Disclaimer: I do not own Waterloo Road or any of the characters in the story
Chapter 4
The weekend flew by far too quickly for Marco's liking. Even though he had a great weekend spent out with Tiffany, Lizzie and their friends, he still spent ages stressing over his SA, he knew the consequences if he failed, he had to do well from the get go, otherwise it was going to be difficult.
So that's why when he handed his SA, his nervousness turned to dread, as everyone's SA's looked much longer, had more paper, so probably included more detail.
"Everyone else's looked like 6 pages long, mine was barely 3. That's got to mean something." He stressed over lunch with his friends.
"Remember Marco, its quality not quantity." Lizzie replied coolly scrolling through her phone. "You shouldn't stress about it, you'll be fine."
"Whatever." He sighed, resting his head on the table out of fatigue.
"How long where you up writing that thing?" Tiffany asked.
"All night, I haven't slept since Friday night." The boy murmured, half asleep. He grimaced as Lizzie slapped the back of his head. He sat up, rubbing his head where he'd just been assaulted.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"You need to look after yourself! Look at the state of you."
"Thanks Lizzie." Marco sighed sarcastically.
"I'm serious; you shouldn't be losing sleep over a stupid SA."
"It's kind of a big deal that I don't fail anything though. My parents are shipping my off to Cloverfields in London if I don't."
"Isn't that a super strict boarding school though?" Tiffany asked.
"Yeah, one of the top schools in the country though. Apparently it will knock me into shape."
"Wow; your parents sound fun." Lizzie replied rolling her eyes.
"Yep, they're the life and soul of any party." Marco retorted in the same sarcastic tone.
"Honestly, don't get too worried about it; you'll only make yourself ill."
"I guess so. I suppose I can drown my sorrows in pizza if I fail."
"That's the spirit!" Lizzie cheered.
The rest of the week seemed to be uneventful for Marco, training with the athletics team was fun, he met a few of the other team, a girl called Kacey, a boy called Harley and a boy called Lenny, who was also on the football team, and surprisingly the twin of Lisa.
However, Marco was chugging energy drinks like there was no tomorrow, and couldn't wait to just sleep all weekend, as his all-nighter had caught up to him quickly. No matter what he did to hide his fatigue, it wasn't enough, as when it finally came around to Friday, he had large dark circles round his eyes.
He slumped into the school with a coffee cup in his hand, and headed over to Lizzie. His usual appearance was slightly dishevelled, his hair was covered with a black beanie, and his eyes were half lidded.
"Oh wow, a beanie, it must be a bad hair day! Not trying to sound bad, but you don't look that great."
"I'm so fucking tired." The boy yawned, taking a drink from his coffee cup. "I'm running on caffeine 'til the end of school."
"I told you that staying up so late was a bad idea." Lizzie mumbled, not showing any sympathy.
"Save the 'I told you so' for when I can be arsed please. I seriously just need to go to sleep." The boy sighed, shaking his now empty cup.
"Well no more caffeine. It's not good for you." Lizzie snatched away his empty coffee cup.
"Okay mum." Marco joked, receiving a playful punch from the curly haired girl.
"I'm serious! You don't want that pretty face of yours getting ruined, do we?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I've seen your tumblr and Instagram." Lizzie raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Your vanity is overwhelming. How many likes did you last photo get?" She asked while scrolling through her phone.
"Right, I get it, I'm gorgeous." Marco joked. "Now you've finished stalking my profiles, do I get to return it?"
"No way!" The girl said quickly changing her tone. "A girl's blog is like her diary, only sharing what she wants; my tumblr is off limits to anyone who knows me. It's just how it goes."
"Why? Got something to hide?" The boy taunted.
"W-what, no, it's just I reblog stuff and bitch about people and I find it hard enough to get a boyfriend as it is. If my blog gets around, I'm probably going to end up as a crazy cat lady."
"Right." The boy agreed sarcastically as two made their way inside.
"Remove the hat please." A teacher said, as the pair had barley reached their lockers. Marco snatched the beanie from his head and stuffed it in his pocket with a scowl on his face.
"Awww, is someone having a bad day?" Lizzie taunted.
"School isn't even half over yet, and I'm ready to go home." The boy mumbled grabbing some stuff from his locker.
"At least we have double art, so you get to spend more time with me."
"Eww, that makes it even worse!" The boy laughed.
"Oh my god, he's drawn all of us, like he said he would!" One of the girls said, looking at Marco's sketch, since the first lesson of art was nearly over, the students were waiting for the bell to go before break.
"I love the way you draw Lizzie's hair! It's so hard to draw."
"Thanks." Lizzie replied coldly.
"Don't worry, your hair's beautiful." Marco comforted whimsically, amused by how easy the girl took offense.
"Are you two, like, an item?" One girl asked, and the pair just looked at each other and giggled.
"Nah, I don't like gingers." Lizzie replied elbowing Marco.
"I'm not ginger, my hair's not natural!"
"Fake or not, you're still a carrot top, and like I said, I don't like gingers."
"I'm sure you said you like…."
"…No, I said nothing." Lizzie interrupted. "He's such a dickhead. I have better taste."
"Me? You're the one who nearly killed me over pizza."
"And deservingly so too. I know when I find my perfect guy because I won't mind it if he steals my food."
"And they say romance is dead." Marco replied in a bored tone, resulting in a pencil being thrown off his head by the small brunette. "Plus, you're really violent."
"Only because I care darling." She giggled.
"So, you're single?" A girl asked.
"Yeah I am. I don't know if I need a serious relationship right now though."
