The Lost and the Broken

(Not) The third wheel

Presley. Old Mr Elvis. Our beloved English Teacher. So, this young gentleman, fashion icon for the tweed-generation, he has it all; the working man's cap, slacks a little too baggy (at least for this generation...unless you have a skateboard or a 'fro) and not forgetting those braces and that moustache. Despite this less-than amorous description, he was a good guy... for a teacher

KIDS, kids. So, today I need you to try and search a little deeper into your soul and...

That's deep, Sir.

The class of jesters burst into a mix of jeers and sniggers, their disdain wasn't lost on our fearless leader.

Ah, Bradley my dear, dear boy. Yes, it is. But, of course. Hopefully not too deep for all you ruffians but let's see...

As he tried to explain his deep-and-meaningfuls to our class, all that seemed to come back were a chorus of yawns. God, this is ridiculous sometimes. I wonder why I'm even here sometimes. As I scan the classroom all I see is a mass of cliques; jocks, the mean girls, fashionistas, geeks, stoners. Hell, this could be an enlarged Breakfast Club minus the meaning. I scan the waves and it makes me think to the future and I can see all of these people ten years from now – broken homes, boys working jobs they hate and making up for it by drowning their troubles in booze, football and divorcees. Some will be different, maybe someone gets out, finds fame and fortune or just what they were always looking for. It's a nice thought if that could ever happen. Then I get to the last member of my own little troupe, Tara. The nice one, we grew up together, neighbours until my dad couldn't afford the area. Unlike Skye, who became the edgy one, Tara was always the girl next door, in more ways than one, but she was our girl next door. At school, she always kept a bit of a low profile. The boys occasionally included her in their black book, when they were feeling a bit bored or imagined that behind closed doors she'd suddenly turn into something electric!

A nice girl in school but when her bedroom door closes she'd become this insatiable being, like something out of the bargain-basement pornos they all nab off their older brothers or unsatisfied fathers...but, hold your horses. Before we create some ridiculously graphic vision in pink for y'all, That's not her...Idiots.

So, my life in this class was pretty unfulfilling, much like my whole school experience. I thank god for my friends and Tara was a good 'un.

The one reprieve I ever seemed to have was at lunch. So, allow me to set the scene; the lunch hall was pretty much what I imagine you should have come to expect by now. Unspectacular, lifeless but...it was our one chance to sit in our own little clique (god, I hate that word but when in Rome...) and observe the soon to be unemployed, rapists, alcoholics, soccer moms and so on. So, I forgot to properly introduce Billy to you, how did I know him? Well, you're about to find out.

So one day, like today, us girls were just sat having lunch and all I wanted was to be left alone. Another, boring-as-shit-day, and I was just hoping to disappear into obscurity. My girls weren't who they are now so I really was the duck out of water. Nerves, anxiety. You name it, I had it.

Just fucking relax. Eat your...whatever the fuck that is. Jeez and maybe cool down with the fucks.

I let out a deep breath and saw Charlie (remember him?), now I don't know what possessed me, maybe it was the young adult, teen soundtrack-to-our-lives I had on constant repeat but I somehow managed to catch his eye. That was the end for me. Those deep brown eyes and I just got lost. Now as we know with every situation like this, where the boy is the star, the all-american, surrounded by all that is cool in every male and female variety, well, you just look-the-fuck-away. Why didn't you look away? Too late now. I didn't and under his spell, I slowly bent my lips up into a smile. Then I held it. I could feel a warm burn surround my face, my eyes were stinging as if I'd been up for days but he did the same! At least, in my head he was ready to come over and ask me out. Laughing and flicking my hair any-which-way-from-Sunday but it turns out I was wrong. So, there was a girl who I will not dignify with a name but she's pure fucking evil. The Voldemort of high school. Well, she wasn't desperately into Charlie but she didn't have to be. She just loved chaos and being in control of everyone. Just being the one. So there I was, all wrapped up in my own little world and I never saw her walking up behind me with a bowl of god-knows-what then out of nowhere, there he came. It could have been slo-mo. Billy grabbed her hand just as she let rip.

The hustle and bustle of the lunch hall suddenly stopped. Deafly silent. Just eyes, horrified eyes hooked on the gunked-up princess that stood before them. Her scream, almost blew out the windows. I exaggerate but hey, it's my story. Suddenly everyone started to smile, a little nervous at first but then she saw everyone. As she stormed out, I'll never forget her face. Maybe I should've known back then but hindsight is a wonderful thing, ain't it?

Besides, all I ever needed to remember was my Billy. Stood dripping in whatever-that-was with a huge smile on his face and that was how my life got that that little bit more complicated.