I follow Ant, Spider, Woodsy, and Voss to the infirmary. Ant is sitting on a bed with one of those emergency blankets wrapped around him. He looks like shit.
"I wasn't really gonna do it," Ant insists.
"Yes, but Anthony Vaughn, there are better ways of expressing your emotions than threatening to extricate your penis," Woodsy tells him.
"Like what?" Ant asks.
"We've actually gone through this in SLTs," Jojo says. "It can be useful to talk about how we're feeling before it starts to come out of us in other ways."
"Here we go," Voss remarks.
Jojo crosses her arms. "Something to add?"
"Turned my back for ten weeks, Hartley's transformed into a woke snowflake nightmare," Voss says.
"Sorry, "woke snowflake nightmare"?" Jojo questions.
"Yes, excuse me, Timothy, but the SLT classes have been a roaring success, thanks to Jojo," Woodsy explains.
"Oh, really? This is a roaring success, is it?" Voss remarks.
"Oh, you're blaming this on SLTs?" Jojo asks.
"They're your words, not mine," Voss insists. "Now, male school dropouts are through the roof, are they not?"
"They are," Woodsy agrees.
"Suspension's left, right, and in the center. Young men are experiencing a crisis of confidence right now," Voss states.
"Yeah, he's not wrong," Woodsy agrees again.
"Now the boys at Hartley are scared to breathe. And SLT classes may be exacerbating that," Voss argues.
Spider nods his head. "Sounds right. All we get told is that everything wrong in the world is caused by our dicks."
"We don't target boys in SLT class," Jojo argues. "The point is to give these kids the space to discuss what they're going through."
"Discuss," Voss says with disgust. "Boys can't communicate the same way as girls. You know that. We communicate by doing. Now the great Nollsy said it best. "There is a little boy waiting at the counter of a corner shop. Now he has been waiting down there, waiting half of the day, and they never ever see him from the top. Now he's been pushed around. Knocked to the ground. And he gets to his feet and he says, what about...'"
"Me?" Ant says nervously.
"'What about he?'" Voss continues. "'It isn't fair.'"
"Why are you singing Shannon..." Jojo starts.
Voss interrupts her to continue singing, "I've had enough! Now I want my share."
Woodsy joins in, "Can't you see, yeah."
Her and Voss sing the next line together, "I wanna live. But you... Just take more than you give..."
"I love this song," Woodsy states.
"Okay," Jojo starts.
"It's so true," Voss insists.
"Yeah, sure. Look..." Jojo says.
"I do love this song," Woodsy agrees.
"SLT class might not be perfect but unless you've got a better idea," Jojo says.
"Maybe I do," Voss tells her.
"That's good then, isn't it? Jojo, well done. And Timothy, I really do look forward to that idea," Woodsy says.
Voss nods as he turns towards the door. "I'm on it."
Woodsy nods. "Good."
The nurse comes in with a cooler in her hand. "Is his penis still attached or what?"
"I told you to get Ant," I remind Spider as we leave the nurses office. "Now he almost cut his dick off."
"That's not my fault," Spider tells me.
"He's your best mate," I argue.
Spider laughs. "Now you care. Are you finally done with the silent treatment you've been giving me all break?" I cross my arms over my chest. "This is the third time you've spoken to me today."
I shake my head. "I was worried about Ant. Not you."
"Back to the silent treatment then," Spier remarks.
I don't say anything as I walk away.
We sit in a semi-circle in the SLTs classroom.
"Okay, peeps," Jojo greets. "Welcome to SLT class. Thought we could start off with something gentle. You'll notice art materials in front of you. So pick whatever medium you like."
Darren and Amerie are the first two out of their chairs running towards the art supplies.
"Aren't we meant to be learning about condoms and blue waffle disease," Spider remarks. "Why are we doing art?"
'Don't look at it as art," Jojo tells him. "Look at the canvas as a way of expressing how you feel. You can choose whatever color speaks to you."
"Miss, Spider's gone with mental illness grey," Missy remarks.
