Author note: I'm sorry, so, so sorry for the delay, I've been revising obsessively and haven't had the chance to do much writing, but I sat my exam today so now I only have one more to go and that's not until next Thursday and I permitted myself today to finish off this chapter, here it is, its fairly long and hopefully makes up for my absence, if only a little. Thank you for your patience. Enjoy. :)
Chapter ten
On the bus
Collapsing into a bus seat and throwing my bag down on the chair next to me, I permitted myself one large yawn into my hand, I was exhausted. Between our aborted attempt to infiltrate the Baxter mansion, finding Louise and taking her safely to Jess and Joe's, my argument with Adam and my reoccurring dreams, I was dead on my feet. Scooting along the seat so that I was sat next to the window and pulling my bag into my lap I tried not to think about last night too much, for if I did I would surely scream out in frustration or break something, or maybe both. I hated Adam's absolute control over me, I despised the creep and the idea that I had no choice but to go to his house tomorrow night and be at his mercy made me feel sick to my stomach, but that was just it, I had no choice, if I didn't go Adam would take those incriminating photo's to Baxter and put George's life in jeopardy, Adam had reminded me of as much last night. After waking up from my gawd awful dream, at the usual time of quarter past five, I had sent the rest of the night trying to find a loophole in my promise to Adam but I'd tried that a thousand times before over these past few weeks and I still couldn't think of any. The possibility that Adam might not have to guts to do it had been my only hope and that had fallen through now. I scowled at the front of the bus from my seat about midway down, earning a few funny looks from the other commuters but not really caring, if they had to put up with the amount of crap I did I was sure they'd be frowning too.
As the bus drove further away from my stop I felt my anger decrease somewhat as tiredness hit me again, it was difficult to remain angry, however justifiable the reason, this early in the morning and when operating on such little sleep. It was about quarter past eight now and I had gotten up at (I wont say woken up since I never fell back to sleep after my dream) around quarter to seven, right now I was on my way to college and cursing my inconvenient timetable as I went, Monday was one of my full days. You see, A Level timetables are funny things, when you go to enrol on your courses at the very start of you year you select a block for each subject, I was so busy trying to make sure that I didn't have any stupid gaps because my lessons were in blocks that didn't run one after the other, that I hardly stopped to think about the times they were at. It had worked, I had no stupid gaps and my lessons were all clumped together, however, I now had to get up on a Monday (along with several other days) morning for one my full days. I know that I had to get up every morning for school but after having as many weeks away from education as we do, it was difficult to get back into the swing of it.
George, the lucky git, was still fast asleep at home since he didn't have a lesson until second block. I had lessons all day and I resented the fact that he was allowed a ley in, so when I had gotten up I had ventured to his room with the intention of waking him up (cruel I know but if I had to get up early the pain of that would be lessened by Georges presence, besides, if I was going to have to go to Adams I wanted to make sure George knew how important he was to me first). I couldn't bring myself to wake him up though; he looked so adorable in sleep, spread out across his bed, the covers pulled halfway down his body revealing his bare chest, his blond hair tousled messily across his forehead and his face peaceful and content. I had settled for giving him a light kiss on the lips and leaving him be, exiting the room so he could sleep. Yes my dear friends, it's true, I'm going all soft now.
Though as I thought of the lucky so and so now I sort of wished I had woken him up, the jammy sod. I had been at college for about two weeks now and it felt as though I had been there my entire life, despite my body's desire to sleep in the early hours of the morning, an idea that contradicted my timetable. I doubted I'd be getting much sleep tonight either what with our second attempt at infiltrating the mansion; it would have to be done tonight as Baxter would be back soon and we had precious little time to spare. I was so focused on getting out of this tired bubble I was in and thinking about tonight that I hardly noticed that five minutes had passed and that the bus was pulling in at Will's stop. I was staring so hard out the window that I didn't notice he had gotten on the bus until he threw himself into the seat next to me, making me jump.
"Is it one of those mornings then, eh Robin?" he asked me as he grinned and turned in the seat to face me, taking in my exhausted expression.
"What?" I asked sharply and groggily, not getting what he meant and also mildly annoyed at how awake and fresh he looked even though he had stopped out just as late as I had.
Will laughed at my annoyed response and said "You look a bit dead to the world," in a cheery voice that should be illegal at this time of day.
"Insult me again and you will be, best friend or not." I muttered though Will still heard me and laughed again.
"And you call me a grumpy pessimist." He said as he nudged me with his thick brown construction boots, Will had college today as well, only he was taking a different course to the rest of us, rather than A Levels Will had opted to take a vocational course in construction specializing in joinery, since he was so skilled with wood, he also had a work placement at the builders yard he had been working at over the summer rather than setting up another one since it was easier. Will's hours were more liberal than mine, he was only required to come into college two or three times a week for lessons, the rest of the time he was on placement.
