Chapter Five Hundred and Six

It was the final day of the school exams and Indi didn't think she had been so stressed in all her life. She was certain she had done badly in every single exam and that she would end up having to repeat the whole year. She was sure her future was over before it had even started. She knew she was being snappy with everyone around her, including her poor boyfriend who was struggling with his own exams at the same time, so it really wasn't fair. He was trying his best to support her and be kind to her but she just couldn't calm down.


Bianca was also stressed. Seeing Liam at the weekend had really shaken her up. She was trying to focus on the wedding but every time she tried to block Liam out, he somehow crept back in. Then he confused her and between all of that and the stress at work with having to arrange all the exams and be there to support the kids, she was finding herself to be a little bit grouchy. Not to mention the fact that her mother had ambushed her way into their house completely uninvited. And that wasn't exactly a good sign for a future with a husband. Vittorio was beginning to nag her about house hunting but she just didn't have enough room in her head for that right now. It was just too much.


"It's so lovely to see you girls," Ross said.

Charlie and Joey were doing their regular visit to Ross and Morag. They tried to get to the city to see them at least once a week. They usually tried to go when Ruby was able to come with them, as of course Ruby wanted to see Ross as often as possible.

"It's lovely to see you too, Dad," Charlie said.

Morag brought cups of tea into the lounge on a tray.

"So, what's all the gossip from Summer Bay?" she asked.

"Where's Summer Bay?" Ross asked.

Charlie felt horrible for a moment. She struggled to cope with her father's moments of forgetfulness, although she tried not to let it show.

"Oh, you know where Charlie and Joey live, don't you, Ross?" Morag said gently.

"Oh! Yes," Ross said. "Sorry."

Charlie squeezed his hand gently.

"What's the gossip?" he asked.


It had been a long morning but finally, the last exam was complete. Indi was more relieved than she could possibly explain. It rolled over her in waves. Nicole and Romeo could hardly believe school was finally over either.

However, their joy was quickly cut short when they walked into the school corridor to a notice announcing that there would be no School Formal this year.

"Why is the School Formal cancelled, Mrs Austin?" Romeo asked when he saw Gina walking down the school corridor.

Gina sighed, aware that she would be challenged over her decision. Immediately a crowd gathered around her.

"For the past few years, the School Formal has not been a success," she said. "In fact, it's been a downright disaster. So the school board and I reached a decision to not hold it this year. It seemed to be the safer option."

"But you can't cancel it!" Ruby protested.

She, Xavier, April and Dex had joined the group. Gina frowned at her. It wasn't even her party.

"The school are not obliged to hold the formal," she said calmly. "It's an optional school function."

"But we've worked so hard, Mrs Austin," Indi pleaded. "Don't we deserve the chance to celebrate the end of our school career?"

"You do," Gina agreed. "But you also deserve to be safe. And it's my job to keep you safe and something has gone catastrophically wrong at every single one of these events. I just don't want something bad to happen to any of you."

"But…" Romeo tried.

"I'm sorry," Gina said. "My decision is final."


Romeo, Indi, Nicole, Ruby, Xavier, April and Dex all headed to the Diner for lunch, all in bad moods about the school formal. Its cancellation had somewhat taken the shine off finishing their exams.

"Can't you guys just throw your own party?" Dex asked, sucking his milkshake through a straw rather loudly.

"A house party isn't exactly the same as a formal, Dex," Indi said sourly.

"I don't mean a house party," Dex said. "I mean a proper formal. Like, find a venue, organise it properly."

"How would we do that?" Romeo asked. "I mean, where would we have it for starters?"

"What about Bucktons'?" April suggested. "That's plenty big enough."

"Yeah!" Romeo said, getting to his feet. "Let's go and ask Joey!"

He looked positively excited.

"She's visiting Dad," Ruby said, deflating his enthusiasm.

He sat down again.

"I can call her though," she offered.

He shrugged his agreement. She suspected he had wanted to be the one to save the day, to be Indi's hero.

