Should Have Stayed At Home - Chapter 2 of Seedling

“Justin, wake up!” said a voice. I groaned. Pain erupted inside my head and it felt like my brain was on fire. I heard someone chuckle. “Ant, get a glass of water!” I groaned again.

“Don’t shout,” I muttered before turning over. Ethan ripped the warm, comfy duvet off me, which had me half-consciously throwing a tantrum. He then picked me up, took a step back and dropped me on the floor. My eyes whipped opened and I gasped in pain as my back absorbed the impact. I sat up, rubbing the back of my head. Ant lumbered in, carrying a glass of water, which he gave to me. I took it and drank greedily.

“Didn’t know you were such a lightweight, bro,” said Ant, amusement caking his voice. I glowered at him while passing him the glass.

“Shut up,” I mumbled. Ant and Ethan helped me get ready, since they wanted to be off soon. It was half-eight when we were finally ready. Ethan packed a water bottle for me, since I was really dehydrated from last night’s escapade. I decided to get more sleep whilst on the way. Hopefully, I’d be a bit more awake when we got there.

A sigh escaped my pink lips as I was brought to the realm of reality. The same dream appeared and this time, I felt like I knew the wolf, like I had seen her somewhere before. We were almost there. Ant turned in his seat to look at me and grinned. I gave a small smile. The headache was dulling and I was suddenly thankful that Ethan had decided to pack a water bottle. I picked up the bottle and swallowed a load of water before focussing on our surroundings. It wasn’t somewhere I knew. I sighed and concentrated on trying to get rid of the nagging headache before we got there. It was hard, since it seemed to be always there. I focussed on the scenery and found my eyelids drooping. I decided to get some more sleep, since I was clearly not awake enough. I was dimly aware of Ant chuckling. I huffed in annoyance before rolling over and closing my eyes.

I felt my eyelids flutter as the purr of the engine rumbled to a stop. It took me a few seconds to really wake up before I was carted off in my manual wheelchair, only to see a woman and a man dressed in grotesque brightly-coloured spandex. I wondered for a second why the hell they were dressed like that. Then I noticed the helmets and the clinging harnesses. I tried to figure out why the man and woman were dressed like that and then I finally took note of my surroundings. Ethan had taken me and Ant to some rock-climbing place. Ethan hadn’t lied when he had said that he’d take us rock climbing. I was impressed. He must have gone to great lengths to arrange this. I’d have to make it up to him. Ethan and the rock climbers conversed and then I felt Ant shake my shoulder.

“Stay awake, bro,” he hissed quietly in my ear. I hadn’t realised that I was falling asleep. Wow, maybe I was a lightweight and just didn’t know it. I stifled a yawn and stretched. Ethan and the instructors saw this and were once again in discussion, but this time about whether I should really do the rock climbing. In the end, I had been put down as unable to do the activity and so was going to be the observer. The lady stayed with me. It was so embarrassing but fun to watch Ethan and Ant climb up the top without falling. Ethan and Ant’s muscles bulged with the effort and more than once I noticed the woman sigh at the sight. Obviously, she was single or had been dumped recently and was looking for a new man in her life. She didn’t seem fussy in her choice of men, since she sighed at the male instructor. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Desperate or what? The woman and I chatted a little bit, content to just sit and watch. The times when we did speak, I found annoying. The woman had this whiny, high-pitched, nasally tone to her voice and I imagined myself punching her every time. Ant got to the top and helped Ethan up. The instructor was already on the top. I clapped and whooped. Hopefully, I’d be able to do that the next time we came here. Ethan and Ant came down and clapped hands with the instructors and came back to me. Ant stepped over to hug me, to which I recoiled.

“You smell,” I said, wrinkling my nose. He smiled and chuckled. The brawny boy ruffled my head. His hand was hot and sweaty. “Gross. Go have a shower, dude. That goes for you too, Ethan.” They both laughed and left with the instructor, leaving me yet again with the woman. The woman wheeled me to the café area and got me a cheese and tomato sandwich. I forced myself to talk to her properly. How bad could it be, right? As it turned out, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected it to be. The woman’s name was Tina, and she’d recently just been dumped by her boyfriend for her sister.

“So, Justin, why’d you move to Alton? Must be very boring there,” she said in that same whiny high-pitched nasally voice I’d heard repeatedly that morning. I nodded.