"You are," I confirmed for him with a small smile breaking through the fog that surrounded me as a product of lack of sleep "I'm just tired."
We talked like that for the duration of the bus journey and by the time it pulled into the bus station in town centre I was actually in a good mood and considerably more awake, despite being a grumpy pessimist Will always knew how to make me smile. It was just as we were waiting to get off the bus, I stopped to let a woman and her children get out of their seats ahead of me, when I spotted a discarded copy of the Locksdale Enquirer on an empty seat. The headline caught my eye, 'Outlaw Raid Continues', without thinking I snatched up the paper and folded it under my arm, thanked the bus driver and exited the bus with a suddenly serious looking Will walking behind me. We walked away from the crowds and found a seat in an unused bus bay so that we could sit down and read the paper, I still had fifteen minutes until my lesson started.
I unfolded the paper and read the offending article, unsurprised but annoyed by what I read. Apparently, late last night my outlaws and I infiltrated the office of 'local businessman' Charles Beverly (father of Courtney Beverly) and stole a significant sum of money from a low security safe there which we managed to break the hinges of (much like how Will gets us into places by braking the hinges of a door with a screwdriver, or arrowhead if we don't have a screwdriver on us), even though at the time the crime occurred the other outlaws and I were trying to brake into the Baxter mansion. A reporter who was first at the scene (it never failed to amaze me how far a reporter would go to get a story, I mean turning up at the dead of night at a crime scene and then spending the next few hours typing the story up so it can make the morning paper, don't they have lives?) claimed that we were working our way through all the major businessmen in town and speculated about who would be the next victim. The reporter also managed to get a quote from a spokesperson from Baxter Industries, who wished to remain anonymous, asking them about the previous brake in at the offices of Baxter Industries, which said that 'Mr. Baxter has been informed of the break in and the loss of money, valuable items and documents, he has insisted upon heightened security at both his offices and his mansion home to prevent any further theft from these 'outlaws' who have been plaguing him for months.'
I frowned at the paper in my hands, furious that we were getting the blame for this and how the article had painted the story as though we were low life pick pockets, even though they knew that we only stole from those who could afford to spare the money and we only gave to those who needed it. It painted us as criminals who were in the wrong, and it wasn't even us doing it, someone else was copying our style, possibly with help and doing all of this in our name. I wondered about the stolen money and scowled, I doubted that that money would go to the poor and I cursed these people for doing this, if we had gotten there first we could have given it to a good cause. Once again worried about Baxter slowly turning the town against us I turned to face Will as he said in a low voice,
"We thought about it, but we dismissed it because they didn't have enough to spare, and now we're getting the blame and without even the money to give to the poor." He said his expression serious and irritated.
"I know," I said as I folded the paper in half again, one word jumping out at me from the print as it did, that word was documents, I wondered, briefly, why it stood out to me so much "it's getting ridiculous now, we don't know what they want or who they are or where that money is going. We're confronting Jess and Joe tomorrow night, we can't do it now it wouldn't be right, but I can't stand this not knowing, even if they aren't selling our secrets which I'm hoping is the truth, maybe they'll know something. They have their fingers well and truly on the pulse of this town."
Will nodded and got up, I did the same and tucked the paper into my bag "I'll save it for the others, see what they make of it." I said though I didn't know what else they would be able to tell me, it was the same as TV report, they dressed like us, they used our methods and they took money and other important things from the offices of the towns wealthy citizens, just like us. There were imposters out there pretending to be us and we didn't know what they wanted.
Together Will and I walked out of the bus station and stopped to say bye "forget about the article for now, Robin," Will instructed me "just get on with today and we'll talk to the others about it later since it looks like we're going to have to be more careful tonight."
I nodded at his words but still frowned, I hated this imposter thing, like we didn't have enough on our plates right now. Will and I went our separate ways, him heading for the Construction Site and me heading up towards the 6th Form, or A Level, building. As I walked down the hill towards the building I thought of the long journey back and wished John had college today, having recently passed his driving test my recently turned eighteen year old friend was legally able to drive and so often picked us all up for college when he was in and took us all home again, but only if he was in college since he was working the rest of the time. I made it to my Sociology class on time and took my seat in-between the two girls I spoke to during lesson, I enjoyed Sociology immensely, it was easily one of my favourite subjects now.
For those of you who don't know, A Levels are quite different from the other courses you can take at college, vocational ones like the one Will takes have a very laid back timetable and you only specialized in one subject, which in Will's case is joinery. Apprenticeships, of course, involve working and learning the trade while getting paid to do it. A Level's are more closely resembled to school, a student selects three or four (four is standard) classes, some of them they might have studied at school, like English, and some that they might not have, like sociology, the subjects are generally quite difficult and unlike vocational students you're in college quite a lot. My chosen A Levels are Sociology, because I found it fascinating on visiting day and I'm curious to see how far the college administrators let them talk about social class and control and Marxism, in a town such as this. I have also taken English language and Literature combined, because I always enjoyed it in school despite my eccentric teacher, Geography again because I enjoyed it and I honestly didn't know what else to choose and Law, because I've lost count of how many people have told me that I ought to be good at it and that it would put a good use to my confidence and cocky attitude if I went into law.
