Don't Stop The Music

- seventeen -

CHAPTER XVII

- nobody is too cool for musical theatre -

[Liam]

Lunch on Monday was announced as a special meal to celebrate the school's 65th anniversary, surprising everyone, who for the most part hadn't even realised the school was that old. Even then, Liam was surprised when he came to lunch and found their usual table full. He later learned from Anthea that Eli had cancelled the backstage session when she'd heard the news, which meant Esther and Robin were there as well.

Liam had expected a slightly half-assed obligatory meal, but it looked like the school had gone all out on this one. The tables were all covered in paper cloths with napkins and everything, there was complimentary orange juice to drink instead of just water and balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling. The festivities put everyone in higher spirits: even Esther, who had been noticeably distracted all morning, seemed to cheer up a little.

Liam was in a good mood by the time he'd finished eating: the food was pretty decent, he didn't have to eat lunch alone today and his further maths lesson earlier had gone pretty well. It was nice when everything in his life was going smoothly. Eli must have been feeling in a similar mood, because when lunch was over she stretched her arms over her head and gave a long, contented sigh.

"Now that was a good lunch," she said. "If only the school had forked out a little more and given us dessert too, but hey, I'm not complaining."

Liam grinned and caught Anthea's eye as she reached into her bag.

"Oh, actually," Anthea said, casually slipping a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts onto the table. "Dessert's on us."

"You beautiful beautiful human being you," Eli screamed, wrenching the lid open and grabbing a raspberry filled one.

"Oh, wow," Robin grinned, scanning the box. "What's this in aid of?"

"Gilligan's maths quiz," Liam said, reaching for one.

Robin and Esther looked at him, confused. "What now?"

"Dr. Gilligan, further maths teacher," Eli said, beating Liam to the explanation. "She's been known to pit her students against each other in teams in a Hunger Games style maths quiz, where the winners get a box of doughnuts to share."

Esther nodded slowly. "This is why I don't like maths," she said.

"So...what happened to the rest of your team?" Robin asked.

"Who, Liam?" Anthea asked innocently. Liam grinned and gave him a little finger wave.

"What, it was just the two of you?" Esther said.

"I did numerical methods and Anthea did the calculus," Liam explained. Usually the teams were in four or five, but Anthea was the smartest person he knew, and the two of them worked well together. "Those other guys didn't stand a chance."

Anthea and Liam gave each other a jubilant fist-bump.

"You know, I'm really happy you two have teamed up and are using your maths skills for good," Eli commented, licking her fingers contentedly. "For a while I thought you'd be trying to outcompete each other forever."

"Oh, this was just a temporary truce," Liam said. "Anthea's buying me lunch when I beat her in the mocks in January."

"In your dreams," Anthea said. "Your test average is like eighty-eight percent."

"Well, you're a year older than me, so I should get special consideration or something."

"You're really playing that card?" Anthea grinned. "That's a low blow, even for someone your size."