Getting to the end of my editing. I'll probably end it on this chapter or the next one (as at the moment I'm fairly happy with the field trip ones.)
Wally West sat in his bedroom, still in his pyjamas, staring at his two possible outfits for the day. The first - and safe - outfit was a pair of blue jeans and a red t shirt. The second - and more dangerous – were black trousers and a black t shirt with a half-shadowed, red devil face printed across the front. The dangerous thing about this outfit, however, was the pair of 'devil horns' and tube of temporary black hair-dye sitting on top.
The boy stood up and began to pace around the room, mumbling to himself. The reason the second outfit was so dangerous, he thought bitterly to himself, was because of that new Head Teacher, Mr. Wilson. He remembered it well; yesterday, over the loud speakers, an announcement had been delivered by the man, relaying that there was so be no Hallowe'en cheer on threat of detention.
Wally made his decision. Grabbing his decided outfit he marched into the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged, only to bump into his little sister.
"Finally! I've been waiting age-AH! What did you do to your HAIR!?" the girl yelped, leaping backwards as she caught sight of the black streaks in Wally's carrot-coloured hair.
"I've dyed it! For Hallowe'en," Wally replied with a grin. His sister frowned and arched an eyebrow.
"Isn't Hallowe'en banned at your school now?" she enquired. She was fourteen years old, and in her last year at Middle School.
"…Well, yeah…" Wally grinned. "But who cares? It's a free country!"
The girl's green eyes did not waver, and instead continued to stare him down. "Your school's not, from what I hear."
"Eh, well…Hey! Are those pancakes I can smell?" Nose in the air, he sped past his sister and threw himself down the stairs, several steps at a time, before landing neatly in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
His mother, who was by the stove making pancakes, glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Morning, Sweetie. Sleep well?"
"Yep," he replied, eyes fixed on the stove.
Mary West's smile faded suddenly as she took note of his streaked hair and dark clothing. "I thought you weren't allowed to dress up for Hallowe'en at school," she said.
"Wilson changed his mind," Wally lied before quickly digging into the steaming plate of pancakes she had just placed in front of him. He scoffed them down within a few minutes and quickly fled the room after chugging down a glass of orange juice.
Upstairs, he grabbed a bag and threw in a few items he would need then left it next to his school bag so he wouldn't forget it. The last twenty minutes before he had to leave were used to finish his History homework.
Twenty minutes later, he grabbed his sister and dragged her out of the house to drop her off at her school. Jump Middle School was only a short walk away from the house, but Mary West and her brother, Barry, didn't like the thought of her walking on her own, so they got Wally to walk her to school every morning.
Unfortunately, his sister wasn't up to walking at their usual brisk pace, and was being rather difficult.
"Why are you in such a rush, anyway? We've got fifteen minutes, and the bus stop is, like, five minutes from my school…which is five minutes away!" she said, pouting slightly. Wally sighed in frustration.
"One, there's something I have to do and two, we only have ten minutes."
The girl looked down at her watch and grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah…" She started walking at a more normal pace, but gave him a questioning look. "What do you have to do?"
"Nothing!"
"You just said there was something you had to do, though."
Wally glared at his sister, but knew he wouldn't win and so replied, "I just need to pick something up."
"What do you need to pick up?"
"…Something…that is none of your business…" Brother and sister fell into silence, but she had purposely slowed down her pace, wasting time. She saw, from the corner of her eye, Wally slow down to glance at a shop and then at his watch.
"Flower's Flower Shoppe?" she questioned. Wally turned to give her an annoyed looked.
"Yeah…so…I need to pick up a flower."
"Let's go get it then!" Grinning widely with a sly glint in her eyes, she grabbed Wally's arm and dragged him into the shop.
It was a neat, square room, with a few rows of brightly coloured flowers, arranged into pretty bouquets in paper wrappings. They ranged from simple and elegant, to bountiful and extravagant. A small bell above the door tinkled as they entered, alerting a frail man behind the counter, whose white hair looked in need of a good combing, of their presence.
"Good Morning, Wallace," Mr. Flower said, smiling at his regular customer. Wally grinned back and shook off his younger sister. He had long since gotten over the irony and coincidence between Mr. Flower's name and job. "You want the usual, I presume?" he asked, stepping out from behind the counter, toward a basket of fresh red roses.
"That's right. Oh, and this is my sister." He gestured the girl who smiled politely.
"Yes, nice to meet you," Mr. Flower said with a wavering smile. He looked over the roses for a few seconds before picking up the reddest rose of the bunch and handing it to Wally. "Have you told the young lady, yet?"
"Eh…almost…But she kind of ran off before I could say anything," Wally admitted, somewhat sadly.
"Ah, don't let it get you down, son. You'll get her in the end."
Wally gave him a grin as he grabbed a handful of money from his pocket, counted out the right amount and dropped it on the desk. "Thanks, Mr. Flower."
"You're welcome, son. You'd best hurry and be on your way," Mr. Flower added, glancing at the wooden clock on the wall. Wally, after carefully transferring the rose to a small box which he put in his bag, grabbed his sister's hand and propelled her out of the shop.
"Who's the rose for?" was the first thing she said as they ran down the road towards her school.
"A girl."
"That's a relief."
"You're hilarious," Wally commented flatly.