"True, you do have a lot on, you've just moved, you're doing exams, you're on a sports team. You mustn't have time for a girlfriend."
"Why do I need a girlfriend when I have all you lovely ladies who make me happy every day? Friends always come before relationships."
Lizzie just rolled her eyes. How quickly the boy changed from over-worked, tired pain in the butt to flirty, charismatic ladies' man was beyond her. She had to admit she fell for it at first, but as charming as the act was, it was just that, an act.
After an uneventful break and the next lesson of art consisting of Marco flirting with the girls and arguing with Lizzie over some obscure topic, the bell ringing for lunch was like music to his ears.
Well it would but as he was walking out the door to the local chip shop, he was hit with the realization that quickly snapped him out of his sleep deprived thoughts, making him stop in his tracks.
"What it is?" Lizzie asked.
"I left my wallet on the kitchen bench this morning; I don't remember even picking it up this morning."
"Its fine, I'll pay, you can pay me back." Lizzie offered.
"Nah, I hate owing people money. I don't know why but I just prefer not to."
"C'mon, you can't go hungry."
"I'll be fine, I have change, I'll get a bottle of water and I'll eat later."
"You sure, you can still come along."
"And be tempted by all the food, no thanks. Last time I came along and didn't buy anything my hand nearly got torn off."
"Fine." Lizzie huffed dejectedly. "I'll see you later, and if I don't, you better not make up; 'til 2pm tomorrow or I'll hunt you down."
"Got it." Marco nodded, as the girl left with her group of friends, leaving him alone, which hadn't happened since he'd arrived, but he sought it as a perfect opportunity to go to the library while everyone would be eating and catch up on some sleep.
Walking into the library, Marco was disappointed when he heard someone typing on a keyboard, so he wasn't exactly going to go to sleep, which made his sleep deprived state seem even worse than before. He walked further into the library, seeing no point in going back to spend whatever change he had in his pocket.
Coming into sight as he walked further was the source for the tapping on the keyboard, Leo Fitzgerald. The boy was slumped in the seat, head resting in his hand as he half-heartedly typed up some assignment.
"Leo, right?" Marco asked, making the boy jump a little as he turned to face him.
"Yeah." The boy replied quietly.
"Sorry if I surprised you, I just thought you looked a bit lonely." Marco said sitting on a nearby chair. "Do you always spend your lunches here?"
"No, normally me and my brother go and get lunch, but since he's been seeing Tiffany we haven't really seen too much of each other in school."
"Wow, normally I'm avoiding my brothers like the plague." Marco stated jokingly. Leo cracked a smile. "Seriously though, do you not ever get lonely being on your own on the time?"
"I don't really have a choice, I get good grades and the head teacher's my dad. I'm hardly the person people want to be friends with."
"Ughh, I'd hate for my Dad to be head teacher."
"Yeah, it's a pain."
"I bet, but you aren't your Dad, so don't put yourself down. Even if friends are hard to come by here, they probably won't be if you head off to uni in a couple years, since most people there are really smart too." Realising what he'd just said, Marco internally cringed, and stopped himself saying anything else. 'That is not how you talk to someone who's got no friends, idiot.'
"Sorry, I didn't mean it in a bad way."
"No, I get it."
The boys continued talking, though Marco more than Leo, as the library stared filling with more students.
"Marco!" A familiar voice spoke up, as he turned and saw Lizzie waving at him.
"Fancy coming along?" Marco asked standing up.
"Nah, I'm alright."
"Well I'll see you around." Marco replied, smiling at the boy. He then made his way over to his bubbly friend.
"What were you doing with Leo?" One of his friends asked.
"He looked lonely. I was just being nice."
"Good deed of the day done, then." Lizzie enquired. Marco just smiled, walking with his friends out to the yard.
Last lesson had finally rolled around, and although Miss Mulgrew was going on about poetry, all Marco could think about was going to sleep. He was struggling keeping his eyes open as the class discussed the war poets they'd be studying, though Marco really didn't want to read poems about people dying. So when the clock delighted Marco with the news he only had a few minutes until he could go home, his concentration completely disappeared.
"I know this is your poetry class, but I have your SA's from Monday. Anyone who got below a C needs to get it redone for next week." Miss Mulgrew's statement snapped Marco out of dreamland, and he felt his stomach doing flips.
The class collectively groaned as the blonde teacher walked round putting papers back onto the desks of the students, some breathed a sigh of relief, others looked disappointed. As Miss Mulgrew put the paper on Marco's desk, he debated for a split second whether to look at it straight away, or wait 'til his sleep deprived brain could comprehend a bit more, but curiosity got the better of him, and he took a glance down, and saw a big red D on the top of the page.
'I stayed up all night, for what?' the boy just sighed as Leo was handed his paper and he could see the A at the top of the page.
'He may not have friends, but damn, I wish I was as clever as him.'
Then it dawned on Marco, if he wanted to avoid boarding school, he'd have to swallow his pride and get help, and starting racking his brain for options.
The students quickly exited the question as the bell rang.
"Hey, Leo." Marco called, as the boy turned around, he found himself instantly regretting shouting him over.
"Well done for the SA, you got an A right?" Marco asked, feeling stupid, and rather cowardly for avoiding the real reason he asked him over.
"Yeah, I was surprised myself."
Taking a deep breath, Marco just ignored his pride telling him to stop speaking.
"I know this could be a weird question, and I understand if you don't want to, but I was wondering if you could help me with my SA's."
AN: Omg this is so long, sorry :P
Leaving it there, because it's a good place to start off next chapter, but the boys are talking now at least ^_^
Thanks for every read, review, favourite or follow
See you next chapter!
