Chapter 4: “Don’t mention it again.”-1
1162 Words
Chapter 4: “Don’t mention it again.”
Luca knocked on the Prettys’ front door, and—because it was like half past eight and he was bang on time—Tav opened it. And called him crazy.
“What?”
“I said you must be out of your f*****g tree,” Tav repeated. “Go home!”
Tav looked like a t**t in school uniform. He looked about twenty in his jeans and T-shirt, with his ruffled whatever-colour hair and angular, kissable face. But the school blazer made him look like a massively oversized fourteen-year-old, and Luca wrinkled his nose at it in distaste. Bring on leaving school and never having to wear that ugly thing again.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said go home, Luca!”
“Heard you fine, distracted,” Luca said honestly, and grinned. Tav rolled his eyes and didn’t offer the usual kiss. “Come on, then, we going or not?”
“I’m going. You’re going home.”
“Nope,” Luca said. “Going crazy, just lying in bed all day and waking up to random boys sneaking in there.” Tav didn’t even bother to blush. “I need to get out for a bit. Anyway, it’s all maths and history and s**t today, what’s the difference between lying in bed and sitting in a chair?”
Tav scowled. Luca just grinned and rocked forward on his toes to kiss Tav’s cheek. Tav had a thin, sharp face and if he was dark-haired, he’d look angry or threatening all the time. As it was, people with blond-ginger-brown-whatever hair apparently couldn’t do anything more than vaguely irritated. Mrs. Pretty did the same thing.
“Come on, then.”
“Does your mam know?”
“Tav, Mamma’s already done her nut, and Dad. C’mon. I’m bored.”
“You also nearly died on Sat―”
“Tav,” Luca interrupted urgently. He didn’t nearly die, and anyway, he hadn’t died, had he? So there was no point sitting around worrying even if he had nearly snuffed it. Come on, what was the point? “I am so bored I am voluntarily going to school. Do not argue with me. Let’s go.”
Tav groaned, but he grabbed his bag off the bottom step and slammed the door behind him. The good-morning kiss was sharp, but Luca just rolled his eyes and ignored the snit, hitching his bag higher on his shoulder and falling into step with Tav on the street.
“What’d I miss yesterday?”
“Half the year convinced you were dead, and the other half convinced you were faking. And me being pissed off Mam made me go to school and not stay home with you.”
“Aww, princess.”
“Shut up.”
“So, I’m faking or dead?”
“Uh-huh. Samantha Marks said she’d bring over your English homework, I had to go and ask Miss Riley in person for it. She’s a witch.”
“Miss Riley?”
“Samantha.”
“No, she’s not,” Luca said, and grinned. Tav hated Samantha, mostly because Luca didn’t, and it was funny to watch him boil when Samantha flirted. “I’ll have to thank her today.”
“You encourage her,” Tav accused. Luca sniggered, and briefly reached out to squeeze his elbow. “Don’t try and placate me, you do encourage her!”
“I don’t,” Luca wheedled—even though he did—then shoved Tav in the shoulder and laughed. “You’re right jealous.”
“Shut up,” Tav grumbled as they turned onto Ecclesall Road and started heading up the hill. It was late, throngs of school uniforms washing over the pavements, and the rush hour at its gridlocked might.
“Hey! Tavistock! Jensen! Wait up!”
Luca twisted and grinned, and David’s crutch-assisted limp up the hill after them faltered briefly.
“f*****g hell, your face!”
“Wicked, en’t it?” Luca beamed, ignoring Tav’s huff and scowl beside him. It was wicked, Tav needed to chill out. He looked like a battered wife or something.
“f**k, I’m sorry, mate,” David grimaced. “I never saw you—shoulda looked, I know, but…”
“It’s cool,” Luca said. “Didn’t die. Still got most of my brains. And war wounds, man! I had to have eight stitches. When I get old and bald, I’m gonna look well ‘ard.”