"I know. And I'm serious. Who's it for?"
"You wouldn't know her."
"Yeah," she nodded. "All the more reason for you to tell me!"
"Eh…no."
"Please! Describe her at least!"
Wally gave his sister a long, hard look before sighing in submission. "Well…she's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She's strong-willed, stubborn, and doesn't take rubbish from anyone. But she's a good person, loyal to her friends, funny, honest. She doesn't throw herself at people like some girls do…she's different. And not just in looks – although she does have pink hair, which is a little odd."
"Awesome," his sister commented. "Pink hair, I like her already."
"Wait 'till you meet her…" Wally had a rather uncharacteristically dreamy smile on his face.
"Can't wait!"
"…Actually, maybe you shouldn't meet her. You might scare her off." Wally grinned. He stopped in his tracks as they had finally reached the Middle School building. The girl sighed and stopped as well, glancing at her brother.
"Not funny."
"Anyway." He put on an over-the-top, motherly voice. "Have a good day, sweetie. And remember not to talk to strange people you don't know."
"Yeah, yeah…."
A few yards away from the brother and sister, a car had pulled up against the pavement. It was a fairly large, expensive car, and dark blue in colour. The woman in the front seat had fair skin and a head of curly black hair which contrasted with her pale blue eyes. Next to her, in the passenger seat, sat a teenager who looked much like the woman, the only obvious difference being that her face was longer, thinner and her hair was pin straight
Stormi's body was twisted around the seat, watching two young boys clamber out of the car. Mateo and Marcus Beecher grinned and waved to the car.
"Muchas Gracias, Senora Rosewood!" they chorused in Spanish before running off to find their friends. The twin boys were in the lowest grade of Middle School.
"Why is it they always insist on speaking in Spanish unless my mother is around?" Karen mumbled from the back seat as the car started up again as Stormi's mother began driving to Jump City High.
"'Cause annoying you is their favourite game?" Stormi suggested with a smirk.
"If you were me, you wouldn't joke like that," Karen mumbled.
"If I were you, I'd be in jail for murder," she pointed out. It was an exaggeration of the truth; she couldn't stand the two boys most of the time.
"True…" Karen shrugged. "You going to Kitten's party tonight?"
"Ha! No." Stormi shook her head with a laugh. But before she could continue, her mother explained.
"Those sorts of parties are full of alcohol, drugs and other nasty frivolities," she said. Her voice had a thin, nasal quality to it. "Besides, it would no doubt end long after Stormi's bed time."
Stormi's face flushed pale pink as she glared at her mother. "Mum!" she groaned, ignoring the snorts of laughter from Karen.
"Don't you use that tone with me, young lady," Mrs. Rosewood said, frowning. Stormi sighed and looked away.
"Karen, mention anything at school, and I will come after you with a pitch fork."
"Ooh, scary."
"I mean it!"
"Stormi! We do not threaten people like that!" her mother snapped.
The girl huffed, and didn't speak again for the remainder of the journey.
As usual, the two girls got to school with a lot of time to spare, and so it wasn't until fifteen minutes later that the buses began to arrive. Students poured out of them and into the school grounds and building, including a bashful looking Garfield Logan. In addition to his school bag, on his arm was also hanging a plastic carrier bag.
"C'mon, Jizelle! I've been apologising for two days now!" he cried, his pleading eyed locked on the pink-haired girl, who merely gave him the cold shoulder. After his match making plans between Jizelle and Wally and Gabby and Garth had gone wrong, it hadn't taken long for them to trace it all back to their sneaky, green friend.
"Gar, just because Gabby caved so quickly, doesn't mean I'm going to," she said coolly. Although Gabby hadn't completely forgiven him, her behaviour was a lot less hostile than Jizelle's.
"Well, Gabby's nice," Gar mumbled.
"Too ready to forgive, more like," Toni said. "Thanks to you she fell into the fountain."
"How was I supposed to know she was hydrophobic?" Gar asked, pouting.
"Aquaphobic, you mean," said Rachel. "Hydrophobia is what you get when you have rabies."
"Whatever. But she's forgiven me, and that's all that matters!" said Gar, throwing his arms in the air before grabbing Jizelle's hand. "Please, Jizelle! I'm sorry!"
"Fine!" The pink-haired girl sighed in exasperation. "I forgive you! Just promise to not try anything like that with us again!"
"I promise!" He nodded quickly, slowing down slightly to let his friends get ahead of him then whispered slyly to himself, "They won't involve you guys…"
During form time…
It was easily the most boring Hallowe'en Jump City High had had in a long time. No one was dressed up, the corridors were plain and the cafeteria had been banned from supplying any Hallowe'en-themed foods, such as the spider-shaped cookies they'd had last year.
Gar sat, staring forlornly at the door as Miss Periwinkle droned on about…whatever it was she was talking about; probably something about the school trip coming up in a few weeks. He glanced up at the clock quickly and saw he had ten minutes until the end of first lesson.
Quietly, so as not to draw the attention of Rachel sitting next to him, he pulled a small piece of paper from his bag and began to write a few lines in his best handwriting. He then held up the paper to admire his handiwork. The paper read;
Are you in love, but don't know if that special someone loves you back?
Have you got two friends who are crazy for each other, but won't admit it?
If you answered yes to either of the above questions, then you need The Love Man!
