The best thing about school is skiving it thought Charlie as he casually strolled through the park on his way to meet his mates. The sun was shining and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, in all sorts of ways he thought. BJ had phoned last night to let him know the stuff had arrived, if it was as good as the packaging, it would be amazing. “let’s not get too carried away, we can’t judge a book by its cover,” he cleared his throat to cover his nervousness. They were all legal high virgins.
They passed round the small packages containing 1gm of legal high. How great the artwork on the packaging was, they said nervously, not wanting to be the one to say fuck it, just open and go and not be the one to chicken. They looked long and hard at each other, each not wanting to look scared. “For fucks sake, we’ve seen loads of folk high on this stuff. Ye’re a bunch of Charlies,” Charlie gave a little grunt at his unintended pun. He opened his bag, placed the dirty white powder on his algebra book, rolled up the five pound note his Mum had given him for lunch. (He’d pinched another tenner, owing it to BJ.) He snorted it up each nostril and lay back to wait for the buzz. His mates, emboldened by his actions done likewise. The gang of six friends lay on their backs looking at a clear blue sky and thought how magnificent it was. Fucking amazing. They looked at each other with staring eyes, their pupils completely masked over what were once their iris. Fucks sake, they were buzzing. The two girls who joined them were in third year. They were only skiving double maths. They hadn’t done it before and had found out where to come from Brogan’s older sister, after she had warned Brogan not to hang around too long, the skippy man had found the hang out, luckily when it was empty, but the signs of drug taking had been obvious so the police were notified.
The boys were shouting and jostling, each trying to be the alpha male in front of the girls. Charlie fancied the wee blonde called Brogan. She was nice. Normally he would have been out of his depth, but not today, he was invincible. Charlie and BJ passed on a drag of their Mums’ cigarettes, importuned that very morning for this very fantasy. Ah, life was better than good thought the boys. Charlie’s arm gently held Brogan. He whispered what was really a load of shite in the poor girls’ ears, thinking it was sure to get her knickers off. The problem was, Charlie hadn’t had any girl with their knickers off. He had always been tongue tied and awkward. Girls liked the idea of Charlie. He was big, 6ft 6ins and built like a boxer, he used weights to bulk up. Being with Charlie (hadn’t been a little boy since primary school) was unnerving for any teenage girl, he had a presence that belied his young age, an aloof manner that camouflaged his awkwardness. He was always in charge. Thanks to a certain reputation that had followed him through school, he was dangerous. This day, buoyed by synthetic cocaine, nothing could stop him. The girl’s freshly washed hair played on his senses. The rise of her little breasts under her white shirt invited Charlie to go in and have a look at some more. He unbuttoned her top button, then another before the girl asked him to stop. He whispered in her ear not to worry, they weren’t going to do anything. She smiled and gazed into his eyes, trusting him again, of course they weren’t. He groped her right breast with his free hand, “honestly Brogan, I’ve fancied you for ages, I just couldn’t pluck up the courage to talk to you. You were always with your mates” n’ that. How about you let me just have a look and we can meet here later? You can trust me.” He kissed her neck as the blouse fell open to reveal her pale skin, she hadn’t realised he had got that far. She covered herself with her arms as she buttoned up her blouse. BJ took a couple of photos as he stood behind a tree, happy, pleased as punch, what mischief they could get into. Life was a blast. “Brogan, I’ll see you later, yeah.” She wasn’t sure. He was Charlie Christanos.