WARNING:
EMOTIONAL CONTENT.
Mentions of dr*g gr**ming (not detailed), feelings of isolation, struggles of being a young carer.

NOTE: Please do the interactive part at the end!

Three days after snapping at his class, Aahan found himself in a state of intense stress.
Despite not teaching Rowan's class any history, Aahan still had a lot of marking to do, for his other history classes.
Essays, timelines, random five minute activities he thought wouldn't matter—they all needed marking. 

Aahan was alone in the staff room.
It was a rare moment.
The staff room was either full, or one of the science teachers, who Aahan hadn't learned the name of yet, would be sleeping in there so you could barely make any noise.
Paige walked through the halls, an orange in her hand.
She glanced inside the staff room, stopping in her tracks when she saw a dejected looking Aahan. 

"Oh no, a face as cute as yours shouldn't be frowning like that", said Paige. 

Paige was very forthcoming with her compliments.
It would take Aahan about an hour to get over the initial embarrassment of wanting to give a compliment, then a further few minutes as he stuttered his way through it. He was a little envious of Paige's confidence. 

"What's got you looking so sad?", she asked. 

Aahan sighed, before rubbing his temples with his index and middle fingers.

"I've just got so much marking to do.
Why do essays even exist?"

"I wouldn't know.
Music doesn't require essays, thank God", said Paige.
"Why don't you snuggle down at home with a nice bottle of beer and work through the night?
It's better than letting it pile up."

"Yeah... home's a bit of a no-go for me."

"Ah, your sister's wedding planning taking over your life?"

Aahan nodded. 

"Well, do it here then."

"What, and the school?"

"No, on Mars.
Yes, the school!
A bunch of us stay behind to get work done. It's a really chill environment."

"I don't know..."

"Oh, come on!
It'll be fun."

"Uh, you know what?
Yeah.
That sounds good."

¤¤¤

After school, Aahan walked to the staff room.
He passed the room detention was being held in.
He saw Rowan and Irene there.
They looked so out of place.
Aahan felt a pang of guilt in his chest.
Maybe he shouldn't have given them detention for their antics earlier in the week.
Would he ever admit that to them though? Not a chance.

He saw Zee there as well.
He assumed she must've misbehaved in another class, although he also wouldn't put it past her to get a detention on purpose so she could get more gossip on other students.

Aahan reached the staff room, but stopped just before he entered the room.
Mr. McConaugh—Eulan, was there.
The pair hadn't interacted yet, apart from Aahan being on the receiving end of glares from Eulan, but he wouldn't really class that as interacting.
Aahan had been waiting for the perfect time to talk to him about being in charge of the football rally.

But, well... the man was scary, ok?

There was another man in the staff room, but Aahan wasn't sure what he taught.
His waistcoat and black thick framed glasses made him seem very smart for some reason, so Aahan guessed he taught maths.

"Aahan, hey!
Come sit with me", said Paige.

She had a bright smile on her face.
Wow.
She actually looked happy to see him.
Aahan couldn't remember the last time someone was happy to see him.

A nervous smile on his face, Aahan practically skipped over to her.
He sat down beside her, his smile morphing into a grin when Paige's smile brightened. She leaned closer to him, so that their arms were touching.

Aahan could never tell if it was genuine flirting or just her personality when it came to Paige, but she did strike him as the kind of person who was just really comfortable with physical touch.

Paige's eyes widened when she saw the large stack of books that Aahan had.

"Oh Lord, history really takes the p*ss, doesn't it?", she remarked.
"And here I was, thinking that marking my students' songs would be Hell."

"Songs?", questioned Aahan.

Paige nodded, before flicking through the pile, a little gasp escaping her lips when she found the paper she wad looking for.

"Here, listen to this", she said, clearing her throat.
"Love, oh love, how glorious is love.
I want a love that lasts.
I want the screaming fights, the slamming doors, the heavy breathing as he throws m–ok, no, this is disturbing."