Found in room 99 at Lunchtime on Monday and Thursday.
Gar smirked to himself. Phase one; complete. He glanced at Rachel but she hadn't seen anything. He slipped the piece of paper into his pocket and stuck his hand into the air, waving it above his head to draw attention to himself. Miss Periwinkle gave a weary sigh and said, "Yes, Garfield?"
"Can I go to the bathroom, please?"
She nodded and motioned for him to go. "Be quick."
Gar leapt to his feet and ran out of the room but, instead of going left to the toilet, he turned right and tore down the corridor toward the Pupil Services.
Pupil Services was a small room with pale green walls, run by a couple of teachers. It was where students could get work photocopied, scanned, laminated or even printed out if unable to with the library printers. There was a little door to the left which led to the Nurse's office next door, and to the right a door to behind the reception desk.
Gar knocked on the door and entered the room. There was only one teacher in; a man with greying hair and a large nose. He turned around and looked at Gar with raised eyebrows. "Can I help you?"
"I need to photocopy something," he said, holding up the small piece of paper.
The man nodded and held out his hand, gesturing to Gar to give him the piece of paper. Gar hesitated before handing it over. The man, without looking at it, placed it in the photocopier and asked, "How many copies?"
"Twenty please."
"Do you want it enlarged?"
"No. Same size."
"I'll photocopy it onto A5 paper then," he said, tapping a few details into the machine. He placed a few sheets of A5 paper into a slot in the side and pressed the 'Start' button. A few minutes later, Gar walked out of Pupil Services, holding a small stack of paper. For the remainder of form, he went around sticking the paper onto notice boards throughout the school with blue tack.
He had just finished sticking up the last one when he a couple of doors opened and students began flooding into the corridor, heading for their first lesson. Checking his timetable, Gar found he had History first. He realised - to his luck - that he was already standing outside his classroom and so leant casually against the wall and waited for his classmates to arrive.
Jizelle appeared first. She leant against the wall next to Gar and looked at him with arched eyebrows. "Where'd you go in form?"
"…The bathroom…" Gar replied whilst shifting slightly to block the notice he had just put up.
"Tch. That doesn't take fifteen minutes," Jizelle said, shaking her head.
"Dude, what do you want? I'll tell you exactly what I did in their if that's what you want to know!" Gar exclaimed, waving his arms.
"No." There was a look of disgust on her face.
"That's what I thought," he mumbled, folding his arms. He looked to the side and noticed Roy striding over with Richard. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with the top undone so that part of his chest was on show, skinny black jeans and dark red fingerless gloves. His normal sunglasses had been swapped for a pair of dark red shades and fake blood was smeared around his mouth. Richard was shaking his head as they walked.
"You do know that Mr. Jones is going to kill you when he sees you, right?" Richard said. Roy chuckled.
"Yeah, well. What are they going to do about it?"
"Force you to take it off and give you detention?"
Roy just shrugged. "Well, at least I wasn't a total idiot like Wally. I still have the clothes I came in this morning with, so when we get caught we'll look normal and he'll freeze from going around with no shirt on."
Richard sighed and went silent before freezing and staring at him. "Wait, 'we'?"
"You didn't think we'd forget you and Garth did you, Richie?" He held up a plastic bag and grinned. Richard looked quite unamused.
"I am not dressing up."
"Yeah you are. We're starting a rebellion against Wilson and all these rules he's made." He lowered the bag and raised an eyebrow at Richard – though this couldn't be seen behind the sunglasses. "So, are you in or are you chicken?"
Richard frowned and glared, but said nothing.
"Well, whichever you choose; you're still doing it. You've got no choice in the matter." Roy smirked. However, just then Mr Jones, a large, dark-haired man, came around the corner with a laptop tucked under his arm. Roy ducked his head and shuffle behind Richard, concealing most of his outfit from view. Richard snorted in laughter and shook his head.
Break -
"Vic! Looking good!" Gar praised, grinning widely as Victor turned on the spot. The blue sections of his machinery had turned a deep, vicious red, and the metal had been spray-painted black.
"Yeah, I got my dad to help reconfigure some of the tech. Then I painted the rest of it black. It was easy," Vic said, inspecting on arm proudly. He shifted his gaze to Gar and commented, "You don't look too bad yourself, grass stain."
Gar glanced down at himself. His hair had been brushed upwards so that his pointed ears were on show. Bits of green, matted 'fur' had been stuck on his face, hands and arms, and the remaining skin visible was decorated with fake scratches and bruises. "I try…"
Meanwhile, Wally and Roy were in the boy's bathroom, leaning against the wall and smirking. They were still decked out in their Hallowe'en clothes, having managed to avoid getting detention thus far.
"You guys done yet?" Roy asked, looking over at the two closed doors opposite them.
"I'm not getting changed. We'll only get in trouble," Garth called from his cubicle.
"Exactly," Richard said from the next cubicle along.
"Scaredy-cat," Wally taunted. There was a sigh, a grumble, and a few minutes later Richard and Garth emerged from the cubicles, looking particularly unhappy. Richard was clad in black, ripped jeans and a dishevelled t-shirt with fake blood splatters. Wally cornered him and began sticking fake wounds on his neck and face, and smearing on brown and red face paint, to the amusement of Roy.
