Rob walked into school the next morning to see the results hype was still in full swing. Everyone was still asking everyone what they got, people were either letting their happiness sink in, or worrying about what this might do to their end grade. Either way it didn’t effect Rob, he just walked through the crowds of people fitting into neither category. The school Rob went to confused him, it was all one building with several floors in places, but there didn’t seem to be much of a set space for many subjects. The science department had labs in all four corridors of the school, and they were able to keep their classes rooms. Some of the other subjects had a fight on their hands to keep rooms for themselves, and some found themselves moving every year. Or in the worst cases every term. Rob was making his way to home room, he had the morning off but his Dad wouldn’t let him lie in, especially not after last night. When he woke in the morning he was face with a renewed anger from his Dad, and he’d gone downstairs to get a few more bruises. Mainly around the topic of re-sits. The idea scared Rob half to death, if he could do well enough on these exams, what would it be like when he had those ones again and a load more.
He got to home room, and sat down. By now everyone had either cleared out to go to class, only a few people were milling about. Rob sat down in his usual place, in the far corner of the room where no one really disturbed him. He didn’t really know what to do with himself, he’d hope that he could have a rare morning off after some good results. But that obviously wasn’t going to happen. He opened his bag, and got out all his notes from before he took the exam. He realised he needed to pin point where he went wrong in the exam so as to do better the next time. He got out copies off all the exam papers and started to scour for the answers to his failure. After a while, and a few ‘Oh God you knew that Rob’ moments, he was interrupted.
“Are theses all the exams that happened in January?” A voice asked him. He looked up and saw Maria, and was instantly paralysed in the way a boy of seventeen gets when he sees his crush.
“Um yeah, I wasn’t really happy with my Bs, so I’m seeing where I went wrong.” She raised her eyebrows. She had curly fiery orange hair, and brown eyes. She had, in Rob opinion, the perfect body, and the perfect face. He watched her walk over to English, or sitting around reading a book.
“You got Bs in science, that’s impressive to me.” Rob shrugged, he knew it was, but he could hardly tell her that his Dad… he stopped thinking.
“I know, but I just thought I’d done well. And I made some stupid mistakes.” She say down next to him, and looked over some of the notes.
“I don’t even understand any of this stuff. But then I’m just a humanities girl I guess.” She put the sheet down and got a book out. It was Pride and Prejudice. Rob was baffled by the fact that she was sitting next to him, there was no one else in the block.
“That books good,” he said. “Austen’s use of aphorisms clearly shows her discontent with the society at the time.” She looked up, eyes wide.
“I thought you were a science kid.” Rob shrugged, blushing a little.
“I can still read.” He thought about telling her that he wished he’d done English, but that would leave him open to the question of why.
“I’ve read this a few times. But I finish the books we get given in English to quickly so I have to re-read or buy more, and I never have enough money for books.” He smiled, not really knowing what to say.
“I prefer Sense and Sensibility.” He put in. She looked wide eyes.
“How much of Austen have you read?”
“Well everything I think. Northanger Abby is pretty good to, because it’s mock gothic rather than mock romantic.” She looked stunned again.
“So are you some wannabe English student or summit?”
“No. I just don’t sleep a lot.” He said, hoping she didn’t think he was to weird.
“Oh, well sounds like you’d make an ace English student.” She looked back down to her book, and read for a bit, and Rob went through his exams for a while. But he couldn’t concentrate properly. All he could think off was the girl sitting next to him. The strangeness of what was happening. But she kept looking up to him, and he kept making eye contact with her without meaning to. The bell came signalling break and she got up to go sit with her friends, and he watched her walk away. She looked back over to him a few times, but Rob kept pretending he didn’t notice. When the room cleared again she didn’t come back over. But he wanted her to. He hoped he’d impressed her. But she obviously judged him for being a science kid, and he judged himself for that as much. He looked down at the paper. I hate science so much, he thought, and almost expected his Dad to hear him, and come bursting in ready to pin him against the wall again. “Rob?” She said. He was startled to find her hovering over him, he was just staring at the exams papers around him. It dawned on him that he’d never actually told her his name, but then he knew hers without having to ask. He was probably well know as ‘that kid who doesn’t talk to anyone.’
“Yeah?” He said, looking up to her.
“Do you wanna, maybe go out, and see a movie with me on saturday.” He was taken aback.
“Um yeah sure, what time?”
“Oh say we meet at one at the odeon?” He knew his Dad was going out to a match on that day, and wouldn’t be back until the early hours of the next day.
“Yeah sure that sounds great.” She smile.
“Good, I’ll cya then.” She turned away, and Rob tried not to feel to excited.
A bright light, bursts forth.
It blinds you at first, you can’t see past it.
You shield your eyes, brace for the impact.
But the light runs up the wall, and chases away the shadows.
Your eyes adjust, you lower you guard.
The thousand dark birds start to turn white.
Like pin pricks of light through a giant black canvas.
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