"Someone should probably get in touch with the wellfare team", said Aahan.

"Oh, normally I would.
I know who wrote this though.
She watches intense dramas.
Just the other day, she said she didn't want to be a doctor anymore, because her mother told her it's nothing like Grey's Anatomy", revealed Paige.

Aahan's eyes widened.
"Oh, wow.
Uh, well, it's good she's learning now."

Aahan tried to turn back to his work, but he couldn't stop his urge to look up at Eulan. This could be his one chance to observe what he's like away from all of the students and other teachers.
Maybe there's a part of him that Aahan could connect with?

He looked at Eulan.
Who looked at him a second later.
Oh cr*p.
Oh no.
Someone do something–

"What are you looking at?", questioned Eulan.

"H-Huh?"

"Don't play dumb.
You're always staring at me.
You got a question to ask me or somethin'?"

Aahan shook his head.
"N-No, no I–"

"Right, so why are you looking at me?
Did I ask you a question or something?"

"Uh, w-well technical you just did–"

"Oh, f*ck me, we've got a smart arse over here, have we?"

"Ok, ok, alright!
Calm down on those testosterone smoothies, will you?", interjected Paige.

"Don't get involved, Paige", said Eulan.

"You're interrupting my peace, so you can bet your charity shop sport's bibs I'm getting involved", she shot back.

"Ok well ask your mate why he keeps looking at me."

"He's not–"

"I want to be in charge of the football rally!"

That wasn't exactly easing into the conversation, like Aahan had hoped to do, but it was too late to back out now.
To his surprise, Paige looked shocked.
What, did she not think he was capable of doing it?

Eulan snorted, a nasty smirk on his face. "You've barely got any meat on those bones of yours.
What makes you think you can handle a football rally?"

"Well I won't need to do any sports, will I? It's just organising the event and promoting it.
It's not hard."

Eulan's smirk disappeared.
"You sayin' I don't do any proper work?"

Aahan's eyes widened.

 "You've been here five minutes mate!"

Eulan got up from his seat, knocking the chair on the ground as he did so.
Aahan looked around the room, desperately hoping that someone would come to his aid. The supposed maths teacher put down his cup of coffee, finding this spectacle much more exciting than marking work about Pythagoras' Theorem.

Paige jumped up, using herself as a shield to protect Aahan. 

"Hey, calm down!", she exclaimed.
"Aahan didn't mean anything bad by what he said.
Just let him be in charge of the football rally."

"Over my dead body", he replied. 

Before the heated exchange could continue, the reception crew entered the staff room. Nalini's cheery grin made Paige smile, but Eulan just rolled his eyes.
It wasn't necessarily meant to be spiteful, but rather a 'here we go again' kind of look.  

"I thought I heard other humans in here", said Nalini.
"Ooh, who brought the chocolates?"

Aahan raised his hand.
"Uh, I did.
Sorry, my mum drilled it into me that I should bring sweet treats for co-workers and friends."

Jax unwrapped one and tossed it into the air.
He tilted his head back, waving a fist in the air when the chocolate landed in his mouth. 

"Don't be sorry, man.
These are delicious", said Jax. 

Ruby grimaced.
"Oh Jax, close your mouth.
I can see all the congealed chocolate."

"My mum's the same", said Nalini. 

"It's true.
When she first joined, she brought in the best pakoras I've ever had", said Paige. 

"Had most of us on the toilet for a week but no regrets from me", said Eulan. 

"Oh Jax, how's Cheyenne?", asked Paige. 

"She's good, thanks", replied Jax.

Spotting Aahan's confused expression, Jax opened his mouth again. 

"Cheyenne's my baby", he clarified.

"Oh!
How old is she?"

"Eight months."

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said baby, huh?
Do you and your partner take turns looking after her then?"

"Uh, no it's just me.
There's a really good babysitting agency that have helped me out a lot though."