Garth, meanwhile, was sporting a black suit with a matching cape, the lining of which was red. It had a high collar that tickled the back of his ears. In his mouth was a pair of fangs, smeared in fake blood.
Richard looked over at him and frowned. "How come he gets to be Dracula, and I have to be a…whatever I am?"
"A zombie and because he's got the hair to pull it off," Roy replied. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked the time then grinned. "C'mon Richie; we've got a Geography lesson to go to." The four boys left the bathroom, two somewhat hesitantly, and split to go to their lessons.
Outside Geography
"I feel silly," Richard mumbled, tugging at his t shirt self-consciously as they waited outside their classroom. "You do realise we're the only ones dressed up, right?"
"Nuh-huh. That green dude's dressed up," Roy said, jabbing his thumb in Gar's direction.
"Well, he's green," Richard replied with a shrug. "That doesn't count."
"What about his two friends?" he carried on, looking at Toni and Jizelle who, with their pale skin grouped with make-up and gothic clothing, resembled witches.
"They always look like that."
"They do?"
"Richard, Roy; what on earth are you wearing?" The speaker was Mr. Mod, who was staring at the two boys with wide eyes.
"Uh, clothes…" Roy said. The teacher glared.
"No funny backchat. Did you miss the announcement yesterday telling students there was to be no dressing up?"
"Oh yeah," Richard murmured, tapping his chin. "Now you mention it…"
Mod twitched and pointed to the classroom door. "In. I'll deal with you two after the lesson."
"Is that going to make us late for Tech?" Roy started to say but was cut off.
"IN!"
The two boys scurried into the classroom and sat down. Richard was glaring at Roy. "I told you we'd get into trouble."
"Oh well."
Gar, meanwhile, was sitting in his usual seat, keeping his head down above his notebook. He had seen Mod get annoyed with Richard and Roy over their choice of outfit, and was hoping not to be spotted himself. Toni, Jizelle, Kole and Gabby exchanged glances and shook their heads.
In History
Garth and Wally, having managed to sneak into the classroom unspotted, were sitting at the very back with their heads bent over their work, looking unusually studious. Vic was sitting near them in a similar manner. He knew the teacher had already noticed his change in appearance, but hadn't said anything; though he did continuously glance at him strangely.
Rachel, like Toni and Jizelle, was looking witch-like, with her purple hair and eyes and grey skin. It didn't help that many of her clothes were her mother's cast offs, and her mother had had a vampiric taste in fashion.
Lunch
Soon enough, fourth period was over and the students of Jump City High flooded to the cafeteria to eat lunch. Somehow, no one had yet been caught, apart from Richard and Roy. However they had snuck out of the Geography classroom before Mod could reprimand them.
Of course, all good things had to come to an end. Richard, Roy, Garth and Wally were walking down the corridor when they bumped into Mr Wilson.
"Ah sh-" Roy started to say then saw the look the Head teacher was giving him and quickly changed his exclamation. "Shoot…"
"And what, pray-tell, are you three doing in those…costumes?" Mr Wilson asked. His voice was dangerously calm as he narrowed his grey eyes.
"Uhh…"
"I suggest you march to the little boys' room and get changed," he said. After a pause he added. "And then report to room 101 after school for detention. And if you don't turn up," he fixated the four with a dangerous glare, "things will be much worse."
They gulped and nodded then Mr Wilson walked away.
"Well, we'd better go get changed," Garth said, turning to walk in the direction of the bathroom, but Roy stopped him.
"Why should we do that?"
"Um, because Wilson just told us to…" Garth replied.
"And? All we got to do is stay out of his way. Besides, Wally here doesn't have anything to change back in to." He turned to give the red-gone-black haired boy an unimpressed look. Wally grinned and laughed sheepishly.
"Whoops."
Mr Wilson wasn't done with his rounds of doom. He strode through the school building, barking out orders ever five minutes; telling people to 'Straighten up their clothes', 'wash that grot off their face', 'tame that unruly hair' and to 'do up their shoelaces'. It was quite ridiculous. Eventually he got to the courtyard, where a group of friends were walking toward their usual table beneath a large tree.
"You five, what are you dressed as?" he asked from behind the group. Gar and Vic froze whilst Kori, Rachel, Kole, Jizelle, Toni and Gabby turned around.
"Uhh…This is how I always look?" Gar tried.
"There was…uhh…a malfunction with my machinery?" Vic said, obviously making it up on the spot. Slade Wilson turned his gaze to Toni, Jizelle and Rachel.
"And you thee? What are your excuses?"
"Excuses? For what?" Jizelle wanted to know, frowning.
"Dressing up," said Mr. Wilson, slowly.
"What do you mean, dressing up?" Toni demanded, folding her arms and looking quite insulted. "This is what we always look like!"
Her friends all nodded desperately. Wilson arched an eyebrow, not convinced. "All five of you are to get changed immediately, and then report to room 101 for detention after school." And with that he walked off.
Jizelle and Toni were not best pleased. "How…how…how dare he!" Toni spluttered.
"Who does he think he is!? We can't help the way we look!" Jizelle cried in anger.
"Um, well, you didn't have to wear all of that eyeliner…or the gothic-y clothes…" Kole began timidly but whimpered when Jizelle aimed her fiery glare at her.
