Tick Tock - Time's Running Out

Tick Tock (5)

Chapter Five

Jamie

I started my short walk down to the village hall, where I attended my weekly drama class.  I was so addicted to drama that the now five hours a week I had of it at school would not suffice – I needed more!

Drama was an escape for me, relieving me of family pressure, exam pressure, and friend pressure…  Pressure full stop.  Boy, the pressures of a teenage life were plentiful, and so I was thankful for my sanctuary that was Wednesday night Drama.

I had changed since coming home so now I was wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans and grey knitted ankle Ugg boots.  They were the sex, like!  I was also sporting a low cut purple top, and a thin grey cardigan to keep my arms warm.  Over one wrist I wore my Links of London Sweetie Bracelet with three charms dangling there.  One from Robbie, which was a number 15, one from Tiffany, which was a pair of shoes and one from Darren, which was a little love heart.  This bracelet was my most treasured possession.  I loved it so much!  My hair was still annoyingly curly, having no time to straighten it.  However, I had had time to straighten the fringe, and so let the rest of it fall around my face in bouncy curls, locked in with a lot of Diamond Hold Hairspray.  It took time and patience to create a great ‘do without my faithful L’Oréal Paris Elnett Satin Diamond Hold Hairspray!  It smelled amazing!  I had shoved on tonnes of black eyeliner, emphasising the best quality about me: my eyes.  In some light, they looked golden or amber or some strange colour that was lighter than brown.  They were amazing, and I loved my eyes.

The village hall was just down the hill from my house and only took three minutes to get there.  However, on the way down to the hall I met a friend, Chelsea, who also went to Drama with me.  She was two years younger than me, but was still a really good friend.  Her brother happened to be Darren.  Now, you’re going to think the worst of me: that I’m just using a friendship with Chelsea to get closer to Darren.  But I swear, I’m already close to Darren, and I liked Chelsea before I knew who her brother was.  Sounds unbelievable, I know, but it’s the truth.

“Hey,” I grinned, greeting Chelz warmly.  She didn’t know about my little crush on Darren, before you ask.

“Hiya, babe!” she said in her thick cockney accent.  Chelsea’s parents had divorced before they knew about Chelsea, and she stayed with her mum for eleven years in the heart of London, then came to live with her dad when Darren went down to visit his mum one summer.  Yeah, he was surprised to be returning home with a sister, but it was nothing compared to the shock of his dad when he found out!

I think that’s why Darren and Robbie are such good friends: they both didn’t have a motherly figure in their lives.  Darren’s dad didn’t even bother to re-marry, or even look around.  He was happy as he was.

Because Chelsea had been living in London, I think that made her grow up more, become more mature, because she lived in such a big city and had to grow up.  However, I lived in Balerno.  ‘Nough said.

Chelsea had the same blonde hair that Darren did, and the same piercing blue eyes.  Looking at her now, I didn’t understand why I didn’t realise before I did that Darren and Chelsea were related.  It was so obvious!  Chelsea was wearing a peach coloured strapless long top that could double as a very short dress.  It wasn’t decorated or anything, but Chelsea accessoried it her own way.  She wore a long black cardigan over it, and she put a thick elasticised belt around her empire line, over her cardigan, emphasising Chelsea’s curves.  She wore a pair of cut off blue denim shorts that reached just above her knees, with her perfectly tanned legs showing and a pair of black flip-flops on her feet.  Her toenails were painted peach: the same shade as her top/dress.  She looked stylish, as always!