A to Z

Chapter 1

Girls/Girls/Boys - Panic! At the Disco

It was ten past eight on a Monday morning and for the kids who were fit enough in the Forest, that meant school.

After their severe lack of education, this really should have been appreciated but the teens of the Camp didn't exactly see it like that. To them, it was a less painful form of torture, intentionally designed to make them feel uncomfortable.  

Snow was drifting from the bulging sky, the roofs and ground coated in a dazzling blanket and a chilly breeze nipping at the atmosphere. 

A creaky wooden door flew open and from one of five houses arranged in a circle emerged two teenage girls around fourteen. Walking ahead, a blonde girl with a scowl was shouting obnoxiously to her friend, a golden necklace with a small diamond heart charm poking out from under her bag strap. She was wearing black jeans, the edges frayed and tattered, even sun worn in some places. Threads were hanging  from her second-hand blue shirt and her father's camo jacket was far too big. On her feet was a pair of black worn out boots that reached up to the protruding bit of bone on her ankle. The leather was worn and molded into her feet with a block of rubbery material built into the soul to make them level, a black strap reaching across the curve where her foot met her ankle and ending in a rusted metal button. Her blonde hair was pulled into a pretty french plait, loose wisps caressing her face and blowing around her eyes.  Although her eyes were a dark yellow, they appeared brown in the light, a contrast to the white atmosphere. Her appearance was foreboding, and although her eyelids were heavy and she walked lazily, she still looked intimidating. There was a badly sewn black canvas rucksack slung haphazardly over one shoulder, the other strap dangling down her back.

"Alena, seriously, nothing's gonna be made better if we tell the boys," she said, obviously annoyed.

"It's gonna be funny when they find out it was us though," said a short Japanese girl with almond shaped eyes.

"But you know I don't like Archie! And telling him would mean having to spend time with him," said Blake.

Alena grinned wickedly and tucked her brown hair behind her ear, subtle red highlights visible in the sunlight. She was wearing a plain t-shirt with blue jeans, she had a rucksack on her shoulders and a sweatshirt tied around her waist.

"Blake! Lena!" shouted a voice from across the courtyard, a third girl appearing in her doorway of another one of the identical huts.

"Eliza!"

The girl across the courtyard waved, the hem of her grey jumper hanging around her mid thigh and her black leggings rolled up around her calves in attempt to make them smaller. Her hair was tied in a loose bun, a pencil stuck through it to secure it. A few flyaway strands hung in half curls around her ears and her worn boots were unlaced.

"Hey Liz," Blake said, looking incredibly remorseful as Alena told Eliza they were going to tell their friends it was them that stole the door from the school building.

Eliza laughed. "Is Blake okay with it?"

"Course not," Alena replied brightly, "but we're doing it anyway."

Eliza nodded and grabbed Blake's hand, pulling her friend towards the three boys walking in front of them.

The boys immediately whirled round when they heard the girls coming.

"Alright?" the boy in the middle asked. He was taller than his friends and had a scruffy mop of brown hair and blue eyes. The boy was wearing a white t shirt with black writing, blue jeans and a grey zip up hoodie. He had a simple grey backpack that was worn out and almost ripped.

"Hey, Thomas," Alena said casually.

"Hey," said the boy, "you did it?"

Alena grinned mischievously and nodded. Thomas began cracking up at the thought of Alena getting so excited at stealing a door.

A boy with a bouncing brown curls (they looked sweet but were an incredible mess) wearing walking boots, worn blue jeans, a dark blue woolen jumper with an intricate white pattern and owning a pair of impressive grass-green eyes slowed his pace until he was walking next to Blake.

"Blake."

He smiled at the girl.

"Hello, Archie," Blake replied, seemingly disinterested.

"How's the plan going?"

"Alright, I guess, we're gonna try and do it tonight," she said.

"What time?"

"Maybe eleven. The guard's shift change is round about then so we'll have time to sneak out and get up the hill."

"Nice thinking."

"Yeah. Doin' it reminded me of the stuff we had to do back then," the girl said, trying her hardest to make it awkward so Archie would go away.

His expression darkened and Blake was worried she'd gone too far until the boy next to her spoke.

"Impressive." he said, "None of us can speak about what we did but here you are mouthing off about it."

"I'm not proud of it," she said, "but we had to. And I know it was unforgivable and trust me, I ain't forgiven myself but..." She paused briefly and shrugged. "Life goes on."

Archie nodded. "Tonight's gonna be good."

Blake regarded him.

"I know," she said, before looking away as their steps fell into the same rhythm.

*

"So where have you hidden it?" Lewis asked Eliza, a small smile playing on his lips. He twirled the strings of his blue hoodie around his fingers, a habit he'd never managed to rid himself of. His jeans were faded and the colour of his trainers was no longer visible through the layer of mud caking them. Eliza grinned back. 

"Back of the wood shed. It blends in pretty well."

"And I'm guessing you want me and the guys to move it?"

"The guys and me. And if you're offering..." she looked up at him and he nudged her in the ribs.

"How long's it gonna take before you stop correcting my grammar?" his blonde hair was laced with tiny snowflakes and Eliza stood on her tiptoes to brush them off.

"Oi," he said, but he was smiling. 

"Did you know that snow is actually colourless? The structure of the crystals means that there are countless surfaces at which light is reflected. The sunlight that's absorbed by snowflakes is absorbed consistently over the wavelengths of visible light, therefore making snow appear white," Eliza reeled off, ignoring his comment and doing a little hop so their steps were in sync.

"I'm not gonna pretend I know what half those words mean," Lewis said, rolling his eyes and shoving his hands in his pockets.

The six teenagers walked slowly through the quiet camp, approaching the old rickety building they spend four days a week in as the sun was slowly appearing from behind a layer of thick cloud, making the snow look much more beautiful than it actually was.