My Rules

rule 7

After a long Saturday of revision, boredom and short conversation with my mum, I was very pleased to arrive at Will's house, which was just a couple of streets away from mum's.

As the silhouette of the house, a semi-detached house with brick walls and windows lit up with soft yellow light, loomed up against the night sky, I smiled. It was so good to be back here.

Upon reaching the dark brown  wooden front door, I let myself in and blinked for a moment at the familiar green hallway before Will heard the door and came almost running downstairs. And suddenly there he was, at the opposite end of the hall, grinning with white teeth and brown eyes shining with happiness. "Arren!"

"Hey, Will," I smiled back. "How's it going?"

"Even better now you're here," he replied.

"Who else is here?"

"Kyle and Nadeem should be here in a few minutes."

I chucked my black rucksack at him. "Cheers."

He swore at me playfully and headed upstairs to put my bag in his room.

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I tried to get up and swayed a little before crashing back down into the living room carpet, laughing at myself whilst Will, Nadeem and Kyle almost died of mirth on the sofa.

"See!" I drunkenly crowed. "I told you I could do a slut drop!"

"You—" Will choked out "—were never— ever— going to be able to do that!"

Kyle and Nadeem tried to say similar things but ended up dissolving back into laughter.

I began laughing more. "Fuck off!"

We passed around the  2 litre cider bottle again. At this point I was a real lightweight, so it didn't take much to get me pleasantly drunk. This was only my second time, actually. I felt nicely light and cloudy.

The rest of the evening passed with ease. Karma Chameleon started playing, and will pulled me up to dance. I was laughing and he spun me around and we swayed. His smile was wide, and mine matched it. Nadeem and Kyle didnt want to dance together, so they watched us happily.

The slow part of the song came on, and then it rushed and sped up and we whirled, laughing till it faded.

Then we all piled onto the sofa. I wasn't quite drunk enough to be comfortable with prolonged physical contact, so I kept my distance a bit and half listened to their conversation, half listened to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Will noticed, but knew I was alright, and so glanced at me warmly every few seconds.

By the time I Want To Break Free finished, we decided to go to bed. Will's room was similar to mine at my mum's, as the houses followed the same template, except with dark green walls and a big TV. we straggled in and Will put his hands on his hips. "Okay, so two people can take the thermorests, and someone can take the double bed with me."

Kyle and Nadeem looked a little unsure. Neither of them wanted to share a bed with a boy...

"I'll come in with you, Will," I replied. Picking up my rucksack, I headed to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. I quite liked my outfit that night; a large black t shirt and black skinny jeans. However, my pyjamas were supposedly less edgy: a set of cotton shorts and vest, pale pink. They were all that had  been clean. I brushed my teeth and went back to the bedroom, feeling rather exposed, even with my hoodie on top.

We were all in our respective beds, lights off, and I was pretty sure Kyle and Nadeem were asleep. I was strictly on my side of the bed. Will turned over, grinning at me.

"How's Sixth Form, Willy boy?" I asked teasingly.

He laughed for a second before replying, "Yeah, it's okay. A lot of work but it's okay. I'm pretty sure I'm the only black lad in my Film Studies class, but what can you expect? Girls love that class. Besides, Lewis said it was the same for him." Will sobered a bit.

Lewis, his brother. Gone to Scandinavia to complete  cheaper university degree. I knew Will missed him. It seemed to show on my face, because he smiled softly and whispered, "Don't worry, he'll be back for Christmas, and I'll see him then. I'm okay."

"Four months, Will..." I had no siblings, couldn't imagine how he felt.

"Really," Will emphasised without haste, as if he really meant it. "You don't miss siblings so much as you might expect."

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I woke up earlier than everyone else, and got my usual waking-up-in-a-room-with-other-people heart palpitations. I shook my head, got up, went to the toilet, showered quickly and dressed. then for a good quarter of an hour I just sat at the top of the stairs, thinking.

Friendship was a complicated subject for me. For the past few months I'd been getting closer to Will, Kyle and Nadeem, and withdrawing from my other friendship group that I'd had since year seven. It was my fault they'd stopped talking to me. I basically stopped talking after the separation. So my friends - Zuleika, Amy, Fatima and Eleanor, who I didn't even tell for  month or so - stopped talking to me.

Anyway, rule seven: don't think about your old friends. A tricky one, when I had to watch their antics every day at school. Over-revising, complaining, laughing.

Good thing I had these guys, who I much preferred in the long term anyway. I didn't really like my old friends, and would have ended up with Will, Kyle and Nadeem regardless... It was just unnerving to get booted out of a friendship group like that. Made me wonder if that would happen with all friends I made.

"Morning," Will said, leaving his room and sitting next to me. "Kyle and Nadeem are just stirring. You alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking..." Against the rules. "And I woke up weirdly early, as usual."

"I forgot to tell you, Lisa says hi."

"Oh, tell her I say hi too, I guess. Don't know why she doesn't just text me. It's not like the breakup was that bad." Lisa, my last ex. I had a couple exes, but I don't think I'd been ready for any of them. Especially not Laya.

"You come across as tougher and scarier than you think."

Me?

"Breakfast?" Will asked. 

"No thanks..." I replied distractedly as Kyle and Nadeem emerged and said "Hell yeah! Let's make pancakes."

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It was in the afternoon that I trudged home in the rain, parting hug from Will, planning to see him more. I needed to get ready for dad to pick me up around nine. I missed Will already.

"How was it?" Mum asked when I entered her study to tell her I was back.

"It was great," I replied lamely. "Haven't seen Will in ages..."

"Good. We're having curry for tea."

"Okay, I'll be in my room." As I made my way to my room and lay on my bed, I wondered when my life had flipped upside down; suddenly it was easier to talk to my friends than my family.