Chapter 8 – Every Rose Has It’s Thorn

Gabby POV
Whoa man what a morning! I thought as me and the guys made our way to my locker with them all looking around in interest, seeing as they’d never visited my school before, much less been to Toowoomba.

I’ve been at this school for five years so it wasn’t really all that interesting to me anymore though I explored every inch I could while I was in yr 8, at 15 (nearly 16) years old. Then again there’s always interesting things to work with in the Art Department (such as the various kinds of paint, clay, pastels etc) and the software we have available to us amuses me a lot too.

Though really I should have been in year 11 by then, going by my age, or if I went by year level I should have been age 12 or maybe 13, but hey, I was expelled twice and had to repeat the year 3 times so yeah that mixed things up a bit. I’m just glad I haven’t had to repeat a 4th time.

We reached my locker and I unlocked it before yanking my schoolbag out of it (seriously, Star Wars is awesome) and tossing my stuff from hospitality in along with my diary before crossing out today’s date with a pink highlighter – it was a strawberry scented one. I don’t know what it is with me but I have a fondness for wacky stationary and I love collecting it like my friend Tehgan does.

Ashley finds it a little weird but doesn’t really say anything about it, then again he is fond of Hello Kitty. I like scented stationary for some weird reason though I was 80% sure my blue highlighter smelt like sunscreen of all things, and even don't get me started on why yellow always gets banana, like why can't it be lemon, or lemon vodka? Now that’d be interesting hehe...

Anyway getting back on topic as I picked up my sketchbooks from where Andy put them, “Ah!” I gasped in pain just as I dropped them. “You ok?” Jake asked, seeing me cringe.

I nodded, “I think so, I guess the soreness from punching Tahlia is catching up to me and I probably landed on my hands way harder than I thought when I tripped, so I most likely jolted my wrist that I only just got a cast off the day before you guys came because I broke it, maybe even sprained the other” I explained, hissing painfully kind of like a cat as Jinxx inspected my hands. “Ow!” I squeaked, when Jinxx gently let them go.

“What’d you do to break your wrist?” Ashley asked curiously, leaning against the wall – I loved it when he stood like that and he knew it, so he made sure to take advantage of that fact every chance he could, such as now.

I blushed slightly before answering, “I was playing tennis – the semi-final of a mini tournament that had been going on all year mind you – when I slipped a little bit and crashed into someone, and broke my wrist landing on it” I explained, holding up my left hand which was the one I’d broken a few weeks ago.

“Ow. Did you win?” CC asked, shuffling his feet. “Yeah ironically that was match point in my favour at the time, I’d scored the winning shot and overbalanced and collided with one of the other yr 12’s, Jenny I think it was, then I fell backwards and landed on my wrist on the right angle to break it” I said, digging two wrist brace things out of my backpack and putting them on.

I sighed in relief when I had them on, they were sore but didn’t feel like a broken bone, they felt more like a fracture – I’d broken and fractured bones before so I knew what both of them felt like. “That’s better,” I said once I’d gotten them done up, they weren’t as good as casts but they’ll have to do for now and I don't want to give away my secret by magically healing them, it’s too early for the guys to know about our coven, never mind who else was in it.

“Hmm, Dave said they’d lift the restrictions for the yr 12’s right?” I asked, finding my makeup bag. “Yeah” Ashley said, wondering what I was up to. “I’ll be back,” I sang, grabbing my makeup bag and sportswear that I ran in from my backpack and skipping to the nearby toilets. I poked my head around the wall and told the guys, “Stay where you are, wouldn’t want you lot to get lost” they all said ok.

Then I quickly changed, putting my school shorts & tee back on over the top and then putting on the super basic makeup that I sometimes wear at work on Salon days, then I fluffed my hair before returning to the guys. “Wow” Ashley breathed, taking in my appearance.

The guys all turned around when Ashley said that and their jaws dropped, but they quickly shut them once they saw the mischievous gleam in my eyes, although my eyes aren’t naturally brown at all – I’ll tell you later. “Like what you see Purdy?” I snickered, putting my things away and shutting my locker (after I made sure I had what I needed), putting the combo lock back on – thankfully I won’t need it for much longer.

“Mm-hm” Ashley replied, sounding like he was suppressing a moan of some sort, and turning around, I saw his cheeks were pink, and he had the cutest embarrassed expression as he crossed his legs to try and hide the fact (while failing miserably I might add) that he had a raging hard-on.

The other guys noticed and nearly pissed themselves laughing and making ‘front poop’ jokes; Ashley just hugged me and flipped them off, which only made them laugh even harder if that was even possible.

I rolled my eyes and snuggled into Ashley as CC and Andy started their funny-and-kinda-annoying chant of ‘I ship Ashby!” I just turned towards them and said, smirking, “Maybe I should get Mara and Arya down here so we can shut you two up!” That made Andy and CC stop chanting and flush red. “Oh my god, Andy and CC like Mara and Arya!” Jake crowed as he and Jinxx almost collapsed from laughter, me and Ash already rolling on the floor, him more than me.

“What about Juliet? Aren’t you still dating her?” Ash asked, making Andy sober up a bit as Ashley & I sat up, still in each other’s arms. “Yea we are still together, but we haven’t really been much of a couple lately, we’re pretty much drifting apart from each other. We’re more friends with benefits than boyfriend and girlfriend these days” he replied, a bit sombrely but not really all that unhappy about it.

“Well why don’t you call her and talk about it? Get her perspective on things and see where you go from there, cos if you’re not happy with her then why stay with her?” I suggested, shrugging as I stood up, Ashley’s arms still around me while Jake put my backpack on his back.

“Worked for me in my second relationship when it fizzled out,” I added, not mentioning even a hint of what went down a few years ago, again I wasn’t quite ready to bare all about my past.