Spider gasps. "Are you flirting with me?"
"No, I'm just hot and talking," Missy tells him.
Spider sighs as he sits down. "Oh, my God. This is so fucking cringe."
"How would you like to express how you're feeling, Spider?" Jojo asks.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe chuck something? Punch something?" Spider holds up his clipboard. "Like... Like, why is this a better way of expressing myself than simply telling you that this class sucks arse."
"Because art doesn't involve hurting people," Jojo reasons.
"Voss is right. This kind of bullshit is exactly why Dusty had to leave the school and Ant had a menty-B," Spider states.
"Yeah, the little trio of fuccbois is gone. You're irrelevant now," Sasha tells him.
"Men exist. Dicks exist," Spider argues. "XY chromosomes exist. It's so easy to blame men, isn't it? But what are you actually doing to help fix it? Like, how is this crayon gonna fix it? How is this crayon gonna fix me?"
"Oh, uh-oh. Spider's gone and literally pokémorphed into peak incel," Darren mocks.
"That's it. I'm done," Spider shouts as he stands up. "I am walking out of this class once and for all, and I'm doing it as a tribute to Anthony Vaughn."
Amerie laughs.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did he die?" Darren remarks. "Did he bleed out?"
"All of you dudes in here, if you're actually men..." Spider starts.
Amerie gasps. "Oh, hell no."
"Get up! Walk out with me," Spider says.
Jojo steps between Spider and the door. "If you leave..."
"What are you gonna do?" Spider taunt. Jojo doesn't move. "Go on. Touch me. Fuck SLTs." Spider holds up both his middle fingers. "Fuck SLTs. Fuck SLTs."
A few of the other guys in the class follow Spider out of the room.
Darren and I are trying to find Amerie. I laugh as we spot her and Malakai coming out of the stairwell.
"Amerie!" Darren shouts.
"We were just..." Amerie starts.
"We found Harper's bag," I tell her.
Darren starts to sniff the air. "Hmm. Didn't even last a day. Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm."
We lead Amerie to the oval where Harper and Quinni are. Harper's bag is on the ground with a dead bin chicken on it.
"This is so messed up," Amerie states.
"What kind of psycho would do this?" Darren asks.
"Rigor mortis has set in," Quinni tells us. "It's been dead about two days."
"That's gross," I state.
"NCIS: Hartley High," Darren remarks before they gag. Quinni bends down to take a polaroid of the bird. "Oh, Quinni, no."
"We've gotta give it a proper burial," Quinni tells us.
"All right, which one of you dickheads is the Bird Psycho?" Amerie asks.
I turn to Harper. "It's probably just some idiot playing a joke."
Harper, Amerie, and I are at Amerie's house. Amerie is trying on outfits for the party at the bunkers.
"It's Chook," Harper tells us. "I know it is."
Amerie shakes her head. "Nah, someone would've seen him. Woodsy and I are hyper alert to it. It's gotta be Spider."
"I think I've seen him," Harper confesses.
"It's been weeks, though," I reason.
"So?" Harper asks.
"So I kind of just thought maybe he didn't know it was us," Amerie explains.
"Or maybe he's waiting?" Harper offers. "Or maybe I'm going nuts?"
"I really don't think it's Chook," Amerie tells her.
"Neither do I," I admit.
"Come to the gatho tonight," Amerie tells Harper. "I will force Spider to admit it was him."
"As fun as that sounds, I got some shit to do," Harper tells her. "One little signature." She looks down at the emancipation paperwork. "I sign this and Dad's... gone. It's just me."
I shake my head. "It's not just you. Come on, you have me and Amerie."
"It'll never be just you," Amerie insists.
"Not forever," Harper says. "We'll grow up and you'll become like some boss celebrity surgeon, Rhiannon will be some professor, and I'll join a bikie gang."
"Oh, fuck that," Amerie remarks. "I want to join your bikie gang. I mean it, Harps. Rhiannon and I are gonna be here."
Harper signs the paperwork. "Screw it. Let's go to this gatho."
