Chapter 22

Andrew’s exercise regime was still going strong. He was now at 140 sit ups and 70 push ups every morning. After that he went for a 30 minute run, gradually expanding how far he ran. It was the height of simplicity, he ran as far as he could for 15 minutes and then turned round and went back. Every couple of weeks he got his mum or dad to drive the car along the route and Andrew would get an estimate of how far he was running and work out an approximation of how fast. By mid-October he was running close to four miles in 30 minutes, so around 7.5 minute mile pace. He was pleased as it got his heart rate up in the morning. He changed tee shirt but stayed in his sweats for the bus to school, taking his uniform in a bag with him, finally showering after swimming. The mornings were pretty hectic, Andrew woke at 5.45 am to do the exercises then run. He had 10 minutes to grab some breakfast, soup and Weetabix, then hustle to get to the bus stop for the journey into town. When Andrew sat down in class after assembly he had been on the go for more than three hours.

He was still doing well at school although some of the classes were better than others. Chemistry after lunch was fine but the double English as the last class on a Monday was still a pain in the arse. He and Kate worked well together, she was always prepared and as it was a single period they had to be organised to have the experiment completed in the 40 minutes. They were walking over to English when out of the blue she started to question him.

“We never see you at rugby Andrew?”

It was more of a question than a statement.

“I don’t play Kate. I run cross country over at the Meadows.”

Where was this going? Andrew was getting ever more suspicious of Kate Maxwell.

“Why not Andrew? I mean look at you.”

Look at him? What the hell.

“You are straying back into areas I asked to leave alone Kate. I was unable to play last year. But that didn’t matter. I haven’t played rugby for three years, since primary school. I was wretched, not bad, not poor, wretched. I run every day anyway so Cross Country is easy.”

“This has nothing to do with last year Andrew. What I mean is now. Look at you.”

She was staring at him although Andrew had no idea what she was going on about.

“You keep saying look at me. What do you mean Kate? I am reasonably tall but skinny and I have no coordination when it comes to ball sports. None. I am crap. Footie, rugby, tennis, rounders, done them all, been crap at them all.”

Andrew was trying not to sound exasperated. Kate was laughing at him now.

“You are the least vain man in school Andrew. What did you call yourself? Old Andrew and new Andrew. Well your description was of old Andrew. New Andrew is not just tall and skinny, he is tall and strong. New Andrew is starting to become a hunk. I just thought you ought to know that.”

Mr. Caldwell told them where The Ark of the Covenant was hidden during that English class. Andrew never heard a damn word. Okay that was a slight exaggeration but not much. A hunk. Kate bloody Maxwell, self-image again. He never saw it coming. Andrew stopped and thought about it. was that really true? He knew he was getting fitter, and faster and able to swim longer distances. Well at least he would have plenty to talk to Leslie about at the weekend. If he survived that long. At the end of the class Andrew was packing up and Dougie Newsome said ‘see yah’ as he headed off. Andrew waved back, in just over a year he had gone from Dougie to being called a hunk. Confidence Andrew, confidence. He got settled down at his usual seat in the library when Suzanne came in with another one of the 3^rd year girls who Andrew recognised but didn’t know.

“Andrew, I am sure you recognise Paula Rae. Paula this is Andrew McLeod.”

They both eyed each other up rather warily.

“Hello Paula, Suzanne told me that you were interested in getting some tutoring. Suzanne do mind sitting over there for 20 minutes so I can chat to Paula.”

She looked a little miffed but settled down in a seat just out of easy hearing range. Paula looked even more nervous now.

“Apparently I come across as a monster! You can relax. I am not horrible.”

She blushed shyly but didn’t really change her tense expression.

“What would you like some help with? Is there one particular subject you are struggling with?”

Easy questions. Get her to open up a bit.

“I feel I am playing catch up on all my subjects. I thought I was doing okay at Maths but then Suzanne smoked me on the test last week. A month earlier I had beaten her easily. She seems more in control now since she started getting tutoring help. She said you are a good teacher and very patient. I think I need a patient teacher. So here I am.”

She sighed as she finished.

“Okay, here is what we will do and here are the rules. Rules first. I am not doing your homework. You do the work. You need to study at least 10 hours a week. Six here after school Monday, Tuesday and Thursday with the rest in the evenings. I recommend at least two hours on a Sunday in prep for Monday school. If you don’t put in the time then you are just wasting your money. £20 a week in case Suzanne didn’t tell you.

