NOVEMBER 8TH 1984
sharp pain spreading from ribcage to skull as spine crashed into metal and hair caught between slats in the yellow locker door. Embarrassment and fear mingling in the stomach, pushing sweat out of every pore and almost pushing out tears Faces - so many faces infront of this one - each sneering and laughing. The head-cheerleader in the back with blue shimmery eyeshadow averted her eyes. Tall blonde man, every feature perfectly set out on his face like it was made on a computer game, letter jacket covering his shoulders. "you like it rough, fag? Enjoy being shoved up against things? Bet your gang of queers spend every weekend pushing eachother up against bathroom stalls in that dirty bar. Bet Munson makes you all jerk off on eachother and hail Satan." Tears definitely starting to trickle out now as well as RING-RING, RING-RING, RING-RING!
Sidney bolted upright, bedsheets tangled around her shins and stinking of sweat. What the hell - was that real? Sidney scrunched her eyes shut, "just a dream. A dream. A really wild and messed up dream." Not wasn't a dream, its happening again, a tiny voice in her mind echoed. Sidney jumped out of bed and scrambled to be the first in the bathroom so she could rinse away the dream and all the sweat. The searing hot water distracted her from thinking too much about what had just happened, but not for long because there was banging on the bathroom door. "Come on Sid, hurry the heck up! You aren't the only one starting school today, I gotta shower too!" Riley shouted. "OKAY I'm done, just gotta brush my teeth gimme a minute!" She hollered back. Sidney avoided eye contact with herself in the mirror as she brushed her slightly crooked teeth, trying to block out all her thoughts. Riley rolled his eyes at her dramatically when she exited the bathroom, "I'm supposed to use the bathroom first, because you take SO long. I have six minutes to pee, shower, brush my teeth and shave now or we'll be late." Sidney snorted, "Shave? shave what - your legs? Relax Ry, we've got almost 30 minutes before we gotta leave." Riley didn't answer, just ran into the bathroom. Sidney and Riley were like chalk and cheese, that's what Kiara always says, Riley has every second of his day scheduled down to a tee and any delineation from that schedule sends him into an anxiety attack, Sidney gives herself one goal for the day - survive - and let's everything else around her just happen. In her room Sidney tied together the two long ends of her DIY cropped button down black shirt into a knot just at her belly button, the chopped 3/4 sleeves fraying at the ends, zipped up her dark grey denim jeans that rested just above her hip bones, arms slung her red leather jacket over her shoulders before jamming her feet into black converse and layering on rings. In the mirror she swiped tinted moisturiser over her face with her fingers, rubbed her signature deep pink tinted cherry-scented lip balm over her lips, and heavily lined her eyes, before running her fingers through her short hair, "Confidence, you got this. Fake it till you make it honey" she whispered to her reflection. "Sid - in the car now or we leave without you!" Her dad called up from the kitchen. As much as the teenagers had contested it, not wanting to be seen being dropped off at school by their dad, Paul was adamant about it. Riley had been sitting in the passenger seat for 5 minutes already, tapping his fingers against the bottom of the window impatiently, wearing his new ghostbusters t-shirt tucked into blue jeans, and his navy bomber jacket zipped halfway up. "Breakfast is served" Kiara smiled as she thrust a small glass of orange juice, a warm croissant wrapped in kitchen roll, and a banana into Sidney's hands. Sidney downed the OJ and wolfed down the food, giving Kiara a one armed hug in thanks with her mouth full before jogging out of the door to catch up with her father.
