Pas Mal

Sean.

I didn't know what I was hoping for when I signed up for the exchange programme. A holiday? A friend? Somewhere in the back of my mind I must've known how much of a bad idea it was. Firstly, I speak little French. I can read it, but not speak it. I sound like a retard that can put letters together to make a sound. Secondly, (judging by the CV sort of thing I'd be given) the guy I would be staying with sounds like a twat.

But I had managed to convince my best friends to sink with me. Gavin, Frank, Mallory, Mike, Dan, Aled, Shay and Laurence. They were all fucking headcases, I swear to God they needed to be locked up or something. Especially Mallory, she was the spawn of the Devil. She was strong, and she didn’t have any boundaries when it came to violence.

I read over the information on that Christian twat again. He was cocky, and obviously rich. I bet he had all the girls at his feet. Shame though, he looked sort of cute. His ginger hair covered his left green eye like a right fucking emo. His face was gorgeously pale and his cute little smirk was unbelievable. Spider bites clung to his bottom lip. He was clearly smug and controlling, but God was he fit!

"Hey, you like him?" Dan asked quietly, nodding to the picture of the boy in my lap. I frowned and shook my head.

"He's a cock." I replied. He laughed loudly and tipped his head back.

"You like cock, Sean. Stop complaining!" He teased, ducking to avoid being slapped. It was pointless though, as he ducked straight into Mallory, who just slapped him harder than I ever could.

She was a hard one, very defensive and determined. She had never had a boyfriend in her life. All of the other girls were afraid of her, and thought she was a freak for not being attracted to boys (or girls for that matter). Deep down, she was a little sweetheart. She kept all her emotions locked in, resulting in vicious violence and anger. We all knew Mallory's story, we were the ones to care for her.

"Piss off, will you Flint?" She hissed dangerously, trying to get further away from us and out of the plane window. That tone was always your first warning. For Daniel Flint - it wasn't.

"Period, little missy?" He teased, attempting to cheer her up.

Mallory turned on him, her eyes on fire with anger. This plane was going down in the English Channel, then. Thankfully, before she could kill him and then proceeding to murdering everyone else, a teacher came and moved Dan. No one in their right mind put Dan and Mallory together. I moved up one to sit by her, hoping for a quiet flight.

"What do you think of this guy?" She asked quietly. I took her photo from her and frowned. “His name’s Josh.”

He was even more emo than Christian twat. His face was rather chubby and his lips pouted naturally. His fringe had been dyed blue while the rest remained completely black. His smile was rather cute, a tiny little innocent smirk that made me melt. He was adorable, he looked so sweet. “Yeah, he’s cute.” I replied, handing her back the photo.

She nodded and frowned. Something was wrong. “Do you think so?” I asked quietly, hoping she didn’t hear me. She slammed the photo into her lap and growled. “Mallory it’s okay! I was just wondering why you asked!”

She sighed and blushed awkwardly. Of course she liked him, she just wasn’t ready to accept that. She was feeling things that she’d never experienced before. Things she was afraid of, like falling in love and intimacy. She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m just scared, that’s all.” She whispered.

It was very rare we got to see the fragile side to Mallory Knox. She was the toughest, the coldest, the cruellest person I’d ever known. And yet, she could be as soft and as gentle as a little kitten. She was a lion on the outside, but a kitten within.

“You regret coming?” I asked. She nodded sadly. “I think we all do.”

She looked up at me and grinned, that smug smile that told me it was all okay again. But it wasn’t, she was still afraid of this Josh boy. He made her feel strange inside, sensations she had never had the joy of feeling before. Hopefully, they’d hit it off and she’d realise it’s not all doom and gloom after all.

The rest of the flight passed in silence, and we landed in Nice International Airport shortly afterwards. I could see the panic begin to rise in Mallory’s eyes, but she kept it under control. She was Mallory Knox, nothing could scare her. All the others were starting to feel worried too, discussing it in hushed tones. They all had their individual concerns about their partners, mainly ‘would we get along?’

The airport was alive with people, all speaking quickly in foreign languages. My French was too shit for me to be doing this. Fuck, we’re never going to see eye to eye.

I spotted him from a distance, staring into his lap and ignoring the rest of his group. He looked unbelievably shy like that, but it was probably only a show to earn him attention. The rest of the group ignored him, as though he wasn’t even there. Funny, I thought he’d be the one in charge.