[Party-1 am]
[Music: Zef Side – Die Andtwoord: .com/watch?v=AttkntuWZhc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&listLDBD2E9B81F0E4DD6]
Swarms of half nude teenagers danced suggestively and violently upon each other, most clearly drunk or hyped up on a party drug. Under the flashing lights, the pulsing music vibrated through the abandoned factory, infecting and breathing life into the fast-paced party.
In the mass of ravers a mousey chestnut-brunette, clutching her hand bag as if an anchor to sanity, spotted the stage, where the DJ was ardently spinning his tracks. Jutting her right shoulder forward she made her way deeper into insanity, hoping to find her invitee. Just as she neared the stage, she spotted him.
'Ennis!' she called to the tall black lad dancing with a lass on his left and a watch on each wrist.
'Alex!' he called back, motioning with a head nod for her to come closer. She stood for a moment, taking in the situation. It'd been months since she'd been out, months since she'd bumped through a crowd of warm sweaty bodies radiating nothing but joy and carefree-ness. It'd been even longer since she'd seen Ennis. Apart from their chance encounter days ago, which lead to this evening, she hadn't seen the lad since primary school, yet here they were as if they'd never lost base.
'Enjoying the night?' he asked when Alex finally got near enough.
'Not yet, I haven't even had a fucking drink yet!' Alex responded. She could feel the glare of Ennis' dance mate on her.
'You came here sober?' Ennis asked.
'Yes! I didn't know where I was going?' He laughed at her animated hands-on-hips posture. 'By the way, I'm Alex,' she said introducing herself to the girl.
'Oh, soz, me manners. Erm Alex, girl I just met, girl I just met, Alex, come on,' he said, 'we'll get you a…'
'Wait,' Alex blurted before they could move, could we take a picture first?' she asked rifling through her bag for her camera. She passed it to Ennis, the longest armed of the three, and they posed as he snapped the picture. It was impromptu, but Alex needed to make new memories; after all, that's why she bought it.
At the foot of the stairwell, a raven haired teen dressed in nothing but a carmine scarf, chinos and boots, coyly let a lad run his fingers along the lines of the wing tattoo on his back. Mila, a flowery put together caramel-brunette, who towered at a staggering 1.78 meters approached them. Before she could pull the shirtless Charlie away, the other guy grabbed Mila's thigh, and yelled over the music, 'come on legs, when you gonna let me lick those beau-iful tree sta-UGHH!' He puked just inches away from her silver peep toed platforms.
'Come on Mil! He could be a decent bloke for me… he's just a bit drunk,' Charlie reasoned with a goofy grin, desperately wanting to resume their nonsensical flirtations. They turned back to the guy, who'd now passed out in his own vomit, and decided to leave.
Across the crowded hall, a honey-brown skinned girl danced rhythmically through the crowd and between sips of her beer smiled suggestively at guys on the dance floor. Unknowingly, the girl was being stalked by four girls all dressed in purple chav gear: 'Oi! What's it, Mason right? Yeah, you sold us this shit a minute ago right?'
Mason shook her coily copper locks as they approached her. Sizing them up, she assumed they wanted to buy more spliff, but she'd only sold what she brought for herself.
'Look girls, I don't have anymore...' she said patting her leather and mesh jacket.
'No girly,' the first girl said declining her offer.
'We're here to collect!' the shortest of the four interjected.
'Collect?' Mason smirked a bit confused.
'Yah, we want our money back, now!' the shortest asserted.
But before Mason could respond the tallest yelled, 'you sold us fake spliff yeah!' as she held up a near empty bag.
Mason denied the claim and refused to refund them for a bag of scraps. As she walked off the largest of the girls grabbed her by the hair. 'Bitch, we said, we want our money back!' Feeling cornered, Mason smashed the closest girl in the head with her beer can.
A few yards away Alex was recording a video. She could hear the un-rhythmic squabble and through her lens watched what quickly spiraled from argument to a chaotic slurry of panic and excitement. As random fists flew, she was knocked back; her camera hit the ground, instantly smashing against the concrete and then kicked around by randoms in panic mode.