“I moved here two days ago. My brother and I wanted to be with Dad number four, since we haven’t spent much time with him. Mum and him got married two years ago and then got divorced soon after that. She’s now married to Dad number five.” I said the last part with obvious bitterness.

“Whoa, Dad number five! What happened to Dad numbers 1, 2 and 3?”

“Dad number 1 died due to a heart attack. Dad number 2 was an ex con, who had apparently repented, seen the light and made a switch. He tried to kill us when we were asleep. Luckily, Ant got me and mum safely and called the police. The third husband cheated on Mum and apparently had two daughters and a son already. So there you have it. The brief history of my Mum’s marriages,” I said, remembering those times. Dad number two had been a horrible man and I had always wondered why Mum had married him in the first place. I sighed. Mum didn’t have a very good track record but from what I had heard from Mum, Joseph Belcini was a very nice man. I ate the rest of my sandwiches and then had another gulp from my water bottle. I then waited for Ethan and Ant.

“Justin, you feeling any better?” asked Ant from the hallway. Words and images littered the screen of the laptop. “We’re going to get our stuff for college so you’d best be off that laptop when I come in.” I sighed and began closing the windows and then shutting the whole laptop down. I then dashed to grab the coat from the door.

“I’m ok, thanks. Much better. Right, all set,” I said as I raced outside. The electric wheelchair had been charged last night (thank God) which meant I could use it for our trip. Once we had got into the car, we headed off to Basingstoke Mall. Ethan had said that we didn’t need much, just stationery, folders and books. Various people bade us hello and I wondered how Ethan knew all these people. They couldn’t all go to the same gym could they? I shrugged it off and followed Ethan into WHSmith. There were some textbooks that I needed to get for Drama and English. The books were pretty thick and I wondered if I should have asked Ethan what the curriculum was for these subjects beforehand.

“Oi, Earth to bookworm! Let’s go!” Ethan’s voice silenced my thoughts and I looked to see two people behind me looking very annoyed. I apologised and followed Ethan. “Ant should be done with his shopping soon and then we can go home. Just in time for the Surfing Competition.” Oh, that’s right. I forgot Ethan was into his surfing. He’d promise to take me body boarding at some point. I’d have to remind him of that promise....when he wasn’t so stressed out, that is. We soon found Ant by Costa’s, surrounded by a bunch of fawning girls. It was so stupid!

“Hi Ant,” I said. The girls turned to us both and their eyes bulged when they saw Ethan.

“Move along, girls,” he said, smirking. “My son was taking a rest here until I came so that then we could go home.” The girls sighed.

“Perverts,” I said loudly. “Got nothing better to do today?” The girls’ reaction was what I wanted to see and hear.

“Hey, who are you?”

“Wasn’t talking to you, cripple!”

“Yeah, bugger off. No one wants you here.”

“On the contrary,” said a finely tuned harp-like voice. “I quite like his company.” My head turned to see the girl that had put me under her spell. Zinnia wore a blue baggy shirt and pair of black leggings with a pair of white pumps. She looked to me and smiled. Ant nudged Ethan and they shared a smile. The girls’ mouths meanwhile just opened and closed like fish.

“Who are you then? ’is girlfriend?” asked one of the girls, who had managed to recover. Zinnia’s apple-red lips widened, showing glistening white teeth.

“Yes, I am.” Everyone, including myself was thoroughly surprised. “Don’t you remember, Justin? You asked me out last night.” She glided closer to me and whispered in my ear, “Work with me here. It’ll be better for you in the long run.”

“When were you planning on telling us this, bro?” asked Ant.

“Soon,” I said, looking at him.

“Well, good for you. Anyway, we have to go, guys. The Surfing Competition is about to start,” interrupted Ethan. Zinnia kissed me on the cheek.

“See you later, handsome. Oh, here’s my number. I forgot to give it to you last night,” she said, passing me a piece of paper with her number on it. “As for you four, hope you have sweet dreams tonight.” When she said the last part, I got the feeling that she was making a minor threat.

“Right, no one disturbs me, got it?” he looked to both me and Ant. We quickly nodded and then went to my room. Ant helped me unpack my stuff and then went to the Recreation Room to play some Lord of the Rings on the X-Box 360.

“You didn’t ask her out, did you?” asked Ant as he hacked at virtual Orcs. I shook my head in response. “Thought not. I would’ve known if you had.”

“So, how’d it go with the blonde the other night?” At this question Ant made a pained expression. “Not so well I take it.”

