On the Monday morning of their suspension, Imogen opened her front door to find Fiona standing there with a coffee and a smile.
"Hey…" Imogen said, surprised. "What are you doing here?" Maybe this week-long suspension wouldn't suck as much as Imogen had anticipated.
"You busy today?" Fiona asked, suddenly looking unsure of herself.
"Not at all." Imogen smiled back widely, still slightly shocked that Fiona Coyne was at her door asking to be her friend. Imogen was still getting used to the idea even though two girls had forged a tentative friendship while they worked together over weekend to clean up the caf. As it turned out, what took twenty seniors thirty minutes to do took Fiona and Imogen twelve hours to undo. Although to be fair, that also included the time they spent goofing off. Even so, Imogen would be glad if she never saw a piece of tinfoil again.
"Want to be busy today? You could give me another makeover or we could plan our revenge?" Fiona suggested. "Or whatever you want, really."
"Totally! Just…" Imogen looked down at her purple monkey pyjamas. "Give me a minute to get changed?"
"You sure?" Fiona teased. "Because you could wear those and I would be okay with that."
"Uh huh?" Imogen gave Fiona an incredulous look. "As much as I appreciate how far you've come in such a short time, I still think I'll put on some real clothes."
There was an awkward pause as Imogen briefly debated what to do next. Fiona was still standing on her front step. "Uh… come in, I guess?" Imogen held the door open and ushered Fiona into the living room. "Um… have a seat. I'll be out in 5 minutes, tops."
Imogen got changed lightning fast. The longer Fiona was in her house… Imogen just didn't want to have to explain anything. People didn't usually come over. As Imogen did her make-up quickly, she mentally cataloged everything Fiona could see from her position in the living room. With any luck, the phone that seemed to be an extension of the other girl would be enough of a distraction.
If Fiona noticed anything she found interesting, she didn't mention it, and when Imogen returned with her camera and suggested they go for a walk, Fiona readily agreed, grabbing their coffees on the way out.
Xxx
"So what did your parents say about the suspension?" Fiona asked as they sat in High Park, looking out over the pond. "My mom was not pleased, but she was less angry when I explained that I couldn't let you take all the blame."
"I didn't tell my dad." Imogen decided not to lie. After all, she and Fiona had been getting along so well.
"Didn't he wonder why you weren't at school? I mean, my mom's not even in town, but I swear she would have known even if I didn't tell her. It's so annoying that she knows me so well."
"I don't think my dad noticed I didn't go to school. He's pretty busy with work. He's a prof at U of T and they just started the school year, too."
Imogen wasn't lying, technically. She just wasn't telling the whole truth. She didn't mention that the last time she had had a meaningful conversation with her father was three years ago. She didn't mention that her father basically walked through life at home like a zombie, rarely coming out of his head long enough to know what Imogen was doing.
"What about your mom?"
There was a million dollar question. What about her mother? "She's in Ottawa. She lives there with her new husband and their new baby. We don't talk much. Needless to say, she doesn't know I'm not in school, either."
Her mother had spent the last year that she was married to Imogen's father drinking to try to escape their problems, and when she sobered up, she left. Imogen didn't blame her – not really. She saw that her parents' marriage was breaking apart, she saw her mother struggle with memories of how things were before, she saw her father withdraw and she saw her mother spiral out of control. It was for the best. It had just hurt so much when her mother left without asking Imogen to come with her.
"Imogen, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know. We don't have to talk about it. Unless you want to." Fiona had obviously heard the bitterness in Imogen's voice, but thankfully didn't seem to want to push the issue if Imogen wasn't comfortable with it.
"It's okay. It's old news." Imogen picked up a nearby stone and tossed it into the pond, trying to make it skip but not succeeding. "Do you want to check out the zoo? The capybaras are my favourite."
"Really? Me too! Everyone else always seems to like the llamas, so I guess we were destined to be friends." Fiona was teasing, but Imogen wondered whether maybe it was true. There was something about Fiona that made Imogen want to open up to her.
"I guess we were." Imogen beamed as she grabbed Fiona's hand and pulled her up. "Come on, Miss Coyne – I'll race you."
