Chapter XXXIII:

"Consorting With The Enemy"

It took Elliott approximately twenty-four hours to calm down and stop dreaming up ways of seriously hurting Gary for what he had said to her, and along with her calming down she realised that what he had said wasn't really all that bad. Hurtful, yes, but he could have said a million and one things worse than that if he really had read her permanent record.

That still troubled her a little. She knew Gary was sneaky, but how the hell did he manage to get a hold of her permanent record?

Thinking about that too much gave her a headache, and she had had enough of headaches since talking to Jimmy last night.

Elliott decided that everything else that was going on now; Jimmy, the nerds, these stupid tutor classes – they would all have to be put on hold. She needed to talk to him. She wasn't going to let her relationship with Gary dwindle away into obscurity just because he said something he might not have meant. He might be completely crackers, but she did care about him. Maybe if she could talk him into going back on his medication…

Elliott slipped past one of the burley Prefects and through the door that led up to the bell tower. It was quarter to seven; meaning that between now and ten no one would really miss her so if this confrontation turned out to be more than a few muttered apologies and a handshake she would be covered for it. Not that she was planning for it to be any longer than that.

She took the stairs two at a time, but tried to keep her footsteps quiet. That was impossible taking that the wooden stairs were creaking like they were about to disintegrate beneath her feet. She finally reached the level where Gary's room was and slowed down. She could feel the butterflies going insane in her stomach and her heart was drumming in her ears, but she put her hand on the door and pushed it open anyway.

'Gary?' she called tentatively, peering inside. 'You in here?'

She got no answer. She stepped inside and looked around, having to squint through the dimness. Everything seemed the same as it had been the last time she was here – even the bed sheet was still balled up on the desk by the window. Elliott suddenly felt downright miserable. The night up here with Gary had been amazing, and probably would have continued being amazing if she had just shut that drawer instead of sticking her nose in where it didn't belong. Beatrice was right, she had just embarrassed him and he had gone on the defensive. Perhaps it was her that owed him the apology, not the other way round.

And now Gary wasn't even here. It looked like he hadn't been here all day. Elliott stood at the door and wondered what to do. She could leave, but she knew she wouldn't be able to muster up the courage to come looking for him again, so unless he made the first move – which she knew he wouldn't – they probably wouldn't see each other for a long time.

Before she even knew she had made a decision she was heading across to the bed. She sat on the edge and looked towards the window. She could wait a little while. Maybe an hour. If he didn't come back then fair enough, but hopefully he would. He probably already knew she was here.

Looking back on it, Elliott was unsure how she had managed to fall asleep. In all honesty she couldn't even remember lying down. She could faintly recall leaning against the headboard and waiting for Gary, but without anything to keep her awake she must have just nodded off.

When she woke up again the room was pitch black, and someone was lying on the bed behind her with their arm over her waist. She jerked up, bleary eyed and a little confused. She looked over to see Gary there, head propped up on his elbow and expression solemn. Elliott sat and looked at him for a moment.

'Hi.' She said, finally.

'Hi.' He replied.

She rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand. 'I didn't mean to fall asleep.' She said.

'It's okay.'

'What time is it?'

'Nearly one.'

Elliott blinked. 'One o'clock? Wow, I must have been tired.'

Gary sat up and swung his legs off the bed, so he was sitting with his back to her. She watched him anxiously, wanting him to be the first one to attempt the apology. Then of course she would tell him it was all her fault and that she was sorry and then she would be able to convince him to drop all this stupid Jimmy business and they could attempt to have a halfway normal relationship. That was how she had planned it while waiting for him, anyway. Although she wasn't expecting him to say what he did.

'I saw you talking to Jimmy last night.'

It hit her like a dodge ball to the face. This wasn't looking good. 'You did?' she tested.

Gary didn't turn, he just gestured to the window with his thumb. 'If you look out there you can see pretty much everything.'

Elliott frowned slightly at the window, briefly blaming it for ruining her moment. 'Oh. Um, Beatrice and I went to the movies and he kind of appeared outside and walked us back. I didn't want him to, y'know, but Beatrice…'

'What did you talk about?'

Elliott hesitated. She could outright lie to him and say he was just being a jerk again, but if he had seen them talking then he would have seen that they had been talking quite calmly. She wasn't sure how much he could see from up here. Or, on the other hand, she could use this moment to try and talk him out of this mission to rule the school.