“So there are the rules. Only really one now that I think of it. I will sit and go through each subject for an hour or so this week and help you get caught up on each subject in turn. Build up your confidence. The second hour you will sit and study your current work, today’s homework for example. Once we are caught up and you feel comfortable with the subjects then the tutoring is on an as needed basis. Like today at four Suzanne can start asking about the stuff that she needs some guidance on from today’s work. Her old man is happy to pay the £20. I am not sure I am providing that much value but I’m not going to turn the money down. A lot of my tutoring is getting you to remember that you can do this. Confidence. We all need it and we all need others to help give us a boost now and again. Part of the reason Suzanne is doing so well is because she is confident that she can do it. Do you have any questions?”

It was time to actually do some work. Paula looked slightly shocked but nodded. Andrew told her to get her stuff out and waved to Suzanne to rejoin them. The pattern that he and Suzanne had established was repeated. Paula got the benefit of Suzanne having been the guinea pig for a lot of this. Andrew was more comfortable and a better tutor the second time round. At five o’clock they were ushered out and he walked with the girls to the gate of the school.

“It was nice to get to meet you at last Paula. See you both tomorrow.”

And with a wave Andrew was off to catch the bus home. Tutoring two students meant that he would likely have to finish homework at home now rather than at school. After dinner when he said he was off to finish his homework both his parents looked at him.

“Do your homework? We thought you did that after school. What were you doing instead?”

The question was innocent enough but the underlying tone was interested, bordering on suspicious. Andrew laughed at them.

“Relax, the opium den is term two.”

They had the grace to blush slightly.

“I am tutoring a couple of the pupils in my year. I had one and today I got the second. They took up all my time so I have to finish a couple of things here. No biggie.”

His parents stared at him.

“Tutoring. You. At school.”

“Yes Dad. In the library after school.”

Andrew managed to escape that night but he knew that just meant they had more time to plot the follow up questions! That week like so many others followed an eerily similar pattern. Paula had trouble getting settled down in the library and seemed more easily distracted than Suzanne. But Andrew persevered and it was getting better. He ran into Julian on a cross over between buildings and told him that they would have to be done by 5.00 on Saturday as he was going out that night. Julian nodded. Often that was the extent of their communication. Grunts and nods. The second Chemistry class of the week was not until Thursday morning. Andrew had stayed out of the way of Kate the last two days. The damn woman unnerved him. The ghost of old Andrew hovered in the air like a spectre waiting to pounce. It was a lecture that day rather than an experiment and so there was limited chances to talk, small blessings. Andrew knew that Kate would get him at the end of the class. She waited for him so that they could walk over to History together. Andrew laughed and shook his head.

“What’s so funny, Andrew?”

“Boys and girls Kate, boys and girls.”

She waited for more but Andrew was suddenly calm. Come on, out with it, what is the subject of today’s ambush?

“Do you have a girlfriend Andrew?”

Okay that was unexpected. Trying to control the blush, he looked down at Kate.

“No Kate I don’t. I am only 14. I don’t have a car and I have a pretty busy schedule. What I do have is a whole bunch of friends who are girls. But they are just my friends. I used to think you might be my friend but now I’m not so sure.”

Andrew said the last thing in exasperation as much as anything, but he realised it was the truth. He wasn’t sure Kate Maxwell was a friend. It got a reaction at least. Not a good one however. She gasped, tears formed in her eyes and she ran off. It seemed an overreaction to the comment but Andrew was fed up with all the questions. Pete wandered up beside him.

“Scaring them away. Good work man. That one terrifies me.”

Andrew snorted and walked on up to history class with his friend thinking about girls and friends. When he got to the class there was no doubt that the girls were a tight group. Four faces glared at him when he came into the room while the fifth, Kate, sat with her head down sniffing. Andrew made his way to his desk grateful that no girls were in the immediate vicinity. The day passed with little incident until last period. It was Music and Ford was still mad at him. Andrew also sat next to Alessandra. She was caught between either giving him the cold shoulder or a whispered telling off. He would have preferred the cold shoulder but instead he was called mean for upsetting Kate. Andrew shrugged.

“Allie, I told her the truth, no games. She likes keeping the guys off balance so I called her on it and she runs off in tears. What I said was hardly some damning attack on her either. If you think I’m the villain then go ahead, nothing I can do and more importantly there is nothing I’m going to do. I’m going to stop by and see Fraser and get moved, I don’t need the hassle.”

If only that was the end of it but no. The sisterly solidarity extended to the five other girls in the year, two of whom he was tutoring. Paula came right out with it.

“Why did you upset Kate? That wasn’t very nice.”

“What do you want? To improve or to have a go at me. Isn’t going to be both. Do you want to study or to leave?”

