Children Of The Crucible

The Next Monday

I was frozen solid by the time the bus decided to put in an appearance. I bought a ticket and slumped down on a seat underneath the heater. I didn't realise until after I had chosen my seat that it wasn't actually on but it was still warmer than what it was outside so I guess I can't really complain.

The bus ride only took around 10 minutes and I was pleased it stopped right at the café. I thanked the driver and hopped off the bus and walked into the café. The bell rung as I swung open the door and surveyed the room for any of the others. I spotted Stevie over at the corner with her nose buried in a book. I walked over to the table and sat down next to her.

"Hey."

I paused for a moment.

"Hey?!"

"Sorry just let me finish my page."

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Do you ever think you've got an addiction to books."

She placed an old train ticket in the book to mark her page as she chuckled at my comment.

"Sometimes yeah."

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Only a few hours, came here straight from school."

I looked at her with sheer confusion. Why one earth would she come here instead of going back home first."

I was about to question her when she burst out laughing.

"I'm only joking, I got here about ten minutes ago. You should have seen your face."

I nudged her playfully before bursting out laughing as well. We got a couple of odd glances from the customers at the surrounding tables but we were too busy laughing to care. When we calmed down Stevie got up and went to buy something to drink.

I stared out the window and watched everyone walk by, all heading in different directions. It has started to rain by now and I was glad I got here when I did. I focused my attention to the raindrops scattered over the window and watched them race down. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice Stevie return with a coffee for herself and a hot chocolate for me.

"Aw thanks. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing, my treat."

I smiled at her and took a sip from my hot chocolate. She has even got cream and marshmallows on it, my favourite. She knows me so well.

"Delicious, thanks so much."

She put her own mug back down after talking a sip.

"No problem. Are you excited for chemistry."

"Hahah nope. Are you?"

"Well let's just say it's definitely not my first choice of how to spend a Monday night, but I do want to practice more at chemistry."

"Fair enough, although I'll never understand why you chose to do this."

She laughed before taking another drink of coffee.

Two more drinks suddenly appeared on the table as Sami and Olivia sat down and dumped their bags on the floor. They both said hello before continuing on with whatever conversation they were in the middle of.

I glanced down at my phone.

"The others are a bit late aren't they."

Stevie consulted her watch.

"I suppose, but they will have plenty of time since the class doesn't start for another half hour."

I was about to open my mouth when I heard three familiar voices enter the café.

"Speak of the devil."

We both chuckled lightly as three more bags joined the pile on the floor. James and Blair sat down across from us while Tommy went up to get them drinks.

He returned a few minutes balancing three mugs on a tray and placed them on the table before speaking.

"So what do you think the tutor is going to be like?"

Everyone around the table frowned and shrugged.

"As long as he isn't overly cheerful and enthusiastic like that guy we had last week. That really did my head in."

Murmurs or agreement went around the table before Sami spoke.

"Yea who was that guy we had last week. Why on Earth would he randomly impersonate a tutor?"

Olivia's PoV

"Who knows."

I leaned back in my seat as everyone took drinks from their cups.

Urgh why did I have to waste a perfectly good Monday night going to a tutor for a subject I didn't even need. My hand reached out towards my milkshake and I took a big gulp before placing it back on the table.

I decided to change the subject since I didn't want to think about chemistry until I had to.

"Has anyone started their physics assignment?"

James shook his head.

"I haven't even chosen what experiment I'm going to do."

I laughed for a moment.

"Well you better hurry up and choose because the deadline is two weeks tomorrow.

His face paled a little before returning to normal while he laughed nervously.

"Wow I didn't realised how soon the deadline was, I'd better chose my experiment tonight."

I nodded in response before looking over expectantly at Stevie seeing as she was the only other one at the table who took physics.

"I finished mine last week. I did the LED experiment."

Of course she would have finished hers. Not that I'm jealous or anything.

Ok maybe a tiny bit.

"That's the experiment I'm doing as well. Was it difficult?"

"Not really, pretty straight forward when you get the hang of it."

I nodded my head before looking down at my phone. I grimaced as I realised we had to leave for class in two minutes. The others must have noticed this too as they began gulping down their drinks and reaching for their bags.

James was the first to stand up.

"Guess we better head to class."

Collective sighs went around us as we all stood up and made for the door. It was icy cold outside and we all huddled into our jackets as we began the short walk to the class, completely unaware of what awaited us there.