Questions - A Gaby Fanfic

Part 19

To say I had a rough night would be an understatement. Get some sleep, Mum said. I mean, it's not like switching off a light is it? Not after a revelation like that anyway. And to cap it all, my chest was starting to itch again. That was really annoying me, I couldn't have had more than a touch from the bowstring compared to my arm, I mean, I didn't even feel it; but sheesh!

I turned on the bedside light; found the cream that Mum had bought and smeared some on my nipples. The relief was almost instant and I let out a deep sigh. I looked at myself in the mirror. All right, they did look a bit puffy, but so would yours if they'd been hit by a bowstring.

I hit the light switch and crawled under the duvet, hugging the cushion to me I made another attempt at sleep. The only thing I'd decided before I eventually dozed, was Dads weekend with Mum; if that meant talking to Carol, then so be it, I guess I would just have to talk to her.

I knew I was dreaming, I had to be, nobody rides a road bike on a cross course, do they? The mud monster had finally grabbed my wheel and I was sailing over the bars, hands outstretched, waiting for the splash and getting ready to roll away in case the bike was following me. It never happened; instead my hands felt not mud but deep pile carpet. I don't even remember getting back into bed but woke to the sounds of people arguing over the bathroom. I decided that as I was probably last in the queue, it was pointless to join the argument so I stayed curled up in the warm bed.

I went back to cuddling the cushion, waiting for the butterflies to settle, I'd felt queasy yesterday too, but it passed so quickly I'd forgotten about it. I could still make out Juliet's scent. Sheesh, potent stuff, I thought to hang around that long. Something was tickling my ear; I brushed it away but it moved back, sod it. As I opened my eyes I found myself looking at Mr Snuggles, a blue furry toy rabbit that normally guarded Juliet's pillow; no sign of the cushion.

Realising I was close to the edge of the bed, I straightened my legs ready to move nearer the middle of the bed, instantly regretting it as a wave of nausea swept through me. Shit! No time for bathroom protocol now, bent almost double and clutching my stomach, I made the dash to the bathroom.

I will be forever grateful to Dad for insisting there be no locks on the bathroom doors. (He'd removed them when one of Juliet's friends had got stuck during a party.) Barging my way in, I was vaguely aware of someone at the basin as I let loose into the bowl.

You've heard all the jokes, but I didn't feel in the mood; lets just say I was relieved when I remembered the tomatoes I'd eaten last night.

“Well, I suppose that counts as an emergency.” Jules said as she handed me a face cloth. I just groaned. “Oh, that's gross!” she added as I spun round to meet my needs lower down. Jules left me to it, so I took advantage and got on with my morning clean up.

Jules was sitting on my bed holding ‘Snuggles' when I got back. “Just checking you didn't get any on Snuggles. Did he help last night?” I managed a weak smile as I sat beside her. “Are you that worried about school, Drew?” I wasn't ‘til Jules asked.

“A little I suppose.” I conceded. Jules gave me a hug; I seemed to be getting a few of those from Jules lately.

“It'll be alright, you'll see; I'll get the word out to the gang, I know they'll help.” It dawned on me that Jules thought my dash was a nervous reaction; she was probably right. What with the excitement of seeing Mum again and last nights fiasco with the autographs; well it could be. I was seeing a different side of Jules, one that I liked, so I returned the hug before she left to get ready for school.

Mum was sitting calmly in the kitchen while Dad rushed about bringing suitcases into the hall. “Hi Mum.” I said, as I gave her a hug, she twisted in the chair and looked closely at me,

“Drew, are you alright? You look washed out.”

“It's probably the result of his ‘liquid laugh' just now.” Jules spoke from the doorway before hugging Mum.

“Oh, I suppose you won't want the full fry then?” Mum asked sadly, “I wanted … never mind. Jules, how about you?”

“Yes please Mum.” Mum put the ready loaded pan under the grill, then poured our tea.

