Just Friends

Chapter 1

"MARIA...GET UP NOW, YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL"

Maria shoved the duvet off her and jumped out of bed. Oh no, she can't be late or she'll miss the tour. They were going to the museum today and Mr Kennedy warned them that the bus would leave without them if they were late. She ran around her room getting dressed, then into the bathroom to relieve herself and to brush her teeth. Finally she ran downstairs to see her Mam in the kitchen fixing her make up and her Dad standing by the back door blowing out the smoke from the cigarette he was smoking. Maria pulled a disgusted face at him

"Eww you really should give those things up you know...they're really bad for your health"

Her dad smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"I know, I know but I was a silly kid when I started smoking and now it's really hard to give up. I will try though...next week, I promise"

Maria rolled her eyes

"Ok dad"

She knew he wouldn't do it, he had been promising the same thing since she was about 5 or 6 and she first started at him about his disgusting habit. She grabbed a piece of toast from the table, grabbed her bag and ran out the door. The school wasn't too far away so she should make it. She saw the bus pulling up as she turned the corner, fixing her bag on her back she ran the rest of the way to the school. She got into her classroom just as the school bell rang and Mr Kennedy walked in.

"Ok kids, we're just going to give it another few minutes in case there's any stragglers. I'll just call the register now"

He looked at Maria as he said this and she squirmed in her seat. He must have seen her run past the window. She hated that her classroom was at the end of the building, not only was it furthest away but the teachers always saw if the kids were late because they could see them running past the window. Mr Kennedy started calling out the students names, it went alphabetically by surnames. She sat and waited to hear her name being called, it was near the end of the list.

"Maria Stevens"

That was her

"Anseo"

He called two more names after hers then closed the register. Looking around the room Maria noticed 2 empty seats belonging to Kelly Adams and Sinéad Tracy, two of the bitchiest girls in her class. She was hoping they'd stay empty. She sat looking between Mr Kennedy and the door. The loud ticking from the clock was taunting her. She willed Mr Kennedy to say they were leaving before the girls got here. It must have worked because less than thirty seconds later he slapped the desk in front of him and stood up.

"Ok everybody, we've waited long enough. The ladies obviously aren't going to be joining us today. Everybody grab your bags, and walk in single file to the bus. It's already down at the gate."

The murmur of excitement through the class was electric. All of the students were milling around the tables, grabbing bags and jackets so they could be first out and get the best seats on the bus. Maria rolled her eyes at them and walked over to Vicky, her best friend. They've lived on the same road since they were babies and grew up more like sisters than friends.

"Want to come over to my house after school?"

Vicky jumped slightly, she hadn't seen Maria walking over to her. She was nearly always in her own little world.

"Jeez Ria, do you think you could give me a bit of a warning before you talk to me"

Maria gave her a funny look

"So...you want me to talk to you...to warn you that I'm going to talk to you?"

Vicky giggled

"Well when you put it like that.....it sounds stupid...just don't sneak up on me please."

The throng of students started moving towards the door so Maria and Vicky fell in line with them.

"Is Colm going to be there?"

Maria knew Vicky had a bit of a thing for the annoying guy that helped her dad out sometimes. Maria on the other hand found him extremely annoying. The past 2 years he was always around even when he wasn't working with her dad. She told her dad in a temper the other day that he might as well just adopt him but he overheard and shouted back.

"I'm 20, I can't be adopted...although maybe I can just move in here anyway"

Her dad laughed as he walked away.

"WELL YOU MIGHT AS WELL"

Maria was annoyed now

"You're here all of the time anyway."

Maria realised Vicky was waiting for an answer

"Oh, I'm not sure...probably. He's always there...like a bad smell, you can't get rid of him"

Vicky laughed at her description of him. "Oh come on Ria, he's not that bad...."

Maria rolled her eyes

"Oh you're just saying that because you have a crush on him"

The blush on Vickys face was instant, even her ears went pink.

"It's not like that..I just think he's nice"

Rolling her eyes again she tutted

"Yeah, ok...well you'd soon change your mind if he was around you 24/7 wrecking your head"

They stepped up onto the bus, Maria looked down the aisle. All of the good seats were taken, she knew they would be but she didn't care enough to try get them first. The only 2 seats that were left together were the ones right behind the teachers. She scooted in to the window seat and Vicky took the aisle. The ride to the museum wasn't too long, they spent two hours looking at everything then they were allowed to it in the park across from the museum to eat lunch before the bus would be ready to take them back to school.

*Anseo (pronounced like Awn-shaw) was the reply when the teacher called your name from the register. It's Irish for "Here"