The Rejects Club

Chapter 33 - Getting To Know You

What happens when people open their hearts? They get better. - Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

Friday 14th March

Kirstie couldn't quite believe her plan had worked out. She had taken one of the biggest risks of her life by getting that message to Scott's mom, even then she didn't know how the woman was going to react. The worst result would have been she might have just blown it off as idle threats or some sort of sick prank, but luckily for them both, Scott's mom was obviously a smart woman.

She had taken the boy to one of the safest places he could be, despite what the rest of their classmates and teacher thought of his situation, the shelter was the best place he could be living if he wanted to still be with his mom. Kirstie had wondered if the woman might have given him up to the social services instead of moving them both to the shelter, but she obviously and understandably couldn't bring herself to let him go, despite foster care maybe being the over all safest option for the nine year old, as it would have separated him from that life entirely, it would have surprised her greatly if the woman had just given him up like that.

Also it had become clear the young boy himself had no idea what all the fuss was about and Kirstie didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. On one hand it meant he still retained whatever slight bit of childlike innocence he had left and meant he wouldn't have to deal with what his mom must have been going through for years. On the other hand, not knowing the whole picture could be dangerous. The kid was street smart. If he knew what was going on, the information could prove useful to him.

Right now it was lunch break and she was sitting on top of what her class had named "the rejects shed" like they had named their classroom the "rejects room". It wasn't like they were self-depreciating themselves, they just took pride in the name. The school had chucked them out of their mainstream system, so they were owning what little they had left and putting their own badass stamp on it.

"Hey." Kirstie glanced up surprised as a grey beanie popped up at the edge of the roof, and the owner of the voice heaved himself up.

She smiled. "How's it goin'?" she asked, throwing her cigarette into the nearby drain. She knew Avi, although he never openly complained, hated smoking.

"Well you just missed Kevin and Scott having a twerk off."

"Oh God."

"Was exactly Mr L's reaction when he walked in the room," the boy chuckled.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked him. "No offence, but aren't you worried about Toby and his gang."

"Oh no," he shook his head with a confidence she loved to see on his face. "To be honest they've left me alone for a while." Avi gave a suspicious sidelong glance. "What did you say to him exactly?"

"Ahh, I might have gone into graphic detail about the way my family deals with people we don't like."

"You did that for me," he stated, and Kirstie would have laughed at the awe in his voice if he hadn't been so serious.

"Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it I'll say. And don't be getting too big-headed mister, you weren't the only one they antagonised," she teased.

He smirked and ran a hand over his face, giving his sorry excuse for facial hair a scratch.

"This thing's getting kinda itchy," he said randomly.

"I don't know why you bother, your baby face can hardly grow enough to make it look real."

"Yeah but I look even more baby-faced without the beard."

"That's not a beard," she corrected him.