[Music: End]
[Public Bus – A few days later, Morning]
'Bollocks!' Charlie exclaimed agitatedly as a rather rotund man, holding onto the same rail, stepped on his newly purchased all white deck shoes: It took ages to convince his mum to buy them.
'Problem?,' the man retorted crudely. Charlie's left eye lid quivered from the stench of day old cabbage, onions and cigarettes, which leapt fiercely from the man's gap-toothed mouth. Burying his nose into his scarf and wiping away a tear from the wounded eye, he smiled at the man, 'no sir.' He absolutely hated riding the public bus to college, and this was only the first day.
As the overly crowded bus came to yet another stop, the passengers groaned. 'Driver, there's no more space!' a passenger groaned.
'Push back, or get off!' the driver snapped back.
'Sorry, soz,' a handsome shaggy blonde repeated as he squeezed his way through the bus before settling near the back. Charlie couldn't take his eyes off him. He watched the lad, one perfectly chiseled arm clutched the sky rail and the other pressed his cell phone to his ear. He wore a simple mango striped white button up shirt, lavender shorts and a stylishly dark cream messenger bag. Every so often he'd laugh a bit and run his fingers through his messy sandy locks; Charlie couldn't help but wonder where he was going. Eyeing his messenger bag, he pondered if he was a student heading to Roundview College. Instantly, the lad turned his head; their eyes locked.
'Shit!' Charlie thought, looking away, 'shit, he thinks I'm a fucking weirdo perv, a stalker weirdo perv. Was my mouth open? Shit, I think it was.' Charlie was a few blocks away from his stop but he had to get off now, he pulled the chord and scurried off, his face as red as his scarf.
Charlie came upon the café where he was to meet Mila before college. Mila sat poised at a table chatting on her cell phone in front of two cups of coffee. As she eyed her reflection in the mirror she adjusted her wavy locks, and then reached into her purse, grabbed her lip-gloss and re-applied until her lips glossed effervescently.
'Ehem,' Charlie noised to gain her attention.
'Hi,' she mouthed with a sweet smile, and then to her caller, 'hey my bestie's here, gotta go, I'll call you laters?... 'k 'k, lovely.'
'Oh my god, you look so cute,' Mila squealed, as she got up to hug him.
'Well, you know I try… was that Mason?' Mila flashed Charlie a dangerous look. 'Okay, soz, I thought you guys you know…'
'Charlie we haven't gotten on for how long? Why would I ring her?'
'We were like sibs all through secondary Mil, you can't just throw everything away, plus it's really time consuming being friends with the both of you separately.'
'She was the one who came to school draped in all black talking about she's mourning the death of our friendship. Can we talk about something else please? This is our time,' she said. She sipped her coffee, and then re-applied lip gloss.
'Speaking of sibs…' before Charlie could finish his sentence Mila flashed a warning look at Charlie. 'Yeah, sooo, all girls school, excited?' He said clutching his warm beverage.
'Yeah, doesn't my uniform just look amazing, I love these little school-girl skirts, mumsy fixed the hem, she made it flowy-er and a smidge shorter. It's fun, girly and a little naughty at the same time,' Mila said as they snickered.
'Don't go seducing any headmasters now.'
'Eww OMG, that is too Holyoaks.'
'Do men even work at all-girl's colleges?'
'… I dunno? I think so.'
'I couldn't do it, I need some eye-candy,' Charlie snickered.
'Well we're across the green from Roundview, so after studies there'll be plenty of eye-candy for me… and by the way, my caller was the guy I met last week.'
'The one that made us bus cross town to that party, only to blow you off?' Charlie said off-handedly, Mila's face dropped, but she recovered before he looked up from his coffee.
'Yeah, but he called and apologized, he got sick, I was talking to him all morning… Well? Charlie, say something.'
'I, I dunno what to say? I don't know him; you don't know him.'
'Charlie, haven't you ever just seen someone and you just knew that there was something between you, it was just like amazing and perfect?' As she ranted Charlie thought about the guy on the bus, and then he smiled: That's what he loved about Mila; she was a romantic, just like himself.
'Don't rush it 'k?' he advised sympathetically.
'I know I always do that, I fall hard, but I'm – Charlie, what the fuck?'
