Keystone Outcasts

[buildingaspaceship]

Robbie was sat next to Chloe, and began to notice her fidgeting and acting as though she was uncomfortable. He doesn't think anything of it at first, until she scribbled out everything she did. He grabbed her arm while she was scribbling, his hand cold and his expression concerned. "Calm down, Chloe. Your page is a friendly tree." He whispers, then he lets go of her hand and then looks at Joshua, then at Layton. He bites his lip.


Lee narrows his eyes and looks at him, then looks at Joshua. "Well, he hasn't really done anything Outcast worthy quite yet... Give him till lunch time, then we'll see if he's sitting with anyone. If not, we'll bag him."


Melanie nods her head. "And we will tell him the rules. Such as, do not sit in our seats," she hisses under her breath.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe stares at Robbie, pulling out of his grasp, trying not to flinch, "The friendly tree is evil." She mutters before continuing to write. She sighs again beginning to tap against the desk. She bites her lip, finding it hard to concentrate.


Joshua nods slowly, "Maybe." He comments lightly, laughing at Melanie's comment, "I doubt he knew these were our seats." He says amusedly, starting to write more.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

"Oh he knew. He just knew." She grumbles, and shakes her head, continuing to write.


Lee shrugs his shoulders, "Whatever. You keep thinking that, miss 12. I mean... Joshua, come on, eleven is the best doctor and you know it!"


Robbie groans, "10! 10! For Gods sake Joshua remember your training. 10!" He looks at Chloe, suspicious. Something was clearly wrong with her today, but he couldn't quite figure out what. And he didn't want to ask about it, incase it was so incredibly personal that he'd end up turning red. He sighs.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe starting to write again, sighing and screwing the paper up and writing more stuff on a new piece. She looks at the others, and forces a laugh, "Matt was the best doctor guys." She exclaims, her voice wobbly.


Joshua shrugs, "I don't watch doctor who." He admits amusedly, "I prefer Sherlock." He says with a grin, glancing at Chloe.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Robbie knew there was definitely something up, but he tried to ignore it the best he could. He'd ask about it later, when they were alone. He knew that his classroom was next to hers before lunch, maybe he would talk to her when he walked her to lunch, like the week before.


Lee and Melanie began to bicker about which doctor was the best, much like Robbie and Lee had done on the walk to school.


Robbie turned and looked at Joshua. "Yes! Sherlock!" He grins widely, "Oh God that show is great. That man is like... Well, Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes. I can't express how much I love that guy, and Martin Freeman."

 

[CrystalSmith]

Joshua nods in agreement, "Well, let's just say, I'd definitely turn for those men and Andrew Scott too." He says with a chuckle, concentrating on the work. He chuckles at Melanie and Lee.


Chloe was doing her work, very quiet now. She starts to doodle, most of the page turning into random drawing. A stickman on the edge of a cliff, holding a rope that another stickman hung from, spikes below him. A drawing of the moon and then a random eye beside it. Se stifles a sigh and mutters something under her breath. She starts to draw another picture, a girl with a panicking expression.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

"Yes. Just yes. Moriarty, ah. Evil is always the way to go." He laughs a little and puts his hands flat on the desk. "Though, season three ending? No. I was literally screaming in my seat, he's back, and I can't. You're right, I would turn gay in a second for them." He looked down at what Chloe was drawing and then looked away, yep, he would definitely have to ask her.


Melanie and Lee's argument had grown quite heated, and they were now throwing pens at each other and slamming their hands flat on the desk to prove points. Robbie just let them go at it, he would only intervene when they were throwing chairs... Or punches.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Joshua nods, "And season two was awful when they both faked there deaths!" He exclaims. He chuckles and Lee and Melanie, "Guys, chill!" He says amusedly. Chloe looks at them, screwing the piece of paper up again and throwing it beside her so it landing in the corner, out of the way.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

"Oh God, I cried so much when they both died." He uses his fingers to do quotation marks around the word died, considering they had faked their deaths. "But I think that season three is definitely my favourite, especially the second episode. That's the one where he is the best man, right? I thought it was fucking hilarious." He laughs a little and looks at Melanie and Lee, raising his eyebrows and expecting them to calm down a little. He saw Chloe's paper land in a corner, and he made a mental note to pick it up and make sure that he got it for proof that she was not feeling okay.