“No. I was this close” his fingers just inches apart. “To getting some action. Didn’t work out though, as her friends got to her and pulled her away before I had a chance.” I played as I digested this new piece of information. As we played Lord of the Rings, my mind began to wander a little. Arya didn’t seem affected by my brother’s good looks and strong physique. Neither did Zinnia. I found this to be slightly odd, though a slither of me enjoyed the fact that two girls seemed immune to Ant.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Ant suddenly, guessing what I was thinking. “I’m glad you’ve got someone who likes you. I’ve been waiting for that to happen for a while now.” My hands froze. Well, this was new.

“Really? Why?”

“’Cos it wouldn’t be fair on you if I got a girlfriend and you didn’t.” I smiled, touched at my brother’s words. He’d been waiting for me to find a girlfriend before he found one. However, I also felt guilty, since I now knew I was stopping him from getting a girlfriend. A knock on the door made the both of us turn our heads and say in unison, “Come in.” Ethan’s face poked through the doorway.

“Sorry to disturb you but I’ve made some lunch-supper type thing. Salmon with rice and veg,” said Ethan. “Need to get up early so won’t be joining you. Ant, when you’re done, put some in the Tupperware box for Justin tomorrow. You’ll be getting a lift from one of my friend’s sons. Your lessons start at eleven twenty-five and he’ll be here at ten-thirty. Night you two.”

“Night Ethan.”

We mostly ate in silence, speaking to each other little. The day’s events spun round in my head until I could recite the whole day off by heart. It seemed so...unreal in some ways. Plus, how did Zinnia know where we were? She wasn’t anywhere nearby yet she had come and “saved” me from humiliation. Quite strange and to top the whole thing off, the dreams weren’t getting any clearer. The wolf I knew somehow, as if I’d seen her somewhere. I huffed and stabbed a piece of salmon.

“Spill it, Justin,” said Ant suddenly. I looked up to see Ant staring at me intently. “Something’s wrong, I can tell, so spill it.”

Damn twin telepathy I thought as I scowled. But I told him.

“I’ve been getting strange dreams ever since I met Arya,” I began. “I’m in a wood, surrounded by mist. Then a huge white wolf comes and just stares at me. The second time I had the dream, I heard the words, ‘I’ll be watching you, Justin’. Now, this thing with Zinnia...it’s just a little weird. She’s not affected by your good looks and excellent physique.”

Ant considered it for a minute.

“It could have something to do with your day,” he suggested. I pondered the suggestion, wondering what Ant was hinting at.

“What could?”

“The dreams. You say that you’ve been getting them ever since you met Arya, right? Well, maybe your dream is trying to tell you something related to Arya.” I hadn’t considered that one. I would consider it.

“I’ll get back to you on that. Who’s your teacher for PE and Engineering?” I said, wanting to change the subject.

“I have two. Sam Jameson for PE and Dan Roberts for Engineering. You?”

“Erica Reynolds for English and Rebecca Samuels for Drama. Um, Ant...” I trailed off, knowing that Ant would know what I was thinking.

“Justin, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry, you’ll get loads of friends,” said Ant. I forced a smile out and then continued eating. We cleaned up and washed the dishes together, not speaking but just glad to be in each other’s company. It was good to do that sometimes. Be in someone’s company but don’t actually speak for fear that it might break the almost comforting silence. Once we had cleaned everything away, we bade each other good night and then went to our rooms. As I lay in bed, I began to think about what Ant had said about maybe the dreams being related to Arya or my general day. If Ant was right about my dreams, then Arya would have to be a shape-shifter and that’d mean that there were people who could turn into animals out there in the world. The more logical side of my brain argued that there were no such things as shape-shifters, werewolves, fairies and all that. After all, there was no scientific evidence that the magical existed. I sighed and turned over onto my side, all the while debating with myself. I had always been interested in the magical stuff when I was younger, which had only intensified as the years went by and my belief that anything was possible was strong within me. As I debated with myself, I fell into a troubled sleep, waking up every so often. When I managed to actually fall asleep, it had gone half twelve.

A slap on the head and a sharp tug on the duvet woke me up instantly. Ant and a boy I didn’t know were standing over me.

“Get up. This is Jack Hamilton. He’s driving us to college, and he came here early,” said Ant. I sat up groggily and checked the time. It was nine-thirty. I groaned and was just about to turn over when Ant clutched my legs and dragged me off the bed.

