Читать книгу Fuse - Sally Partridge - Страница 12

Craig caught up with Kendall the next day during break as he was making his way towards the library. “Hey, Kendall!” he called, rushing up behind him.

Kendall spun round, his shoulders automatically tensing up at the mention of his name. He relaxed once he saw that it was Craig.

The boy was still wearing the dog collar under his shirt and his hair was hanging messily around his face. Kendall thought he looked cool, but a girl nudged her companion and pointed at Craig as he passed. Kendall’s insides burned and he felt instantly protective of his new-found friend.

“What’s up?” Kendall asked. The words sounded weird coming from him and he twisted his fingers together nervously. He wasn’t sure whether he could trust Craig; after all, they had only met the day before.

His brother’s words floated through his mind and he felt his throat become dry as he swallowed compulsively. There was something about Craig that Kendall couldn’t quite put his finger on. The new boy had his hands in his pockets and was attempting to act anything but nervous, even though he had rushed to the library to find Kendall.

“I have the new Hellfire CD with me. Would you like to listen to it?” he asked.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you want to?” Craig offered eagerly.

Kendall wanted to, more than anything. He repressed the smile that was forcing its way to the surface, and tried to remain cool.

“Sure,” he replied.

Craig grinned and followed Kendall inside.

They made their way to the back row of the library, and sat cross-legged on the floor where they were safely hidden from view by the large shelf containing the dusty books on philosophy where no student would be caught dead browsing. Each boy plugged an iPod earpiece into an ear.

“This is really great,” Kendall said. “I listened to their previous album about a hundred times. I knew about this one, but I don’t really have money of my own.” He blushed and immediately regretted revealing such personal details about himself.

“I know what you mean,” Craig answered, with a hint of bitterness.

Kendall glanced at Craig and a million questions hovered. “You just move here?”

Craig looked pained for a second. “Yeah, my mom and I have just moved to Shortridge.”

“Shortridge. That’s like a business district, right? I didn’t know they had houses there. What’s it like over there?”

“They have apartments,” Craig said curtly.

Kendall instantly regretted the question. “Have you heard Death’s Asylum?” he asked, changing the subject after a lengthy silence.

“Yeah, totally. Drives my mother crazy.” Craig giggled.

Kendall laughed. “My folks think I’m a Satanist.”

“Seriously? How lame,” Craig said, his eyes twinkling.

“Yup! They think I’m this complete freak. Goes to show how you can live with someone for almost all your life and they still don’t know who you really are.”

“Are you religious?”

“Yeah, I am, but nobody seems to believe me, except my brother. He says it’s none of their business anyway.”

“He’s right. Your brother, I mean. You mustn’t let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t believe. Now me, I believe in absolute and utter chaos. Anarchy, you know?”

Kendall stared down at the floor with a blank expression. “I really hate people sometimes,” he sighed.

Craig nodded. “You have no idea, dude. No idea.”