During the drive Sidney kept her headphones round her neck, happy to listen to her dad's Queen tape for the journey. Once they approached the last corner before the parking lot, Sidney leaned her head between Paul and Riley, "You can drop us here dad". Paul shrugged "I may as well take you all the way it's literally round that corner." Sidney rolled her eyes "Please, thanks for the ride but we really don't need to be the new kids who get driven to school by daddy." Riley nodded his head in agreement, fiddling with the straps of his bag. Admitting defeat, Paul sighed "alright I suppose I'd be the worst dad in the world if I cramped your style on your first day of all American high-school" He did his best at a corny American accent, making the two teenagers burst into laughter. "Have a good day, be confident, and remember if you can't be confident - fake it til you make it." He rubbed Riley's shoulder and kissed Sidney's cheek before they both jumped out of the car and waved goodbye. Paul stuck around for a few moments as they walked off towards the school, resisting the urge to call them back to the car, tell them they can take the day off and go tomorrow instead. But then he'd have to think of an excuse as to why, and he didn't want Sidney to know he was worried about her. In the early hours of that morning, he had been shaken awake by Kiara, anxiety all over her face, "Sid." was all his wife had managed to say before they both heard a tortured whining through the wall that separated their room from Sidney's. They listened in pained silence as the springs in her mattress creaked relentlessly under her thrashing, heard the blankets twisting around her ankles, the continuous low despairing hums from deep in her throat, and her ragged breathing. Paul thrust his glasses on, flipping the lamp on and pulling at his hair "It can't be happening again - it can't be." Kiara kissed his shoulder, "It is happening again honey, we're gonna have to do something before it gets worse." Paul sighed, "I can call Dr Wilson later - when it's not a stupid time in Cambridge - ask what she thinks we should do." Kiara chewed her lip and replied "I still have some of those pills left - maybe we need to put her back on them." Paul scratched his head, unable to drown out the sounds of his daughters struggle in the next room but knowing he couldn't go in there and wake her. "Good, yeah we'll put her back on them and hopefully we can get some more quickly. It's just - it's been so long - why now?" Kiara shrugged, "I don't know honey, maybe its the move? Maybe it'll stop after a week or two."
"Remember what I told you, right?" Sidney looked over to Riley before they entered the school. Riley scratched his head and looked back at her, the nerves evident on his face, "Anyone gives me any shit - come straight to you." Sid smiled back, "and if anyone says anything racist?" Riley swallowed thickly, "aim for the throat or the nose." Inside it was like walking into another world, this definitely wasn't an English high-school, large metal lockers towered high all along the corridors; the cheer leaders actually wore their cheerleader uniforms; the sports kids actually wore their letter jackets; the it girls wore as little clothing as possible that they could get away with; and all around them the quietly booming noise of teenagers whispering and muttering to eachother about the new kids. Riley kept his head ducked, but Sidney held hers up in fake-defiance, her father's mantra running through her mind. They made their way to reception without too much difficulty, where a 50-something year old lady tutted quietly as she handed them both their schedules and maps of the school, "I'll never understand why any parent makes their kid switch schools partway through senior year - its important to be here from the start else you stand no chance of catching up." She muttered to Sidney, ignoring Riley completely. "Well we moved from England so we couldn't exactly travel back to school there every day. Besides, he's only a...sophomore...so he's fine, and I'm a quick learner. " Sidney clipped back. Turning their backs on the woman at the desk, Riley rifled through his schedule and made sense of the map in under ten seconds, "kay I've got maths first - down that way." Sidney snickered as she bumped shoulders with him, "I think you'll find it's called math here." They both chuckled quietly before going their separate ways. Sidney had English literature first, on the map it looked not too far away and pretty easy to get to, in reality she got turned around twice and ended up being 7 minutes late to the class. Thankfully her teacher was a sweetheart, welcoming her to the classroom without penalising her for lateness. The younger woman - early 30s at most - had fair brown hair and a kind smile. "Welcome to Hawkins high-school Miss Higgs, its pretty large so easy to get lost when you're new. I can ask one of my best students to buddy up with you to show you around if you'd like?" She calmly said as Sidney approached her to apologise for being late, having no idea where she was supposed to sit. "Uh thanks, but I'll be fine, got a map." Sidney tried not to blush like crazy, standing in front of the entire class staring at her. The teacher pointed to a free seat close to the front, "Okay well there's you're desk, get yourself settled and turn to page 35."br style="box-sizing: border-box;" Even once say down Sidney could feel 25 pairs of eyes on her, burning into her skin, she tried her best to keep her eyes up front on the teacher and block out everyone else.
