BBC Ghosts: Teatime Club

Tangent

Another morning came around. Like the previous day, and the day before that, Pat found himself at the school early, doing his daily laps. The corridors were quiet, there was nobody about, and Robin was laying in the middle of the floor in a star shape.

Pat backtracked and stopped suddenly, craning his neck to observe his fallen classmate. Robin was laying face first on the floor and looked as though he wasn't breathing, which immediately worried Pat. The shorter teen gently stepped over him and crouched down, looking to see what the problem was. He was about to check for a pulse when-

"RAAAGH!" Robin roared, bouncing onto his feet. Pat let out a shriek and lost his balance, falling over. Once Pat had regained his composure he glared at the still howling Robin.

Robin wiped the tears from his eyes and rubbed his grimy hands on his uniform before sticking one out for Pat to take. "Got you!"

Pat pouted and took his hand. Robin pulled him up. "Think you almost gave me a heart attack!" he held his chest.

Robin smirked, "I was bored. Saw you coming. Played dead. BOO!" he raised his voice on the last word, making Pat jump again.

"Robin!"

"What? Shouldn't be such a scaredy-cat."

"I'm not a- wait a moment, what are you doing in school so early?"

Robin just shrugged. "What are YOU doing in school so early?"

"I, uh, I was just... um... prep! Prep for the after-school class later. Yes." Pat folded his arms, continuing his journey around the school. Robin followed.

"My parents are going to a funeral today," Robin said after a while. "My grandfather passed away the other week."

Pat looked at his taller companion. His usually impassive expression was tinted with sadness. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I didn't really know him that well. It's just... hard to take in."

Pat nodded. "I know the feeling."

Robin decided to change the subject, "What lesson you got first?"

"Maths. What about you?"

"English with Mrs Cooper."

"Good. Do you enjoy her lessons?"

Robin nodded, "Yeah. You enjoy Maths?"

Pat shook his head, "Er, not really. I'm stuck sitting next to Ryan Ashley. He's a right chatterbox and never shuts up! I can hardly concentrate on the work!" he complained softly.

Robin chuckled. "Just stab him with a pencil. It's what I'd do."

"I'm not stabbing him with a pencil, Robin."

"Suit yourself."

The two continued walking around school, chatting about the random goings-on, including the drama in Pat's class. His set contained a group of mean-spirited tarts who were always spreading nasty rumours about other students in the school, and when they weren't doing that, they were telling everyone about their love lives, bragging about how many boys they'd bagged at the weekend.

Pat didn't really have much to do with them unless they were calling him names, so most of the time he just sat in classes absorbing their stupid conversations for days on end. He never normally told anyone as he wasn't one for gossip and he didn't really have anyone to talk to anyway, but he figured Robin was the type who enjoyed listening to the chaos.

"Pat? Do you know what's wrong with Mary?" Robin interrupted Pat's tirade.

"Uh, Mary? Why?" he replied, surprised.