Stand A Little Too Tall, Say A Little Too Much

20 minutes later, the boys arrived back. They all had 2 carrier bags in each hand and Chloe looked at me with a confused face.

“Hey girls. How’s it going?” said Tom.
“Not too bad! What’s with all the carrier bags?!” Chloe asked, curious to what the carrier bags contained.
“Well, why don’t you have a look?” Josh tipped out the contents of his bag metres away from my leg and sat down next to me. He smiled at me and then looked back up at the other guys.

In Josh’s carrier bags were some crisps, sausage rolls, 2 litre bottles of water and some chocolate ice creams. Tom tipped out his two bags, which contained a pack of Oreos, Doritos, a milkshake and a can of Redbull. Damian did the same and tipped out the contents of his bag and shown us that he’d bought a new CD, a new book, a Battenburg cake and a magazine. I looked over closer to see what magazine he’d got and the title read, “PaperMoon”.

Damian spotted me eyeing up the PaperMoon magazine and said, “So, we felt bad that your magazine had been ripped apart, so here’s a new one.” Damian passed the magazine to Josh and Josh gave it to me. I smiled and thanked Damian. They were so nice! I passed the magazine onto Chloe and she put it into the hamper so it was safe from the wind.

After a few hours of lying in the sun talking to Josh and Chloe about Berated and how perfect today was, I decided it was time to go home. My mum would be expecting me back any minute.

“Chloe, I’m gonna be off now. Mum’s gonna be expecting me home any minute.”
“But what about your uniform?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get her to pick it up in a bit. I’ll just say I popped round your for a bit.”
“Okay then. See you later! Oh! Before you go, here.” Chloe handed me the copy of PaperMoon that the guys had bought.
“Cheers. I’ll text you in a bit. Bye guys! Bye Josh, bye Damian, bye Tom.”
Tom and Damian said in unison, “Bye Justine, see you around!”

I started to head off towards the park gate and then felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Hey, it’s Josh.”
“Whoa, you know how to startle a girl. What’s up?” I looked up at him.
He looked back and said, “Didn’t want you walking home alone, especially around here.”
“Oh, Howcome?”
“You know there’s a girl gone missing right?”
“Really?”
“Yeah and I thought it’d be better if I walked you home and then knew you were safe.”
“Did you know the missing girl?”
“Yes. She went missing a few weeks ago. Police reckon they’re on to something, but I have a feeling inside me that says she’s gone. She won’t come back anytime soon.”
“I’m sure she will. Well, I hope so. What’s her name?”
“Megan. She’s a lovely girl. If she returns, I’ll introduce you to her.”
“Oh, cool.”
“So, anyway, what school do you go to?”
“Newland College. You?”
“I go Kirkland’s unfortunately. How’s it going there?”
“I hate it. Sixth Form is just a waste. Especially at Newland’s anyway.”
“Oh. Why do you hate it?”
“I get bullied. I don’t have any friends there. They all left me after high school. Except for Chloe, Layna and Ellie. They stuck by me and always have done. It’s a shame I don’t go to Kirkland’s. I wish I did so I could be with them.”
“Have you thought about moving to Kirkland’s? I’m sure you’d enjoy it there. There are lots of fun activities!”
“I don’t need to be reminded about how much fun Kirkland’s is. I want to move but there’s no point. My Mum isn’t gonna let me and I may as well get this year over and done with.”
“Oh.” Josh fell silent for a minute. I started to feel guilty because of how I’d just spoken to him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that in that tone of voice. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’ve gotta go…”
“Okay… see you later?”
Josh raced off down the street. Something wasn’t right.

I opened the front door to my home and smelt my mum’s cooking. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t smell too good either. The rest of the night was a blur, all I kept thinking of was Josh. What had made him fall so silent so quickly? Did he think I actually was being mean to him? I got into bed and fell asleep thinking about what could have happened to Josh. I’m surprised I fell asleep in the end.

The next day I got ready for school and decided to put a bit of make-up on. Luckily, I’d watched how Chloe had applied my make-up and I copied the exact steps how she’d done it yesterday. I didn’t have the best make-up but it was simple enough to do the trick. I applied the foundation, mascara and eyeliner as best as I could and then brushed on a bit of blusher. I looked different than usual. If I was going to get away with wearing make-up to school I’d have to avoid my mum. This could be a hard task because she always gives me a hug before school. I grabbed my bag and prepared it for the day ahead. I put my hair into a ponytail once again and walked down the stairs quietly to try and avoid my mum. I shouted a quick “see you later!” to my mum and ran out the door before she had time to come and get me.

I got to school and sat in the same place in tutor, at the back of the classroom. We got some news about a white van hanging around and our tutor warned us to be careful when walking home. The bell rang and I set off to first lesson: Maths. While I was waiting outside the Maths classroom, a random girl came up to me and said, “You look really nice today,” she then smiled and walked off. I wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or whether to assume those girls had set her up to say it. I decided to take it as a compliment. Maths went on and on about trigonometry and before I knew it the bell rang. I headed off to my second lesson, which was Health and Social Care. Just after I walked into the classroom, I sensed a different vibe to the atmosphere. Something was definitely different. I sat down at the back of the classroom near the window and started to write some notes. As soon as my pen had touched the paper, a guy walked into our classroom. He wore a grey shirt and black skinnies. His hair was brown-y colour with a hint of blonde and he had a side swept fringe. He looked over at me and smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back and then look back down at my work.

“Hiya, Mrs Collins. I’m the new student here,” he said in a deep voice. My legs went all jelly again and I tried as much as possible to concentrate on writing down the lesson notes.
“Hello. Get settled quickly. You can sit next to Justine over there.” Mrs Collins pointed at the seat next to me.
“Thankyou Mrs Collins.” He then proceeded to walk over to my side of the room. He looked at me, smiled and then got out a pen and started writing.
“Hey, what’s your name again?” he asked.
“Justine. What’s up?” I replied.
“Could I borrow your lesson notes please?”
“Sure. Here you go.” I passed over my notes and stared into his eyes.
“Cheers.”
“Oh, what’s your name? I forgot to ask.”
“My name’s Alex.”