riverstonesims

Should hopefuly have some posts queued by Friday, or if not, next week at the latest.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket. Lauren. As they’d torn down the evidence of Iris’ misdoings, they’d barely talked about his confrontation with their nemesis. Was it on her mind to do so now?

Lauren, 3:25pm. Hey Giu, are you free? Keen to hang and chat whilst we do our homework like the nerds we are?

He looked at the text but didn’t reply. Pulling his book off the dusty floor, he brushed and opened it again. A few minutes later another text flicked through. Lauren again.

Lauren, 3:30pm. I hope you’re okay cuz. Let me know, Giu.

He almost ignored her message again, but something nudged him in the direction of replying. Perhaps having his cousin over would be beneficial and take his mind off things.

Giu,3:32pm. Nah yeah, I’m free - pop over!

The old treehouse creaked as Giu tried to make himself comfortable. He’d forgotten how small it actually was. Long ago it would have comfortably fit two smaller teenagers but in the intervening years, Giu had grown taller, the result making it incredibly uncomfortable as he crouched. A quick glance had told him it still had the old chairs he and Cat had used when they were younger, old posters of pop stars Cat had liked, the once fresh lick of paint faded, peeling or scratched. In the corner leaned an old wooden sign that read “Bel Mondo”, Giu’s scrawling script the identifier to who had made the sign. This place held so many memories, but then why did Giu feel so empty?

He managed to make room amongst the cobwebs, and lay down on the hard, wooden floor; the smell of mould permeated the enclosed space. The lighting wasn’t all that great despite the two big windows carved out near the door. In true Giu-form he’d brought along War and Peace with the spine taped up with numerous piece of tape but as he opened it and started to read from the page he’d marked, he felt his mind slipping away from the central character, Pierre Bezukhov. The nineteenth century Russian landscape with the underlying theme of war tied alongside the reasoning behind human motives just wasn’t capturing Giu’s imagination; the book that he had reread many, many times fell off his lap and landed with a thump.

Resting his hands behind his head, the thoughts in his head whirled. From Elise to Iris and back again and, despite shaking his head several times, the image of both girls remained in his head. All this confusion was really screwing him around. He didn’t need all of this confusion during the most important year of school. He didn’t need it when he would be applying for universities in the next few months, writing down an essay on himself on why he should be received into the exclusive Creative Writing courses. Just thinking about this made him feel nervous. What if he wasn’t good enough to get into any of the courses? What if all the work he had been putting in for the last two and a bit years wasn’t enough?

Josephine, 9:49am. Well prior to your reconciliation with Giu, you had been fighting with him for the past two years, how on earth would you have noticed this?

Cat sighed, feeling increasingly stuck between two worlds, before a second message came through.

Josephine, 9:50am. To be honest, Iris is up to something but I’m not sure what. I’m worried.

Cat, 9:50am. So am I, Jo, so am I. I wish I could do something.

Josephine, 9:51am. Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do other than keep an eye out.

Now Cat felt real glum.

Cat, 9:45am. Hey Jo, what’s the sitch with Iris? Giu is v quiet.

As she waited for a reply, she made her way towards the TV, grabbing the remote and flicking the machine on. Her thoughts continued turned back to Giu’s outburst in the cafeteria as images flashed on the screen, distracted she went back in time. The only time other time Giu had been truly, truly angry was that night when he and Cat had had their fight about her friendship with Josephine… yet this time was different. Reflecting on having a front row seat to the spectacle, perhaps this was the first time Cat had truly seen how Iris affected Giu and how mad he made her.

Josephine, 9:47am. Cat, I’ve never seen her so angry, I’ve yet to leave my room. I can hear her angry shouts from down the hallway.

After rereading the text, Cat sent a speedy reply.

Cat, 9:48am. I’ve never noticed how much they hate each other. Have I been blind this whole time?!

Cat, meanwhile, had been the same, chattering on about the classes she had with Josephine. Unlike Giu who had been able to choose his classes, she still had to take core subjects that were deemed important by the schooling system. She’d been happy, actually they both had been, a welcome relief after the tension from the summer. For once Cadenza felt that she could relax a bit. Everything and everyone was at peace, and she was confident they were all - especially her children - going to have a great year, one they would definitely remember. Perhaps she was overthinking things… the first week was probably tiring, as everyone got back into the rhythm of the usual schedule. She shrugged off the thought and put her mug away.

