in NONE
October 9th, 2001
At last the end of school bell rang out it's relieving message, signally classes to turn into a noisy riot. I shoved my book into my rucksack and joined the stream of students flowing into the corridor. I walked slowly to the door being drowned in swarms of other students. "Sall, Sall," Eve called racing up to me," Sall?" I looked up miserably
“Sall, brighten up,”
“Why should I,”
“Sall, we have a mission to perform,”
“Just forget it, Eve, there’s no point,”
“WHAT! Why the sudden chance of attitude, Sall,”
“Because…… Because….. um..”
“Sall, it’s not as if this is some childish matter, this is the world we’re talking about,”
I nodded half-heartedly. “ Sall, look at me,” Eve ordered. I lifted my heavy head to face her.
“Everything you said today was true. I mean, all everyone cares about is how popular they are, they’re so selfish.” It was Eve’s turned to hang her head.
We walked a couple of blocks in silence, both staring at our scuffed shoes. I thought back to this morning when I had stood up to Tammy. Okay so I may have looked a bit…. different, but it made me feel good, strong. I was honest with myself then. I wasn’t being honest now. To be truthful all that was stopping me from going ahead was my popularity. That’s what it always comes down to. This morning I had gone on the spur of the moment, thus I had no time to question my ways, now I had had this great weight hanging on my shoulders all day and it was turning me into a hypocrite. I was only thinking about myself, worrying that if I protested any longer any hope of recovering my social life would be lost. My head hung lower as I admitted to myself what I had been thinking all day.
I glanced over at Eve; Her nose was pink and steam floated from her mouth in the chilly winter air. I re-adjusted my scarf, suddenly realising how cold it was. We stalked on not talking for another couple of minutes, “Eve,” I eventually conjured up the courage to say, “Yes,” she croaked, she coughed deeply, “sorry,” she croaked again. We both burst out laughing. Once we’d both managed calm our giggles, I said, “No really Eve, I’m Sorry.” A smile spread across her face, “Sall, I’m…” she froze for a second, “I’m- Achoo Achoo Achoo” she pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket and blew her nose, “I’ve got a really bad cold,” she moaned, “ just a little while out in the cold gets me sneezing and coughing and- “
“Here,” I said, pulling the scarf off my neck, “ have this.”
“Aw, thanks, Sall,” Eve replied wrapping the scarf round her nose. “Well, you’re going to have to keep up your strength, Eve-“ she looked at me understanding and finished my sentence for me, “THIS IS WAR!!!”
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