Episode 7178

Extended Summary

Bella asks Willow how she got Colby to leave them alone. Willow notes she said it was secret women’s business and that Dean had a word with him as well. Bella isn’t happy that Dean knows. Willow suggests they can talk about what she said before but Bella just announces she wants a BLT. They head to the Diner where Irene notes she thought Bella had forgotten her. Bella, faux cheery, says living with Colby is awesome. She goes to sit down and Irene wryly notes that she deserves an oscar. Willow confirms that Bella isn’t sleeping but says she can handle it.

Ben, Ziggy and Maggie are at the farm house. Maggie invites Ben to join her and Roo for a coffee before work; it’s a pupil free day before the pupils go back. Ben says he has things to do there. Ziggy, amused, notes he’s just reading junk mail brochures and suspects he’s just avoiding their gossip, inviting him to come for a surf with her and tease Dean about his new job. Ben repeats that he has things to do there, saying he’s going to mow the lawn and tidy the yard. Ziggy goes to the surf club and kisses Dean, saying it’s both for luck and to stop women hitting on him. She asks about his drink with Willow; Dean says there’s things with her and Bella that he can’t talk about. Mackenzie comes past and reminds him not to be late.

Dean follows Mackenzie upstairs and she demonstrates a correct customer greeting to him. She tries to give him a uniform but he refuses to wear it. Mackenzie says she can’t show favouritism. Dean says that he knew the people who ran Salt when it was Angelo’s and they never wore uniform. Mackenzie concedes the point but when Dean comes behind the bar she tells him he can’t serve drinks without his RSA certificate and sends him to wipe tables. At the caravan park, Roo and Maggie chat about Ben. Maggie thinks clearing out the board shop was the last straw and Roo says Alf tried to speak up for him. Maggie hopes that doing work around the house will help. At that time, Ben is starting to mow the lawn but the mower soon stalls and he discovers it is out of petrol. He kicks it in frustration.

At the Diner, Willow tries to question Bella, saying there are decent guys out there like Ryder, Colby and Dean. Bella yells at her to stop and goes to storm out but bumps into Ziggy instead. Ziggy asks if she’s okay and Bella yells that she’s sick of people asking that, then realises Leah, Justin and Marilyn are all staring at her and runs out. Willow and Ziggy follow her up to the flat and Willow gets her to come out of her bedroom. Bella isn’t too happy that Ziggy’s there, meaning more people know. Ziggy offers to leave. Bella notes that she wants to be okay and normal. Willow suggests a walk on the beach or a swim but Ziggy has another idea. The three of them speed through the bush roads in her car. Bella observes a lot’s changed since she was last in there and Ziggy points out that’s when Bella was trying to keep her and Dean apart. Willow points out they’ll eventually run out of petrol. Bella doesn’t want to go home so Ziggy suggests going to hers.

Justin and Leah arrive at Salt and Mackenzie gestures for Dean to greet them. Justin is utterly bemused, calling it a change from selling boards. Leah interrupts the exchange of barbs to ask for a table. Dean shows them to one and passes their drink order on to the barman. Mackenzie invites him to take his break and have a drink with her but Dean says it’s not time yet: He wants to be treated the same as everyone else. Except for the uniform. At the farmhouse, Ziggy, Willow and Bella pull up as Ben is loading up his ute. Ziggy attempts to tease Ben about sneaking off. Ben doesn’t seem to get the joke, saying he’s going to get more fuel for the mower. Ziggy thinks he’s going for a surf. Ben gives up arguing otherwise and leaves them.

Willow and Ziggy prepare popcorn and fruit; they quietly debate whether this is helping but can’t think of anything else. They join Bella on the sofa and ask her if she wants to talk. Bella notes that’s how it all started and recalls Raffy trying to warn her. She says she must have done something to make Tommy think she wanted to be his girlfriend. Willow and Ziggy tell her it’s not her fault. Bella says a first kiss is meant to be special, instead it was ugly and disgusting. Meanwhile, Ben turns up at Salt and greets Leah and Justin. They ask how he’s doing and he says they know how it is, then adds that they don’t because they’ve still got their businesses. They quickly retreat. Ben greets Dean who says he’d rather be working downstairs. Ben invites him for a drink; Dean tells an annoyed Mackenzie that he’s taking his break now and to bring the beers over.

Ziggy, Willow and Bella have gone outside. Ziggy tells Bella that it wasn’t a kiss but an assault, and Willow agrees that sexual assault isn’t what sex is like. Ziggy recalls her first kiss: Mark Zahru, who used to be an annoying boy sitting behind her in Year 8 but blossomed over the summer to be the hottest boy in Year 9. She kissed him for a dare and dated him for two weeks. Willow is reluctant to share and Ziggy suspects her first kiss was with Dean. Willow admits it was Colby: She paid him $5 to kiss her to make Dean jealous. Meanwhile, Ben takes his leave and Dean gets back to work. Mackenzie comes over and attempts to pick his brains about when the place was Angelo’s, asking if they did deliveries, but Dean only gives perfunctory answers and doesn’t seem to want to talk.

Irene and Marilyn chat outside the Diner about Bella. Irene gets a text from Willow saying she’s turned a corner. Marilyn wonders if Irene should seek help too and Irene considers going to a rape crisis counsellor. At Salt, Ziggy, Bella and Willow turn up full of beans and ask Dean if he did get jealous when Colby kissed Willow, with Willow noting the money was worth it when he confirms it. Mackenzie tries to get Dean to get back to work as he thanks Ziggy for helping, eventually walking out. Dean follows her outside, wondering what’s wrong. Mackenzie comments on the number of people he’ll talk to but doesn’t elaborate.

Maggie returns home to find Ben sat outside staring into space. She asks what happened to his job and he explains about the mower running out of petrol. She says she’d have got some if she’d known. Ben says he was going to do it but got sidetracked. In a distracted manner, he says he’ll make a start on dinner. Maggie looks after him, worried.