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Taran Tells - Chapter 3

The one bad thing about enjoying your weekend is that you spend the entire time doing something. So by the time Monday rolls around, you're not ready for it. Taran had a period zero that morning, so that meant getting up at 7:00, for an 8:00 start.

He stumbled into Mr. Womble's Computer studies class ten minutes late, mumbling the usual apology that he'd probably heard two or three times today already, and would no doubt hear it a few more times this morning. Taking a seat next to Will and Sam, he noticed that his other friend, Luke, was late as usual. But that doesn't mean anything. It was a joke amongst Taran, Sam, Will, and their other friends about the lateness, and overall general slackness of Luke's behaviour. It actually appeared like Luke preferred being sick, just so he could avoid using his muscles for another day. So it had been decided that Luke had built up immunity to his immune system, thereby allowing him to call on any disease he might require. It certainly seemed that way, because Luke took a ridiculous amount of days off.

Just as the three friends had finished laughing about this, Luke made his way through the door quietly, as Womble was over the other side of the room. Quietly taking his seat, and taking his book out, he proceeded to look like he was working. But the four knew that would never happen. Computer studies was a bludge.

Luke was very skinny, even at this age. Being about the same height as Will, he would weigh about 15 kilograms less. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and very pale skin, which made him look similar to Taran. In fact they could probably pass for brothers, because they were roughly the same dimensions, Taran being slightly taller, and more muscled.

Sam on the other hand was of athletic built. He was big on sports, especially field sports, such as Soccer and Field Hockey. He was just shorter than Luke, with brown hair and eyes. He kept his hair in a standard short back and sides, which he'd had ever since Taran knew him. He wasn't really a part of the close group of friends that Taran and Luke hung out with at school. Nonetheless Sam had become friends with Taran and Luke especially. The three of them were into the same kinds of things. Also they lived in the same general direction from school, and walked home together.

Those walks were always fun. Much like `the Goodies', they would take a Tim, Graham, and Bill attitude, and constantly gang up on each other. One day, Taran and Luke would decide to just hassle Sam constantly, picking him up on every word said, and going out of their way to poke fun at him. Then the next day, Luke and Sam would do the same kind of thing to Taran. It's the kind of thing that is pretty pointless, but passes the time well. They were all comfortable with each other as friends, so no-one ever took it personally.

Taran suddenly thought for a minute of telling these two about him. Then it occurred to him that they might already know, the same way that Will and James knew. He wheeled (on his wheely chair) over to Will to find out.

"Hey man," he whispered. "Do these two know about me?"

Will just shook his head, no. Good thought Taran. "I don't really wanna tell anyone else yet, so just keep it a secret, okay?"

"Hey man, we kept it a secret this far…. So there's no problem."

That solved, Taran could breathe easy, and get back to trading jokes with his friends about their inept teacher.

Computer studies was followed by maths. Taran quite liked maths, because he found it easy. But this was basically a bludge also. They had a teacher who was into `70's music. So it was common to hear John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and the like playing on a stereo out the front. This was cool for most students. The occasional one would complain, but Mr. Ross would hear none of it.

Recess always went by too fast. No sooner had you sat down, than you had to make the long walk back from the oval to the buildings. Some teachers would bitch, but tardiness seemed to be a discretion that was allowed of the seniors. Especially considering many of the teachers were themselves late. This was no more true than it was for English teachers.

Especially Mr. Kurt. He was the one `cool' English teacher that most people loved to have, but all the nerds hate because you never get any work done. He never had his hair done, seemingly wore the same suit every day. And his distinct aroma at best guess seemed to be a combination of cheap after-shave, copious amounts of deodorant, cigarettes, with just a hint of marijuana resin thrown in.

His classes were erratic to say the least. They would suddenly jump from topics such as "out damn spot" from MacBeth to in-depth discussions about how unhealthy vaginal-deodorants are. It was like a competition for everyone in the class to determine what drug Kurtsie had taken last break. This English class was another dose of insanity from Mr. Kurt, who it seems is single-handedly destroying the anti-drugs efforts attempted within schools.

Modern History followed. History teachers have to be weird. It's a pre-requisite. And Mr. Jenkins was no different. It's not that he was insane like Mr. Kurt. More just that his mannerisms were quirky. Like whenever he was to write on the chalk-board, he would kind-of half squat. Then whenever a student answered a question he was expecting them to get wrong, or in any way did something unexpected, he'd jump back, like he'd just been physically punched. Kind of like Kramer from Seinfeld.

Lunch-time rolled around not a minute too soon for Taran's liking. He made his way out of English with Will beside him. On the way they met up with Luke and Nathan, who'd also just finished English. Nathan was the shortest out of the group, standing at about 5'4". He had black curly hair, and his eyebrows formed a mono-brow at the front if not dealt with.

The four of them made their way through the school on their way to the oval. Just as they'd passed the library, Taran saw one of his favourite sights as he was walking. He never knew how long to look. Do I look, and just stare, he keeps thinking. Do I just take a quick glance and continue? As usual he opts for the former, and just ogles the beauty of Damien, as he walks down the corridor towards him. Looking away now and then, he finds his eyes making their way back towards Damien. Stranger is the fact that on more than one of the occasions Damien has been looking at him also. As they pass, Damien actually smiled at him. That made Taran's day. He had to physically fight himself to not look behind, once they'd passed.

Damien was easily the best looking boy in the school. No one else came close. His blonde hair looked beautiful in all of the many styles he's had it cut. His face was surely that of an angle. His brilliant blue eyes were set back, augmenting his hued cheeks. His high cheek-bones met his eyes in such a way that formed a ridge, which sometimes made him look like he had cuts just below his eyes. But this just added to his beauty. He had a striking nose, and full cherub lips, which any sane person couldn't help but fantisise a kiss from.

His wardrobe was the typical skater-boy uniform, with his hat turned backwards, baggy pants, Mellancolin or Pennywise t-shirt under his school shirt. But that turned Taran on even more. He always felt guilty looking at this teen-stud, because Damien was the fourteen year old brother of James. It made Taran feel a little uneasy being around James, because of the way he felt about his brother. He was often reluctant to go over to James' house in case Damien walked in and he just found himself drooling, and stoking himself to satisfaction.

Strange little scene, Taran thought on recollection. Every other time they'd passed, Damien had made no communication. Neither had he for that matter.

"Taran Tells" is © Copyrighted, 1999

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