A Teaser for Tuesday

Day Four of the new year, and I shall share a fresh snip - which isn't really a teaser - from What Was Mine. A rough draft, but this might just give you a feel of the novel.

Also, I'm currently experimenting with blog layouts, this being a new year and it's all about starting anew yadda yadda, so you might just see a different template next time you hop around. Or probably not. 

Hope the start of the year's been good. 

Lunch begins with the usual greeting sand backslaps, high fives and cigarette exchanges between the day scholars and the boarders. Ashley passes a pack of Marlboro Lights under the table and Hayden, who is one among the two hundred students living i the campus residential halls, hides it under her skirt.

Bridget, who shares a room with her, announces that there is a moth in the bathroom, to which Hayden turns death pale since she is not particularly fond of flying creatures and the bathroom is the only place in Baumbury where she dares to smoke up.

'No Dylan tonight?' Mel asks inbetween scoops of yogurt.

Hayden recovers enough to inform her - ' We fucked up the bedsheets last time and he got into trouble with the matron.'

How she manages to sneak into the residential halls of Baumbury Boys in spite of the high security beef-up around the academy, is beyond me.

With bedsheets now the topic of conversation, Shirley, who is also Mel's neighbour, launches into a full-blown account of her escapades with a thirty year old French divorcee, who apparently is researching a paper on Freud.

I have to chew around my gum to keep myself from throwing up my food. Between Principal Heyer's threats, Mr. Smith's announcements and Shirley's bedroom chatter, I'm tired. And the headache's getting worse. I can hardly stretch my eyes open and here I have to pretend everything is cool and I' having a great time.

And then, before I can feel the under-the-table nudge from Ashley, I'm nose-to-nose with Carole Davies, big brown curls dancing around her face, eyes narrowed to slits. She inhales loudly and says, 'Friday night, Conrad and I shall spend some quiet time together at my place. We shall do things together and my parents will not be home.'

Wow, breaking news.

Her nose looks so huge up close, I let out a chuckle. I lean forward and let the bubblegum go pop right infront of Carole's face and say, 'Friday night I'm going skinny dipping with my own band of boys. Quiet popcorn and movie time? Lame.'

Not true, but lies are what I live on. It leaves everyone at the table laughing and Carole red-faced just like I want.