More at the school

'Wow, what a boring lesson. I think my brain's starting to leak out of my ears...'

'Tell me about it.'

'At least we didn't have to see Hazel...'

'Yeah. I'm not sure how I'm gonna be able to face her again once she does come back. At least you lot can get out of here soon. I'm stuck with her 'til uni.'

'Poor you.'

'How's Grandad doing, anyway? Not that I give a shit or anything, I'm just curious.'

'He gets discharged today. I just feel sorry for Mum, having to run around after him. She'd much rather be taking care of Tristan. ...Or doing anything else, for that matter.'

'Oh jeez. Is he gonna be really demanding?'

'Probably. Y'know, it's weird... despite everything, there's a really small part of me that feels a bit sorry for him.'

'That's because you're too nice.'

'Thanks. It's certainly not because he deserves any sympathy, anyway...'

'Hey, you guys. Did Hazel show up?'

'Hi Jude. No, she didn't.'

'Good. If I were you, I'd be tempted to punch her lights out.'

'I know, and it's really tempting, but we shouldn't make things any worse.'

'True.'

'Charon was saying how shit it'll be for him to have to carry on seeing her once he's on his own...'

'On his own?'

'Yeah. When they all bugger off to paradise.'

'Oh, right! Hey, what makes you think you'll be on your own? I'm not going anywhere, am I?'

'That's true... I just didn't wanna assume you'd carry on hanging out with me, that's all.'

'As if I wouldn't!'

'Aww, see? At least you two have each other!'

'Sweet. Best news I've had all week!'

'Yeah... you poor fuckers could do with some good news. Even it is only in the form of a weird wrestler girl.'

'Nerdy alien guy and weird wrestler girl! You just can't beat a combination like that.'

'Damn right. High five!'

'Is nobody else here?'

'Nope. So we can have that talk you wanted.'

'Good. This'll probably end up on the news before long, so I thought I'd make sure you got the real story before that happens.'

'What do you mean?'

'...Something terrible has happened.'


Five minutes later...

'...Wow. That's horrendous...'

'It is...'

'Poor kid. What kind of sick bastard targets a sixteen-year-old?'

'That's Miles for you... ugh. So I'm even less happy about Hazel being here now. It's awful. I just can't relax while she's around... And now the other triplets will feel the same way.'

'At least she's got less than two years of school left?'

'Two years? I'm not sure things can carry on for that long. Who knows what else will have happened by then?'

'I'm really sorry.'

'Thank you, Tony. I'm so fucking sick of Miles Atwood... I did something terrible and violent to him, but what did it even achieve? All that happened is me feeling bad about it, Hazel hurling abuse at me and now this...'

'It sounds like he did this because of Tate, not you.'

'That's true. Honestly... I would have been better off killing him. Is that awful to say?'

'Not at all, but I'm not sure it's the most accurate thing either... To put it bluntly: living with killing someone fucking sucks.'

'...I bet. Sorry, that was rude.'

'No, no. Of course you want him dead. All he's done is cause misery to you and your family. But you're too good of a person to commit murder.'

'Well, so are you. Or rather, I don't think it makes you a bad person.'

'Thank you. Still, I'd rather not go down that line of discussion. Have you seen Tristan since...?'

'No. He hasn't left the house yet.'

'I know that feeling... well, I'm thinking of him. He's got a good support network and I know none of you will let him down.'

'We'll do our best.'

'And I don't know if anyone's brought this up yet, but he can and will live a full life with one eye. Yeah, the situation is fucking shit, but it doesn't mean he'll be a tragic figure. I really do appreciate how it feels to permanently lose a part of you and his emotions are so valid. On the other hand... he'll heal, in time.'

'You're right. Thank you.'