When the bell rang it made Sidney jump and she heard clusters of students around her laughing as they filed out of the room pretty quickly, soon enough the only two people left in the room besides the teacher were Sidney and a very slim, almost lanky girl with mousy brown hair a similar length to Sidney's. The girl was wearing dark green slacks with a slightly crumpled off white shirt tucked in and the sleeves rolled up, on the breast pocket were a few pin badges that caught Sidney's eye. Sidney walked straight to the door, but heard footsteps immediately behind her. Trying to read the map and figure out how to get to her physics class, the footsteps continued behind her closely, Sidney stopped abruptly to make the stalker slam right into her back. "Can I help you with something?" Sidney asked with a hint of venom in her voice, ready to defend herself against anything anyone had to throw at her. The girl from English lit stood there awkwardly, avoiding eye contact and fiddling with the pins on her shirt, "uh hey - sorry I didn't mean to stalk or anything - I was trying to figure out how to get your attention because you kinda just walked right past me back there, but I'm not great at like starting conversations with strangers so I just walked and hoped something would come to me." The girl spoke at a million miles per hour and Sidney struggled to keep up, but quickly assessed she was not a threat, "...so what is it you want?" The girl finally looked into Sidney's eyes and awkwardly smiled, sticking her hand out to shake, "Mrs Green asked me to buddy up with you and show you around, you're clearly not from round here huh. I'm Robin by the way." Sidney ground her teeth at the set up - "Sidney," she shook Robin's thin hand, "I did tell Mrs Green I was fine, I've got a map." Robin glanced at Sidney's schedule and giggled, which made her eyes sparkle in the light, "Okay well you're definitely not going in the right direction so unless you want to be late to all your classes today, stick with me. Trust me - pretty much every other teacher is a dick about tardiness, even for newbies." Admititng defeat, Sidney stuck close to Robin's side as they made their way to Physics, the walk was actually pretty nice since they realised they had a fair bit in common - they liked the same books and movies, and both hated the hierarchical high-school structure where the jocks and cheerleaders made life hell for everyone else. Robin seemed quite cool - clearly quirky in her own ways and painfully shy at first but once she eased up she was really chatty.
Robin came to meet Sidney at the end of her history class since she was in geography a few doors down. Robin had very few friends in general - most of them were sophomores here which meant social suicide if she hung out with them, and the other was a recent graduate ex jock with a heart of gold, currently working in the independent video store downtown where she worked on weekends too, because he didn't get into any colleges he'd applied to. She liked Sidney though, yes she was quite intimidated by the other girl's confidence and appearance, but talking to her between classes really brightened up her day, so she hoped they became friends. "So - what now?" Sidney broke Robin from her thoughts, shoving a text boom into her messenger bag. Robin's lips twitched into a smile, "Best part of the day - lunch." Sidney cocked her head to the side, "do I sense sarcasm there Miss Buckley?" Robin shrugged and bit her lip, "I mean as long as you sit in the correct place, keep your head down and try be as invisible as possible, you're good." At the same time, a group of other seniors butted their shoulders into the girls as they walked by, all glaring at Sidney. "Being invisible has never really been my strong suit to be honest." She tried to laugh it off as the two of them headed to the cafeteria. "Stick with me and you'll be invisible in no time." Robin murmured. The cafeteria was like a zoo - no it was like being in the wild with all the zoo animals watching one another, grouped into predators and prey, all hoping to survive another day. Robin directed Sidney to a table at the back filled with faces of other invisible people who made small chit chat. Sidney used the time to observe her peers; her eyes instantly settling on the jock table and a weird sensation rustling inside her as she looked at a boy and a girl, his arm slung over her shoulders as he laughed obnoxiously loud at something and she tried to fake the same energy. Familiarity. But how? Sidney hadn't seen either of them at all today, or ever for that matter, but a strong sense of recognition flared within her. "That's Jason and Chrissy - head of the basketball team and head cheerleader." Robin informed her as she continued trying to figure out why they seemed so familiar. "Yeah - head of the team because Billy got demoted for beating the shit out of that kid in the parking lot" Someone on the table snickered. Billy? Now that name was definitely familiar - an image of an insanely nice ass and caramel hair floated into Sidney's mind, could it be him? Continuing her examination of the cafeteria, Sidney finally rested her eyes on what someone called the 'freak' table and instantly recognised a few faces from the store the other day, making her smile to herself. At the head of the table was the guy who had told her being different here made her a target - Eddie - he sat with one foot resting on his seat and his chin resting on his knee as he picked at his fries whilst laughing. The gang looked like they were in the middle of a very animated discussion and Sidney watched kids from other tables around them turn to give them all dirty looks for being so loud, or for just being different. Sidney made a mental note to try and get closer to them, more specifically to him, something about this boy with the long curly hair and wide smile made her brain feel fuzzy and she liked it.