"I don't care. I am NOT going to that detention!" Jizelle said firmly.
"We kind of have to," Rachel said bluntly, not looking that bothered. "If we don't, we'll probably be in worse trouble."
"Darn, we got spotted," Gar mumbled.
"Still, lasted two lessons," Vic said with a shrug. Gar began peeling the fake fur off of his skin as the group carried on walking toward their table. Vic was fiddling with the control pad beneath a panel on his arm. He frowned after a few seconds and sighed. "Darn, I can't re-configure the colour of my body parts…Looks like I'm staying black and red until I get home."
Later, in French
Richard, Roy and Wally were sitting at the back of the classroom, the latter two looking strangely interested in the worksheets they were meant to be translating into English, whilst the former was staring off in some random direction.
"Je mangerais," Roy mumbled with atrocious pronunciation and a frown. "Je mangerais…um…" He looked at Richard, who was sitting between him and Wally, and nudged him. "What does 'Je mangerais' mean?"
Richard didn't reply at first, so submerged in his thoughts that the real world had little effect on him. Roy leant back in his chair and tilted his head to see what Richard was staring at, and was quite surprised to find his friend's eyes level with the pretty, red-headed girl who hung out with a bunch of freaks. What was her name? Carrie? Coral? Kori. That was it, Kori.
Roy smirked slightly, returned to his original position and began to jab Richard's shoulder until he snapped back to reality.
"What?"
"'Je mangerais'; what does it mean?"
"I don't know, I'm not there yet," Richard replied with a shrug. Roy opened his mouth again but Richard cut him off. "And there's no point in asking Wally; he's still on the first sentence. Both boys looked at Wally West who was muttering to himself.
"Bonjour, je m'appelle Louise…Um…Je m'appelle…" Wally tapped his head, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Roy and Richard shook their heads and, whilst the latter got back to work, the former twisted around in his seat to ask the girl next to him.
"Hey, Stormi?"
"Hm?" The girl didn't look up, but acknowledged that he was talking to her, though there was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"What does 'Je mangerais' mean?"
"Uhh…je mangerais…" Stormi looked up, confused. "How on earth are you spelling that?"
Roy leant over to point to the mysterious phrase on her worksheet. His body was getting to be a little too close to comfort, though Stormi couldn't tell if this was on purpose or not. Cautiously she craned her neck forward to read the phrase. "Oh, je mangerais. Um, I will eat, I think."
"Oh yeah, I knew that."
He sat back at his own desk and continued to scribble down on his worksheet. Not ten seconds later he was back. "What does that mean?"
"…A banana."
"Ooh…and that?"
"…a towel."
"Uh-huh…and that?"
Stormi scowled, getting more and more annoyed. Not even looking at what he was pointing at, she said, "A UFO."
"Ah…" Roy started writing it down then realised something. "Wait, that means 'but my room didn't have a UFO.' That's ridiculous."
"Life's ridiculous."
"Stormi!" Roy whined, quite loudly. The teacher looked over.
"I'm trying to do my work," she growled.
"Stormi!"
"No."
"Stormi…" It was become less of a whine and more of a taunt. He touched her arm to get her attention which was when Stormi snapped. She slapped his hand away from her and glared daggers.
"Will you just shut up!"
"Miss Rosewood, what are you yelling about?" Mr Voyage demanded angrily.
"Roy was-" Stormi began to say but found her sentence being finished for her.
"-asking for help because I got stuck on a couple of words; and she was refusing to help me."
"Stormi," the teacher said sternly.
"But…"
Roy smirked and, as if to twist the dagger in deeper, added, "And she deliberately told me a wrong answer."
"Stormi. Detention, after school."
"But-"
"Back to work."
The teacher marched back to the front desk as the students, who had stopped abruptly to watch, went back to work. Roy was smirking widely and Stormi was staring at him, open mouthed.
"I am going to kill you, Harper," Stormi muttered, before getting back to her work, though all concentration was lost. Joseph and Karen, who were sitting at the desk next to her, exchanged worried looks.
After school…
"See ya tomorrow," Karen said, getting into her mother's car.
"Yeah, see ya," Stormi replied, eyes dull. Usually, Mrs Beecher would give her a lift home but, due to afterschool detention, that wasn't going to happen. Karen gave her a sad look through the window before the car drove away.
Kori waved to her friends whilst clambering onto her bus, alone. Toni, Jizelle, Gar and Vic waved sadly back as Rachel approached them. Gabby, on her way out of the gates, gave them a half smile before disappearing into the streets. Kole had already boarded her bus. The five friends sighed quietly then turned and walked back into the school building, heading toward room 101. Already inside were Roy, Richard, Garth, Wally, and a few other kids. Vic recognised a couple of them as Goliath, also known as "Mammoth", and his friends Givon and Seymour.
They took seats in the middle of the room and looked around boredly. The teacher wasn't there yet. Rachel took out a book and started to read whilst her friends busied themselves huffing grumpily or twiddling their thumbs. Jizelle looked up and noticed Wally staring at her. She arched an eyebrow to which he responded by flushing and looking away.
Stormi entered the room a couple of minutes later and sat down in the nearest available seat. Shortly after this, a few other people entered, and finally the teacher arrived. She was about thirty, possibly younger, and didn't look too pleased to be there. She did a quick head count, nodded – satisfied in the knowledge that everyone had turned up – and proceeded to sit down at the teacher's desk. From her bag she took a magazine and began absently flicking through it.
