Chapter 14

Thursday

Marissa

Thursday morning. I'm past half-way, and I have someone watching out for me. Well, actually, probably several people watching out for me, but... Alban's confusing. He's... he's like a knight in shining armour most of the time, every time I've ever seen him until this week, in fact. He drops in from the roof to save me like James Bond or something, all towering grace and easy smiles, and then all of a sudden he's like a little boy being punished; small, huddled, hunched, lashing out for no obvious reason.

There's something going on in there, and I shouldn't care what it is, but I do. Half of me's saying 'what's the point, once he knows the truth he'll lose interest' and the other half's thinking 'someone this good's worth taking a risk for'. The alarm, thankfully, put an end to that little merry-go-round of directionlessness. I showered, dressed and got on with it. Morgan needed feeding seeing as she was up, Mum had worked lates last night, so she wouldn't get up until I was on my way out the door. By the time I had my lunch made, and Morgan had finished eating, it was time to go.

"Morning, Mum." I kissed her gently as she woke up, watching that moment's hesitation as her eyes opened and she hurriedly caught up with where she was.

"Morgan's already eaten, I have to go."

"OK, love. Have a good day." She laid her head down, but Morgan raced past me to launch herself onto the bed, ensuring I wouldn't have to phone on the way to school. Outside it was raining, so I grabbed my umbrella. I actually quite like walking in the rain, I like the pattern's in the puddles, and the noise — I sleep easier when it rains, too.

At the end of the path, leant up against the bike, Alban stood waiting.

"I'll get soaked." I pointed out to him, before he could make the offer.

"I have a towel for you." He countered, gently. "And you won't have to sit around in those wet clothes all day, either." He eased himself off the bike, and I realised he'd locked the helmets away under the seat somewhere. "Anyway, we'd get there too early and be stood around in the rain — I just wondered if you wanted someone to walk with you."

"You just wanted to be on hand when I got there, in case Andrew's around." He acknowledged that with a shrug. "It's not a big umbrella."

"That's OK, I'm just about waterproof." He assured me, and started walking, slowly, pushing the bike along the side of the road.

"I didn't expect to see you until we got to school." I pointed out.

"I couldn't guarantee McBride wouldn't try to accost you on the way. If you two have history, he might know where you live." I was disappointed, there was a bit of me that hoped he just wanted to walk with me. Of course, this was Alban, so it was all duty, or whatever was going on his head. I couldn't find anything to say to that, and he was obviously struggling with something too.

"Come on, there's obviously something you want to say."

"It's none of my business." He demurred.

"So it's just curiosity, then?"

"Something like that."

"That's not a bad thing, it's alright to be curious. What is it you want to know?"

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, I understand, but... what is your history with McBride?"

"He and I... we went out for a while. It was a long time ago. I changed schools not long after that, didn't see him again until this year. He decided to come here for A-levels rather than go up to the college."

"Oh."

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know... something more significant, I suppose." He shrugged. "I wanted to think he actually had a reason for this, that there was something that we could deal with, but... apparently he's just a dick." If only he knew. I was close to telling him, I could feel the idea bubbling up in the back of my head.

"I thought you'd given up on the idea of talking to him — that's what you were saying yesterday." I pointed out, instead. It sounded like an attractive proposition to me, seeing Alban pound him around a room for a while.

"I don't think it's likely, but... I'd rather avoid the consequences of getting into a fight if I can possibly help it." The rest of the walk was quiet, just feet slap-slapping through the puddles — though he did lift me over one of the bigger stretches of water, hands clasped gently about my waist. That was... nice. As we approached the gates, another crowd had gathered despite the rain, and although McBride was there he wasn't the focus of attention.

Dr Hibbert, Dr Adams, and a small, dark-skinned woman I didn't recognise were stood there, beneath umbrellas, waiting.

"Mr Darch." Dr Adams called, as we slowed to a halt.

"Good morning." He acknowledged, cool as you like. The water was running down his nose, dripping off the end, and it must have been running down his neck as well, but he stood there like nothing was the matter, looking back and forth between the three of them. The circle of people closed in a little, and I stepped a little closer to him, seeing the set of his jaw, the muscle flicking gently in his temple as he clenched his teeth together.

"You alright?" I asked him, quietly, and he gave me a quick smile.

"We'll see."

"Good morning, Alban." Dr Hibbert stepped forward, and he just nodded, wary. "This is Miss Croker, who works for the Local Education Authority, she's in the legal department."

"Good morning, Miss." He nodded his greeting, polite to the last.

"Mr Darch, this is a copy of an agreement between the British and American Governments about the treatment of students in each others countries." She started, all business, brandishing a sheet of paper at him. "This is for you. Under the terms of this agreement, so long as an American citizen is working under the auspices of our education system, they are bound by the same rules as any other student. It's an old agreement, but it's still valid."

"You're an American?" I asked, surprised. He nodded, but didn't look away from them. Despite that fixed gaze, his jaw was relaxed now, a slight smile on his lips.

"I see." He acknowledged, taking the paper without reading it. "I can assume, then, that you accept that I'm entitled to claim I'm an American citizen? I've brought my passport along, just in case." The three of them suddenly became a lot more hesitant, but nodded cagily.

"Thank you. In that case, I'd like to renew my objections to being put into this 'Programme', and cite that your actions in trying to force me into it contravene the first, fourth, thirteenth and fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution; these state, in order, that you shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people.

That the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

And that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States... No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

They were stunned. The crowd was stunned. Alban was bristling, ready for a fight, and I was just struck by how incredible he was. He just would not bend an inch. If he thought it was right, it was right, and he wouldn't budge from that. That's when I decided to tell him, because I knew I could trust him. If he promised not to tell anyone, nothing could drag it out of him.

