"i'm crazy but you like that" - skins

(2) Episode 1.3

I took a deep breath as I woke up.

It was Monday morning, and it had been a long thirty hours since the incident at the nightclub on Saturday night.

We'd all hung around until the ambulance had came and took the girl who we'd learned was called Sophia away, and there had been a horrible tension in the air - a tension so strong that meant that I left in a hurry and went straight home and locked myself in my bedroom until now.
Cook had barely protested about me going home alone without inviting him or even giving him a chance to invite himself, and aside from a few text messages asking for reassurance that I was okay, I hadn't heard from him.
I didn't blame him. I'd felt unbearably nauseous since I'd seen her jump.

I gulped back the vomit that I felt coming with the nausea and shook my head in an attempt to get rid of it.

Thankfully, I was distracted by my phone ringing, and I was relieved to see the name that lit up on it.

"Hey," I smiled as I answered.
"Hey!" My sister chirpily greeted. "We've barely spoke all summer!"
"I've been busy." I shrugged.
"With your new boyfriend?" I could practically hear her smile on the other end of the line. "Who'd have thought we'd see the day?"
I gave her a fake giggle. "I know."

"Anyway, how was your summer?" She continued.
"Uh, fine, I guess." I answered. "Just... hung out."
"With your boyfriend?" Again, I could hear the smile.
"You don't have to constantly say it." I told her.
"I just like that you're happy." She told me, but then there was a long pause. "Except you don't seem it. What's wrong with you? A summer full of sex and a happy relationship and you seem like a moody bitch still."

I took the chance to grab a cigarette from my bedside drawer and light it up, cracking open my window slightly as I did.
"Uh, I'm just... a bit off."
"Why?" She demanded.
"We went to a nightclub event on Saturday and... and something bad happened."
"What happened?" She demanded harder this time.
"A girl killed herself. In front of everyone. Threw herself off the balcony and into the crowd." I explained.
"You saw it?" She gasped.
"Yeah. It was... bad."
"Oh my God! Jofie, are you okay?" She was completely over-emotional already.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I mean, it was horrible, but I'm fine. I just think it might've mentally traumatised me a bit. I've felt so nauseous since I woke up yesterday. I just can't believe that I saw... a dead girl."
"Fucking hell." Michelle processed. "I can't believe that. I'm so sorry you had to see that."
I have a small chuckle. "Don't be sorry for me. Be sorry for her, and her family. I mean, how much pain does someone have to be in to do something like that? I just wonder what she's gone through."
"Yeah. That's so sad." Michelle agreed, deep in thought.

And then I felt the wave of nausea again and clutched my mouth. "Chelle, I've got to go -"
I hung up the phone, cutting off her farewells and ran to the toilet.

***

I walked towards the college with my headphones on, alone.
Mid-song, in a world of my own, they were ripped off my head and handed to me as an arm was thrown around me.

"Hey," Cook beamed at me.
"Hey." I answered, slightly monotone.
"Missed you." He grinned.
"It's been twenty-four hours." I dismissed quickly.
"I've still missed you." He insisted.
We walked a few more moments in silence before he asked, "Jofie, are you alright?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I replied, looking down.
"That shit was fucked up at the weekend. I just want to make sure you're fine." He pulled me closer to him.
"I'm fine." I insisted.
"Okay." He acknowledged.
We finished the rest of our walk to the common room in silence, and he only broke it when we bumped into Thomas.

"Tommo, how the fuck are you diddlin', my man?" He grabbed Thomas unnecessarily around the neck.
I yanked his arm backwards. Thomas had made it clear that he had no intention of being friendly with Cook, and Cook hadn't seemed to care. I couldn't understand why he was intentionally pushing his buttons now.

"What do you want?" Thomas snapped, shoving Cook off him simultaneously to me pulling him backwards.
Cook shrugged. "I just thought you might need a friend today, that's all."
"You are not a friend." Thomas corrected, anger in his eyes.

"Look, I'm just looking out for you, man. That shit with that girl at the weekend at your event... I mean, she was fucked up beyond."
At Cook's words, Thomas and I exchanged a confused glance, but Cook continued without noticing. "I mean, I don't know about you two, but I had to get royally fucking munted yesterday just to get that shit out of my head."

"How do you know she was fucked up?" I immediately asked. "Did you speak to her?"
"No." Cook was rapid to answer.
"Then how do you know?" Thomas joined in, his eyes narrowed on Cook.
"I don't. I was just... I mean, anyone with a brain can figure out that a girl who does that has to be off their head, right? You just... assume. Don't you?"

Thomas and I both stayed silence as Cook looked between us and then shrugged.
"Anyway..." was all he said to excuse himself, and I watched him trail off to where Freddie and JJ were sat.

"He's lying." Thomas stated as soon as Cook was out of sight.
"What?"
"He's a piece of shit, Jofie." Thomas snarled.
I dismissed my suspicions for a moment and without thinking, became defensive. "You don't speak about him like that, okay? Mind your fucking self, Thomas."
Thomas shook his head. "You're a good person, Jofie."
"You clearly don't know me," I rolled my eyes.
"No, you are. At least better than him," Thomas gestured to where Cook was fiddling a cigarette between his fingers and laughing. "Be careful. He's no good."
And before I could get more defensive, Thomas walked away to the edge of the room, staring at his shoes.

I walked over to the trio of boys and leaned on the wall behind them.
"Give me one," I ordered Cook, and he handed me a cigarette with a wink before jumping up on the sofa he was sat on in order to perch on the back, stroking my hair and then handing me a lighter. "You first, babe."

As I went to the light the cigarette, a booming and unfamiliar voice came from the middle of the room, shrieking, "you two!"

We looked up at the bellowing, erratic voice and there was an unfamiliar man, staring directly at Cook and I.
"Would you mind, awfully, not smoking?" He spoke in a posh accent that stuck out like a sore thumb within our common room.

Cook and I both exchanged an amused smirk before moving the cigarettes away from our mouths.

"Just thought I'd pop and say 'hi'. I'm David Blood, your new college director - and I'm saying 'hi'." He spoke like a strange cartoon character, and everyone was staring strangely at him.

"Uh, where's Harriet?" Freddie raised his hand and questioned.
"Harriet has moved on." David Blood answered.
"Why?" I demanded.
"Because, because, because... because, this place is rubbish. And so are you. So now, we're all about change. Everything's going to change. We'll all do it together, yes?"

I looked up to see everyone's matching bewildered and shocked expressions about the man's audacity, but he was either or noticing or choosing to ignore it, because he continued with his speech with no further prompts.

"And if anyone can not get on board with that... I will find you, I will interrogate you, I will expel you."

"Is that that Liam Neeson speech?" I piped up, causing Cook to laugh loudly beside me.
"First strike!" David Blood yelled in my direction, before taking a few steps towards Cook and I and scowling, "I don't like you two already."

Cook and I stifled our laughter as we looked at each other while he walked back to take his former place in the centre of the common room.
"Any other funny comments?" He invited, but everyone stayed quiet. "Great! Now, Doug has a very important announcement."

Doug nervously stood where David Blood had stood in the centre of the room, clearly as bewildered as the rest of the students.
"Welcome back, everyone!" He shakily smiled. When no one attempted the enthusiasm like he had, he sighed and broke the news with a false smile still on his face, "now, I'm afraid the police would like to interview you all!"