I sat dutifully through an hour and a half lesson of Sociology, where my tutor Chrystal (you call the teachers by their first names here as part of a more relaxed setting, at first it was awkward but you just get used to it) told us all about nationality and socialisation. I found it interesting but was more than willing to leave the classroom and head off to my next lesson, which was law. I had to admit though I was worried about getting left behind in the subject, we were discussing law making currently though so it wasn't too boring and I could keep up. I phoned Louise in my break between Sociology and Law and asked her how she was settling in, she said it was fine and that Joe and Jess's parents were okay with her staying there, which was good. She hung up because she was going back to her house to collect her things and pick up her car; she was moving out of her house because without her father and only on her hairdressers wage she couldn't afford the rent. She also had to start planning her dad's funeral, I gave her my condolences again and told her that if she needed anything she could always ring me; she thanked me and hung up.
After an hour and a half of Law it was lunch and so I met up with Will (who was still in college) and George (who had just come in last lesson) for dinner, which was a bit slow to get going since we had to wait for George to wash red paint off his cheek after I pointed it out to him with a laugh. George, much to his father's disgust, had not only opted to come to Locksdale College rather than the posh Highgate College where all the Haves go, or the Baxter Academy, we were still trying to think of a way to bring that one down, but hadn't had much success. Baxter found it embarrassing that his son was attending the almost penniless, Have Not college rather than one of the others, he didn't like the way the other Have parents laughed at this fact and said (behind closed doors of course) that Baxter couldn't control his impulsive son, or so George told me. To add insult to injury George had opted to take what Baxter would dub, soft or worthless A Levels, though George said he would have taken these subjects no matter where he studied. George took, English combined, Psychology (the only subject he chose that his father mildly approved of), Modern History since he found it interesting and Fine Art. I shouldn't have been surprised when George had told me he enjoyed the subject, Art I mean, the boy could do pretty much everything so why not add being a good artist to the list? He was a good artist as well, he had shown me some of his work from GCSE and I was blown away by it, I hadn't even know that he had taken the subject at school and I was amazed by how talented he was, modest as ever George brushed my compliments off but there was no denying he had skill.
So once George was paint free the three of us went into town for dinner before splitting up again an hour later, after joking banter, Greggs' sandwiches and laughter so that Will could head back to construction and we could get back to the A Level building. The newspaper was left forgotten in the bottom of my bag and I wasn't bothered about that since it was best to talk about it later when everyone was there. Next lesson George had Modern History, which he had told me was about Russian history at the moment, and I went off to Geography where I sat next to a girl I recognised from Primary school, Danny I believe she was called and who I happened to know had had a huge crush on Will all through Primary and then Secondary school where she had been in his form. I smiled and worked with her in group work and after another hour and a half I left to meet up with my friends. I walked past all the congregating students waiting inside the building and headed outside, the weather was still pretty warm and as a result I was only dressed in a pair of black leggings, a long print top and a black cardie. I walked outside into the sun and searched for my friends, it didn't take me long to find them, they were probably the most boisterous group waiting outside the college; I smiled when I saw them. Jack and Jess were stood talking a laughing as the boys, in this instant Joe, Will (who had walked up from the construction site to see us all before he headed home for the day) and John (who I was surprised to see). The three of them were having a very loud and animated argument about something that I couldn't quite understand.
"Hi," I greeted Jess and Jack as I walked up to the pair of them who were slyly putting distance between themselves and our loud friends.
"Hi," Jack greeted with a warm smile, in her arms she held a large blue ring binder I knew to be filled with all her science notes, which told me that she had had either Chemistry or Biology last lesson. Jack, who wanted to become a doctor, had chosen her A Level subjects around that dream, though in addition to Chemistry and Biology she had also taken Health and Social Care, which would be useful to her, and English combined which she had enjoyed at school.
"Hey, Robin," Jess said and I smiled at her, honestly unable to believe that there was even the faintest possibility that she was double-crossing us, despite her and Joe's shady nature they were the most amazing people and we all trusted them with our lives. I hated having to be cautious around them but I knew it was necessary.
"How come you two are down here then?" I asked with a nod in Joe's direction, John was pulling him into a playful headlock at which Joe started to curse and Jess laughed, I was sure that it would make his day if my biggest friend could see the look she wore as she watched.
