Carol’s in the year above him at school and she’s what he’d call a ‘looker’. If she’d told him this months ago maybe he’d have tried convincing his parents not to move them ninety miles away. Peter wouldn’t see his friends again for god knows how long so they parted company with a manly hug. Carol gave him a hug and kiss, followed by a lingering smile. “Keep in touch” were her parting words.
It’s early February. Peter and his family moved away six months ago and apart from a few messages soon after leaving and a Christmas card, he’s barely kept in touch with his old friends. Then out of the blue, he sends Noel a message saying that they’re returning to Slough for a couple of days at mid-term. “Thought you’d forgotten about us!” is Noel’s reply.
“Nah… soz… just been a bit slack.”
“So what’s it like?”
“OK mostly… not enjoying school much though.”
“If it’s owt like its website, it’ll be ten years out of date.” Noel says. “Good sports facilities though… thought that’d be right up your street?”
“No footy, no cricket, no rugby… just tennis, track & field and stuff. :(” Peter typed. He’d deliberately not mentioned netball and hockey
“No footy!?” Noel quickly typed. “What kind of school is it?
“The worst kind imaginable.”
“Not an EP school is it?” Noel guessed. Peter didn’t immediately reply, which isn’t unusual on messenger. He could be multitasking, making a brew, anything. “Well?” Noel typed after a few minutes. “You there?” he added a minute later.
“Yeah still here… just trying to find a photo.” Peter replied.
A moment later, a window appeared on Noel’s netbook screen saying ‘Peter J is sending a file, Do you want to accept?’. He clicks Yes and types “Carol says Hi.” as the image begins to download.
Meanwhile, Peter had typed “Don’t show this to everyone!” followed by, “Anyone!!!” …and after receiving the message regarding Carol, Peter types “Is she there?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit.” Peter types. “Can you get rid before that photo downloads?”
“Too late.” Noel types. “She’s seen it…. ‘kin ‘ell mate… Is that your school uniform?!”
“I’m not wearing it for fun.”
“You wear that everyday?!”
“Every school day.” Peter typed. “It’s feckin’ horrendous.”
“Carol says you look cute.”
“Tell Carol not to tell anyone… please.”
“Why not? You look cute.”
“I hope Carol typed that.”
“Yeah it’s me. How you doing? You’ve hardly been in touch.”
“That is Carol?”
“Yeah.”
“Hi.”
“Hi :)”
“Yeah… soz… meant to stay in touch but…” After leaving Slough in the middle of the summer holidays, Peter fully intended to stay in regular contact with his old friends. He also fully intended to stay in touch with Carol, but within a day of moving into their new home, Peter’s mum and dad sat him down for a chat about his new school. At first he figured they were winding him up but it soon became apparent that they weren’t. Ever since that day, his life in Butterworth became a bit of whirlwind.
“So it’s an EP school?” she typed
“Yeah… my folks didn’t tell me ’til we got here.” he replied. “Explains why the best school in town has loads of spare places and the other one is ram packed.” he typed