“There's toast there Drew. Try a slice without butter; it might settle your stomach.” I reluctantly picked a couple of slices. At any other time the smell from the grill would have had me salivating. Not this morning, I had to take my tea and toast into the living area as my stomach gave a warning.

“Feel better now?” asked Mum, I'd been enjoying the quiet. I looked at my plate, almost surprised to find it empty.

“Think you can handle some porridge? You need something more than toast.” I managed a smile this time.

“Thanks Mum.” I was almost back to normal and half way through my ‘Reddybrek' when there was a toot from outside followed by the door-chime sounding.

“That'll be Carol.” Called dad, I almost dropped my spoon.

“Aren't you driving down Mum?”

“Grief no, Drew. London is murder at the best of times, and there's nowhere to park. So its taxis, tube and busses while we're there. Carol is giving us a lift into the station.” Mum, went to see to the door, two seconds later Maddy bounced through it.

“It's ‘taters' out there and blowing a gale too.” I got up to help load the car, but ended up sitting on the stairs after failing to lift even the smallest of them. My stomach was still aching.

“Okay kids, ‘ Usual rules' don't burn the place down and no parties. If you have any problems, give Carol a ring … Clear?”

“Yes Dad.” We got our hugs and despite Mum telling us to stay inside, the three of us piled out to wave them off. Jules was still staring after the car long after it had turned the corner, tears streaming down her face. I didn't feel that good myself; in fact, I didn't even want to try remembering a worse moment.

“Come back any time,” Jules spoke so quietly I could barely hear her, “you know, anytime your passing, just call in….”

“Come on, we've got a bus to catch.” Mad said quietly as she pulled us back into the house.

“God, we look a right pair,” said Jules as we passed the hall mirror. “See if you can do something with that hair while I fix my face.” Jules dashed upstairs, I looked in the mirror, at any other time I would have laughed, ‘The dragged through a hedge backwards' look doesn't suit me at all.

Mad started attacking my head with a hairbrush that had magically appeared in her hand. “I reckon you've got enough for a cool tail here Drew … hang on, Jules have you got a plain hair-tie handy?” She shouted up to Jules.

“Er, not really, will flower's or butterflies do? Hang on … there's a new pair of shoe laces in the odds and sods drawer in the kitchen” Maddy tied her own hair back with the spare, though she didn't need it with her woolly hat.

“You'd better have some of this Drew.” Jules handed me a small tube.

“What's this?”

“Concealer, dab a spot around your eyes. It'll hide the rings you've got.” Mad took the tube and worked the magic, I was worried it might look obvious but it seemed to disappear after a few seconds and Mad seemed happy with her handy-work. “Did you sleep at all last night Drew?”

“Well, yeah….” Jules snort interrupted me. Looking at her, you'd never guess she'd been crying.

“Come on get your coat on, time to get cold again.” Jules was back in control of herself again.

The shelter wasn't too crowded when we got there, assorted ski jackets and duffels everywhere. There was supposed to be an approved raincoat as part of our uniform but those rules went out of the window on days like this. The last time anyone complained; some bright spark had casually dropped ‘Health and Safety regulations' into the discussion and the issue was quietly dropped. The girls, like Jules and Maddy, had obviously decided en masse, that this was not the weather to be exposing their legs, all of them going for the slacks option to their uniforms.

“You alright Jules?” I asked as we huddled into the corner, she nodded and squeezed closer. “What was that all about back at the house?” Jules had a quick look at Maddy who was looking away.

“Later.” Was all she said as the familiar head of Paul entered the shelter, my panic level rose to new heights as he said,

“Hey Drew, Maddy, Hey Jules, looks like the Gaby twins are in town.” I froze as about ten pairs of eyes turned in our direction. “Pity the Chad screwed up your moment of glory. I think what you did was pretty cool though.” A look of comprehension appeared on a few of the faces and a few nodded as well. I started to breathe again, but slowly, trying to make it look like I hadn't been holding it at all.

“I think so too” added Jules, “even if he is my little squirt of a brother.”

“That girl, did you really take her all the way to Shirebrook on that thing?”

