Pre-Game - Lazing On A Monday Afternoon
Oh how I wish for soothing rain
All I wish is to breathe again
Once and for all and all for onc-
"What? Jemi, for fuck's sake, I forgot to charge my MP3 player last night!"
"Twat," came the reply, accompanied by the usual sly smile.
Jemi Britcher couldn't help but laugh good-naturedly at Jenna Widdowson, her best friend for as long as she could remember, as she groaned with frustration. They had been through everything together, so naturally they sat next to each other on the bus on the way to their reward for completing high school - three days on the scenic island of Caphraig. "The perfect respite from the rigours of studying before your exams," they had been told. Aye, right - even the teachers knew most of the students on this trip were going for a piss-up. Away from the mainland, with only one token chaperone, he being the dad of one of the class and notoriously friendly with many of the year! It was going to be one Hell of a trip, all right. Jemi also knew, though, that the trip was really a bribe, a way of keeping the 6th Years from repeating the antics of last year's class on Muck-Up Day. A little last day fun was to be expected, but trashing the school to the tune of £120,000 of damage was too far, and emergency measures had to be taken. "They could at least have made it cost less given it's a bribe. £40? Fuck off."
Jemi looked around the bus at her classmates, most of whom were chatting excitedly across the bus. Beside Jenna sat David Remnant, though he hated that name. To everyone he was Rem. The other member of their so-called "Trio," he had met the pair in a playground in primary school, they clicked, and the rest was history really. Stereotyped among many in the year as "Goth," it was a label they all despised. It may have come from their appearances, given all three wore primarily dark clothes, and had long dark hair, piercings and tattoos. They were also misanthropic, and were not afraid of showing this whenever they could. Jenna and Jemi were mostly introverted, keeping things within their own (very exclusive) circle. Quite a lot of the others didn't like them, which was just fine by Jemi, because she didn't care for them either. Rem was slightly less introverted, but still liked the security a small group gave.
Rem sat slumped in his chair, half asleep. Jenna rolled her eyes and pushed his head away, it having rolled onto her shoulder. Rem grunted, annoyed, and turned to face the other direction.
Jenna, meanwhile, had put away her lifeless iPod and was now looking over at Kim Magdalene. She was sitting just across from her own trio, in between Mark Johnson at the window and Adam Lewis in the aisle. Scott Irving was directly in front of Kim in the row in front beside Kenji Kamin. Peter Lucianus completed that row, having apparently beaten Scott and Kenji to the window seat. They seemed to be glaring enviously at him, and he was gloating out of the corner of his eye as he enjoyed the view.
Just then, something caught Jenna's eye. Jemi squinted to see what it was. Adam daydreaming? Why would that interest - oh, she saw now. He wasn't. No, he was ogling Holly Morgan in front of him, whilst trying to make it look like he was daydreaming. Head Girl Holly was the daughter of their chaperone, Pete Morgan, the Head of 5th and 6th Year at their school. Petite, with shoulder-length chestnut hair and glimmering brown eyes, she was generally considered extremely good looking and attracted the affections of a lot of guys. Jemi found her boring, though, nothing particularly stand out when you consider your typical "attractive girl."
Adam was clearly among the multitudes attracted to her though. He was Head Boy and the most overtly political of the year, along with the rest of his "Anti-Clique". Some people had suggested they were a match made in Heaven – they were both extremely honest, caring people whom the majority liked. Fortunately for Adam, Holly was too busy chatting with her best friend, Rahne Southers, and a few other girls to notice him checking her out.
"Jemi, look at Adam." There was a disturbing glee in Jenna's eyes. Something told her she wanted to have a bit of fun with the guy. Jemi hoped she didn't go too far, though; Jenna had a history of that, and had taken one too many pot-shots at Holly over the years to have a healthy relationship with their teacher. 'We don't need trouble this early into the trip. There'll be plenty of time to do stupid shit when we get to Caphraig,' she pondered to herself.
"Adam! Could you come here a minute, please? Aaadam. Aaadam. Aaaadam. ADAM!"
Startled, Adam looked around in a "discreet" effort to see if anyone had caught him eyeing up Holly, trying (and failing) to look like he had just woken up. 'What the? Uh-oh, tell me that's not...oh for God's sake, it's Jenna. What the hell is she doing?' he thought, alarmed.
"Welcome back," a voice beside him said. He jumped what felt like half a mile out of his seat.
"What? Don't look so shocked! You were daydreaming again. I swear to God, Adam, you seem to spend more time on other planets than this one." Kim gave him a quizzical smile. Jemi rolled her eyes at his pretence actually having worked on such a close friend – and an intelligent one at that – as Kim. Adam tried to cover up the huge wave of relief pouring over him, took a deep breath, and composed himself.
"What, was I? Oh, sorry. I'm just tired, that's all." He said with fake doziness. He was a terrible liar and he knew it. The truth was that he'd had strong feelings for Holly for years. It wasn't like they were compatible, despite what a couple of whispers he had heard suggested. But she was so wonderful! So sweet, so caring, and so talented. The problem was that they had completely different interests. He was a geek, a politician, and a philosopher, along with the rest of the Anti-Clique. She was a chilled-out girly girl whose idea of a good night in was a few glasses of wine while she played her guitar or piano with her friends.
Kim didn't actually know about Adam's feelings for Holly. It was the only thing about him he hadn't ever told his four closest friends. No, Kim was too close to Holly for that to be an acceptable risk, unfortunately. He hated himself for hiding it. "The truth hurts. Fact. Lies hurt more. Fact." That was his philosophy (and excuse for tactlessness), but this was the exception to the rule. 'Would that I could just tell her…'
"Adam, are you awake? Could you come here a minute, please?" Jenna was beaming, and that wasn't like her.
"What is it, Jenna?" He knew she knew he wasn't sleeping. Jenna was perceptive to the point of being near-psychic, and as poor a ruse as that would never fool her.
"Just – come here, will you?" Sighing grumpily at the prospect of getting up, he went over to her, careful not to be noticed by Mr. Morgan at the front of the bus. They were in about the middle, so that shouldn't have been a problem.
"Come in close. Listen, if you're gonna stare at Holly, be a bit more subtle, okay? It's nothing to me, but people did see you." Adam looked flustered.
"What are you…I, I wasn't…"
"Yes, you were. Come on, Adam, who do you think you're talking to?" His reaction said it all. Adam closed his eyes and sighed, mortified. He figured Jenna probably knew about him and Holly; you just couldn't keep things like that from her. But now she was poised to shout it out. So why was she warning him about staring like this?
"All right, guess I can't really deny it. But I don't understand - why are you telling me to watch out? Thought you'd just tell Holly?" He spoke the words nervously, his self-consciousness rising.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess it makes it more fun for me to watch you, since you now know I could tell her you've been staring at any moment. And I really don't think she'd be happy with that. Hell, Rahne would probably beat the shit out of you; wouldn't that be an entertaining start to the trip?" The more she thought about it, the more delighted with herself Jenna now looked and sounded. Adam Lewis was now her little puppet; his eyes now gave away a delicious combination of fear and anger. Jenna did this so often, and so effortlessly, that many in the year feared her. The look of pure awe from Jemi, her biggest fan, said it all.
"Please…don't do it, Jenna. Not now." Desperation, this was so entertaining!
