Sick Minds

"Have a look, Gus," Ginny said, sipping the organic smoothie Gus had just bought for her. He followed the direction of her straw to see a girl, about their age, follow her mother into the boutique.

"Yes, what about them?"

"They're new. Haven't seen them around before." Ginny said, her short sentences clearly showing her exasperation. For all Gus liked to talk himself up he could be infuriatingly slow at times.

"Maybe they're visiting relatives," he said, shrugging.

"Maybe," Ginny acceded in a way that implied that she didn't think that at all, "but maybe they've just moved round here." Gus refused to be affected by her insistence; instead he just shrugged once more.

At that precise moment he couldn't care less about Bournesby’s newest possible inhabitants. The girl was probably ugly anyway, so many people these days were.

"Come on, let's go. I'm dying of boredom here," he said, turning away from the boutique.

"No, let's stay, I want to find out who she is," Ginny said in a tone that implied that she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Look, they're coming out... What the hell is she wearing?"

"A shirt, evidently." Gus replied, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but she could at least put some jeans on. Leggings are not an appropriate substitute, even if they do have seams drawn on the sides."

"She's probably from London; they actually like them down there."

"Well she's not in London anymore. Look, now they're going into Serenity. Come on." Ginny said, heading towards the store, dropping her nearly full cup into a convenient rubbish bin and making her way to the shop. Gus followed, reluctantly. After all there was nothing else for him to do.

~

"May what do you think of this?" The girls' mother asked, holding a dress up to her daughter.

"It's flowery," the girl, May, replied in a flat tone.

"I think it suits you. Which do you prefer, the green or the blue?" May shrugged, turning to look at the accessories.

"I don't know mother. You choose." The bell above the shop door tinkled tastefully, signifying the arrival of new customers.

May looked up, briefly, and then looked down again. Ginny was surprised; most girls couldn't resist a second look at Gus.

"There she is. Looking at the bracelets," she noted in a low voice.

"I know, Ginny. I'm not blind," he replied in a normal tone.

"That bracelet would go wonderfully with the green dress May," her mother said, swooping down enthusiastically. May said nothing, but she let the bracelet fall from her fingers and walked over to the dressing rooms where a chair was placed for loving friends and family to sit as they waited for their companions to finish changing. Her mother was left to clean up the display which her daughter had disturbed.

"Oh God. She's a 'misunderstood teen'," Ginny spat, almost audibly. "You were right, Gus. Let's go." But Gus' opinion on her had evidently changed. His eyes were sparkling, changing them from a flat grey to a more exciting colour. His interest was shown in all of his features; he was no longer simply good looking. He was now handsome, in the best way possible.

"No, I'm going to talk to her. She's quite fascinating, don't you agree?" Once again, said loud enough for anyone to hear.

"May, try it on," the girl’s mother said, handing the dress to her daughter. Silently, May took it and walked into one of the changing rooms, leaving her mother to hastily shut the curtain behind her.

"Ginny, try something on as well," Gus said, taking over the take the reins from Ginny. She sighed, and picked out a dress, not even checking the size.

"Good lord, Ginny that's enormous. It's a size fourteen, at least. Here, take this," he pulled out a dress and ran his eye along it before handing it to the girl. Like May, she took it without a word and sailed into the changing room.

Unlike May, she shut the curtain before beginning to undress.

She liked to at least appear modest.

"The length's all wrong." May's mother said, eyeing her daughter. "And the cuts disgusting. It makes you look like a beached whale." Gus thought she was exaggerating slightly. It was an awful dress but there was no way anyone could ever describe May as a 'beached whale' and be correct. "Take it off, it's horrible."

So May did. The dress slipped of her fine frame easily, giving Gus a prime view of her entire body. Her mothers' eyes widened, and she hastily tried to shut the curtain, her speed only making her job harder. Gus chuckled, just as Ginny emerged.

Her dress fit perfectly, the soft red cloth hugging her upper body and skimming over her slim hips, its hem just touching the floor.