“Annie-frid? Well, yeah, it's not that far…”

“It is on that thing … and two up as well, I'd have been knackered before I got there, never mind getting back.” I shrugged; sheesh he was laying it on thick. The truth was, at a good two inches taller and a lot more muscle; he could have done the ride as easily as I could. I just wished I filled my jacket as well as he did.

The Bus was a bit on the full side, but then that was expected. We ended up scattered all over the bus; at least I found a seat downstairs not far from Maddy. The edgy feeling started to return as I realised that the other kids were sneaking looks at the pair of us. You know the sort of thing; “Don't look, but see those two…” and “Shirebrook? You're kidding!” I was almost relieved when the bus pulled in to the school lay-by. The pressure from the others was too great and I found myself heading for the exit ahead of the others. I would have hung back but….

“Drew?” It was the boy/mountain, Gareth, “Is Juliet with you?” I had to hide my grin, ‘Aw bless' I thought, waiting to walk her to school.

“Missing her already?” I chuckled, “She ended up upstairs, it's crowded today.” I made to move off but he held my arm while Jules then Maddy joined us.

“Er, Best wait for them, Drew. … ” I gave him a puzzled look.

“Brrrr, its parky today; let's get inside quickly.” Said Jules, as she steered us through the gates.

Everyone else had the same idea; it seemed the playground was nearly deserted with just a few diehard groups who always made it a point of honour not to enter the building until the last possible moment. Even those were huddled along the wall trying to keep out of the wind. Two groups that weren't sheltering were either passing a rugby ball or kicking a football around.

“ Heads up, Gareth! ” someone shouted as a rugby ball curved toward us. Gareth moved forward a little and caught it easily then moved to drop kick it back, but at the last minute, rifled a pass that travelled faster than I'd have kicked it.

“Show off.,” giggled Maddy. Gareth chuckled, as he moved to block a football that looked as though it would have landed in the middle of our little herd. Instead of passing it back to the boy that was running to retrieve it, he lofted it towards the rest of the footballers.

“ You shite Walker! What did you do that for?”

“Sod off Plonker; go and annoy someone else.” ‘Plonker' was that him? A tall, gangly, lout, with his shirt hanging out. Actually, that wasn't unusual; it was a badge of rank, a sort of protest at the uniform. You could tell the first-years because their blazers were a shade too new, and too big, along with their shirts ‘You'll grow into it, stop complaining'. As you moved up the school to the fifth and sixth-years you went back to tucking the shirt in, but the tie was still the obligatory two inches below the collar, mostly because they couldn't do them up, they outgrew them so quickly.

‘Plonker' set off after the ball and promptly kicked it towards a group of first-years, who were promptly surrounded by the footballers. When they parted, the first-years were looking ragged.

“Shit, what's he done now?” moaned Gareth; though it seemed pretty obvious to us.

When we got to them, the newbie's were still tucking shirts and straightening ties. They looked warily at us, at Gareth in particular. “Are you all right?” Asked Maddy.

“Think so, err, yes…err, you're that cyclist ... Gaby aren't you?” Paul coughed a bit, while Maddy tried to put them straight.

“Actually no, I'm Maddy, its Drew here that gets his picture in the papers, even if they do mix him up with our cousin Gaby.” She giggled, while I held my breath.

At least they didn't laugh, if they had I might not have asked, “Where are your ‘Poppies'?” it was almost funny as six hands moved to their lapels. Followed by a chorus of:

“Shit!” “Damn!” and other words that thirteen year olds are not supposed to use. Now that might seem a strong reaction to the loss of a few emblems that were easily replaced, but this was the last day before ‘Remembrance Sunday', and Timber would be expecting all the pupils to be wearing them at assembly. There was no price on them but a quid was the norm. If you were on a tight budget, it might mean going hungry lunchtime, or walking home after spending your bus fare. I knew because the same trick had been pulled on us last year, I had a spare, but had to share my food with Rhod who wasn't so lucky.