"It doesn't matter what I say to that. After all, I know something you don't want her knowing, and since you can't force me not to say anything, either way you'll just have to hope." Jenna smiled sweetly, in that disturbing Wednesday Addams sort of way.
While Adam searched for a reply, Jenna glanced over his shoulder; Kim suspected something, and was trying to work out what they were talking about. "Nobody likes an eavesdropper, Kim," she said with a knowing look in her direction.
Kim frowned. She hated Jenna, she always had. Two of her best friends got on well with her even though she was blatantly manipulating them, and she had no time for it.
"I'm not eavesdropping, you ignorant bitch, but my best friend is getting hot under the collar and he's talking to you. Doesn't take a genius to work it out." Kim was almost as perceptive as Jenna, so it was little surprise she'd been paying attention. Well, that and Adam was generally as subtle as a Buckie-swigging ned. Jenna was unfazed, but before she could reply, Peter jumped in. She had to laugh. The only two people who hated each other more in the year than Jenna and Kim were Jenna and Peter.
"Kim! Must you swear so often?" He looked over at her disdainfully. The girl had so much promise, yet she kept letting herself down in the most foolish of ways. She appeared affronted, which offended Peter. He was only trying to help her out; it was all he had ever done.
"Peter, who do you think I'm talking to?" This was what annoyed Kim about Peter. She cared about him a great deal; he'd helped her through some incredibly tough times and was her rock in a way that not even Mark, her closest friend, could be for her. But at times like this, when he rebuked her for little things like swearing, he got on even her nerves. Most of the others in the year were far less forgiving of him, so she felt she had to grin and bear it a lot of the time. 'Tolerance is a virtue, even among the intolerant.'
"Two wrongs don't make a right. You have limited control over the actions of others, but full control over your own." His voice was ever-calm. He looked into Kim's eyes for a moment, and saw in them that she knew he was right. He smiled playfully. It was impossible to stay annoyed at Kim. She had her faults, but with his continued guidance, she was learning.
"Yeah, Kim, tut tut!" Peter looked over to see Jemi grinning. That one clearly needed more than guidance to achieve salvation.
"You would do well to stay out of what isn't your business, heathen. God will reveal his purpose for you in due course."
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean? On second thought…don't answer that. I don't care."
"Adam? What are you doing out of your seat, sit back down, now!" Morgan had just noticed that Adam was in the aisle and not in his seat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir." He feigned a flustered expression. "I actually just stood up though, to raise a toast to the class!"
"I really don't think this is the time-" Morgan tried to interject, but Adam couldn't be stopped now.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as we reach the end of 13 years of education, I salute you all. Congratulations – we survived high school! And if I'm honest, I think I'm gonna miss you guys! We're all moving on to different places, but for three more days, we can have fun together as a year. So hurrah for that! Anyone agree with me?" Jenna and Jemi looked at each other and sighed. This was typical of him – leave a hook and get his friends involved so it's not just him standing up on his own. Duly, before Morgan could stop him, Scott was on his feet.
"I agree with you, my man, we've had good times and bad times, but we've done it together and I think we owe it to each other to make this the trip of a lifetime. One vision! One purpose! One vision! One purpose!"
Now Kim was with them. "I'm with you! I'm not going to miss all of you…not by a long shot. But we have to remember that we are together through it all, loyal friends, insane idiots, even Godless whores." Kim glanced knowingly towards Peter, and then at Jemi's row beside her. She obviously had more to say, but as Morgan looked on in amused resignation, an unexpected voice forcibly interrupted her.
"Could the real Anti-Clique please shut up, please shut up, please shut the Hell up? It's getting really tiring now. I know you're going to miss your big power trips now that we're done with school, but I'm sure you'll all find a way to annoy the crap out of a whole new group of people at uni. Give it a rest for now, please." Rahne had been trying to ignore the grandiose pomp of Adam and his friends, but enough was enough. If they were going to ignore the fact that everyone else on the bus was either completely apathetic or scowling at them, then she was going to have to say something.
They weren't listening. Giving up, Rahne turned her thoughts to how much fun the next few days were going to be. After a few minutes she was shaken from her daydream by a rise in volume across the bus as it slowed to a halt. 'At last, the harbour, and a chance to stretch my legs!"
As the students left the bus, Morgan gathered them around to explain.
"Alright everyone, it's been a long trip, so I'm sure you'll all be glad to get a bit of fresh air! As you know, there's been a problem with the ferries, and the next one to Caphraig isn't until 8pm. So rather than delay things further, you can spend the afternoon doing whatever you like around the town. Let's see, it's just gone noon now, so if you could all come back here by…six? That will give us plenty of time to get sorted out on the ferry before it leaves. I'd ask you not to leave the town just so we don't lose each other, but other than that, just have fun and enjoy yourselves. I'll see you all later, then, if there aren't any questions?"
"I've got one question, sir?"
"Yes, Olly?"
"Where do babies come from again?" Olly King had a legendary sense of humour, so it was no surprise he'd jumped in like that. The class sniggered as Morgan rolled his eyes with a wry smile. He was going to miss all this.
As taken from A Legacy Imploded by Harrison Graham, Chapter 1: Prelude to
Chaos, p. 12
The precise reasons for the stopover in Oban have never been determined, but official records indicate that it was a late decision, and that Peter Morgan may have forced it through. Suggestions of a willingness on Morgan's part to compromise the Program for the benefit of his daughter have been made on many occasions, such as … although unofficial recollections by … claim it happened to relieve the students of any suggestion that alternations had been made to their believed holiday. By allowing them an extra addition to it only to dash their expectations later, the blow to the students' morale became even greater, thus increasing their suffering at that time…
The students quickly dispersed from the bus, eager to investigate their new surroundings. Sadie Willis immediately hunted down Holly, Rahne, Anna Wilson, and Sandra Jackson and headed off with them in a random direction. None of them knew where they were going, so wandering about and seeing where the wind took them was enough of a plan for now.
"Nice day, isn't it?" said Anna, with a chirpy smile. She'd always wanted to visit the Western coast of the country, see places like Oban and the Western Isles. Now she was finally getting the chance.
"It'd be better if Tony were here," Holly blushed.
"Oh, I'm sure you can last a few days without the guy. Anyway, just think – he'll want you even more when you get back!" Anna winked at Holly. She was a typical girly-girl when it came down to it, and there was no shame to her in loving boy-talk.
"It's only been a few weeks, hasn't it, you getting serious already?"
"Actually, Sandra, I think it's because it's not been a long time; we're still in that gooey new-relationship phase where you just want to be around each other all the time." Tony was in the same year as Holly but at Perth Academy just up the road. The guys in her school were nice enough, but unlike her friends, she didn't see much potential in them. Holly could afford to be choosy given her popularity, and while she was modest about that, there was no shame in taking advantage when it came to guys.
"Oh, well, we've got enough wine to keep ourselves distracted amidst the gorgeous scenery anyway, I'm sure you won't miss him too much!"
"Lots of wine, and, oh yeah, how much weed exactly, Sadie?" Rahne looked at her in a mockingly scathing way. Sadie was something of a hippie, and was friends with Zoey Volta, another hippie who was also a bit of a stoner. Sadie never liked admitting she smoked though for some reason, even among her friends.
"Oh, er, just a couple of eighths…what? Don't look at me like that!" she said defensively. The others just giggled, as Sadie changed the subject.
