Going To Hell - Malum

The Great Return

It's a peculiar thing, to be a teenager that is. Which is exactly the kind of obnoxious thing an average, brooding teenager is expected to say. However, deep within the corrupted crevices of the worlds elite, there hides a special brand of teenager. Moulded  into perfection, they conform to a strict set of rules that are drilled into their heads until there are no traces of individuality or spontaneity left. These exclusive moulds aren't programmed to brood, or moan, or experiment and they certainly do find their own happiness in life. Catastrophic side effects can most certainly be expected to those who do so.

Calum Hood was desperate to break free of the strange person that stubbornly clung to him and refused to let the real him show. As he was considered the most elite of the elite he was expected to graciously accept the future his father would hand to him after Calum had fulfilled his faux display of studious and social obligations. Faux meaning that he didn't have to try at all. He would be given his future with a side of perfectly glazed sweetness. Bitter sweetness being more accurate. He had long since passed the average brooding phase of teenagerism.  He was now teetering on the edge of complete darkness, being toyed with and mocked by his inner turmoils. One last blow from the mother of all his issues and he would be sent into a spiralling swirl of frantic nothingness.

To confront the mother of all his issues would be the ideal thing to do. But unfortunately that would mean accepting those dreaded catastrophic side effects, which simply wasn't worth the exile due to extreme scandal. So as far as he was concerned the answer was to avoid the issue at all costs. He had already successfully been doing so for the last ten years, one slip up won't stop him from continuing to do so.

Calum sat rigid in the plush leather seat of his glossy white range rover. It was an extreme down grade from last years back to school gift. A rich fathers way of displaying his distaste for his son, present him with the un painted brand new car. Calum snorted to himself bitterly at the warped way in which his world worked. He guided his car through the winding country lanes with a cool ease, for the first time he had to focus on keeping his expertly crafted facade in place. Normally this would not be an issue for him, as he once embraced his King standing in the school and accepted his mould as he should. But returning to Thornhill Academy this year was different, this year he was no longer lying to himself, which now meant he was an active secret keeper.

Calum was known for disdainfully strutting the hallways and ravenously feeding from the lustrous looks he received. The looks darted from all directions and only faltered when those who shot them took a moment to ice out their competitors, and there were more than a few. Calum was an infamous member of the rumour mill and as a result, most boys and girls alike had fallen for his endearing charm.

For the first time ever he grimaced at the thought of returning to the constant attention. His adoring fans meant that his facade had to be taped on without any cracks for the truth to seep through. He hoped to cause enough up roar and contained scandal with his boys that nobody would notice his sudden disinterest in the offered attention. Him, Mikey, Luke and Ashton had all been roomed together on their very first day of year seven. They found common interests of causing chaos and being loved, strong grounds amongst any group of pre teen lads for bonding. By the end of September they had already formed what was known as 'the dream team', a real life marauders if you will. Their legacy was going to be epic and they possessed the true friendship that was needed for this to become a reality. The group was for the most part equal. In any combination of duos and trios they all loved each other the same but Calum always found himself drawn towards Michael

Michael Clifford was a pure beacon of hope in Calum's dull corporate man to be life. Michael was a scholarship student, the rarest of all specimens to attend Thornhill Academy. Thornhill had always prided itself on tradition and exclusivity and outsiders were rare. But the governing board couldn't resist the chance to mentally beat this bright eyed, beyond intelligent and charismatic boy into a smart mouthed business man that would one day be raking in ridiculous quantities of money. Money that would one day be returned to them in the form of donations.