Okay, I'll admit now, I'm the kind of girl who isn't into fashion. I would prefer to go out with my friends in scruffy jeans and a hoodie if I could. So, I do apologise now if the clothing descriptions in this chapter are bad. Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter Nine

"Alright! Spring Break!" The moment the bell rung to indicate the end of the Saturday lessons Mason and Eddie leapt out of their seats and ran out through the door to celebrate the beginning of the Spring Break; two weeks of relaxing. The first out of the remaining couple semesters, with the past seven weeks flying by for everyone in the group.

As it was the end of the semester, it meant that it had also been seven weeks since Adrian was attacked by Jesse and Ralf. Since then the two had stayed well away from the artist, not only because their job was done but because even if they wanted to do more they couldn't. They were given after-school detentions every day for the remaining weeks of the semester and were grounded as well, meaning they had to go straight back to the dorms after school and stay in their rooms for the entire evening and Sunday, unless they had to go to meals or school events.

Around the fourth week Adrian had his stitches removed from his forehead to show off a very deep cut that eventually turned into a scar. It got quite a lot of attention from students who thought it was very badass as it ran from the middle of his forehead across to his left eyebrow and was very visible. And on the sixth week his thick cast was taken off and replaced with a thinner and more flexible cast. This gave Adrian the chance to start using his wrist more often, as he spent the last six weeks often asking the others to help him with favours, which included cutting his food so he could eat easier and even asking them to wash his hair over the sink at least three times a week.

Now that it was the spring break it meant that students could go home and visit their parents for a week after being separated from them for several months. Most of the time though there were some students who stayed on campus, who found it a bother to return home. They were allowed access to the school classrooms and library to catch up in work, but there was no point in them attending lessons when three-quarters of the school were at home.

But more importantly to the group; they could go off campus and go out into the town whenever they wanted. It was Sydney and Dimitri who were the car owners, and quite often when they did go to town the girls ended up going to shops and buy new clothes while the guys went to football games.

But Adrian had never been to the town before.

"Have you got money?"

"Yeah. I have a bank account and a card."

"How about on Monday we go to the town and show you around. We can just explore the shops and buy things we want, and if we want to we can go to a club afterwards."

The group spent the evening playing on Mason's X-Box, arranging plans for Monday. Everyone was to be ready to go at nine o'clock and meet up outside the dorms. As they didn't have anything else better to do Rose and Sydney sat on Mason's bed with him, Dimitri and Eddie playing on the X-Box while Lissa and Christian sat in a corner cuddling up to each other and whispering things to each other, and Adrian sat on Eddie's bed with Jill, showing her how to draw someone in good detail, using Sydney as a secret model.

Saturday and Sunday passed with everyone just chilling out in their rooms. Lissa and Rose finally spent the weekend telling each other everything they had been keeping bottled inside up until then. This included their opinions on how sweet Adrian was, and Rose's crush on Dimitri that she still had since they were back in Middle School along with Mason. Sydney spent the morning talking to her mother, who still didn't know about her love for Science, before interrupting Mason's and Eddie's intense gaming and joining them. Jill and Dimitri had their own things to do, but it didn't stop them from visiting Adrian who had nearly finished the painting. Jill was just impressed at the artwork Adrian could do. But Dimitri, he was amazed.

"I wish I could paint like you."

"Are you really that bad at art?"

"Well…yeah…" The Russian boy watched Adrian finish off the last few minor details of the painting, then stepped back with him to look from the painting outside the window. Adrian had got every detail there was outside; the city in the background, the different shades of green there were in the fields around the school. He even had some birds flying in the sky that he must had seen several times when painting and decided to add them in. "It's so good." Adrian bit his lip then turned his attention to Dimitri.

"It will take a couple of days for the paint to dry as I used a certain type, but once it's dry do you want it?" It was as if someone gave Dimitri the news he won a billion dollars. He looked down at Adrian with wide eyes and his mouth slightly open. "We can hang it on the wall somewhere. I'm sure Christian won't mind."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I only painted this just because I was bored one evening. I was just planning to leave it on one side of the room until the summer, then take it home to add to my collection of other paintings."

