I WANT TO SCREAM

"Look, if you really have to know, I'm sick of Brett. I'm sick of the way every girl looks at him and goes "wow". I'm sick of how every adult's always worried about him. I hate how he's always picked for everything and I get left behind. I hate how I'm better than him and everyone pretends that it's not true. I hate how my sister was murdered today, and all anyone could do was make a fuss about Brett and ignore the fact that Nicola's dead." Nathan shouted.  "But you know what I hate most? I hate how I can't stand him but I'm still his friend. Because he used to be different. Then he went and got a spoon shoved up his arse. Look at Me; I'm Brett Bloody Lake Lee!  I have a million girls swooning over me, I'm the best at everything." Mark didn't look shocked, like Nathan had expected him to.

Nathan looked at Mark. Silence. "Say something, damn you! Tell me I'm wrong, how could anyone not like Brett? Tell me I'm right, that Brett is a prick and that we'd all be better off if he went and married Eliza and disappeared to Callas and never came back. Say something." Mark said nothing. Nathan turned and ran.

"Come out Ricky. How much did you hear?" Mark turned his attention to a potted plant. "How'd my Lord now I was there?" Ricky stepped out from behind the potted plant in the hallway. "Potted plants don't have arms. Now, how much did you hear?"
"All of it."

"And what is your opinion?"

"I like Brett. But Nathan's more likeable and approachable; Sir, and I think that Nathan's got good right to blow up like that. You'd go crazy, being Brett's best friend, with all the attention he gets, m'Lord. And it's not just attention for being the supposed best at everything. Andrew beats him up a lot. But he beats Nathan up more. Nathan just doesn't tell anyone, but I've seen the bruises and the scars." Ricky finished, and looked at Mark.
"Ricky, I think Sir Shane's made an excellent choice. Go and see him now, would you?" Ricky bowed and ran off. Mark walked in the direction Nathan had run, thinking very hard about what the two boys had told him.  His opinion of Nathan as a good person didn't change for the bad. In fact, it strengthened. Nathan had encouraged Brett to do his best. He hadn't complained. He'd been a rock. Unfortunately for Nathan, rocks could crumbled, and fade away. And that was what had happened. Mark turned a corner, and bumped into Brett.

"Sorry, Sir Mark." The boy had lip rouge marks all over his face, and his neck had bites all over it.

"Don't worry about it. Sir Damien's looking for you. I suggest you go find him." Brett nodded and the two walked off. Mark soon found himself in the Royal stables.

"Oy! Nathan! " Mark yelled out to the boy, who was about to mount a horse.

"Oh, no you don't." Mark ran, and dived, grabbed the horse's reins.

"What did you go and do that for?" Nathan's voice was harsh.

"You, are going to be a squire, and then a knight. The greatest. And you're going to be my squire. Go it? Good. Now get off the horse and come and talk to Brett." Nathan glowered but got off the horse. He followed Mark silently. Mark led him to the Lesser Library. Damien was there, with Brett. Nathan couldn't look at him.

"Mark, what are you doing here?" There was surprise in Damien's voice

"I can smell you a mile off, you reek of horse dung." Damien's face broke into a smile, at his friend's usual greeting and replied; "Could say the same for you. What do you want?" Mark inclined a head at the two pages, and simply said "outside."

Damien stood, and the men went outside. Brett couldn't look at Nathan. So he let his mind travel back to what had happened when he'd gotten out of the infirmary.

**A/N all the chapter headings (plug up an empty hole, bad start to a beautiful day, ball-part 1, the ball part2, The blame game, I want to scream, in fact all the chapter titles are titles of poems and songs of mine that I might put up on fanfiction someday if I can be bothered **