Chapter 9: We need to make a stand

"Assembly!" Mr. Little announced, knowing he was saying the one word that would send his entire registration group into groans and complaints. As the class clattered down the stairs they speculated grimly about what announcement Mr. Vaysey would have for them that morning; he only ever called assembly if he had some new rule to gleefully announce.

"He's probably just going to expel us all," Much muttered as he trailed behind Robin, Marian and Eve. "That would make life a lot easier for him."

"Yeah but then who would he have to torture?" Eve only half-joked.

"Maybe he'll surprise us," Djaq suggested hopefully as she, Allan and Will caught up with their friends.

"What d'you think he's gonna do, buy us all ice cream and give us the day off?" Allan snorted.

"Well, I'm so sorry for trying to looking on the bright side!" Djaq rolled her eyes as she elbowed her friend, and then smiled up at Will as he opened the door to the assembly hall for her.

The seven pushed their way into the back row, squabbling over who sat where. Marian and Robin managed to manoeuvre themselves into seats next to each other, and both Djaq and Much had to hide their annoyance as Allan flung himself into the chair next to Eve.

The sixth formers fell silent as Mr. Vaysey walked out onto the stage in front of them. "Good morning," he greeted them cheerfully, though his voice was laced with its permanent sneer. "Now, it had been brought to my attention that now is the time that we must begin thinking about the sixth form pantomime!"

An excited hum of chatter broke out in the hall. Every winter, the sixth form was responsible for writing, producing and performing a pantomime that was shown to all the lower years in the last week of term.

"I forgot all about that!" Eve squealed excitedly.

"Wouldn't get your hopes up, sweetheart," Allan muttered. Robin, too, was unimpressed, watching Mr. Vaysey through narrow eyes as he waited for the catch.

"I have been thinking about it," Mr. Vaysey continued, still in the same singsong voice. "And I have come to the conclusion that I would rather stick pins in my eyes than watch you skip about trying to be funny, and thinking even more of yourselves than you already do!"

The hall fell incredibly silent and still as the wide-eyed students stared up at the man, wondering how he could deliver such poisonous words in such a harmless tone.

"Have a nice day!" Mr. Vaysey chirped, and left the hall.

The tense silence was broken as angry voices began complaining, everyone filled with vociferous annoyance.

"He can't do that!" Eve hissed angrily. "I've been looking forward to doing the panto for five years!"

Robin shook his head. "Don't worry, Eve. We'll fight it."

XX

"It's easy," Robin said confidently a few hours later. "We'll just do the panto anyway. Stuff Vaysey."

Marian rolled her eyes. "Robin, do you ever think before you speak?"

"Course I do, I'm not just a pretty face," he replied with a wink.

"Then why do you say such ridiculous things?" she hissed back at him.

"What? All I'm doing is trying to stop our lives being controlled by some power-crazed hobbit!"

"If you paused for a second and stopped rushing along on your one man crusade for justice, you might actually come up with a good idea!" Marian snapped back at him. "I'm not saying we shouldn't fight back, just that we should do it intelligently."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Robin asked, his voice dangerous.

"Alright, alright!" Allan put his hands up to stop Marian retorting. "What did you have in mind, Maz?"

"My name is Marian!" she growled at him. "And stop trying to be the peacemaker, it doesn't suit you."

"Fine, I'll just let you rile Robin up and then you'll never get a snog," Allan replied, sinking back into his chair with a smirk.

As Marian blushed Robin ignored the comment and turned back to her. "All I'm saying is that we need to make a stand."

"And we can!" Marian cried, exasperated. "But we need to do it carefully. If we just do a panto, where are we going to practise? How are we going to perform it? There is no way Vaysey or Prince will let us use the hall. We need to work inside the system, make them think we're following orders, but work out a way to bend the rules without explicitly breaking them."

"Sounds brilliant," Robin said. "One question – how the hell are we going to do that?"

Marian looked back at him defiantly, then dropped her eyes. "I don't know," she admitted. "I haven't quite got that far."

XX

Much whistled to himself as he strolled out of the shop, a carton of milk swinging in his hand. It was almost dark, the streetlights casting pools of warmth onto the pavement.

About to take a left turn Much paused, considering the road ahead. He had recently worked out a route from his house to the shop that was a little longer than the way he usually walked, but coincidentally took him past Eve's house.