"Good idea," April said. "And good idea, Dex. If the school won't give you guys the Formal you deserve then we can create one ourselves! And no disaster shall befall it!"

Xavier and Dex both smiled warmly at her. Ruby excused herself to call Joey.


Charlie and Joey were regaling Ross with Ruby's success with learning to drive. She had already told him about it herself but they were used to telling him things as if it were new information.

"Speak of the devil," Joey said, standing up and excusing herself to take a call from Ruby.

She walked out of the room and swiped the touch screen to answer the call from her step-daughter.

"Hey, Rubes," she greeted. "What's up?"

"Hi," Ruby said. "Sorry to disturb you. How's Dad?"

"He's fine," Joey said. "He sends his love."

He hadn't technically said it but Joey knew the sentiment would be there.

"Send mine back," Ruby requested. "Hey, listen, I had a favour to ask you."

"You always have so many favours to ask me..." Joey joked.

"Gina has cancelled the School Formal!" Ruby burst out.

"And what has that really got to do with you?" Joey asked. "You don't finish school until next year. Then you can get all grumpy about it!"

"Well, my friends are graduating this year," Ruby pointed out, even more annoyed by her lack of support. "You know, Nicole, Indi and Romeo?"

"I understand that, Ruby but what do you expect me to do about it?" Joey asked. "I don't have any special clout with Gina."

"Well, it's just that we had this idea about hosting our own Formal," Ruby explained. "The only thing is that we need a venue big enough. And then we thought about the restaurant and… What do you think?"

"I think it would be disrespectful to go against Gina's wishes," Joey said.

"Joey!"
"Well, has she said why she isn't holding the Formal this year?" Joey asked. "Presumably she's not just being mean?"

"She thinks it's cursed or something."

"So, it's got a history of disasters and she thinks it's irresponsible to risk putting her students in danger," Joey concluded.

"Well…"

"I'm really sorry, Rubes, I wish I could help but I just don't want to undermine Gina in a decision she's obviously taken into careful consideration," Joey said.

"Fine," Ruby snapped. "I'll just have to tell my friends who have worked so hard for their exams that you're letting them down too."

"Ru…"

But the teenager had hung up. Sighing, Joey walked back into the lounge.

"What was that about?" Charlie wondered, having caught snatches of the conversation and not having been able to work it out.

"You do look stressed," Morag remarked.

Joey slumped down on the sofa beside Charlie and explained the situation to them and Ross.

"Well, I have to agree with you," Morag said firmly. "It wouldn't be fair to undermine the decision of the Principal. Like you say, she won't have reached her decision lightly. And it would be a huge event to put on at the restaurant. Plus all the mischief that these children get up to at these sorts of events. And that doesn't even include all the actual disasters that have happened over the years."

Joey nodded but didn't look any happier.

"I just feel really sorry for the kids," she said. "They deserve the chance to celebrate the end of their school days. Romeo, Indi and Nicole have been working so hard for their exams, as have all the others in their year. It seems such a shame just to let their whole school life fizzle out with a whimper."

"Is Ruby finishing school this year?" Ross asked.

"No, Dad," Charlie told him. "Next year."

He nodded, trying to make sure he remembered.


Ruby walked back to her friends, shaking her head. Everyone was immediately disappointed.

"What, she said no?" Romeo asked, hardly able to believe it.

He had thought that it was a sure thing.

"Why?" he demanded.

"She said she didn't want to undermine Gina's decision," she said, glaring at Xavier as if the whole thing was his fault, being her son.

He caught her look and immediately got defensive.

"It's nothing to do with me!" he snapped. "And it's your lesbian step-mum that's saying no too!"

"What has her sexuality got to do with it?" Ruby half yelled, standing up. "Have you got a problem with my parents or something? Because if we're commenting on families, maybe we should discuss your brother?"

Xavier stood up too. Romeo got in the way and tried to get them to calm down but was relieved when Liam approached them, wanting to know what all the arguing was about.

"Mrs Austin has cancelled the School Formal," Indi said miserably. "She thinks it's reckless to have it after the past few years have been so disastrous or something."