'What?' Charlie responded at the sudden agitated change in Mila's tone. She pursed her lips and began to ready herself to leave. 'What's wrong?' he asked. Turning to look behind him, he spotted the source of Mila's mood change; Mason was waiting in line, she smirked and waved. Mason's cat-eyed sunglasses, low-cut sequin jump-suit, and heavy tribal accessories nearly hid all evidence that she'd once belonged with the hipster chic Mila and Charlie.
'I didn't invite her - she probably just came in because college is close by,' he tried to explain. '…I'm going to go say hello, coming?' Mila crossed her arms, pushed her jaw forward and tilted her head slightly. After a heavy sigh she whispered, 'fine.'
'Charlieee,' Mason greeted, then to Mila 'and, what are you doing here? Missed the short bus to the all girl's school?' Mason broke into laughter. Charlie smirked for a mili-second, but suppressed his urge to laugh.
'Charlie, I'll catch you laters yeah,' Mila said, and then exited the café.
'Mace!' Charlie reprimanded.
'What? I was just – okay yeah that was mean. I can't stand her, she's so…' Mason imitated a graceful pose, 'rah, I can't stand her stupid aura.'
'Mason, that was your aura, not even a month ago,' Charlie responded in a deadpan manner.
'I know, but it's shit now. I've evolved to the 60's. Like?,' she asked referring to her ensemble as she did the Batusi, which caused Charlie to snicker. She continued to do this as she paid the cashier and grabbed her coffee. As the two walked outside, Mason asked Charlie to hold her coffee. She took a stolen croissant from her bag, unwrapped it and sighed, 'and now, to walk aaaaalll the way to college.'
The two mates crossed the road and stepped onto the college grounds.
'Mace, where'd you get the croissant,' Charlie asked.
'I paid for the coffee.'
[Streets]
[Music: We're Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes: .com/watch?v=tFRiHeAuuk8]
It was a fairly cool September morning when a black Honda pilot rounded the corner. Ennis, anticipating academia, sat solemnly in the passenger seat counting the passing pedestrians until his mum motioned for him to turn down the SUV radio.
Dionne Ferric, an immaculately put together woman, sat behind the wheel conversing on her bluetooth
with perfect composure: 'What do you mean you can't repeat that language, you useless twat-fuck plonker, just put him on the phone… hello, hello? Cut the shit and get your arse in gear, I'll be there in 10 minutes and your makeup better not be smudged!... alright, love you, kisses,' she said as the SUV pulled into the college parking lot. Ennis had been distracted by a text he'd received:
where r u, need help w/ flyers - Jace
'Apologies about the language dearie, you know how mummy doesn't like to swear in front of you. Is that Jace?' Dionne asked as she smoothed a fold out of his pressed track jacket and fixed his neat kinky twisted hair.
'Mum!' Ennis sighed pulling away.
'Alright, alright, just want you to be perfect is all,' she smiled. 'Now have you got your…' but before she could finish, Ennis answered,
'Yes, yes and yes, mum, it's covered. All of it,' he kissed her on the cheek and exited the SUV.
[College Green]
Under a jade green oak tree Mason lay with her head of wild fluffy coils rested in Charlie's lap. As he detailed his embarrassing morning to her and their vampire-pale, sun-glass clad mate, Mark, who sat inches away sketching in his pad. She took a drag of her spliff and passed it to Charlie.
'Mason!'
'Come on Charlie, it's the first day of college, it'll ease the tension. Oi, what are you doing in that book?' Mason asked, pointing at Mark with her foot. Without a word, he dropped his shades, which held back his neck length jet black hair, down over his dark green eyes. '… Are you drawing us, again, but with shades on, in the shade? How exactly does that work Mark?' Mason asked running her feet playfully up his foreleg. Cherry red in the face, Mark smirked,
'It works fine,' he jested back 'and who says I was drawing you?'
'Because Mark, you'll always draw me, 'til the day you die, I'm your muse,' she joked while making a dramatic and sensual pose. 'You even put your shades down after you saw me in mine.'
'Fuck's sake, do you always have to rub your massive tits?' Charlie moaned.
