The Manager

Beginnings.

"Alfred Hitchcock used dark mise en scene in The Birds to..." Mrs Kitchener sat in front of the Media Studies class, as she did always, to try to get the class' attention. It never worked, no-one ever paid attention in Media Studies. We had every lesson in a computer room and no seating plan, so anyone that wasn't playing computer games was chatting to their friends. That's why the class was behind in grades, all apart from Skylar Dray. That's me. I may be a nerd that only has two friends - but that's by choice - and Media Studies was quite an interesting subject.

"Convey the dark imagery we see throughout the film, which makes it obvious it's a horror film." The only other member of the class that was listening, Theo, said after he put his hand up. The only reason he put his hand up was to get the class moving on a bit so he could work on the video game he was making. As the teacher carried on talking, Theo pushed his glasses higher and turned back to his computer. He ruffled his golden hair and turned on Scratch. "Funny how she's not letting us do coursework, hey Skye?" Theo turned to me with a smile, before playfully punching me in the arm. He then looked at my computer screen, as I was working on the coursework due for next term. "Of course..."

"I'm the only one in this class getting an A*," I said, smiling back at Theo as he worked on character design. Theo rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh. He sighed and sat back, showing his boredom. Theo was never one that was easily entertained, ever since I met him when we were three he always needed something to do, or he'd sigh and moan and complain. The bell soon rang, and everyone quickly picked up their bags and ran out without the teacher dismissing them.

"Are we getting Blythe?" Theo said, slinging his Pac-man bag over his shoulder and checking his watch. Blythe was my only other friend and the twin sister of Theo. I nodded in response, turning on my phone to check if there were any delays on our bus. I then got a text from Blythe saying she was waiting outside her Textiles lesson. Theo sighed as we made a diversion from walking out of school.

Blythe smiled as soon as we came into view as she stood next to a student. I didn't know the student's name, he was quite dark skinned, with jet black hair that covered one of his dark brown eyes. Beside him lay a black bag and Blythe's bright rainbow bag that had a unicorn and pink lemur toy on the zip. "Hey, guys!" Blythe said in her cheery high pitched voice. Blythe was probably the most cheery and friendly person I knew, she could go up to anyone and be friends with them instantly. She was basically the opposite of me. "This is Noah." She said, pointing to the boy next to her as he picked up his bag. "He's just moved school, and I figured he needs a friendship group so..."

"I said I'm not the friendship kind of guy," Noah said sternly, watching Blythe pick up her backpack and smile at him. As soon as she smiled in his direction, he smirked, red quickly rushing to his cheeks. "I've got to go." He said quietly, quickly running away.

"He likes you, sis," Theo said in a monotone voice once Noah was out of view. Blythe smiled again, quietly giggling.

"Well, we'll see where that takes us..." Blythe was nothing but a flirt, the one trait that Theo hated about his sister, but Blythe always believed that the right guy would tell her instead of blushing in her direction and 'admitting it' to Theo. She had never got a boyfriend because of that philosophy, even though plenty wanted to fill that role.

The bus was almost full by the time we got on. Theo gave me and Blythe the two remaining seats and played Angry Birds the whole journey. The stop after we got on was by another school, one of the best in the area in fact, and everyone in there were just egotistical rich kids. Only two boys from that school got on, and sat down in two seats closer to the back, bringing out a bag of Doritos and earphones to listen to music.

At the back of the bus, five older boys were sitting, swearing and chatting about having sex with girls. It was usual for this bus. They were sitting with feet on the seat in front of them, chewing gum while chatting. One of them turned around, spotting the two boys a few seats away and smiling. "Private school kids..." One whispered. "Daddy probably couldn't pick 'em up." Theo kept his eyes on them, as they whispered to each other for a few minutes. One of them then put a few gums in his mouth and started to chew. His friends were pointing towards the boys.