Jess and Joe both took a vocational subject, Business Studies, and rarely came down here, which was why I was so surprised to see them both. After college, and hopefully after all their dodgy dealing and thieving became unnecessary, Jess and Joe wanted to open a business together, they had plenty of great ideas and were anxious to get started, this revelation had shocked their family considerably though as they highly doubted that the two of them would be able to get along long enough to keep a business going. It didn't surprise us though, even though the two of them fought like cat and dog all of us knew just what a good team they made and knew that if they put their minds to this business and the economical climate got better, they would have no problem.
"Ah, it's boring down at vocation, we saw Will and John coming up here and decided to come and see you all, though I think Joe just wanted to mess about for a bit and embarrass me." Jess said pleasantly before turning to face her brother when she said the last two words and directing them sharply at him. Jack and I laughed as Joe pulled a face at Jess and her expression became menacing, we both knew that Jess wouldn't let him get away with that and he would pay for it later.
"Hey, Robin," Joe shouted as he spotted me and waved, awkwardly from John's headlock, the other two turned around then and spotted me, they smiled in greeting and John released Joe so that they could walk over here, grinning at me as he did.
"Where'd you come from?" I asked John as he approached, dressed in his everyday clothes, John, like Will, took a vocation in construction however John's was in bricklaying rather than joinery, he still worked at the builders yard, like Will he used it as his placement. John was only in his first year of college, the same as Mark; despite how both of them were a year older than us school wise, both of them had gone straight into work last year rather than further education since they couldn't afford not to work. This year however we had managed to convince the pair to join us at college and they had applied and gotten in with us.
"Lazy sod here," John said as he nudged Will, who wasn't expecting the motion from our extra strong friend and stumbled because of it "couldn't be bothered to catch the bus and rang me to come and pick him up. The van's parked in the student lot." He explained and I nodded in understanding.
"I should have guessed I suppose." I teased Will who folded his arms and started to explain,
"Hey, it's not like I was tearing him away from anything, you know you'd do it too if you could, only the rest of you A Level boffs* have still got another lesson to sit through."
Jack and I shot Will a dark look which he brushed off with a self satisfied grin, at which Jack hit him with her folder, Will looked playfully offended and the pair proceeded to flirt/fight, because that's what it was, outrageous flirting that only the pair of them couldn't see. Joe rolled his eyes at them and Jess turned to John.
"You couldn't give us a lift home too, could you John? We're finished for the day now and you're going our way anyway." She asked and John nodded, his gaze meeting Jess' causing him to get all flustered and shy like he did whenever she spoke to him directly. I smiled because it was just so cute, John really fancied Jess.
"Yeah, sure," John managed to gush before going for a look of nonchalance that he just couldn't pull off, despite his size and playful nature John was one of the sweetest people I had ever met, however, he had never had much luck with girls, bless him. Jess smiled knowingly at him and thanked him. Joe was making gipping motions behind their backs until he spotted something and said,
"Bloody hell, what is this, a couple's event?"
Confused by his words all six of us turned to look in the direction Joe was looking with obvious exasperation on his face, Mark had just exited the A Level building and was currently looking a little pink faced and talking, apparently nervously, to a petit redhead who nodded politely as he spoke and then laughed at something that he said. I felt a smile form on my face as I recognised her, my proud happiness only spoiled a little by the awful dropping sensation I felt when I realised where I knew her from. It was Suzanna, the girl from the past who had worked for Mark's parents as a servant, who he had fancied for quite a while and who had stood by us in the end when it came to a fight. I smiled knowingly at him even though I still couldn't shake the ominous feeling I got as another aspect of the strange dream/visitation materialised in my real life, making it seem more and more real and unsettling me.
Mark bid Suzanna farewell and she went off to join a group of her friends who openly assessed Mark as he walked away from her, from the looks on their faces he rated highly, that surprised me quite a bit, as with all my male friends, I never really thought about Mark in terms of his looks. I supposed now that I thought about it that Mark was good-looking, with his mousy blond hair, green eyes and tasteful glasses that made him look intelligent and dignified.
"Ay, ay," Joe called loudly, cupping his hands around his mouth, causing a few people to stare and Jess to shoot him a warning look, which of course he ignored "look whose pulled."
Will, Jack and John snorted at Joe's words and I rolled my eyes even though I smiled, I hated the term pulled, it was demeaning. Mark flushed a bright red colour as a few of our fellow students looked at him, causing Joe's grin to widen.
"Shut up," Mark hissed as he approached us and tried to make himself small. I smiled along with the others.
"Aw, come on Mark don't be modest, she's pretty, you should be proud." Will teased Mark with a nudge, Mark scowled at him and I felt my grin slip when I spotted the dark circles still under Mark's eyes, he still wasn't sleeping much then.
"That she is; what's her name then?" Joe asked as he looked over at Suzanna "so that when she gets bored of you I can get in there."
Jack, Jess and I made doubtful noises "yeah, alright Joe, because anyone's got the patience to deal with your immature crap." Jess said, attempting to cut him down but since Joe has an ego the size of a jumbo jet that didn't happen.