At that moment, Riley walked into the cafeteria, his head ducked and his shoulders hunched forward, alone. "Hey you don't mind if my brother joins us?" Robin shook her head in answer and said "you have a brother?" But Sidney was already on her feet making her way to Riley. "Ry! Over here" she called out from a few feet away, just past Eddie's table, drawing more attention to herself from everyone in the room. Riley's head snapped up instantly with relief flooding his face as he made his way over to her. Sidney began leading him back to her table - passing the 'freak' table - when she heard the boy with the curly hair and cute smile call out - "Hey, is this your brother? The one you said likes DnD?" Riley stood half behind Sidney, his eyes flicking over the boys at the table with recognition from serving them at the store the other day. He'd also seen three of them in some of his classes that morning, but he was so invisible he didn't blame them for not seeing him. "Yeah this is Riley, he's an Aladdin" Sidney replied, Riley chimed in "Paladin - she means Paladin." Sidney shrugged nonchalantly, "close enough." The boys at the table flicked their eyes between Sidney and Riley, but remained silent until the lanky black haired one spoke, "You can sit with us if you want - right Eddie? We could use a paladin - couldn't we Eddie?" All the boys turned their attentions to their leader, whose eyes hadn't left Sidney since he caught sight of her walking across the cafeteria to her brother. Truth be told, he'd had his eye out for her all day, hoping for a glimpse of the girl from the music store. He had briefly seen her a couple of times in the corridors but never close enough to say anything, he hoped they'd have some classes together at somepoint. Very aware his boys were watching him, Eddie coughed and cracked his neck, "yeah we're in the market for a paladin, take a seat squirt." Riley tried to hide the wide grin creeping on his face but failed, going to sit on the free seat closest to Eddie, but the large guy on the seat next to that one grabbed his arm first, "Gareth sits there. You can sit in my seat if you want though." He stood just as Riley tried to protest but sat in the guy's chair anyway. "Where even is Gareth, didn't he have woodshop with you Grant?" The small curly hair boy - Henderson - asked as Grant took a seat next to him. Grant shrugged, "yeah he said he was going to the nurse's office after, has a migraine or something." The boys all turned their attention off Sidney and she awkwardly turned on her heel without a word, giving Riley a wink and heading back to her table, feeling Eddie watching her the whole time. When she reached her table, Robin was eyeing her up and down, "So your brother isn't joining us?" Sid replied "Nah he found some friends of his own." Robin flicked her eyes to their table, "well Dustin, Mike and Lucas are sweethearts, don't take my cool card away but they're kinda my friends too, sorta. Well I mean they're more like my younger siblings but yeah, your brother will be fine with them." Sidney giggled and stole one of Robin's fries as she said "Buckley - I don't think you have a cool card for me to take. But that's okay, I don't have one either.
After lunch Robin and Sidney headed to their next class down a corridor that Sidney hadn't walked through before, the lockers on one half of the school were green, the other half where they walked now were yellow. As the two of them continued chatting about how weird American high-school was to Sidney, she started feeling insects were crawling under her skin but she couldn't think why. They turned a corner, passing the school nurse's office and could see a cluster of jocks and cheerleaders up ahead crowded around a locker, the closer they got to the crowd the heavier Sidney's breathing became as she felt a strong de ja vu coming over her. On instinct she quickened her pace towards the group, but Robin slapped a hand around her elbow tugging her backwards, "the hell do you think you're doing? C'mon we're in this room anyway," she nodded to a door opposite where they stood, when Sidney didnt move she continued, "I know it sucks but whatever's going on we just have to leave it or they'll drag us into it too and trust me, those aren't the people you want paying attention to you." Sidney could see the desperation in Robin's eyes but the sensations in her body and the familiarity in her mind wouldn't let her just leave it "I'll see you in there." She said before taking off towards the group. The closer she got, the more clearly she could hear their laughter and jeering, and the sound of someone being shoved into the doors of metal lockers. "You like it rough, fag? Enjoy being shoved up against things?" Sidney was standing on the edge of the group now, and she could remember the next words before the tall blonde head of the basketball team even said them. Her eyes darted to the victim, a boy the same height as Riley wearing a red and black plaid shirt, with wavy brown hair and a studded belt through his jeans. She remembered the pain coursing through his ribs up to his skull, the profuse sweating and the tears threatening to spil. 