The students glanced around at each other. Quickly, Richard and Wally began communicating using a paper aeroplane thrown above Garth's head.
'Can you give me a lift home?' Richard wrote.
'Alfred not able to get you?' Wally scribbled back.
'No'
Wally paused for a second before writing, 'We can give you a lift'
'Thanks'.
Rachel was deeply engrossed in her book, and only half noticed when something hit the back of her head. She had registered the light tap as the screwed up piece of paper collided with her skull, but didn't think much of it and chose to ignore it.
Gar also felt something hit him and, instead of ignoring it, he swivelled around and glared at Mammoth, Givon and Seymour, who were sniggering behind their hands. Gar pouted, leant down to grab the paper-ball, and chucked it back. It hit Mammoth right between the eyes. He blinked in surprise and looked down to the desk where it had fallen. Slowly, he picked it up and stared at it. His head snapped up to stare at Gar, who had quickly swivelled in his seat and was looking to the front, feigning innocence. Givon growled and grabbed the paper ball from Mammoth. From his bag he snatched a pencil and scrawled, 'you'd better look out after detention, snot face, cuz we're gonna get you!' before chucking it back.
Gar blanched upon reading the note and scrunched it up again before hurling it at the bin in the corner. He sighed and leant back in his chair, looking around boredly, until his eyes focussed on Wally. The ginger boy, whose hair was still streaked black, kept glancing in the direction of Jizelle. She remained oblivious, and was more interested in passing notes to Toni.
Shifting his gaze to Richard, Gar dug his notebook out of his bag and scribbled something on a plain page. He ripped it out and slid the paper onto Vic's desk. It read; 'Don't you think Richard and Kori would make a cute couple?'
Vic didn't look very happy. He frowned and, drawing out his own pen, wrote down a quick reply.
'If you say so. Don't get me involved in this. It's girl talk.'
Gar read the note, the sides of his mouth tugging downwards, and then scribbled something else. 'Come on dude. Honest thoughts.'
Vic sighed heavily before eventually giving in. 'Okay then. They'd make a cute couple' he wrote to please Gar then chucked it back.
Gar began scribbling almost straight away. 'I think we should get them together.'
'No way. I am not getting involved!' The taller boy sent Gar a hard look, emphasising his decision. Gar pouted and exhaled sharply, accidentally blowing the paper from his desk, over the head of Wally and onto Roy's desk. No one else had noticed, all too busy being bored.
Roy blinked slowly as he noticed something white fall into his line of vision and land on the plastic-wood surface of the table. He glanced behind him, but no one gave him eye contact. Curious, he picked up the note and read the conversation then smirked. The hand writing wasn't familiar to him, but the idea it proposed was intriguing. A small smirk spread slowly across his face; Kori was the girl Richard had been staring at during French, and the girl he had helped up a few weeks ago. He could remember teasing Richard about it with Wally.
The smirk grew as Roy looked left at Richard, who was leaning backwards in his chair; head tilted toward the ceiling and looking half dead then returned his gaze to the scrap of paper containing the conversation. Whilst thinking up some no doubt cunning plan, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, another piece of paper scuffed and wrinkled on the floor by his foot. It must have fallen out of someone's book, he decided as he leant down to pick it up.
Are you in love, but don't know if that special someone loves you back?
Have you got two friends who are crazy for each other, but won't admit it?
If you answered yes to either of the above questions, then you need The Love Man!
Found in room 99 at Lunchtime on Monday and Thursday.
Roy's eyebrows rose slightly in interest. That was convenient… He carefully folded the Love Man advert and slipped it into his pocket then checked the time on his watch; still another half hour to go. With a sigh he put his arms on his desk and rested his head on his hands.
Finally, the clock struck half past four, and the teacher let them go. The students quickly stood up and left the room, immediately exploding into chatter.
"Ugh, so boring," Jizelle mumbled to Rachel and Toni. "I cannot wait to get home."
"It wasn't so bad," Rachel replied.
With Gar and Vic on their heels, the girls stepped outside into the crisp air. Although it was only half four, the sky was beginning to darken slightly. A handful of cars were already in the school car park, some with parents waiting for their kids to come out.
Givon, Mammoth and Seymour, Gar noticed with horror, were making their way toward him with murderous intent in their eyes. With a gulp he looked around desperately and almost fainted in relief as he spotted Rita's small black car.
"Looks like my ride's here," he said. "See you guys tomorrow!" With a small wave to his friends, Gar sprinted in the direction of his adoptive mother's car and threw himself into the front seat. It was a massive stroke of luck that Rita had come to collect him, as opposed to Steve who would have bitten his head off for getting detention.
Rachel adjusted the bag on her shoulder and started out of the school gates to walk home as usual. Vic, Jizelle and Toni half-waved as Gar and Rachel escaped the school grounds, before sitting down on a bench, waiting for their own parents to arrive.
Wally and Richard were next to leave as a slim and pretty woman with light orange hair tied in a high pony tail waved from a highly waxed car. The two boys quickly made their way over, yelling farewells to Roy and Garth over their shoulders.