"Keep dreaming," I told Joe before turning back to Mark and saying "well, come on, who is she?" I asked even though I knew already, of course I couldn't say that out loud as I'd have to explain where I knew her from, somehow, I didn't think telling them all that I had met her in the past where she was a servant in Mark's old house who he happened to have a huge crush on, would go down too well, unless I wanted to be carted away to a padded cell. So obviously I had to ask the appropriate questions.
"Her name is Suze," Mark told me, clearly more willing to talk to me about this than anyone else, I could take the Mickey with the best of them but I knew when something was supposed to be serious "she's a friend," he said meaningfully and exaggeratedly, addressing the others this time "she's in my Physics class and she used to live next door to me when I lived with my parents, she works in their shop from time to time as well." I watched as Mark explained this to us and a flash of pain shot through his eyes, I knew that talking about his family hurt him, after everything that I had seen in the 'past' I had gently asked Mark about why he lived in a flat on his own and where were his parents.
He had, slightly reluctantly, explained to me that his family had kicked him out as soon as he finished year eleven because they thought it best that he ventured into the big wide world and fended for himself, it would be character building they had said. Mark had done as asked but they very rarely spoke to him since they were so busy trying to pull themselves up into Locksdale's none existent Middle-class, they owned a shop and were starting to accumulate a small amount of wealth, well, by the standards of the Southside anyway, and according to Mark this made them think that they were above the rest of us. His dad was also a former member of the B.A and they thought that they were owed a better standard of life because of that and were closer to Baxter's class than the rest of us Have Not's. Annoyed that his parents never so much as paid him a visit or returned his phone calls while he struggled to stay alive and off the streets Mark had visited them, managing to catch them while they were all at home and hosting a dinner party, he had stormed in, in a very un-Mark fashion, and told them exactly what he thought of them, their dreams of becoming Haves and the B.A in front of all their guests. Needless to say they hadn't spoken to him since, they disowned him and Mark had been trying to keep his head down after openly criticising the B.A for almost six months before he found us, frightened of what they would do if they found out.
"She seems nice," I commented as I looked over in her direction and spotted her watching Mark, an admiring smile on her lips "you should invite her to do something with us some time."
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask if you all wanted to go to the cinema or something." Jess said as she too looked at Suze and smiled when she noticed what the girl was doing "so long as she doesn't mind horror films, she can come too." Jess said with a grin and I rolled my eyes, she had a crazy love for creepy horror films and none of us had managed yet to talk her into letting us watch another genre at the cinema, it was impossible to win an argument against Jess.
Jack, Will, John, Mark and I all shared a look, each of us thinking about our suspicions about Jess and Joe and how uncomfortable it would get if we let this distrust linger between us and ignored it. I didn't like this, but I really couldn't do anything about it just yet.
"Sounds good to me," Jack said tucking a strand of short black hair behind her ear, from where it had become displaced when she was messing around with Will, who nodded his agreement with her words. John also agreed to inviting Suze to go with us and Mark seemed pleased that we were so quick to accept his 'friend', since he was wearing a grateful smile as he regarded us.
Joe however, groaned "aw come on, no, she can't come, you're all breaking off into couples and I'm the only one going stag, how is that going to be fun for me when you're all getting off in the back of the cinema? I need Mark to go alone, at least if he's dateless too I won't feel so bad." he complained loudly and frowned at the insult.
"Only Robin and George are a couple, Joe," Jack reminded him as she folded her arms across her chest.
"And we won't be getting off at the back of the cinema." I told him through gritted teeth, he was so callous at times.
"Well, maybe Mark and Suze are going to be on a date as well, but they're the only ones, you won't be the only one without a date." Jack mused and beside her Will deflated at her words, clearly having hoped that this would be an excuse to take her out on a date even if the rest of us were there, I shot him a raised eyebrow look that told him to get asking, he shook his head and me and I sighed.
Joe made a doubtful noise at the same time that Mark hissed "she is not my date, we're just friends."
"All right, Mark, whatever you say," Joe said dismissively before turning back to rest of us and saying "look, I'm fine with you all going and being together, but I just don't want you being all couple-ie all the time, its not right and it makes me feel uncomfortable."
"No one cares what you think;" Jess told her brother bluntly "we're all just going as friends for crying out loud, get over it."
Silence followed Jess' words while some of the lads in our group, namely John and Will, contemplated how depressing going to the cinema with the girl's they fancied as only 'friends' was and revelled in their bad luck. Well, I thought as I regarded their gutted expressions, it would be easier if they simply asked them out, but no, the pair of them just didn't work like that. Joe glared at his sister, who matched the gaze equally, soon the atmosphere was so heavy that I could actually feel the discomfort around me, Mark shifted uncomfortably and Jack suddenly and with much more excitement than necessary, said,
"Look there's George."
