BBC Ghosts: Teatime Club

Arbuckle

"Algebra." Kitty mourned, "It's too confusing, I don't like it. But Pat's a really good teacher!"

"Uh, well, I kinda struggle with Maths myself..." Pat rubbed his arm.

"You wouldn't think that with how he teaches us." Humphrey put in. "He's great! I'm so glad Mrs Cooper put him in charge. He's so good at helping us."

"I agree. Considering I thought this whole idea was a waste of time, I find I'm actually... learning." Thomas admitted, shooting a backhanded glare at the teacher who he considered his rival.

"Guys!" Pat felt himself going red.

"Aww, that's cool. Glad you guys are finding it useful. I've definitely seen an improvement in your work." the teacher admitted with a thumbs up.

"Thanks teach!" Julian smirked. "So we all good here?"

"We're all good. Just try not to make this a regular occurrence, alright? I know some of the other teachers would probably be against you guys going home to do your work, but I'll let you off this time."

"Thanks Mr Cooper." Pat replied humbly, bowing his head.

"See you kids later!" the teacher waved at them as they left.

~~~~~

"Now that was a close one." Julian sighed, putting his hands behind his head as he lead the group to Robin's house.

"It wouldn't have been as bad if Robin wouldn't have blurted out our intentions from the start!" Fanny rolled her eyes, causing the scruffy teenager to pout.

"I don't like lying!" Robin blurted, folding his arms in a huff.

"Part of your moral compass, eh, Robin?" Cap raised an eyebrow as he walked beside him.

"Yes, moral... compass?" Robin tilted his head. "Yeah, that!"

Thomas scoffed at his response.

"So what's for dinner, Rob?" Julian rubbed his hands together devilishly.

"Julian! We're not going there to eat! We're actually going to be working, you know!" Pat cried, shaking his head at Julian's brashness.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Arbuckle," Julian rolled his eyes, "I was only joking."

Pat stopped walking for a moment, feeling a little hurt. Trying to shrug off the insult, he went to start walking again but Humphrey pulled him back by the shoulder, marched past Pat and accosted Julian.

"What did you just say?" the normally cool-headed teen frowned.

"Just a little nickname I came up with."

"A nickname?"

"It was a joke, okay? Sheesh, no need to get so het up about it." Julian held up his hands up and tried to walk away, but Humphrey held him in place.

"Well I didn't think it was very funny." he snapped, glaring murder at the Tory. "Apologize to him."

"What?"

"I said apologize!" Humphrey shoved Julian, causing the shocked teenager to frown and shove him back.

"Woah, woah! Break it up!" Cap tried to cut through the growing scuffle, but the other two ignored him.

"Don't touch me!" seethed Julian, kicking Humphrey off him before tackling him to the ground.

"Break it up! Break it up now!" Fanny shouted, trying to pull Julian off Humphrey with help from Thomas. "Julian, stop it! Humphrey!"

"Guys, please stop!" Kitty begged, freaking out beside the pair as they fought. "I don't like this, I don't like this!"

Mary took Kitty's hand and lead her away from the fighting duo. Robin stepped in and with a heave, yanked Humphrey from underneath Julian as the others held the other fighting teenager back.

"Calm down the pair of you!" Cap ordered, standing in-between them both. "Calm down!"

"He started it!" Julian hissed in Thomas and Fanny's arms, trying to crawl his way back to Humphrey. "I said I was sorry!"

"No you didn't, you didn't say anything!" Humphrey seethed back, rubbing at the bloody mark Julian had left on his face. "I hear people saying shit like that to him all the time and I don't need to hear that crap from you too!"

"It was a joke!"

"It's insulting!"

"Guys, please! Please don't fight!" Pat panicked, waving his arms about. "I didn't mean to cause trouble or anything! I knew it was a joke! Honest, I did!"

"It wasn't a joke!" Humphrey snapped. "He was taking the piss and I'm not having that!"

"Pat, honestly, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt your feelings." Julian replied quickly. "I didn't know that would hurt you. It was a joke."

"How would that NOT hurt him?" Humphrey scowled deeper.

"I wasn't thinking!"

"Do you ever?"

"Calm down!" Cap shouted over them. "Shut up and just think for a moment, would you? You're friends and shouldn't be fighting one another. I get that Julian said something... insulting, but that didn't warrant him almost getting his head knocked off!" He turned to Julian. "And you! Think about what you're saying in future! Your comments can be incredibly hurtful! Humphrey's right. Do you ever think about what you're saying?"

Now it was Julian's turn to look hurt. His eyes fell to the ground and he shook his classmates off him, holding himself in a hug. "I... no."

Humphrey now felt incredibly awkward as well, feeling his temper had gotten the better of him now that he was calming down. He cleared his throat. "Julian, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for striking you. It was... stupid of me."

"It's... fine. You were right to. I'm sorry for being such a dick." he turned away from his friends. "Do you mind... if I catch up with you guys later? I kind of want to be alone."

"S-Sure, if you wish..." Pat said.

A sour mood fell over the group as they watched Julian forlornly walk away.