Chapter 19

When I woke up, I’d obviously missed a rest stop because Coach Budd was now driving. We were on the outskirts of town so there wasn’t much further to go until we were back at school. My watch showed a quarter to nine, so my estimate hadn’t been far off. I looked at my smartphone and found an ‘OK’ from Mum in response to my text message.

When we pulled into the school yard, Mum was waiting for me with the car. After saying goodbye to the others, I went over to the car and put my kit in the trunk.

“What’s wrong, Kevin?” asked Mum.

“I overexerted myself during the race,” I said.

“You sound a bit hoarse,” she said. She placed her palm against my forehead. “You’re running a temperature too. I hope you’re not going down with something.”

We drove the short distance home in silence. When we went inside, Terri tried to ask about the race but Mum waved her away, saying I wasn’t well.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I saved you some dinner.”

“Yes, but I don’t think I can stomach any solid food,” I replied.

“Jump into bed and I’ll bring some soup up to you.”

“Thanks Mum.”

Mum’s soup was her traditional first-choice treatment for when we were afflicted by minor childhood illnesses. It was really thick and gloopy, having been simmered until all the constituents were so tender they were easy for a sore throat to swallow. When she delivered it to me, she also had the foresight to bring a couple of paracetamol tablets. I devoured the soup and the pills then lay down to sleep.

Next morning I was woken by knocking on my bedroom door.

“Kevin, are you staying at home today?” asked Mum, after I had invited her in.

Horrified, I checked the time. I had forgotten to set my alarm. Despite sleeping on the minibus and having an early night, I had overslept.

“No Mum, I overslept,” I replied.

“How are you feeling today?”

“Much better thanks.”

“You sound much better.” Mum placed her hand on my forehead. “And your temperature’s gone.”

“I’d better hurry or I’ll be late.”

“Are you hungry after missing dinner last night? I could cook you some breakfast while you’re taking a shower.”

“I wouldn’t have time to eat it. I’m very late.”

“It’s okay, I’ve got the car today. I’ll give you a lift to school,” Mum volunteered.

Being driven to school was usually a cause for embarrassment but these were extenuating circumstances. “In that case, yes please. I don’t deserve you.”

“And don’t forget it,” Mum said with a half smile. She collected last night’s soup dish and left the room. I quickly showered and dressed and headed to the kitchen, seduced by the delicious smell of a fried breakfast

Dad and Terri had already left so I was able to wolf down the food in peace. By the time I had grabbed my books and laptop and stuffed them in my backpack, Mum was in the car with the engine running. Although she made good time, we were still late by the time we got to school gates. I kissed my mum on the cheek and bolted for the entrance.

I got to my home room a few of minutes late. Mrs Gibbons had already started reading out the school notices.

“You’re late, Mr Randell,” said Mrs Gibbons.

“Sorry, Ma’am. I had a long day yesterday.”

“So did I, Mr Randell, and yet I was here on time. Don’t be late again.”

Mrs Gibbons had been our second driver yesterday and her day had been as long as mine, so I guess my excuse sounded a bit crass. She hadn’t had the toll of a tough cross-country race though, and I thought I deserved some leeway following my success. But I held my tongue: at least she wasn’t giving me a detention.

“Yes Ma’am.”

She didn’t say anything about the cross-country meeting when reading out the rest of the notices, so either she’d already mentioned it or it wasn’t deemed important enough.

Michael collared me the first chance he got. “What happened to you? We were hoping you’d walk to school with us this morning.”

“I forgot to set my alarm and overslept,” I admitted. “My mum gave me a lift to school.”

“You have to sit with us at lunchtime,” said Michael. “Dennis has got something weird to show you.”

“Okay,” I agreed. If Dennis had been prepared to work on the project on a Sunday, the least I could do was listen to what he had to say.

The morning passed interminably slowly, but at last lunchtime arrived. I went and sat with Michael and Dimitri. Not being a genuine nerd, Dennis had a different schedule to the three of us so often arrived slightly earlier or, as in this case, later.

“Did Kat give you any more grief about the video?” I asked Dimitri.

“Dude, not in public,” hissed Dimitri. Then he lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “No.”

“Good. I pointed out to her that we all watched it,” I said.

“Have you been chatting up Dimitri’s sister?” asked Michael.

“Oh God, no,” said Dimitri, putting his head in his hands. “You asked her to prom, didn’t you! My sister’s going on a date with my gay friend.”

“What? No!,” I protested. “I just tried to head off any problems between the two of you. Besides, Kat would fail the Age Appropriate test because she’s more than a year older than me.”

Dimitri lowered his hands. “That’s the first time I’ve been grateful Kat is three years older than me,” he said, just as Dennis arrived and sat down at our table.

“Sounds like I’m missing something interesting,” said Dennis.

“Dimitri is worried that Kevin has the hots for his sister,” said Michael.

“But he’s gay!” said Dennis, then he paused to take stock. “I’m sorry, I can’t get my head around the ramifications of this supposed brainwashing. I still automatically think of Kevin as gay.”

“It’s okay,” I replied. “At least you’re now open to the possibility I might not be. The trouble is, the four of us are greatly outnumbered by the rest of the world.”