I rummaged in my pocket and came up with four of the red buttonholes, Paul and Gareth found the remainder, and we handed them out to the now very relieved first-years. Why did I have spares? … Well putting a fiver in a collecting tin is a sure way of attracting unwanted comments, so I just bought another one each day; it saved a lot of aggro. The prefects had the task of selling the poppies; I noticed one in particular that was looking hard at the first years as they entered ahead of us.

I thought I'd get away without comment from Timber, as I hadn't been mentioned by name in the ‘Chad', no such luck. Not only did he praise my ‘Good Citizenship'; he added that it was just as well Gaby didn't attend this school as they'd have to deal with triplets, which raised a howl of laughter, before we split up for our classes.

Despite my nerves Timbers attempt at humour seemed to have worked, there were a few sneer's and comments but most treated it as ‘A humorous cock-up', as Gareth politely called it.

It might have been coincidence, but every time I had to change classrooms, Gareth or Jules, seemed to be passing somewhere close by. Things returned to a more normal state of anxiety until the lunch bell. Lunch was in two sittings to avoid a crush, the first for years one two and three so I wouldn't see Jules until the changeover; even then it wouldn't be for long as we'd have to clear the room.

I was tucking into the bacon butties that had mysteriously replaced the selection I had packed last night; there was a note on top. ‘Enjoy your breakfast, better late than never. MUM.'

“Go on ask.”

“No, you ask, it's your idea.”

“Drew? … DREW!”

“Huh, what's up, Maddy?”

“Are you alright? You were in one of your trances.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking about Mum.”

“For five minutes? … Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” I shivered, the only place quieter was outside, and that wasn't an option today. “So, should I cancel your appointments?”

“What?” Mad pointed at two first-years standing at the next table. They wanted to speak to you but it took a while to get through to you. Are you sure you're alright?” I nodded, and Mad put on her posh voice.

“Mr Bond will see you now gentlemen, if you'd care to step into the office.” They stared at her, mouths open. “Well come on, Mr Bond has a busy schedule you know.” One of them, at last, realised that Maddy was joking and dragged the other forward.

“We were wondering … That is Mrs Morrison said … we should speak to you, err, if that's alright?” He glanced nervously at Maddy, still not sure about her.

“Go on.” Urged his friend.

“Why me, It was your idea?” I groaned; all I wanted was some quiet time.

“Err well a few of us have bikes see, and we thought you could help us, so Mrs Morrison said to ask you.”

“Yes, but ask me what?”

“err, didn't I say?” I shook my head. “We were asking about you're riding and Mrs Morrison said you could give a talk.”

“But we had to ask you first.” his mate added.

“Slow down, you're asking me to talk about cycling? What, in class or after school?”

“Mrs Morrison said she'd fix it, but we would have to ask you first. …” Maddy was grinning like an idiot.

“I can see it now.” Mad chuckled, “A talk by Creswell's Champion; ‘My life on two wheels!'”

“Give over Mad, nobody wants to here me spouting.”

“We do.” Came the echoing response. I looked up, Mrs Morrison was watching from the doorway, and came in as she saw me looking. The two hopefuls moved aside as Mrs M arrived.

“Well Drew did they persuade you?” asked Mrs M.

“I'm not sure, exactly, what it is they want. I mean, what do I talk about? How to ride a bike? My racing, training?”

“Let me give you some background Drew, we were having a general discussion and your name came up when we moved on to sports. The class had a lot of questions, so I suggested they ought to ask you to come and talk to them and answer them yourself.”

“When and how long would it take?” I asked, thinking that Mrs M wanted me this afternoon, “I've got ‘I.T.' class this afternoon” I pointed out, Mrs M chuckled.

“Well, as the whole school will be at sixes and sevens next Friday, I thought that would be a good day to do it. That will give you a week to prepare something, but give me a rough outline on Monday so I can put it to the headmaster.” Mrs M turned to go.”

“Wait, you still haven't told me how to do this.” I was stalling, trying to think of a way out.

