The Vibe House - The Stalker

A geezer at Greenlands?!

It was a quiet, tranquil Saturday in spring. The sun shone proudly over Greenlands Park, smiling triumphantly at everyone beneath it, even the roadmen, who seemed unfazed by the blistering heat, simply refusing to take off their North Face jackets. For the first time in a long while, nothing mattered. The grass danced carelessly in the quiet summer breeze, giving no regard whatsoever to what the flowers thought of their moves. The trees exchanged woody grins to each other, celebrating the fact that the sun had finally arrived to cheer everyone up. Everyone in the park seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere, and the Vibe House crew were no exception.

The crew wandered idly through the park, heading nowhere in particular. They had the whole day to themselves – the end of assessments meant they had no revision, no homework, and no cares, not a single care in the world. It was, as Ben observed, "wun of the only times in our lives where we don't have to worry about anything," to which Miles thoughtfully responded "innit." Little did they know everything would change within the coming days.

The heat was almost unbearable. "27 degrees!" cried Ellie, her mouth wide open in disbelief as she stared at the weather forecast on her phone. It had not been this hot in a very long time, and, after weeks of on-and-off rain, made a nice change.

"Ugh, 27 degrees?!" whined Lucy, shaking her head in disappointment at the sun's nasty behaviour.

"This is wun hot day!" remarked Ben, wagging his finger in an attempt to somehow further emphasise his point with hand actions. Everyone agreed the weather was far too warm. Milo, however, seemed even more distracted and unfocused as usual, and everyone could sense it.

"What's a matter Smiffo?" asked Miles, nudging him slightly in an attempt to get his attention, as if his question wasn't enough.

"What? Err nuffin," Milo replied, followed by an almost uneasy laugh, clearly uncomfortable. "It's boiling innit."

Miles and Ben sniggered. "What have we just been talking about?!" Ben asked jokingly.

"Shurrup," Milo retorted. "I've just been thinking innit."

Miles would've liked to say "makes a change dunnit," but sensing Milo was genuinely concerned, and knowing it would've only received a small laugh, decided against it. Although he was, in his mind, a masterful comedian, he felt it was essential to understand when a situation required a joke and when one would be frowned upon, a skill he had not yet fully mastered.

Milo cautiously took note of the surroundings. It was almost as if he felt he was being watched.

"I feel like I'm being watched," he said, confirming their suspicions.

"Yeah, well we're watching ya!" said Miles, provoking chuckles from both Ben and Milo. "The comedy genius strikes again," he thought to himself with a smirk, smugly adjusting his none-existent tie in pride.

"No, I proper feel like someone's watching me or summet," said Milo, as he continued to peer around the park. Everyone stopped walking. They all began to look around for someone watching them. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a second or summet, Milo turned to them. "See what I mean?"

They didn't see what he meant, made evident by Ben's reply, "Not really no."

"I dunno, it just feels like I'm being stalked or something,"

"Ooo, you've got a stalker!" teased Ellie.

Milo froze. Suddenly, he began to quiver in fear. His vision became distorted. All at once, great amounts of sweat began to drip from his forehead. Either the sun was getting a bit too much for him, or he was beginning to genuinely consider the possibility that he, Milo John Smith, could have a stalker.

Ellie's words haunted him for the rest of the day. Milo had decided to go home early, with his excuse being his sudden panic attack, a decent excuse for once. He sat in his bedroom with his guitar resting on his lap, his fingers glued to the fretboard in dread. His curtains were shut, the only source of light coming from the gap under his locked bedroom door. He could not shake the idea of him having a stalker. Every time he thought he'd talked himself out of the idea, it came hurtling back to him, like a vicious maternity ball aiming right for his head with the goal of knocking every last ounce of common sense out his brain onto the ground for some great big dog of terror to lap up and spew back out again. Why would anybody want to stalk him? Apart from his fetching good looks, his flawless fashion sense and his luscious locks, he struggled to think of a single reason.

It was getting late. The sun was beginning to get sleepy, as were the Vibe crew. They had just enjoyed a picnic, and were now full up. All that remained of their meal was a few crumbs and a jar of Marmite for Milo, who had left before they could tuck in. Ellie laid flat out on the picnic blanket, basking in the warmth of the sunlight, or what remained of it at least. Lucy was sat beside her, picking flowers and blades of grass in an attempt to make daisy chains for them all. Miles was fast asleep in Ben's arms, the two of them relishing the intimacy and tenderness they shared. It had been an enjoyable, if uneventful day. Unbeknownst to them however, things were about to become much more eventful than they had ever hoped.