Non Pratt - Trouble

So I had sex with Fletch again last night. It was all right, better than last time anyway, and Fletch is a laugh. And hes not so bad-looking although not so good without his clothes on. We didnt cuddle afterwards thats not really how it is with us. We were dressed and downstairs with our History books open by the time his mum came in, although you could tell she didnt buy it the way she gave me evils when Fletchs little brother ran over to show me the crown hed made at school. Whatever. She might think she knows me by looking at the length of my skirt, but its her youngest son whos got me sussed. Kids see all the way to your soul. What you wear and how you look mean nothing to them.

I showered as soon as I got in. No one questioned me about it. Why would they? I shower a lot. Mum asked me about my homework, so I lied, but she asked to see it and we had a fight. There was a lot of screaming (her), a few tears (her) and finally a grudging Ill do it after EastEnders (me although I wished shed offered to do it). I never even got started I was so knackered.

This morning Id planned to get it done before school, but Lola threw a tantrum because shed already eaten all her favourite cereals from the variety pack. Mums attempt to make it better by adding chocolate milk to cornflakes was an epic fail and Lola ended up spilling half of it on her uniform as she poured it in the bin. Guess who had to clean it up? I barely had time to grab my cold toast as Robert hustled us out and into the car.

Ive no choice but to do my homework now.

Robert holds off for all of five minutes before it starts.

I thought you did that last night?

Well, I didnt, I say, my eyes still on the worksheet Ive got flattened on my thigh. Despite Lolas tuneless singing in the back I hear Robert take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

You lied to your mother.

No, I didnt. I said Id do it after EastEnders this is after EastEnders, isnt it?

Dont be so clever.

I nearly point out that clever is exactly what everyone does want me to be, but I dont want a fight.

She just wants whats best for you.

Mm-hm, I reply, my lips a tight line as I bite down on any more comebacks.

You need to stop being so hard on your mum, Hannah, he says, tapping the indicator with his middle finger.

She needs to stop being so hard on me, I reply.

I swear I just heard a sigh.

Its true, I say. Shes always on at me about something.

She loves you. She worries about you. Its only because Lolas too young for them to worry about give her another ten years and shell be getting the same shit as me.

Tell her not to bother.

That was definitely a sigh. Perhaps if you tried applying yourself to your school work a little more

What makes you think Im not?

You spend so much time out with Katie and I look up to see a frown crease his forehead. He has no idea who else I spend time with and opts for a lame your friends. And your marks arent what they should be.

Should they be more like Jays? I say, changing a 4 to a 7 in my last answer. Now it just looks like a weird Chinese symbol.

Robert rubs the gap between his eyebrows with two fingers a sure sign hes sick of the conversation. I dont want you comparing yourself to him.

We all know why. Robert might have the perfect son, but Mum certainly hasnt got the perfect daughter.

I write over the 7 again. It looks even worse now.

By the time weve dropped Lola off at her school and pulled up near the front of Kingsway Ive done enough to get by, although Ill get some snarky comment about presentation when I hand it in. I tell Robert that Ill be going round to Katies after school and open the door, swinging it straight into some boy walking past.

Sorry, I say once Ive got out and slammed the door shut.

No worries. Its Aaron Tyler, the new History teachers son. He looks through me, an elastic-band smile stretching tightly across his face for a second before pinging back into nothing as he carries on walking down to the school.

I watch him for a moment. Hes quite fit behind that tucked-in shirt and perfect-length tie. Anyone else would get flak for looking so smart, but theres something in the way he wears it that stops anyone even the basketball boys from taking the piss. He only started this term, like his dad did, and there are plenty of rumours about why Aaron Tylers moved schools halfway through his GCSEs. Gideon reckons hes gay and got bullied I reckon thats just wishful thinking. I asked Katie what she thought, but she wasnt interested in why hed left, only whether she was in with a chance. Although I know she googled him after that to see if she could find anything. She didnt, but, knowing her, she wouldnt have bothered reading beyond the first page. Shes not that interested in him.

My phone beeps a text. Katie. Obviously.

U shag Fletch again??? Hes giving ur homework session 10/10!

Like the over-enthusiast he is, Dads signed up to champion Kingsways healthy eating initiative and so I, as his son, must set an example and choose one of the flavourless concoctions offered up in the school canteen:

lasagne made with something that has more in common with cat litter than cat food

OR

a dish of unknown origin that claims it MAY CONTAIN NUTS.

Interesting how its more important to tell me what might be in it, than what is in it. I go for the lasagne just as someone reaches across to grab a bread roll.

Sorry, mate. Its Stewart Fletcher Fletch. I dont like him. He spends a lot of time bragging, and the rest checking out his over-gelled hair in any surface that yields the slightest reflection. Hes doing it now in the glass screens above the hotplates.

I edge my tray further along and listen in to his conversation.

She came round to mine last night and we you know.

Really? I find it hard to imagine why anyone would want to have sex with someone who uses that much hair product.

top marks His tray wobbles and I catch his bread roll before it lands in my lunch. I hand it back, but hes too busy telling his story to notice. not a surprise that Hannah Sheppard knows how to have a good time.

Hannah Sheppard. Ive heard that name before now and Ive noticed who it belongs to the girl who tried to take me out with a car door this morning.

Dude. Why are you telling me this? Its the boy Fletch is talking to. What is it about my expression that implies I give a fairys fart?

I glance up to see a boy from my class deliver a deadpan unimpressed face. I catch his eye and he winks so fast that Fletch misses it. As I stand and look for somewhere I can read my book and deter anyone from talking to me, Fletch shoves past muttering something that sounds like useless gay boy.

Thats me hes talking about. Fletchs erstwhile companion pauses next to me. Im Gideon.

Usually I see him with Anjela Ojo, who sits in front of me in Spanish, but Ive never talked to either of them.

Im Aaron, I say, the tray curtailing my handshake reflex.

I know who you are. He grins quickly as I hear someone call my name from a table behind us. Its a lad called Rex. I was allocated to his bench in ICT and last lesson I sent him a link that made him laugh so hard he cried. Its great that he thinks Im so funny, only Im really not. I turn back to say something to Gideon, but hes already gone.

That makes sense. Rex is one of the basketball boys and theyre not known for being friendly. Im surprised hes even acknowledging me, let alone waving me over to sit with him and all his friends. Rex is opposite Tyrone Reed, captain on and off the court. Seeing them together, I notice how Rex is practically a negative image of his best friend, right down to the black stud that contrasts against his left earlobe, versus the glittering diamond Tyrone wears in his right. The only thing to ruin the illusion is the fact that Rex is about six inches shorter.