Church Group

By Michael Brightside

A new home. A new school. A new best mate. Things are going pretty well for Luke Keane.

But as teenage kicks veer into the hedonistic world of alcohol, drugs and partying things begin to spiral out of control.

So how far is too far? And can you ever really know until it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Brightside
• Release date: Oct 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310647031

Michael Brightside

Working. Drinking. Sleeping. Living... and if there's time, writing. Don't know what else to say. I'm just another pink bag of crap, alone on this rock with billions more. Next book will be: Sol (Arturs and The Sun Dragon), and will be finished either soon or never, depending on time commitments and whether my head explodes from staring at a screen for too long. Peace out.

Book preview

Prologue

I watched him through the murky darkness. Swaying back and forth as the boat rode the swell of the sea, taking my stomach with it. I looked closer. Maybe there wasn’t anyone there at all. Maybe I was just watching myself. It was hard to tell in the night’s thick black.

A crack of lightning came down outside, illuminating the cabin just long enough for me to realise it was Al sitting opposite me. Thank fuck for that, there are worse people to be stranded at sea with than your best mate.

Behind him the sea rose up against the row of small rectangular windows that stretched the length of the boat, drops of water clinging to the glass before slowly running back down again. We looked like two lost sailors from some clichéd disaster movie. It might have been funny if I hadn’t been so fucking terrified.

Al, I said.

Nothing. Just an empty look.

Al! I repeated. We’ve got to get off this boat!

Al finally responded and leaned towards me. Why are we even here Lu?!

I think we’re carbon Al.

"What? Why are we on this boat?"

Above us I heard a deafening roar of thunder, as the sky and earth settled a billion year dispute over who could shout the loudest.

Because of the storm mate.

Makes sense, Al replied. What were you talking about carbon for?

It took me a moment myself to remember why I’d said it. "When you said ‘Why are we even here?’ I thought you meant why do we exist? I was going to say I think we’re made of carbon Al, from a thousand dying stars."

"Carbon? Al’s jaw started shaking and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. I am a thousand stars!"

Ten Pairs of Eyes

September 1997.

Eight, nine, ten. Ten and me made eleven. Eleven of us sat facing each other in a circle, eleven like a football team. I hope we’re not playing football, I’m fucking useless at football. Our ages ranged from early teens to late forties, a mixture of bored youths and over enthusiastic adults helping out. Men and women, mostly strange faces. The pastor of the local church I recognised, he had welcomed me in, a fat little man with a face as wide as it was long. Thin rimmed, perfectly round glasses, sat on his stumpy nose. Dressed all in black, wearing a smart turtle neck jumper and arrow straight trousers, he was far too cheerful for someone as young as me to relate to. I glanced to one side and Al gave me a grin. Other than the pastor he was the only person in the room I’d spoken to so far. We had met briefly earlier on, before the session had begun. When I’d arrived he had been waiting for the church hall to open, sat on top of a big BT cabinet, scraping the green paint off with his thumb nail and collecting it in a neat pile. He had blatantly stared at me as I’d made my way up the path, making me feel quite uncomfortable.

Alright, I’d nodded at him when I got close enough.

Alright mate, he nodded back. Trying to think of something to say I kicked at the grass with my right trainer, then I heard a thud and realised he’d jumped down and was standing next to me. I gave him a look up and down. He looked pretty normal which came as a pleasant surprise, could have easily passed for a kid from my old town. He was a couple of inches taller than me, maybe six feet tall like my dad. Dressed in a white t-shirt, blue adidas shorts and muddy white trainers. His dark scruffy hair poked out from under a yellow beanie hat. He looked comfortable, obviously this wasn’t his first time here.

You’re the new kid aren’t you? He asked. Moved into Elizabeth Avenue? Round the corner from me. I saw the van when you all turned up.

It was 1997, and while the country took a chance on a new government, brainwashed by Tony Blair and a theme tune by a keyboard playing physicist, my parents had decided our family too needed a fresh start. Colluding to up sticks and move near the coast.

Great. As happy as I was to be chatting to someone my own age for the first time since getting to this tiny little village, the last thing I needed was for him to have witnessed the fiasco that was our arrival. I thought back to my parents shouting, and the screaming of Jack my little brother. We’d made so much noise I bet the neighbours had been cringing as they’d turned up their television sets. I only hoped he hadn’t witnessed it all and had just seen the van drive past.