Xxx
Big plans today? Imogen got the text message from Fiona on the Tuesday morning of their suspension just after she heard her father leave for work.
Hanging out with you? Imogen sent back and nervously waited for the response, which came almost immediately.
I was hoping you'd say that :) It's raining – movies?
I can be over in 20? Imogen offered.
Can't wait :D
Imogen bounded into the condo as soon as Fiona opened the door. "Can we make a fort? I thought about it all the way over! What's better than a movie fort on a rainy day?"
Imogen savoured the laugh that she got from Fiona. It was so nice to have a friend who didn't seem to mind her weird ideas. "Uh, sure. Why not? I'll, uh, get some blankets and stuff."
Forty minutes and one devastating cave-in later, the two of them lay in a nest of blankets on Fiona's living room floor. As Imogen watched Fiona adjust one of the sides of their fort to make it more stable, it was hard for her to reconcile the image of this girl with the one who had been so desperate to impress Katie and Marisol only a few days before. Imogen decided she much preferred this version of Fiona.
"So what do you want to watch?" Fiona asked, settling back down.
"Umm… you pick. I'm up for whatever."
"Love Actually work for you?" Fiona offered.
"How were we not friends before?"
Xxx
After four movies and a pizza, Imogen lay on the floor of the fort, studying the pattern of the quilt above her. "I guess I should go home. You're probably sick of me by now."
"I'm not sick of you!" Fiona insisted. She seemed to think something over before continuing. "You could stay over if you wanted to. I mean, my mom's out of town and I'm all alone, so it'd be nice to have the company. If you want. You don't have to, of course. You might be sick of me."
"I'm not sick of you, either. I'd probably just be sitting at home trying not to be too bored, anyway," Imogen admitted. "Let me just call my dad and let him know."
Imogen crawled out of the fort and wandered into Fiona's room to make the call.
"Hello?" Came her dad's voice.
"Hi dad, it's Imogen. I'm just calling to tell you I'm at a friend's and I'm just going to stay here for the night." Imogen had learned a while ago that she shouldn't ask her father; she should just tell him what she was doing. It made things easier. He didn't seem to want to challenge her, and things got done faster.
"Oh, right. Okay, dear." Great. He was especially spacey today. For once, Imogen was grateful.
"Dad, did you remember to walk Volta?"
"Uh, sure, dear. I'll do it right away." Imogen wondered whether he'd remember and briefly contemplated going home. But Fiona's place was so cozy and she felt so safe here. She quickly decided to stay. She was so glad to finally have a friend. She promised herself she would take Volta out for an extra-long walk when she got home to make up for it.
"Okay, dad. I gotta go, okay?" Imogen wandered around Fiona's room, stopping in front of a framed picture of Fiona and Holly J in what looked like their prom dresses. She wondered whether she would ever have that kind of friendship with anyone.
"Alright. Goodnight, dear."
"So?" Fiona questioned hopefully when Imogen emerged from her bedroom.
"All systems go!" Imogen declared excitedly as she jumped into the fort and onto Fiona, enveloping her in a hug. "Can I borrow some pyjamas?"
Xxx
Imogen woke up confused until she remembered where she was. She rolled over to see whether her friend was still sleeping. Fiona's hair was splayed all over her pillow and her breathing was soft and shallow. Imogen couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. For the first time in a long time, she felt good. Who knew that all it would take was being suspended?
"Mmm… too much bright." Fiona squinted as she opened her eyes into the sunlight that streamed through the window. "Morning."
"Morning," Imogen greeted with a smile. "What do you want to do today, sleepyhead? Only three weekdays and the weekend left until we have to go back to school!"
"Well, my mom's coming home Friday evening so I'll probably be on suspension lockdown all weekend," Fiona grumbled. "But until then I am all yours."
Imogen beamed. "Good, because I have an idea for today."
"Oh really? Care to share, Moreno?" Fiona propped herself up on one elbow and looked up at Imogen.
Imogen jumped out of bed and began digging through her bag.
"What are you doing?" Fiona asked curiously.
