Chapter 25

How the hell had he ended up in this mess? Andrew was shy and inherently a loner. Working on his balance and friendship goal was royally screwing up his life. Girl drama, spurned boy drama. He didn’t think he was ever going to leave the library again. Andrew got through the afternoon, mainly being accused of hiding behind a girl to stop getting his arse kicked. He ignored that and didn’t respond. How could he? It was true. The guys in his class were for the most part harmless. One or two were right dickheads but he ignored them, barely acknowledged their existence. Rob Derry was the worst. Snide, mouthy little shit. In a group there is always one who flogs the horse well after it has gone to the knacker’s yard. Rob was always looking for a rise. Bait enough and see what you caught. He was the person who clung onto old Andrew the longest. Now, Andrew just looked at him with contempt. Wouldn’t take any of his baiting. It was Pete that finally shut him up.

“Fuck sakes Rob. Shut up already. Like you would have told Valerie to leave? Get real.”

That finally got Derry to quieten down but with him it was never for long. Andrew had energy to spare that afternoon so he set off way too fast at Cross Country keeping up with the guys on the Cross Country team at the start. That didn’t work out so well for him at the end as he had a wicked stitch and was dragging his sorry arse at the finish line. They ran around an area called The Meadows. Edinburgh has been around since before the Romans. The one stretch of the original city wall still standing was, and still is, part of the wall of Heriot’s school. Outside the city wall the farmers could graze their sheep, on the Meadows. As the city grew the Meadows were never developed but remained parkland. Fast forward 300 years and the 60 plus acres were now an urban park. They ran round this park for their Cross Country. It was a five minute walk from school and they could run safely without worrying about vehicles. Andrew walked slowly back to school trying to catch his breath. It was like the first time he tried going flat out at swimming. His regular exercise routine was keeping him fit but Andrew was not a natural athlete. Trying to push himself demonstrated that every time.

Thursday was spent dealing with the fallout from the confrontation with Brown and Kerr. Derry and a couple of other guys were still giving him shit between classes but the fact that Andrew went to the University at lunch for his bass lesson helped him avoid the worst of it. Suzanne was both worried and pissed about the whole thing. Andrew, he was just trying to get through the week without any more drama.

Fat chance of that.

For the first time since he had been released from hospital it felt overwhelming and relentless. Sunday morning Andrew was going to take a long lie and do nothing. Maybe he needed some do nothing time. Right then he decided that he was not turning on the computer that night. Two nights of doing nothing but listening to some music or reading some fiction for fun. They were walking out as usual at 5.00. Suzanne was still annoyed at Brown and Kerr.

“Hey, let it go. The next time I see you is going to be Saturday night at 6pm.”

Her eyes widened as she realised.

“There we go. Ignore that pair. Valerie said she was going to deal with it.” Andrew smiled. “See you on Saturday.”

He walked away without a backwards glance. As planned he relaxed that night, played a couple of albums and had an early night. Friday was more of the same. Even the guys in CCF were having a go. This was much more like banter than the snide shit Andrew had been taking from Derry. He silently thanked Nikki for her help.

“Give it a rest. At least I’m not so ugly I repulse the girls. You pair should be lurking under a bridge.”

The platoon laughed and the tone was set for the afternoon. He got zinged well a couple of times but held his own and the whole process made him feel closer to the guys. Odd. As usual when it was his turn to head over to Julian’s Andrew took his computer over the night before. He used to swim on a Saturday morning at the Pool but now he was going to the girl’s field hockey games. Either way he went from there directly to the Strong’s house. The next morning he could walk as they were playing at Mary Erskine’s which was only ten minutes from there.

Seven of the team had approached him over the second half of the week, asking that he come and support them. All the talk of ‘perv’ and ‘sad loser’ had been dismissed. At first, he had been ambivalent but when more than half the team asked him he acceded.

Andrew ran for an hour again on Saturday morning but took the pace down slightly after getting winded on Wednesday. There were no easy bus routes to the Erskine’s hockey field so he convinced his dad to give him a lift. This was about the extent of their parental interactions.

