Cast The Die

Chapter Two

September 2017

As I'm walking down the stairs, I can hear music playing from the kitchen. My parents are dancing to their favourite album by 'The Cure' and their singing fills the air. The sun is shining through the window and I inhale the smell of bacon. I pour myself a glass of fresh orange juice and take a sip. I cover my mouth immediately to stop the juice from spraying everywhere and try to stop myself from laughing. My Dad has thrown my Mum over his shoulder and started using her as some sort of weird violin. We're all laughing uncontrollably, and I get this overwhelming feeling of happiness in the pit of my stomach. I'd do anything to go back to this day. In fact, I'd go back to any day of Summer 2017. 

It was the year I started Sixth Form. The last two years of school before going to University. My parents have supported every choice I've made, and they've also allowed me to make my own decisions for most of my life. They think I'm more responsible than they are, and I think they're right. They always said if I didn't want to go to University, they would support that. If I wanted to go to University at the opposite end of the country, they would support that. Anything I wanted to do; I had their support.

July 2017, we spent two weeks in the South of France, just the three of us. It was the most amazing holiday I could have ever wished for. We spent my Dad's birthday in a monkey sanctuary. I've never seen him that way before, so happy and childlike. August was the hottest month England had ever had. We had barbeques, garden parties and even street parties. Jen lives three doors down from our house, so it was mainly us and her family. I spent the mornings doing schoolwork and by noon I was being forced to fill up water balloons with Jen and her cousins. We were all above the age of 15 but a water balloon fight still seemed as appealing as it would to an 8-year-old. The last party we had before school started, Jen stole a bottle of Whiskey from her dad's secret liquor stash. We had two sips each and nearly threw up. I'd never had alcohol before, and I didn't plan on having it again.

When September came around, my Mum took me shopping for some "smart" clothes. The first five years of secondary school we had a uniform, black trousers (or a skirt), a white shirt with a tie that was the colour of your assigned block and a black jumper. My block was called Rosemont and my tie was red. I never knew how you were assigned which block, when I was younger I assumed you would walk into a gigantic, outdated hall and the teacher would place a creepy looking hat on your head and it would announce which block you would spend the next five years in. Looking back, that was a silly idea. Jen was block Thorne, which was green, and ideally it was her favourite colour. We knew starting Sixth Form would be different, wearing our own clothes, having free periods and only learning about the subjects that we chose. I liked the idea of having independence at school, my parents always allowed me to have my freedom, so I was used to it. They thought it was preparing me for life, and they were right.

My first day of Sixth Form couldn't have gone better. I chose to study Biology, English Literature, Geography and History. By the second week of term I'd already dropped History and if I'm honest, I'm not sure why I even chose it. I liked my teachers, I had friends in my classes and the work was easy enough. I immersed myself into my studies, the only way I'd get into University was if I achieved A-A* in all subjects. I'd never gotten anything lower than a B before, and I didn't plan on doing it now. Jen had free periods at the same time as me, it's like whoever arranged the timetables knew we were best friends. On the first day, we spent our first hour of freedom sitting on the steps outside of the P.E block. Physical Education wasn't either of our strong suits, so no one would think to come looking for us here. And that is when he appeared. When I was stuffing a handful of pomegranates into my mouth, perfect timing. Jen saw him too, although I was hoping she hadn't. If he was going to notice one of us it would certainly be her.

"Oh, my, Jesus," Jen said, her jaw almost touching the ground.

"Woah." I replied.

"He definitely looked at you. Did you see him? He was totally looking at you! You should have waved" I couldn't tell if she was lying.

"Waved? Seriously? Is that what cool people do? Wave at boys?" I rolled my eyes at her and she started laughing. We were giggling like two teenage girls that fancy a boy, because that's exactly what we were.

"He must be that new boy that Jacob was talking about, apparently he moved here in the Summer from somewhere near London" she said, attempting to wink at me. We started laughing again, and this time we couldn't stop as I kept imitating her attempt to be sexy.

When I arrived home that night, my Dad was already there. Sometimes he only works half days, other days he works until 9pm, so I make the most of these days.

"How was it? How was your first day?" he asked, showing his perfect smile.

"It was great, Dad. Really great" I told him. I asked him about his day, and he told me all about the case he has been working on. He left out the confidential details, but I put two and two together and I know that the daughter of the deceased victim is guilty of first-degree murder. I always thought my Dad would encourage me to become a Lawyer like him, but I see how much pressure he is under most of the time and I know he wouldn't want that for me.

"Mum should be home soon, I think we'll order pizza tonight, to celebrate a successful first day back at school. How does that sound?" he smiled again and waved the pizza menu in my face.

"Pepperoni or plain?" I grabbed the menu from him. He put his hand to his chin and acted out a sarcastic thinking pose.

"Both."