The awkward atmosphere vanished instantly, around me at least, and my heart lifted the way it always did when someone mentioned George, I was still unable to restrain the pure happiness I felt at the mere mention of him. Unable to stop the wide smile that spread across my face I turned to search for my blond boyfriend. My eyes scanned the crowds of students and quickly I found him, he was standing near the front doors to the college, dressed in a red and dark blue checked shirt and dark blue jeans, his stance was casual and his hands were buried deep in his jeans pockets as he talked politely with someone. My eyes then landed on a second, though this time female, blonde head and I felt my stomach drop and my expression twist into a scowl. Great.
"Urgh," Jess said behind me in disgust as her gaze also landed on the person George was talking to, urgh didn't even begin to sum it up; I thought as I subconsciously folded my arms across my chest and watched the scene before me.
Stood there, next to George as if it were her rightful place, was the snooty and ever unpleasant Grace Gisborn, dressed in clothes that I was willing to bet cost more than any one of the student's families monthly income and were obviously the height of fashion. Her long blonde hair was straightened to such perfection that the wind seemed to have absolutely no effect on it (a fact that on its own would have half the female population hating her), her hip was cocked in a seductive fashion and her expression was one of obvious flirtation, it didn't look cute and sweet like it had on Jack and Will's faces, she was deathly serious about this and so it looked vulgar and whore-ish on her. Her expression was a stark contrast to her outfit, which presented the image of her being smart and successful, her face ruined the image as right now it wasn't in check, you could see quite plainly the reason behind her presence here and it made me feel about ready to rip her head off.
On the very first day of college I had been beyond surprised to see her here and so had everyone else, despite the fact that many of them had never met her before. None of them needed to have, just by simply looking at her the whole student population could tell what her social background was, it was obvious in the way she spoke, dressed and presented herself (with smugness and a sense of misplaced superiority) that she was most definitely not one of us. And that baffled people, I mean why wouldn't it? It didn't make any obvious sense for her to be here, our town was clearly divided, all the way through our lives we were kept in what was almost segregation and college was no exception. Kids who came from Locksdale Secondary went to either Locksdale College or Baxter Academy, if they were so desperate to serve Baxter and climb the nonexistent social ladder (which was really more of a social lift, one whose gilded doors would only open for you if you lived on the West Side of the town) that they didn't mind being beaten up by their old friends for it, they never went to Highgate College. The toft kids on the other hand either went to Highgate or the Academy, both of which boasted a bulging budget to be spent on their education and had excellent pass rates. They could go to Locksdale if they wanted to, Mark, myself and especially George were all proof of that since we had all attended Locksdale Upper, however, up until now no one ever had opted to go to Locksdale College when they had another choice, I mean why would they? Locksdale College doesn't have half the resources or money that the others have, we only come here because there is no alternative, or rather, no alternative that to which we will be able to look in the mirror on a morning after choosing.
However, many people had speculated on the day of Grace's scandalous arrival, Grace wasn't from Locksdale she was from Nottingham, how was she to know how it all worked? Then the serious gossipers got involved, telling people of how Grace was a friend of the Baxter's and how she would know from them which college to go to. So, the students decided that Grace must have some other reason for coming here, since Jack who had also just moved here from out of town had known where she belonged, though the gossipers had yet to figure out what had brought Grace here.
From where I stood, it was obvious what Grace Gisborn of the Nottingham Gisborn's wanted, the same thing she had wanted when I first met her at the Masquerade Ball and the same thing she had wanted in the 'past', George's undivided attention and absolute power. My surprise had then turned to fear as I remembered who Grace had been in the past, the true Gisborne and evil mastermind behind most of the scheming who had told me Marin was dead when he wasn't and tried to have me and my friends killed. She had been a real dangerous foe last time and her presence here disgruntled me, the evidence that my trip to the 'past' had been real was starting to stack up in an alarmingly large pile, which was good news for my sanity but not for George. If everything that happened in the past was true to a degree (there were minor changes here for example Suze wasn't a servant but rather worked for Mark's family etc) then Grace's sudden arrival here, just like it had in the past, preceded her scheming and ultimately Marin's (George's) death. If the past was true she even had a part in it, having come up with the idea to send the warriors on their first mission, and that that be to kill me and my fellow outlaws. What if that were the case here? What if she was the one behind it all and second on the big baddy list after Baxter? I had then promptly dismissed that thought, deciding that I was being stupid again by taking the 'visit' to the 'past' seriously.
However, something about her hadn't sat right with me. Still didn't. I had decided that I would keep an eye on her, try to keep everyone away from her and let George know of my belief that she might be the incarnation/descendent of Guy of Gisborne, rather than Adam. I hadn't had the chance to tell him about that yet, to be honest I couldn't see it going well as I knew here George viewed Grace as something of an irritating friend, he had known her for a while and I didn't think he'd take to me telling him that his friend was the incarnation of a evil villain. I didn't care though, he had the right to know and I wanted him safe, I'd take his being angry at me any day over his being dead. Besides, I didn't like him talking to that vixen, she only wanted to be with him because it was acceptable, at least that's what she had told me in the past. I scolded myself mentally for thinking that again and I pulled an annoyed face.