"So, Anna, you've never been to Caphraig before, have you? Or any of these islands?"
"Smooth, Sadie, very smooth. But no, I've never been there before. Looking forward to it, though! Plus, since this is a whole-year thing, Jake's here too – even better. Shame we couldn't bring along any extra guests, though, I think Rose was wanting to come along if she could." Family was a big deal to Anna, and since she was an only child, she treated her cousins Jake, who was in her year, and his two-years-younger sister Rose as surrogate siblings. Notoriously protective of them, woe betide anyone who dared speak ill of either.
"That's a shame, yeah, but at least Jake's here." Sadie was also fond of him, being a proactive supporter of his when he came out a couple of years ago. She saw herself as a bit of a champion for minority rights; then again her "peace and love" policy was universal so she supported human rights generally.
"There's a lot of good people here, actually, I'm glad everyone actually turned up!" Sandra was the kind of girl who got along with pretty much the entire class. This may have been because she was so weak-willed that she didn't have the stomach to ever be nasty to anyone, but she didn't see that as a bad thing. Too much nastiness in the world anyway. Okay, so she supposedly took it to extremes, with her friends being capable of dominating her quite easily, but helping people gave a nice fuzzy feeling, so it was worth it.
"I wouldn't go quite so far as to say I'm glad everybody turned up, but still, I agree, there's some decent folk here." At that moment something clicked in Rahne. "Hey guys, where are we actually going, by the way?"
"Don't ask me, I'm just following you guys!" Said Sandra, sheepishly. Nobody seemed to know, though, it was like they'd been walking on auto-pilot since they'd left the bus. They'd found their way into a side street just off the harbour area it seemed, with the stone-work suggesting they were near the older part of town.
Stopping to get their bearings, the group was unaware of Natalie Shimizu exploring the town a few short feet away. As she walked through the cobbled streets of Oban, she took comfort in how serene this town was. It was why she'd always been so at home in Perth actually, her home town also being small. Well, Oban had a bustling harbour, but even so, it wasn't as bad as big harbour cities like Aberdeen. Most of her classmates would be moving to places like that in the autumn, to Glasgow and Edinburgh, or down south to London and Manchester for university. Not her, though, cities were too chaotic, so she preferred to avoid them. In fact, she preferred to avoid people altogether as much as possible.
That was how she gained the nickname "Silent Shimizu," which was what most people called her. She didn't mind; it was a fair reflection on reality. She didn't have anything against people, though, providing that they respected that she preferred her own company and wasn't interested in socialising.
"Silent? Is that you over there?"
'Wait, what was this? Ugh, who was there? Can't they see I just want to be on my own, haven't they got the message after 6 bloody years? Never mind who it is, just keep moving and forget about it'.
"Aww, come on, no need to run away! It's only me."
Ugh, Ian. It's the fact that it's "only you" that is the problem, funnily enough, so all the more reason to keep running.
"Not so fast, Nat! I just want to talk to you!"
"Well I don't want to talk to you, and he knows I hate being called Nat," she thought. Just speed up, hopefully he'll take the hint and find someone else to chase. Like Natalie, Ian Doherty had no friends to speak of, but whereas in her case it was a personal choice, in his it was because he was so repulsive. He was creepy, though it was his continual inability to take a hint was the real problem, though, and she doubted he was going to just leave her be.
"There's no need to leave so fast, you know, you never talk to anyone, why don't we just hang out for just a little while? This is our last chance to properly see each other besides the prom, and apparently you're not going to that."
Yes, as expected, he wasn't taking the hint. Still no response from Natalie except to continue moving. 'Keep ignoring him, just keep ignoring him. No reason to get annoyed, he clearly just doesn't know any better and it's not your job to teach him. It's a beautiful day, you're feeling calm, and he's not going to disrupt that.'
"I know you're there, you know, no need to keep ignoring me like this!"
She begged to differ, but was still determined to avoid acknowledging him, even though somehow Ian was now right behind him. Turning to face him, she smiled sweetly and started to move towards a nearby side street. Still no need for an argument. Hopefully now he finally would realise she didn't want to be his friend. A hand on her shoulder suggested otherwise, though. What was this? This was getting a bit close to the line now.
"Come on, just a few minutes of company, is that too much to ask?" Why was she being so negative? She usually did prefer to be on her own, but all Ian wanted was to talk to a real person for once and he figured she probably was a bit lonely. Being that isolationist was bound to do that to you eventually.
Silent removed Ian's hand from her shoulder with an angry sigh and threatening glare before rushing down the street. Ian followed her. 'Don't be afraid, she's probably just nervous about having a friend, she's always been that way and it has to change sooner or later.'
This was not the case, however, and Natalie's patience was fast running out. Finally forced into a verbal response, she turned around and stared him down. "Ian, go away."
"But you won't even give me a chance, we could be good together!"
Natalie spluttered at what he'd just said. Did she hear him right? Together? What was that supposed to mean? This had to stop. Now. "What?"
"Well you've never had a boyfriend, and I've never had a girlfriend, and we've finished high school now so I kinda thought that maybe..."
"That's it. I don't care what you "kinda thought maybe," I've not had friends or a boyfriend because I don't fucking want them and never have. You don't have them because you're a creepy little retard who won't take the hint when people tell you to leave them alone. I'm sick of being followed around, so either you can fuck off, or…" She raised a fist threateningly, feeling better for getting that off her chest. Being that horrible to people wasn't usually her style, but in truth, Ian deserved it. He looked like he was about to cry now; he was clearly taken aback. That was his problem, though.
Did Silent really need to say all that? Ian hadn't been that bad to her, he'd just tried to be friends with her! What was so wrong with that? No point in sticking around, though, he wasn't going to win in a fist fight with her. He wondered who else was around; surely not everyone was in as bad a mood as she was...
With Ian out of sight, Natalie breathed a huge sigh of relief, with a matching smile. Ah, peace at last, thank God for that. As it happened, she'd run to an interesting little street as well, with a nice little local craft shop just a couple of doors down from where she was standing. Hopefully the owner hadn't heard that argument. "Oh well, might as well see what's in there", she thought, wandering over. This really was such a pretty little town!
A couple of streets away Alyssa Davids was in a good mood. She'd been looking forward to the school trip for a while now, and a half day extension in such a cute town was no bad thing to her. Never the most social of people, she was nonetheless happily hanging out with three other so called "outcasts," none of whom really deserved to be as such in her eyes. They were Manuel Noles, Emily Green, and Roy Smiths.
"I like this, you know, just relaxing in the sunshine. A good day with good people, what more do you need?" she chirped.
"Good people like you? All I need for my afternoon."
"Manuel, you're too kind!"
"No such thing, especially by your high standards, my dear!" joked Manuel. He meant it though, feeling that his friend was due a compliment.
Aly was generally well-liked, but as she was autistic, she felt that people sometimes didn't know how to act around her. Most presumably didn't mean any harm, but it was hard not to feel insecure because of it. Regardless, her other friends tended to hang about in their own groups. Like Adam, who clearly had Asperger's Syndrome without ever actually admitting it. She got on well with him and the rest of the Anti-Clique, who were very protective of her. But they often kept to themselves, and were a surprisingly exclusive group, actually. If she'd had more confidence, perhaps being more socially active would be less of an issue, but she was quite happy with these three.