'It wasn't a dream, told you so' whispered a small voice somewhere in her brain. Thinking on her feet, Sidney grabbed the water bottle from her bag and poured it down the backs of a cheerleader and her presumed boyfriend, making them instantly yelp and jump round to stare at her, interrupting the scene. "What the actual fuck?!" The girl screamed, water seeping into her uniform and leaving a wet patch on her ass. "Did you just pour water down our backs? The fuck is your problem freak?" Her boyfriend growled. The momentary interruption gave locker boy enough time to run away, unfortunately that left Sidney alone and at their mercy "Oopsies" was all she said, now trying to think how the hell to get out of this situation. The damp cheerleader got up in Sidney's face, "Are you stupid? Like do you actually think you can do shit like that without consequences? I'll show you conse-" before she could finish her threat though the head cheerleader with the blue eyeshadow got in between the two girls, "hey let's just go alright, I'm sure it was an accident. She probably tripped or something." The group started dissipating because they were now all officially late for class but the damp cheerleader kept her eyes on Sidney as she walked away, "yeah probably fell over her own feet that she can't see because she's so fucking fat. Here's a tip bitch, with a flabby stomach like that, don't wear crop tops, no one wants to see that." Sidney kept her eyes perfectly level with the cheerleader's and her shoulders squared back in a defiant posture, but inside she was struggling not to cry. The rest of the group giggled and sauntered away, but the head cheerleader gave Sidney one last sympathetic glance before she joined them. The second Sidney walked into the math classroom she was greeted by a harsh looking giant of a man in a tweed suit glaring her up and down "Nice of you to join us Miss...?" Sidney coughed out, "Higgs. Sidney Higgs. I'm new, got lost sorry." Still standing st the front of the class Sidney tried not to look at any of the other people in the room, waiting for the teacher to seat her, instead he decided to berate her. "Being new doesn't excuse tardiness Miss Higgs. From your accent I guess you're from good ol' great Britain, now I know English high schools are much different to ours here but I'm pretty sure even they don't tolerate lateness and pathetic excuses -" before the man could say anymore a human whirlwind burst through the door in the form of Eddie. He flashed a cocky grin at the teacher who death glared him, this tiny interaction telling Sidney that this must be a regular thing. Then Eddie's eyes came to Sidney's and his cocky grin dropped into a look of surprise mixed with confusion. "Nice of you to join us Mr Munson. Both of you sit down and try to learn something today." Eddie waltzed to one of two empty seats at the back, Sidney followed closely behind and took the other. "Oh Miss Higgs, try not to be late for your detention after school today, you'll see Mr Munson there too." The teacher sneered as she sat down. Sidney was too embarrassed and flustered to respond, she just stuck her head down and scratched at her cheek: detention on the first day, great.
For the rest of the lesson Sidney kept her head down like that, trying to focus on the math, which she was terrible at and hated more than anything. Every now and then she flicked her eyes to Eddie, who definitely wasn't paying attention because he was too busy checking out the pun badges and patches on her messenger bag, and doodling in his book. At the end of the class Sidney raced out of the door before even Robin could catch up with her, heading straight for the bathrooms and letting the pent up tears finally spill. "Sidney, I know you're in there." Robin's voice floated through the cubicle door. Shit, Sidney really didn't want Robin to know she was crying so she flushed the chain and slapped herself lightly across the face to pull herself together before exiting "Hey sorry for running off I really needed to pee." Robin clearly didn't believe her but didn't say a word. Robin walked Sidney to her next class in silence, not knowing whether to acknowledge what happened in math or ask about what happened in the corridor before. "You not coming in?" Sidney asked when Robin began to turn once they reached the chemistry lab. "Nah I had chemistry earlier, got drama now. I'll see you tomorrow though if you want to hang out, you don't have to I get it." Sidney smiled at her new friend - "I'd love to" she said before going into the class. There was a desk free in the middle of the room, and Sidney went straight for it, once again avoiding looking at anybody else as they filed in. Ten minutes into the class, Billy swanned in wearing a close fitting grey crew neck tucked into light blue jeans and a dark jacket under his arm. The chemistry teacher barely acknowledged him, just raised an eyebrow at him as he winked at her and sauntered towards Sidney's desk. Sidney swallowed thickly as he sat down next to her, the whole time his eyes running up and down her body as if he was assessing her "fancy seeing you here." Sidney just shrugged and tried to focus on the class but the proximity to Billy was very distracting; she knew he was a player and a narcissist but boy did he have a magnetic charm. During the class Sidney noticed Billy struggling to keep up with his notes and calculations, she nudged her calculator to him "here use this - I'm shit at the maths too." He didn't react other than taking the calculator and punching equations into it, didn't even say thanks. A little while later he murmured "thought you'd be in all the advanced classes, but here you are slumming it with the dummies." Sidney was taken aback - did Billy just insinuate he's been thinking about her? "Uh I mean I am for most things except this, math, physics and geology." Billy nodded his head with pursed lips and replied, "Coleman, Wright, and Bernard?" He named each of the teachers for the classes Sidney just listed, making her mouth hang open a little, "uh yeah - are you in those classes too? I didn't see you in math or physics today." Billy smiled darkly, "You been looking for me sugar?" Sidney didn't know what to say, but he continued "didn't go to physics because I sleep in on Mondays, didn't go to Math because I had better things to do." For the rest of the lesson they remained silent, but Sidney could tell Billy was having a hard time keeping up with the class.