"Oh, well, that's a shame," Liam said.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Nicole said bitterly.

She, like Indi and Romeo had worked so hard to get to the end of the school year, including battling through her personal life. This news had come as a real blow.

"Sorry," Liam said. "Well, surely there's something we can do."

"We've tried to get Joey to host something for us but she said no," April told him. "We're kind of running out of ideas."

Liam chewed his lip and looked around. He spotted Angelo walking up the stairs towards the restaurant.

"I've thought of something," he said. "Ruby, Nicole, come with me."

Bemused and curious, they followed him up the stairs and into the restaurant, catching up with Angelo on his way in.

"Hey, Angelo!" Liam called. "I've got a proposition for you."

Angelo looked curious.

"Well, Joey's not here so…"

"Haven't you always wanted a project to show your boss exactly what you're capable of? Maybe get yourself a promotion? Maybe even a pay rise?" Liam said.

Nicole and Ruby glanced carefully at each other, working out where this was heading.

"Uh…"

"Well, did you hear that the School Formal had been cancelled?" Liam asked.

"No, I hadn't," Angelo said, itching for them to leave and stop wasting his time.

He was busy.

"Well, the kids are looking for someone to host it for them," Liam said.

"Like I said, you should really speak to Joey," Angelo said. "I mean, you're in luck. Her kid is standing right next to you."

"She's nervous about hosting it," Ruby blurted out. "I called her and she's worried about taking it on. She doesn't want to step on Gina's toes and I don't think she really wants to manage such a big night by herself."

Angelo looked puzzled for a moment.

"Which is where you come in," Liam said.

"Where?"

"Well, what if you were to take it on as your own project?" he suggested. "You could stop Joey feeling like she was being rude to Gina but you could be giving a real gift to the kids as well. And then Joey wouldn't have to deal with any hassle or stress because you could do it. And then if the whole night went smoothly, you'd be bound to get a lot of boxes ticked when it came to an appraisal or whatever happens in the world of hospitality. Joey would be mad not to promote you as soon as she had an opportunity. Put you in charge of events or something."

"Liam's right," Nicole added, feeling like she really ought to contribute something to the pitching team. "The way I see it, everyone wins – us, you, Joey and Gina. She does want us to have a party but she's too worried about the responsibility of hosting it. So if you were to put it on for us, everyone would be happy."

Angelo looked torn. Could he really achieve what they were asking of him? It had been a long time since he had been properly in charge of something and even longer he had been successfully in charge of something.

"I could pitch it to Joey," he ventured.

The teenagers looked deeply hopefully.

"But I'd need a deposit," he said quickly. "To cover any damage. I know what you kids are like. And I want at least five adult chaperones. I'll have enough on my plate with the hospitality side of things if I'm going to do this properly. I can't be supervising children myself, just with my staff."

"Sure thing," Liam said. "How much deposit?"

He began taking his wallet out of his pocket.

"Five grand," Angelo said.

"Five grand?" Liam squawked, putting his wallet away.

"There's potentially a lot of damage," Angelo said firmly. "No damage and the deposit will be returned."

"Fine," Liam said. "If we can scrape the deposit together, it's a deal. But you're at risk of fucking this up for yourself by getting too greedy, just so you know."


Charlie and Joey were driving back to Summer Bay when Joey's mobile rang again.

"You're popular today," Charlie remarked.

Joey wrinkled her nose when she saw it was Angelo, hoping that nothing major had gone wrong at the restaurant in her absence.

"Hi, Angelo," she greeted warmly.

"Hi, Jo," he said.

He very much sounded like he wanted something.

"Listen, I had a proposition for you…"

"Please don't tell me it's about the school Formal," she said.

"Well…"

"Angelo, Ruby has already been hassling me about it," Joey said.

She rolled her eyes at Charlie who had very much agreed with her decision when she'd told her.

"I know, I know," Angelo said. "But hear me out."

