By the end of the day, Oswin was already done with school for the year. When the bell for her final class rang, Oswin shoved her books into her shoulder bag and rushed out the door. Arriving at her locker, she was shocked to see someone standing in front of it. As she got closer, she recognized the locker blocker to be none other than the mysteriously intriguing girl she'd met earlier on the bus, Nina.
"I asked around, someone seemed to think this was where I would find you," Nina explained sheepishly. She offered Oswin a small stick of gum as she slid over to allow access to the cubby.
Realising she'd been staring, Oswin averted her gaze and accepted the gum. As she spun the lock on the door, Oswin heard Nina beside her shifting her weight from foot to foot in uncomfortable silence. "Thanks," Oswin muttered. "Er, for the gum. So you're taking the bus home? My dad can't pick me up today." Feeling a blush rising to her pale cheeks, Oswin attempted to bury her head in the locker, waiting for the dangerous feeling to pass.
Nina nodded. "Yup. And I know we only met today, but I was thinking maybe you could come to my house? Meet my mum?"
"Erm," Oswin was speechless. She didn't have friends, let alone friends who invited them over to their houses. The only escape from this situation that she could see was to lie. "Well actually my dad doesn't like me going out on weekdays. He says it's family time. You know. For the two of us."
Nina nodded, looking a little hurt. Clearly she could see through Oswin's lie. Silently cursing her fair skin for revealing her true feelings, Oswin wondered if Nina ever blushed or if it was just masked by her olive complexion.
With a twinge of remorse pulling at her heart, Oswin conceded. "But perhaps I could talk to him; I haven't any homework that needs to be done," Nina's face lit up instantly.
"Lovely! Oh you'll love my family! My mum is the best. And my little brother, Alfie, he's a bit loud and restless most of the time, but he's sweet if you give him a chance." Oswin listened to Nina prattle on about her family until the bus arrived. All this talk made her feel as if she'd missed a large part of life by having only her father.
As the two took their seats on the top level of the bus and Oswin texted her father, Nina dove back into the vicious questioning. "So, tell me about your father. What's he like?"
Oswin smiled. She loved talking about her dad. He was her favourite subject in the world. "He's tall. Over six foot. He plays guitar very well, but he hasn't so much since my mother died. His name is Brian and he's my favourite person in the world." Nina was staring at Oswins face with a kind of inexplicable passion. Feeling her cheeks start to burn again, Oswin turned her head and let her hair fall down in a protective shield.
Nina smiled at her new friend. "You two sound very close. My mum sort of shut people out after my dad died. We only started reconciling a few years ago," Oswin nodded somberly. She understood where Nina was coming from.
"My dad and I both sort of shut out everyone together. Neither of us left the house much. He still stays at home most of the time. He works out of a recording studio in our flat."
"That is so cool! My mum is a nurse at the hospital. I think it's because she feels she can keep fewer people from dying from car crashes if she's there to fix all of them." Nina's voice cracked.
Hesitatingly, Oswin reached out to stroke Nina's shoulder. Nina smiled at Oswin in return. "Let's change the subject," she said, all sadness wiped from her face suddenly with a bright grin.
The girls talked about their least favourite classes at school until the bus pulled up to their neighbourhood. Oswin got off the bus first, but realizing she didn't know precisely where Nina lived, stood by the door and waited for Nina, a few people behind her. As Nina walked off, she tossed her hair behind her shoulders and adjusted her backpack on her shoulders. Oswin followed Nina past rows of identical buildings and to the last one on the corner.
Nina sucked in her chest. "Well," she said, matter of factly. "This is home!" She walked onto the porch and pulled a key out of her pocket. After a bit of wiggling and door-kicking, she managed to push it open. Oswin followed Nina into the entryway of the house and gasped at what she saw.
"Bloody hell! This is absolutely gorgeous!" Oswin's eyes kept darting between the amazingly plush carpets, the beautifully ornate, high ceilings, and the impeccable collection of oil paintings hanging on the walls.