"I can seriously have it?"

"How many times do I have to say yes? Of course you can." Adrian chuckled up at Dimitri.

"Jesus…thanks Adrian. If you ever need anything come to me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Dimitri left Adrian's bedroom later that evening in a very good morning. Everyone could sense his happiness still the next morning. Adrian explained to Lissa and Sydney that he gave Dimitri his painting. This of course brought grins to the girls' faces. They both knew just how much the Russian man loved the artist's work. Being given a painting by the young artist himself, it was like Christmas day for Dimitri.

Mason and Eddie were running a little late so everyone else was in the car park waiting for them. This gave Adrian a good opportunity to see what everyone else was wearing. Previous times he had only seen them in their school uniforms, pyjamas or in some scruffy clothes, unable to be bothered about getting changed when they weren't going out.

Rose stood next to Lissa, wearing very slimming jeans that captured the shape of her thighs and backside, along with a very simple yet baggy V-neck top with very white trainers. Lissa on the other hand was wearing a very pretty lilac summer dress and white plimsolls. But with the weather being very hot and a lot of her skin being exposed Lissa brought along a lace parasol that she was currently standing underneath. It provided cool shade for her and looked very good with the outfit.

Being the complete opposite to her, Christian sat on Dimitri's car next to her wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt, along with obviously black trainers. The sun was being absorbed by the dark clothes but with no signs of sweating or feeling warm so Adrian assumed Christian wore dark clothing a lot and was used to the heat. Plus the white shirt he wore over the top with the sleeves rolled up and buttons undone blocked the sun from hitting his black t-shirt, so he wouldn't entirely overheat.

Nearby Jill and Sydney were close to each other talking about something Adrian couldn't figure out. Jill was wearing jeans just like Rose but she didn't look as good in them figure wise. But along with the pretty white frilly top and the brown boots the outfit did look good on her. Jill almost looked like a model, which she was aiming to be in life. Sydney, being a typical Christian girl, wore her outfit a little differently from the others. She was wearing a light brown pleated skirt and a grey sweater with, like Lissa, white plimsolls. The fabric of the sweater looked thin which in a way relieved Adrian. He didn't want any of his friends to overheat.

Thinking about that though, he turned his attention onto Dimitri. He had chosen to wear jeans and a t-shirt with trainers. A simple combination of clothing that weren't too outgoing but didn't look scruffy. However, the coat he was wearing was what caught the artist's attention. Very long, brown, it almost looked like it had come out of a cowboy movie.

Looking at all of his friend's clothes made Adrian look at his own. He hardly wore jeans much these days, but when he did he had to make sure they came from a fashion designer. Most of his clothes came from some sort of brand. He grew up being a little Ken Doll to his mother, who would spend hours dressing him up in the latest fashion crazes. He grew up always wearing the latest clothing. But as it was just a normal day out with his friends he just wore some jeans, some converse shoes and a checked, short-sleeved top. Not something he would wear in front of his mother. If she were there right now he would be send back to the dorms to find some better clothing.

Dimitri saw the way Adrian was looking at him, and his coat.

"What?"

"Just seems odd how you're wearing a coat in this weather."

"It's not a coat. It's a duster."

"Looks like the same thing."

"Mum sent it over to me a few months ago. It reminds me of home." No more was said. Dimitri missed Russia. He missed his mother and sisters. He did not miss his father. Wearing the coat made him feel closer to home. Just a couple of more years and he could move back to Russia and attend a university closer to his family.

After what seemed like an hour Mason and Eddie both arrived, like Adrian, wearing jeans and converses but just wore t-shirts. After a lecture from both Rose and Christian, it was agreed that the guys would cram into Dimitri's car as it was a seven-seater and the girls got into Sydney's car.