lust for life • james cook - skins

3 - eve

As I walk with Effy and Pandora, my mind is preoccupied by Cook, the boy from across the street. I can't get him out of my head, there's something about him, and I know Effy is thinking the same. I saw the look they exchanged. I saw how intrigued he seemed, staring at her. Almost in awe.

I get it. Completely. Effy is all mysterious and cool looking. One day I wanna get close enough to her to see what she's really like, behind this dark, mysterious girly act.

And I can't really get jealous, can I? Cook noticed me first. I was the one who played hard to get. Besides, I can tell straight away that Cook doesn't belong to anybody. Cook is just Cook. It doesn't take a genius or a psychic to be able to tell you that.

I'm curious as can be, though. I really want to see how this year plays out, having already encountered a few interesting people.

I can only hope Cook is headed to the same college as we are, as much as I hate to admit it. The fact that I even feel a shred of hope to see that boy again makes me want to repeatedly punch myself in the gut.

-

As we approach Roundview College, I hear Pandora let out a gasp of pure excitement. "This year is going to be whizzer, guys!" She gushes. "I'm sad we can't be in the same form, though. You picked philiosophy, right, Eve?"

"Right," I answer, only half listening to what she's saying. My eyes are scanning the big green before the even bigger college.

The green is dotted with students, some sitting together in a misshapen circle, smoking and chatting. Others are walking together in small clusters towards the big school. Then, of course, you have the occasional couple displaying their very unnecessary 'acts of love', as in shoving their tongues down one another's throat.

"Shithole," Effy states firmly, her eyes darting across the green, eyeing the different students.

I nod in agreement with Effy. Pandora looks at her, confused. "What do you mean, Eff?" She says, clearly puzzled. "I was gonna say it's amazing! Look how massive it is, and gee, all the different people!" Pandora's blue eyes shine as she takes it all in.

Effy exhales lightly through her nostrils. "Yeah, Panda, it's amazingly shit," she chirps, a weird mixture of enthusiasm and sarcasm in her voice.

Pandora frowns, then shakes her head, her pigtails bouncing in the process. "You're so confusing, Eff," she chuckles, linking her arm with Effy and I in the process. "Come on, guys, come on! We don't wanna be late!"

Effy and I groan in unison as we get dragged towards the big entrance of Roundview College. As we approach the steps leading up to the main doors, Pandora lets us out of her hold to stare at the groups of people ahead of us.

I stare too. Slightly ahead, to the left, is the one and only Cook and his two mates. God knows how they got here before us. They're sitting on top of the stairs, Cook in the middle, the other two boys either side of him.

Cook is busy rolling what looks to be just a simple cigarette - he'd be insane to be rolling anything else on school premises, especially on the first day - a look of pure concentration contorts his face as he finishes putting tobacco into the skins wrapper and begins to roll.

I glance at Effy who's also staring, this time at the tanned boy. I look at him, and notice pure admiration plastered on his face, as he stares back at her.

As I'm about to turn my gaze away from the boys and back to the girls to tell them to keep heading on into the school, Cook looks up and makes eye contact with me, all the while he's licking the ends of the paper to seal his rollie. I see him grin.