Yeah mate. I’m Luke, I smiled. Thought this might be a good place to start meeting people.

As good a place as any mate, not a lot goes on here, he smirked, then tossed onto the end of his sentence, I’m Al, stick with me, you’ll be OK.

It was then that the doors to the hall opened wide in front of us, and my attention was hijacked by the pastor, keen to welcome me into the fold. After assuring me of what a good time I was in for he placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me in. That’s when he sat me down to form part of the circle and church group began.

The pastor introduced me to the rest of the group, Everyone this is Luke, he’s just moved into the village. I hope you will all make him feel welcome.

That’s a good start, make me sound like a lost foreign exchange student whom everyone feels obliged to let tag along. Sympathy is just what I need.

Ten pairs of eyes simultaneously watched me, I tried not to catch them as I looked back.

We were told to pray. This was something both unexpected and new. I questioned whether it was right to pray to a god I didn’t believe in, then watched as everyone else put their hands together and closed their eyes. I did the same.

The pastor started the prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

I had an overwhelming urge to laugh, partly due to nervousness and partly because I’d never heard a man pray before. The pastor spoke with such commitment, such faith. He softly spoke a love song to a man who wasn’t there.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.

Oh fuck, here it comes, the part where I burst out laughing and get thrown out of church group, the only possible thing on the planet that is more embarrassing than having gone to church group in the first place.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us.

Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself, my insides hurt from holding it in. Why won’t the fire alarm go off? Or the phone ring? Anything that will serve as a distraction. Then in the dark I heard faint sniggering. I opened my eyes just a crack and could see all the other kids had their eyes slightly open and were pulling faces at each other, I was the only idiot actually going along with it. Al smirked at me like I should have known.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. For ever and ever....Amen.

The kids quickly shut their eyes tight and repeated, Amen. Opening them a second after the pastor did to make it look like they’d had them shut all along.

Thank god that was over.

We were then given what the pastor referred to as free time, and we all got up and made our way outside. It was a warm summer, the kind of summer that gets left behind with childhood. The sun had all but set, leaving a thin line of light blue at the horizon before the navy of the evening sky. I looked up at the church itself. I’d not really had much time to take in its exterior when I’d arrived, what with meeting my first potential friend in the area. It was massive. With a tower housing a bell at one end, and a row of stained glass windows depicting Jesus and the disciples down the whole of the front side, until they reached the opposite end where a huge cross stood proudly on the roof. It looked spooky in the dark with the breeze moving branches around, casting finger-like shadows on the stone walls. I was glad we’d been in the hall out front and not the church itself.

Through the hall window I could see a few kids were playing table tennis indoors, others were kicking a ball around under the PIR lights in the car park. Al beckoned me over to the path by the main road where you came in.

What year you in? He asked me.

I start year nine this year, I replied.

Behind Al a glass cabinet was screwed to the front of the hall. In it was one of god’s adverts, printed on a poster like they put on the outside of cinemas when a new film is released. It read ‘JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS’. Yeah whatever.

Same as me, Al said. It meant we were going to be in the same year at school - when I finally started that was. Everyone else had already gone back after the summer holidays but because we’d moved too late, my first day was going to be exactly a week after that. Shit this isn’t it? But there’s nothing else to do round here. What was it like where you lived before?

I’d moved here from Branningham, a massive town in comparison. There was a BMX track that you could practically see from the terraced street I’d lived on. On Sundays they held races and we used to be able to hear the results being read out over the loudspeaker while we ate our Sunday roast. Past the BMX track was a main road you had to cross, then a field that led down to a winding river where I fished for roach with my old mates. If you carried on down the river there was a derelict textile factory where they had made parachutes in the Second World War. Hidden to the side were air raid shelters, most of them had been filled in but we used to explore in the couple that hadn’t. My mate Jim found a bullet in one of them once. We sprayed it with deodorant and set it on fire in a fruitless attempt to make it explode.

Shit mate, I replied, nothing to do there either.

You been down the backwaters yet?

Nah mate.

Come on then, I’ll take you down there if you want.

Al led the way to the field behind the church, where we followed a line of trees that marked the end of some people’s back gardens. Then at the end of the field we turned left, where we followed another line of trees that led to a big grass sea wall. I chased Al as he ran up it.