"She doesn't give up, I'll give her that," Jack said with obvious disgust in her voice, she stood at my right hand side where Jess stood at my left, both of them glaring at Grace, understanding half of my plight in a way that now lad ever could. Jack remembered me telling her about Grace after the Ball, and her opinion wasn't very high of her.
"Pushy is more like it," Jess commented as she folded her arms "she never gives the poor boy five minutes to himself."
I felt my gaze narrow and anger rise up in my chest as Grace appeared to ask George a question, I guessed that she had asked him to do something or go somewhere as her expression was one of 'of come on you might as well'. A sly smile graced my lips as I watched George's obvious refusal, he was being polite about it I could tell but he was shrugging off her request, again.
"George can handle her," I said smugly as I watched Grace take his refusal seemingly on the chin, though through the balling of her fists and the tight look in her eyes I could tell it bothered here, I doubted she was used to rejection and George had been rejecting her suggestions to go somewhere for weeks now. Seems little miss priss needs to get over herself, I thought as I watched her make it out to be this great shame that George couldn't go with her.
"I bet you could too if she overstepped the line," Jess said with a laugh "she'd be too afraid to break a nail or something like that."
"She seems that sort of type." Jack agreed. I gave a shot laugh but didn't say anything since I was thinking about the fight I had had with Grace in the past, I knew that if that really had happened she wasn't as soft as she looked.
Joe appeared next to his sister hearing our conversation and said "Hey Robin, you know since George can't have her and keeps telling her to shove off, do you think he could send her my way? Because she is fit as…" Joe trailed off at the look on his sister's face, it probably matched my own since I was looking at him furiously feeling sickened and repulsed by the idea of Grace going out with Joe. Even he could do better than her, callous attitude included.
"She wouldn't look your way in a million years, Joe, you've got to have money to interest her sort, money and power." Jack told him, she wasn't being unkind, she was simply telling the truth, Grace was too shallow to look at anything other than a persons bank balance and social standing, her actions over the past few weeks had proved as much. She strutted around the college in her All Saints gear like she owned the place, her plastic clones never far behind her, all of them popular Have Not girls trying to get a boost into the world of the Haves. Jess, Jack and I called them Have WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends)*, desperate to grab themselves a rich boyfriend and tagging along with Grace so as to learn from her.
"Hey, you and I both know that I can get hold of money." Joe said flashing a cheeky smile that made sure we had know doubt about his meaning. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah but can you get social standing, Joe?" Jess asked him sharply "can you turn yourself into a Have? If you can I'd like to know how, we'd make a fortune selling magic like that."
"She's not worth the effort, Joe, she treats everyone around here like dirt on her shoe, and she's only here for one reason anyway." I told him and everyone, including John, Will and Mark but baring Joe, made noises of agreement, everyone had heard of or been on the receiving end of Grace's superior attitude since she arrived her. Miss Priss had a sharp, biting tong on her and didn't hesitate to put us Have Not's in our place.
Joe made a noise of agreement and said something like 'she's still fir though', I hardly heard him though as George managed to extract himself from a coaxing Grace and waved her goodbye before jogging over to where we stood, I smiled at him as he approached and he kissed me on the cheek as he reached us. My gaze locked with Grace's over George's shoulder and she threw me a cold, hateful look which I more than matched, before turning back to her Have WAG 'friends' who were also glaring at me from under their mascara smothered eyelashes. Grace had been like that ever since she got here and found out that I was George's girlfriend, if I was right and the only reason she had come here was to get her claws into him for her own prosperity and because it was socially expected, then I was certainly a flaw in her plan. At first I had been worried that she had recognised me, that she remembered me from when George introduced us at the Ball and then made the connection between that and when I was grabbed by Baxter for attempting to steal his solid gold goblet. I was worried that she might have figured out that I was the same Robin who had spent time with George at the Ball and been shown to be Robin Hood later, though it seemed I needn't have feared since she didn't seem to recognise me. I shouldn't have been surprised, girls like her never remembered the names of people they dubbed to be lower than them, she wouldn't have bothered to commit my name to memory as she wouldn't have seen me as important.
"Hi," George greeted everyone, pulling my attention away from the glaring Grace and back to him.
I laced my fingers in-between his and returned his greeting along with the others, I smiled at him even though I could still feel Grace's gaze boring into the back of my head. I shifted uncomfortably, unable to shake the feeling that there was more to Grace than I was letting myself believe, that she wasn't just a snooty girl who was after my boyfriend, that she really was an evil schemer and bad guy of legend. It was the same feeling that had told me not to tell the others about the thing with the 'past' and the same feeling that had told me not to come clean about the dreams when Mark did, only this time it was telling me to do something rather than not to, it was telling me to find out more about Grace, so that I could convince myself of her dangerousness.