Nina looked down sheepishly. "Yeah," she said. "My dad loved art. We had even more back in Scotland. And we had to get rid of a lot of it after Alfie was born. He liked to throw his food." Oswin giggled into her hand. "And mum always says it's most important to make a good first impression." She kicked off her shoes and walked into the hallway. Following suit, Oswin dropped her backpack by the door, removed her shoes, and shuffled to catch up to Nina.
By the time they reached the kitchen, Oswin was beside herself. Never in her life had she seen such a lavishly decorated flat. The walls were filled floor to ceiling with ornate works of art and topped off by beautiful vaulted ceilings.
"But you just moved here!" Oswin sputtered. "How did you have all the time to fix it up like this?" She forced her gaping jaw shut.
"My uncle came up for a month and helped us set everything up. And the previous owners had already made it pretty gorgeous, we just added our own works of art." Nina opened a cupboard over a sink deeper that Oswin's bathtub and excavated a jar of Nutella. Opening a drawer and grabbing two spoons, she walked past Oswin and pulled out a chair at the table. Oswin did the same.
"I hate to be rude," Oswin didn't really know how to ask this, but the question was plaguing her mind. "but how much money does your mum actually make? I wouldn't think nurses earned this much."
Nina opened the jar and stuck in one spoon, handing the other to Oswin. "They don't. It's family money-in a sense. The man who killed my dad had a huge fortune in oil or something and he pays us consolation every month. He's in jail now, but his mostly-plastic wife deals with the transactions." She ate a spoonful of Nutella and offered the jar to Oswin. The two ate in silence for a few minutes before Oswin signaled that she was done.
Replacing the jar in the cupboard, Nina thought about her similarities to Oswin. They were, of course, the same age, living in the same neighborhood, and had only one parent. But other than that, there weren't many similarities. Nina was dark skinned to combat Oswin's paleness. Oswin was more shy and reserved whereas Nina was loud and outspoken. But perhaps that was what had brought them together in the first place. Their initial on-the-surface similarities had led them to one another, but the intrigue in each others' differences was the glue holding them together.
The door to Nina's bedroom was already plastered with pictures of actors and a plaque reading "Nina's Headquarters." The door was cracked open, but it was hard to push it open far enough to get inside. The floor was littered with clothing and books.
"Don't worry. It's all clean," Nina assured. "I had some hard time deciding what to wear today. She laughed it off and went to sit on her bed, a nice twin bed with a fluffy purple duvet and covered in wrinkled blouses. Oswin hovered at the door a few moments before joining Nina on her bed.
"So, I've never really done this before…" Oswin began carefully. "What do we do?" She looked down at her hands and started picking the dirt out from underneath her fingernails.
"Well, I guess we talk," Nina began. "about life, school, about boys?" She dragged out the last word, as if to say that Oswin should share every detail of her love life.
Oswin laughed uncomfortably. "I think we covered most of that on the bus ride here. Anyone of interest in your life?" She asked.
Nina picked a stuffed animal off her bed and began absentmindedly stroking it's ear. "Nah. I'm saving myself. For a boy back in Scotland. His name is Graeme. His mum and dad own an inn at the edge of my old town. They were lovely people." Nina's smile at the memory made Oswin smile.
For the next few hours, the two talked about their lives; Nina of her life in Scotland and Oswin of life a few doors away with her dad and his studio. They got so caught up in themselves they forgot about the time and Oswin nearly ended up missing dinner with her father, something that never happened. Nina's little brother Alfie had arrived shortly after they did and introduced himself to Oswin, but Oswin had to leave before she could meet Nina's mom.
Standing in the doorway about to leave, Nina caught Oswin's hand. "I had a great day today," Nina smiled warmly and Oswin reciprocated the action. "I'll see you on the bus tomorrow morning?" Oswin nodded. "Maybe tomorrow I can go to your house." She phrased it as more of a statement than a question. Like she was saying that tomorrow they would to the same thing, but at Oswin's house.
Oswin nodded and turned to leave. She couldn't be late. Her father would be angry or worse, might dip into one of his moments. A few steps out of the house, Oswin heard Nina call her name and turned around to face her.
"You're a really awesome person," Nina said. "I think-never mind." She smiled and waved goodbye. Oswin wondered what she had been about to say, but shrugged it off and waved back. She made it home just as her dad was pulling dinner out of the oven.