Aahan wasn't really sure what to make of Jax when he first saw him.
They never spoke, but Jax's clumsy demeanour made Aahan feel like he was just one of those class clowns types, or adults that essentially behaved like big kids.
There was clearly a lot more to him than met the eye.

"Oh, we still on for Pizza Night at mine next week?", asked Paige. 

"Oh absolutely!", beamed Nalini. 

"It's literally what's keeping me going.
I bought a little chef's hat for Cheyenne as well", said Jax. 

Paige smiled, before clasping her hands together.
"Oh, I love that!"

"And I'll be sure to bring my culinary expertise", said Ruby.
"Otherwise we'll all go hungry."

The group laughed. 

"Oh, fighting talk!", remarked Paige. 

Aahan had know idea what Pizza Night entailed, but it sounded great.
He had to admit, he was shocked to see them all so close.
He wasn't sure what else he expected—they had been colleagues for years, but it just seemed so odd that such varied personalities connected.

A part of him felt quite lonely.
Out of the loop.
Not 'one of the cool kids'.
All familiar feelings he hoped he would never have to feel again.

¤¤¤

Later that afternoon, Michael walked in, with Sandra behind him.
Aahan thought all chatter would cease, but the adults just carried on talking.
He thought Michael was the kind of person to rule on fear, based on no evidence other than the fact that he seemed like he thought he was better than Aahan.

Aahan hadn't really spoken to Sandra, but he was aware that she was quite well-known amongst the staff, and even the students.

"Hey, Michael", said Paige.
"You missed me telling the story about my latest tattoo fail."

"Ah, well you'll have to tell me when we catch up at the bar", he said, before turning to the reception crew.

He looked visibly nervous, and although he looked at each of the trio, his gaze lingered on Ruby longer than the other two.

"Sandra was waiting for a while to be let in", he revealed.
"I get that it's after school hours, but we still need to maintain a standard.
There are still students here for after school clubs and for detention... we need to be vigilant."

"Right, well we were just taking a break", said Ruby.

"Yes, of course, you should definitely take a break, but do all three of you really need to leave the office?"

"Well, we are the Three Musksteers", joked Nalini, her smile falling when Michael didn't even crack a smile.

"I was fine waiting outside", Sandra.
"It was no problem for me at all."

Michael gave her a half-smile.
"That's kind of you, but really, we should know better."

Nalini and Jax looked to Ruby for guidance. They understood that Michael would be feeling the pressure—he only just became Principal of the school.
It was still a weird shift to experience. Teacher and assistant Head Teacher Michael was much more laid back.

"Right, of course", said Ruby.
"Nalini, Jax, you can stay here.
Sandra, I'll assist you back at the office."

Michael's shoulders relaxed, and even his jaw unclenched.
He was grateful that Ruby didn't make a big deal of the situation.

Nalini grabbed a handful of Aahan's chocolates, before turning to Ruby.

"No, we'll go together", said Nalini.

Jax rolled up his chocolate wrappers, before tossing them in the bin.

"I'm coming too."

A soft, barely noticeable smile appeared on Ruby's face.
She nodded, before turning to Sandra.
The pair left the room, with Nalini and Jax following after her.

Paige let out a low whistle.
"That felt like an Avengers moment."

Ignoring her comment, Michael exhaled softly and sat down next to her.
Paige's face softened.
She reached out and placed an arm on his shoulder, leaning towards him.
Aahan expected Michael to move away to maintain a professional distance, but he reached over and placed a hand on hers.

"Guess what?
Bella's getting married next month, and she wants me to be her maid of honour", said Paige.

"Oh really?
Eugene never mentioned anything to me."

"Well, you have been busy with work.
He probably didn't want to worry you."

Michael frowned.
"Yeah."

After a few seconds, a cheeky grin appeared on Paige's face.

"Hey, when he invites you, don't wear that shirt you wore to his niece's christening."

"Why?", questioned Michael.

