Self-Destruction • Luke Hemmings

Chapter 4

"I'm Faith Smith." I reply, cooly. I kick my legs slightly in the water.

"No middle name?" He frowns, jumping off of the wall, into the garden.

"Nope." I reply curtly. He sits on the sun lounger by the pool.

"Are you from England?" He asks. I turn my body slightly so I'm facing him.

"That easy to tell?" I say, smiling slightly at him. He seems alright.

"Yep! How old are you!" He suddenly asks.

"How old do you think I am?" I ask, raising an eyebrow quizzically. He looks at me seriously.

"18?" He asks, I shake my head.

"17." I say to him.

"Same, we're gonna be in the same year at school then. You are going to school, right?" He says, I turn to him, thinking he's joking.

"Why wouldn't I go to school?" I ask.

"Most kids around here are home schooled." He replies. I wrinkle my nose at the idea of being home schooled, how boring.

"No." I say, he nods.

"You got a cigarette? I ask him, I got mine taken from me at customs as I was underage.

"Yeah." He says, reaching into his pocket. Michael seems cool, who else would have a cigarette and wear an all time low t-shirt. He hands me a cigarette and a lighter. I light the cigarette and take a long drag, breathing in the toxic smoke, then blowing it out rhythmically.

"You like all time low?" I ask, gesturing to his shirt.

"No I hate them." He replies sarcastically. I laugh at him.

"You're pretty cool, Michael Gordon Clifford." I say lightly, taking another breathe of the cigarette, he groans.

"I fucking hate my middle name, I wish I didn't tell you it now. Faith I-have-no-middle-name Smith." He shoots back.

"But you're pretty cool too." He flashes me a grin, and I smile a small smile back.

"So what brings you to the country of Vegemite and surfing and kangaroos." He laughs at his own joke.

"Mum died in a car crash and dads just about holding on. Had no where to go so was shipped off here, to live with an aunt I didn't even know I had." I laugh with no emotion.

"That's some heavy shit." Michael says, leaning back slightly and lighting his own cigarette, mine has none left, so I crush it under my foot.

"So how's the school I'll be going to then?" I ask him. He thinks for a little while.

"It's a push over really. You can anything and they won't do shit all. My friend Calum pulled the fire alarm, they knew it was him but they didn't do anything." He laughed at the memory. Pull a fire alarm? Is that all?

"What's the worst thing you've done then?" I ask Michael. I get out of the pool and lie on the neighbouring sun lounger to him while he thinks of an answer.

"Probably when I punched a teacher. She was pissing me off so I just hit him, only got sent out for it as well." He laughs again, all he did was get sent out, for hitting a teacher? This school is gonna be so easy.

"What about you?" He adds, and I don't even need to think about it.

"Set fire to a classroom." I say with not hesitation. He widens his eyes at me.

"Shit, I'm not becoming friends with a pyromaniac right?" He laughs, I shake my head and laugh as well.

"Basically my teacher asked us to write about a personal experience and how we felt about it so I did and then she asked me to read it out loud. So I was all like fuck no, then she went to grab the paper I was writing on but I ripped it up and it was on a pile on my desk but just ripping it up wasn't enough. I needed it to be gone, so I set it on fire. The desk caught on fire and a couple of the desks around it did, but I didn't know because I walked out." I explain, Michael breathes out the smoke from his cigarette.

"Jesus. You didn't get kicked out?" He questions, turning to me slightly. I don't turn to face him though, I continue to stare ahead.

"Nope, it was my final warning though." I say.

Just as I say that, I hear a voice shouting 'Michael' I turn to him, and he's looking towards the house he came from, which is a little bit smaller than Bess'. He sighs,

"That's my mom, I'd better go." He says to me, standing up and jumping over the wall.

"I'll see you around, Michael." I reply, waving him off slightly, he nods towards me, before jumping over the other side.

Looks like I've just made my first friend.