FINDING MYSELF

Chapter 2-The bus stop

        The pack moved restlessly to the bus stop. They were unsettled, hanging around, waiting for something else to happen. They'd been left unsatisfied and were keyed up to the max. Because of the delay, most of us had missed our usual school specials. That meant there were even more of us squashed into a miniscule patch of grass just inside the school gates. We weren't allowed outside the gates because some moron who wanted to be roadkill had managed to get himself flattened by a souped-up Toyota corolla three years ago. The kid was fine now but Happyfeet had never got over it.

       I don't know why we had to suffer because some idiot forgot to follow his road rules. But that was the way things went at St Andrew's College Lakeside. Lakeside was the name of the fake suburb where the school was built and, like most things at St Andrew's, the idea of it being near any kind of water,let alone a lake, was bullshit and laughable.

       I made my way over to where the boys were. Hunter was causing havoc, as usual, running around trying to give any unsuspecting junior a wedgie. Max, who was always up for anything, was Hunter's partner in crime. They'd worked out this routine: they'd trade in on their soccer-hero status and their size, single out a kid, make him feel really important, and then one of them, normally Hunter, would move in behind and give the poor unsuspecting bastard a wedgie. The other kids would fall about cracking up, leaving the victim not knowing whether to join in or throw a complete hissy fit. The funniest thing was, though, once they'd readjusted themselves, most of them looked like they thought it was the best joke ever. Some even asked, sometimes begged, for Hunter and Max to do it to them next. Sad. 

       Hunter looked up above his midget fan club and waved me over.

       I shook my head and dropped my bag in our regular patch of grass. I noticed that one of the midgets had set up camp nearby with a music case half his size. He was definitely loving the Max and Hunter show- bit only from a very safe distance. I was about to point out that he had to wait another four years before he'd earned the right to step on senior ground when I made eye contact. There was no way I could have told those eyes to get lost, they were too...trusting. Anyway, he wasn't hurting anyone and if he went over there and became the next victim, I wasn't going to protect him. I left the big-brother stuff to Hunter and Max.

       If I thought about it, Max and Hunter were my closest mates, except for Nell. Nell was my best mate, but because he lived across the road from school he'd never been a part of the bus bonding. This was something that had killed him in Year 7 and 8 but now, when we were whingeing about bad body odour on thirty-degree days, he just smiled and told us he'd be home relaxing after a cool shower in two minutes' time.

       Hunter, Max and me had gone through the same routine since we'd begged our mums in Year 7 not to drop us at the school gates and kiss us in front of our mates. And even worse, be at the bus stop when we got home! Back then catching the bus was considered a rite of passage. But now, four years down the track, it was a pain in the arse. The anticipation of our own set of keys to a car, any car, teased all of us. One more year before we could be masters of our own destinies and do as many burnouts as we wanted.

         At least this year was different. We had finally crawled our way up the bus chain and graduated to the top of the pyramid. The bus law of St Andrew's may not have been written in the student diary but every St Andrew's kid knew it. After five years we had earned the right to total bus control and power. We got on the bus first and the back seat was ours, and if anyone was going to peg something at someone it either came from us or was cleared by us. Only the Year 12 boys could pull rank. It was part of the unwritten student code, the one that teachers know nothing about.

hope u guys like this chapter....the character list is coming up soon...

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