'Don't hate on the girls,' she said propping them up, 'and they're not that big, it's not like I've got huge slag tits, like that Sophie Dee girl.'
Charlie began to snicker, while Mark hid his smirk below his book.
'And don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about Mark, I saw that stash of Asian Fanny Funs in your bedroom...'
'Sophie Dee's not in Asian Fanny Fun – she's not...'
'So, you have got a stash of Asian Fanny Funs?' Mason responded.
'Shit, you observe too carefully.' Mark said, blushing as they all laughed.
As they snickered, Mark observed Charlie, whose attention was elsewhere. He followed his gaze to where two lads were standing, one was a blonde lad with a messenger bag; It had to be Charlie's mystery guy. 'Bloody hell, he must've made quite an impression,' he said aloud.
[Two lads, they're watching]
'So did you see Logan last night?' Ennis asked his blonde mate Jace as he read over the flyers they were handing out.
'Erm, only for a bit, it was a hi and bye thing,' he lied, when in fact it was a passionate eight-minute-long-in-the-bathroom-stall hi and bye. 'So, where's your old new mate Alex?' he said hoping to change the subject. Ennis could tell he was lying, but in truth, he hated digging into people's emotional reservoirs, so he continued with the topic change.
'Jace, why are you giving me the eyebrows? – Alex is a friend…' Jace continued to give Ennis the eyebrows. "Fuck's sake! can't blokes be mates with girls nowadays? That's why you misspelled alliance,' Ennis smirked 'seriously mate, get it together.' As Jace looked down at the flyer, Ennis noticed their audience under the oak tree.
'And you're just telling me now? We've been passing these out for 10 minutes!' Jace shrieked.
'We've got an audience,' Ennis said, pointing with a slight head nod. As Jace looked over, and Ennis walked towards the group, the three under the tree hurriedly cleared the twigs and bits of grass they'd accumulated off their backs. Charlie, adjusted Mason's low cut top, and with a smile remarked, 'they looked a bit erm … cold,' which made them giggle restrainedly.
Once they were close enough, Jace began awkwardly to Charlie, 'Hey, erm, the bus right?
Charlie wanted to die, 'erm yeah, look, the staring I-I erm… ' As Charlie ran out of words and everyone waited for new ones to appear Ennis rolled his eyes, then jumped in,
'It's fine, he's not angry,' Ennis paused, waiting for Jace to validate his statement. 'He gets that a lot, with the whole beach model look in the unusually pasty Bristol, but we actually came over here to present something to you. I'm Ennis, he's Jace. Now as you were,' Ennis said nudging Jace.
Jace began his pre-prepared speech. 'Well, there's going to be a new club at Roundview, it's something they have everywhere over in America and Canada, but it's called G.S.A. … err the gay-straight alliance, which is basically a club supporting and promoting gay rights. Sometimes we hold fund raisers, have movie nights, and even organize marches. I was the leader of the G.S.A. at my secondary school, and I'm excited we're having one here at Roundview. Sounds good, yeah?'
'Yeah,' Mason responded with her breasts. 'So you're like gay?'
'Erm no… I'm bisexual - do I know you?' Jace asked as he handed out flyers.
'Probably met at a party, I get around,' she flirted. Charlie rolled his eyes. "I'm only serious, no I'm kidding. I'm Mason and these are my mates, Charlie and Mark.'
[Music: End]
[Classroom - Morning]
The bell rang, and pupils streamed into the classroom. Ennis strolled in ahead of the group, followed by Jace, Mason, Mark and Charlie, who lagged behind, cross armed. Alex was already waiting inside. Her attention immediately focused on Mason as she walked to the back table next to her. Mason stood mere inches from her laughing with a couple of jocks.
Alex analyzed Mason who playfully twirled her fingers through her hair, and even more seductively ran her fingers over one of the jock's biceps. Shortly afterwards a stocky-framed and pimply skanger brunette walked into the room, with an elitist look that read 'I own this place.'
'Oi, fag boy!' he said, stopping at Charlie's desk, he'd clearly picked up on the numerous gay pride badges that decorated Charlie's shirt and bag. 'Collectin' for that fanny op.?' He laughed loudly, and a couple of the members of the class laughed with him. Charlie blushed, but before he had time to respond, Mason responded.
