Joel:I’d spent most of the day in the kitchen prepping food for tomorrow. My hands were sore from constantly being in and out of water, and I had one of those sexy blue plasters on my finger from where I’d cut it, instead of a carrot.My shift was finally over though. And I could go home and sleep.Duncan, the star that he was, had actually given me tomorrow off. Even though they had drafted in loads of extra staff, many from the Huntley’s household, he still insisted I stayed away from the manor for the wedding.I felt bad, but I also appreciated the gesture. I was going to go in bright and early the day after the wedding to tidy up from the big day.I stuck my head into my uncle’s office.“I’m off now.” I said, “Good luck for tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll all go smoothly.”Duncan looked up and smiled at me. He hid it well, but I could see how tired this whole event had made him. My mum kept telling me that he should think about retiring. She was probably right, but I couldn’t hel
Casper:“Stay with me tonight.”I don’t know why I said it. I didn’t even know I was going to say it, until I heard my own voice saying it.Joel didn’t move. His eyes, still locked into mine.Maybe he didn’t want to stay. Maybe it was stupid of me to ask. But all I knew was that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Not yet. Not right now.Joel still said nothing.“Please?” I said, even though I knew it was probably selfish of me to ask.This seemed to have the desired effect though, as Joel finally snapped out of his transe.“Whoa! Is the mighty Casper Bournville pleading with me to spend the night with him? Because there is absolutely no need. I already said yes about a thousand times. Ok, I’m guessing it must have been in my head, but I definitely meant it!”I smiled and shook my head at him. It amazed me how he could always make me smile in the most awkward of situations.“Great then,” I said going to sit back down.“Umm, so where am I going to sleep?” he asked.“Sleep?”“Yes, t
Joel:I slowly drifted back into consciousness, feeling a bright light burning my closed eyelids.I moaned. Why did I always forget to shut my curtains?I made a move to roll over, then realised that I couldn’t.My arm was stuck under something warm.I opened my eyes and blinked a few times while they adjusted to the light.I was not prepared for what I saw.“FUCK!!!”My shout made Casper’s eyes fly open and I watched the exact second his eyes told me he’d just seen what I had.My arm was pinned under Casper’s face.And my sleeve had rolled up in the night. And although Casper probably couldn’t tell yet, I could feel that I was also no longer wearing my glove.“SHIT,” he yelled, jumping out of the bed, like it was on fire.We both stared at my uncovered arm and hand.“What the fuck Joel! Where’s your glove? And why was your pissing arm under my head!”My heart was pounding. It felt like I’d just been woken up by having a bucket of ice cold water dumped over my head. “I don’t kn
Duncan:It was 7:20 am and I had already been at work for an hour.I’d barely slept last night and I knew I’d be lucky if the stress of the day didn’t land me in hospital.Maybe my sister was right. Maybe it was time I retired.My phone started ringing, and I picked it up quickly.“Hello?”“Duncan, is Joel with you?”It was my sister and she sounded worried.“No, I’ve given him today off why?”“Well, when I went to check on him this morning he wasn’t there. He’s not been here all night.”“Well, maybe he’s at one of his friend’s,” I said, eyeing the ‘to do’ list I’d made for myself. I really could do without having this phone call right now.“He could be, but there was a note on his bed. From Casper.”Suddenly my sister had my full attention. “What did it say?” I asked, as a pit of dread settled in my stomach.“It asked him to go his room at 8pm last night.”I felt the colour drain out of my face. “Oh god no!” I said, lowering my head onto the table and banging it lightly.“Dunc
Joel:The sun had started to set. The sky was burning with vibrant hues of red and amber.It had been a beautiful day. Perfect for a wedding.I hoped it had gone well and to plan. I hoped Duncan had survived through any last minute hiccups.I chuckled to myself. Of course he would have survived. He’d planned everything with military precision.I took in some deep breaths and stood up ready to make my way back home. My stomach growled loudly, reminding myself I’d not eaten all day.As I made my way through the woods, I realised that I felt surprisingly calm. Today had not panned out at all like I expected. I had been so distracted with what happened with Casper this morning, that I had hardly even thought about the wedding at all. In fact, I didn’t even feel sorry that he would now be married.Maybe that was because I knew that we were not mates. I think that the thought that we might have been was overshadowing all my thoughts and feelings about him.Now, the whole idea seeme
ColeI pulled my hood over my head as I walked down the road, the tips of my messy blond hair sticking out, covering part of my face. My hands were shoved in my pockets, my shoulders hunched. I looked like the stereotypical teen boy up to no good.I arrived at my destination and glanced around.A lady and her small child were walking up the other side of the road, so I carried on walking, not breaking my stride.After another few seconds, I stopped and bent over, pretending to tie my shoelace. My shoelace actually was loose, but rather than tie it, I just tucked it back down the side of my trainer.Before I stood back up, I looked around again. The lady was already 50 or so yards down the road, and there was no one else in sight.I stood back up, hitched my backpack back onto my shoulder, and started walking back the way I came.I slowed down as I reached where I needed to be, and once again, I glanced around. Seeing the coast was clear, I walked over to the big iron gate that led
ColeI woke up on Saturday to a beautiful blue sky. Finally spring had arrived, and it was starting to warm up again.Spring was without a doubt, my favourite time of year. Some of my favourite flowers were those that came out in spring, and I Ioved the lime green colour of the trees with their brand new leaves. Everything looked and smelt better in spring. If spring was a feeling, it would be ‘hope’.As soon as I finished my breakfast I started to put on my beat up old trainers.“Where you going?” my dad asked.“You don’t want to know,” I replied.My dad sighed. “It doesn't matter what I say does it?”I smiled sheepishly feeling a little guilty. I wasn’t a bad boy at all, and I loved and respected my dad a lot, but this was one thing we could never agree on.It probably didn’t help that my dad worked for the Police.“I’m not doing any harm to anyone,” I argued back.“That doesn’t make it right,” my dad said.We’d been over this same argument hundreds of times.I finished tying m
Nathan“We should pull out.”Ronan sighed from where he sat lazily across the armchair, his legs dangling over one side. He put down his book and looked at me.“Why would we pull out?”“We’re you not just listening to me?” I cried in exasperation.“Yes, I was listening,” he replied calmly, “but I didn’t hear anything that made me think we should pull out.”“There was a human trespassing!” I shouted back, while I resumed my pacing.Even as I said it, I knew I was overreacting. And I hated that. I, Nathan Blake, did not do over-reacting.Ronan narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you sure there’s not something else you’re failing to tell me?”I’d been Ronan’s Beta for nearly a year now, after his dad retired, and he knew this was not normal behaviour for me. I immediately felt myself tense up.“No, of course not. You know how we like to keep humans out of our business. It’s just too risky.”Ronan sighed again but stood up and walked over to me.“I’m going to ignore the fact your hiding s