Converse ·· Luke Brooks

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Avery’s POV

The main front doors automatically slid open as I walked back into the academy. There weren’t many students in the main area, just a few who were talking to each other. I ignored them as I made my way down the hallway, towards the staircase. I looked at the clock on the wall as I made my way down and saw that it was 4:10. Classes ended over an hour ago. The hallways were empty apart from a few students here and there, rushing towards their destination. It was Friday night.

Friday night was always a blast for the students around here. Some would go out into the city and go to the clubs, drinking and dancing. Others would visit their families or close friends who lived around Melbourne, sometimes staying the weekend. If you were one of those people, you had to notify the main office saying that you would be out for the weekend, so they knew where you were. You also had to get your parental guidance to sign a form or ring up and say that they were going to be away.

The people that stayed here, always had a small party. Everyone would gather on one floor and play pool, table tennis, air hockey and the Wii. We weren’t allowed to have any alcohol, but someone would always bring the vodka and spike everyone’s drinks. Sometimes it would get a little hectic and my Auntie would be forced to come up and stop the party, sending people back to their rooms. If she caught you with alcohol, you would be expelled from the academy. Which explains why the parties here are always kept on a low key.

As for me, I spend my Friday nights by myself. Sometimes I would go to the party here and stand in the corner, just watching everyone. Other times I would go to a bar by myself and get a drink. It depends whether or not if I was grounded. Which I was, so I wouldn’t be going out tonight. I knew my Auntie would waiting for me in my room. Hopefully she won’t notice my shoulder. She’ll be sure to ring my parents if she does see it. God, what would they think?

I readied myself for the lecture I was about to get before I opened my door to my room. I grabbed the door handle and was about to open my door before someone came and stood up against the wall beside me. “Your Auntie sent me here” Natalie.

“Let me guess, she told you to go and collect me saying she wanted to talk to me” I replied. I let my hand go off of the door handle so I could face her.

“Actually, she didn’t. The teacher worked out after a couple of hours that you didn’t go to the first aid office, so she rang your Auntie. An hour later, I was called to her office. Apparently you’ve been skipping class continuously now. So I’ve been sent to be your personal watcher” She said. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t want to be my person watcher, but she was too nice to admit that. In fact, I could tell that she was trying to cover it up.

“You don’t have to watch me” I replied.

“I do if I want to be on your Auntie’s good side. It can’t be that bad, can it?” She laughed. I looked at her curiously with my eyebrow raised. Now, she actually sounded like she wanted to hang out with me.

“What’s the catch? Did my Auntie bribe you with something to look after me?” I said.

“No, she didn’t. She gave me a choice if I wanted to or not. Look, it’s not often I get to hang out with other girls. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I only hang out with Simon”

“You do realise if you hang out with me, you’ll get hated, right?”

“So? Who cares what other people think? Every day I get asked if I like Simon or if we’re more than just friends or if we’ve hooked up. I’m not the only person who gets talked about behind their backs here. There are rumours going around the academy about me, not just you. Plus, you seem like you could really use a friend to hang out with”