"Because all the women were distracted! The day was supposed to be about his niece but all anyone could focus on was your six pack and biceps."

Michael turned towards her.
"No, that wasn't my fault.
It was the only shirt I had at the time, and I kept insisting everyone focus on her."

Michael's shift in attitude, and quite frankly, his personality, was shocking to Aahan. Aahan could definitely detect some sparks between Michael and Paige, which made Paige's earlier interactions with him even more confusing. 

What really got to Aahan, was the fact that Michael didn't even acknowledge his presence.
Not even a nod in his direction.
He started to feel more and more out of place here.
He couldn't go home because he was a nobody there.
He couldn't stay at the school because he was a nobody here.

Aahan stood up, his chair's scraping noise getting the remaining teachers' attention. 

"Uh, I-I need to go."

"What?
You've barely finished your marking", said Paige. 

"I can, uh, I can just do it at home."

Aahan hurried to the door, moving so quickly that he almost bumped into someone who was entering the room.

"Oh!", he exclaimed.

Zee stared back at him, but only held his gaze for a mere second.
She turned to face Michael.
Before she could speak, Irene sprinted down the hall.
The pair had been in detention together, and although Irene seemed restless then as well, Zee was still shocked to see her in such a hurry.

Where was she going?

"Zee, can we help you?", asked Michael.

"Uh, no.
Someone hit your car, Principal Rogerson. Just thought I'd let you know."

Michael's eyes widened.
"What?
Cr*p!
I mean, uh, th-thank you, Zee."

After everyone left, Paige and Eulan were the only two people in the room.
She squinted as she watched him type away on his laptop.
After a few seconds, Eulan looked up. 

"Jesus, you wanna take a picture?
It'll last longer", he said. 

"Why are you being such a d*ck?
Just let Aahan be in charge of the dámn football rally", she replied. 

"Why do you even care anyway?
You've never been the 'school spirit' kind of person.
It's what we bonded over", said Eulan. 

"Look, I'll admit, it's weird that he's so invested in the dumb rally.
I kind of thought he'd be one of the cool ones.
But this is clearly very important to him."

Eulan shrugged.
"I don't care."

Paige scoffed.
"Oh, come on!
I'll... I'll clean your sports equipment area for a week."

Eulan raised an eyebrow.
"A week?
That all you got?"

Paige rolled her eyes.
"Fine, a month."

Eulan opened his mouth to fire back, but stayed quiet when he heard her offer. 

"A month?
F*ck, you're fighting pretty hard for this guy. Why?"

¤¤¤

Zee hated being away from her parents for longer than she had to, but they had become increasingly insistent on her having a social life.
She needed this break though.
Her parents were in a position where they could so things for themselves, but it left them in pain afterwards.
They wanted to be independent though.
To look after Zee instead of her having to look after them.
They were all dealing with pretty big emotions, and sometimes Zee wanted to get away from all of that. 

She usually went for walks around her neighbourhood, but after news of older people in her neighbourhood recruiting young children and teenagers to sell dr*gs for them, Zee's parents were against letting her walk there alone. 

So, she chose a different route.
She wasn't too familiar with it, so she didn't plan on staying there long.
The area didn't seem that much different to hers though.
There were a lot of families here, like hers. They looked happy.
Large trampolines in almost every garden. Cats and quite a few dogs playing with their owners.

Her neighbourhood didn't have many animals.
There were a small group of cats that would walk around, almost like they were patrolling the neighbourhood.
People in this neighbourhood seemed to be a lot friendlier with each other.
People in Zee's neighbourhood usually kept to themselves, with a few exceptions.
Zee liked it that way. 

The area was quiet, but not in an unnerving way.
You could hear the faint sound of laughter, and you could see the odd car drive past. The jangle of keys startled Zee, and the sound of frantic footsteps made her clutch her coat.
She noticed a girl running down the street on Zee's left.
Curious, she watched as the girl fiddled with her keys, desperately trying to find the right one.
Zee noticed a man in what looked to be the living room.
His hands were clutching his throat. 

