Drowsiness

Sweetness

Violet is welcomed to the school with snide remarks and crude comments and a lot of teasing. All from the boys that is. Most of the girls leave her alone, as she makes it abundantly clear she wants. The girls in the years above though give her nods of solidarity and offer to let her have lunch with them. This makes the girls in her year annoyed or intrigued. He supposes it must be hard to have been teased for being ugly and then teased for refusing to forgive them for it. That's where the teasing began; boys were nice to her the first week and many asked her out, but she pointedly told them to leave her alone. That's why the older girls are nice, he thinks, because like her, they see through the immature bullshit. That's what all of it is with her, the way people change around her. Bullshit.

She rarely hangs out in the common room and spends the rest of lunch times sat outside on the grass. She is quiet in class but gets A*s in all her work. She says nothing to him. He just sees these things.

On a weekend, he follows her out of Warwick building, where all the year 11's live. She leaves the path and heads down the hill to the field. He shouldn't follow her, but he shouldn't do many a thing he goes out of his way to do. He shouldn't have got a group of lads to help him lift the headmasters Beatle lengthways into a tiny alleyway, but he did that yesterday. So too, does he follow her.

He is very shocked to find her sat behind a tree smoking a cigarette. That seemed off brand and he's so excited he runs straight over to her, making her gasp, and pulls out his own pack and lighter.

They stare at each other a bit before he gets bored and tries to talk to her.

'What did you think of my work of genius then?'

'You mean the stunt with the headmaster's car?'

'Work of genius.'

'Maybe if you squint really hard.'

It was a nice day and he was smoking with a beautiful girl who made him laugh. Nobody would have ever believed him if they'd told him. This girl was not just a fantasy, but she could fulfil them too.

'Aren't you worried you'll get caught? The head will pitch a fit.'

'Consequences are for poncers.' He says it absent-mindedly but spins his head at 100mph when he hears her laugh. She does, one quick little laugh at something he'd said!

'Well I think you'll shock half the South of England if you do.'

'Never been caught doing something like this before?'

'This sort of thing happens often?' she says raising an eyebrow.

'All the time to be honest,' he says sheepishly.

'Well then you certainly are the artful dodger.'

'I knew you couldn't stay mad at me!'

'Well I'd be a hypocrite to judge now,' she said glancing at her cigarette. 'Ever heard of Sod's law?'

'I relish in it.' he said throwing his head back to laugh and then taking the last drag of his cigarette. He watched the trees sway with the wind and feeling the breeze, asked if she was cold.

'I'm fine' she said giving him an odd expression. A mix of scepticism and confusion.

'You can have my jacket if you like.'

'Then you'll be cold.'

'I Won't.'

'No. It's fine... God you are odd sometimes.'

'You'll be used to it soon.'

'Lord.' She said and stubbed out her cigarette on the box and slid the stump back in so as not to litter. He made a point of throwing his at the tree.

'I wish you wouldn't.'

'Bloody trees. Bloody, shitty trees surrounding us here, as if the bloody walls weren't enough.' He said a little tense. He could feel a migraine coming on. He leaned his head in hands on his knee.

'Are you alright?'

'Just a headache.'

'I have some pills in my room if you want.'

'Yes, I'd love to come back to your room with you.' He said with a smirk. Headache be damned, it wasn't normal he got the attention of a pretty girl without having drinking or weed or parties involved.

'I thought maybe you'd lie down in the common room and I'd bring them to you.' She said rolling her eyes, but in a good natured fashion.

'Alright, alright, I'm coming.' He said hauling himself up. Violet took one last, longing look at the surrounding trees.

'I like them. They remind me of this forest near where I grew up.'

He paused for a second and just looked at her, taking her in all over again. Prissy clothes and innocent young face and bad tempered ways. He was just realising now that she wasn't just a fantasy, a character in his life, but her own person. A girl who used to go to a forest when she was young, a girl who was probably very lonely at a school where people got off on teasing her.

'Have you finally lost it, Radcliffe?'

'No. Sorry, just thinking. Come on, let's go back.'