The sight of Givon's six foot tall mother looking down on her tiny son set Jizelle, Toni and Vic into fits of laughter, as did the tiny Fiat Mammoth had to squeeze into when his mountain of a father turned up.
Within a couple of minutes only Stormi, Roy and Garth remained. The two boys were idly chatting, whilst Stormi, on the other side of the courtyard, tried, for the umpteenth time, to phone her mother. Like the numerous times before, all she got in return was a long chain of rings, followed by the stiff voice of her mother say, "Hello, this is Caroline Rosewood. I'm sorry I can't talk to you right now. Please try again later, or leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can."
Stormi moaned in annoyance and slid her phone into her jean pocket. It was no use; she wasn't going to get through to her mother any time soon. Getting to her feet and hoisting her bag onto her shoulder, Stormi began a slow walk to the school gates as another car drove in. Garth immediately leapt to his feet and, waving goodbye to Roy, jogged over.
Stormi paused at the gates and watched as the blue Volvo drove past her. A sinking feeling developed in her stomach; she had no idea how she was going to get home. Her mother was still at work and never answered her mobile, and would be unable to until 6pm, when her office shift finished. No one would be at the house, and she had never used any sort of public transport in her life, she didn't even know where a bus stop or train station was.
A large red car drove into the car park, window rolled down, with a man grinning in the front seat. He held a great resemblance to his son; same strong chin and hazel eyes, though his hair was a few shades darker than Roy's and longer.
"Hey kiddo," he greeted as Roy climbed into the passenger seat. "How was detention?"
"Eh," Roy shrugged. "It was okay." His seatbelt clicked into place as his dad drove around in a large arc to face the exit. As Roy looked out the window, he noticed Stormi standing by the gates. A smirk made its way to his lips, but it quickly fell when he saw the troubled look on her face. She seemed lost, unsure. He knew she usually got a lift after school, and so the idea that she would be stuck for a way home after detention hadn't crossed his mind.
"Something wrong, kiddo?" Harold "Harry" Harper asked.
"No. Well…stop the car for a second?"
The vehicle halted and Roy, mumbling an, "I can't believe I'm doing this," got out of the car then jogged over to her.
"Hey, need a lift?"
Stormi turned her head sharply, surprised to see Roy standing in front of her, a hint of some foreign emotion on his face. Although every fibre of her being was begging her to hug him and scream, 'Yes! Thank you so much!' Stormi's pride took control.
"No, I'm fine," she said stiffly then turned on her heel and walked out of the school gates, her head thrown haughtily back with her chin in the air, as if she knew exactly how she was going to get home. When she had turned the corner, and was safely out of sight, she slowed her march to a dawdling shuffle. Behind her, the red car started up again and powered down the road.
"Kiddo, I need to make a quick stop at the supermarket; your mother gave me a list." Harry tugged a piece of paper from his pocket with one hand, keeping the other on the steering wheel, and handed it to Roy.
"Whoa, long list. Didn't she go shopping on Monday?"
His dad shrugged.
Stormi trudged through the streets of Jump City, hands deep in her pockets, eyes searching for something familiar. She was attempting to walk the usual route she took in the car, but twenty minutes later she was horribly lost and had no idea where she was. The sky was gradually getting darker as the sun began to sink. Clouds – angry and iron-grey – filled the space above.
The clock struck six pm. Caroline Rosewood glanced up from her work; slender fingers paused above a well-worn keyboard, and took note of the time. Saving all of her progress, she turned the computer off and stood up, her knees clicking slightly from lack of use. She bent down to pick up her handbag when a short, plump man tapped her on the shoulder.
"Rosewood. I need to talk to you about the staff timetable, do you have a moment?"
Susan nodded. They chatted for seven minutes then Caroline signed out, left the building and got into her car, her phone left unchecked. When it came to ten past six, she was in the car, handbag at her feet, and any vibrations from her phone went unnoticed.
Patter patter patter.
Large droplets of rain splashed down on the pavement. It came thick and fast, and very suddenly as only a minute ago the ground was bone dry but was now a uniform dark grey. Stormi rubbed her forehead, dislodging some of the straggled hair clinging to her wet skin. Already the rain had soaked through her fleecy and her t-shirt and her jeans were plastered to her legs. Inside her schoolbag her books were damp.
Still, it could be worse, she thought to herself.
CRASH, roared a sudden attack of thunder.
Scratch that thought.
Stormi let out an exasperated sigh and pulled out her phone. The illuminated screen told her it was 6.10pm. She quickly dialled her mum's number and prayed she would pick up, but again she was met only by unanswered rings and a recorded voice message. Stormi thought briefly about phoning Karen, but she didn't particularly want to admit to her the mess she'd gotten into, nor did she want to be a burden if Karen came out to find her. No, she'd just have to think of something else. A taxi company maybe?
And then her phone died. "For pity's sake," she muttered, leaning against a brick wall. She let her head fall backwards and groaned. Things were not looking brilliant. A bright fork of lightning etched itself in the sky, shortly followed by another ferocious roar.
"Whoa, it's really bucketing it down, eh?" Harry Harper said, pushing his key into the ignition. Roy nodded absently, staring intently into a hand mirror as he patted down his hair. He hated the rain – it had a tendency to make his hair go frizzy.
"Yeah, pretty rubbish," he said. Satisfied that his head decoration was utterly perfect, he put away the mirror and looked forward as the car rumbled out of the supermarket car park and back onto the road.