The bunkers is exactly what it sounds like. Some ol abandoned bunker where we hang out. It's not hard for Amerie, Harper, and I to find Darren and Quinni.
"Given there's five of us now, it'd be really helpful for me if we created a list of topics to talk about tonight and then also schedule the topics so we know the order," Quinni tells us. "We can move between them organically, but it'd be good if we knew we had finished one topic before moving on. So, for example, the first topic could be Amerie becoming so overprotective of Harper, which is ruining her love life."
"That sounds kind of complicated," Darren offers.
"No, you're totally right. Creating a schedule would be too much," Quinni states. "Sorry. Forget about it."
"This place stinks," Darren states.
"Oh. No, it's not the place. It's my bag," Quinni tells us. "The ibis is in it. I'm gonna bury him. It'll be a nice final resting spot by the ocean."
Darren gags. I don't blame them. Carrying around a dead ibis is kind of disgusting.
Amerie spots Spider and Ant. She walks over towards them. "You did it, right? You're Bird Psycho."
"Here we go," Spider remarks. "Or maybe I'm just not the only one who thinks that Harper's a witch. Enjoy the party, Cheezel breath."
"That dead shit is def Bird Psycho," Amerie insists.
"Nah, he's scared of birds," Ant tells us. "Can't even touch one."
"Oh, come off it," Darren remarks.
"It's true," Ant tells us. "When we were kids, he got swooped by a swoopy boy magpie. Took a chunk out of his neck. Bloke's got like a full phobia now. Birdaphobia, I believe."
"As if," Amerie remarks.
I laugh as Darren and I walk through the party.
"I can't believe Amerie didn't even last a day," I state.
"She's all about the dick," Darren tells me. I laugh. "What about you Ri?"
"What about me?" I ask.
"Found anyone to hang around with since you ditched Spider?" Darren asks.
I shake my head. "Unlike Amerie I can actually keep it in my pants for more than five minutes."
"Hey!" Sasha says as she walks towards us. "I just want you to know that I'm really focusing a lot of my campaign energy into making Hartley a safe space for non-males."
"Great," Darren remarks.
"And I just think it's a bit probbo that you're standing by an accused rapіst," Sasha says.
"Ca$h didn't do anything. And Harper doesn't hold him responsible..." Darren starts.
"I'm glad Harper is so forgiving," Sasha says. "But what about all the other survivors you're sending a message to?"
Harper steps up next to Darren. "Here's a campaign strategy for you, mind your own business."
"Just go," Missy says as she pushes Sasha away. "Don't start."
"Hey, do you wanna go hide from everyone?" Harper asks Darren.
I smile at the two. "I'm gonna find Amerie and Quinni so you two can have a little bonding moment."
I spot Amerie and Quinni.
"Ant's clearly just lying to cover for his mate," Amerie states.
"She's still on Spider being Bird Psycho?" I ask.
Quinni nods her head. "She hasn't stopped talking about it."
"Ant's not that great at lying," I tell Amerie.
"Harper's terrified," Amerie states. "If we can prove for sure it's just something dumb that Spider did, she won't be so freaked out."
Quinni gets excited. "I've got an idea."
I don't like Quinni's idea. Mainly because it involves the dead ibis.
Amerie holds the dead ibis as she walks towards Spider. "Oi! Skidmark! Heard you're afraid of birds."
Spider clearly looks panicked. "The fuck is that? fuck! Get away from me."
Spider falls backwards landing on his arse on the ground.
"Check his neck," Amerie instructs.
"Don't let it touch me!" Spider shouts.
"Check his neck," Amerie repeats.
Spider screams as Quinni checks his neck.
"He has got a scar there," Quinni admits.
"So that's what that's from," I remark.
"Told ya!" Ant shouts. "Swoopy boy phobia."
Well we've had our fun. Amerie and I rush from the bunker. I spot Harper and Darren sitting on the edge above us.
"Hey, we should probably get out of here!" Amerie shouts.
"What have you done now?" Harper questions.
"Yeah, good chat," Amerie shouts as she keeps walking.