Well, with Emily and Manuel she was. Roy she didn't get along as well with, but as long as she made her best friend happy, she was never going to be anything other than pleasant. They'd had some good times together, anyway, and when she thought about it, they did have quite a few of the same interests, so what if he wasn't perfect? "Outcasts among outcasts." It wouldn't make sense if it wasn't a bit weird.
"Anyone else feeling a bit hungry?"
"Eyes bigger than your stomach, Emily, still never fails to amuse."
"Considerably more amusing than that line became after the first time you used it, my love." Emily and Roy exchanged flirtatious smiles. Emily was exceedingly self-conscious about all aspects of her physical appearance. For the most part she wasn't unattractive, but her eyes did seem abnormally large. Naturally, Roy had been trying for years to convince her it made her stand out in a good way and, naturally, he was unsuccessful.
As her first boyfriend, this bothered Roy. Fortunately, he would always be there for her, and she did seem to take some comfort in the presence of him, Aly, and Manuel. Aly he didn't really like, admittedly, but if she did, then that didn't matter. Manuel was a decent guy, though.
"You know, if I didn't think you'd take it literally and run off, I'd be telling you two to get a room right now."
Aly laughed playfully as Manuel's quip made Emily and Roy realise that for the past couple of minutes, they'd been lost in each other's eyes. Emily blushed as they each forced themselves to look away from each other. Manuel just rolled his eyes and smiled. He was generally a man of few words, tending only to speak when there was something worth saying. It seemed to be an effective attitude, because it meant people listened whenever he did say something.
Looking to break the slightly awkward silence that had formed among the group, Emily returned to the key issue right now – food. They'd been idling on the street for a couple of hours now and she just wanted to sit down. As they passed a small tearoom, Emily stopped, pressed her face to the glass, and stared longingly at a large chocolate fudge cake dripping with chocolate sauce that was sitting in the window. Considering she was so slim, it would have been either very amusing or very curious to see this, if not for her famous capacity to eat absolutely anything that came her way. Looking at the others with puppy dog eyes, each in turn tried to keep on moving, until they too saw the cake.
"You know, it has been quite a while since we've eaten, and we haven't been told what's happening about dinner yet…" pondered Aly.
"Enough talk. We eat. You can't come to a town like this and not sample some of the homemade delicacies, after all!" Roy got exactly the reward he wanted for his decisiveness: Emily staring at him the same way she moments ago stared at the cake. With mocking force, Manuel dragged her into the shop.
Stepping inside, Aly paused a moment to take in her surroundings. She loved these sorts of places. Quintessentially British, they tended to be family-owned, with all the cakes and sandwiches homemade. Sometimes they were little more than a talented local housewife selling her family recipes to the community; others were more like very small restaurants. This one was apparently somewhere in-between. The walls were a cool blue from the ground to halfway up the wall, where they turned white, matching the floor and ceiling respectively. A few old pictures decorated three walls, with the cake stand dominating the ceiling-height front window. It appeared to be a husband and wife who ran the shop, with the husband, presumably Mr. McIntyre, given the modest sign outside, talking away to a couple of customers while his wife was just visible in the kitchen at the back. The kitchen looked domestic, suggesting the tearoom itself was a conversion of the front room of the owners' house; not uncommon for such places, particularly the smaller ones, and it gave a nice homely sort of feel to it.
While the owners gave a polite smile as the group entered, the half dozen customers were less welcoming, giving sullen glances met by an annoyed glare from Roy. A pair of backpackers was also in the shop; they seemed somewhat scared, presumably due to having heard stories of "feral" young people. Roy opened his mouth as if to say something, but Manuel silently put his arm around him and gestured him towards an empty seat. Noticing the discomfort of the others in his establishment, who seemed to be doing their best to ignore the unwanted newcomers, Mr. McIntyre hurried over to them.
"Good afternoon, welcome to McIntyre's, what can I get for you?"
"This one would like a slice of the chocolate fudge cake; I'll take a chance on your banoffee pie, please."
"Very good, and to drink?"
"Just a couple of diet cokes, please, don't think we need any more sugar after that!"
Aly tried to resist frowning angrily at Roy, who didn't seem willing to let Emily get a word in edgeways. Manuel had seen it too, and glanced uncomfortably towards Aly.
"And you, sir, what can I get you?"
"Oh, let's act as if it's summer while the weather still holds up – cheese and tomato sandwich and, uh, an orange juice, please."
"Good choice, the tomatoes are home grown!" he said, beaming. The choice was actually part of a running joke Manuel had. He was a largely humourless person, but he did like to play games with his heritage. Born in Spain to a Spanish father, but with most of the rest of his family, including his father's parents, being from Morocco, he had smooth dark skin and long black hair. His family moved to Scotland when he was four, so he'd grown up there, but due to his foreign appearance, he liked to act in stereotypically British ways for amusement. Seeing a black man who looked almost Rastafarian sitting in a park eating strawberries and cream always drew the odd quizzical stare, and his friends never got tired of that.
"And you, madam?" Aly did a double take, not being used to being called "madam" by anyone.
"Oh, er, chocolate cake as well please, and an Irn Bru."
"Thank you very much, I'll just be a moment!"
The group sat in silence for a moment, admiring the café and trying to avoid looking at the other patrons. Aly broke the silence, though, having finally run out of patience with Roy.
"Roy, I've been meaning to ask you something?"
"Yeah, what?" Aly wasn't the most subtle of people, this wasn't likely to be good.
"Why is it you never let Emily speak for herself, like in places like this? You know she can actually order a cake by herself, you didn't need to be so condescending about it!"
Roy sighed, a bit louder than he intended. There were two things that really annoyed him about Aly. First, she clearly wasn't an ordinary girl who was into the sort of things that made hyperactive fourteen year olds popular, despite her repeated attempts to persuade herself, and others, that she was one. Second, every now and again, she'd get on her high horse and lay into someone about whatever was bugging her at the time. This time, it was the latter, and it was the recurring theme of his supposed domineering towards Emily.
The fact was, Emily was chronically insecure. She'd lived in her sister Jessica's shadow her whole life, even before she actually realised it, which came around about S4 when Jessica went to university. Emily was never as gifted as her sister; she wasn't as intellectual, confident, attractive or graceful. Aly knew all of this, of course, where she and Roy differed in attitude was in how best to help her with her issues.
Aly believed in support from the sidelines, helping her to develop confidence that way. Roy, however, preferred a more direct approach of proving just how amazing she really was by showing just how much he wanted to be around her. There was nothing exaggerated about that; he really did care about her. He had such a reputation for morbidity that some people didn't think he really could be in love. Just because he normally wore black, had pale skin and, yeah okay, wore lipstick, didn't mean he was a pasty-faced goth. He could be as fun-loving as anyone, and he knew Emily agreed with him, even if few others saw it. He could give her what she needed – love and support.
"Aly, I appreciate your support, I really do, but it's fine! Roy was just asking for what I was about to, anyway, so what's the problem?" She seemed to have convinced herself that was true, but not Aly.
"Look I'm just saying that-"
"Yeah. Yeah, I know." Emily cut her off. Aly's problem with Roy bothered her more than she wanted to admit to her best friend. She knew she meant well, but Roy wanted what was best for her, and had never done anything to cause her to doubt him. Sooner or later, she surely had to accept that and just be happy for her? Still, by being protective of her, Aly was at least showing she gave a damn, which was very comforting. It was more than most people did.