'Oh shut up Theo, I bet he's seen more fanny than you have. When was the last time you got any?' She began, half snickering.
'I've... I've banged loads of girls.' Theo defended himself, but the half was enough for Mason to pick up he was lying.
'Of course you have... but you know, no one's used the word 'banged' since around year eight? It's one of those words that most people stopped using a while back – or just after they've lost their virginity. I wouldn't have expected you…'
Theo hesitated. He could feel the class's attention on him and Mason. Theo wanted to reassert his authority.
'You know what, fuck you,' he retorted.
'Uh... yeah, but no thanks. I heard roids shrunk up your tiny cock, Pimple-back of Notre Dumb-arse.' The class laughed, as Theo stuttered, before running out of anything to say. 'Seriously Theo, we're in the twentieth fucking century – no one gives a shit whether he likes to fuck guys or not, really.'
'Alright, alright, settle down,' the teacher hollered as he miserably entered the laughing room of students, ready to begin the first lesson of the year.
Alex turned to Mason, but before she could open her mouth, the teacher turned around and at Mason,
'You there, take a seat and take off those stupid glasses. We're inside.' Ennis, Jace and a few lads could be heard snickering.
As the clock ticked on, Mason sat in class furious that the teacher demanded she remove her glasses; which consequently revealed the black eye she'd gotten from the party. To make matters worse she'd had to endure periodic snickering after her totally badass introduction. 'Immature little bitches,' she thought.
Just then, the bell rang. 'I still expect all homework in by next class, I'm setting it, and I don't give a shit if it's the first lesson,' the teacher yelled over the fleeting students. As the teacher finished and joined the exiting students, Alex tapped Mason on the shoulder before she could leave the classroom.
Annoyed, Mason spun around to be greeted by the petite frame of Alex, who smiled awkwardly. Alex waited until the few stragglers exited the classroom and they were alone. 'Errr, you were at that party a few days, at the warehouse in Bedminister right?' she spat out.
'Bedminister's a whole fucking ward,' Mason thought, but shrugged her shoulders hoping to end the conversation swiftly.
'Well, I think I recognize you. I think you broke my camera,' Alex said rapidly. Mason scrunched her face in disbelief.
'Is this a joke? What, am I to pay some random for some shit camera you said I broke in fucking Bedminister?' Mason finally responded, with a quizzed look on her face that made even Alex feel confused and intimidated. Unsure if it was rhetorical, Alex searched for an answer anyway, but before she could utter another word Mason had exited the class.
[Computer Lab]
Mark sat slouched over in the back row of the computer lab, listening to the teacher drone on about the importance of computer safety. He could hear his mum now, 'sit up straight Markus!' The topic of instruction was how to pick a proper password, which quickly deviated into the importance of never meeting strangers off the 'interconnected web,' as she called it.
'Bloody hell,' Mark thought. His attention wandered across the room. He analyzed everything. He saw a portly lad dig out his wedgie, as he looked about, wondering if anyone saw; 'yeah mate, I saw you, I see everything. Thanks,' Mark thought. Mark then watched as the bloke sitting right next to him ran his fingers up the thigh of the lass on his right. As his fingers disappeared under her skirt, she shot up, erect, with a stupid look on her face, which melted into an embarrassed, yet mischievous smile. Mark couldn't believe she just sat there curling her toes and biting her lip. Finally he deviated his attention to a redhead watching a youtube video. Students on both sides of her immediately leaned in to watch.
'My mate sent me the link, the girl goes here,' she whispered. Mark tried to ignore the hushed snickering, but his interest was piqued as students all over began watching the same video. He had to know what they were on about. Mark rifled through his back pack, got out a set of head phones. He plugged them into the computer, strung them up the inside of his shirt and hid the ear buds under his hair. Then, he removed his binoculars and prepared to spy the title of their amusement. But then the lad on his left tapped him on the shoulder,
'Mate, you do know the audio's been disabled in the back row right?'
Mark looked at him for a while, 'yeah,' he lied.
