I Liked it Better When They Were Young
Why do you want him?
Monday 12th September 12:24pm
In English with Tre. He prodded me in the back.
"What?" I said, through gritted teeth, not looking behind me.
"Where's Billie today?"
"I have no idea." There was silence from behind me. I turned around. The fact that he was quiet was more intriguing than anything that he had to say. "What?" He came out of his dream.
"Nothing." I rolled my eyes and turned around again. "It's just... I sighed exasperatedly. "Sorry! It's just.... why do you like him so much?"
"Who?" I knew fine well who he was talking about, I just wanted him to say it.
"Billie." I bristled slightly.
"Why not?" I said pointedly. I knew Tre could think of one hundred answers to this question, but he chose not to answer and shrugged instead. I persisted. "Come on! You obviously think I shouldn't like him. Tre laughed softly
"You said it!" I scoffed, slightly hurt.
"What's wrong with him?" Tre sighed.
"Well, he's an alcoholic for a start...."
"He is NOT an alcoholic." Tre raised his eyebrows. "He's NOT! He's just... having trouble right now...." Tre scoffed.
"With what? School work? That makes sense, since he's not here to do it...." I didn't like Tre's tone. He was hitting back for once, speaking up for himself. And I didn't like it. I then thought of something that would make him squirm.
"Ok, so you've asked me why I like him so much. Why do you hate him so much?" Tre went red. There was the Tre I knew!
"I don't.. hate him..." He mumbled. I laughed.
"You made that pretty clear with your rant on about him..."
"He gets you in trouble." Tre said. I paused. This was actually quite true. Tre ticked them off on his fingers. "Detention, in and out of Mowatt's office. Skiving with him. And don't pretend you weren't. On Friday. You were there for half the day, then you disappeared, then you showed up again." I shrugged.
"Well, why didn't you tell on me, then? If you were so sure where I was..."
"Because you're my friend. And I don't like seeing you in trouble for things you've been forced into." I scoffed at this comment. Billie had never forced me to do anything. "I don't hate him..." Tre continued, "I just think he's a bad influence on you." I laughed.
"If he's a bad influence, you're a lesbian influence!"
"You see, you see? You'd never have said something like that before you met him." I rolled my eyes.
"No, Tre. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have said anything at all. As usual. Before I met him, I didn't talk. To anyone. I didn't speak up. I didn't think I could. I just kept myself to myself. I thought "If I just don't talk to anyone and keep quiet I'll be safe." And all the while, that stratagy was killing me." I sighed. "He gave me edge. He toughened me up. He gave me a "Screw them all, they're the losers" attitude. And you may think that's a bad thing, but believe me, it's not. It's the only way to survive in this hellhole. Do you ever feel good about the fact that you never get told off? That all the teachers love you? That you NEVER put a toe out of line?" Tre was silent. He was almost crying. I could see his bottom lip was quivering. I softened a little.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"No." Tre said softly. "You were right. I guess I'm just another loser to you now." He bowed his head and continued with his work. I tried to get his attention with a hopeless sounding, "Tre..." But I was interruped by Miss Comber.
"Talking in class will get you no where Miss Morgan. I suggest if you want to make something of what little knowledge you have, you should get your head down and WORK." Fat arse old cow, insulting my intelligence. I looked at her, my eyes blasing.
"And I suggest if you want to make something of what little muscle you have, you should get your head down to the PE block and EXERCISE." Everyone laughed, even Tre looked up and sniggered. I blinked, not quite believing what I'd just said. It was like a drug. Being rude was like a drug. I wish Billie had been there to see it! Miss Comber let her breath out slowly through her nose and adjusted her top, causing her breasts to wobble in the most horrible way.
"How dare you." She hissed, in what she thought was a menacing tone. "Your Registration teacher will here of this, not to mention Mrs Mowatt." She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a peice of paper, which she dropped on my desk. I examined it and shivered. A form for my parents. "Have your parents fill that out and return it to the school ASAP. Opening your mouth without thinking has severe consequences." She turned around and sat back down in her Extra Large easychair.
"It was only a suggestion." I said, smirking. She ignored this witty kiss off to our argument and got out her little black book that she keeps to bitch about her disruptive students, who were still giggling away and whispering, "That was so funny!" Hopefully, they'd continue through to tomorrow, when Billie would get his act togetehr and come in to school. I still wasn't looking forward to facing my parents. I was treading on awful thin ice already. It was awful soon to be back in the deep end after the whole, "Magical Mystery Tour on September 10th" debacle. Tre looked at me from under his eyelashes. I sighed. He sighed too.