Imogen brightened when she found what she was looking for, turning and quickly taking a picture of Fiona before the older girl could protest. "You just looked so... I just had to take a picture."
Fiona blushed, but struck a pose, so Imogen took another shot. "Be my model today? We could check out the Distillery District? There are so many interesting buildings there. It could be really cool."
Fiona rolled her eyes. "Okay, but no more of these boudoir shots. I'm not that kind of girl."
"Uh huh?" Imogen teased as she jumped back onto the bed and leaned back against Fiona to get a shot of the two of them. "Let's get dressed."
Xxx
"So your dad still doesn't know?" Fiona asked the next day with a little more confidence now that she and Imogen had been spending so much time together.
"Nope," Imogen replied as she played her tile and made her move. "Your turn."
"How is that even possible? He didn't notice when you left this morning without your uniform?"
Imogen studied the Carcassonne board as she considered how truthful to be with her answer. "Honestly, I don't think my dad notices much of anything unless it has to do with work."
"Sometimes I wish my mom was like that," Fiona commented as she placed her token on a field. "She can be such a pain sometimes."
"Trust me, Fiona, you don't," Imogen's voice had gone from casual to serious without her realizing it. "Sometimes I wonder whether he would even notice if I didn't come home at all. At least you know your mom loves you."
Fiona looked up at Imogen, concern etched on her face. "Im, I'm sure your dad loves you. I mean, he cared enough to get custody of you after the divorce, right?"
"I guess," sighed Imogen, unconvinced but not wanting to get into all the details in the middle of the board game café. "Hey, have you ever tried the blueberry cheesecake smoothie here? It's to die for."
To her credit, Fiona got the hint. "Let's get two? Loser buys?"
Imogen relaxed a little bit and focused her attention back on the board. "Oh my god, you stole my field!"
"I was hoping you wouldn't notice!" laughed Fiona as she played the last tile of the game. "But it's too late now and at last I finally have a chance of beating you. Has anyone ever told you that you are freakishly good at this game? Let's count them up!"
Xxx
Hours later, as they stood waiting for the subway at Bathurst Station, Imogen teased Fiona about her formidable losing streak. Even having stolen Imogen's field, the older girl still managed to lose to her friend by 7 points. Four more games of Carcassonne, two games of Clue, three games of Scattergories and one disastrous game of Scrabble later, Fiona had yet to beat Imogen at anything.
"Maybe I was just distracted, okay?" Fiona made excuses, trying to redeem herself.
"You were distracted? All afternoon?" Imogen was doubtful. "By what, exactly?"
"Ummm…" Imogen watched as Fiona looked around, obviously trying to come up with something as the train pulled into the station. "Your hair. I was distracted by your hair. It's so… distracting."
"You are a horrible liar," Imogen laughed as she linked her arm through Fiona's and lead them into the subway car. "So you should just admit that I am the Board Game Queen so we can move on from this."
"Never! You just got lucky or cheated or something!" Fiona was starting to get flustered.
"And here I thought you were distracted with my hair," Imogen brought her hand up to her lips and pretended to be confused. "Changing your story already, Coyne?"
"My story is consistent!" Fiona insisted. "I was distracted and you were lucky."
"Why is it so hard for you to admit that I am amazing and you could never be as awesome as me?"
Fiona glared at her, but Imogen knew she was just playing. "Remind me again why I'm friends with you? Because I'm pretty sure it's not your humility."
"I'm pretty sure it's because I'm the only one who will be your friend," Imogen teased.
"Oh yeah," Fiona conceded, laughing. "Guess I'm stuck with you, then."
Fiona's station was called and Imogen sighed.
"You okay?" asked Fiona as she hugged Imogen goodbye.
"I'm fine. Just not feeling like going home yet."
"Want to come over?" Fiona offered immediately. "I haven't cleaned up the fort yet. We could hang out."
"You wouldn't mind?" Imogen checked as the doors opened at St. George Station.
Fiona rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to come."
"Okay." Imogen smiled and tried to ignore the fluttery feeling in her chest when Fiona smiled back.
