The Sleeping Arrangement

Chapter 10

You know that feeling where you're just so bored the time seems to pass by slower than anything? You know how that feeling is multiplied by a thousand when you're excited about something at the same time, and being forced to do nothing for so long makes you all fidgety and restless, so much so that you start jumping around in your seat and shaking your legs and biting your nails just to release some energy?

Yep. That was the one.

We returned to the main building after getting caught by Hayley. None of us spoke on the way, and Thomas and I remained silent as we separated from the group to walk up to our room. Thomas broke the silence briefly to tell me that I could use the shower first, and then I disappeared into the en-suite bathroom for ten minutes to wash myself down and change my clothes. I realised, while I was in there, that my shoes were ruined beyond belief, so when I walked back into the bedroom I had to speak to Thomas again to ask if he had a pair I could borrow for the rest of the trip. He offered me his better pair of Converse, and I thanked him, but we said nothing more than that. We definitely didn't mention what he'd said out on the obstacle course...

Hayley's office was small and smelt like a mixture of coffee and clementine. There were only two chairs, so the boys were made to perch against the windowsill while Lizzie and I sat down. Hayley sat in the swivel chair behind her desk and glowered at us all, tapping away at her computer in search of our schools' contact details. Everybody remained silent, but every so often I'd make eye contact with one of the others and a smile would threaten to break out on my face. Not a good idea...

Over the course of half an hour, Hayley managed to get in touch with our schools and talk through the options with our teachers. We were all told that our behaviour wasn't tolerated at Sunnybrook and that we would be sent home first thing in the morning, as soon as our teachers arrived to take us away, blah, blah, blah. I didn't mind so much, because the whole trip was beginning to annoy the hell out of me, but the idea of spending just one more day with Thomas put butterflies in my stomach again...

However, those butterflies were quickly killed off when Hayley announced to us that we would be spending the rest of the day in the Isolation Room as punishment for our behaviour. She led us out of her office and down a long corridor to a room in the back of the main building. It was a small room, with plain white walls and six desks. Each of the desks had panels separating them from the next, so it was impossible to communicate with the other people in the room while you were sitting in the chairs. One window looked out over the fields at the back of the youth centre, and just beyond them you could see the sea, but other than that there was nothing else to look at.

We were dumped in the room together, and for five whole hours we were made to sit in silence, with nothing to do but doodle on some pieces of paper they'd given us.

Instead, I sat there thinking about everything—which, we all know by now, is code for "thinking about Thomas". Because I was thinking about him. A lot. Every so often I'd ask to go to the toilet, just so that I could walk past his desk in the hope of him turning around to smile at me. He did. Every time, without fail. Still, there were only so many times I could use that excuse without making myself look like I had bladder problems...and that wouldn't have been attractive.

Six o'clock rolled around eventually, and we were finally let loose for the rest of the evening. We headed for the dining hall first, Thomas and me keeping five steps behind Lizzie and Ben, and we ate our dinner together in an uncomfortable silence. After that, we went into the rec room for half an hour, and it was while we were in there that Thomas asked if I wanted to go for a walk.

"This is our last night here," he said, "so we might as well make the most of it while we still can. Besides..." He turned his head in the direction of Ben and Lizzie and pulled a face. "It'll be nice to get away from some of the people here."