He decided to walk that way, telling himself that he needed the fresh air and extra exercise, and set off again. He had let Eve into his thoughts and now the pretty blonde wouldn't leave them, even though now when he summoned an image of her he saw her lying on his bed underneath Allan.

He had never dared hope that she returned his feelings, but had thought that maybe one day she would realise that he was kind, and loyal, and true, and would do anything for her. But then, out of all the boys she could have picked, it had been Allan! Allan, who was rude, and sarcastic, and insolent.

And handsome, and charming, and fun…

His only peace of mind came from the fact that ever since the party Eve had returned to her pre-party state of fending off Allan's jokey flirtations with a playful insult or roll of the eyes.

Much stumbled over his own feet as he turned the corner onto Eve's road and saw the girl in question sitting on the wall outside her house. The light from the streetlamps cast an eerie glow over her face, and she looked deathly pale. She was only wearing a tank top and shivering in the cool night air, her hands shaking as she pulled a cigarette from a packet and struggled to light it.

The surprising image of Eve with a cigarette spurred Much forwards and he was soon standing nervously in front of her. She looked up at him, startled, then turned her attention back to the cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked," Much started.

"Neither did I," she responded dryly, finally getting it lit and lifting it to her lips.

Much shuffled awkwardly, not quite sure what to do. "Are you okay?" he asked eventually.

"Fine," she replied shortly.

"Do you – " Much was interrupted by the sound of something crashing inside the house. He looked towards the building in alarm, then back to Eve, who seemed unconcerned apart from the slight tensing in her shoulders. "Eve, are you – "

Again he was interrupted by a loud noise, this time the sound of a woman yelling Eve's name. Before Much could force any response from his lips Eve had stood, ground the cigarette beneath her heel, and disappeared into the house.

He stared after her for a moment, caught in indecision, and then turned and walked away.

XX

Allan tapped his pen impatiently against his notebook, his free hand propping up his head. He didn't bother to disguise a yawn, and the Drama teacher turned to look at him.

"Oh, are we keeping you up, Mr. A Dale? So sorry," she apologised sarcastically, before returning to her lecture on set design. Allan flashed her a grin and then returned to the tapping of his pen.

He liked Mrs. Little, and knew that she wasn't really angry with him. She was young and quite pretty for a teacher, but to Allan's astonishment, she was married to Robin's bear-like registration tutor. She was fun and energetic and Allan loved their practical lessons, up on the stage in the hall; but he hated theory classes.

To Allan, drama was purely entertainment, getting to stride around and show off on a stage. It was the only thing he really liked at school, and his best subject – he was so used to creating stories and putting on a face for the public that playing a different person came naturally to him. Drama shouldn't be sitting in a classroom, taking notes on naturalistic set dressing.

Finally the bell rang and he grabbed his bag, ready to make a bolt for freedom. He was almost at the door…

"Allan, will you stay behind a moment please?" Mrs. Little called from behind him. Allan groaned and turned round, hoping that he hadn't gone too far this time – he really didn't want a detention.

"Yes, Miss?" He walked up to her desk, smiling at her winningly.

"I have to say I've been disappointed not to see you at Drama club this term," she said to him. "You've got great potential; it's a shame that you won't explore it further."

Allan blinked at her, for once stunned into silence. He had great potential at something other than getting into trouble?

"The thing is, Miss, its after school," he explained.

"And you are busy after school?" she asked.

"Well, yeah." Allan shrugged.

"May I ask what you're doing?"

"Homework and that," Allan replied, shrugging again. "And the Playstation."

Mrs. Little sighed. "Honestly Allan, I believe you could be a great actor if only you applied yourself. It's unfortunate that we don't get as much time as I would like to perform in class; the Drama club would be a great way for you to gain more experience."

"Not being funny, Miss, but I think I'd explode if I had to spend a second longer than necessary at school," he told her. "Extra curricular activities aren't really my thing."

Mrs. Little eyed him appraisingly, and then sighed again. "Well, if you change your mind, it's tonight. And I'd love to see you there."

She turned back to her desk and Allan, knowing he had been dismissed, scarpered from the room before she could try and rope him into something else hideous. He chuckled to himself as he headed to the common room, finding it hilarious that someone would actually ask him to voluntarily stay behind at the end of the day.

He collapsed into his usual chair in the common room, Robin, Marian, Will and Djaq all looking at the new arrival. "What's so funny?" Will asked, seeing the smirk on his friend's face.