The same as the previous week, Andrew stood on the opposite side to the benches but this time half the damn team came over to say hi. So much for being a low key supporter of the team. Allie, Kate and Paula all stood and chatted with him. Suzanne was noticeable by her absence.

“Pre date nerves, Andrew.”

This from Paula with sympathetic nods from Allie and Kate. Every time, one step forward, two steps back. What was he meant to say to three other girls when they tell him this about his date? Well honesty never hurt. Okay, mostly never hurt.

“What the hell am I meant to say to that? Get you to tell her not to be? Tell her I am nervous too?”

Andrew threw up his hands.

“Life was so much easier before you all arrived here, you know that? Quiet and dull but so much easier.”

They all laughed.

“Tell her to play well. You are going to beat these guys. I am not even going to sneak off. I will be here at the end applauding your first victory.”

They all left with big smiles on their faces. And yes, they did beat Mary Erskine easily 3-0. After the match Andrew congratulated them. He smiled at Suzanne, and told her.

“See you tonight. I can’t wait.”

But as he turned to escape to Julian’s he noticed that the coach was talking to one of the team, someone that Andrew recognised but didn’t know. He guessed that this was Jacqui. Both of them were casting unpleasant glances over at him as he headed for the gate.

Their computer game now worked but it was limited. They were struggling to scale it and extend it. And they didn’t know whether it was a lack of hardware, a computing power issue or it was the software design. The two of them had come a long way over the last two months but it looked like they needed someone with more experience to help them move to the next level. The two of them sat in the kitchen in the afternoon drinking tea and talking through the next steps. Mr. Strong arrived looking like he had just finished playing golf, which on a Saturday afternoon was not much of a guess. His wise cracks had stopped since the discussion on VisiCalc with Brian Campbell. Recently he had been quite supportive. He listened as they explained their impasse.

“Why don’t you put a couple of flyers at the University?” he suggested. “There maybe someone who can help you with this problem. Computing is so new that the age difference shouldn’t be an issue. You two are two years apart. Maybe some first year University student can help. Like you two, someone might be looking for a couple of likeminded guys to program with.”

Wow. What a great suggestion. Mr. Strong sure had changed his opinion.

Once Andrew got home he showered again and got ready. The weather in Edinburgh in November meant that warmth was the important requirement. Dressing up came second to averting hypothermia. He caught the bus and was at the ABC almost 20 minutes early. Apparently, he was ready for the night out to start.

So was his date. 30 seconds after Andrew arrived Suzanne turned up. With her family. She got out of the car and as she walked towards him he saw her mum, dad and a younger girl, presumably her little sister, all watching Suzanne intently. When Suzanne saw him she beamed a smile but then whipped her head round and looked back at the car. When she turned back she was looking embarrassed. Andrew walked up to her.

“So the Jenners all decided on a night out did they?”

She nodded still blushing.

“Didn’t think I would be here so early and now we have an audience.”

Where the following reckless moment came from Andrew don’t know.

“So let’s give them something to talk about on the way home. Kiss me.”

Her head jerked up, startled.

“What?”

“Kiss me. Go on, more than peck, less than a big snog.”

There he was, standing tied to the pole with kindling all around him, playing with matches.

“Really?”

Andrew nodded. Suddenly, she grabbed his head and kissed him full on the mouth. So his first kiss on a date was a dare to tease the girl’s parents. She released him, grabbed his hand and they headed over the box office. As they walked she looked over her shoulder and started laughing.

“Dad looks like he is trying to get out the car, Mum has his arm and is smiling and Vanessa looks like she just saw the Loch Ness Monster. I think we can officially call that a success.”

Any tension was broken and Andrew bought tickets for a movie that they agreed on before they walked down Lothian Road to find a restaurant. They walked side by side and Andrew fought the urge to take Suzanne’s hand. They ended up at the same Italian that he and Leslie had been at a couple of weeks earlier. They placed their orders and sat back to chat. Suzanne was wearing a wool knit polo neck dress. It was some indescribable combination of loose and flattering while at the same time being tight in all the right places. She had low heeled boots on to complete the outfit. Suzanne looked stunning.