Haunting

Toby Sparks' Suitor

Chapter 4! Don't worry if the story seems to move slowly- it'll pick up as it progresses, promise ;) I'd love to hear what you think of the chapter so I'll know how I'm doing so far. Long or short- all comments are welcome! ;)

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and please comment/vote/fan :)

(Pic is of Kit's leather jacket -->)

Although Tally distinctly remembered Shay telling her on the bus that he, Eimear and Nat would be in the same  base class as her, none of them made an appearance in any of the first two classes. Third period was for options, or electives as the secretary who had given Tally her schedule that morning had explained. Tally had chosen Business Studies as her first option, Home Economics as her second, and French as her language subject. When Tally reached her Business class, she was relieved to recognize Evan and Mia in the small crowd of students waiting outside the classroom.

At first she wasn’t quite sure if they’d even speak to her after the things she’d said to Kit earlier, but when Mia waved her over enthusiastically, she didn’t question it. “Didn’t know you were in this class, Tally!,” Mia exclaimed. Tally nodded awkwardly. “Yeah, well I didn’t really know what other subjects I’d actually be able to do- you know Art, Music, and all that. I signed up for Home Ec too.”

Mia’s face lit up. “So am I, maybe you’ll be in my class! We could be cooking partners!” Tally grinned, relieved that she would have someone to talk to at least. “What about you, Evan?,” she asked, “What other options subject do you take?”

Evan looked a little shocked at being directly spoke to, and appeared both startled and shyly delighted at Tally’s including him in the conversation. Tally got the impression that he didn’t talk much. “Tech Graph,” he responded, voice so quiet Tally could barely make out his pronounced accent, “I’m in Nat and Shay’s class.”

“Speaking of Nat and Shay, where are they? They’re meant to be in my base class, they said, but I haven’t seen them all morning. Haven’t seen Eimear, either.”

Mia cursed under her breath, and Evan gave a weary sigh. Tally was getting quite curious now. It seemed that this new group of people she was getting to know seemed to get themselves into an awful lot of trouble. “I’m willing to bet Nick’s missing too so, probably Kit as well,” she said cryptically, seeming irritated. Seeing Tally’s confused expression, Evan explained. “They bunk off school and smoke on the pitch. You can’t see the far goalposts from the building because of the trees in between the pitch and school.”

Tally was hardly surprised, she had had some friends back home who had skipped classes occasionally, and she had even done so once or twice herself when she knew she wouldn’t be missed. She’d never smoked though- Aden Lanning, her ex-boyfriend and all-round terrible human being, had smoked like a chimney and refused to quit when Tally had suggested the idea. Tally would never smoke, but that hardly made her a saint.

She just shrugged in response to the information, almost indifferent. What had she been expecting? That she would finally make some friends with somewhat responsible people who obeyed the rules? If it weren’t for Mia and Evan, who obviously disapproved of the whole smoking and bunking off situation, she’d almost go out of her way to avoid them. It was looking like some of her new friends were exactly the kinds of people she’d been hoping to avoid this time round.