Blue Striped Tie

Chapter 8: Last day of term

Cooler air and browning leaves replaced the lingering summer, as autumn returned to England with a cold shove. Crop tops were replaced with jumpers, sunglasses with woollen hats, red sunsets with grey overhead clouds. Sales in umbrellas spiked as the british public recognised the end of those fateful few months of sun.

Ross decided he liked his new school a lot. He had nice friends, good classes, he liked his teachers and his subjects. It had been a long time since he could say 'I enjoy going to school', and it was nice not waking up with a pooling feeling of regret in his stomach every day. It was fun, and Ross couldn't believe the time had passed so quickly, half term had snuck up on him.

Life seemed to fall into a neat schedule after his first week, spotted with odd social events and extra curriculars. Everything was going smoothly, there was no incidents, no news, no arguments between friends. His friendships grew healthily, with Chris and Alex especially. He got to know the group a bit more, especially enjoying Sips' foreign humour and Turps' loudness in normal conversation. Sometimes he hung out with Alex's group of friends, getting to know their dangerous and outrageously sexual banter. He was even introduced to Parv's band, Area 11.

He progressed with school too, finding things difficult, but manageable. Though the topics may have been a lot harder, the format of A Level was a lot like GCSE, which Ross appreciated. He knew how to learn and revise properly, and quickly got the hang of writing essays and researching content.

The second-to-last week of school was test week, and it was the first chance Ross got to put his new knowledge to the test. The tests were standard for Physics and Media, written answers to long questions that used all of Ross' literary skill. For English he had to hand in a 1500 word essay, something that wasn't as easy, but he managed it.

And then it was the last week of school. He got his grades back, and they were good. Not the best, but it was their first testing in A Level and he had passed. The others did fairly well too. Trott excelled in English, Alex got masses of praise from his Music teacher, even the guys who didn't seem to do as well agreed to sign up for after school classes.

Teachers became a lot more lenient in the last few days. They watched Zombieland in their Media lessons, the boys eagerly taking notes for their practical research. In English, instead of just reading the text, they performed it. Mr Bennet allocated them parts, and actually performing A Comedy of Errors made it a lot easier to understand. Even in Physics, their teacher was kind, allowing them to fuck around with springs instead of actual lesson.

Life was relaxed, easy and fun for the last few days.

And then Chris didn't come to English.

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Ross instantly knew something was wrong when he didn't see the familiar mop of brown hair waiting for him in his English Literature class first period on a Friday. He sat with Will in worried silence, thinking about his absent friend. Not seeing Chris waiting for him at the school gate was unusual enough, but the boy never missed a class. Ross even had to send him home once, the boy mumbling disagreement at his desk, slipping in and out of a sickness-induced daze.

He was free period two, and that allowed him to discuss the whereabouts of his short friends with the others.

"Have any of you seen Chris today?" He asked, dumping his bag and taking a seat on one of the sofas. The group turned lazily to face him, collectively frowning in confusion. Most of the gang were there, all except Simon and Duncan.

"Haven't actually, wasn't he in English with you?" Sips asked, stretching his legs out to rest on Turps' lap.

"No." Ross frowned, rolling his eyes at the Canadians terrible posture. "I haven't seen him all day."