BLEAK

Chapter Nineteen

19

I groggily rolled out of bed at five to seven Tuesday morning. How on earth I had managed to wake up that early without the help of an alarm was beyond me.

Quickly, I switched off the alarm for seven o'clock off and put the phone back down.

"Regan!" I whispered, remembering that I was going to text him that I was, in fact, going to school today and not bailing like originally planned.

After hitting send I headed downstairs for my normal non-existent breakfast.

"Morning, Prick Face," Elliot greeted me from the table.

I stumbled back in surprise at how early he was actually up. "Hey, Idiot Boy," I responded, getting a glass out of the cupboard and filling it half-way with water.

"You really don't eat much, do you?" Elliot asked, looking up from his bowl of Cheerios.

I downed my water instantly. "So?"

"Nothing." Elliot shrugged and continued shovelling his breakfast down his pie-hole.

Sighing, I headed to the bathroom upstairs to brush my teeth and have a shower.

The freezing water woke me up better than the un-enthusiastic conversation with my brother. Hopping out, I grabbed my electric toothbrush and attacked my teeth of anything bad smelling.

I got dressed oddly fast, still sticking with trousers, and tying my hair in a ponytail. No surprises there.

Tying my shoe laces, I called out my farewells and headed to Brooke's house.

-

"Okay, today we will revising Magnetism," Mrs Lowe, my Physics teacher, said.

Even though it was the Tuesday of the last week of school before the holidays, only about five teachers in the whole school decided to give us a break.

Matt groaned beside me. He was one of Jamie's friends which meant he was a sort-of friend of Cayden. Luckily, he wasn't interested in the love-lives of his friend's friend, which I counted as a blessing.

"You alright?" I asked.

Matt responded by trying to whack his head on the desk we shared.

I grabbed his collar and pulled him up, my eyes wide. "I know you hate magnetism, but please don't kill yourself when I'm sat next to you." I whispered so only he could hear me.

It didn't work. Both Ella and Charlie Reed turned around and snickered at the both of us. I threw them both a dirty look and Matt sighed.

"C'mon Matt, Lauren doesn't have anything contagious." Charlie commented, raising a seductive eyebrow at me.

"He's been sat next to me for a year, Char. I doubt sitting next to me is a problem." I muttered, using the nickname I had formed for Charlie when we were both in Geek Club together in Year Eight.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Charlie replied with a sly grin.

Matt let out another sigh. "Get lost, Charlie. She doesn't like you so fuck off."

"MISTER JACOBS!" Mrs Lowe shouted to the back of the class where us four were sat. "I'd appreciate if you paid attention in my class and didn't spend it talking to Miss Greene." Matt rolled his eyes next to me.

Mrs Lowe was one of the only teachers at school who insisted on calling her pupils by their surnames. I do have to give her some credit, some of the surnames in our year are quite strange and hard to get the tongue around.