WARNING:
EMOTIONAL CONTENT.
Mentions of being a young carer and emotional distress.

The following day, a newly invigorated Aahan marched into his final history class of the day.
Every student was present, even James, which was quite a shock to the system. Maybe that was a sign?
A sign for better days.

"Sir, why are you just staring at us?", asked Spencer.

"Huh?
Oh, uh, yeah, sorry.
Just had a, well, a thought."

Yes, a thought.
He totally wasn't playing Eye Of The Tiger in his head.

"Ok, so, we've been given the go-ahead to organise the football rally", said Aahan. "This is going to be a big project, so we need to be focused on this, ok?"

"Mr. Patel, the football rally isn't for a few months", reminded Eloise.
"It usually happens after the Head Boy and Head Girl campaign, which isn't for a while."

"Yes, I was... very kindly made aware of that by Nalini this morning", replied Aahan.

"What happened?
Did she catch you skipping into school and ask you why there was an extra spring in your step?", teased Elliott.

The class laughed, and Elliott was surprised to see that even Zee had a smile on her face.

"Ha ha.
Hilarious.
Anyway, I thought now would be a good time to gather intel.
You know, get ahead of the game", said Aahan.

"Intel?", questioned Rowan.

Aahan nodded.
"Yeah.
Find out what the students like about the rally and what they wish changed.
That way, we can plan around their suggestions and make the rally ten times better."

"There are loads of students at this school. How are we going to ask all of them?
We can hardly hand out questionnaires in the halls", queried Irene.

Zee's attention had momentarily moved off Irene but it was now back on her.
Since seeing her yesterday, Zee replayed every interaction they had ever had in her head.
Every time they passed each other in the halls.
She remembered thinking Irene looked tired all the time, and that there must've been a valid reason for it, but she never expected it to be one so close to home.

Zee noticed that Irene's phone wasn't in her bag, but instead it was in her lap.
Her left hand was clutching it tightly, and she kept looking down at it.
Zee knew what that was like.
Constantly worrying that her parents might've slipped trying to do something. That a neighbour may have spotted something.
That social services would come and take her away.

"... but yeah, Alex and Naomi's party would be our best bet."

Zee was too focused on Irene that she didn't even know another student was speaking. Danny Rivers was seated at the desk closest to the window, at the very back of the class. Nice kid, and funny too.
The only other class the pair had together was English.

"Ooh, yeah, their party's are legendary", said Eloise.
"Everyone will be there."

"Perfect!", exclaimed Aahan.
"Go to the party and speak to as many people as you can."

"Woah, you can't just go to their party", said Spencer.
"They're the most popular people at the school.
You have to be invited by them to go to their parties."

Aahan frowned.
"Ugh.
Popularity still a big thing now then as well?"

"Sure is", said Irene.

"Danny, you play football with Alex, don't you?", asked Eloise.

"Uh, sometimes.
I can ask him to invite us, but we aren't that close.
Our best chance is probably you asking
Naomi for invites since you hang out with her more", replied Danny.

Eloise nodded.
"Ok, so Danny and I will work on getting tickets."

"Um, do all of us have to be there?", asked Irene.

"Yes!
You can cover more ground that way", said Aahan.

"What are their parties even like?", asked Atlas.

"All I know is that Spin The Bottle is a pretty popular game for them.
It's almost like a ritual for them", revealed Zee.

Atlas exhaled sharply.
"Great, love the cult vibes."

"Hey, we might need another way of getting invites too.
We're a big group so it might be a bit weird if I ask Naomi to invite all of us", said Eloise. "Zee, can't Aurelia get you an invite?"

"She doesn't hang around with them", said Zee.

"I know, but she is friendly with them.
She's a total social butterfly too, so I bet she could get you invited like that", she said, clicking her fingers together at the end.

"Oh hey, maybe she could even score an invite for Atlas too?", suggested James.
"She dumped his a** for someone in their friendship group so you could probably twist it and say she owes him", he said, before laughing cruelly.

Atlas frowned.
The pair were on better terms now, but Atlas couldn't pretend like what Aurelia did didn't still hurt him.
Zee's face softened when she noticed Atlas trying to fake a smile.

"James, do me a favour and shut the héll up", said Zee.

"It's a free country!
I can say whatever I want", he snapped back.

Zee nodded.
"You're right, freedom of speech is a great thing.
Without it, I wouldn't be able to tell you to eat sh*t."

¤¤¤

During lunch time, Aahan and Paige were on duty.
They had to monitor the students that were on the courtyard.
The pair had found a comfortable space by the front gates.
Sandra, who was walking by earlier, stopped to chat to the two of them.

"Well, the football rally is the highlight of the school year for a lot of these teens", said Sandra.
"I'm sure you'll absolutely smash it, love."