'… But check this out man, this video is goin' viral,' he said typing in the link onto Mark's computer. 'That bitch goes here,' he said pointing at the screen, upon it, a video of Mason getting pummeled by four chav girls from the party. 'Look man, her tit pops out at 01:47, fuckin' mint. I swear she's got a nip ring, Lando says it's just slobber, I'd slobber all over them tits any day, yuh get me?'
[Field]
Charlie stood by the bleachers with the GSA flyer clutched to his chest. He'd mentally convinced himself he could do this 'just ask him a question, it's a question' he breathed. A few yards away on the benches he saw Ennis and Jace talking. 'Fucking hell,' he thought as he began to fantasize about the lad's naked calf muscle as Jace laced his trainers. 'Maybe I should've taken Sports Foundation? No, I hate sports!' he argued with himself. He floated closer and closer, but couldn't say anything until finally 'Jace' his mouth blurted before his mind could race back to reality and process what happened.
Ennis sensed they'd need some privacy and told his mate he'd catch him on the field. Nervously, Charlie riddled his mind for a follow up. 'I… I just wanted to know when the, uh, uhm meeting was again?' he stammered. Jace could tell he was nervous and though the time was marked in bold letters on the flyer, he answered his question.
Before Charlie could thank him, or ask another question a pasty thin male abruptly pulled Jace aside, 'I uhm wanted to talk to you about yesterday, at the party… ' he began.
'Look, Logan, I just got drunk, I swear, that was the last time… ' Jace told him. 'I know, you said that, but if you wanted to… again, I mean I… ' Logan stumbled, trying to get the words out. Jace finally responded,
'I don't think that's a good idea, you know… it's a new school year, maybe we should try new things, yeah?'
Just then, two girls walked past smiling and blushed at the two guys; Jace smiled back.
'But, what if I don't want to?' Logan said re-demanding Jace's attention. Jace looked away; you could almost see the thought process in the wrinkling of his forehead and clenching of his strong jaw.
'Well, it's like I said, new year, new options.' He reasserted to Logan, before he rejoined Charlie.
[Bus – 3pm]
[Music: Untrust Us – Crystal Castles .com/watch?v=Xqy5nrzhs0g]
Mason's phone vibrated for what must've been the 15th time since she'd gotten on the bus. Usually, she would've been on the phone gabbing to Charlie, Mark or some horny bloke, as she issued silly faces to the angry passengers she'd upset with her loud laughter. Instead, she'd ignored everyone's calls; she didn't feel like talking since the video.
'Did you see the video?'
'Shh, she's on the bus, but did you see her face?'
A couple of Roundview kids laughed just seats in front of her. Mason rolled her eyes and noticed a string of condoms fall from the boy's back pack. As her stop approached she lit a cigarette, made her way to the two, picked up the condoms, and then exhaled a massive dark cloud onto them before saying,
'You dropped these love.' Then, looking at the girl remarked, 'You two have fun now.'
'What the fuck!' the girl shrieked. 'Did you think we were… on the first day, you pervy…'
[Music: End]
As she got off the bus and feeling a bit better, Mason carelessly stepped into the road and was nearly run over by a minivan. 'Mind using the sidewalk?' Theo yelled as he and his mother exited the minivan, now parked in the driveway. Mason flipped him the finger, and with a plastic smile acknowledged Mrs. Henrie.
'Don't worry honey, it just means she likes you.' Mrs. Henrie smiled, comforting her son.
[Mason's Bedroom]
Charlie, who was on speaker phone, tried to convince Mason to forget about the video, 'it'll blow over in no time, I promise. But… let's talk about something else yeah?' he said trying to take her mind off of it. 'Did you meet any new friends?' He asked. After Mason's continued silence he went on. 'I did, met loads actually, that Roger kid fancies you - he's an arse though, and I saw you talking to that Alex girl, we've got art, she's pretty cool…'
Mason rolled her eyes, 'Right.'
'She's got this tattoo behind her ear, it's mint… wait, you sound like you don't like her?' Charlie asked when he processed her response.
'She's fucking mental okay. She came up to me like, "you broke my camera, pay me!" Bitch no, I don't know you' Mason imitated, which made Charlie giggle.
