of hurting you?"

"How would I know? I don't really know you."

His eyes left my face before he turned and trudged off. "Ouch."

"Well, you don't really give me much to go on." I chased after him. "I mean, you're so secretive all the time."

"Secretive?"

"Yeah."

"About what, specifically?" He stopped again, wearing a defensive smile.

"Um-" I stopped walking too. "Well. I really don't know."

"So...you want me to be less secretive about nothing specifically?" He nodded once and started walking again.

"How do you do that?" My footfalls came down hard on the muddy leaves, slipping a little with the weight of irritation.

"Do what?"

"Take my well-thought-out point and turn it into nothing."

The smile sparkled in his eyes as I caught up to him. "It's a talent of mine."

"It's annoying. I really hate you for it," I said in a light-hearted tone.

He stopped again, almost as if he'd been sprung back by an elastic hinge. "Hate is a very powerful word, mon amour. Do not use it unless you truly understand its value."