The Boy, Callum - LGBT, boyXboy

5

Vin packed up as the bell rang, and glanced over towards the door of the classroom; Robert was stood outside, waiting for him with a group of three other boys.

"I'll see you next period, alright." He felt Callum's eyes on him as he shouldered his rucksack and left the room. "Where do you normally go at break?" Vin asked Robert as they walked down to corridor.

Robert shrugged. "Cafeteria. Or the library, if I have work to do. But I'll show you round today, and introduce you to some people."

Vin nodded amiably.

They wandered round the halls for fifteen minutes, with Robert pointing out the various lesson departments, the staffroom and the main office.

Vin liked the look of the sports department, which had a massive gym full of ropes, climbing equipment, crash mats and cupboards full of footballs, tennis rackets, cricket bats and hockey sticks.

Most of all, though, he liked the library.

It was a huge room, in the centre of the school, two floors high. Various walls protruded from the main walls of the square room, creating smaller, private study areas for the students to use. Banks of computers were dotted about between the bookshelves, along with tables and chairs for students to sit at. Books were neatly arranged around the walls in alphabetical order, by subject and author.

It was very well organised, which Vin liked.

"We got a huge grant a few years ago," Robert explained, seeing Vin's expression of pleasure. "We got loads of new computers and hundreds of books with it." He pointed out the librarian, and took Vin across to the main desk.

“New student?” The librarian asked, dropped a pile of heavy French dictionaries on the desk.

“Yes. Vinny Donovan.”

The librarian filled out a new student card and got Vin to scan his right thumb print into a small scanner. He handed Vin the card with a smile.

“When you want to take a book out, scan your thumb in the machine here, then the barcode on your student card, and then the ISBNs of the books you want to take out. All of the books are on four-day loans, unless a sticker on the spine says otherwise. The reference books, over against the back wall there, are the only books that can’t be taken out of the library.”

Vin looked around the huge room again, and saw Callum settled in one of the comfortable chairs in a quiet corner of the room, completely absorbed in reading a thick novel. "What's his story?" Vin asked Robert in a low voice.

Robert looked over to Callum. "Callum?" Robert shrugged. "He's a loner, really. Doesn't ever speak unless he has to. Keeps to himself, mostly. Why?"

"He's in my history and geography classes. I sit next to him."

The bell rang for Period Four lessons.

"I've got to go,” Robert said. “I think I have English with you Periods Seven and Eight, so I'll see you then. Or at lunchtime. You can find me, if you like. I’ll probably be in the cafeteria."

Vin nodded, bade Robert goodbye, and went over to Callum.

The shorter boy slid his book back onto the shelf and turned to get his rucksack, and saw Vin had already picked it up and was holding it out to him. He took it with a mumble that Vin thought was a thank you.

They went to geography together.

"If we have another lesson copying straight from the books I might scream." Vin muttered as they entered the classroom.  “It’s so dull!” To his surprise, Callum smiled; the first smile Vin had seen him give.

"Mrs Quinn always starts term with a video." He said quietly. Then he looked away quickly, as though embarrassed for having said so much in front of someone else.

Vin was pleased to find Callum was right; Mrs Quinn outlined their course, and then put on the first video of a four part series about plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes.

*

When the bell rang for lunchtime, Vin left his photography class and headed for the library, to begin his history project plan.

Callum was already in the library when he arrived, and had logged onto one of the computers. They pulled out their exercise books and began working quickly.

By the end of lunchtime, they had a detailed plan of their entire project, with each of their topics overlapping several times and individual topics they each wanted to research.

They took quick bites of their lunch as they worked, keeping watch for the librarian in case he saw them eating near the books and computers.

"What've you got this afternoon?" Vin asked Callum as they worked.

"Food Technology, then double English."

"I've got English too. I'm not stalking you, I swear." Vin grinned at Callum, who gave him a tentative smile.

They packed away as the bell rang for afternoon lessons to begin.

"So… I'll see you in English, I guess." Vin said.

Callum nodded slowly.

The rest of the day passed quickly for Vin, as the rest of his teachers lectured about coursework and exams, then gave them notes to make, books to read and essays to plan.

Vin was feeling exhausted by the time he left school; his homework diary was filling up faster than he'd expected.

He wandered up the road to the small car park the school provided for students to park their cars during the day.

He unlocked his car – a small, battered green Ford with rust on the bonnet and two hubcaps missing – and threw his rucksack onto the back seat. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, before he started the engine. He set off down the road, ignoring the cars’ groaning gears and the rattle in the engine.