At that moment, she found her thoughts interrupted by the sight and smell of approaching cake. "Enjoy!" said Mr. McIntyre, with a smile. With Aly and Emily wasting no time in getting stuck in, Manuel and Roy soon followed, with a wry smile exchanged between them. Today, when all was said and done, life was good. And cake just made it all the better.
Metres away, on the other side of the café window, Valerie Wolfe and Shanae Preston were feeling uncharacteristically girly that day. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful town, a fantastic school trip lay just ahead of them, and that meant the day needed to be completed by spending all kinds of money they didn't actually have. Granted, that would mean needing to lug more bags onto the bus and then back home again, but that was what boyfriends were for, and in their defence, Stefano Valutti and Kevin Hetfield had been warned in advance that any opportunity to shop would be taken.
It was Shanae's idea to do this, actually, and she wasn't the kind of girl anyone disagreed with, especially those who liked their teeth being where nature intended. Physically, she looked like a cross between a bodybuilder and a fashionista, which her boyfriend Kevin loved to joke about. Tall and dark, she was of Jamaican descent and had long wavy hair that she always kept in pristine condition.
"Hey Stefano, this would look good on you, actually! Val, what do you think?"
"I think you've shown once again you know far more about men's fashion than you should for a supposed girly girl with only two male friends," Kevin deadpanned to Shanae, gatecrashing the question with the kind of sarcasm no one else in the year would get away with, ever.
"You know, that's not bad, actually!" Stefano was looking at a navy blue shirt with all white around the edges. Wasn't a brand he knew, but it was a decent price without being too cheap, and Valerie's nods of approval said something. Perhaps, though, she was just surprised he was actually interested for once. It wasn't like Stefano hated shopping at all, but given how bright and sunny it was, all he wanted to do was work on his tan on the beach. Kevin had typically remained neutral, so shopping they'd gone.
Stefano looked over at his best friend, whom he'd known for years. He was one of those guys who was just nice all-round. He didn't come across as anything particularly special, and wasn't notable for anything other than his occasional bursts of tactlessness and being just about the only person in the year stupid enough to take on Shanae in an argument, yet good enough at arguing himself to actually win. That was almost unheard of. It was no surprise she'd fallen for him after that, she kept finding she pushed guys away with her dominant attitude. It wasn't a bad thing, really, and she was far from a horrible person once you got to know her, but people often took her the wrong way. It was a shame, though sadly understandable. Fortunately, Kevin saw through all that. Their relationship had done both of them the world of good, what with Kevin being seen as every girl's best friend or surrogate sister and no girl's partner. They had been going out for six months, which wasn't a long time, but it had been an extremely enjoyable six months.
As for Stefano? Well, he'd been equally lucky in love. The girl now hurrying him to a mirror on the wall to try on the shirt Shanae found had been his girlfriend for a year or so, and they'd known each other since they were very young. They'd met before they could talk actually, due to their respective families - Stefano was full-blooded Italian and Valerie was half-Italian, though both were actually born in Scotland. Valerie's father had divorced her mother and moved to England when she was very young, meaning she wasn't a part of the local Italian community in the same way he was. The two quickly became firm friends, though, and it was inevitable when they made it official in S5.
"Yes, that definitely suits, you're getting that." She'd been looking at him from every angle, in a way that from most girls would seem invasive.
"Meets your approval, then? You've spent five minutes staring it down," he smiled.
"I'm just making sure it's right for you, nothing wrong with that!" She looked at him quizzically, with mock innocence. Like Shanae, she was very sporty, so function took precedence over fashion, which made sense, given her logical nature. Still, indulging herself every now and again was something she could live with, and so there was usually a designer label somewhere on her person at any given time.
"Nothing wrong at all, you're down to earth and you think first – it's why I love you, my dear! Your skin as soft as silk, you glow like leaves in an autumn sunset…"
Valerie blushed as he looked deep into her. Say what you will about poetry being a clichéd way to get to a girl's heart – it found hers. For years she hadn't known if she wanted him as a brother or a boyfriend, or perhaps she'd just been insecure about her chances of holding on to him. But early into S5, she made the decision and neither of them had ever looked back.
"You know, I keep thinking I should learn poetry sometime, so I can impress you with it, but I'd never manage to keep up with you!"
"Go on, do it! Tell you what, you take up poetry, and I'll take up squash so you can kick me in at that. Then we've both got something." She squinted at him a moment in thought.
"Well, knowing us, you'd master squash a lot sooner than I'd master poetry -"
"Only because I've got you as inspiration," he interrupted. "That's all the motivation in the world right there, underneath that gorgeous tanned skin." Still blushing, and trying to resist the urge to giggle like an S1 being told a boy likes her for the first time, she simply continued where she left off.
"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," a fake, exaggerated look of stunned silence adorned Stefano's face as she continued. "You mastering squash first doesn't matter, I'll do it."
"That's fantastic, Val! I love you so much!"
"I love you too, Stef!" Embracing her broad-shouldered lover, other people being in the store wasn't enough to prevent Valerie kissing him right there and then.
"Hey, Love Is! Words to the wise – Shanae doesn't see anything else that's any good, so we're leaving, apparently. You getting the shirt?" Kevin seemed moved by their affection, it would seem jealous if not for his own lover pouncing on him from behind.
"I'm not some scary dinosaur to be avoided, you know, you don't need to be like that!" she said, playfully. The way Shanae generally acted around her boyfriend and two best friends was a world away from how she treated everyone else; in front of anyone else, she'd have come across as kitsch to look like that. "Anyone have anything they want to get, though? A few other places we can try around here, I'm sure!" Kevin mocked raising his hand, then realising he didn't have anything to say two or three times, then took Shanae's hand and waited outside the store for the others to pay for the shirt.
Wearing it out of the store, Stefano blushed at the admiring nods from his friends, and walked off with them, scanning for their next destination. They weren't alone in the scouring for bargains, from the looks of things, which was unsurprising. No rush, anyway, a few hours still remained of the afternoon. This was going to be a fun week, they could all see that very clearly.
Just a few blocks beyond the four shoppers, meanwhile, Ian Doherty ambled down towards Oban's harbour area, sighing as he thought on how he was still struggling to find someone to hang out with on this lovely Monday afternoon. Lanky and unattractive, he had always had problems making friends. He'd put it down to shyness when he was younger, but he was 17 now, and lately it seemed like there was some kind of magnetic force field pushing people away whenever he approached.
He'd hoped, though, that on the final school trip, people would be in a better mood and more willing to spend time with him, especially since they'd probably never see him again in the future. A few people had crossed his path today, but mostly they seemed to run off whenever they saw him. So unfair. What did he ever do to them? Was a bit of friendship and company really too much to ask? Getting emotional about it didn't help, obviously, but it was hard sometimes. Most times, actually.
Still, maybe autumn would be a new beginning for him. Ian had decided he'd run out of reasons to stay in Perth, so he was going to study English in Glasgow. Quite a few of his year were going to Glasgow or Edinburgh, but given he didn't get to speak to them often now, it was unlikely he'd see much more of them there. New people there, anyway. A whole city of people to ignore him and think he was a weird loner.
