I've done a bit | An SVA stori

Chapter 7: Circle Tub Tub

Present day - February 5th 2017

The next day (after Yaz gave him an address, not after the show), Rowan took a shitty ariva bus which doesn't deserve a capital letter down to Abyfrown, which does.
The address took him to an isolated beach house, a few minutes away from the village. He knocked on the door and thought about what to say as he waited for anyone to show up.

He recognised Leon when he opened the door. He had changed a lot from Rowans memories. His blonde hair had grown down to his shoulders and he had a stubble coming. A very confused expression covered him.
"Rowan?" He asked.
"...hey." Rowan said awkwardly, letting an hour of planning what to say fly out his ears.

Leon took him across the beach as he said he knew a place.
"I didn't know you were coming." Leon said, "What's up with that?"
"Um... I just... thought I'd check on you, y'know. We haven't heard fro-"
"Yaz sent you." He interrupted.
"Yea. Yea she did. But still... you've been gone for, like, ages. Did you just drop out or what?"

They got to where Leon was talking about. He had a little den hidden behind big rocks. It was a small cove of a beach and he'd set up some hammocks and a radio.
Leon got comfy on a hammock and Rowan tried to do the same on the other.

"So, why did you leave?" Rowan asked, fidgeting and squirming in the hammock, trying to get comfy.
"Do you remember the play just gone? Well... I was up there, the main character. It was my show. It was meant to be the most fun I'd ever had... and I'd never felt so miserable. I left. I didn't like the play, or the school. You had the right idea just not doing it."
"So you're just out here?"
"For now at least. My mum's out here so I'm staying with her now. I can just be out here and focus on myself."
"That's nice man." Rowan smiled.
This made Leon sit up.
"Um, yea. I gotta tell you... I'm non-binary." They looked at Rowan for his reaction.
"...that's cool."
"You don't know what that is do you?"
"No." Rowan chuckled.
"...um." They began, not knowing how to word it, "I... I don't identify as any gender."
"...ok." Rowan said, not knowing how to reply.
"I feel like I'm nothing, y'know?"
"...I guess, yea." Rowan though about it.
"Just... don't tell Yaz, okay?" They added.
"No?"
"...just don't, please."
"...so why are you telling me?" He asked.
"You're no one." They answered without hesitation.
"Thanks man." Rowan laughed before adding, "Well, not man, eh?"
"Pretty much got it, yea..." Leon nodded.
Rowan sat back and put his hands behind his head, but just couldn't get comfy in a hammock.
"So did you change your name?" He asked.
"Yea." They said.
"...what is it?"
"Rowan."
Rowan looked at them in shock but couldn't help a smile on his face.
"Nah I'm joking. I dunno, nothing suits me. I'm still looking." Leon for the moment said.
"...you gonna stay here until you find it?" Rowan asked, which kind of killed the conversation.

"How's Sayle?" Leon asked.
"Oh... he's at college now, doing something. I dunno, and he broke up with his girl."
"Damn, I feel that. It sucks."
"There's no sucking if- yea that- sorry." Rowan said, killing another conversation.

The two stayed on the beach for a while, talking about bad or annoying teachers they had and how the shows got worse when Whibers left.
Rowan eventually got up to leave and the two walked back to Leons house.
"Let people know before you turn up to their house aight?" Leon said, half jokingly.
"See ya man." Rowan stopped himself a second later and spun around, "Not man... y- um."
"See you 'round." Leon sighed and closed the door.
"Fucker." Rowan sighed and for the first time in his life, actually facepalmed.

The next day Rowan saw Ire arguing with someone he'd only seen, on a bench in the quad. The girl had a daisy chain on her head again and Rowan wondered if it was the same as always or if she keeps making new ones.
He walked up to the two to help and Ire reluctantly introduced the other boy as Harry but he just huffed and left. Rowan sat down the other side of the bench.
"Ignore him, he's no one." She said, "So where'd you go?" She asked, knowing his trend to dodge and also changing the subject.
"Um, nowhere. Just..." He sighed and forced himself to say, "Um, I went to see Leon Wilson."
"...wasn't he Aladdin?"
"Yea."
"That's nice. He left yea?"
"Yea... everyone thought he'd done something bad or something, but he's alright." Rowan said, "And... it got me thinking..." He added.
"Yea?"
He paused a moment before asking,
"Why'd you change your name?"
"That was the pact." She laughed at its obviousness.
"The pact?"
"The Monster Mash." She told.
"But everyone calls you Ire now." Rowan said, moving on.
"No they don't. Only you, Tom and Wolf. Some others, but no one else cares really."
"Yea but you just changed it, so easily. Don't you like your old name?"
"I don't believe in names." Ire said.
"...you don't believe in names?" Rowan laughed.
"No. Ire. Rowan. Rowan. Say Rowan."
"Rowan..." he said slowly and confused.
"It's a sound. Rrrowwwwaaann. It's some sounds that you associate with yourself, if someone makes that sound they're talking about you. The same way if I say... Dylan I'm talking- that's a bad example I dunno a Dylan. Umm... If I said Tom, you know, you can picture who I'm talking about. But if I say Lois, you wouldn't think of the same person."
She played with the flowers on her head.
"Her name's Lois?" Rowan asked.
"No, that's just a noise. I mean, we used to call her Lois. She has Lois on her birth certificate. Now we say Tom to talk about her, but it doesn't change how we feel about her. And... it's not a physical thing, we can write it down and memorise everyones names, but it's not a real thing... y'know? I dunno where I'm going with this. Do you even get what I'm saying."
"Kinda, is there a point though?" Rowan asked.
"No. I just thought it was cool." Ire smiled and got up.
"It is."
Rowan got up and felt a chill down his spine, a feeling like he was being watched. He spun around to see Wolf duck behind the low wall to the art block.
"Is she following me?" Rowan asked Ire as they both watched the wall she was behind.
"A little bit yea. I wouldn't worry tho, she just doesn't trust you." Ire told.
"Oh." Rowan sighed, turning back, "How come you know so much about the play?"
"Oh yea, Ryan's my brother." She said, but Rowan just looked confused so she added, "Ryan Hardy."
"YOUR BROTHER A GENIE!"