Chapter 4- Drew
Drew opened his locker and leaned his head in as far as he could, wishing he could climb into it and disappear. School had never been easy. They were always moving house so the buildings changed but the basic groups of people still existed. The popular kids, the gamer kids, the nerds, the 'too cool for school' rebel types. It sounded cliche but it was true. He didn't fit into any of these groups, nor did he want to. But it might be nice to have someone to sit with at lunch.
"Hey, turtle boy." Someone tapped his shoulder. He whipped around. Just Amber. She would most definitely be in the rebel group if she ever showed up to school.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I need you to cover for me with mom. Tell her I've got a study buddy or something else that equally screams 'all-American girl'."
"Why?"
"Because. I have a life, believe it or not, and I'd quite like to live it."
"Are you going to Damien's?" Drew asked. He knew the answer.
"Just cover for me, please?" Amber put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll come home this time, I promise."
"Ok," Drew promised, despite himself. Amber nodded. He knew she knew he would do anything for her. He would keep this secret until the day he died if she wanted him to.
"Thanks, bud," said Amber walking away, then she paused. "Hey, do you, like, wanna come with me?"
"To Damien's?"
"Yeah. Get out of this hell-hole for a few hours. I'll get Damien to drop you back before the bell. He's cool, really. It won't be weird I promise, we'll just hang out."
Drew thought about it for a moment. "No, it's ok," he answered eventually.
"Well, if you're sure. Have fun here, I guess." Amber sauntered away. Drew wondered how it was that they were so different. Same mom, same dad, same childhood. Yet Amber had broken every rule in the book and enjoyed doing it and he... well he wouldn't even cut school. He could just see the look on his mom's face if she ever found out. She'd be so disappointed, he wouldn't be able to stand it.
Drew shuffled into his math class, eyes down. He found that this was the best way to avoid the stares that people gave him. He had been pegged the 'weird quiet kid' and that was a reputation you could never shake, so you just had to try and learn to cope with it.
Drew was staring so intently at his shoes while walking that he only just stopped himself in time to avoid colliding with Mr Graham, his math teacher.
"Oh, hey, sorry buddy. Didn't see you there!" Mr Graham beamed, slapping Drew's shoulder playfully. Mr Graham was one of those fresh-out-of-teacher-training guys, wanting to change the world for the next generation and whose spirit had yet to be crushed by the reality of actual high school and worse still, actual teenagers. In other words, he was desperate to be down with the kids and thought he was pulling it off.
"I'm... sorry, I was just... walking I guess," Drew mumbled. No one listened to him anyway so it really wasn't worth speaking properly.
"No problem! Hey buddy, no big deal or anything but I noticed your mom and dad weren't here for parents' evening last night? I would've loved to have told them how great you're doing."
Drew felt his classmates' eyes on him. Talking to a teacher definitely wasn't the definition of cool. He dropped his head even lower, hoping it might dissolve into his chest. "My mom was, uh, working." This was a lie. She had been driving around looking for Amber. It didn't matter though, he had never told her about it in the first place. There was too much going on, it wouldn't have worked out.
"Right, ok." Mr Graham said slowly. Drew silently begged him not to ask about his father. Weren't teachers not supposed to do that, or something? "Well listen I wrote her a letter, think you could hand it over for me?"
"Uh, sure," said Drew, taking the letter quickly. To the parents/carers of Andrew Holt was emblazoned on the front in neat handwriting. See, this is what he meant. They weren't supposed to say 'mom and dad', they were supposed to say 'parents or carers'. Drew stuffed the letter in his back pocket, desperate to just sit down at his desk and become anonymous Drew Holt.
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