Least he would have books, though. Books and computer games – his only loves. His parents spent most of their lives working, so Ian was on his own a lot of the time growing up. People didn't like him, but characters in stories? They didn't even know he was there, so he could get to know everything about them. How could you not love that? He couldn't understand people who didn't. If only people in the real world could be as interesting. Wasn't the same, though. Books were great, but they weren't real human contact; that was what he truly craved. Some day, someone would appreciate him. Maybe someone in his new course, who shared his love of the written word.
'Wait a minute! Who's that over there?' Ian was now on the waterfront, where the pier stretched out across the harbour. There seemed to be a few of his classmates over there, but they were chatting away to each other. Sitting on a nearby wall, though, was fellow bookworm Leah Faith. She was another one who tended just to hang about on her own, like Silent Shimizu, whom he'd seen earlier. Leah wasn't a crabby bitch like Silent was, though; she always had come across as lonely. Like Ian. Maybe she'd talk to him?
Ah, Leah. Petite, with long, auburn hair down to her waist. Pale, but pretty, despite her strange German accent. It's where her family were from, though, and she spent her summers over there. Ian knew she liked to do volunteer work at the local church, but when she wasn't doing that, she always seemed to be reading. He was sure she wouldn't mind being interrupted this once, though. He edged closer towards her, trying to see what she was reading. "Drat, can't see from this angle," he muttered to himself.
"Leah, hey there!"
That afternoon seemed to Leah to have been made for her. A gorgeous town, a beautiful view across the sea, the sun shining brightly and Lanark: A Life in Four Books. No matter that she'd read this one four times before, she still loved it just as much as she had the first time. A strange book, with even the author appearing as a character (something she'd seen before to little success), but she'd always been fascinated. But then she'd always had a vivid imagination, and dark fantasies greatly appealed to her.
Suddenly, though, she found herself jolted back into reality by a boy shouting her name. She was so surprised she nearly fell off the wall, and had to take a moment to steady herself. Who was it? Oh, Ian. What did he want? There was something unsettling about that guy; she didn't know quite what it was. Didn't matter, anyway, she was just annoyed at being distracted from her reading. She had a quick look around, reminding herself of where she was exactly. That's right, by the edge of the pier. Charlie O'Keefe and his group seemed to be over there, Mr. Morgan was chatting to the bus driver a way down the shore…and nobody else there. 'Good, let's hope Ian decides not to stick around either.'
"Oh, hi, Ian."
"Whatcha reading?" So much for him not sticking around, Leah thought. Maybe it was time to find another spot to sit down.
"Oh, er, Lanark, got right into it and lost track of time there,"
"Cool! Not my favourite book ever, but it's ok, I guess! Want a bit of company? You look kinda lonely just sitting here on a nice day like this!"
Leah rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I was on my own, but that's because I want to read. Oh, I wish he'd go away so I could just go back to it!' "No, I'm actually cool just being here reading, not really in the mood for socialising right now. I'm quite tired." Leah was very introverted, so didn't have a lot of friends, something that did bother her fairly often. But Ian wasn't the kind of guy she wanted to be friends with, that was for sure.
"Funny, I'm quite tired too, we could just lie down on the grass over there if you fancied?"
"Uh, damn, I've really gotta go pee right now, I'll see you later on, maybe?" She was getting flustered now, but he didn't seem to be giving up.
"Well, I can wait, not doing anything else the now," he said, smiling hopefully. There was more than a hint of desperation in his eyes, though. 'Is it worth persevering? Leah is famously shy after all, and with common interests…yes, she is worth it.' Leah had sensed the desperation, though, and now looked very uncomfortable. Ian just had to get past that; that would go away if only she'd give him a chance! Just move closer, take her hand.
Pulling away sharply to prevent Ian from grabbing her hand, Leah started to move towards the pier, realising that until she located a public toilet, she just had to get near people. No, wait, other direction, there was one just across the way on the harbour front. Ian was following, though. This was getting slightly worrisome.
A short distance away, Leah's appearing to be fleeing from Ian had caught the attention of Josue Flores over on the pier. A very sociable person, he was hanging out with the rest of the S6s from the Drama Club as usual. He'd stopped paying attention to the conversation, though, when he noticed Leah fleeing from Ian. Ian bothered him because he seemed to want to be like him; Josue had never had any problems talking to girls and had always been popular – two things Ian had always craved and never had. Leah was far too nice a girl to be left to be harassed by that creepy loser; someone had to say something.
"Guys, you seen over there?"
"No, what's happening?" Thera May gave him a quizzical look. She clearly didn't actually care, being more bothered with being interrupted. Josue gestured over. Still wanting to put the spotlight back on her, Thera rolled her eyes.
"Oh that's just Ian being Ian, he's harmless!"
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go say something, I don't like that Leah's having to run away from him."
"Ooh, look at you, Mr. Knight In Shining Armour, going off to save the damsel in distress!" Elyse Backman chimed in, smiling mockingly.
"Anyway, I'll be back in a minute, guys."
As he moved closer, he shouted out to her to stop running. Seeing who it was, Leah threw herself towards Josue instead. "Josue! Please, can you say something to Ian? He's harassing me and won't take the hint!"
"Yeah, I saw from over on the pier. Arsehole."
"Wait, so you came over here for that?" Before he could reply, Ian had caught up to them. He looked unsettled by Josue's presence, and Josue took advantage, stepping forward aggressively.
"Oh, erm, hi Josue. Where did you come from, didn't see you there?"
"Yeah, I was just wandering around, noticed you appeared to be chasing after Leah. Any reason for that?" As he said it, Leah edged behind him. Ian tried to circle round Josue, but his eyes were locked on him. That annoyed Ian, after all, what business of Josue's was him trying to become friends with a classmate? He was out of order here, no question.
"I wasn't chasing after her, I was just talking to her! Don't see the problem with that." He was already being defensive, which wasn't doing him any favours.
"The problem, Ian, is that I told you I didn't want to talk to you, you apparently thought I was joking and followed me when I started running away. How can you not see what's wrong with that?"
"I just wanted to be your friend, though!" He sounded increasingly whiny. He knew he wasn't endearing himself to either Leah or Josue, though where things had gone wrong he wasn't sure.
"A stalker is not a friend, you'll never get any friends until you learn that," said Josue, forcefully. He was still advancing towards Ian, driving him back.
"Well you seem to be stalking her; you just turned up out of nowhere!"
"To protect her from being harassed, you idiot! That's not the same as stalking, so don't try and compare me to you." Josue knew now he'd made the right decision in coming over here. Ian was being completely unreasonable and yet had no idea that what he was doing was wrong.
"Look, Leah, can we please just talk, try and work things out?"
"No, we can't. I just want to be left alone to read, I was quite happy doing that and you could see that, so why did you have to interrupt me?"
"I thought you looked lonely!"
"I was on my own because it's hard to concentrate on reading when you're in a crowd!" This wasn't the complete truth, admittedly, but it wasn't a complete lie either and it was the best thing to say to Ian anyway. He seemed to see now that there was no comeback, and Josue stepped in again to end it.
"Ian, you've been told now by Leah that she doesn't want to be your friend, you've clearly upset her, interrupted the nice afternoon she was having, and generally been a dick about it, so you're going to apologise to her right now, then fuck off and leave her alone, got that?"
This was humiliating for Ian. How had it come to this? He didn't mean to upset her, or to ruin her day! Josue was much bigger than him, though, and responding the way he wanted to would probably only get him punched. It was time to call it quits.