Xxx
So are you on suspension lockdown all weekend? Imogen sent the text message when she got home. She had spent the rest of Thursday night and most of Friday at Fiona's condo, but Fiona's mom had just come home, so they probably wouldn't see each other again until Monday at school. Imogen found herself filled with a strange sense of loneliness, especially when she didn't hear back from Fiona.
It was silly, really. She had basically been alone for most of the past few years and yet she suddenly felt it so much more keenly than she had a week ago.
Imogen wondered idly whether she would have yet another event with which to split her life into a dichotomy – pre-Fiona and post-Fiona, this time. It was a dangerous thought, but she couldn't seem to stop thinking about Fiona. Imogen tried to push it out of her mind and took Volta for a run.
When she got back, not having succeeded in the least in pushing Fiona out of her mind, there was a text message waiting for her.
Yeah. Mom didn't buy that I spent the week studying. Apparently you're right and I AM a bad liar... Is it weird that I miss you?
Imogen bit her lip as she tapped back her response. That sucks. And I hope not because I miss you, too, and I feel like such a dolt because I just saw you 3 hrs ago.
Ten seconds later, her phone buzzed. We can be dolts together :) I gotta go. My mom's taking my phone as part of suspension lockdown :( Goodnight, Im!
Night, Fiones :) See you Monday.
Xxx
"Ugh, 40 percent of our mark to build an entire dollhouse?" Fiona complained as they left class a few weeks after their suspension was over.
"40 percent?" Eli asked as he joined them. "I thought Life Skills was supposed to be a bird course."
"Well I'm excited! I already have like a bazillion ideas." Imogen wasn't lying. She was really looking forward to this project.
Design was one of the only passions her father had managed to pass on to her before their lives had completely changed. When she was young, her father used to take them out for walks in whatever city they were living in that year and he would point out all the different architectural styles. When they lived in Montreal, her school had been two blocks from her father's office. Her parents decided that it made more sense for her to go there after school than to have to take the metro home by herself. So every afternoon her father set her up with paper and pens to work on one side of his large desk. Instead of doing her homework, Imogen would copy whatever he was doing, so he started teaching her. As a result, Imogen knew more than the average teenager about architecture. She supposed her interests in art and photography were also directly related to the time she had spent drawing plans with her dad. That was one thing she could thank him for, at least.
"This project is going to take us forever, isn't it?" Fiona asked when she saw the look on Imogen's face. Imogen decided she wouldn't really mind if it did, but she kept that thought to herself.
The increasing frequency with which Fiona made her feel giddy over the last couple weeks was confusing the heck out of Imogen. So far, her strategy of ignoring it and hoping it would go away was not working, but she hadn't given up hope completely.
"At least all that extra togetherness will give you guys time to perfect your revenge on Katie and Marisol. How is that going, by the way?" Eli asked.
"Umm… we've got nothing." Imogen snuck a guilty look at Fiona as she spoke. The truth was that they hadn't even talked about Katie and Marisol since the first day of their suspension when Fiona had shown up at her doorstep. In all the excitement of being Fiona's friend and the confusion of what exactly she was supposed to be feeling as Fiona's friend, Imogen had forgotten that the two of them were supposed to be strategizing payback.
"Yeah, I figured." Eli teased. Imogen's heart didn't skip a beat when Eli gave her a smile the way it would have last year, but maybe Imogen just wasn't trying hard enough. After all, there was no reason Fiona's face should make her heart flutter while Eli's didn't. She was friends with both of them. Equally. Maybe she just needed to test some things to make sure that her world still made sense.
"Maybe we'd be a bit more successful if the master of diabolical revenge plots stepped up to the plate?" Fiona bantered with Eli as Imogen's mind wandered.
"Sorry, I'm retired."
"Mmm… just as well." Imogen said, walking up to Eli and speaking into his ear in her most flirtatious tones. "Your last few schemes weren't very good."
"Boo to you!" She heard as Eli followed her down the hall.
Nope. No butterflies.
"Coming?" she stopped to wait for Fiona, who nodded and gave her a smile that lit up Imogen's heart.
Well, damn it.