On the other side was a vast expanse of water that seemed to run endlessly from left to right, it was only the row of bright yellow lights signalling land on the other side that persuaded me it didn’t go on forever. They were literally miles away.

What’s that over there? I pointed.

The lights? That’s Haywich.

What all the way around the edge?

How do you mean?

Is it Haywich all the way around the backwaters?

Haywich isn’t that big, Al laughed. There are other places round the backwaters.

Well I don’t know, I’ve only just moved here.

Right, where those lights are, that’s the docks in Haywich. Then if you look to the left you’ve got places like Mansbury, Belmont, Thrope. He drew a semi-circle in the dark with his finger. Right round to where we are in Kirk-Leigh, then there’s Wanton to the right of us then it becomes the actual sea and goes round to Frampton.

So this is connected to the sea?

Al laughed again, "Yeah this comes in from the sea, it’s sea water. It goes in and out with the tide."

So when the tide goes out is it sand like the beach?

You wish, Al replied sarcastically.

So what do you get?

"Er....mud mate, miles and miles of smelly mud. You can sunbathe in it if you want to."

Al picked up a handful of stones and skimmed them one at a time across the flat water, flashes of reflected moonlight tracing out each skim. I joined in while he described Kirk-Leigh to me. It was soon obvious he’d grown up here, as he listed all these places we could go, but so fast that I forgot them as quickly as they were said. I wondered who Al normally hung around with but I didn’t ask.

So how come you’ve moved here?

The houses are cheap, I replied. My parents have bought their first house, they looked at a few places that were a lot cheaper than Branningham, but they picked here because it was so close to the sea.

Were they your brothers I saw when you were moving?

Yeah. There’s Dean who’s eleven and the baby is my other brother Jack who’s not even one.

Cool, I’ve got a brother Simon who’s ten, Al replied.

By now it was pitch black out so we set off home. We went to Al’s house first as it was nearest.

Your place is massive Al! I remarked. How many bedrooms have you got?

Only four.

Four? What one each?

Sort of, my parents share one so we have one spare. What about you?

Three, I replied, but there are five of us so me and Dean have to share.

Unlucky, he said. So what are you up to tomorrow?

Nothing much, helping unpack boxes probably.

Oh I was going to say I’ll pop round and give you a knock but I’ll leave it then.

Nah mate, I replied quickly, knock round for me, it will give me an excuse to get out the house.

Alright mate, will do, Al said, unlocking his front door. What time?

Dunno mate, whatever time you wake up.

Laters Luke, he smiled and shut the door behind him.

I thought about tomorrow as I walked off down the road, I wondered if he was going to turn up or not? And if he did turn up, would it be before I woke, so my mum would tell him I was still in bed? Then I remembered....We were fourteen, there was no fucking way he was going to turn up too early.

Loo like the Toilet?

September 1997.

I got up at lunchtime and having chucked on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, went downstairs to wait for Al. It wasn’t long before I heard the familiar clicking sound of a bicycle freewheel.

Alright Luke, you up for going to Wanton? He asked, again dressed for summer and wearing that same yellow beanie hat. I’ll give you a stunty.

Stunty was slang for a lift on the stunt pegs on the back of the bike. I knew because I had my own. I didn’t reply.

Opening the door to the garage behind the house, I wheeled out my own Redline BMX, badly painted in matt black from a spray can and with one green tyre and one white.

Nah mate you lead the way, I smiled at him as he started pedalling off. Nice wheels Al.

Yeah they’re mags, Al called back as he pulled up on his handle bars before dropping off the kerb, his chrome plated frame sparkling in the midday sun.

We cycled down the road to begin with, you could see the backwaters to the left of us but we didn’t get to it from the same way as last night. Instead we rode out to the very edge of the village, where the houses became fields. There we turned left down a dirt track that twisted its way to the water.

This is Island Lane, Luke, Al said as we stopped at the end.

Why’s it called that? I asked him. "By the way you can call me Lu, all my mates do. Well I suppose they used to now."

What? Loo like the toilet?

Suppose so.

Spelt the same? L-o-o?

Dunno mate, it’s a nickname, I’ve never really thought about how it would be spelt. Probably L-u.

