alexander- a.t

8. friday, october 2003

The group sat at their usual table, all bundled together and swapping sandwiches like children. Luna sat next to Brian, the two had made up as of the night before.

Alex sat in his usual seat opposite Matt and started a conversation with him about music tech. They started slagging off a boy that sits in front of them that plays the violin.

"Who you chatting shit about, Al?" Jamie asked, a smirk plastered across his face. Alex mirrored his expression.

"You know full well who I'm talking about, Cookie." He laughed. Alex had clearly come out of his shell, he had known these people long enough to feel comfortable around them. He particularly liked Jamie and Nick as they were in his music class.

"Alexander, are you being horrible?" Luna teased from across the table. Alex gasped as if he had been accused of something shocking.

"I never." He replied, making her giggle. She went to reply but was interrupted by Katie sitting down.

"Where've you been?" She asked her. Katie pulled her hair into a loose bun and sighed.

"Prolly sucking off Dan Donaldson in B Block." Joanna accused lightheartedly. Katie shot her an irritated look before shaking her head.

"I just got off the phone with my mum. She's going away next weekend." She informed them. There was a silence, the following weekend was halloween.

"Halloween party at Katie's, spread the word people." Andy perked up. Alex looked at Matt who was grinning at the sound of another party.

"Is your mum okay?" Alex asked. Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy but Luna couldn't help and give him a genuine smile at his question. Katie stared at him.

"Yeah why wouldn't she be?" She asked. Alex blushed slightly but shrugged nonetheless.

"When me mum leaves town it's not usually for a good reason so I just thought..." he trailed off in embarrassment. Matt gave him a comforting smile.

"Oh" Katie said, willing to leave it there. Luna kicked her under the table and widened her eyes as if to tell her to be nice. "Well, she's just going for a business trip but thanks for asking Al." She added, flashing a smile at him. He gave her a small smile and seemed extremely relieved when the bell went.

"English!" Luna grinned, climbing over Brian and practically running round the table to Alex. She ruffled his hair, making him chuckle as they waved to the rest and started walking to their English classroom.

Their teacher was already in there when they arrived. Alex was listening to Luna talking about the essay she had written comparing William Black to Shakespeare. She spoke with such passion about it, even as they sat down.

"What did you do yours on?" She asked, taking her books out of her band. Alex leant back in his chair.

"Just compared sonnet 116 to 18." He shrugged, Luna nodded. Alex got out his anthology, his essay paper clipped to it.

"You should write a song down and hand it in for your coursework." Part of their end of year coursework was a creative piece, whether it was prose, a play or poetry.

"They're not literary, Lu." He shook his head. "They're just a bunch of bullshit words." He sighed, writing the date at the top of his paper.

"Essays in everyone please." The teacher shouted. Alex stood up with his paper, taking Luna's with him. "Alex, I'm looking forward to reading yours." The teacher smiled at him.

"I wouldn't be." He mumbled. "Sonnets aren't really my thing." He added, placing the essays down on the table.

"Not a lover are we?" The young man laughed. Alex shrugged.