"Ugh, okay then. Leah, I'm really sorry for bothering you, I didn't mean to, and it won't happen again. I'm going to go now, see you later." With that, he turned and sullenly walked away.
"Not if I can help it," Leah muttered under her breath. Ian heard her and turned his head back towards her briefly, but with both Josue and Leah glaring at him, he sighed heavily and continued off. He thought of maybe going for a coffee or something; if every person he spoke to was going to threaten him, then it wasn't worth the effort.
"Hey, thanks so much for helping me out there, that guy is so annoying!" A wave of admiring gratitude swept across Leah's face. Her smile made Josue blush slightly.
"No problem, any time! He's always doing that, so was glad to have helped! You're welcome to come join us on the pier if you like, you know?"
"Heh, thanks very much, but I think I'm gonna go back to reading, that spot I had before gave a great view over the sea!"
"Cool, have fun, then, and I'll see you on the bus."
"Yeah, definitely, see you later, and thanks again!"
With that, the pair headed off in their respective directions. Josue paused a moment as he noticed Thera and Elyse giving him a standing ovation, to the amusement of the others. Those others were Charlie O'Keefe, Darren Cooper, Zoey Volta, George Ryan Junior, and Andrew Cruddas. They weren't the tightest knit of groups, but were still fairly close, and since they all attended the school's drama club, they'd found themselves hanging around together a lot of the time. So it wasn't surprising that they were reminiscing about past days in the club when Josue returned.
"You know what I'm really going to miss actually? The auditions to even get into the plays." Elyse had a look of relish in her eyes as she spoke. "I mind when Mr Quirrel first arrived in S2? So different from how it used to be. I mean for the S1 play all you needed to do was beg enough and you'd get the part, after that we really starting needing to prove ourselves."
"Which you certainly wasted no time in doing! You got the part of Abigail Williams in The Crucible, still don't know how you managed that!"
"I'm just that good, George, what else could it be?" she replied, a sly smile adorning her slender features. She was Perth born and bred, but her family were French, her parents having emigrated in the 1980s, so she had the delicate appearance of a Parisian. Considering that she was known for being loud and hyper, the contrast was a frequent source of amusement.
"Not that I'm trying to massage your ego, but knowing Quirrel it couldn't have been anything else, I mean since when did he ever hand out favours?" There was a slight grinding of teeth as Andrew mockingly glared at her.
"Aww, you're too kind! And obviously you don't begrudge not getting into a major play until S4 either, do you?"
"You're loving this, aren't you? Just because you got into every one after First Year!" It was hard to tell how serious Andrew was being right now; he didn't even know himself. The truth was he was jealous of that fact. He tried just as hard as anyone else, yet it took several years for his talents to be recognised in the Drama Club and this frustrated him. He wasn't as bad as Elyse, but he was certainly highly competitive.
"Come on, she didn't mean it like that, you know she's only joking, aren't you, Elyse?" Perhaps it was a paranoid fear of an argument forming that caused Zoey to intervene?
"Yes, I'm only joking," she sighed, "Can't deny I enjoy winning, or telling people I've won, but I'm not seriously having a go at Andrew, you know. Like he said, those auditions were brutal, and I'm sure he enjoyed them just as much as I did, despite the results."
"Exactly, and when I got my first leading role, it meant all the more because of how hard it was to get it!" Andrew nodded knowingly to Elyse. Once he'd hit his stride in S4, he'd never looked back. Zoey, though, seemed perturbed. Evidently, she wasn't a fan of the auditions.
"Well, you two are just weird, then; you make it sound like auditions are the best parts of the shows!"
"Of course they're not. The best part is the applause at the end of the show, when you get to hear the audience show you how wonderful they think you are!"
"You know, Thera…I feel like I should be surprised to hear you say that, but, no. I'm just not."
"Oh, Josue, tell me you don't love it!" Thera glided up and down the pier. She was clearly only half on this planet and half on stage again, in her mind. "All that hard work finally giving you your reward – the adulation of a loving crowd, who just want more and more. You can't beat it, no way!" It was no surprise to her friends that she felt this was the best part of performing; much as she liked to pretend otherwise, fame was irresistible to her. She was completely convinced she deserved applause. Tall and thin, she took great pride in her consistently casual appearance. "Understated," she claimed. This might have been more believable to Josue if she didn't insist on telling people the look she was going for so often.
"No, no, guys. The best part of the shows? The scandals, easily. Go on, tell me I'm wrong, I dare you." Confident words from Darren, as ever, who saw begrudging smiles cross the faces of his friends. Even Thera seemed to think he had a point, with the only dissent coming from Zoey.
"You're actually saying you enjoy all that chaos?"
"Oh, come on, what's a drama club without a little 'drama,' Zoey?" A sly smile, but Zoey just stared blankly at him.
"Hey, maybe I'm crazy, but I'd rather just see drama on the stage than off it, strange as that may sound."
"It doesn't sound strange; I just think you take things too seriously sometimes. Well, ok, fair enough, it's a bit fucked up at the time, but looking back on it, you've got to laugh! Come on, you know it's true!" This was typical of Darren, the kind of guy known for smooth-talking anyone who disagreed with him into changing their mind. Truthfully, it was bravado rather than genuine confidence, but none of the others needed to know that. "Anyway, do you guys remember the Wizard of Oz thing from S5? Now you can't say that wasn't funny. Not at the time, maybe, but looking back, it definitely was!" He figured it was best to move the conversation forward, before Zoey could respond.
"What, with Dorothy having an affair with the Tin Man? Aww, man, that was an actual legend! Total Hollywood-scale scandal, I thought the whole show would be affected!"
"It nearly was, remember, Charlie? Dorothy – I mean Sarah's – boyfriend turning up to the opening night, having previously told her he wasn't going to be there?"
"See, Zoey? I knew you thought the drama was fun!" said Darren. She wasn't impressed, but couldn't stop herself blushing. Much as she did hate the drama, this one was pretty funny in retrospect.
"Fine, okay, it's worth a smile, looking back."
"Controversial from the start, I told Mr Quirrel he should never have cast Brett. He's a sleazy waster who can't act to save his life, how did he ever get the part?"
Though he sounded a little like he was whinging, Charlie wasn't alone in despising Brett. A sycophantic power-hungry opportunist, a failed attempt at a political coup caused him to walk out of school a couple of months into S6. So had Sarah, actually, the other leading role in this particular scandal, but she had the legitimate excuse of a gap year before university. The memory of his leaving seemed to improve Charlie's mood somewhat.
"You know, though, I'm amazed he didn't just leave school straight after the play, given he had zero credibility left, and indeed was lucky he didn't have zero teeth left. Oh ho ho!" Andrew sighed and looked into the middle distance wistfully. "Och, you know, I had my chance actually, to give him a good smack and couldn't be bothered in the end, why did I not just do it?"
"Hmm, let's see. Because it's illegal, because you'd be arrested, because he's not what you'd call skinny so he would punch you back, because he's not worth it and you're better than him…want me to go on?"
"What, in response to my rhetorical question that was in no way directed to you? No, thank you, you can leave it at that, Sister Zoey."
"She's right, but – we are better than him, and we know it, that's what makes this whole thing so funny, since he thought we liked him! Hell, he thought we didn't know about Sarah!"