"Okay…"

"What if you had nothing to do with it so you didn't offend Gina in any way?" Angelo said. "What if you gave it to me as a project of my own? A kind of trust project, I guess. I'll take care of everything. The catering, the hosting, everything. You don't even have to be there. I'll do everything, I swear."

"I don't even have to be there?" Joey asked, interested.

"Nope," Angelo said. "I'll be in charge for the whole night. You and Charlie can have one of your date nights or something."

"Well… we do like our date nights."

She grinned at Charlie.

"What do you think?"

"Well, if you think you'd like to do it then… sure," Joey said.

"Really?"

He could hardly believe that she had agreed.

"Sure," Joey said. "I mean, I trust you to do a good job. Keep me informed of your plans organising it with the kids. You'll need chaperones, I think."

"Already on it," Angelo assured her.

"Then yeah," Joey agreed. "Go for it."

He was thrilled.


Texts were immediately sent around the kids attempting to plan what they were now calling the Informal. Joey had agreed to let Angelo host the event at the restaurant so they now had a location. However, they needed five adult chaperones and a $5000 deposit, the latter of which nobody knew how to get.

"Well, it just looks like we're back at square one, doesn't it?" Indi said.

She, Romeo and Dex were at home, discussing the events of the day. It all felt like rather an anti-climax to the end of the exams.

"Square one about what?" Marilyn asked, breezing into the room.

"The School Formal," Indi explained. "Mrs Austin cancelled it but now Angelo is willing to host it the restaurant."

"So what's the problem?" Marilyn wanted to know.

"For a deposit of $5000," Dex informed her.

"Oh, that's ridiculous!" Marilyn said. "You're children!"

Indi and Romeo looked half affronted and half agreed with her, as did Dex.

"You leave this with me," Marilyn said, breezing back out of the house.

The kids exchanged bemused looks.


"So, what shall we do with our suddenly free night?" Joey wondered.

"Well, we could always book that night out that we've been desperate to do," Charlie said. "Finally go and see Wicked like we keep talking about."

"Oh!" Joey said excitedly. "I very much want to do that."

Charlie grinned. She very much wanted to do that too.

"Well, that settles it then," she said. "Let's do that. We could even stay overnight and come back the following afternoon. Ruby could stay with a friend."

"I'm sure she'd love a proper night away from us," Joey agreed.


"Angelo Rosetta," Marilyn called across the restaurant.

Angelo turned rather sharply in the way that anyone would when called sharply by their full name.

"Marilyn!" he said. "Can I help you?"

"You can explain to me why you're ripping children off," she said.

He approached her quickly so that they could speak more quietly to each other, colouring and looking embarrassed.

"I'm not ripping anyone off, I promise you."

"Then where exactly do you expect children to get $5000 from?" Marilyn asked. "And that's just the deposit, isn't it?"

He cleared his throat, knowing he had been caught out.

"Well, there's a lot of room for breakages and damage…"

"Can I ask you a question?" Marilyn asked.

"Of course."

"Does Joey know you've asked for this deposit?"

"Well…"

"I didn't think so," Marilyn replied quickly. "How about this? I'll give you a $1000 deposit right now. And then you can run your event but leave the costings up to your boss. Or to Alf Stewart."

"Well, really it's my event so…"

She looked firm.

"Fine," Angelo said.

They shook hands.

"Now, how should I pay you?" Marilyn asked.


More texts were sent around upon the happy news that Marilyn had paid the deposit and had easily negotiated Angelo down by four thousand dollars. Now, they just needed chaperones. Romeo easily persuaded Liam to step in, being that he had been so heavily involved in getting their little projected started. Hearing this, April had quickly worked on getting Bianca to agree to step in too.

"Oh, I've just mentioned it to Vittorio and he said he would chaperone too," Bianca said, as she and April sat idly in front of the television. "So how many do you have now?"

"Three," April said glumly. "You, Liam and Vittorio."

Half pleased and half concerned, Bianca wondered how the Informal would turn out.


Next time… Charlie approaches Robertson with her theory, the kids head out to a gay bar and Marilyn can't find the words…