'He was asking me why I hang out with you.' Elliott said, just allowing the words to come out. 'I think his exact words were that he wanted to beat some sense into you.'

Gary chuckled humourlessly. 'Yeah he would like that, the little psycho.'

Elliott looked down at her hands. 'You know, Gary, I was thinking. The school seems to have calmed down a lot recently. I don't think I've seen anyone fighting for a while, y'know? And when I was talking to Jimmy he said that he just wants everyone to get along and I think he meant it. Maybe we should, y'know… just let Jimmy get on with it. And then maybe you and I could-'

Gary turned and looked at her, eyebrows drawn together. She fell silent under his gaze, and also a little nervous. 'Are you for real?' he frowned. 'You seriously believed him.'

Elliott glanced away. 'I just think you're both going a bit crazy about the whole thing…'

Gary rose and began to pace, chuckling that awkward way he did and shaking his head. 'You're so gullible, Elliott. Don't you see what he's doing? He's trying to get a pity vote from you. You're a girl, and consequently can't be beaten to a pulp to be put into line, so all Jimmy can do is be extra nice to you and hope you see it his way. I thought you were smarter than that, Elliott.'

Elliott frowned. 'Hey, maybe you need to look at the bigger picture here-'

'I am the bigger picture!' he announced, holding his arms out. He looked at her for a moment and then allowed his arms to drop by his sides again. 'Jimmy might be about as smart as road kill but he's scheming.' He pointed to the window and tilted his head. 'Don't you see? He's got all the girls wrapped around his finger. He turns up with flowers and all that tacky crap and they melt at his feet. They love the bad boy, and he's got the girl's on his side. That's how he works. He kicks the crap out of the guys and passes various diseases around the girls. Wait until he turns up with a bouquet of flowers that he picked from outside the girl's dorm.' He shook his head and began pacing again. 'The cheap little bastard.'

Elliott thought about it. It made sense, but then again what Jimmy had said had also made sense. She could feel another headache coming on. 'It's just… The whole thing is stupid. What are you going to do when you have control, huh? Like the teachers will let you do anything more than represent them in meetings or something.'

Gary chuckled. 'Oh, it's much more than that.' He stopped and eyed her for a moment. 'So what, are you on Team Hopkins now?'

Elliott frowned. 'I'm not on team anybody.'

Gary shrugged and wandered off to the window. 'You were waving the Team Smith banner pretty high last night.' He muttered.

She stood up, feeling a rush of anger. 'I came up here to apologise to you. The least you could do is not be a complete asshole for ten minutes. Do you think you could manage that? Or is it too hard for you?' She stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. 'I don't even know why I bothered. I'm out, okay? I don't want anything to do with this anymore.' She turned and headed for the door. 'I hope you and Jimmy beat the crap out of each other and leave everyone in peace.'

Gary turned his head to her. He allowed her to reach the door before saying anything. 'I need you with me on this.' He said, quietly.

She stopped and glanced back. 'You don't. I don't know why you need me around. Maybe you like having someone around to mess with their heads but you certainly don't need me to do anything.'

He turned his body and leaned against the desk. He was nothing but a shadow against the window. 'I need you on my side. You're all I've got, Elliott.'

Elliott cast her eyes down. 'It's just too much hassle. Sorry, Gary.'

'If you go then Jimmy's won,' he said quickly as she went to open the door. 'And you'll be like all the others. Just another one of Jimmy's bitches.'

'Gary, drop it, please. I just want to get my school years over and done with and then get as far away from Bullworth as physically possible. Like, I dunno, maybe Spain or something. I could sell cheap tat to tourists.'

He moved towards her. 'We can make peace for ourselves. I swear, if we do this together then you'll have everything you wanted.' He reached her and put his hands on her arms. 'Come on. I'm sorry about what I said. I just get…'

Elliott half rolled her eyes. 'Excited, I know.' She sighed heavily. 'I'm not hanging out in the library anymore.' She said after a while. 'And you've got to stop spreading those stupid rumours around.'

Gary's face almost split in half his grin was so wide. 'It's okay,' he told her. 'We don't really have to do anything more anyway. It's the big game next week, and I need to go see Crabblesnitch about something…'

Elliott frowned. 'Crabblesnitch? Why?'

'You'll see.'

She began to ask what he meant, but he silenced her by planting a kiss on her lips. This time she didn't blush though.

'It's going to be great.' He told her. 'I guarantee it.'

Elliott half smiled at him. 'I know.'