Louise sat down at her comp then flicked on her IM Hayley was off
somewhere beautifying herself for her date with Ben later that evening.
Lou-lou Hi ya
He-man hey babe
Lou-lou How’re u?
He-man Good u
Lou-lou ok
He
man gd gd how’s skool?
Lou-lou Boring as ever
He-man awwwwwwww so wot u been up to?
Lou-lou nothing much u
He-man same here
Lou-lou my life is just sooo goddamn boring
He-man Really? I’m going to a party Saturday nite
Lou-lou Aw gd hope u enjoy urself
He-man I intend to coz there’s this cute
girl going
Louise felt her insides churn she hadn’t
thought for one minute he’d be interested in someone else.
Lou-lou oh well I hope she likes u back
He-man oh I think she does so wot u up to on
Saturday?
Lou-lou I’m not sure yet
He-man well I gotta go I said I’d call a
mate
Lou-lou k talk to u later
He-man u bet babe talk to u later honey
Lou-lou Byeeeeeeeeee
He-man Bye
Louise
let out a deep sigh as she signed off then took out her history homework just
as Hayley entered the room a huge smile on her face “You sure you don’t want to
hang out with Ben and I?” she inquired Louise shook her head “What so Ben can
call Mark to come hang out also?” Hayley stared at her sister “Would that be so
bad…Mark is such a sweet guy” Louise shook her head if she heard how sweet Mark
Read was one more time she’d scream “Yeah he’s such a sweet guy he wrecked Ant
Costa’s car” Hayley grinned she’d heard about Mark’s little episode with Costa
from Ben “Surely your not defending
that jerk?” Louise shook her head “Course not” she retorted as she watched
Hayley pull on her jeans and little white blouse “So when’s Ben coming to
dinner?” Louise changed the subject “This Saturday” answered Hayley as she
checked herself in the mirror “ Wow that soon huh?” Hayley drew in a deep
breath “Yup that soon”
Hayley shrugged “I’m not sure…might hang out in
Lowri’s for a while”
Louise let out a deep sigh then opened her
books.
Ben called round later and honked the horn to let Hayley know he was
there “I’ll see you later” her sister muttered as she lifted her jacket then
rushed downstairs and out into the chilly November air.
Louise frowned down at the books in front of her ever since Hayley had
gotten with Ben she hardly seen her but that’s not what was bothering her no
what bothered her most was the fact that everyone of her friends thought that
she should be in a relationship they just didn’t get the fact that Louise liked
to be on her own sometimes being part of someone else wasn’t always easy they
may look similar but they were very different.
Hayley was more out going and had lots of friends where Louise was quite
shy and had only a select few friends and it was these friends she thought of
now “I could call Lyl” she thought she hadn’t spoken to Lyl for so long.
She smiled inwardly as she dialled Lyl’s home phone number letting it
ring a few times “Hello” said a male voice she took a deep breath “Could I
speak with Lyl please?” she inquired
There was a pause
“Lylia someone for you”
“Hello” said Lyl
“Hi it’s me”
“Who?”
“It’s me Lou”
“Oh hi Lou you okay?”
“Yeah you?”
“Fine”
“I was wondering if you ain’t doing anything we
could hang out together?”
“Sure When?”
“Err like now”
“Fine where d’you wanna meet?”
Louise thought, “Err let’s meet in Lori’s”
“Okay” Lyl said before ringing off
Louise threw the phone onto her bed then
went to freshen up a little before heading out to meet Lyl.
~***~
Mark shivered as he made his way to Lori’s he was meeting Chris who was
just about to finish work for the evening he’d just pushed the door open when
he caught sight of Louise and a familiar figure walking along the sidewalk “You
going in?” he asked they smiled as he stepped aside “Mark isn’t it?” said Lyl a
broad grin on her face “Yup and you are?” she grinned “Lyl you did an article
on me for the school paper” Louise looked from one to the other “I did?” he
retorted looking slightly embarrassed at not recalling the pretty dark skinned
female “Yeah about racial hatred at Brandon” he smiled “Oh yeah I remember how
are things now?” she beamed at him “Great never been better” he smiled happily
as his eyes strayed to where Louise now stood “How are you?” he inquired
quietly she smiled at him “Okay You?”
he was taken aback “Err fine” she smiled again “You ready?” asked Chris as he
came out from behind the counter “Err yeah…not unless you wanna stay here?”
inquired Mark Chris raised his eyebrows “What?
You gotta be kidding?” Mark looked regretful “Come on let’s get outa
here” Chris added as he headed for the door.
A
few minutes later Chris received a call on his cell phone telling him to get
home right away “This is so unfair” he ranted as Mark drove him home “I know
but it’s just the way things are just now Chris…you’re just gonna have to put
up with it” Mark said quietly “I know but I just get so frustrated Mark” Mark
nodded knowingly Chris was under a lot of pressure at home and was too proud to
ask for help
“You
want me to pick you up Saturday?” suggested Mark
Chris stared at him “Why what’s happening on
Saturday?”
“Err detention!”
“Oh shit man…that’s all I need”
“Well d’you want me to pick you up or not?”
“Yeah please”
“Okay”
Chris’s Mother was sitting in the family station wagon when he got home
a frown on her face, Mark watched closely as words were exchanged between
mother and son before Chris entered the house and slammed the door behind
him. On closer inspection Mark could
tell Chirs’s mother had been crying he took a deep breath then got out of his
car and walked over to where the woman sat “Are you okay?” he asked she nodded
then wiped a tear away “Is there anything I can do?” he added this time she
stared at him “Wave a magic wand and make this nightmare go away” he frowned
wishing he could “I’m sorry” he said downheartedly “It’s not your fault sweetie”
she smiled at last as she turned on the engine the car springing to life
“Mark…could you do me a huge favour?” he nodded “Sure…what?” she fixed green
eyes on him “Keep an eye on Chris…you know how he bottles things up?”
“Of course”
“Thanks…I’ve got to go”
He stepped aside watching the brown and beige
station wagon pull out of the driveway.