Alban

I waited. I was trembling, I knew I was, there was just so much adrenaline pumping through me right then. I didn't know where I was going to go from there, and it's only Thursday. They've got a day, yet, to come up with something else, and I don't know what it is. After yesterday, I expected this, but tomorrow? There's no way up from Constitutional Amendments without calling up the American Senate, and I don't think they'll get the response they need just to get some anonymous seventeen year old kid in England stripped off in school.

Which means they'll go somewhere else, try a different tack. I knew what I'd do if was them, but... I know me better than they do, I know which buttons I'd press. I have a horrible suspicion Dr Hibbert's thinking of it already, and he'll be more inclined after this. They made it public, waiting to ambush me at the gate like this, they created the audience — of course people were going to wait to see what the Headmaster was doing waiting at the entrance in the rain.

But I said it, I stood up to the authority in public, and they were going to have to try and get it back — and in an equally visible fashion — or it would start to spread.

Despite that, it felt damned good to throw that back in their faces. They needed humbling a little, this whole 'Programme' thing has gone to their heads, picking and choosing who to humiliate for a week based on parental consent. If they picked the people that needed a crash course in humility — McBride sprang almost immediately to mind — I could tolerate it a little better, but they didn't. Connor? Marissa? These weren't people that needed to learn anything, they were everyday kids getting on with their lives. Connor was smarter than just about anyone else at the school, but he didn't lord it over anyone. Marissa was smart, and cute, and funny, and a hell of gymnast, but she wasn't big-headed or bitchy or anything either.

"This isn't going to work, Alban." Dr Hibbert finally broke the silence.

"Unless you've got something that overrules the protections afforded me by the Constitution of the United States, I'm afraid it is."

"Choices have consequences." Dr Adams intoned, and Marissa hissed her displeasure somewhere to my right. I wasn't going to bite this time, not after yesterday. I might have known he'd try to press that button.

"Yes, yes they do. You chose to bring this out here, you chose to try and knuckle me under out here in public... your choice, not mine." OK, so I bit a little, deliberately misinterpreted — it was a battle of wills, that much was obvious. He's trying to break me, I don't know why, but it's not going to happen. I'm not going to let it.

"I'm sorry, Alban." Dr Hibbert shook his head, slowly. That's when I knew. One way or another he was going to get me Friday. He couldn't let that go. It was probably too late on Monday, when I first turned up at the office, but I wasn't just going to roll over and give up. He turned away, Adams and Miss Croker following him, and the crowd just seemed to dissolve in their wake, breaking up to head for lessons.

"You're mad." Issy declared, darting forward out of the pack as they pushed the other way. Kirsten and Pete weren't far behind. "You made it though, that'll show 'em."

"No it won't."

"What do you think they'll do next?" Marissa asked, laying a sympathetic hand on my arm.

"I think they've exhausted the possibilities of trying to force me into it — they'll either try to convince me it's a good idea for someone else's benefit or threaten me with something else."

"Suspension?" Pete wondered. I just shrugged, there was no way of knowing.

"Do you think they'll try it today?" Issy wondered.

"I doubt it, I don't think they were expecting this to fail. Legal advice from the LEA, official documents with," — I peered down at the damp piece of paper — "the seal of United States, no less... they thought this would browbeat me into it, or they wouldn't have gone to all the effort."

"So what now?" Pete asked.

"Now, we head in to class. No point worrying about what can't be helped."

"Would you hold the umbrella?" Marissa asked, resigning herself to another day of it. She deftly slipped off her coat, and beneath it was a simple wrap-skirt and t-shirt which she shed in seconds. "It didn't seem worth wearing anything more elaborate than that." She pointed out. I turned away again, holding the umbrella as low as I could without hitting her with it, and she was stripped off in seconds, slipping her feet back into her shoes.

"You must be freezing." I pointed out and she looked down. I followed her gaze — it's sort of instinctive, you know. Have you ever stood somewhere and stared up at the sky? People look up, try to see what you're looking at. It's curiosity, and self-defence. You need to know what's happening around you. So when she looked down, I looked down.

She was definitely cold.

"You're blushing." She said, and of all expressions on her face there was amusement.

"Fair's fair," I countered, looking back up. "So are you." I opened up my coat, wrapping it around her, feeling the cold air cut through my sweater.

"I can't..." she argued, but she wasn't strong enough to push my arm away, and she wasn't trying that hard.

"Reasonable request." I told her, and Issy cackled behind us.

"Wish I'd requested that — naked chick inside my clothes sounds good to me."

"There is a naked chick inside your clothes." Pete pointed out. "You."

Kelly

Thursday. Did I say I hate Wednesdays? I hate Thursdays. Well, this Thursday... hang on, I said that yesterday too, didn't I? Bugger. I just hate this week. Monday was tolerable. Monday outside the library was actually quite good. The rest of it... but now there's Issy on the horizon, steaming this way. That could be interesting. Political correctness tells us that girls liking girls is absolutely fine in this day and age, but... I don't know, you never hear of Sleeping Beauty being woken with a kiss by Princess Charming, do you. There's still that mainstream idea of boy-girl being somehow 'normal'. I'd not really thought about girls until the Programme came up. I'm not disgusted by the idea, there's a definite intrigue there... See, not being able to see people, the differences between men and women aren't that obvious in everyday life. Sure, normally you can differentiate the voices, but they actually interact pretty much the same way. You get some obvious... well, not men... males, staking out their territory, stating their intentions, and some real girly girls, all horses and make-up and... you know the sort.