“You wish,” David chortled, falling into step with them. As much as one could with crutches, anyway. “I broke my ankle, if that helps.”
“Kind of,” Luca agreed. “Nice to know my head fought back.”
“Did it f*****g ever,” David agreed. “Coach ripped me a new one.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not gonna,” Luca shrugged. “s**t happens, don’t it? They rebooted me okay.”
“Surprised you’re back yet.”
“His mother doesn’t want him to be,” Tav said snidely, and Luca pinched a coat-covered elbow. “Hey!”
“You leave Mamma out of this,” Luca said snottily, and rolled his eyes. “I was going mad with boredom,” he added to David. “Anyway, s’not like school’s gonna wear me out. I’m off swimming for the week anyway, Mamma threatened to lock me in the house if I even thought about it.”
“And football.”
“What are you, my nonna?” Luca demanded, and Tav snorted, throwing a heavy arm around his neck and tugging him in briefly to kiss the top of his head. Luca shook him off, but smiled all the same. Attention was attention, and Tav’s attention in public always came with an exasperated expression. It was fun to provoke him sometimes. And especially after waking up the other night being unexpectedly hugged to death. This was as much about controlling Tav’s freak-out and getting him back to normal as it was about being bored.
“If I was your nonna, I’d have a cat in hell’s chance of controlling you,” Tav groused. Luca smirked, and even David snorted as they passed through the school gate.
“Fat chance, mate,” he said. “I think you’re f*****g mental. Why go for Jensen when a nice girl would do?”
“Oi!” Luca objected.
“s*x,” Tav said, quick as a chip off an unattended plate, and David started laughing.
“If we lived together and had a sofa,” Luca said loftily, turning his nose up, “then you’d be sleeping on it.”
“Yeah, yeah. Queen,” Tav said, and squeezed Luca’s elbow at the corridor between the English block and the language block. Luca shook it off and kept his nose turned up. “See? f*****g drama queen. See you both later.”
“Go f**k yourself.”
With those tender words, they parted ways. Luca wasn’t in the same tutor group as Tav—never had been. In fact, even in GCSEs they had no classes together. Tav had been just the tall boy over the road with the brown-blond-ginger-whatever hair and amazing amber eyes for the longest time. Even their friends didn’t cross over very much, what with Tav being allergic to people and all. So when they were together, they were typically alone—and when they weren’t, Tav retreated to Daniel and Jan in his tutor group, and left Luca to this…mess.
Half the swimming club were in Luca’s tutor group, so when Tav abandoned him, it was to a crowd of teasing, jeering lads who were mostly interested in the war wounds and if they’d electrocuted his heart in the ambulance. Nevertheless, they also pulled out his chair for him—before asking if he was disappointed not to be paralysed.
“t**t off,” Luca said, cuffing Sam Davis around the ear. “I won’t be doing butterfly next week, but I can still beat you in the water any day.”
“Keep your hands off me in the water, gayboy,” Sam snorted, cuffing him right back.
“Like you can talk, when’s the last time you got a girl?” Aaron jeered, before ducking the slap his own girlfriend aimed in his direction.
“Never, if that’s how they f*****g work!”
“You’re so f*****g gay for gays, Sam.”
“Oi, Luca, snog him and see!”
The bell rang, and Mrs. Jones rapped on her desk sharply.
“Knock it off, all of you. This is a school, not a stadium. Luca, feel free to take extra days off if you’re going to cause uproar when you do come back. Maria, put that magazine away. And Emily Fairbairn, if I see you aim one more of those lethal slaps at one of the boys…”
“Aaron doesn’t count, miss, he’s a twassock!”
“Mouth shut, Samuel! Thank you.”
Luca settled back in his seat, and kicked the back of Sam’s chair in a get-the-last-word revolt. Yeah. Chaos, name-calling, and Mrs. Jones’ heavy accent tinged with exasperation. This was way better than being stuck at home in bed.
- Writer