"We're going to the cinema with Mark and his new girlfriend," Jess told George as Mark denied the title of girlfriend "you coming?"
"Sure when are we going?" George asked with a grin in Mark's direction, who didn't look too happy that there was another person here to take the mick out of him now.
"Don't know yet," John said, "we've still got to decide."
"Okay," George said with a little laugh, everyone then went back to their own conversations, I noticed that Jess and Jack were discussing how Grace was still watching me "I was wondering," George said as he turned to face me, suddenly looking a little nervous "if you were doing anything during your afternoon off Wednesday?" George asked, here was another thing about our college, they gave us Wednesday afternoons off to participate in enrichment activities such as learning another language, though to be honest with you I didn't know a single person who actually did take part in that, most just used the time to go spend time with friends. This was also one of the few positives about my timetable, I only had one lesson first thing Wednesday, English, meaning that I had longer off. George's timetable had this convenience too.
I shook my head "No, I don't think so." I told him and a smile split across George's face, causing my heart to lift and me to copy the motion even though I didn't know why he was smiling yet.
"Good," George said "because I was thinking that we could, maybe go to Marian's Bay for the afternoon, you know, catch the bus over and visit it before the cold weather gets here?"
"Sounds good to me," I said genuinely liking the idea, it would be nice to get away from Locksdale for a bit and just to spend some time with George, it also gave me something to look forward to.
"Great," George said, his smile widening and his grip on my hand tightening a little as I continued to smile at him, overwhelmed by the love I felt just looking at him and already looking forward to Wednesday.
"Oi, love birds," Joe called "you and the other clever clogs are going in."
I looked around us an noticed that everyone was indeed starting to make their way inside, there was no bell system at the college and students had to keep track of the time or else miss their next lesson, well, that our just keep an eye on what the other students were doing.
"Best get to English then," Mark commented, hitching his bag further up his shoulder.
Jack sighed "I'm too tired." She complained, dropping her head onto a delighted looking Will in a dramatic display of exhaustion.
"Your not the only one." I said as my tiredness hit me again and I groaned internally at the thought of another late night, however good the cause it still looked unappealing when operating on as little sleep as I was.
"Come on," George said pulling on my hand and grinning down at me in a way that would be enough to convince me to follow him through the gates of Hell never mind the English classroom.
"Fine," I said in a sulking voice, Jack moved away from Will and stood beside us and Mark as we made motions to go to our lesson.
"We'll see you all later then," Will said with a mocking smile since we still had an hour and a half of college "when you're finished here."
"Yup, have fun." John called with a wave in our direction as he, Joe, Jess and Will headed towards the student car park with smug grins on their faces.
"Oh we will," George said as I grinned at him and the four of us turned and headed towards our English Combined class, joining the crowds of students heading back inside.
"I'm sure," I said doubtfully though I was still smiling and holding onto George's hand tightly, up ahead I could see Grace, she looked over her shoulder at me with a look of disgust that George didn't see, I met her cold gaze without so much as flinching though I could tell she thought I would since it was such a killer glare. She clearly didn't know me very well. Once again that nagging feeling that there was something more to her, that she was dangerous and that I needed to find out why, pestered me, I knew full well that there was something off about Grace and I couldn't stomach the idea of just leaving her to get on with her plans, whatever they were. Suddenly I knew what to do, how to find out more about Grace, she had been in George's life for a long time according to him and I was instantly reminded of the other family friend of the Baxters, a family friend who had been in George's life for probably just as long as Grace only had been attempted to be removed from it recently. Stephanie, surely she could tell me about Grace and either confirm my suspicions or put my mind at rest.
I kept my gaze locked with Grace's until she turned back around, I would go and see Stephanie, if she's talk to me since we had never really gotten on, and even if she told me that Grace was just a pussy cat that fancied herself as a tiger and could do no real harm, at least I would know. Content with my decision and deciding that I would do it tomorrow, I followed George, Jack and Mark to the classroom unable, once again, to shake the feeling of dread.
*Boff for those of you who don't know, is a short for boffin and a term used in slang to describe a smart person, I wasn't sure who would know this.
*WAG is generally a term used to describe the wife or girlfriend of a (possibly Premier League) Footballer, this you may of may not know, I just put it here just in case.
Author note: I'm a little iffy with the end, my mind was starting to switch off by that point and I don't really like it that much but I know that I cant not post today so there it was, let me know what you think since I'm a little anxious about it, do you like all my chosen subjects for my characters, how about George as an artist, does it suit him? Let me know your thoughts on the chapter please, since I love to hear them. Once again I am so sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) x