Gum?

Chapter Three

Tom walked down the halls, his mind was elsewhere, as it always was. Usually he'd be out of school by now, on his bike heading down the hill, swerving through the potholes of the broken abandoned roads, but no, he was stuck at school getting shitty detention for being being what? 5 minutes late? He swung his locker door open, greeted by the small Eddie Van Halen cut out he stuck onto the door with some gum. Van Halen, probably the coolest guy to of ever of been created...if he could be anybody, he'd be him. He groggily took his school books as be reminded himself of his dull reality, stuffing them into his bag and slamming the locker door shut.

He entered the detention room, his nostrils being singed by the strong smell of nicotine.
"Healy." spoke a voice, a voice that made Toms blood boil.
"Good Afternoon...Mrs Grundy." replied Thomas, practically glaring at her as she sat all high and mighty behind the wooden desk.
"Sit down, boy." she sternly commanded, making him flinch a little in response.
He sighed and turned his head to the empty classroom, his eyes widening. The girl...she was here. She rested her head in her palm, her head turned to the window as she looked outside to the grey plain of the school football field. Toms breath hitched in his throat, not because he was speechless, but because he had so much to say...he couldn't say anything at all. His eyes were fixated on her short...fluffy brown hair and those...dark mysterious eyes. He went to sit down at the back, checking out which desk was the least mangled and graffitied. It was only when he sat down when he realised
"Nick." he whispered underneath his breath. Nick wasn't there. It was often that Nick got detention and it would result in Tom waiting after school for him, but it also wasn't unusual to see Nick making a run for it. Yet for him to ditch Tom here, alone in detention with another person, a cute girl of all people, was so-
The door suddenly swung open, startling him.
"Mrs Grundy." It was Mr. Westwood, the gym teacher. "Some loco parents are here to see you. Something about child abuse, I don't know."
This caused Tom to snicker.
"Something funny, boy?" Mrs Grundy shot her eyes at him, practically piercing into his soul.
"No, Miss..." replied Tom, his jaw tightening as it closed shut.
Mr. Westwood coughed, bringing the attention back to the urgent situation.
"Right." The old woman sighed, placing her hands on the desk to haul herself up. "I want you two to make NO noise, understood?" she asked, glaring at the two of the them.
Tom only nodded in reply, glancing at the other girl. She didn't budge.
"Eliza!" called out Mrs. Grundy.
Tom repeated the name in his head, even going so far as to whisper it under his breath, just to see how the name felt in his mouth.
The girl only glanced at the teacher before looking back out the window, unfazed.
Mrs. Grundy's face turned red again before Mr. Westwood cleaned out his throat again. A huff left the "bulls" nostrils as she turned and left the classroom, the door slamming shut, officially leaving the two troubled sophomores unsupervised.