'Are you serious, she seemed so nice to everyone, she even hung with Theo in the lab.'
'Hung with Theo, in the lab?' Mason asked a bit confused and suspicious.
'Yeah, in the computer lab, I suppose you've gotta be mental if you enjoy the company of the Pimple-back of Notre Dumb-arse.' He laughed, hoping Mason would've joined in. 'Right Mace, Mason…?'
Mason had left her room, and within minutes made her way outside her flat, down the hall and to the Henrie's front door. She rung the bell hotly, waiting impatiently for someone to answer. Mrs. Henrie answered; 'Mason? We, we're in the middle of din….'
'So sorry, can I speak to Theo, it's really important' she interrupted Mrs. Henrie, who seemed quite offended. She disappeared behind the door and moments later Theo returned with a less than happy look on his face.
'Did you post that video?'
'What?' he said as if he'd been insulted. But Mason was seething with rage and grabbed him by the balls and demanded he answer her question.
Inside Mr. Henrie, who sat at the table with his wife, leaned back to see what was taking his son so long. 'Lovey, you were right, she's feeling him up right now.'
'Ay dios mio!' Mrs. Henrie said throwing down her handkerchief and motioning to the door. 'Leave it love, she's been teasing him for years, let the boy have his pay off.' Mr. Henrie smiled.
Back in the doorway Theo was wincing in pain. 'I'm waiting,' Mason demanded, 'I know you're into that computer shit.'
'Fine, I did… but I can't take it down, it's under that Alex girl's account, please!' he squeaked in a shrill, mousey tone. 'Fuckin' hell Mason!' he exclaimed as she finally let go of his balls.
[Classroom - GSA Meeting]
Jace sat at the desk watching the clock, '25 minutes past five, more members will show' he thought. So far only Charlie, Mark, Alex, Ennis and an Asian kid showed up.
'Jace...' Ennis began.
'Wait, someone's coming,' Jace interrupted, he could hear footsteps. Grabbing the club sign, he scurried into the hall, 'GSA meeting in here, glad you could come,' he hollered.
'Out of me way boyo, fuckin' puffs and their rallies,' the old janitor mumbled as he wheeled his cleaning cart down the hall.
'Oh, you're going to get your mates. Hurry back,' Jace yelled as he re-entered the room, 'so, let's begin shall we,' he smiled.
After taking roll, Jace listed the upcoming events to be marked in their calendars, but as he glanced over the club he quickly became discouraged and sighed, 'fuck it.'
'That's it then?' Ennis retorted. When Jace shook his head vertically they all packed up to leave. 'Maybe next week yeah,' he assured his mates.
'Maybe if it were somewhere fun,' Alex sighed.
'Tell your mates,' Ennis yelled to the Asian kid halfway out the door,
'Count on it,' he retorted as he flashed a sarcastic salute.
Charlie barely got to know Jace. He'd been waiting all day for this meeting; he couldn't let it end like this. 'Erm, do you want to do something?' he asked aloud to Jace. When he didn't immediately respond he realized how desperate it came out, '… as a group, so the time's not wasted.'
'I know what we can do' Alex blurted, intrigued by the idea of postponing her return home.
[Bargain Mart – Later that afternoon]
'So this is where you can get a shitload of beer for cheap, even if you're underage?' Ennis asked as the gang stepped out of his mum's SUV, in which he'd 'borrowed.'
'I said I'd get you drinks right?' Alex smiled as they entered the shoddy building. Inside the Bargain Mart was dull, dreary and disgustingly warm,
'This is lush,' Ennis retorted dryly.
The state of the store prompted them to quickly make their way to the beers and grab quite a few cases between them. As they approached the cashier they were greeted by a stifling stench.
'God, it smells like cat wee and afterbirth,' Mark retorted. An awkward silence befell the group as they processed Mark's first words of the afternoon. Alex turned back to face the cashier, mustered as much charm as she could through the odor and with a smile said, 'we'll take the lot.'
'Shit program' the sweaty cashier said, tuned into the news program on his miniature telly, upon which Ennis's father was broadcasting the news. 'But I'm going ter need some ID,' the man insisted as the adverts rolled on.