"Hopefully it'll clear up for Betty. She was really eager to go trick or treating this year."
Roy grinned and chuckled to himself. "I don't think it will. Ah well, I guess Brat'll have to go trick or treating in the rain, poor her."
Harry rolled his eyes. The car stopped at a traffic light put in place due to road works – the sort that stay red for about five minutes then go green for ten seconds before flicking back to red - giving the Harpers a chance to glance around without running the risk of killing anyone. "Hey, isn't that the stuck-up girl from earlier?"
Roy sat up straight and stared out of the window and, lo and behold, there was Stormi, leaning against a wall looking sorry for herself. "Oh yeah. Wonder what she's still doing out."
"You sure she was alright for a lift?"
"She said she was fine."
Roy went back to looking out the window, guilt starting to stab at his insides. He was, after all, partly responsible for the detention that made her miss her ride.
"Tell her to get in the car."
"Huh?"
"Tell her to get in the car. She shouldn't be out, not in this weather," Mr. Harper said, giving his son a slight nudge to get him going. "Be quick, lights might change soon."
Roy exited the car and, after slight hesitation, walked over to Stormi. "What are you still doing out?"
"Huh?" Stormi's head snapped up, eyes wide. "U-um, I-uh…"
"Get in the car."
"What?"
Roy rolled his eyes slightly and pointed to the car behind him. "Get in the car."
Leaning to the side, Stormi peered around him and saw Harry waving cheerfully from the driver's seat. She straightened again and said, "No."
"This isn't a request," Roy said irritably, beginning to get annoyed. "Get in the car."
"Since when did I have to obey your orders? I am not getting in the car," replied the girl before folding her arms over her chest and sticking her chin out stubbornly. Roy fisted his hands and suppressed a growl of frustration. With a deep breath, he carefully reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. Though she glanced down at the hand with annoyance, she didn't shake it off.
"Look, could you just put away your pride for one minute? You obviously don't know where you're going and, as much as I hate to admit it, I…" Roy mumbled something quietly and quickly, so much so that Stormi squinted and arched an eyebrow.
"Come again?"
Roy sighed and squirmed uncomfortably. "I don't like the thought of you stuck out here, in this weather." Stormi's expression remained the same. Roy was silent for a second before adding, "um, and neither does dad…So, if you'll just get in the car…" When she didn't move Roy exhaled tiredly. "Don't make me drag you there, because I will."
"Don't even think about it."
"Too late." Suddenly smirking again, Roy leant forward and hoisted her onto his shoulder, evoking a shrill shriek of "Put me down this MINUTE Harper!"
"Your own fault," was his reply as he dumped her in the back seat of the car. The traffic lights had already gone green, and Harry had moved the car to the curb so vehicles behind him could pass.
"Okay then," Harry said, twisting around in his seat to look at Stormi, who wasn't looking best pleased. "Where to?"
Stormi looked between Harry and his son, still half on her back from being unceremoniously dumped. She mumbled her address and clicked her seat belt into place as the car began moving.
It was quite an awkward ride; Stormi refused to talk to Roy who, in turn, was reluctant to make conversation with either her or his father. Harry was trying his best to keep some chatter going by asking about school, but gave up when he realised he wasn't going to get any answers longer than a couple of words out of either of them. When they arrived at Stormi's house, Caroline was already outside waiting for her.
Stormi muttered something under her breath as she grabbed her bag and slipped out of the car. She turned and quietly thanked Harry for the lift before walking up the drive to her mother. Caroline waited until the red car was out of sight before pulling her daughter into the house and rounding on her.
"Where have you been? You should have been home hours ago!"
"I got detention."
"Detention? What for? If this was about talking back to teachers-"
"It wasn't."
"Don't interrupt! Who was that who dropped you off? You did know them, right? God forbid my daughter should get into cars with strangers."
Stormi's brain switched off around then, staring pointedly at curtains to her left so as to avoid looking into her mother's stern face.
"Why are you all wet? Don't tell me you've been out in this weather the entire time. Honestly, Stormi. Are you trying to catch something? Go up to your bedroom and get changed and then – no. You can stay in your bedroom because you're grounded."
"Huh? What for?" Stormi demanded, head whipping around to stare – open mouthed – at Caroline. "For getting detention because Roy–freaking–Harper is an arrogant, selfish prat? Or for getting stuck in the rain because I didn't have a way home? Or is it for not telling you because you never answer your mobile?"
"Stormi Patricia Rosewood. Go to your room this instant and do not come down. You will not be having dinner tonight, and that is purely because of your disrespectful and rude behaviour towards your mother."
Stormi didn't waste another second. She grabbed her bag from where she'd dropped it, kicked off her shoes, stomped up the staircase and into her bedroom where she threw herself down on her bed with a dramatic growl of frustration.
Love Man's Log
Thursday October 31st
Fliers and posters have been distributed. News should soon spread about The Love Man. It has begun.
Note to self – don't interfere with Jizelle's love life again.
Cheers to my sister for Love Man. Um…yeah.
Reviews are awesome and much appreciated.
Happy Hallowe'en! Unless it's not Hallowe'en when you're reading this…in which case, Happy whatever-day-it-is!
Flare, the Frivolous