“Ok, I’ll get dressed,” I said, annoyed. I crawled to where my clothes were and slipped into them. Ant and Jack were in the living area and I could hear them chatting about the class. So, they were in the same class then. I washed my face and then brushed my teeth, which didn’t take me long. I got into my k-walker and then walked to the living room, where I got to have a better look at Jack. He was fair skinned and had a well-toned body, like Ethan. Honey-coloured hair fell from his head and parted just before his leaf-green eyes. A blue t-shirt clung to his upper body while baggy grey tracks and white trainers covered his lower half. Jack waved and gave a small smile.

“More awake now, Justin?” he said. I smiled and nodded. I decided to stand up for the time being, to stretch my legs. “Ant tells me that you’re quite the poet and storyteller. There’s a poetry club that you can join at College.” I nodded and then shifted my weight. Ant prepared some breakfast for both Jack and me. He put the leftovers from last night’s supper in a Tupperware box and then put it in my bag. We watched some TV before heading off to College. When we got there, I was utterly gobsmacked. It looked like a normal college from the outside but it was bigger on the inside. There were students everywhere, and not just the usual sixteen, seventeen and eighteen year olds but mature students too. We went to the reception area and got a map. Jack would show Ant to his PE lesson so Ant wouldn’t need a map. It was more for me, since I wasn’t very good at remembering where places were. Luckily, one of the receptionists kindly offered to phone the teacher so that they could send someone down, to which I gladly and gratefully accepted. Five minutes later, a boy and a girl showed up, looking somewhat relieved to be out of lesson. The boy’s fair skin contrasted with the untamed mess of black hair that clung to his head and stormy grey eyes gave way to kindness with just a hint of darkness. Clothes-wise, the boy had a white sweatshirt that seemed just a little bit small for him. Baggy denim cargo jeans managed to stay on with a black belt and the white trainers stood out among the red floor tiles. The girl was African-American and looked like a younger version of Whitney Houston that wore jeans and blue tank top.

“Hi, I’m Liam,” said the fair-skinned boy. He sounded Irish. “And this is Dorinda. You’re Justin, right?” I nodded. They beamed at me.

“Good. Come on, we’ll show you to the classroom,” said Dorinda. So I followed the two friends and they asked me questions about what I liked doing, why I hadn’t been here in the first term and all that. I answered all the questions without complaint. I was just happy that these two were showing me to the classroom. The classroom turned out to be the studio that wasn’t very far from the front exit. The teacher, a medium-height young woman with long ginger hair strode over to me when I came into the classroom. A few of the other students looked over at me and stopped what they were doing. Liam and Dorinda scuttled to where they had originally been but stared at my interaction with the teacher.

“Hi Justin, it’s good to finally meet you. I’m Rebecca Samuels but please call me Becky. You won’t need a Learning Support Assistant here,” she said, smiling. Her earthy-brown eyes surveyed my appearance, taking in every minute detail, almost how Arya had done when we had met. I gave her a small shy smile. She then turned, making her pink flower-patterned skirt swish. “Class, we have a new student. He’s called Justin Grant. Hope you guys make him feel welcome, and no pictures, Tony.” An Eastern-Oriental looking guy smiled sheepishly as he quickly hid his camera in his bag. The ginger-haired woman then looked at me and then back to the entire class. “Now, where to put you, Justin. I’m afraid that you’ve caught us at a bad time, since we’ve divided into teams of three or four and are producing our own plays.”

“Why not put him with us, Becky?” suggested Dorinda, to which Rebecca was hesitant at first but then let up. She gestured for me to go where Dorinda and Liam were. I sped across and then heard Rebecca telling the class to get back to work. I noticed a girl was sitting there next to Dorinda, observing me intently. She was petite, and had an air of gracefulness about her. Golden locks cascaded down her head and stopped just after the shoulder, which made it look like some sort of neat mane. Odd black-coloured eyes travelled about my appearance and her small pink lips were curved into a smile. She was beautiful I had to admit and she held the same air of mysteriousness that Zinnia had. Liam and Dorinda explained to me what the play was about and brought me up to speed to where they were currently at. The girl sat there, seemingly content to let the other two do the work.

“You know my cousin,” she said quite suddenly. Her high-pitched voice reminded me of Zinnia, just an octave higher. All three of us stopped to look at her. She had her legs crossed with her hands on each knee. “Zinnia Dayspring. Says she’s met you twice now. You know she’s waiting for you to call her.”