Paige smiled.
"I second that."

Meanwhile, Spencer was sat down under one of the trees in the courtyard.
A lot had been on his mind lately, and the talk about Alex and Naomi's party only seemed to be making it worse.
Spencer looked up from his phone, to see Eloise walking towards him.

"Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere", said Eloise.

When Spencer didn't return the smile she gave, Eloise stood still.
She furrowed her eyebrows, cocking her head to the side as she examined Spencer's facial expressions.
She knelt down in front of him, placing one foot on the ground whilst resting her hands on her other leg.

"Why the long face, Spence?
Is everything ok?
Oh God, it's not the baby–"

"That's the third time this week that you've asked me, Eloise.
Mum and the baby are fine", said Spencer.

"Then what's wrong?"

Spencer shook his head.
"You'll think I'm stupid."

"You were there for me when I was struggling with science.
You said I wasn't stupid then, and I can bet you anything that I won't think you're stupid now."

Spencer recognised her unwavering determination to be there for someone.
It was the same look he gave her.
These past few weeks made him start to realise just how much Eloise was there for him.
Not just when he really needed her, but when he was content in life too.

"Ok, fine.
I... I'm nervous about the Spin The Bottle game.
I've never kissed anyone before, and I don't want to embarrass myself."

Spencer waited for the laughter.
He waited for the jokes.

"Dude, first kisses are not as glamorous as TV shows make them out to be", said Eloise. "When I had my first kiss, the boy still had chewing gum in his mouth.
I fully thought he'd choke."

Spencer grimaced.

"It gets better with experience I think.
Just... try not to make it bigger than it is."

"I'm not saying I have to have an amazing first kiss, I don't really care about that.
I just don't want to, like, be the worst kisser ever.
If that got spread around the school, my life would quite literally be over", said Spencer.

"Well, you don't have to play."

"Yeah, that's not really an option for me."

Eloise furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Before she could ask him to elaborate, the bell rang.

¤¤¤

Alex and Naomi's parties always took place at Naomi's aunt's house.
She was very rich, even richer than Elliott's family.
The house was more like a mansion, with rooms that never seemed to end.
There was a chandelier in every room except the three bathrooms.
The house stood on its own, with the nearest house a good ten steps away.
Small baskets were hung up near the front door, containing fresh fuchsias.

By the time the group got there, Alex and Naomi's party was well under way.
Hordes of students from various social groups were gathered in the main room.
An area had been made for dancing
—marked with strobe lights.
The music rippled through the air, pumping life into the party.

The group arrived together, despite Zee remarking that it looked odd.
Eloise's wavy hair was styled into a French braid.
Her makeup was minimal, except for the purple and blue smokey eye on her eyelids. She was wearing a black tank top with a short, dark purple jacket over it.
She opted for black trainers to match her black leggings.

Irene wore an olive green shirt, which she tucked in to her yellow and black striped trousers.
Her hair was crimped, although this wasn't intentional.
She had just forgotten to undo her braids before she went to bed last night.

Rowan was wearing a white shirt with maroon suspenders and trousers.
He wore black trainers.
Atlas opted for a white flannel shirt, that had thin yellow and grey lines running down it.
He paired it with white and grey trainers and black jeans.

Elliott chose to wear a white shirt underneath a velvet blue blazer.
His trousers were navy blue.
He knew this wasn't exactly a formal occasion, but his brothers assured him he'd turn heads in this outfit.

Spencer wore a grey top with a white and green checkered flannel shirt over it.
His jeans were black and his shoes were white.
Danny wore a navy blue top and black ripped jeans, with his favourite red and white trainers finishing off the look.

James—yes, James, was also with the group. They couldn't tell if he was trying to turn over a new leaf, or if his friends just weren't there, but no amount of objections from Eloise and the others could stop him from tagging along.

Anyway, he decided to wear a red and white checkered shirt, with blue jeans.
His shoes were covered in mud
(most of which was scraped off on the floor outside, per Eloise's demand.)
Zee was wearing a green turtleneck jumper, with a black jacket over it.
Her leggings and Chelsea boots were both black.
Her hair was straightened and tied into a low ponytail, a few strands of her breaking free to frame her face.

"Right, time to divide and conquer", said Eloise.

Rowan, Atlas and Elliott headed towards a small group of people.
The others went to different groups.
Zee spotted her best friend Aurelia, talking to Cass.
Aurelia was wearing a
'DICHOTOMY'
graphic tank top—one of Allergic To Passionfruit's main music rivals.
Their love for the different bands was actually what kickstarted their friendship years ago.

"Zee?
I didn't think you'd actually come!", she exclaimed.

Zee shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm full of surprises", she joked.

Cass grinned.
"Hey, Zee!
You look so pretty!"

