A Day in May

Chapter 4 - I'm Swiper and they're whiney toddlers

Chapter 4 - I'm Swiper and they're whiney toddlers

"Where are we going?" I ask, my voice echoing against the empty walls of the school hallway. It's dark, the only light coming from the torch I found in the newspaper room. Being the clever girl I am, I forgot to pick one up when I made my dramatic exit, so we're stuck with one that has increasingly dying batteries.

Figures.

"I've been waiting for this for ages," Leo murmurs excitedly, and I snort.

"Dude, chill," I say, and he just laughs at me. Any attempt I make at making fun of him, he just laughs along with. I think with the bullying he's had being the school nerd has toughened him up, more so than he probably already was. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to P.E," he says, and I scrunch up my nose.

"Ew, why?" I ask. Physical education and I do not mix. When I was a freshman, I made the brilliant mistake of turning up without my gym clothes eight times in a row. It led to a number of detentions, but not only that, I also found myself with a deep-set hatred from most of the teachers.

I forgot a pair of shorts and suddenly I'm Swiper from Dora the Explorer and they're a group of whiney toddlers.

We turn into the P.E. department, and Leo steers me to the locker rooms. When he's about to drag me through one of the doors, I dig my feet firmly into the squeaky floor. "I can't go in there."

"Why?" he asks dubiously.

"Because it's the guy's locker room," I say, not understanding why he thinks that's such an odd thing for me to find weird.

"What's your point?" he asks, still holding my arm in his hand.

"Uh, I'm a girl," I state.

"Really, I never noticed," Leo jibes sarcastically, and I snort. "Willow, there's nobody in there. What's the big deal?"

"Nothing, fine, let's go in," I sigh, pushing through the door with my shoulder. The automatic lights fail to switch on, which is no surprize, and so we able into the room almost blind, a thin streak of dull light only illuminating a dwindling path before us. We come to a still and I look up at the darkness, which should be Leo's face. "Why are we in here?"

"Are you scared of the dark?" he asks, returning my question with one of his own.

"Not at all," I say. "You?"

"Nope," he says. "I'm going to have to ask you to do something."

"What kind of something?" I ask curiously.

"We need to get in the ceiling."

"You're joking."

"Not at all, actually," he says. He leads me into one of the shower blocks, and shines the torch onto the roof. "That spot there has a panel loose. I'll give you a boost, but I need you to dislodge it and look inside."

"What's in there?"

"A duffel bag," he says, and it's as if he can feel my eyebrows shoot up or something, because he laughs. "Don't worry, it's not got anything dodgy in it."

"O-kay," I say, drawing out the word.

"Right, come on then." Leo moves forward so I follow. He reaches under the spot that he shone the light on, and he hands me the torch. "Okay, I'll give you a leg up, just push on the panel and it'll pop right out. Then use the rim to hold on to."

"I'm pretty heavy," I warn, and Leo scoffs.

"You're light as a feather," he says. "Right give me your foot." After a solid ten minutes of grappling with my foot, Leo manages to get a good enough grip to be able to hoist me up, lifting me with ease. I push on the roof tile and sure enough, it dislodges. "Okay, have a look around and get the bag."