Midnight Message

Chapter 9 - Trent Caldwell

Gemma sips her Boost juice as she walks down Bridge Road in Richmond. It is a cool day in winter but it's not raining. After working on a University assignment in the morning, Gemma has decided to take advantage of the nice day by going for a walk. 

She smiles at an elderly couple as they walk, hand in hand, along the footpath. They are carrying a bag of groceries between them. She watches as a tram stops and a group of passengers bustle across the road and enter different shops. Gemma sees a woman and three young children pose for a photo in front of one of the shops. A man balances a large camera in one hand while gesturing with his free hand, directing his family to stand closer together. The children shuffle closer to their mother and the man clicks the camera. Satisfied with the photo, he joins his family and they enter the shop they had just posed in front of. Gemma smiles. Tourists. 

She loves Bridge Road. Other than the MCG and Punt Road Oval (Richmond's training ground), Bridge Road is Gemma's favourite place in Richmond. She loves looking inside the different shops and walking past the open air cafes. There's a certain atmosphere on Bridge Road that makes Gemma happy. 

She continues to sip her Boost Juice as she walks along Bridge Road. She stops in front of an expensive dress shop and stares inside the window. Those dresses are beautiful. But they're so expensive! I'd never be able to afford one. It's not like I have anywhere to wear a dress like that anyway... 

Gemma continues along Bridge Road and enters a shop that is more in her price range. A teenage girl is folding a pile of T-shirts on a table at the front of the shop. 

'Can I help you?' the girl asks politely when she sees Gemma walk in. 

'No thanks' says Gemma 'I'm just looking'. 

'No worries' the teenager replies 'let me know if you need anything'.     

Gemma is looking at the knitted jumpers along the wall of the shop when she feels her phone vibrate inside her bag. She pulls it out and looks at the screen. 1 new message from Trent (Ego Boy).

Gemma opens the message in anticipation. 

Hey Gemma, how was your night? 

Gemma thinks about the creepy calls she received when she was babysitting the Lawsons last night. Despite knowing that Trent must have been the caller, the calls had still affected her. How was my night? Thanks to you I barely slept. I kept having disturbing nightmares about murderers and kidnappers creeping around the house. In my dreams, no matter how hard I tried my legs wouldn't move. I was stuck at the bottom of the Lawson's staircase, forced to watch as the twins were dragged screaming from the house. I woke multiple times, Clara and Luke's terrified screams ringing in my ears. My night was terrible, thanks a lot jerk. 

Gemma didn't want to give Trent the satisfaction of knowing that his stupid prank had scared her, so she typed a short, simple reply. 

Fine. How was your night? 

My night was awesome babe. I love having sex with models. Don't have to worry about having an intellectual conversation. We just skip to the good stuff, if you know what I mean ;) 

Argh. Gemma is disgusted by Trent's reply. She purses her lips and scowls at her phone. Arrogant, sexist, repulsive. This guy has hit a new low. Angrily she types a reply. 

Trent Caldwell. You disgust me. I'm surprised any girl would actually want to spend time with you. 

Gemma looks up from her phone and sees the teenage shop assistant giving her a strange look. Gemma realises that she is glaring at her phone. Furthermore, she's squeezing it so hard that her hand is shaking. She realizes she is also squeezing her Boost Juice a little too hard. Luckily none of her juice has spilled out of the foam cup. Sheepishly, Gemma relaxes her grip on her phone and the cup and forces a neutral expression onto her face.Stupid Trent. He makes me so angry. He's disgusting and arrogant. Argh. Stupid Ego Boy.