“Ella, I don’t think now is the time for pleasantries,” said Dorinda. The girl now known as Ella turned her gaze to Dorinda. The two eyed each other for a minute before Ella threw a smile at the African-American girl.

“You’re right, Rin. Sorry about that. Now, shall we?” The rest of the lesson we spent trying to fix me into the play, and it worked, since there was meant to be a guy called Jamie in the group but he’d been sick for a week now. At the end of the lesson, the other students clambered to get out while my group took it easy and walked to the canteen area. We nattered away as we walked and Dorinda and Liam plus Ella got to know more about me. Instead of waiting in line to be served, Liam and Dorinda went to the small shop near the canteen known as Amigos. Apparently, Alton College had had a lot refurbishing done. There was a new Costa’s near the staffroom and the canteen had been extended. Also, Amigos had been changed around a little bit. Ella disappeared to find her older brother. Once Liam and Dorinda had got our lunch, my two new friends and I sat at the back of the shop.

“So, how are you finding Alton so far, Justin?” asked Liam. I shrugged as I took a bite from my left-over korma.

“Alright, I guess.”

“God, that was so embarrassing!” I said after the English Lit lesson. Dorinda giggled at my comment.

“It wasn’t soo bad, Justin,” she said. “I mean Erica does that to every newbie.” I didn’t say anything but I was still embarrassed. The English teacher, Erica, had got me to sit in front of the class and tell the other students a little bit about myself. Tony, the camera boy had been there. He had managed to snap a picture of me, which was a little bit confusing....and weird. Dorinda and I went to my house and did some homework. After that, we went to the park and I got to know about her this time. She had been born in Zimbabwe but her parents had decided to move over to Alton so that she could have a better future than her mother. Her mother had given birth to a set of twins, a boy and a girl four months ago. Currently, she was studying English Lit and Drama so that she could do something in that area when she was older. I liked Dorinda. She was cool and seemed to know what she wanted, unlike me.

“So, met anyone interesting, Justin?” asked Dorinda, looking at me with those dark brown eyes of hers.

“Define what you mean by interesting.”

“Well, let’s see...oh, I know! Mysterious, always there when you least expect it.”

“I think so. There’s s girl called Arya that I met on my first day here. Then there’s Zinnia and Ella. They’re just so....mystifying.”

“Yeah, I hear that! I’m quite good friends with them all, actually,” she said, looking out at the people that were in front of us. I was shocked by this. She didn’t seem shocked by this piece of information and I started to piece together the pieces of the puzzle. Dorinda then checked her watch and gasped.

“God, look at the time! We’d best get going!” she said, flying to her feet. She helped me into my chair. We started to walk home when all of a sudden, out of the blue; a football smacked me in the face. I heard Dorinda gasp and then heard some hurried footsteps. The ball bounced off my face and I gingerly opened my eyes. A trickle of blood slithered out of my nose and dripped on to my jeans. Ugh, great! My jeans would need to go in the wash tonight. A sweaty kid about my age came speeding up to me and Dorinda.

“Sorry about that. Here, take this,” he said, pulling out a tissue. “Keep your head down until all the blood has stopped coming out. Again, I’m really sorry about that.” He picked up the ball and dashed off. I did as the sweaty kid instructed. The blood stopped soon enough and we were able to go home. I bade a goodnight to Dorinda and then sped along to my own house. Ethan and Ant weren’t impressed.

“Do you know what the time is, young man?” asked Ethan. I looked up at the clock on our mantelpiece. It was quarter to eight. “I’ve been sick with worry. I tried your mobile but either you turned it off or...I don’t know.”

“Sorry Ethan,” I said. “I was with a classmate and we forgot the time. I got smacked by a football and got a nose bleed” Ethan gazed at me coolly, arms folded on his chest. He then snorted and stormed off. Ant stood there, dazed by Ethan’s frostiness.

“Wow, he’s really pissed off at you,” he said. I glared at him, a little bit ticked off myself. I mean I know I should’ve called Ethan to let him know but seriously, there was no need to get like that. “I’m just saying. Anyway, how was your day?”

“Good thanks. Met Zinnia’s cousin and made two new friends. Liam Adams and Dorinda Ingleby,” I said. “Anyway, off to bed. Got a lesson first thing and Dorinda is coming round with Liam to pick me up. Night, love you. ”

“Night, Justin. Love you.”