Pas Mal

Dan.

I could see Shay getting uncomfortable as the group began to get bigger. He was a cool lad, really sweet and genuinely great but only when you had him alone. He hated big crowds, and tended to shy away from social situations. That was probably why he and Aled were growing distant, because one was a party goer and the other was shy.

Sean and Gav sat down with us, with two of the other French people. One was a young lady dressed in very little clothing, the one who'd been flirting with me earlier. I think I recall her saying her name was Regan. She was obviously a bit desperate for 'it'. The boy by her side was pale, aside from the bruises on his face. He looked very thin, as though he was starving himself. A part of me felt sorry for him.

"Hey guys, this is Sean and Gavin." I introduced the two friends, letting the others take over. The girl was called Regan, and the quiet looking boy was called Christian.

"Do any of you know where Aled is?" Shay asked quietly. Everyone looked up in shock that the shy kid could speak.

"Who's Aled?" Debbie asked. Shay coward back, afraid of being the centre of attention.

"He's my boyfriend..." He said in little more than a whisper. The whole group aww'd as he blushed and covered his hand with his sleeve in shyness.

Sat by Shay's side was Ben. The boy had the foulest scowl in the world on his face, obviously furious with the idea that Shay had a boyfriend. Whether that was homophobia or jealousy, I couldn't tell.

"So what's it like in Britain?" Stuart asked.

"Pretty fucking dull. At least the weather's alright here." Sean groaned. He was never one to hide himself away and be shy. It was probably something to do with the sexy lad beside him (who blushed like a fucking twat everytime he looked at Sean)

"Ce n'est pas beaucoup mieux ici." Chris murmured. He glanced up, hoping to see no one had heard him, but seeing all eyes trained on him made him blush stupidly in embarrassment. "Désolé." He looked back down again.

"Why are you apologising?" I asked. This kid was really fucking creepy. He was probably retarded or something. He looked up and stared at me in confusion. Like Charlie, from ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’.

"Dan, he doesn't speak much English." Sean explained.

"Désolé." I said to Chris with a little smile. Maybe I shouldn't have been so rude.

"France just seems so much nicer than Wales. It's just got a nicer attitude and it feels friendlier." Sean added to dispel the awkward air. Then suddenly he glanced at Chris, as if he'd said the most horrific thing in the universe. He shook his head at our questioning glances, miming an ‘I’ll explain later’.

From nowhere, Frank, Aled and Laurence joined our group. Aled hooked his arm around and Shay and kissed his cheek gently, but his eyes were dead and cold to Shay as they always seemed to be. Frank was with a boy with black hair and a cute little smile. Aled was with a boy with soft brown air and a nose ring, who was glaring viciously at Ben. I looks could kill, Ben was long gone. Something was up between those two. Laurence was with a boy who looked very similar to him. Tall, big shouldered, sweet little smirk. They seemed to be unconsciously flirting with each other. The boy with Laurence was called Kier, and he sat by Christian with a smile. Chris smiled in return, as though the two were best friends. The boy who seemed to hate Ben was called Gustav, and the lad with Frank was Gerard. The meant the only ones missing were Mallory and her partner. Maybe she’d already killed him. I really wouldn’t be that surprised.

"Do any of you guys know where Mallory is?" Mike said, the first time anyone had ever heard him talk. I liked Mike, he was a swell guy. He liked football and guitars and man things like that. And Stuart seemed to like him too.

"She's with Josh, I think." Ben said. He couldn't take his eyes of Gustav, and was staring at him with cold anger.

The conversation turned to focusing on each other, and I could feel the next three weeks were shaping out to be very dramatic. Everyone seemed to be flirting or arguing in great secrecy.

"Je crois que je veux rentre chez moi." Chris said suddenly after a remark about a story in the papers. The story of a kid who was being beaten and starved at home. "Vous venez? He said to Sean. He nodded in confusion and followed Chris to his feet. The two left, leaving the group in silence.

"What's his deal?" I asked quietly, once I was sure they were out of earshot. For an odd reason, they all looked towards to Kier.

"His parents split up and he lives with his dad and his partner. We don't really know, but we think it has something to do with that. He just stopped talking in English and the language left him. We think he needs help." Kier said sadly, playing with his hands.

"Bet you Sean will fuck him by the end of the week though." I said confidently.

"Sean'll fuck anything with legs to be honest." Mike agreed.

"And a cock, you're forgetting the cock!" Gavin piped up.

"So he's off limits, huh?" Regan asked. Debbie glared at her in disgust.

"Sweetie, he wouldn't go anywhere near you with a ten foot pole!" She laughed, hiding her bitter hated. Regan scowled in return and flipped her hair.

"Just you wait and see, I'll drag him away from cock by his hair. I mean come on, who can resist me?"

To be honest, she was fucking attractive. And Gavin seemed to think so too.