Hello - Here I give you two chapter as an Easter treat.

Four

It was lunchtime, and Martin Crieff was in the library. Martin Crieff was the only person in the library, save for one or two of his classmates that actually cared about whether they passed their A-Levels.

If he was honest with himself, he quite liked the peace and quiet; it was much nicer than trying to study in the classroom, or outside. Tucked away with the shelves, it was the perfect place to pour over his knock-off flight manuals one more time, just to make sure that he had underlined everything of importance. He was sure that he had memorised everything he needed for his exams the next week, but this was…purely recreational.

As soon as the protocol and the facts were as easy to him as breathing, Martin would be confident that he could apply.

Martin was just settling down, perched on the comfiest wheelie-chair, arms folded over the long desk, book laid out under his nose. He let out a sigh, the pinnacle of relaxation, and turned his eyes to the page.

"Hey, hey Crieff." The peace was shattered as the voice of Graham Thompson rang out across the library, followed by the clumsy beat of his shoes as he came to leer over Martin's shoulder, "What you reading?"

"A book." Martin replied curtly, sitting up so that he could fold the manual closed and position his arms over the top of it, protecting it from harm. The movement meant that he saw Charlie Hopkins sidle up to his other shoulder.

Neither boy was a bully, per say, nor were they particularly badly behaved. They were just annoying and took a peculiar pleasure in winding Martin up. Simon said that it was just their way of showing him attention and demonstrating how they wanted to be his friends but didn't know how to ask…Martin didn't think that was quite right.

"Let me see." Graham muttered, and just like that he reached out to try and snatch the manual, pushing past Martin on the way.

"No – leave me alone." Martin clamped down on the book, slamming his arms and chest down to protect it from harm as he felt his cheeks heat up with frustration, "I'm done with it now."

"Aw, come on!" Graham carried on trying to wriggle past Martin's arms to snatch the book away, a boisterous grin stretching his lips.

"Leave it, Graham." Charlie laughed, but he reached out to push Graham back nonetheless, allowing Martin the space to sit up properly, "What're you gonna do with it anyway?"

"Exactly." Martin agreed, huffing and pulling the manual down onto his lap so that nobody could touch it without his permission; he clutched it against him, "It's none of your business."

For a moment, Martin hoped that that was that and that Charlie was already bored and would take Graham with him. If they didn't leave, he would have to get up and find a quiet corner to sit in on his own.

Then his hopes were shattered.

"Hey Crieff." Charlie started just as Graham had, placing a hand on the back of Martin's chair as he addressed him, "Were you in class this morning?"

"Yes." Martin replied, eyes narrowing as he looked up at Charlie. The question had been friendly enough, but there was something disconcerting about having to look up at him; it didn't even give him a chance to try and use his…less than considerable height.

"So are you gonna rush out a get a job after exams are over?" Charlie inquired, turning to perch against the side of the desk, arms folding as he looked down at Martin.

Ah…that had been the subject on every student's lips, marred by panic – a panic that Martin didn't have to indulge in. He already had everything planned…as they all knew.

"He'll probably go to uni." Graham scoffed, thwacking the back of Martin's chair just a little too hard, "Won't you, huh?"

"No." Martin knew that he had to bite his tongue instead of snapping at them to leave him alone. So long as he didn't sound too exasperated with them, or too defensive about his book, they would leave him be.

"What do you mean no?" Charlie scrunched up his face in confusion.

"I'm going to apply to flight school." Martin explained, relishing the little flicker of pride that caught him every time he thought about it. It didn't matter what his parents or his teachers thought that he was supposed to do; he had already been looking up flight schools, and he would be old enough to do whatever he wanted when the time came.

"Oh." Charlie nodded as if he understood, which was actually rather nice, if Martin did say so himself. It was almost like confirmation that his choice was a valid one.

"Isn't that just like uni?" Graham grunted, and he settled on Martin's other side against the desk, mirroring Charlie. The only difference was the bewilderment marring his features.

"I guess…it's a bit like uni." Martin nodded and curled his fingers around the edges of his manual, leaning back in his wheelie-chair so that he wasn't so close to the two of them, "But for pilots to train to get their licences."

"Sounds like its full of posh twats." Graham remarked, turning to Charlie as he spoke; it was clear that Martin wasn't a part of this particular conversation…suddenly Martin didn't feel quite so thrilled at the idea of sharing.

"Do they even let people into flight school if they pass out when they get dizzy?" Charlie asked, again, over Martin's head as if he wasn't there.

"Oh yeah." Graham exulted, then he turned his attention back to Martin, who was still sitting frozen in place, waiting for the tables to turn; he wasn't disappointed by the look on Graham's face as he said, "You can't even spin on the ropes in PE."

"I can." Martin retorted, hugging his book even closer to his chest; he glared down at his knees, muttering under his breath, "And yes, they do."

Martin wasn't sure what happened next – not quite. One moment Charlie and Graham were sniggering behind their hands, the next he was spinning and lurching to the side. Hands grasped the chair and his shoulders and span.

"Stop it!" Martin yelled as the dizziness caught him like a slap in the face, making his ears ring as the library whirled around him.

"We're only playing." Charlie chuckled, standing on one side of him while Graham stood on the other, both of them running around and around, spinning and spinning, keeping him on the chair.

"I don't care – stop it." Martin begged; he tried to run away, manual toppling from his arms, but Graham and Charlie kept him in place, head blurring, ears ringing, brain screaming, "Leave me alone!"

They didn't. They kept spinning him and spinning him so hard that the world fizzled out and Martin was weightless –

-then he was on his back, eyes closed, sound reaching him as if through fog, head whirling around in circles. Martin could hear voices above him.

"Oh crap!" Graham's voice pierced through the haze.

"You pushed him too fast!" Charlie's voice was more panicked, genuinely high-pitched with fear.

"I didn't mean to!" Graham cried.

Then there were heavy footfalls, racing away across the library.

Martin didn't know what to do, so he lay back and pretended that he was still unconscious…he waited until his head stopped spinning and his ears stopped ringing…and he just stayed there until an adult came to pick him up.

Thank you for reading : )