How To Be 15

8

Been wandering for days,

How you felt me slip your mind,

Leave behind your wanting ways,

I wanna learn to love in kind,

Because you're all I ever long for.

"I'm really not sure how I feel about this."

"Me neither, I mean I like it, but I just feel kind of weird about it."

"I know what you mean. They managed to pull it off somehow, though."

"I quite like it, I've decided. It'll take some getting used to though."

Jackie and I had been sitting at the computer, waiting for the clock to turn to 7 o clock so we could hear the new Mumford and Sons song.

After the announcement that there wasn't going to be any banjo in the new album, Jackie and I were scared that they would lose their flare. But we had come to the decision that although it would take some getting used to, we liked the whole 'folk 'n' roll' thing.

The ordeal with Connie had meant that Jackie had gone back into her shell for a day, but she was feeling a bit better now. She wouldn't stop apologising after it happened, saying that it was all her fault.

She had even started packing a bag to go back home because 'it isn't fair to drag you down with me', but we had told her to stop being ridiculous and that she was staying in our house.

Tomorrow was the English exam, in which we had to write for 45 minutes about Of Mice and Men and 45 minutes about An Inspector Calls.

I had done revision earlier, obviously, but I knew that if I went to bed with the exam on my mind that I wouldn't sleep, and that wasn't going to help me in the slightest.

**********

"You should have seen it!"

"She was amazing!"

"Jo, is it true that you hit the coach of the other team with a rounders bat because she said you were out when you weren't?"

"No, where did you hear that? Paula?"

"Yeah."

The school was still on a high after the rounders match, and suddenly the year 10 rounders team were celebrities. Especially me, it seemed, since I had scored the winning rounder.

When our win was announced in assembly and the people from the team's names read out, we had been congratulated by everyone. Even the year 11 lads had said well done, and even went as far as to pick Helen-the-almost-nun up in her chair.

As you can well imagine, she didn't appreciate that one bit.

"10A1 can go and put their bags in the common room." The school's deputy head shouted.

Jackie and I looked at each other, sighed, then went into the common room.

We took our phones out of our blazers and put them in our bags, for fear they would turn themselves on as they sometimes did and blare out if someone texted me.

We walked side by side through the corridors, which still smelled of sweat, to the bottom gym where all of the desks were laid out.

Since Jackie's surname was Allen, she had to sit at the front of the first row, whereas I sat near the back of the second row.

I couldn't help but notice that Helen-the-almost-nun was sitting just to my left, and that she was scowling at me. I made a mental note to ask Paula if she knew anything about that.