Kylie & Jack 1: Humble Beginnings

22. Canberra

Friday, 22nd Mar, 5 AM

Jack and Kylie were in her car, dodging the pre–dawn kangaroos as they headed for the school, with two backed bags on the backseat instead of tote trays and laptop cases. It was the day of the Canberra excursion. Although this normally happened later in the year, for scheduling reasons, Kylie had decided it was better to do the excursion this semester.

Kylie had also decided to get to work an hour earlier than usual, wanting to double check all medications, the first aid bag, that the school camera and phone were properly charged and generally get things sorted. She didn't stop to consider that perhaps Kate would do it for her, as she had done for every other excursion.

When they arrived, Kylie was surprised to find not only Kate, but – as Jack would soon introduce her – Matt Collins there. Kate had everything laid out in the kitchen, along with a checklist she had made herself. Matt was in Kylie's office, hunched over his laptop and typing furiously.

Kylie walked into the kitchen and gaped at Kate's efficiency.

"Kate ... mate, you're a bloody legend!" Kylie said, staring at Kate who was buzzing around, a coffee in hand. The printer was whirring loudly and Kate had the laminator out, the smell of melting plastic singed the otherwise soothing smell of the country air.

"Meh – I knew you'd want to get in early – and well, Will was up at four on that frigging tractor, making one hell of a racket, so I figured I may as well get in and do it for you. I did send you a message to say not to bother coming in so early, but I guess you haven't seen it." Kate whizzed past Kylie, to retrieve the latest prints and returning to the kitchen to pick up the scissors and begin cutting the papers up.

"I noticed some of the labels were a bit faded, so I've done you up some new ones too," Kate added. She was speaking faster than usual too, walking over to the laminator as she cut out the labels to check how the latest set of tags were coming along.

"What're ... what're those labels for?"

"Oh – oh, these – yeah, I noticed flirty shirt has name tags on his desks and they look pretty faded too, so I'm redoing them too while I've got this bad boy out."

"Oh ... wow. Ok – uh and are you ok?" Kylie asked with a sly grin.

"Ridgy didge, mate."

Kylie was about to turn around and go find something to do in her classroom, stalled by Jack who promptly introduced her to Matt Collins.

"Hey Kylz – meet Matt Collins. Matt – Kylie Foley."

Jack stood aside so Matt could extend his hand to Kylie, smiling politely at her. He was a few clear inches shorter than Jack and far less muscular too; he had sandy coloured hair, clean shaven with a strong jawline. His skin was – well, if Kylie was honest, she couldn't tell if he was tanned or olive skinned – and he had bright blue–green eyes. As he spoke to Kylie, she noticed how surprisingly smooth his voice was.

"Kylie. Nice to finally meet you. I've heard quite a lot about you." He said, shaking her hand.

"Ah ... yeah. Yeah, same. Sorry, but why are you here today? All the students are going to be coming on the excursion." Kylie replied, withdrawing her hand rather quickly.

"It's a new thing from the Department. You know, gotta have someone on school grounds, even when everyone's out for excursions and what not. New safety regs and all that – you know, since that young woman out at wherever was attacked –"

Kylie nodded slowly. Matt seemed to sense the dismissiveness in her body language and raised both hands in front of her.

"Kate here and I flipped for it, who gets to stay today. I won – or lost – depending on how you look at things, so I'm gonna attack some of your paperwork today and Kate'll be in on Monday."