"You'll never guess what Mrs. Little just asked me!" he replied. "She wants me to join the Drama club! Stay after school with the nerds and the teacher's pets, unlikely!"

Will just shook his head as Djaq giggled and Robin laughed. Marian, however, was staring at Allan with wide eyes.

"That's it!" she breathed.

"What's it?" Allan replied. "Please don't tell me you think it's a good idea."

"It's a BRILLIANT idea!" Marian replied. "We should all join!"

Robin, Allan, Djaq and Will were all staring at her in horror.

"Not being funny but you lot can't act to save your lives," Allan replied.

"Exactly!" Marian grinned, still wide eyed with excitement. "You don't have to be good actors in a pantomime." She emphasised the words pantomime and slowly a grin spread across Robin's face.

"You mean, join the club and get them to put on a panto?" he checked his understanding.

Marian nodded eagerly. "We all join, any other sixth former that wants to be in the panto joins too, and we talk Mrs. Little into putting on a panto at Christmas instead of the play they normally do. Vaysey can't stop us because it's through the Drama club, but we still get to do it."

"You," Robin said slowly, "Are a genius!" He grabbed Marian's shoulders and dragged her towards him, planting a rough kiss on her cheek. "Allan, when does the club meet?"

"Tonight," Allan told him, looking slightly shell-shocked by the turn of events.

"Perfect." Robin beamed round at the gang. "Meet in here after school."

XX

Mrs. Little sighed as she walked into the school hall and saw the ragtag bunch assembled for the Drama club. No matter how much she advertised it, it had never been very popular. There were a few studious A Level Drama students, a collection of overeager year sevens, and a couple of year nines she had put in detention. It was almost impossible to put together a decent play with the cast she had in front of her, but they all enjoyed it, and that was what mattered.

She was just disappointed that Allan A Dale hadn't taken her invitation.

"Good afternoon," she greeted the students warmly. "Have you all got your copies of The Angel of Death?" Everyone except the sulking year nines nodded, pulling their copies of the play out of their bags.

"Wait!" a familiar voice cried behind her and she laughed. Trust Allan to make an entrance. Turning around, she was shocked to see a group of seven sixth formers tripping down the stairs.

"You're joining the club?" she asked Allan. "And you brought new members?"

"Sort of!" Allan replied. He slung an arm around his teacher's shoulders and led her towards the gang. "We've got a bit of a proposition for you, Miss."

"Oh?" she replied sceptically. "And what might that be?"

"Well, you know the sixth form panto has been cancelled? Well, we really want to do one, and we were hoping…" he trailed off.

"We were thinking maybe we could do it through the Drama club," Marian said, looking at her hopefully. "Everyone in the club can be in it too, but loads of the sixth formers will join and we'll write it and do the costumes and stuff."

"I don't think Mr. Vaysey would be very pleased," Mrs. Little said. "I'd love to help, but…"

"Please, Mrs. Little!" Robin interrupted. "This means a lot to us, and we'd love your help. We need your help."

"Honestly Miss, it means a lot to us," Eve chipped in, and the others nodded fervently.

"Well…" Mrs. Little considered them and sighed. "Flattery will get you everywhere young man," she said teasingly to Robin. "And does this mean you'll be joining us after all?" She directed her question at Allan, and he nodded. "I'll do it on one condition," she agreed finally.

"Anything!" Marian said quickly.

"Allan has to stay in the club until the end of the year, even when the panto is finished." Mrs. Little set out her terms.

"He'll do it," Marian agreed swiftly, ignoring Allan who was gaping at her.

"Then we have ourselves a deal." Mrs. Little shook Marian's hand and then turned away, laughing at the expression on Allan's face.


Author's Note: I am feeling so weird right now. I had my last exam on Friday and came home from uni yesterday, so I am now no longer a student!! Three years of lectures, seminars, essays, exams are all over...not to mention a lifetime of education. It's a very weird feeling!

Anyway, I am still reliving my sixth form days through this! We did a panto and, if I may say so myself, it was awesome ;-) we did Aladdin and it was so much fun! Haven't decided which panto our favourites are going to be doing yet though...

Oh, and as an aside, I was looking for a play that the Drama club could be doing and saw one called The Angel of Death! So of course it had to be that!!

Thank you for all the lovely reviews :)