fuck you, peachy | skins

10. Thomas

"Oh, how very exciting! You must bring them round," says Auntie Elizabeth as she passes them all a cup of tea. Her eyes dart to Ayla. "How about you my dear?" Ayla is about to introduce herself but Pandora beats her to it.

"This is Ayla. She's one of my closest friends. She works at a butchery and is always taking acid or smoking ganja" Pandora blurts out, her auntie nods looking impressed, clearly not knowing what Pandora meant. 

"Good on you! Do have a scone" says Auntie Elizabeth.

"Oh no! Tea first. Scones always taste better after tea. Auntie grows it herself." says Panda as they all start sipping the tea. Ayla looks down into the cup suspiciously. The tea is incredibly green and smells oddly familiar. Auntie Elizabeth lets out a few groans at how wonderful the tea is, as Thomas and Ayla look at each other in suspicion.

"It's interesting. I'd be very pleased to see how it is grown," says Thomas pointing to the tea.

"Me too" Ayla chimes in.

"Of course, my dear children," says Pandora's aunt as she takes a few rapid sips of the tea before picking up a scone. "Just as soon as we've all got well and truly sconed." 

-

"Flipping 'eck, it's coming out of my ears. It's lucky that it goes so well with cake!" states Auntie Elizabeth as the four of them waltz into her greenhouse, which is dripping with marijuana plants. Ayla beams happily as she ventures through the forest of weed.

"Maybe we could help sell some? I think people would love it" says Ayla. Thomas nods in agreement, Pandora's eyes glued to him in awe. 

"What enterprising friends you have Pandora! You know, you could do worse, Panda. You could do a lot worse!" Auntie Elizabeth nods in approval, truly having no clue what it was she was truly growing.

A few moments later Ayla Thomas and Panda are shoving bunches of weed into little bags in preparation for sale.

"I've gotta go to the Whizzer, I'll be right back," says Panda as she darts off towards the bathroom without another word. The second she closes the greenhouse door behind her Ayla looks at Thomas and chuckles.

"Do you reckon Panda knows its not earl grey or some shit yet?" Ayla asks Thomas. He grabs a paper out of his back pocket and begins rolling a joint. 

"Nope," he says as he lights it up and moves closer to her. He takes a long deep puff as Ayla looks at him, smiling profusely. He takes the joint out of his mouth and slowly leans in to kiss her. Ayla manoeuvres her head to the side and turns away from him. She wants to say sorry but can't seem to muster up the words. Thomas passes her the joint, not looking upset in the slightest.

"There's another boy isn't there?" he chuckles as she takes a puff, nodding at him in thanks. She doesn't say anything, not sure how she feels about any of it herself. "You're a pretty girl, I'm sure he likes you too" he snickers at her. Ayla looks at him.

"And Pandora. I think she likes you" Ayla smiles. She had watched Pandora practically drool over him all day.

"I think she's nice. But I just couldn't help myself. You're too pretty" he replies as he finishes the joint.

"Cheeky bastard".

-

"Well, it's not Steve. But look who it is." Jim calls out to Effy and Anthea as he opens the front door. He turns back around to face Pandora. "What's your name again?" he asks.

"Pandora" she answers cheerfully. Thomas beams at Jim as the three of them walk inside.

"So glad to meet you again. You look different with your clothes on." Thomas says to him, making him extremely confused. From this and what hints Ayla had already picked up, she figures out what was happening in the Stonem household, hence what was upsetting Effy. Cheating.

"Fuck me, look who it is," Jim says to Ayla with a grin on his face as she walks past him and into the Stonem household. He had not seen her for a long time.

"Still fucking my son?" he asks. Ayla looks up at him awkwardly and doesn't say anything. They all walk into the kitchen.

"She's not dad." Effy replies for her. They all stand around the table.

"Hi, Effy. Hi, Anthea. Hi, Jim. This is Thomas. Guess what? We've been snogging!" Pandora blurts out excitedly. Oh yes, it was very true. Panda had made a move on Thomas quite soon after Thomas had attempted to make a move on Ayla. Neither Ayla nor Thomas found their prior mishap to be deeply meaningful, so it wasn't awkward between them.

"Never," says Effy sarcastically, sounding as bland as ever. Ayla looks down to Anthea who waves at her awkwardly.

"Yeah! And we need some advice. We've got a shitload of weed!" says Panda, clearly not caring Jim and Anthea are in the room. Effy raises her eyes and stands up.

"Right. Let's take this upstairs, shall we?".