Andrew wasn’t having a good day. They both looked shocked at his attitude.

“Andrew, she is upset. All the girls are mad at you.”

Okay there was the answer. He just stood and packed his bag.

“Where are you going?”

“I am leaving. Don’t need the drama. I had hoped from more from my friends.”

This was unkind but he was not in a good mood. Suzanne flinched as Andrew looked at her as he said it. Instead he headed round to the City Library. He saw Nikki pushing a trolley of returns so went over to say hi.

“Hey, I’ll not keep you but I have had a hell of day. You are going to have a good laugh when we chat on Sunday.” He whispered in her ear. “I’m the one having the girl trouble for a change.”

She gasped and then swatted his arm as he headed off to the Computer Science section. Andrew found an empty desk and did all his homework, read ahead for his classes the next day and the next week. Got into the old study rhythm and felt great. Andrew got so absorbed that he completely lost track of time. Only realising that it was so late when the announcement came over the speakers telling everyone to get out. He had to phone home and let them know. Minor grumblings from his mum but nothing too bad. That night Andrew made a pile of notes for Saturday. He thought he had a good idea for the game. Now all he had to do was convince Julian that it was a good idea. Andrew thought about phoning Leslie but knew that he was seeing her on Saturday. He just needed to get through the next day. Still, his dreams that night were confusing. There appeared to be a lot of girls in his dreams. How life had changed.

Mid-term break had snuck up on him. He knew the school was closed for week but here they were, the last day of school for a week. In his mind it could not have come at a better time. Hopefully Julian had nothing planned and they could spend a chunk of time starting to plan the game. As Andrew walked up the drive to school Mrs. Hall passed him in her car. She was waiting as he came round the main building heading for the pool.

“Andrew? It is 7.25, what on earth are you doing here?”

“I should ask you that Mrs. H. I am here every day at this time, I swim at the pool.”

He had barely broken stride as he spoke to her. She started to walk beside him.

“Everyday? At 7.30 in the morning. You can’t be in the pool on your own.”

There we go, can’t be a teacher without immediately wanting to enforce rules.

“Mr. Kearns is there. See you later.”

With that he headed over to the Chemistry building, the gym and the pool being in the basement of the Chemistry building. He and Kearns ended up spending more time than usual going over Andrew’s interval training. Andrew was going back to the Commonwealth the following week and had asked him about differences with the training over 50m rather than the school’s 25m. As a result Andrew missed getting to the form room before assembly. Hall knew he was here so he didn’t stress and went straight to assembly. He squeezed in next to Pete.

“Where the hell were you? Hall marked you present but no one saw you.”

Andrew just shrugged.

“Was talking to Kearns and lost track of the time. Hall saw me when she arrived this morning.”

After the last week, Andrew wanted to get through the day without drama. He stuck close to Pete on the cross overs between classes so there could be no ambushing, and kept his head down and studiously ignored the girls. He needed to talk all this through with Leslie. He survived the day and CCF was shortened because of the holiday the following week. Andrew was still sure they thought the pupils were goldfish. Let’s make sure they haven’t forgotten how to march.

With the week off he had no urgent homework and had all his swim stuff with him, although they were cold and wet. He went to the pay phone and called home. His mum answered and he told her he was going swimming and wouldn’t be home before 7.00.

It was good to be back at the Commie. It was busier than when he used to swim there but it was great just to have the full 50m to swim in. No intervals or training just steady but not flat out swimming. Andrew started on his back and just enjoyed the relaxation of the pool. He could feel the stress lowering in his body. He flipped over and starting on the front crawl, going even slower. Languid is not a word normally used to describe swimming but that was how he felt. He was going through everything he needed to tell Leslie the next day. Andrew had no idea whether she was going to laugh or hit him. What the hell did he know about girls? Everything he knew she had explained to him. He smiled and started to pick up the pace. They kept lanes for different speeds and Andrew had been swimming along in the medium lane keeping a moderate pace. He switched over to the fast lane as it was time to burn off his remaining energy before heading home. He figured a hard 400m would be a great way to finish the day, so went for it. By the time he touched the wall eight lengths later Andrew could feel his shoulders and arms burning, just what he needed. He caught his breath before levering himself out the pool. He headed off towards the changing room when an older lady called out.

“Excuse me.”

Andrew turned and looked and she was pointing at him. Shit, all he had been doing was swimming. He couldn’t possibly be in trouble. Could he? He wandered over to her.

“Yes ma’am.”

Politeness never hurts with old people.

“I saw you swimming out there. That was a strong 400 at the end.”

This seemed more of a statement than a question.