"I think I might buy it. How much is it Gus?" she asked, turning so he could see the label.
"Eighty," he said, "but it looks amazing. I say buy it." May drew back the curtain, handing the dress and it's hanger to her mother, who walked away, trying to find a salesperson to complain at.

"You're a very beautiful girl," Gus said to May who was buttoning up her shirt. She didn't reply. "What's your name?"

"May," she said, although she must have known that he knew it already. Everyone in the shop knew it at that point.

"I'm Gus," he replied, smiling brilliantly.

"Oh," was all May said running her hands through her hair, and only serving to make it more dishevelled.

"I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new to the area?" She nodded, exiting the changing room and sitting on the chair once again. Ginny pulled open the curtain and swept out of the changing room.

"Gus did I give you my purse?" she asked, scanning round for a shop assistant to take the dress from her.

"No, you didn't. You left it on your bed, along with your bag," he replied patiently.

"Damn. You're right. Can I borrow some money?" she asked but Gus was already handing her his card.

"You know the pin number," he said, turning back to May. "So how old are you?" he asked, a smile returning to his lips.

"Seventeen," she replied, staring at Ginny. It wasn't a scrutinising stare, Gus noticed. Nor was it mean, disgusted, thoughtful or calculating. It wasn't any of the stares girls seem to reserve for each other. It was just a stare. As if Ginny had simply wandered into her line of vision.

Except Ginny was moving, and Mays' eyes were moving with her.

"Your friend's pretty," she said blankly.

"What, Ginny? Yes, I guess she is."

"Ginny..." she said, turning the name over in her mouth. At that point, May's mother returned to them, a scowl on her face. She gave Gus a suspicious look.

"May, we're leaving," she said commandingly. "Say goodbye to your friend." May rolled her eyes, but turned to Gus all the same.

"Goodbye," she simpered, causing Gus to broaden his smile. Her mocking of her mother was the most lively she had been.

"Wait," he called to her retreating back. She turned and looked at him expectantly. "We're having dinner at the Rochester tonight. Would you care to join us? It would be a chance to meet new people."

"I don't know what that is," she said, her voice having returned to its usual toneless state.

"I'll pick you up, if that's okay with your mother?" he looked to the woman, smiling. She didn't smile back, but she gave a terse nod.

"We live in Westgate. Glendale house. You know it?" She said; her voice sour. Gus nodded, still with his dazzling smile attached to his face.

"I will come for you at six," he said. May shrugged, and turned around again. As they left he heard May's mother whispering to her furiously.

"What did I tell you about talking to boys?"

"You told me not to do it. You told me to keep my filthy talons away from them."

"I did not-"

"You wanted to," she was interrupted by the gentle tingle of the shop bell and then they were gone.

~

Gus arrived at Glendale house at exactly five fifty nine, and was on the doorstep by six, which was when he rang the bell.

It was opened by May's mother herself, five minutes later. He was horrified; opening your own front door was something that Just Wasn't Done in Bournesby.

"Oh. Hello. Let me just call May," she said coldly. She didn't walk across to the stairs and yell, which was what Gus had been expecting. He was relieved, that was yet another thing that just wasn't done. Instead she pulled out a mobile from her pocket and slowly keyed in a number, and held the phone a few centimetres away from her ear.

"May?" She said tentatively after half a minute. "Your..."

"Gus," he supplied helpfully,

"Gus is here... Fifteen minutes? What's going to take you fifteen minutes... You haven't dressed yet. You've had three hours to get ready May, what on earth were you doing- you were playing Fable. Oh how wonderful. Just get ready. And hurry." She hung up, the bitter look on her face now intensified. "Come in," she sighed, "She'll be a while."

The house was empty. Not the sort of empty that echoes, but an unpacked empty. The sort of empty when there are a few rooms filled with boxes, and maybe one or two lining the walls of the half-unpacked rooms, but no actual fittings or fixtures.