Barely over the counter top, Alex responded, 'oh, I'm flattered, but I'm not that young... Felix, lixy' she smiled as she read his name off of his tag.
'No ID, no beer,' he said apathetically.
Alex tried to charm him a bit, flirtatiously twirling her fingers in her hair. She even managed to squirm out a compliment; 'I love the way your hair flows from the sides of your head… and your back.' But all her cutesy demeanor did was anger him. His plump face was reddening. He grabbed her and yelled,
'You think I'm fuckin' playin', yeah? NO ID, NO BOOZE!'
[Music: Roadhouse Blues - Ministry's cover: .com/watch?v=vF2VMlTDX-A]
'Come on man, let her go!' Ennis said jumping in, but Felix pushed him off. He tripped and fell into a rack of goods, which slammed into and shattered the freezer glass.
Enraged, the man pushed through Mark and Charlie, and like lightning made his way over to Ennis. Panicking, Jace hit Felix with a pack of beer. 'Run!' Charlie screamed in the excitement and grabbed a few cases of beer. Ennis threw all the money he had at Felix and ran for the door. Just as they made it to the roadside, a brick, thrown by the reeling-mad cashier, flew between Mark and Alex's heads and shattered the window of the Ferric's SUV.
In panic, the lot, deviated left, and hyped on adrenaline, ran for what seemed like miles to escape the anxiety and the thrill of their accidental mischief. As the sky reddened, they came tiredly upon the park. Winded and unable to talk, no one spoke, but simply gasped for air. Breathing heavily, Alex took a seat on the floor and cracked an infectious smile, which soon turned to group-wide laughter.
[Music: End]
[Music: Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap: .com/watch?v=RTElDZGhZ-M]
Night had fallen and the gang lost all sense of time. All except Mark, who'd crafted a bin fire in the center of a clearing, had either ingested beer and or a finger full of MDMA. He squatted a few meters away, isolated from the strangers eased into friendship by drugs and mischief. But Mark wasn't so easily tainted; he didn't really trust these new friends. If they were going to get on, he had to know whether they were on the dark side or not. He watched them dance around the fire to cell phone music. They laughed at, chased and teased each other as if school children at play time.
He paid specific attention to Jace and Charlie, whose subtle and easy connection seemed a bit less innocent. It was in the simple way their glances lasted a bit too long and ended with both smirking. They were trying to be in-obvious, but Mark saw everything. The secret touches Charlie snuck to Jace's torso: With every lightning quick poke he issued, Jace giggled pedagogically as his bronze face reddened. When Jace finally grabbed Charlie's wrist to stop his flirtatious poking, Mark could tell by Charlie's hard laughter and mischievous smirk that the touch was welcomed.
[Park roads – Night]
Mila strolled looking around for a sign of teen life in the sparsely populated park. She opened her phone and checked the last message she received:
relocated to the park
'Oh my god, these instructions are shit, and why isn't anyone responding? What if I died right here in this fucking park, walking by moonlight?' she pondered cryptically. Then she heard it, in the wooded area, faint chatter and music.
'Fuck's sake,' she said looking down at her feet, which were covered by thin silver flip flops. As she stepped cautiously through the more heavily forest area of the park, she could see a light and silhouettes. She buried her hands into her thin cotton cardigan, and charged through the chilly forest air. When she got close enough, she stumbled and almost half ran into the clearing, where she saw a litter of kids around a bin-fire.
'Mila?' Jace said immediately at the sight of her, 'what are you doing here?'
'I came for your program, I got your text.' She smiled as she dusted a few loose leaves off herself.
'Oh, wow, that's really nice,' he said greeting her. 'I didn't think you'd actually come to the park.'
'Yeah, I know, it was sort of mental, but I said I'd come, I just wanted to show support,' Mila said smiling, and then she adjusted a lock of Jace's hair. Jace turned to introduce Mila to the gang, but,
'Oh my god, Mark, Charlie,' Mila squealed excitedly when she noticed her mates standing by the fire. 'Are you here for the program? Is it a small world or what? So I guess you've met Jace.' Running over to Charlie she grabbed him by the hand and whispered, 'he's the bloke I was telling you about this morning.'