"Oh.
Uh thanks, Cass."

"So, uh, why did you ask me to get you an invite?", asked Aurelia.
"Don't tell me, someone here required your services?"

"I don't just dish out gossip, Aurelia.
The price has to be high enough, but honestly?
Business has dried up lately.
I'm just here to get out of the house for a bit", replied Zee.

"Ah, well good for you", said Aurelia.
"Did you come alone?
You can hang out with me and some others if you want?"

Zee shook her head.
"Oh, no, it's ok.
Atlas is here as well so I'll probably just hang with him.
I'll catch you up later though."

Before Aurelia could register what Zee had said, she had already waved goodbye and started walking off.
She watched as Atlas looked up at Zee.
His smile brightened, and he gave her a small wave as she walked past.
To Aurelia's surprise, Zee smiled at him.
She knew the pair were friends—thanks to Aurelia dating Atlas, but she didn't know just how close they had gotten since the breakup.
It was nice to see Atlas be so nice to Zee, even if it did feel a tiny bit weird to Aurelia.

Rowan, Elliott and Atlas were doing their best to gather intel.
They were talking to Matt and Josie, who were both in Elliott's science class.
Atlas knew Josie from the Military Family club, and also because they went to the same primary school when they were younger.
Rowan knew Matt from Debate club.

"So, I bet you're excited for the football tournament", said Elliott, decided to just be direct.

"Uh... yeah.
But that's months away", said Matt.

"My boyfriend won't stop talking about it", said Josie.
"He's really nervous about playing against that Pepperden."

Elliott tried to hide his smile.
Both Jacob and Leon were on the football team at Pepperden, and they took pride in it.
Elliott loved hearing about all of the competition his brothers won.
They had beaten Elliott's school for the last five years, only fuelling their rivalry further.

"Well, uh, I'm really looking forward to it", said Rowan.
"It's one of the best events at the school."

Matt furrowed his eyebrows.
"Is it?
I mean, the game's good, but there's not really much to do.
And the actual rally is getting kind of old."

"Yeah, we need cool music or some kind of entertainment I think", said Josie.
"That would make it so much better."

The trio looked at each other.
Elliott gave a subtle nod to Rowan and Atlas, before pulling out his phone and quickly making a note of their suggestions.

Next to the refreshments table, Spencer was choosing his next victim.
Spencer's earlier words still weighing on her mind, Eloise decided to join him.

"Hey, Spence.
You know earlier, at school, what did you mean–"

"Spencer!", called out Danny, walking towards the pair.
"Oh, hey Eloise.
Uh, Spencer, I got the details of Amanda's party for you."

"What's this about a party?", asked Eloise.

"Oh, Spencer asked me if there were any other parties happening, so I told him about Amanda's", replied Danny.
"I gotta warn you, her older sister is almost always at her parties, and she brings her mates.
They mostly drink and smoke in the back garden but a few of us have joined in sometimes."

"Thanks, mate", said Spencer.

"Drinking and smoking at a party?
Spencer, you don't even like the partying bit!", exclaimed Eloise.

"There's a first time for everything", he replied.

Eloise furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She didn't know what was up with Spencer lately.
Just as she was about to ask him what was going on with him, Spencer and Danny walked away to speak with other students.

After finding a quiet area, Irene pulled out her phone to call her dad.
She pressed the phone to her ear, plugging the other with her index finger so that she could focus on her dad's voice.

"Hello, love."

"Dad!
How are you?
Is everything ok?
I promise I won't be any longer than an hour–"

"Stop stressing, Monny.
I'm alright."

Monny was the nickname her father gave her when she was younger.
Board games were kind of their thing,
Monopoly being their favourite one.
The face of Monopoly was an old man who wore a monocle.
The nickname was a play on that, but the added bonus was that it also sounded like money—something which Irene was excellent as acquiring whenever they played Monopoly.

"Stop stressing?
Dad, the other day I came home to you choking.
I just... I was really scared, Dad.
I thought I was going to lose you."

A long moment of silence followed, leaving Irene worried that she had upset her dad.

"Irene, I'm not going anywhere.
I promise.
You can stay out for a little longer if you like, as long as you're back by nine.
If I need you, I'll text.
Try to relax and have some fun though."

Irene wasn't sure her definition of fun could be met here, but she appreciated her dad's concern.

"Ok, I'll try.
I love you, Dad."

"That's my girl.
I love you too."

Only a few steps away, Zee watched as Irene ended the call and put her phone away.

Rylan James—Alex's best friend, cupped his hands around his mouth, before turning to the crowd.

"Yo, it's Spin The Bottle time!"

____

Hi.

What are your thoughts on part 1?

starryeyedturtle

DoodleYeet

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Tornado-Jockey