"You can still have a "don't give a damn" attitude without being stuck in detention, you know." I raised my eyebrows.
"I don't go to detention to prove I'm a rebel. I know you don't need one of these..." I flourised the letter to my parents; "...to prove you hate school." Tre shrugged. He looked down again, pretending to be facinated by his work. Well, maybe he wasn't pretending.
5:30pm
"No way!"
"Way!"
"No WAY!"
"Way!"
"Nuh uh, no way did you do this!"
On the phone to Billie. Once his fit of laughter had died down, he tried to get to grips with it.
"I dunno what came over me!" I said, laughing. "It just came out..."
"My God, that must have been fucking hilarious! Wish I'd been there..." I pursed my lips.
"So do I." I said wistfully. The line was silent, as the mood on the phone changed. He mmed for a bit before saying, "Yeah, well... what are you gonna do?" I tutted.
"Why aren't you coming in anymore? You'll just get expelled from this place too!" He scoffed.
"No I won't!"
"Yes you will, Billie! And the only school left that you haven't tried 'round here in the finsihing school." Billie laughed.
"Ain't the school on earth that could finish me!" I rolled my eyes.
"Just... come back, ok? We all miss you." He laughed again.
"Yeah right!"
"We do! And you're missing stuff. I'm not talking about school work..." I said quickly, as he snorted on the other end of the phone. "I mean, funny stuff. Like today." He laughed softly.
"Yeah, did you get in any trouble for that?" I rolled my eyes.
"A letter home to my parents and a right rager from Mowatt. Nothing really." He pondered,
"Yeah, well sometimes you've gotta pay the price." He laughed, "Bloody funny, though!" I then saw The Lurker come into view. I call my dad the lurker, because he lurks in on my phone conversations.
"I've got to go, the lurker is approaching." There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"The what, sorry?" Billie said, sounding confused.
"Don't ask. Anyway, COME BACK. Ok?" He said nothing. I assumed he was shrugging on the other end of the phone. I laughed. "Otherwise I'm gonna be given the school rebel crown!" He snorted.
"In your dreams, Soph! See you." He hung up.
In English with Tre. He prodded me in the back.
"What?" I said, through gritted teeth, not looking behind me.
"Where's Billie today?"
"I have no idea." There was silence from behind me. I turned around. The fact that he was quiet was more intriguing than anything that he had to say. "What?" He came out of his dream.
"Nothing." I rolled my eyes and turned around again. "It's just... I sighed exasperatedly. "Sorry! It's just.... why do you like him so much?"
"Who?" I knew fine well who he was talking about, I just wanted him to say it.
"Billie." I bristled slightly.
"Why not?" I said pointedly. I knew Tre could think of one hundred answers to this question, but he chose not to answer and shrugged instead. I persisted. "Come on! You obviously think I shouldn't like him. Tre laughed softly
"You said it!" I scoffed, slightly hurt.
"What's wrong with him?" Tre sighed.
"Well, he's an alcoholic for a start...."
"He is NOT an alcoholic." Tre raised his eyebrows. "He's NOT! He's just... having trouble right now...." Tre scoffed.
"With what? School work? That makes sense, since he's not here to do it...." I didn't like Tre's tone. He was hitting back for once, speaking up for himself. And I didn't like it. I then thought of something that would make him squirm.
"Ok, so you've asked me why I like him so much. Why do you hate him so much?" Tre went red. There was the Tre I knew!
"I don't.. hate him..." He mumbled. I laughed.
"You made that pretty clear with your rant on about him..."
"He gets you in trouble." Tre said. I paused. This was actually quite true. Tre ticked them off on his fingers. "Detention, in and out of Mowatt's office. Skiving with him. And don't pretend you weren't. On Friday. You were there for half the day, then you disappeared, then you showed up again." I shrugged.
"Well, why didn't you tell on me, then? If you were so sure where I was..."
"Because you're my friend. And I don't like seeing you in trouble for things you've been forced into." I scoffed at this comment. Billie had never forced me to do anything. "I don't hate him..." Tre continued, "I just think he's a bad influence on you." I laughed.
"If he's a bad influence, you're a lesbian influence!"
"You see, you see? You'd never have said something like that before you met him." I rolled my eyes.
