ice and sugar dust (alex turner fanfic)

Chapter One

The sound of the rain drizzling on the windowsills outside, pens scratching on paper all around and the clock above the blackboard in the front of which she'd grown aware and now couldn't block out again, all those distractions had her attention captured far more than the test that was waiting to be worked on on her own desk in front of her, barely any blue on the black and white sheet.

It wasn't like she wasn't prepared, she just couldn't focus. After revising the night before, she'd stayed up all night, reading. Not purposely, it was just that when she'd closed her book, the sun was rising outside. She'd tried her best to hide the bags under her eyes with concealer, the lack of colour in her skin with some glowing cream but she had barely had time to make coffee and get ready so in the little time she'd had, brushing her teeth and packing her breakfast had been the higher priority.

The bell rang and she sighed when she looked down at her paper, the equation not even halfway solved. She handed it to the teacher when he came to her desk and got up, packing up her things and shouldering her backpack, on the way out wrapping her scarf around herself, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her wool jumper.

"Chlo! Wait up!"

She turned around to see Beth and Hazel jogging after her to catch up. "I was going to save us seats at the table" she said. "But if you don't want them..."

"No, no, hurry, hurry!" Hazel laughed and they urged her to keep walking quickly down the stairs and outside, running to the opposite building but slowing down when seeing the boys from their form had already secured the table for them.

"So, how do you think you did?" Beth asked, walking in between them.

Hazel shrugged. "Alright, I think, actually. What about you, Chlo?"

She looked up. "I didn't really ... write much. You know, math and me. We'll never be mates" she smiled, hugging her arms around herself. "Shouldn't have left my coat in the locker."

"I thought you did a late study session. I was surprised you were still up when I texted you" Hazel said. "Or did you read all night?"

Chloe just smiled sheepishly.

Hazel laughed, exchanging a knowing look with Beth before climbing up onto the bench around the large table in the corner outside the second school building, scooting through to make room for the other two.

"I'm just gonna go and get my coat and my breakfast" Chloe said. "Be right back."

"Oooo, you were baking yesterday, weren't you?" Beth asked hopefully.

Chloe winked before walking up the stairs to the doors to get her stuff at her locker, smiling at some of the others from her form that were heading to the others at the table.

Alex was sat in the corner of the bench, scribbling down the homework he'd just been told was due next period. He looked up and opened his mouth to say something but then looked around in confusion, raising an eyebrow. "Where's Chloe gone?" He asked as he'd hoped to get her input on something, knowing she was pretty much an expert when it came to Shakespeare.

"She's just gone to her locker to fetch her jacket. And cookies!" Hazel said, wiggling her eyebrows excitedly.

"Cookehs?" Alex asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement and he quickly pulled up his backpack from the ground to place it down on the bench next to him before fumbling for his own lunch box, not noticing the way some of the boys eyed him strangely for a moment.

When he saw Chloe return, now wrapped into her deep blue coat, her face half-covered by her huge scarf.

"Chlo!" He called and waved his hand before blushing darkly when he realised how loud he'd been, biting his lip.