The Leftovers

I sat cross legged under the light. It was green and was stuck my wall like some glowing orb thing. It wasn’t ever a really nice light, just one I’d got ages ago from some relative and I had to pretend it was amazing and all ‘totally spiffing!’ and such. It wasn’t very strong, but it was battery powered and was the only light I had in my room in my new house, before we turned the electricity on. My parents decided to pack in their jobs and move somewhere completely different, and start a fresh. Probably because of all the trouble with the youngest being the biggest bully at his primary school and having a socially awkward daughter that is an embarrassment at parties, and an anti-social teenage son that stays up all night playing Xbox. Wow, they must be super proud. Not. Also, they are both extremely flaky. Like, they both left packing until literally the night before, because they thought that the moving stress would clog up the aura of our home or something. I don’t even know. I was sat under the measly light with my notebook on my lap, drawing stick men in various stages of torture, because that’s what I do when I’m cross or sad. And, at that moment, I was incredibly cross and sad. Because my parents were nut jobs and had made me leave my mates and school. No more Melissa. No more Kev. No more gorgeous Nile. Just boring kids and a tiny school, in the middle of a boring, deserted town. Totally spiffing, indeed.

“Hey! Sat, can you come down here?!” Yes you read that right. You know what I said about flaky parents? Well, they called me Thomasina, which then turned into Tom-Tom, and then Sat-Nav, and then just Sat. It’s much better than Thomasina, I can tell you though. Not looking forward to explaining that to my teachers, as I physically can’t respond to Thomasina, it just doesn’t relate to me. So, yeah, it’s just Sat. Sat Oakly.

“Sat, sweetie?” Mum again. I got up and flung the notebook into a dark corner and stomped down the stairs. Mum was tangled up in a pot plant. “Ah, Sat! Can you help me put this plant in the right place? I don’t want to mess up the Feng Shui!” I rolled my eyes and rolled up my sleeves.

“Where?” I asked. Mum consulted the tablet propped up on the table.             

“Just over here!” she said and guided me and the foliage to the space. I put it down and wiped my hands on my jeans. “Can I go out?” Mum pushed her horn-rimmed glasses further up her nose.

“G-go out?” she asked. And then she hugged me. “Oh, none of you ever want to go out! Of course, sweetie!” I wriggled uncomfortably.

“I’ll be back later, okay?” I said, pulling my anorak from the box and grabbed my phone.

“Okay, Sat! Have a nice time!” I shut the door sighing and stuffed my hands into my pockets. I walked down my drive and onto my street. Bleurgh, I thought. Utter ghost town. I made my way down the street, whistling, to the park I’d seen as we drove through. I plonked myself down on one of the swings and swung lazily. The sound of the playground gate swinging made me look up from the tarmac. Four kids wandered in. They looked like utter weirdos. One of them noticed me. She was small, and had a crop of short black hair.

“Hey!” she said. I turned and waved a bit. She came closer. “You new?” I nodded.

“Uh, yeah. Just moved.” She tilted her head and nodded.

“Awesome.” She studied me for a bit. “I don’t like you.”

“Huh?”

“As in like, like that way. But you seem pretty awesome, so yeah.” I frowned.

“Um…”

“That’s Gem. She’s all mine, so don’t worry!” another girl came closer. She was also quite short, with long curly brown hair and a big smile. She linked hands with Gem. “I’m Carly, who are you?” I blinked at them.

“Uh… Sat.” I said. Gem raised her eyebrows.

“Sat?” she scoffed.

“Long story.” I said bluntly. The other two kids came over; two boys. One was tall and the other was about as tall as me. Also strange looking.

“Gem, stop pestering her.” said the tall boy. He stuck his hand out at me. “Hey there, I’m Will, people often call me Mr Sexy-”

“Shut up Will.”

“I’m simply charming our new friend Sat here, dear Kin.” I stood up.

“Hey, I really ought to be goi-”

“Lies! Lies!” Will put a hand on my shoulder. “We are the leftovers, Miss Sat.”

“Good for you.”

“Ha ha. How very amusing. You’re going to Maplewood Secondary, correct?”

“Stalker.”

“So do we. We were wondering, would you like to be a member?”

“Dude, you’ve known me five seconds. I don’t really want to join you and your pals. I’m not a leftover.” Will folded his arms and looked me up and down.

“Mousy blonde hair, freckles, patched jeans. You look like a perfect contender, Miss Sat.” I clutched at my limp plaits, angry.

“What about you lot then?” I asked devensivley. Will smiled.

“Carly and Gem, outcasts for loving each other. I see that true deep love is a crime!” Will put a hand to his forehead in a mock faint. I blinked blankly.

“We’re lesbians.” said Carly, laughing. “Will’s a tad of a drama queen sometimes.”

“Kin here,” he put an arm around the boy stood next to him. “Left out because he is a nerd!” Kin gave me a thumbs up.

“Being Japanese helps a bit.” He said.

“So, Will the Sexy,” I said. “What is your terrible burden?”

“I, Will Henry Barks the Sexy, am burdened with…” he leant closer. “Mixed parents!” He straightened up.

“So… you’re all outcasts because your either gay, obsessed or have different ethnic origins? And my new school is full of homophobes and racists?” I cleared. They all nodded. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m into dudes and whiter than a jug of milk.” I said. Kin stared at my wrist.

“What’s that?” he asked, staring at biro Triforce I’d doodled in the car. I tugged my sleeve over it.

“Nothing.” I lied.

“Triforce,” he said bluntly and then pulled out a yellow triforce necklace from under his sweatshirt. “Zelda, huh?”

“Yeah.” I said lamely. I had been defeated. “Guess I’m a contender, right?” Will bent down in a sweeping bow.

“Miss Sat, we would be honoured for you to join our club,” he held out a bottle top badge to me. “Just pin that on your shirt, and it is official.” I pinned it onto my shirt, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. “Welcome, to the Leftovers!”