The outlier

Chapter 5- Maisie

Chapter 5- Maisie

Dylan had arrived. I found this surprising as she usually does not leave her house on school nights.

We all sat around Skye's upstairs living room. Lulu was seated on the floor, flicking through pictures on her phone. Every so often she would find one she deemed hilarious and she would then show it to Skye, who was sitting next to her hugging a green pillow. That was patterned with triangles of different shapes and sizes. They would then both laugh and Lulu would continue scrolling. She was probably immersed in her Instagram feed.

Lucas was rummaging through the cabinet sitting underneath the OLED HD TV that stretched across the wall. It was huge and I was envious. He was looking for a new wii game to play considering the fact he slightly injured himself playing just dance. We all knew that Lucas was the least coordinated in the group and despite our protests he still participated in the game, resulting in him slipping over and landing on his back. Ouch! Dylan stood next to him, watching him intensely, making sure he was not going to whip some R rated war game out of the pile of many that littered the top shelf of the cabinet.

As for me, I was sitting cross legged on the couch next to Jaspar. He was mirroring my exact position except the fact that I was hesitantly sipping a cup of Coke whilst he was gulping down a cup of Fanta.

As I took a gulp of my drink, letting the sweetness bounce around my mouth, I noticed that Skye's face had lit up. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was twisted into a mischievous grin. I knew right away that Skye was thinking of doing something a little naughty. Last time I saw her wearing this expression was the time she suggested that we toilet paper Andrew Higgins' house. Andrew Higgins was seated behind Skye in English all of last term. He was constantly pestering her by kicking the back of her chair, not so accidentally putting gum under her table and also by trying to cheat off her in every test. When Skye devised a whole toilet paper revenge scheme she tried to get Lulu, Dylan and I involved. Skye's plan was a little too drastic so we all refused except Lulu who scurried after her while Skye walked away from us, rolling her eyes and yelling something about how we were such "Pussies".

I observed Skye as she stood up and headed towards the kitchen. The mischievous gleam still evident in her eyes. I internally groaned knowing that whatever she had in mind would probably end in with a stern talking from one of her parents. Amanda and Jeff are cool, but disrespect them and they will verbally destroy you.

I blew bubbles in my coke as I waited for Skye's return. I glanced up and noticed that Dylan and Lucas were bickering. Lucas had chosen a game titled "Assassin in training" and Dylan was not happy about it arguing that violent videogames should not be played by the youth as it is unhealthy and bad for development. Lucas responded by dramatically rolling his eyes and saying "Well that is stupid". Dylan retaliated by grabbing the game and flinging it across the room. Lucas started walking towards it but Dylan jumped onto his back, trying to restrain him from walking any further but this backfired as Lucas fell to the floor, taking Dylan down with him. Lucas yelled something about along the lines of "I landed on my back again! That bloody hurt! I'm going to be the only year eleven walking around school with a cane". I giggled.

"Well the kids party is over people, but the grownups party has just begun!"

Jaspar and I simultaneously turned our head towards the noise, mirroring each other again.

There stood Skye. Her hair was no longer tied back in a neat ponytail. Instead it hung loosely and messily around her face, looking wild, just like her eyes.

Her right hand was victoriously raised high in the air, holding a bottle of her father's most expensive red wine.

It's safe to say that everyone looked shocked. Jaspar and I looked at each other. Neither of us had had a sip of alcohol in our lives. We could sense each other's nervousness. I placed my hand on his shoulder protectively. He was new to the group. The last thing I needed him to think was that we were a bunch of sixteen year old misfits.