“Jason, Steven, go back to your table, I'll see if I can persuade Drew.” Turning back she asked. “What do you think Drew, can you help out?”

“I suppose, but where do I start?”

“Well, when I asked them, 30 out of the class of 35 told me they had bikes. How about, a talk on maintenance or safety? Then you could move on to your training…. Something along those lines … Think about it Drew.” and she was gone, heading for the door before I could object.

“What do you think, Maddy?”

“Don't look at me, you're the expert. … But think of all those credits on your report card.”

“Credits? How?”

“Well, if you do it, the project should count for your SAT scores in Civics and English, Oh, and if you do an I.T. presentation, that too.

“Cool.”

“So, now all you've got to do is do it.” Laughed Maddy

“What do you reckon Drew, is it working?” asked Paul as he cleared some of the rubbish from the table and joined us. I was lost for a moment before realising what he meant, the last five minutes had given me enough to think about.

“Oh the plan; seems to be, I just want to get today over with.”

“Plan B is ready, just in case.” Maddy added. I spun in my chair to look at her.

“What Plan B?” Before Mad could answer, another voice interrupted.

“Oh look, it's the biker twins, how sweet of you to join us.” I felt my ears start to burn, and was grateful I'd removed the bootlace earlier; at least they were covered now. “Tired after our long ride are we, Gaaaaby?” The sneering girl's voice continued. I looked up at her smug face; she seemed vaguely familiar but couldn't put a name to her. They must have let the seniors in but I hadn't heard the bell.

“Lay Off Dee! Just because I beat you last night there's no reason to take it out on my brother.” Jules was not quite boiling but I knew the look, I'd had to hide from it before. Ah, now I knew who it was, Jules opponent from last night, I didn't recognise her with her hair pulled back in a braid.

“Brother Gaby, it has a nice ring to it.” Dee continued. I saw Plonker was standing near with a smirk on his face but he seemed content to let Dee do the talking on this occasion, Gareth was pushing his way through the crowd as well I noticed.

“I said lay off, He's not the only one here with an embarrassing name is he … Daffodil?” Jules had lowered her voice, but the whispered name seemed to carry further and the room became quiet as people stopped to stare at the action. Dee/Daffodils face went white and her lips were a thin line as she spun on her heel and stormed off, Plonker trailing behind her.

I was aghast. “What are you doing Jules? Now everyone will think Gaby is my name.” I hissed at her as she sat next to us.

“Well, I didn't actually say that, did I? I just inferred that her name was embarrassing too. At least I had the decency to whisper hers.” Jules grinned; she knew perfectly well the effect of whispering a juicy piece of gossip had in this place.

“That was plan ‘B'” Maddy added “We just tell everyone that your middle name is Gabriel and that's how the confusion started.”

“But its not is it.” I sputtered.

“So ... Who's going to argue about it? Only the teachers will know any different, and it makes the misprint story look even more believable.” Maddy had a point, but I still wasn't happy, I'd been trying to distance myself from Gaby, now it seemed I'd be linked closer to her than ever.

Mad was a bit put out that I'd taken the hair tie out, and told me so as we collected our books. I suppose the tail did look cool, but without it my hair covered my ears and the holes in them. To be truthful, I liked the feel of it around my neck; I'd certainly feel the cold if I got it cut at this time of year.

We were split into two half's for our I.T. class. The techs were putting new machines in, only half were ready and there wasn't much room with all there kit as well. I ended up back in my old classroom doing the watch and learn bit with Paul and the others, while the other half, including Maddy had the chance to go surfing. We weren't missing out as we would swap places at half time.

When I realised that we were studying presentation software I became more interested and I found myself scribbling notes furiously, hoping I could use the ideas later and looking forward to getting my turn on the machine so I could have a go my self. I was still gathering my notes and getting them in order when I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was Ms Collier, the school secretary.

“Drew, Can you go to the headmasters' office.” She spoke quietly and something about the way she spoke made me nervous.

“Sure, I'll just get my notes. Ms Collier.”

“Quickly please Drew, it's Maddy.”

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