Pyro

12

At school, time crept by slowly as Aide sat through lesson after lesson, each in a dank, sticky room. The students were hot and listless, no one offering answers to the teacher's desperate questions. The teachers themselves were tired and bored, praying for an end to the term. Some persevered with scheduled lessons, some took the classes outside to learn, while some gave up altogether, setting 'projects' to do, which they intended to stretch out until the holidays started.

The bell rang for the end of the day and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, including the teachers. Aide gathered his bag and art folder and left the class after everyone had gone. He wandered towards the bus bay, thinking of recent developments.

As he reached the periphery of the school grounds he stopped and took his hoodie out of his bag. As he pushed his head through the neck, he noticed a few people giving him odd looks. His discounted them; people were always judging him, whether it was because of the way he dressed, or because his dad was a fishmonger, or even just because he liked his own company.

Aide arrived in the bus bay, and leant up against the school fence. He mentally started to plan a complicated panel of his comic in his mind, and then thoughts moved onto a daydream; his future life as a comic book artist – signings, conventions, interviews.

He was roused from his fantasy by a high pitched squeal somewhere to his right. He looked over, and saw a mass of girls in blue uniforms, a few of them jumping up and down, giggling. Aide saw that one of them was Nats, speaking to her friend Katy. They were giggling and holding hands. He couldn't help but overhear odd snatches of conversation, mainly because Katy had a shrill voice that could cut glass at a hundred paces.

"Oh my God Nats, he is sooooo fit!"

Aide deduced that they were talking about Rainer. He didn't understand this new side to Nats; she had a boyfriend and was giggling with her girlfriends. As he looked over, he could have sworn that she had changed her hair slightly. It was gelled down, dyed red in places. She was becoming everything that she despised about girls her own age; superficial, boy-obsessed and forgetting her values. It was like Invasion of the Body-Snatchers.

Aide's mind wandered to thinking about that film. He had just pictured Port Tanow full of mindless, soulless shells of people, (not too different from peak tourist season, he reasoned) when he was disturbed again from his daydream by a screech. This time it emanated from an old red van, entering the bus bay at forty miles an hour, the tyres screaming. The van was practically on two wheels as it came around the corner, and it succeeded in grabbing everyone's attention. It came around the wrong way of the one-way system, and stopped dead next to Nats' crowd of friends.

The window was wound down, and Rainer stuck his shaved headout. He grinned. Nats smiled. Katy and a few other girls melted.

Aide found himself angered at his presence. Just the sight of him was enough to make his fist clench and his nails dig into his hand. Nats leant seductively against the door of the van, smiling and chatting to Rainer. She was obviously flirting, pretending that she didn't want a lift, or that her mum had told her not to get into vans with strange men. She succumbed, and jogged around to the passenger door quickly, waving goodbyes to her friends.

Good riddance, thought Aide, ashamed that his anger had now turned onto Nats also. She opened the door, threw in her bag, and seemingly remembered something. She signalled to Rainer; Two minutes, and closed the door. She jogged the length of the bus bay over to Aide.

"Hey babe!" she smiled.

"Hey," said Aide, unenthusiastically.

"You alright? I haven't seen you since..."

"Since the moor night. Yeah, just busy," Aide lied.

"Jesus, aren't you hot? It's the hottest day of the year, and you're still wearing your hoodie!"

Aide looked around at the surrounding students; each wore a t-shirt, or rolled up sleeves, and an exasperated red face.

"No. I don't seem to feel the heat lately."

Nats shrugged.

"You want to come out Friday?"

"Where to?"

"To a gig at the Smuggler's. Should be good."

Aide tried to recall who would be playing that night that Nats would want to see.

"Rainer's band?"

"Er...yeah," she said, a sheepish grin spreading over her face.

"I'll pass thanks Nats."

"Oh, come on! Rainer wanted you to come himself."

"No he didn't!" laughed Aide.

"How d'you know he didn't?"

"Because he's just mouthed 'tosser' at me from his van."

Nats spun around and shot Rainer a reprimanding stare. He shrugged his innocence.

"Alright, he didn't, but I do. Please..."

Nats made puppy dog eyes at him, and Aide was about to submit when a thought occurred.

"Why?"

"Sorry?"

"Why do you want me to come so badly?" Aide said, studying her reaction. "I'm your alibi, aren't I? Your mum won't let you go unless I'm there. Forget it."

Nats' face fell, her plan scuppered.

"Fine," she said, affronted. "I just thought you might enjoy it. I'm just going to be there all on my own, that's all, with a load of sweaty blokes while Rainer's on stage. I could really use a friend there Aide, but I shouldn't have asked you like that. See you."

She walked off to the van and climbed in. Rainer tore off before she had time to even do up her seatbelt, and Aide watched them pass. He caught Nats' eye as they went by, and he knew that look; it was an apology, true heartfelt regret. She knew it was a lot she was asking of him.

Aide sighed. He knew he should stand his ground, but his heart told him what to do. He shook his head at his own gullibility as he pulled out his phone and wrote a text.

alrite. but ur buying the drinks. A ;)