addicted: judd birch & stass

CHAPTER 27: maths class

life with judd had pretty much been a breeze. fuck it, we had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day he made the pain bearable. when i was with him i somehow forgot all about my mum and everything that happened at home. in fact, being with him so often made me reconsider the relationship with my mum.

we sobered up from all the food we devoured the night before. it was a friday morning, still early enough to throw some shit in my bag and get to school. i tugged judd awake and took a deep breath before opening my phone, to text the dreaded woman i call my mother.

today, 7:03am

🔵i've been at judd's, i'm safe. i'll talk to you calmly when i get home. i don't want to have to fight, it hurts me as much as it hurts u. love you

i set my phone down and started getting ready. my uniform was dirty and crumpled but fuck it. i couldn't find a pair of my normal tights so i had to wear my skull print ones, fuck it, i've only got a few weeks left of school left anyway. guess i had to prepare myself to be called a goff all day. i did my eyeliner in mere seconds, and smudged it deliberately. i did the rest of my make up then ruffled up my hair, drowning myself in judd's aftershave as i did so. he was ready a few minutes after me so we both went downstairs to grab whatever was in his kitchen. there were a few cans of red ultra monster left in the fridge, so he shoved them carelessly into the back pocket of his bag.

'let's go retard.'

we walked to school in the brisk british weather, and swung hands childishly whilst the wind weaved in and out every crevice of my body. it was fucking freezing. should of brought a coat, i guess.
'let's have a cig before school, i still feel a bit fucked from last night.' judd said, pointing to our smoke spot, behind the sports hall, in the distance. it reminded me of brooklyn. i kinda missed his presence. i knew him 5 minutes but i swear, smoking with someone brings out a whole other side to them.

we sat down and lit one of the last cigs we had left. we hated rolling - because of the wind - so we savoured it, before knowing we'd have to cling to judd's baccy pouch and roll a raggedy blem, every other morning. we passed it until the filter was predominant and stubbed it against the stiff bricks.

'i've got two hours of economics then chemistry. i probably won't be around until the end of the day.' judd said, losing grip of my hand and i turned towards the opposite side of the school.

'it's fine, we'll meet here. have a good day cunt.' i replied, kissing him gently and then playing with his blue locks before shoving him with my palm on his forehead. he laughed and rolled his eyes before sauntering off to his first lesson of economics, whatever that bullshit was.

first lesson for me was maths. although the subject was ass, the table i sat with made it okay. we just chatted shit for the hour and took the piss about of our teacher. i walked to the block where my classroom was and sighed as i saw M in the distance.

i hadn't spoken to her since the rumour thing happened. she started walking towards me, and i bit my lip to prepare myself for whatever venom was going to come out of her mouth. instead, she swung her arm generously and locked it around my shoulder. i hugged her back and smiled into her body as i knew we were good. i couldn't live without the girl, no matter what got between us.

'i love you dickhead.' M said, punching my arm lightly and eyeing up the monster in my bag.
'i'm sorry for everything i said about judd. i assume you've sorted things out with him?'

'yeah i have, thank you for asking. i can understand why you said it. you just wanted to protect me.'

'correct. i'm just happy you're happy.'

'me too.'

we began walking up the stairs to our lessons, our maths classrooms were just down the hall from each other. i waved her jokingly goodbye and sighed as i strode through the door to lesson 1. i'd probably have another time to talk to her about what me and judd had been up to. i slumped into my seat and pulled out the last withstanding biro in my bag, through the midst of evidence of substance abuse and dented cans.

'you alright stass?,' my teacher asked, peering over his uncomfortably positioned desk and handing me a sheet full of angle related bullshit, 'your mum called in.'

i blinked a few times and tried to stay calm. 'and what did she say?'

'that you weren't staying home. it's none of my business so i let it slide. i know we don't get on at the best of times but i know you can take care of yourself. as long as you tell me you're okay and you show up to these lessons, i won't tell her anything off routine.'

i thought through what he just croaked for a few seconds, and then swallowed.

'thank you. so much. i know i'm awful at this lesson and you probably deserve a better student but yeah, thanks. i'm fine, please don't worry. i'll just get on with this.'

he nodded, got the memo, and waddled back to his desk. i stared blankly at the corner of the room then snapped back into reality to battle the sheet in front of me.

'what's the date stass?' a voice echoed. i craned my head to the very back of the classroom and blinked, as a limp blonde boy repeated the phrase again.

'i don't know??? lol what?'

'just thought you'd know.' he said, eyeing me up and down. 'i kind of have a thing for emo's.'

'fuck right off.' i laughed, standing up from my seat, and throwing a random empty can at him, out of my bag.

'fuck you gonna do with that can? cut it open and slit your wrist?'

'nah mate you've fucked it.' i giggled, grabbing an empty, old pack of aldi crisps, and dumping the remaining crumbs over his fried perm that sat awkwardly on his head. his mouth hung wide open as everyone in the class turned to watch in awe.

'OUT.' my teacher screeched, pointing his strained arm towards the empty doorway. i rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag along with my pen and worksheet, and skipped towards the door. the blonde boy was still sat at the back of the class, decorated with nit looking lumps of crisps. i really could not stand people at this school, particularly boys who think getting a perm will get them pussy.

i assumed i was sent to the detention unit, so i walked towards there. i got to the door where other kids were detained at separate desks, and waited to be called in.

'stass... is that you?'

and for some unholy reason, judd was sat there, in that derogatory detention unit.