Melanie and Lee both looked at Joshua and shushed him, before continuing their rant. This was when the teacher came over and sent them both outside, so that he could have a word with them. Melanie and Lee stood up sheepishly and walked outside, slight smirks on their faces.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Joshua nods and grins, "It was great," he says, instantly going quiet when the teacher comes over and sends Lee and Melanie out. He continues to walk, glancing over at Chloe and then Robbie, "Is she okay?" He mouths before starting to concentrate. He looks at the teacher as he glare at them.


Chloe takes a deep breath, "I need some air." She mumbles slowly, looking around. She was shaking slightly now, "uh, sir? Can I go to the toilet please?" She asks politely, going quiet when he says no. She looks at her paper before standing and leaving the room, ignoring the teacher who continued to yell. She starts to run, past Lee and Melanie, not even looking their way and out of the doors into the car park. She takes a deep breath and moves over to grass, collapsing. She was shaking now, physically a mess.


Layton sighs lightly, "Looks like she hasn't changed a bit." He mutters, "Same drama queen as before," he says under his breath.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Robbie shakes his head at Joshua when he mouths to him, but when Chloe stood up and ran out of the room, he knew that there was no waiting until lunch for this. He got up, went and grabbed the piece of paper from the corner, and walked out of the classroom. He then ran out of the school and in the direction Chloe went.


Melanie and Lee had watched Chloe go, and were going to go after her when Robbie sped past them. And they couldn't leave now. The teacher came outside to yell at them.


Robbie saw Chloe on the grass and walked over, stopping a little bit away from her. "Chloe?" He starts, taking another step forwards. "Chloe are you okay? Fuck me who am I kidding, you're not okay. What's wrong? What's happening?" He kneeled down beside her.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe takes a deep breath, trying to focus on something. She stares at the grass, unable to speak. She closes her eyes, "I'm fine, I'm just having a bad day. I needed air, I felt like I couldn't breath." She mumbles before staring at the sky, her heart pounding. She wasn't crying, she could but she knew she wouldn't, not now. She looks at Robbie and forces a smile, "I'll be fine." She stutters, "Just one of those days." She mumbles.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Joshua looks around, alone now, no one sat beside him. He shrugs, "What've I gotta lose?" He question before standing and going to stand with Lee and Melanie, "What's wrong with Chloe?" He asks.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Lee and Melanie look at Joshua. "I don't know!" Melanie says quite harshly. "She just ran out and didn't exactly explain anything. Robbie went to talk to her I think." She sighs.


The teacher looked at the three of them. "Your entire group just gets worse and worse. You need to start behaving like adults."


Robbie looked at Chloe. "No." He raises his eyebrows. "I don't take that as an answer, I'm afraid. There's something going on with you, everyone can see it. People don't just have 'one of those days', not like this." He pulls the paper out of his pocket and hands it to her. "I do this too. Draw how I feel. But no one ever talks to me about it. I'm gonna talk to you about it. Tell me exactly what's on your mind."

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, shaking her head, "Don't, the rope will snap. I have to deal with it on my own." She mutters lightly pointing to stickman drawing. She was still shaking, opening her eyes, "He'll be mad." She mutters almost silently. She looks around, her face just as panicky as the drawing. She stares at the school, "We should go back inside, I'm fine." She says, taking a deep breath, forcing a smile and standing.


Joshua scoffs at the teacher, "I do act like an adult. I won't let you tell me what to do, will I?" He asks before quietening.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Robbie stands up too, and looks at her with narrowed eyes. "I don't believe that for a second." He says slowly and then walks off with her, "I don't know why you're not okay, but if you have to deal with it on your own, that's fine." He sighs and leads her back inside.


The teacher looks at him and narrows his eyes, "That's acting like a child, adults wouldn't do that. They would be respectful, polite, and obedient."