Gus was led to a room which was evidently meant solely for the adults. Four high backed armchairs were placed round the fireplace in which a fire was laid but not lit.

A coffee table comprised the only other furnishing in the room.

"Please excuse the state, and the lack of staff," May's mother said. "The moving dates were confused and they're all on leave for another week and a half." There was a solitary glass of sherry on the table. Gus imagined her sitting all alone in this room that was made with the purpose of entertaining. It was the most depressing thought he'd had in a while.

He sat in a green chair, and looked at the others around him. They weren't made as a set but they seemed to fit well together. It was an effect his own mother took pains to achieve; she referred to it as a 'tasteful mismatch'. He'd never seen it pulled off quite so effortlessly.
The material was akin to carpet, but the patterns were too intricate. Like a tapestry of birds and flowers.

"So how old are you Gus?" May's mother asked, realising that she should attempt to entertain her guest.

"I'm seventeen, like May." She frowned.

"And yet you drive?"

"It's perfectly legal. I've been learning since I was fourteen." May's mother pursed her lips. Gus assumed this was fear of letting her daughter be chauffeured by someone not legally an adult, so her next words shocked him slightly.

"God, I wish May was more proactive. All she's done for the last four months is play Fable." Gus found that idea rather entertaining.

At a glance May didn't seem the video game type. She seemed the type who didn't eat; she seemed like the girl who was popular. But she didn't seem like she would sit in a darkened room for hours on end playing video games.

"Well they say video games improve hand-eye coordination," was what he actually said.

"Yes, but she doesn't do anything that requires hand-eye coordination. All she does is play video games and-" May's mother cut herself short, realising she was disclosing personal information, and rather inflammatory personal information at that.

May came downstairs shortly after that.

Ginny, Gus though, would have a fit.

She was wearing a dress.

The words that described that dress could describe a building.

Magnificent. Majestic. Grand. Stately.

And they continued.

It was black, and it closely followed her slight figure all the way down to the floor. The neckline didn't reveal anything beyond her well defined collar bones but the lack of exposure here was made up by the dress's lack of back. Earlier her straightened black hair had been up in a ponytail so messy it didn't even look good. Now it was swept over one shoulder, kept in place by a glittering silver barrette. A diamond brooch was her only accessory.

Gus nodded in approval.

"Are you ready?" in response he got a look that told him exactly what she thought of that question.

"Then let's go." He held an arm out to her and she took it, her face remaining blank.

They were followed through the halls by her mother, who finally caught up with them at the door.

"May, I want you back for ten thirty. And remember what I told you," she said sternly.

The door was shut in her face.

~

The Rochester was an old restaurant. Not rundown, but 'established'. The lighting was soft; it was the sort of restaurant you made reservations for at least three weeks in advance.

Gus didn't even need to give his name; they were immediately escorted to an upstairs room. It seemed pretty much everyone was already there.

They all looked up as Gus and May entered. They all stared unashamedly at her, searching her.

May stared back at them, unfazed. As her gaze lighted on each upturned face they were forced to turn away.

Gus led her to a free chair, and pulled it out for her. Half the people at the table shuffled round and he took the spare seat they offered without a thank you, as if he hadn't even noticed.

"Everyone, this is May," he said, offering them his signature charming smile. They all smiled at her, a mixture of false and real smiles although it really was impossible to tell them apart. She smiled back briefly as they murmured their greetings but she didn't even try to make it appear real.

"May?" One of the girls asked. May looked up from her menu. "May Linden, yes?" May nodded. "Your mother came round a few weeks back, before you'd moved."

"Oh. That's... Interesting." And May's tone told them all that she really didn't think it was interesting at all. The girl didn't seem to mind.

"I'm Callie Smith," she said, and that seemed to be the signal for everyone to introduce themselves. They went round the table till they reached the boy next to Callie who introduced himself as 'Guy Shekler'.