Oh right. See that over there Lu? He pointed at an island in the distance. It was too far away for me to tell how big it was. There was a white building in the middle that looked like it may have been a house, either side were either tall bushes or trees, just green blurs from where I was standing.

Yeah.

That’s Oyster Island.

How do you get there? By boat?

Nah, you can drive over mate, there’s a road. Or you could go by boat if you had one.

Where’s the road? I asked. Can we go to Oyster Island?

It’s right in front of us, he said, pointing at nothing.

That’s the sea Al.

"It is now, you can only see the road when the tide’s out."

So if we waited until the tide went out we could cycle over there?

"We could do, it’s a long way but it’s not that far, Al replied. Thing is, by the time we got there we wouldn’t be able to get back."

Why not?

The tide would have come back in, you’d be stuck there for twelve hours.

So what’s the point of the road? If you end up being stuck there for twelve hours?

Oh there’s a house on the island, people live there, it doesn’t matter if you can’t get back if that’s where your house is does it?

True, I said. How do they get to work though?

They own a big island in the sea Lu, with a massive house in the middle. I don’t think they need to go to work.

There was a pillbox to the right of us, at the top of the big slope that led down to the submerged road to the island. A dirt path started beside the pillbox and we set off down it on our bikes. To the left of us were the sea defences, joined up concrete blocks decorated with green strings of seaweed.

We soon reached Wanton on the bumpy path. Wanton was a lot bigger than Kirk-Leigh, we only had one shop in the village and that was mostly a post office. Wanton even had a Woolworths.

Come on, I’ll show you the pier, Al said, leading me down a few tight backstreets before coming out into the open again, up high and looking out over the beach.

There it is, he said, pointing to what I’d already worked out was the pier.

Are we going on it?

Have you got any money on you?

Nah mate, I replied without needing to check my pockets.

Probably better off coming back another day to do that then, he said. Have you been to Frampton? Where the school is?

Don’t think so mate.

We’ll go there next then, follow me, Al said, leading me down to a wide pathway that followed the edge of the beach. We headed away from the right side of the pier, riding next to each other now, making use of the wider path.

Do you know who your form tutor is going to be yet? Al asked.

My mum rang the school for me, it’s Mr Panfold.

Unlucky, he’s a knob.

Who have you got?

Mrs Kilbey.

What’s she like?

A twat, Al laughed. She’s better than Mr Panfold though.

We continued on the sea path, passing occasional people on the way. Al didn’t slow down, just weaved round them like a madman. I did the same as I struggled to keep up.

What’s it like there Al? I asked him when he finally slowed to let me catch my breath.

What the school? It’s alright, well it’s pretty shit but they all are aren’t they?

Probably, yeah.

Why? Not getting scared are you? Can’t be any worse than your last one. Branningham wasn’t any nicer than round here was it?

True enough, but at least I’d known what to expect there. At least I’d started in year seven surrounded by people I’d already been familiar with for years. Better the devil you know and all that. I didn’t want to let on that I was feeling nervous.

Just can’t be bothered with it Al, I made out I wasn’t looking forward to school because it was boring. That was true, also true was that inside I was bricking it.

Starting a new school in year ten was far too late to be making friends, people had bonded all the way from primary school and in the back of their minds they were very aware we would be leaving soon. I knew because I was thinking the same.

So what subjects are you doing? Al asked as we stopped next to a lovely yellow sand stretch of beach. The beach all the way from the pier had been nice in fact.

Business studies, history and geography.

What?! You picked all the hardest subjects? What did you do that for? He exclaimed.

Why what have you got?

Art, PE and drama.

What, none of the same subjects I’ve got? I didn’t even know why I’d chosen them and would have done anything to change them now, but how sad is that? To choose your options based on what your only friend had chosen to do.

We’ll both have all the other subjects Lu, maths and science and that, we might have the same classes for those, he replied. I hadn’t thought of that. Even though we weren’t in the same form, that was only the first ten minutes of the day, we’d always have breaks at the same time too.

It had begun to cloud over so Al suggested we head back to Kirk-Leigh. As we passed through the centre of Frampton itself I noticed it was filled with posh cafes and tea shops. Nearly everyone was old. Walking stick old.

Why are there so many old people everywhere Al? Have they all escaped from a retirement home or something? I called out to him.

