Kylie & Jack 1: Humble Beginnings

11. "Run to Paradise"

Jan. 25th, 10:04 AM

Kylie decided to grab some last minute groceries at Koolingar Woolies, so she wouldn't be caught short tomorrow for Australia Day. She was eyeing off a six pack of burger buns in the far end corner of the store when someone called her name.

"G'day Kylie, how ya goin'?" She looked up to see none other than Grant swaggering towards her, looking like he'd just come off the farm – and well, knowing him, he probably just had. He was grinning inanely at her, just like always and came to a complete stop beside her. Smiling back at him, she nodded to the iconic Woolies brand mud cake in his hand.

"Prepping for tomorrow, are you?"

Grant looked down at the cake in his hand and chuckled.

"Aw, yeah this ... nah it's Kirsty's birthday today, so I got sent in to pick something up for tea."

Kirsty was Grant's older sister – nice enough, but unbelievably posh and princess–y for a farming kid. She was the sort of woman who would never leave her house, even to put the bins out, without having first styled her hair and painted her face. It was certainly the biggest shock to everyone around when she got married to ... well, someone whose idea of formal wear was a Metallica t–shirt, denim shorts and a brand new pair of thongs.

"So you're having cake for tea? I bet she'll love that," Kylie teased softly. Grant cocked his head with a crooked smirk in a silent agreement, picking up on her meaning.

"So ... how've you been?" he asked her, watching her fuss over the assortment of bread rolls, buns and French sticks.

"A hell of a lot better since, well, you know."

"Glad I could help." He teased quietly, leaning in closer as a man strutted past them with a trolley. Kylie tried not to, but she grinned broadly at the comment, picking up a bag of burger buns and stashing it into her basket. She threw him a cheeky look.

"Don't try and deny it, I know what you were getting at." Grant continued to tease her as they shuffled between other shoppers, Kylie stopping by the industrial wall sized fridges along the back wall to get a bottle of milk.

"I never said anything!" Kylie cried with a Cheshire grin.

When she closed the fridge door, Grant leaned in even closer behind her and whispered, "oh yes, you did," then when she turned to face him, blushing furiously, he winked at her as he turned to continue on further through the shop, throwing a wickedly cheeky look over his shoulder at her.

Australia Day, 5:48 AM

It was expected to hit forty degrees today and as it was, at ten to six, Kylie was up and packing a bag with snacks and cold bottles of water for her drive up into the mountains. She would be meeting her parents somewhere along the way.

Getting into the car, Kylie activated her inner Aussie pride, turning the ignition and waiting for Angus Young's anthemic, iconic guitar riff to begin as she reversed out of the carport. She waited until she was clear of George's Park before turning the volume up.

Classic Australian rock had her car, her head vibrating with the heavy guitar riffs and drum beats all the way to Barrabrumba, in the foothills of the mountains, where she had gone to school. Kylie held no love for the town, her high school years were ones to be endured, as she was an 'outsider'. Barrabrumba had a very ego–centric attitude, so many shops had closed within months of opening because the locals refused to support outsider businesses; teachers who didn't live or weren't born, raised or married in the town frequently suffered the cold shoulder of their students' parents and students who dared attend their schools who weren't sickeningly proud of the town – or weren't born and bred, diehard locals, were destined to remain on the outskirts of friendship groups and the like. Kylie was one such student. Mike and Amy had copped the same attitude as well. It didn't help them either, that they had a Birrabirra name.