“Cat, I’m heading upstairs to my piano if you need me, okay?”

“Sure, Mum,” Cat replied as she was left alone in the room. Moving from the kitchen, she tapped her fingers on her phone case absentmindedly, yet all it took was a quick glance in the direction of the treehouse before she flicked a text to Josephine. After Thursday’s throwdown between Giu and Iris, the whole school had been talking about it, the wildfire of gossip burning into Iris’ and Giu’s reputations, or lack thereof. Giu’s quick disappearance hadn’t earned him any brownie points, but pundits - yes, there were some banking on coin from this exchange - reckoned this was only the beginning; others said it was about time someone stood up to Iris.

At 8:45am Giu was out of the door for his shift at the bookshop which he was grateful for. The idea of being surrounded by tons of books as well as being able to talk about said books to customers was the brightener that he needed. In all honesty, he hadn’t slept very well; he’d expected a complaint from the Cunninghams to Principal Stratton about his behaviour, an email telling him he’d been demoted from Editors or a warning at least.

Falling asleep about 3am, he woke up just after 8, groggy and extremely tired. Staggering out of his bedroom, he grabbed a bowl of cereal and shovelled the food down as he tied his shoes before hurrying out the door. It was a busy shift which he was grateful for, his mind taken into different worlds, book window arrangements and the demands of three year olds buying picture books. Before he knew it, he was slamming his car door shut and walking in through the front door at home bang on just after 3pm.

After a quick lunch, he surprised himself by retreating to the old treehouse that sat at the back of the house. He’d hadn’t been in there for years as he preferred his room in the converted old garage but for some reason, he wanted the serenity the treehouse afforded. He just knew no one was going to bother him up there. The false facade he’d been putting on his face all week for his parents couldn’t hold on for much longer.

Cat glanced out the kitchen window as her brother disappeared into the wooden structure. Their Mum watched her quietly, curious as to the information her youngest was obviously withholding. As Cadenza dried her mug, she thought back to how Giu had been throughout the week. In all honesty, Giu had just been normal - some comments about the new newspaper members, who his teachers were, what he was going to be studying in Advanced Lit… just the usual; he’d been especially excited about the opportunity to study War and Peace, one of his most favourite novels.

The first weekend back was thankfully Iris-free.

Twinbrook’s most famous monument.

As they returned to their classes ten minutes later, little did he know that Iris wasn’t going to give him a reprieve. Not at all. As Giu began to figure out how he was going to diligently let the new columnists know they’d been successful, Iris or a minion, somehow found the list of everyone who’d applied and the successful ones circled. These were posted on hallway notice boards with messages that did not bear repeating.

Alerted via a text message from Lauren, in between classes, he, Elise and the current members of the newspaper committee, quickly destroyed the evidence but it was all too late. By lunchtime, everyone knew what had been done.

As the bell tolled and after he had apologised to the applicants for the upteenth time, he hurriedly grabbed books he needed for the weekend, before silently walking to his car. The car ride back to Elise’s house was the quietest Elise had ever been in.

Iris didn’t attempt to talk to him for the rest of the day, though Friday proved to be another disaster. Distracted by his supposed win against his nemesis a day earlier as well as by the gossip that was floating under classroom doors, in the gym, school swimming pool and cafeteria, Giu battled his guilt.

Elise couldn’t understand why after hearing his confession. “Fuck her, Giu. You’ve put up with it for too long, about time you stood up to her! I’m really proud,” she’d added as they sat at their morning tea spot, the leafy willow swaying in the light breeze.

“Then why do I feel so bad?”

“... cause it’s a new emotion? I don’t know Giu, but seriously, seeing her face fall like that was brilliant. Can I pay you to do it again?” Her joked teased gently but he ignored it. He fell silent as he tried to focus on the world around them, anything to stop the scene playing in his head. There was a slight rustle as Elise shuffled closer to rest her head on his shoulder which he obliged by resting his on top of hers.

“It’s going to be okay Giu. Maybe she’ll stop this unnecessary bullying from now on?” Her leg nudged his before her fingers rubbed circles on his arm, trying to calm him down. He was very distracted and had been all week; at least it was Friday and he could get some well deserved reprieve soon.