Life Imitates Art

Part 10 - A Simple Task

My first opportunity to breathe any fresh air since I got to school this morning is just when I'm leaving for the day.

The bus home from school is even quieter than the one heading to it. My school day finishes a little after Tessa's, and the bus means I'm always at the stop considerably later than she gets home in her car.

Most sisters would hate doing that for their stupid brother, but Tessa is unique in that she doesn't mind my company. We aren't best friends and joint at the hip, but she is probably the person in the world that I appreciate more than any other. That implied sibling bond of backing each other up and respecting boundaries is the perfect sort of commitment for me.

The bus drops me off on the quiet side street of its penultimate stop and drives off. Tessa's Micra is parked just across the narrow road. Narrow for a city like this one. Her face looks worried from here. Maybe she's had a rough time of it, though that would be a rarity. She's usually content about how her own education is going, particularly now that she's through most of the trickiest of times - those which I'm navigating currently.

I pop in beside her on the passenger's side, which does involve going around her plucky little car to the far side.

"Hey, bro. How was school?"

"It was alright. There's some new things to tell you about."

"Oh, so they did do it?" Tessa's tone has a real 'please don't be mad' tone to it.

"Did what? Suspend Bryn?"

"Oh? I didn't know they were going to do that. It's more than justified if what you say happened was the case."

"Got no reason to lie, do I?"

"Nope. So Bryn's gone. How long?"

"They say indefinitely since it was unprovoked foul play. But no one ever gets removed from that place permanently."

"I get that. We hardly ever get a student kicked out either."

"So what did you mean by 'they did it?' What did they do?"

Tessa's tone retreats to a careful quiver. "They...changed some things about your day?"

"How did you know?" I have a feeling about where this is going.

"Don't be upset. I may have just suggested to Mum and Dad that they make a little noise. I just don't want you to keep getting hit with no one backing you up."

"Well...they listened."

"What have they done?"

"I'm now authorised to spend lunch in protection. Basically, hiding in a maths classroom with my sketchbook. I got lunch 10 minutes after everyone else, but it really wasn't too bad."

"No? It sounds awful."

"Lunch was a little cold. I should probably take it with me from now on."

"We can fix that. If we go right now to get you the basics of packed lunches, you could start making them up. No one's expecting you to become a wizard in the kitchen, but you could make sandwiches or something, right?"

"Yeah. I fully intended on making my own lunches. Just instead of buying cold-ish food, I'll take it with me."

We divert from the usual route home and end up parked outside a medium-sized supermarket. Tessa waits in the car, not feeling a need to hold my hand or come in to make sure I buy the right things. Independent may as well be my middle name at this stage. Everything lines up for me to learn to cope without any proper interaction from people.

It's only the basics that I need - a multipack of crisps, brown bread, sandwich filler and chicken (for variety) and a 6-pack of yoghurts. I don't need much more than that in the middle of the day. Often, the food at the school is a bit too heavy. It's also not greatly pleasant at room temperature.

I look at the relatively quiet queues for the various shop assistants but opt for the introvert's dream invention - the self-service checkout. I never understand why these are so under-utilised. Why would you opt for human interaction on a medial task like this? The fewer distractions, the better.

As I'm scanning the food, I wonder if such a setting works for a Maxine piece. Just about any would, but quite how girly can you realistically expect her to be when all she's doing is picking up basic food items? It won't be my next one. I've settled on the beach idea.

"Bender!"

That obviously came from someone else at school. This shop is usually the place for them to go when they want teenager fuel - usually Monster and cheap chocolate.

I scan my bank card contactless and take the bag of shopping out to the car. It's surprisingly heavy, or I'm just weaker than I thought. I use two hands to get as much purchase on it as I can and slowly leave the shop. It's as much of a struggle as you would expect. And it's about to get worse.

"Hey, it's the mole!"

I ignore them. I don't look back. All I know is that they must have been thinking about approaching me, and likely more than just that. They still blame me for Bryn not being at school.

A car's horn wails three or four times, then the door to Tessa's silver Nissan opens.

"Get the f*ck away from him, you wee bastards!" Other shoppers are now watching. They won't be able to attack. For most guys, this is the idea of their least palatable nightmare. I don't mind. I know my place on the social ladder, and I believe it to be underground. I keep moving with the shopping while the boys laugh at how my sister has to save me.

Tessa expects me to be p*ssed at her when I put the shopping back. Maybe my facial expressions don't help, but it's just the altercation with a heavy shopping bag.

"Thanks for that. Really, I think you had to."

"That school just isn't right for you. Is that how they are all the time?"

"Pretty much, yeah." I slip out of my blazer since the car is too hot.

"You need to escape from all that. Have Mum and Dad ever looked into new schools for you?"

"Nah. And let's be honest, they'll all be pretty much the same. I'm just not a normal guy. It's okay. All of my escapism is in these pages."

Before she gets the car moving, I show her today's work.

"That dress looks a lot better now! Let me guess, you need to go home and transfer it to digital?"

"Yep. But now I have the physical sketch, it's a million times easier."

The car pulls out of its space in reverse and Tessa takes a sharp, impressive turn out of the bay and on to the main exit road.

"If you need my help, bro, just ask."

"I don't need your help. I'd like you to work with me on it. 'Need' sounds like it's a bad thing. You know this world better than I do."