As the final bell of the day rang out, Sidney stuffed everything into her bag and decided to ask "Hey do you know where detention is?" Billy seemed surprised she had spoken to him, turning his head from the small cluster of it girls who had gathered around him as he grabbed his jacket "Detention on your first day - well aren't you a bad girl." The other girls gave Sidney questioning and judgy glances. "Follow me." Billy cocked his head for her to follow behind him as he and his groupies headed out.
Sidney walked dutifully behind them all, trying not to laugh at the girls fauning all over Billy. When they reached the detention room, his fan club all dissipated and he smirked at each of them. "After you" He opened the door with one arm, allowing Sidney to go in first. There were nine other students in the room already, including Eddie Munson rocking back on his chair and doodling in a notepad. He raised his head a little when the door opened, Sidney thought she saw his face perk up when she walked in, but that quickly changed when Billy followed, something Sidney couldn't see behind her made Eddie squint his eyes crossly at Billy. Sidney chose a seat close to the front - she'd had a few experiences of detention back in Cambridge and sussed out that the teacher always went lightly on those who sat up front and made an effort to look like they repented their school day sins. She watched Billy sit in what was probably his regular seat at the back, on the opposite side to Eddie and immediately put his big boots up on the small desk in front, laying back as if lounging at the beach. The teacher - a squat looking man with crooked glasses and a balding head coughed before he spoke in an uninterested tone, "You know the drill degenerates" and started calling out names. Each student answered their name and gave their reason for being there as well as what they would do differently tomorrow. The other obvious non-regulars took this seriously, whereas the regulars like Eddie and Billy gave sarcastic fabricated answers. "Here - uh I was late to math class on my first day. I guess tomorrow I'll just magically remember the entire layout of the school and never be late again." Sidney said at her turn, which made a small smirk appear on the teacher's lips "Mr Coleman your math teacher?" Sidney nodded and he said "yeah he can be prickly, if you were in my math class and late on your first day I'd have given you a pass, but not every teacher here is as cool as I am, right degenerates?" The students all hummed in sarcastic agreement, most of them wearing Walkman headphones or fixing their makeup, or chatting to their friends. It became clear to Sidney that detention here was an hour spent dossing around in a room whilst the teacher read his book. Sidney followed suit and stuck her headphones on, zoning out for the next hour until the teacher - Mr Bright - clapped his hands together and told them all to be better students tomorrow. Billy was one of the first to shoot outta there, immediately lighting a cigarette in the corridor. "Did he give you any trouble?" A concerned voice echoed into Sidney's ears when she removed her headphones on her way out, she looked round to see Eddie behind her looking a little irritated. "Who?" She replied. "Billy - saw him walking in behind you. Did he give you any trouble?" Confused over what exactly that meant, Sidney raised an eyebrow. "Did he harass you or call you any names or insult you or anything? He's not exactly Mr nice guy." Sidney was shocked by Eddie's concern since they barely knew eachother "umm nah he just showed me the way because we had chem together." This answer didn't please Eddie - he knew what kinda guy Billy was and he knew Billy didn't just show new girls around out of the kindness of his heart. Eddie made a mental note to keep his eye on Billy around Sidney, for her own good. The two walked outside together, where Sidney instantly saw her dad's car waiting next to a beaten up old white van in the parking lot. "So what else landed you detention today - Mr Bright said you had a double, does that mean you have to go tomorrow too?" Sidney asked, wanting to change the subject. "Yeah when he can't be assed doing a double detention he makes you serve the other hour the next day. I saw my bestfriend running like hell outta the back doors on my way to drama class after lunch, so went after him. He said some dicks shoved him into lockers again and harassed him." Right away Sidney knew he was referring to the boy she had saved before chemistry, the boy she had embodied in her dream. "So you got another detention because you went to comfort a friend in distress? Bit harsh." She said as they neared the car - was Eddie really walking her to the car?! "No no I got the extra detention because we got a little high in the woods, take the edge off y'know, and Mrs Beets' nose for Mary Jane is impeccable." At the last second Eddie split from Sidney's side and headed to the beaten up van, "Well I'll see you tomorrow degenerate." He stuck a hand up to wave at her and she tried not to blush and giggle at the nickname. Sliding onto the passenger seat, Sidney braced herself for the incoming lecture from her father. "Really Sid - detention on your first day?"