Runaway Man

Chapter 20: Linda's Dismay

Chapter 20:  Linda's Dismay

It was a well-known fact that rarely anyone ever came into school early. The most obvious reason being was that there was generally no reason waking up early to just come in and walk around for a few minutes. And instead, you could be spending more time combing through your hair or applying make-up. Some people would wait eagerly for the bell to ring whereas others would try their best to kill time.

But for some reason, I ended up walking in early with Diana. We had left a bit earlier than usual however, I didn't expect the entire building to be pretty much deserted. It was scary to be frank.

"I don't even know why I put up with you," I joked as I patted Diana on the back as we wandered up the stairs to the top floor (where our form room was located), "You really love meddling with my love life."

"What are friends for?" She giggled. We were on our way to morning registration. We went into our classroom and before sitting down, we went to go check our seats in our monthly form time seating plan. Considering the time, we were alone in the room.

I didn't understand why we needed a seating plan for absolutely everything. It was always the boy:girl:boy:girl combination on the rows of four.

For some, these arrangements were perfect such as the girls who thought it was cute to bat their eyelashes at every male they saw or the boys who enjoyed hitting on anyone with a heartbeat. But for me: it wasn't flattering to have to sit next to burping bastards either side of me, especially when they would have conversation across me like I was invisible or something or try bargain with me to swap seats with them for the lesson.

"Pete and Harry are next to me." Diana sighed. I examined the sheet and spotted my name beside Harry. That would be so delightful. Pete constantly flirted with Diana whenever we saw him around and Harry was impossible to have a conversation with so I figured that I would end up listening to Diana's torment. (Although, I reckoned she loved it secretly)

"At least there's only one person in between us," I pointed out with a pout. She nodded her head and I watched as the door swung wide open.

Speak of the devil - it was Harry.

His ginger hair was in a messy mop and there were rings (almost like bruises) dabbed under his brown eyes. He seemed to be so tired that I didn't comprehend why he had came into school so early, especially when he was late half of the time.

He didn't seem to notice us because he walked straight past, not even exchanging awkward eye contact, which I was thankful for. He admired the board half gormlessly and placed himself at the back of the classroom. We weren't able to utter a sound because we were scared that he would flick out of his trance and back into reality and do something even more creepy.

Harry was weird. Half of the time, he would be smiling but then it was times like these that he was a depressed zombie. Either way, he rarely spoke and the one times he talked usually were to answer the register.

After that, he slumped his head on the table and started to snore and dribble. This caused Diana to giggle a bit but he seemed so deluded and trapped in his own world today. I felt bad for him.

"Should we wake him up?" I whispered, already edging to the exit. Diana shrugged her shoulders, unzipping her pencil case to retrieve a whiteboard pen. I slammed her hand down, remembering how raw my face was because of her vandalism.

"It's not even permanent this time... and you're not even the victim," she complained loudly, "I don't get what the problem is." I put my index finger on my lips and made a hushing sound but it was too late.

Stirring, Harry shot his head up like a meerkat and realised his surroundings. His eyes fixated on me and I tugged at my collar nervously.

"What time is it?" He asked as he scratched his head. To me, he could have felt like he slept a century or something. I pointed to the clock silently. He opened his mouth then closed it.

Then, the rest of the class fought through the single door. There were screams, yells and I could have sworn I heard a cat noise. I didn't even want to know.

"Attention," our form tutor Mrs Cranberry croaked once everyone had sat down, "I have an announcement,.” Despite her speaking, the class continued to do whatever suited them, she yelled at the top of her lungs and everyone froze, "I said attention. I have an important announcement." She emphasized the word important so that we would continue to listen to her.

I rolled my eyes at the shiverled old prune (no pun intended) either. Her bony fingers gestured for everyone to pay attention even though the majority of us were trying to already. Torture.

"Just get to the point," Pete called out. The class sniggered but she avoided his comment.

"As I was saying... attention," she coughed loudly. The class let out a groan, almost pleading her to get to the point, "Because of our win at the rugby tournament last season, there will be a final held home. It is compulsory to attend to support the team. This is because it has never happened before and we need supporters," She lifted her eyes up from the crumbled up piece of paper she was reading, "We will be playing against that posh school on the other side of town. Whatever it is called and I have a list of the boys playing too." Cranberry examined the class as she waited for an answer.

"Queen Elizabeth?" Someone offered. She shook her head like they were a complete idiot.

I heard Linda's voice from the other side of the room. Damn, I had forgotten that she was in my form. Maybe because she was a teacher's pet to win every teacher over inside class but outside of class... I didn't need to explain any more. "Francis? My boyfriend told me about it already." There were a few gasps from the crowd.

"You mean that stuck up school?" A girl, called Megan screeched, her face went pale like was gonna puke. Get over it, bitch.

"Eurgh, they are either chavvy or snooty," Jenny growled. She clenched her plump fists together like she was giving child birth or some shit like that.

"Am I the only one who's freaking out over the fact that Linda has a boyfriend? Is it not Gale Hawthrone or Harry Potter this time?" Pete blurted out on purpose. Everyone started laughing at Linda. Even I couldn't help but let out a chuckle but when Linda's beet red face peered over at me... I stopped. It was funny because when we were younger, she did claim to be dating fictional characters.

"Shut up," she wailed, "He's better looking than you."

"What's his name then, sugar?" Pete beamed. He was an arse hole but he was now my #1 hero for embarrassing Linda in front of everyone. I felt a knife dig into my heart the more they talked about it… maybe because I knew who it was. Joey.

"I don't see you with a girlfriend-"

"Linda. That's enough of your sassiness," Cranberry snorted, "I'll be seeing you after the lesson."

Today was officially the best day ever even if they brought up that thing. At least there was the rugby match to look forward to. That would probably be eventful and fun... it was a rare occasion after all.