"No, Tre. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have said anything at all. As usual. Before I met him, I didn't talk. To anyone. I didn't speak up. I didn't think I could. I just kept myself to myself. I thought "If I just don't talk to anyone and keep quiet I'll be safe." And all the while, that stratagy was killing me." I sighed. "He gave me edge. He toughened me up. He gave me a "Screw them all, they're the losers" attitude. And you may think that's a bad thing, but believe me, it's not. It's the only way to survive in this hellhole. Do you ever feel good about the fact that you never get told off? That all the teachers love you? That you NEVER put a toe out of line?" Tre was silent. He was almost crying. I could see his bottom lip was quivering. I softened a little.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"No." Tre said softly. "You were right. I guess I'm just another loser to you now." He bowed his head and continued with his work. I tried to get his attention with a hopeless sounding, "Tre..." But I was interruped by Miss Comber.
"Talking in class will get you no where Miss Morgan. I suggest if you want to make something of what little knowledge you have, you should get your head down and WORK." Fat arse old cow, insulting my intelligence. I looked at her, my eyes blasing.
"And I suggest if you want to make something of what little muscle you have, you should get your head down to the PE block and EXERCISE." Everyone laughed, even Tre looked up and sniggered. I blinked, not quite believing what I'd just said. It was like a drug. Being rude was like a drug. I wish Billie had been there to see it! Miss Comber let her breath out slowly through her nose and adjusted her top, causing her breasts to wobble in the most horrible way.
"How dare you." She hissed, in what she thought was a menacing tone. "Your Registration teacher will here of this, not to mention Mrs Mowatt." She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a peice of paper, which she dropped on my desk. I examined it and shivered. A form for my parents. "Have your parents fill that out and return it to the school ASAP. Opening your mouth without thinking has severe consequences." She turned around and sat back down in her Extra Large easychair.
"It was only a suggestion." I said, smirking. She ignored this witty kiss off to our argument and got out her little black book that she keeps to bitch about her disruptive students, who were still giggling away and whispering, "That was so funny!" Hopefully, they'd continue through to tomorrow, when Billie would get his act togetehr and come in to school. I still wasn't looking forward to facing my parents. I was treading on awful thin ice already. It was awful soon to be back in the deep end after the whole, "Magical Mystery Tour on September 10th" debacle. Tre looked at me from under his eyelashes. I sighed. He sighed too.
"You can still have a "don't give a damn" attitude without being stuck in detention, you know." I raised my eyebrows.
"I don't go to detention to prove I'm a rebel. I know you don't need one of these..." I flourised the letter to my parents; "...to prove you hate school." Tre shrugged. He looked down again, pretending to be facinated by his work. Well, maybe he wasn't pretending.
5:30pm
"No way!"
"Way!"
"No WAY!"
"Way!"
"Nuh uh, no way did you do this!"
On the phone to Billie. Once his fit of laughter had died down, he tried to get to grips with it.
"I dunno what came over me!" I said, laughing. "It just came out..."
"My God, that must have been fucking hilarious! Wish I'd been there..." I pursed my lips.
"So do I." I said wistfully. The line was silent, as the mood on the phone changed. He mmed for a bit before saying, "Yeah, well... what are you gonna do?" I tutted.
"Why aren't you coming in anymore? You'll just get expelled from this place too!" He scoffed.
"No I won't!"
"Yes you will, Billie! And the only school left that you haven't tried 'round here in the finsihing school." Billie laughed.
"Ain't the school on earth that could finish me!" I rolled my eyes.
"Just... come back, ok? We all miss you." He laughed again.
"Yeah right!"
"We do! And you're missing stuff. I'm not talking about school work..." I said quickly, as he snorted on the other end of the phone. "I mean, funny stuff. Like today." He laughed softly.
"Yeah, did you get in any trouble for that?" I rolled my eyes.
"A letter home to my parents and a right rager from Mowatt. Nothing really." He pondered,
"Yeah, well sometimes you've gotta pay the price." He laughed, "Bloody funny, though!" I then saw The Lurker come into view. I call my dad the lurker, because he lurks in on my phone conversations.
"I've got to go, the lurker is approaching." There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"The what, sorry?" Billie said, sounding confused.
"Don't ask. Anyway, COME BACK. Ok?" He said nothing. I assumed he was shrugging on the other end of the phone. I laughed. "Otherwise I'm gonna be given the school rebel crown!" He snorted.
"In your dreams, Soph! See you." He hung up.