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe looks at the teacher, "Please just shut up and stop complaining. Yes, I understand none of us are in your lesson. Well that's just us, we won't pay attention because sometimes there are more important things in life than dealing with school and exams. I've not been in school for nearly three years due to the shit I've been through and hell there's a lot. In fact I could be locked up for how insane I can be. And hell even when I come to Ireland, Ireland of all places, my past is still catching up with me. Like a ghost." She rants before taking a deep breath. She stares at the wall, "So, don't yell at these lot, because what they've just done is nothing, kay. They were just having fun!" She exclaims. She was still shaking, staring over at Robbie who still had the paper in his hand.


Joshua stares at Chloe in disbelief, shocked by her outburst.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Robbie, Melanie, and Lee, all look at Chloe in shock. Even the teacher didn't know what to say, and so instead just stood there gawping like a fish out of water. "You- I-" He couldn't form complete sentences.


Robbie decided to keep quiet instead of saying anything about how he may as well stay a kid considering he was growing up too fast in the process of dying, and so just bit his nails, watching in satisfaction as the teachers eyes flitted from Chloe to the rest of the group. "Just- Go back inside and finish your work. If I hear one more word you'll be sent to the headmasters office."

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe walks back inside, sitting down. She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. She stares at the back of Layton's head and she was sure that if she was a magic, there'd be a hole burning through his head right now. She stifles a sigh and does the work, quite rushed and messy. She grabs a new piece of paper and starts to draw again, the same panicking girl but beside it, a dark shadow of a person.


Joshua nods and sits down and continues to work.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Robbie, Lee, and Melanie, all walk back inside the classroom and take their seats, continuing on with their work in silence. They didn't want to get sent to the head teachers office, not when the day was so young and full of potential. They worked until the end of the lesson, and at the point, they all left without really saying goodbye, going off to their separate math classes.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe walks to Maths and sat where her and Lee had sat previously. She stares at the desk, very quiet now but had calmed down. She was glad that Layton was not in her class, feeling like she could relax. She brings a hand through her hair and biting her lip.


Joshua heads of to maths with Melanie and smiles, whilst Layton walks to maths one, being in Robbie's class. He sits in the other seat at the back and sighs.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Lee looked at Chloe, raising his eyebrows and sitting down next to her. "You seem a little off today. Is everything okay?" He asks her, his face clearly showing concern. She was an outcast. A problem of hers was a problem of everyone's.


Melanie looked at Joshua and smiled, "I won't talk much today," she says quietly, "in this lesson, I mean. I'm falling behind on my maths and it's really starting to show. I need to pay attention in this lesson from now on." She wanted to explain why she was being quiet, so she didn't seem like something was wrong.


Robbie sat down in the back, next to Layton, knowing that it was his usual seat and not expecting to have to explain why he was sat there. He looked at Layton, and decided now would be a good time to act on his task of finding out if he was Outcast material. "Where are you from, then?" He questioned the guy, going straight into it.

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe smiles weakly, "Just one of those days, I feel like evrything is going wrong, I'm even starting to think that Mandy gave me a small uniform on purpose, it's not hard to notice the guys staring at me. Sure the attention is nice but my ass ain't a trophy," she murmurs.


Joshua nods, "Ahh well I understand." He comments with a small grin.


Layton smiles at Robbie, "Im from Canada." He comments, seeing no reason to lie. He starts the work and finds it rather easy.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Lee nods his head, "Don't worry about the uniform, alright? Just get another one, it can't be that hard." He smiles a little and looks towards the front. He had given up flirting with Chloe now, because she was officially one of them.


Robbie nods his head and smiles a little, "Right. I have a friend from Canada, actually. Chloe. You probably knew each other... But then again, that's like saying everyone from Ireland knows each other, right?" He laughs a little, trying to get Layton to talk. "I'm Robbie, by the way."

 

[CrystalSmith]

Chloe nods slowly, "Life's a bummer." She says with a short chuckle, "you know, the first time i met you, you would have made some bad joke about that, flirting horribly and just being stupid," she says with a smile, she at her book.


Layton raises an eyebrow, "She's Canadian?! but no we've never met before," he says with a chuckle, lying easily, "Hi, Robbie, I'm Layton, nice to meet ya," he says.