Letting Reality Begin

Chapter Ten - Breaking Point

“Seriously, how long does it take for girls to get ready?” asked Callum to no one in particular, scowling. Leo didn’t reply to that – it was a rhetorical question after all. Instead, he just cucked the only thing that would satisfy Callum – and any other guy in the same position. A packet of Doritos.

Jake rolled his eyes as he snatched the packet of Doritos out of Callum’s eager hands. “How long have we been doing this, Cal?” he asked, as he harshly tore the packet open. Without waiting for a reply, Jake carried on, “Since Year Seven. In those six years, you have never understood that it takes girls a minimum of half an hour to get ready and that’s on a good day. A very good day.”

Callum didn’t bother replying to Jacob’s – extremely accurate – comment. Instead, he just stared mournfully at the Doritos that Jake was now stuffing into his mouth. “So,” said Dean, lightly, attempting to fill the silence that had fallen over the room. “Who’s coming all together?”

Leo was thoughtful for a second. “Just the usual entourage minus Melissa – who’s doing something with her mum or something like that. Matt’s not coming either. I’m not sure why,” replied Leo, repeating what Chantelle had told him earlier.

Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Matt’s bailed on us again?” he said, disbelievingly. “This is like the third time in a row he’s done that and with absolutely no explanation. What the hell could he be doing that’s so much better than clubbing?”

Callum, who had managed to tear his eyes away from Jacob and the Doritos, shook his head in mock disapproval at Dean. “There’s a lot more to life than partying,” he said, innocently. Leo rolled his eyes and braced himself for more to come. If Callum was acting innocent, then it was immediately a bad sign. Just as expected, Callum continued. “I mean, there’s checking out hot girls, flunking class, getting drunk, gaming... oh and giving Leo quality advice about his love life. I mean, come on – who knows men better than other men?”

Without moving from his beanbag, Leo kicked Callum in the shin. “Since when have you been interested in my love life?” he demanded to know. “Because whenever it was, become uninterested. Firstly, my love life is non-existent. And secondly, if you haven’t already noticed, I’m male myself.”

“Really? I would’ve never guessed!” said Dean, sarcastically.

Leo just scowled his signature scowl. “Well, I guess none of you will be interested to know that Jamie Verson is also coming along,” said Leo, shrugging casually.

The guys’ faces immediately lit up in approval. All of them like Jamie, although he had acted strangely towards Chantelle’s offer to let him become a Popular. If you got the opportunity to become a Popular, you took it straight away – no questions asked. “So does this mean he’s a Popular?” asked Jake.

“As a matter of fact, yes it does,” answered a cool voice. Chantelle emerged from her walk-in closet with Lillian by her side. As usual, they both looked stunning. In fact, they made it seemed completely normal to wear Ralph Lauren shirts, denim shorts and Converses out to a club.

Chantelle made her own rules when it came to fashion – which meant designer clothing, but absolutely no mini dresses or ridiculously short skirts. She liked her modesty, but still managed to leave everyone in awe without displaying her body explicitly. It was the same for Lillian.

“Nice,” said Callum.

“We should get moving,” said Chantelle, grabbing a brush off her dressing table and quickly smoothing down her curls. “Some of us have things to do tonight.”

Leo concentrated hard on staring blankly at the floor, but he could feel Chantelle’s gaze on him. The thought of the whole Dean thing had been haunting him all week, but he hadn’t built up the courage to do it. It was Saturday night – the week was almost up and he wasn’t going to see Dean on the Sunday. He was going to have to do it tonight.