You’ll find that round here mate, they like being by the seaside. Kirk-Leigh’s the same, he replied, swerving round an old lady on a mobility scooter. "You don’t really notice it, apart from when it gets late and there’s literally no one on the streets, even in the summer."

I could remember the route from Kirk-Leigh to Wanton, then from Wanton to Frampton. You couldn’t really get lost, as long as you made sure you had the sea to the left of you all the way. The route from Frampton back to Kirk-Leigh was a maze of streets however. I’d never remember it after just this one time. It would be good if I could though, because as we came out into the open again after cutting through a farmer’s field, I suddenly realised we were at the top of the road I lived on.

What are you up to tomorrow? I asked.

Gotta go for Sunday lunch with my mum and dad and some family.

What time are you getting back?

Dunno yet, it’s in Norfolk, if it’s early enough I’ll give you a knock.

That’ll be cool mate.

If not I’ll come round on Monday and we can ride to school together, yeah? He said. If you don’t see me tomorrow I’ll be round on Monday at eight.

Nice one Al, I replied, catch you later.

It looked like my friendship with Al was going to continue. He’d knocked round for me like he’d said he would. Whether he enjoyed today or not didn’t make a lot of difference, seeing as he had to go the same way to school every day as I did. For the first time since I’d moved here I suddenly felt like everything might be alright.

A Tired Old Desk

September 1997.

I woke around five-thirty in the morning. Woke being a loose term, I’d hardly slept. Al would be knocking on my door at eight so I had plenty of time to get ready. I got dressed slowly, trying to make the time last longer before I’d have to leave. I’d never enjoyed spending time at home but today I’d do anything to be staying in all day.

I could remember being tense when I started at my old secondary school; new teachers, new buildings, not knowing where my classes were. This time round though it was going to be a hundred times more daunting. This was going to be totally new. I was terrified.

I found my mum downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast, putting out a box of cornflakes and some milk in the middle of the dining table. She was still in her pink dressing gown, made from what looked like the fur of camp polar bears. She was on yet another diet and was substituting eating breakfast for a cup of tea with several sugars.

Morning Lu, all set for your first day at the new school? She asked, her face all enthusiastic, despite having had no need to get up so early except to see us off to school.

Not really Mum, I replied, haven’t got much choice in the matter though have I?

That’s the spirit, she said. My mum had a funny way of not really listening to what you were saying and just hearing what she wanted to hear. It didn’t matter as she proudly looked me up and down in my uniform, her face beaming, even as far as her dyed blonde morning hair with just the hint of roots beginning to show through.

As I was getting myself a bowl from the cupboard I heard Dean run down the stairs, having just slammed the bathroom door shut. This was closely followed by the sound of Jack screaming.

I’ll go and sort Jack out then shall I? My mum growled as she stomped upstairs.

Alright Dean, I said, looking at him dressed smart in his new school uniform. It was identical to mine, even in size, only his hung on him loosely to give him room to grow into it. I’d already done most of my growing. When I thought about it properly, it wasn’t really a new uniform, only the tie and blazer. The white shirt, black trousers and shoes were the same as we’d always worn.

Lu, he replied.

"Looking forward to the first day at your school are ya?" I asked.

Not really, waste of time ain’t it? Dean was only eleven so had to go the lower school in Thrope. Neither of us had actually seen where our schools were, it didn’t matter so much for Dean as he had a school bus laid on. Mine was close enough that I could walk.

Tell me about it, I replied.

What time are you leaving?

Eight, I said. Al’s coming round, we’re going to ride there together.

I saw a jealous look in his eyes. He must have known that as apprehensive as I was about the day, at least I had someone to talk to. Dean didn’t know anyone in the village, when I’d invited him to come to church group with me he’d muttered something about bible bashers and wandered off.

My mum put Jack in the high chair at the end of the table and he stopped crying, instead turning his attention to watching Dean and I. I think the reason he cried a lot of the time was because he was on his own. It was hard work including him in anything though, he couldn’t do much apart from annoy you. And what do you talk about with someone who can’t actually talk?

You’re going to need to leave in a minute Dean, where’s your coat? My mum asked, having finished making us our lunches for the day.

Dean went to the airing cupboard to get it. What the hell?! he shouted. Mum, Whisky’s on my coat.

Well move her then, my mum replied.

Hiss!

Dean jumped back, making Jack cackle the way only babies can.

Sod that, she’s going mental.