Before Zee could do anything, the girl managed to get inside, and reached the man. She turned to face the window, before reaching up and pulling the orange curtains together.
Zee could no longer see what was going on, but her mind was more fixated on the girl. 

"Irene?" 

¤¤¤

Aahan found himself driving to the one place he really wanted to be.
Nerves and excitement running through his body, he parked his car and jumped out, slamming the door a little too enthusiastically.
He turned around, the big smile on his face dropping. 

The long grass that he'd roll around in with Kofi.
It had been cut short.
The spacious field that he'd have races with Kofi on.
The spacious field they'd fantasise about building a huge mansion on.
About living together, with Mr. McConnerty as their neighbour.
It was now home to around thirty caravans. The two tree stumps where he and Kofi would sit and have deep conversations. Gone. 

Aahan felt a pain in his chest.
It was closer to a burn than a sting.
Stinging, to Aahan, felt like it lasted a short while but then went away.
This burning feeling, it only intensified as time went on.
This burning, aching... longing feeling. Longing for a simpler time.
Longer for a time he desperately needed right now.
Longing for a life he'd never get back. 

Tears brimming in his eyes, Aahan walked over to the grass.
He stopped a few steps short of the caravans and sat down.
He let out a long sigh he had been holding back for so long.
He looked up at the sky. 

"I don't know where you are right now... but I hope life's treating you better than it's treating me, Kofi."

Aahan closed his eyes, memories of all the times he was here with Kofi flooding back.
A vibration in his pocket pulled him out of his stroll down memory lane.
He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

Unknown: Hey. This is Paige. I got your number from the office records. Just wanted to let you know that Eulan gave a thumbs up for you to be in charge of the football rally.

Unknown: Oh and you can save my number if you'd like (:

_ _ _

Hi.

We got to see more of the staff interacting! It was funny to write this, because I initially wrote a chapter with them all interacting, but the chapter plot was different. I keep forgetting that there are things you don't know about these characters yet, because that earlier chapter got shifted around and wasn't published. What do you think of the other staff members? I know it's still early days, but what are your first impressions?

This chapter, the last part especially, was tough for me to write. I've been watching this comedy show and it's by this comedian, who plays a guy that looks back on his childhood, and sees how his teenage years impacted who he is now. It's very much about friendship, identity and how relationships in your formative years can really stick with you throughout your whole life. This chapter nearly made me cry, because I can relate to looking back at a time in your life that you wish you could revisit. It may have been tough when you were actually living through it, but you actually miss those times when you're older. 

Zee has caught on to Irene's secret! What will she do with this information? Also, from a writing perspective, I don't like where I put that section at all. It didn't really fit with the content of the chapter, but I already had it in my plan to include it here. I thought about including it at the start of the next chapter but I wanted the next chapter to be a brand new day. Hopefully it still makes some sense given that I referenced Irene in this chapter, but yeah, I definitely could've done better here. Irene or Zee finding out about the other's secret was a storyline I was so excited to get to! We can really start to get into the bulk of the plot and the character relationships.

Also, from a writing point of view, I'm not too happy with the pacing. Not in terms of the flow of the chapter, but of the sentences. Especially at the start, I used too many short sentences together, and that kind of quickens the pace a bit. This is more of a note for myself, to remember that this is something I need to work on. I edited it a bit but I'm still a bit unsure about it.

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

SONG: Somewhere Only We Know by Matt Hansen (cover).
• PLAYED DURING AAHAN'S FINAL SCENE •

https://youtu.be/dUjEOoqUXQw

● This song fits so perfectly. Having the songs at the end of the chapter works much better I think, because you can think about what you've read and how it links. It really drives the emotional impact more than if you were just listening to it in the background I think.

starryeyedturtle

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

ejsandfarkleslovebot

Tornado-Jockey