I hurried on towards school, trying to put Jay out of my mind and avoid thinking about who’d be my next admirer. I arrived at the school gates at the same time as Zoe and her group of goth friends did and nodded hello to them. I didn’t really know most of them, just Athena, who was Zoe’s BFF, and Trevor Blake who I was friends with myself. I’d know him since we were both little kids and although he’d become closer friends with my sister than me the last few years, I still considered him one of my good friends, so was unsurprised when he came over and brohugged me.
“Hey man,” he said “Zoe just told me about your grandfather. Sorry to hear about what happened to him. I know how close you were with him.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I still can’t believe he’s gone sometimes.”
“I’m here for ya man if you need someone to talk to.”
“Thanks man. How have you been?”
“Same old crap as always,” he smiled at me and sniffed a couple of times. “Hey you smell good today,” he commented, the tip of his tongue licking his lips. I looked at him in surprise.
“Err.”
“Yeah,” he sniffed again, “Real good.”
I swallowed and could have sworn I saw sunlight gleaming off the tips of his canines. Glancing over at the other goths I said “Anyone got a raw steak I can throw to distract him, or is this where he eats me.”
Trevor shook his head and chuckled. “Sorry man, no offence, it’s just...you smell nicer than normal.”
“Err, do I normally smell bad?”
“What? No! That’s not what I meant! It’s just..,” he trailed off, flustered.
“Anyway, catch you later,” I said to break the awkward silence, “I wanted to see Karyn before school starts.” Nodding to my sister and her friends, I beat a hasty retreat, leaving Trevor to the ribbings of his mates.
