A Change of Heart

Chapter 12- Heat, Stress and irritations!

If I didn't need her, I would have told her to shut the hell up.

The sun blasted down, and perspiration gathered on every inch of my skin. A pounding headache beat against my skull, keeping concentration levels down and my petulance up. It didn't help that I'd woken late and forgotten my deodorant. It certainly didn't help to have Tina Titter spouting irritating gossip on celebrities or guys or whatever the hell she was bleating about.

"And then she was like 'eww why would I date you' but I was like 'you should so do it' but then Pru told me to piss off and called me a tag along which was mean I don't like her and not just because she's ugly which she so is she should try this cream that Rihanna- "

And that was when I stopped listening. As if the buzzing of flies wasn't annoying enough, never mind the buzzing of a tenth grade 'tag along'. It took all the self-discipline I could muster not to do a double Van Goth and rip my own ears off.

I looked around surreptitiously, no one was within ten metres of us. My ruse was showing signs of success. After all, who would allow themselves within earshot of someone like Tina Titter?!

It wasn't that I was unsociable, though I was hoping that hanging out with Tina would repel any negative attention, or more specifically the attention of Prudence Bamber. I laughed inwardly. Prudence.

Not that Tina was in any way a positive decision.

"Mm, that's hilarious, uh... Babe" I racked my brain for a way to shut her up before I lost it. "So.. Uh...-"

"You know that when you speak before you think it means your mouth is-"

"Yeah, I heard that too. But its also true that... Uh... If you speak incessantly for more than thirty seconds, you are ten times more likely to get wrinkles."

She gasped, wide eyed, and starting pawing at her face frantically. She looked like a lost puppy dog. If she wasn't so stupid, I would have laughed.

"Oh my god, that's the worst news ever! I mean I've been told that if you talk loads you get spots so i started using lots of concealer to stop me getting them but I don't want wrinkles I mean I'd have to use my mum's wrinkle cream but-"

She stopped abruptly mid-sentence. Her mouth was sealed tightly shut, but her cheeks appeared distended, as if her mouth was still filling with words. At my bewildered expression. She mouthed the words 'it's been thirty seconds' before clamping her hands over her mouth again.

The heat, my worries, flies, Tina. It all seemed to be working against me in the perfect storm.

And now I had another thing to add to my list of worries - exams. So far in school I at least felt I'd had a choice of not participating in some lessons, of letting my mind transform miraculously into a black hole. But not anymore. What had been a leisurely stroll had become an extreme power-walk.

Especially in maths.

We had changed classes since last year, and i was now being lectured by Mr. Dangral. He was nicer - well at least less evil and sadistic and saturnine - than Mr. Ranson, but he was very austere, with a face carved from granite. And some of the things he came out with....

"And the answer, children..?."

"X4+(x-3)/4.1!" The class chorused in unison.

I stared uncomprehendingly down at my maths book. How could that be? The question didn't even contain any algebra! Where did the x come from? So you times the 3, or do you divide by three? No, that would make it four point something, and I'm not even getting involved with decimals right now. Lets just pretend it was times. Ugh, bloody heat! I can't even think. Okay, okay, so you-