"Charlie, I take it you do realise we'd be laughing less right now if you weren't his confidante throughout the scandal, right?"
George had stayed quiet for a while, watching the byplay between his friends with amusement. Cutting a somewhat unkempt figure, he could really have done with a shave and clothes that actually fit him, since he'd lost a lot of weight in the last year or so, yet not bothered to get new clothes. It had become something of a signature for him, though, so he wasn't concerned about it. He wasn't really concerned about anything, come to think of it.
A disorganised joker, he just wanted to enjoy life. There was resourcefulness within the disorganisation, however, which is how he'd discovered that Charlie had known about the affair for longer than almost everyone. For some reason, though, he'd kept it quiet, masquerading as Brett's friend even though he, like everyone else in the drama club, hated him passionately.
Poor Charlie. Such a nice guy, yet so easily taken advantage of. George had known him since primary school and he'd always been really shy, only coming out of his shell when they both found the Drama Club in S1. Since then, he'd been a bit…fluctuating. He hated being forced into doing anything, but if gently requested, he'd do anything for anyone, and that didn't always work out so well for the guy unfortunately known as "the drama bitch." This situation was unfortunately a case in point.
He meant well, of course, he always did. But even though he was never strictly speaking on Brett's side, he gave the impression he was by not telling his girlfriend, or Sarah's boyfriend, what was going on behind their backs. It meant he came across as trying to rebuild broken bridges when he later started publically criticising him, even though it was what he'd felt all along. Remembering this, his friends tried and failed to avoid laughing.
"Look, I know what you're thinking, but – "
"Here, let me take that shovel off your hands, mate, you don't need to hang onto it!"
"Thanks, Darren, you're a true friend!" Darren mimed taking a shovel out of Charlie's hands. Charlie mimed pulling it away from his hands at the last minute and beating him over the head with it.
"You think you so smart, you think you can get away with making a fool outta me?" Charlie was of Sicilian descent, and his frequent reaction to mockery was to play-act as a Mafia member. The acting and accent were sound; sadly, though, his tan appearance and curly black hair reminded anyone doubting that it was a parody. The strangeness just made it all the more amusing, of course. Playing along, Darren happily acted the beaten down subordinate.
"Don O'Keefe, I'm begging ya, spare my life already, I'll do anything, anything!" His hands in a praying position, Darren was soon on his hands and knees pretending to kiss Charlie's feet. That proved too much and Charlie fell away laughing. It was hard for Darren to be more out of character than that, nobody ever saw him as anything other than confident and charismatic. Well, apart from his all-too-frequent angry outbursts, but aside from that…
Although truthfully, Charlie believed that Darren was giving away more of himself in such pastiches than he realised. He seemed to have a thing for Thera, given how he looked at her. Thera was forever unaware, though. It wasn't like she was short on male attention, and she loved every bit of it, even if she was too ditzy to even notice it a lot of the time. He wouldn't put it past her to just assume that any given male was interested in her. Darren unfortunately had no chance; it would take someone capable of controlling Thera to handle her, and however well his acting suggested to the contrary, he just wasn't that guy.
As Darren got up, Charlie became serious for a moment again.
"I think you guys have forgotten the part where I actually did tell all of you about Brett and Sarah in the end, eh?"
"Oh yeah, I remember that! Six weeks after you found out, by which time Henry already knew, as did Maggie!" Elyse knew Brett's girlfriend, she was in the year above her own, and she'd already told her by the time Charlie cracked. She'd been a bit annoyed, though, to learn that Charlie had kept it private all that time.
"Alright, Elyse, we're supposed to be rekindling fond memories of times gone by, not attacking each other needlessly."
"Tch, aww, you're not annoyed at me because I made a quip about Leah earlier, are you?" Josue rolled his eyes with a wry smile as Elyse exchanged devious glances with him and Thera.
"Oh, alright, I'm sorry Charlie, do you forgive me?" Eye rolling turned to face palming as she gave him puppy dog eyes. Charlie just looked at her, shaking his head with an "I'm not going to dignify that with a response," smile.
"You know, while we're on the subject of nice happy reconciliations, gotta say how happy I was when Sarah and Henry said they were staying together!" Andrew had been about to resume mocking Charlie, but Thera had a good point. A few weeks after the show had ended, and the furore had died down, both couples eventually managed to forgive each other. Maggie, it turned out, had been cheating on Brett anyway, and so both agreed that one cancelled out the other. Henry just acted above and beyond the call of duty, as all were agreed on. Sarah's friends may have turned on her for betraying him, but no-one was unhappy he forgave her. Sometimes a little bit of good news in the world was what people needed to restore their faith in humanity, if only for another few days. A chorus of "Agreed" cries was heard as the group all nodded to each other.
"Even if Brett did get dumped for good when he cheated on her again 6 months later," added Elyse.
"That's called…what's that word, those weird hippies use it…karma, I think?" Thera looked towards Zoey for confirmation, apparently failing completely to notice the sullen glare she was giving her.
"Yes, that's the one, and yes, that's what it seems to be," she replied through gritted teeth, aware that George was mentally telling her not to lose her cool and that Thera was just an idiot.
"Still, Henry and Sarah are still together, so that's something, right?" Ever the hopeless romantic, Thera could always be relied upon to lighten the mood if nothing else. It seemed everyone in the group hoped that wherever they ended up after high school, someone like her would be around. That was how she perceived it anyway, given how they were looking at her.
At that moment, though, Josue looked at his watch. He glanced over towards the harbour, and noticed people starting to migrate back towards the bus.
"Well, guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but looks like our time in Oban's just about up! Wanna head back on over?"
"What, you mean it's time to go enjoy our amazing school trip instead of sitting on a rock in the middle of nowhere with you? What a pity."
"And there was me thinking you loved me, Darren."
"Keep on dreaming, Andrew – and don't, for the love of God, give me a mental image I'd have to hurt you for thinking. Let's go."
Resisting the attempts of Charlie and Thera to skip down the pier Yellow Brick Road-style, the group arrived back at the bus to discover that about half the class had already arrived. There, they found that dinner was served – the front of the bus had apparently been holding a couple of large coolers with sandwiches in them. It was first come, first served, and word soon spread to the scattered students of the offer. Twenty minutes after the Drama Club turned up, the final stragglers were going after the last of the food. Morgan and the bus driver, meanwhile, had apparently brought a thermos flask and instant noodles with them, and were sitting on the bonnet admiring the evening sun.
With everyone fed and watered, the school trip could finally begin. The atmosphere on the bus, though, was subdued. It had been a nice relaxing day in Oban, but it had also been a long day, and considering the holiday was supposed to have started by now, the waiting had exhausted many of the students.
On board the ferry, the students were given permission to walk around freely. None wanted to, however, and before the boat had even left port, every one of them was asleep. Stepping off the bus to stretch his legs, the driver looked for a moment at the bodies strewn across the seats and floor, then at Morgan.
"How did you do it? The food?"
"Ask no questions and you shall hear no lies," came the reply, as cold and emotionless as could be managed. Noticing his daughter hanging out of her seat, he gently kissed Holly on the forehead and silently walked away.
Now alone upon the bus, the 2019 6th Years of St. Barnabus College, Perth, lay peacefully in place. None knew of events now taking place on the mainland. None knew that tomorrow the world would wake up to see them as its headline. None knew anything other than the blissful dream world into which they had entered, hoping never to leave…