Swimmerkitti- That's OK. And no one likes a told you so!
mellowyellow36- Nothing happened to Zack, he just got a good excuse, like the doctor's. (I couldn't think of 15 excuses) Thanks very much!
rockerchik77- Thanks for the excellent review, glad you like it!
tmrwspromise- About flipping time I wrote one, you mean! Thanks for the review!
wyverna- Thanks for reviewing again!
Nanners-77- Such pressure. Now you're going to be bitterly disappointed. :)
Mark of CTown- Nice name! Thanks!
Hermione Radcliffe Go Michael- Thanks for the nice review.
WiccaSweep- (your profile is so boring, haha!) I was in Singapore as per usual. Invite me to the wedding, ok?
Chapter four: There's a first time for everythingStuck on the opposite page to the absence note was a detention slip, Katie's first, but not last, thanks to her then growing friendship with Freddy. Her teacher had given all of them detentions when she had realised that the handwriting was exactly the same on every one of the notes. All except Billy's. Katie fingered it.
FLASHBACK
Katie entered the detention room. It was like another world, full of delinquents, vandals, and luminous pink detention slips. She shuddered. Never before had she stepped into the detention room. Summer had been distraught when she had received her slip. She hadn't blinked for a full minute.
Now, as Katie walked in, she sensed a feeling of challenging. Everyone in the room apart from her band mates was staring at her, as if wondering what it was that she had done to be brought to the detention room. She felt like shouting out that she had taken a joyride in the principal's car, or tagged the new library block, but was afraid that one of the other occupants of the room had done just that. She saw Summer and the others at the back of the room. She had no doubt arrived as early as possible to bag them 'good' seats. For her that usually meant at the front, but today, she didn't want any attention to be directed towards her. She had almost gone so far as to put a paper bag over her head, but as Alicia had pointed out, saying,
'Summer! How're you gonna see with a grocery bag over your head?' that it wasn't quite the best arrangement.
Freddy, King of the detention room, called for attention from the rest of the band. He was proud of his record for being in detention nearly every Wednesday. It added to his 'bad boy' reputation. As the most experienced, he gave the other band members the low down.
'Over there is Dawn 'Metalface' Pearson. She's here for a month for piercing someone's ear during Spanish.' The band turned and stared, until Freddy coughed to remind them that it was not, in fact, a freak show. For starters there was no entry fee.
'That's Afro dude, name unknown. He spray painted the vice-principal's car. While she was in it. Not the smartest dude, but great with an aerosol.' He lowered his voice and made sure Summer wasn't listening. He didn't want to be the one to drive her over the edge.
'Whole bunch over there is here for ripping their school books up and setting fire to them last Friday. Claimed it was exam stress.' True enough, the group looked rather jumpy, and one of them was shaking uncontrollably. One by one, each person in the room was labelled by Freddy, and stared at by the band.
Katie sat at her desk, tracing the carvings of flames that covered the desk and the tiny symbol of two crossed, flaming drumsticks scratched on. No prizes for guessing who that was. After half an hour of wondering exactly who let themselves be pierced by Dawn Pearson, whose school tie was decorated with many, many safety pins, but also where the cover teacher was, the band decided to sneak out to Dewey's apartment for an early practice. Summer couldn't bear it, though. They left her there, sitting upright at a tattooed and stained desk, staring straight ahead and taking short sharp breaths. Alicia gave her the paper bag to breathe into, but Summer wouldn't be distracted from her task of not moving for an hour and a half.
They made it to Dewey's in silence before breaking down hysterically. Some were laughing, some crying. Marco was looking up words he didn't know that he'd read on the desks and Leonard was trying to stop him. For his own good.
END FLASHBACK
More on Monday, as I'm away for the weekend. :(
Ukgirl:)