How Long It Takes.

SCENE 4.

MATEO is walking slowly along to his next class, looking at the sky with disinterest in his eyes. He is flicking through the pages of an article on his phone and then looks around as he hears laughing coming from a couple of metres away.

FINN: to the Wyrd, this guy is annoying, but the stuff he sends me is priceless!

MATEO sees FINN looking down at his phone, grinning down at what had obviously been a funny message that he had received. MATEO growled in his chest and looked away to avoid kicking FINN to the ground, but he failed at doing so and he saunters over.

MATEO: What's so funny, pretty boy?

FINN: Ah-! ...It's just you. What d'you want now?

MATEO growls again and leans in and slightly downwards to eye level with FINN.

MATEO: You and I need to have a little... conversation.

MATEO pulls FINN by the shoulder and guides him to a gap between two of the school buildings.

FINN: Why are you so angry about nothing? To be honest, we've never even had a normal conversation since we met each other!

MATEO: Yeah, but that's what you get when you mess around in others' business huh. Could've even got me and Dimitri in gaol.

MATEO: So... let's have a little fun, shall we?

MATEO punches FINN in the side and FINN falls back against the wall gasping for breath, but MATEO keeps on coming...

Later on, FINN is slumped against the cold concrete wall, exhausted.

MATEO has walked off, waving a goodbye over his shoulder and saying:

MATEO: See you next time.

FINN slowly holds his hand up to his nose, which has started bleeding profusely from one nostril and struggles to rise from his slump against the wall and began the walk home seemingly longer than usual.

PRINCIPAL WELLS walks onto the stage and starts pacing the floor, FINN is a still figure standing alone on the edge of the stage, looking into the distance. MATEO re-enters the stage and stands looking down on the opposite side of the stage from FINN. PRINCIPAL WELLS has a troubled expression on his face. He is recalling the next bit of the story, piecing what happened next back together.

PRINCIPAL WELLS: And... and it happened again and again, MATEO physically abusing FINN, and then leaving; promising to see him the next time. It got to a point when FINN started struggling with the importance of his existence.

Thunder rumbles and crashes above, lighting up the sky.

PRINCIPAL WELLS: Mateo was struggling as well. He didn't know what was making him do this, regularly, and hurt FINN so much. Was he really not the one who got Dimitri expelled? And so, the next day, I found out what had been happening for the past couple of weeks.

-END SCENE 4-