The boy on the other side of May, a tall, friendly-looking young man who had introduced himself as Cai turned to her.

"So you're May. Might I say that you look beautiful tonight?" his tone was enchanting.
"What's to say that I don't look beautiful every night?" she asked coldly, his tone having absolutely no effect on her.

"Nothing," Cai replied, not missing a beat. "But you look exceptionally beautiful tonight." And he smiled so winningly that May didn't bother to tell him that he wasn't making sense.

Beside her Gus caught Ginny's eye. He smiled knowingly at her and she in return gave him the finger.

Earlier, she had bet him three hundred pounds that May, his latest toy, wouldn't fit in.

Gus ate his meal with the sort of appreciation that a person only get when they know they wouldn't be paying for it.

~

After the meal the tables were moved aside by waiters, and music began to play from somewhere unseen.

"Do you care to dance?" was the question on every boy’s lips. Gus asked May. Had she not been there he would have asked Ginny, but the latter took no offense. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she and Gus were not together.

She danced with Mark, a rather quiet, thoughtful boy who seemed to serve as social wall paper more than anything else; he was the sort of person you didn't notice till they weren't there.

At first May declined.

"I don't know how to dance like that," she said, indicating to the couples gracefully avoiding each other as they moved in their tight circles.

"It's easy. Just follow my lead, you will be fine." And he took her hand and led her to the dance floor, smiling reassuringly all the while.

May was a good dance partner, in that she was compliant and she picked up the steps surprisingly quickly.

All those hours spent playing video games alone in her room must have honed her reflexes, Gus thought to himself, and suppressed a laugh.

During the course of the dance he allowed the arm that held her waist to slip ever so slightly, his repositioned hand was now resting against May’s delightfully firm posterior. It didn't go unnoticed; May gave him a questioning look.

"You aren't wearing underwear," he murmured, slightly impressed.

"How remarkably astute of you," she replied, no hint of emotion entering her voice. "I wasn't expecting you to notice so soon."

"You were expecting me to notice?" his admiration increased marginally.

"A situation may have arisen in which it would have been almost impossible not to notice." Gus smiled.

"Would this situation, by any chance, have involved the removal of your clothes?" May remained tastefully silent, but that in itself was answer enough.

"I hadn't expected you to try and feel me up," May noted after a period of silence. "It didn't seem your style."

"I'll remember that for next time," Gus said, laughing a little. May said nothing, and soon after partners were exchanged.

"You look happy," Ginny commented dryly as she and Gus faultlessly executed their perfect little circles.

"You would too, if you were me," Gus said, the kind smiles he had reserved for May now replaced by a self-satisfied smirk.

"Doubtful, Gus. You always wore your heart on your sleeve," said Ginny, quite unjustly. Gus had spent seventeen years cultivating his British Stiff Upper Lip, and was now exceptionally good at controlling his emotions. "You're practically trilling." Ginny continued on mercilessly. Gus ignored her teasing.

"Darling May's innocence is in quite a state of disrepair. I could have her tonight, if I wanted."

"How wonderful for you. I'm sure you'll have fun with the London girl," she said, sneering ever so slightly. It had come out during the meal that May previously lived in London, and spent most of her time in the poorer areas.

"Ginny, don't tell me your jealous," Gus cooed. "I'm sure you'll find someone willing to spend the night with you as well."

"Gus you know it's not a matter of willing. But I prefer people with some semblance of class, or at least a little dignity." Gus smiled, and kissed the little moue of disgust that graced Ginny's lips. "Which rules you out completely, you know," Ginny said, still not satisfied. Gus kissed her again, longer this time. Their dance stopped as the kiss intensified, and then suddenly Gus let her go.

Ginny had to wipe the smile off her lips as he looked at her, a smug expression sticking to his face.

"Don't think you've raised your stock, Augustus."

"Of course I haven't Virginia. But I've managed to lower yours."

And for a second he could see May staring at him, but then she was whisked round by her nameless partner.