It’s alright, I’ll do it. My mum walked round to the airing cupboard, squeezing Dean out of the way.

Hiss!

"What’s wrong with you today? my mum asked the cat. Let Dean have his coat."

Hiss!

Lu come and help me move Whisky will you, I don’t know what’s wrong with her today. She must be hormonal or something.

On the way to the airing cupboard I pondered whether or not cats even have a menstrual cycle.

You pick her up and I’ll pull Dean’s coat out.

Why do I have to pick her up? I asked, contemplating turning up for my first day at school and having to explain why my hands were covered in cuts. You could tell from the way she’d already ruined the stairs carpet that her claws were sharp.

You’re the man of the house while your dad’s at work, help me move her.

I put my hands into the cupboard and gently tried to nudge her from Dean’s coat.

Hiss! I’d never seen her like this before.

In the kitchen I found a tea-towel, wrapping it around my hand for protection. Then I eased my protected hand into the airing cupboard as slowly as I could. Dean watched from behind while my mum waited for her opportunity. In the kitchen Jack sat at the table alone.

I got to the point where I was almost touching the cat and so far she seemed OK. Her eyes were fixed firmly on my hand but she didn’t seem to be unnerved at all. Then it suddenly dawned on me that although she was calm now, one loud noise might scare her into attacking me. A loud noise like Jack crying.

Dean, I whispered. Go and talk to Jack so that he doesn’t cry.

Jack’s fine Lu, just get my coat.

Seriously Dean, I don’t want her going mental on me.

Dean poked his head over my shoulder and looked at the cat sitting there serenely. What are you worried about? She looks like she’s going to fall asleep.

If she attacks me Dean it’s your fault, I’m going to grab her and throw her at you.

Go on then, I’m just gonna stand here, I’m that confident she’s not-

Bang-bang-bang came the knock at the door. The cat changed into psycho mode before I even had a chance to turn my head to see who it was. Both sets of front claws came out, ripping at the tea-towel repeatedly, pulling the threads of the fabric out into long loops. My mum opened the door to Al and Whisky shot out through it.

What the?! Al shouted as he nearly fell off the step trying to get out of Whisky’s way. What’s wrong with that cat?

I laughed, Nothing normally mate, she’s been really weird today, no idea why.

Probably the change of scenery, Al replied. Must be weird for a cat, living somewhere then being put in a car and driven somewhere totally new.

He was right. The lot of us had been so caught up in our own adjustment into the new home that we’d not even thought about the cat. She’d loved sitting on the warm towels in the airing cupboard back in Branningham, she spent so much time in there that my mum even let her have her own towel. It went on top of all the clean ones so that they didn’t get fur on them. The airing cupboard was probably the one place in Kirk-Leigh that didn’t feel totally alien to her. With the door shut she might even have been able to imagine she was still at the old house, and we’d taken that from her. She had every right to be angry with us.

Now wearing his coat Dean left with a, Cheers Lu. Running off to the bottom of the road to get the bus. I fetched my BMX from the garage while Al waited.

Have a good day Lu, my mum called to me from the front door as we cycled away.

You too Mum! I shouted back.

Slowing at the bottom by the main road, I saw Dean stood chatting in the bus shelter with another kid of similar height. His school bus came past us a minute later and when I looked back to check it had stopped for them, they were still chatting as they got on. I stopped worrying so much about Dean then.

Al reckoned it was a few miles to school. As it was dry out we made it a mile by cutting through the fields. He speculated about the new term as he pedalled beside me, talking about people I’d never met, teachers I didn’t know. I tried to join in with his laughter but to my ears it sounded very fake. Laughter boarding on hysteria, fortunately he didn’t seem to notice.

Then I saw the school for the first time. ‘FRAMPTON TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE’.

A massive grey box blotted on the landscape, the windows having taken on the colour of the overcast sky. Or maybe a manic depressive’s Rubik’s cube? Either way it was far from inviting. Swarming around it were several years worth of kids who I didn’t know, wearing identical uniforms with coats over their blazers and accountants’ shoes. From the corner of my eye I saw a group of lads without ties on, they were obviously too cool to wear them unless they had to. Mine was in my bag. The lot of them crossed the road without looking and I had to turn sharply to avoid running into them, fucking lucky I thought as I followed Al to the bike shed.

What do you think Lu?