Every Cloud

Chapter Five

The next morning I sprint out of bed at half past seven, stumbling down the stairs to catch Aunt Beth before she leaves to go to work. I find her sat by the kitchen counter, a half-nibbled croissant clutched in one hand, the daily newspaper in the other. I pad over to her and slip the counselling letter down in front of her, clearing my throat.

"Beth, I need you to sign something for you, if that's okay, I mean, if you have time."

"Of course, I've got a few minutes before I need to head off." She smiles, stuffing the last of her croissant into her mouth as she scans through the sheets of paper.

"Armelle, I honestly think this would be such a good idea, especially considering you've got your exams coming up, it would help you to de-stress I'm sure. Are you on board with it?"

"Yeah, I think it would be good for me to do it."

"I'll get it signed for you," She beams, scrawling her signature on the second page, "Have a great day, sweetheart, I'd better dash. Make sure Zach doesn't sleep through his alarm again."

The next day seems a little brighter. And by that I mean that I'm not so blatantly being treated as if I've contracted a rare infectious disease from Mongolia. I beg a lift off Zach, after texting Grace and telling her I'll just see her at school - it's way too cold to walk. As an afterthought I grab Finn's jacket out of my room so I can give it back to him, before racing out of the door to where Zach is revving up the engine. Because we're a little late Zach has to park at the bottom of the drive, meaning we still have to trek all the way up to the main school building. I throw Finn's jacket over myself for the second time, wishing I'd had time to grab my own coat. Anyway, it's fine, he gave it to me to keep warm in the first place, so he won't mind me wearing it again. However, by the time we skid into the school hallway, the bell shrills, and I have to scurry off to my form room, sidling in a little late and slotting into my seat beside Grace.

"Is that Finn's jacket?" She demands, as soon as I sit down.

"Oh, yeah," I shrug it off my shoulders and scrunch it up into my bag, "I didn't have time to find him this morning."

"I can go find him for you if you like." Grace teases, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Sure, whatever." I laugh.

"What happened last night? Were you with Zach? Or did he wanna just hang out with you?"

"Woah, Grace, chill." I laugh.

"Sorry," She laughs it off, "But c'mon, spill it."

"Nothing happened, he just invited me out with him and Zach to the skate park."

"So, can I still call dibs on him? Or are you two like a thing now?" She continues, a teasing glint still remaining in her eyes.

"Pfft, no," I snort, "And sure, I don't know how you can call dibs on a person but go for it."

"Don't worry, I'll find a way," She winks, "Although to be honest, I'd easily accept any of the members of the football team."

"Even my cousin?" I grimace.

"Especially your cousin." She gives my arm a jab with her elbow and throws in another wink.

"Ew, that better be a joke. Please get that image out of my head right now." I groan, my smile melting into laughter.

"C'mon, let's go to maths." She laughs, dragging me out into the corridor behind the rest of our form.

☼

At lunch, I grab a pre-packaged fruit salad bowl and a packet of bourbons from the cafeteria before heading off to a physics catch-up session with my teacher. I leave Grace with special instructions to locate Finn and give his jacket back to him for me. Unsurprisingly, she agrees obligingly. My lunchtime consists of a blur of equations and nuclear power facts, and the rest of the week follows suite. By the time Friday rolls around I'm absolutely shattered, due to the constant revision sessions and my own private revision which consists of me trying to stuff all the information for my ten subjects into my brain, usually unsuccessfully. I don't have a lunch session on Friday, but instead I have a period of counselling before lunch, during double P.E. Because there's no point in me joining in with P.E considering that me getting in and out of my kit will waste half a period, my teacher lets me off to go and wait for my session with Mr Thompson. I catch Grace before she heads off to the changing rooms to get dressed, and give her a consoling smile, telling her I'll be fine (despite her demanding she needs to escort me over to the sixth form block), and promise her I'll come and meet her when I'm finished for lunch. I make my way over to the other side of school, my stomach writhing and contorting with anxiety. I curl my clammy hands into fists as I glide through the automatic doors and try to find where the common room area is where the peer listening office is located, without looking too much like a fish out of water. After scrutinising all the signs I can find, I eventually make my way up a flight of stairs into a spacious common room area, which smells strongly of guys aftershave and coffee.