Andy had a thoughtful look, “That’s a good idea, and I’ll do that later on. But I'm curious, how many relationships have you had?” Andy asked as we walked towards the canteen area, sitting at a picnic table that wasn’t blanketed in leaves and bird shit.

“You guys sure are curious… anyway Ash is the third person I’ve ever been in a relationship with, specifically he’s the second guy I’ve been with and the first guy I’ve been with willingly, if that makes any sense to you guys” I explained, my face hardening as I thought of the only other guy I’d been with – Aiden.

“Wait what?” the guys all said, a bit confused, going by the looks on their faces. I sighed – this was not my favourite thing to talk about, but I suppose I had to talk about it at some point if these guys want to get to know me, and it wouldn’t be fair to keep something like this from Ashley. “Well as I said, Ashley’s the third person I’ve been in a relationship with. And no, I wasn’t joking when I said he was the second guy I’ve been with” I began to explain, emphasising the word ‘guy’.

“Wait you said I’m the second guy you’ve been with…” Ashley began, a curious note to his tone. I looked at him, waiting for him to continue, “Yeah” I said, shrugging like it was no big deal, which to me sexual orientation isn’t. “So does that mean you’re bisexual?” Jinxx asked. I nodded, “Something in that pool at the least, bilingual too”

“Huh?” said CC, looking incredibly confused. I rolled my eyes, “It means I can speak more than one language” I said, before saying “this is gonna be a long but fun few months” to Ashley in Greek, which was the other language I could speak. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Jinxx had a curious expression… ‘I wonder what that’s about... it’s not as though he can suddenly understand what I’m saying or hear what I think as clearly as if I’d spoken aloud’ I thought as Ashley laughed and replied, “yeah it is” “What the hell did you two just say?” said Jake, he along with Andy, Jinxx and CC shooting inquisitive glances at Ash and I as we were snickering.

I’d been teaching Ashley how to speak Greek over the last few months and so he understood what I was saying, he can't read it yet though, but he is a fast learner when it comes to speaking Greek. “We were speaking Greek. I said ‘this is gonna be a long but fun few months’ and Ash said ‘yeah it is’” I explained, checking the time on my phone just as the bell rang.

“Yay morning tea break… where there are tons of kids around, crazy little ankle-biters” I whined as heaps of people spilled out from various classrooms. The guys all laughed at me, I just flipped them off with my left hand, seeing as my right one was a bit too sore to do anything with.

I whined quietly when I tried to move it, attracting Ashley’s attention as we made our way to the school nurse office on the other side of S Block. “You alright sweetie?” he asked, and my heart leapt at him being all caring and nice stuff like that. “Yeah, I'm ok, my hands are just a bit sore” I explained before going into the nurse office and getting my hands wrapped up.

She told me I’d need to keep it bandaged for about a week and to ice it from time to time, I nodded and walked out. “Just gotta keep it wrapped up for about a week and ice it occasionally, she said it was sprained, though from past experience it feels more like a fracture, at least my left hand does” I explained, seeing the guys shoot curious looks at me. “You ok now?” “I’ll be fine CC; this isn’t the worst thing that’s happened in terms of injuries” “What else have you done?” Jake asked, now that we were sitting at the tables outside the library in the sunlight.

I thought about that, “Well I’ve managed to break my legs, but thankfully not at the same time. I once broke my right ankle from slipping on a patch of water, managed to do my left arm – thankfully, I was still able to play, it just took a little getting used to, though I wasn’t able to swim. Um I also managed to get my ribs broken, thanks to stupid bullies in primary school and yeah, some fractures here & there as well and something else I’m not quite ready to talk about but let’s just say it was messy” I finished explaining as my stomach grumbled, making the guys laugh.

I poked my tongue at them and dug in my schoolbag to see if there was anything edible. I cheered when I found some leftover lasagne that I’d made a few days ago. “Yummy!” I exclaimed as though I was a little girl, digging out the containers of it I found in my bag along with a bundle of forks, Jeremy must have packed it for me this morning, knowing how tired I usually am in the morning unless insomnia’s being a bitch.

“Are you gonna eat all that?” asked Andy, who was trying not to laugh at me. “God no, I’d only manage half a container of this stuff, there’s enough packed in here for all of us since Jeremy packed 3 containers. There’s a seniors kitchen just over there where we can heat it up” I said, indicating to it as CC’s stomach grumbled to our amusement. We went over and warmed up our food, laughing at who was designated what container.

Me & Ashley had a container to ourselves (to be expected nowadays), while Andy & Jinxx had the second and Jake & CC had the third. We sat down outside and ate before getting some drinks from the tuckshop and heading up to the hall where our stuff was. Then when the bell rang we darted inside and sat down – yeah we were kinda bored.

Andy noticed the curious glance I gave him and asked about it. “How fast can you run?” I asked, indirectly referring to the Bryan stars interview where Andy raced against Matt Good and Bryan. “Are you challenging me?” Andy countered, realising what I was getting at – the other guys grinning evilly when they caught on.

“Mayyyyyyyyyybe” I replied, smirking then unexpectedly belching, making all of us laugh, CC mentioned something about Scooby-Doo. “Are you sure you want to do that Gab?” Ashley asked, a bit wary. “I think she’ll kick Andy’s ass,” said Jake, Jinxx agreeing. “No way, Andy would so beat her in a race,” said CC, Ashley siding with him.

I mock-glared at him for that and said, “Alright then. If Ashley & CC think that Andy would beat me in a race, and Jake & Jinxx think I’d beat Andy… lets settle this down at the oval” I suggested, standing and tapping my foot, my arms crossed over my torso where my outlaw tattoo was. I didn’t change into this stuff for nothing other than the fact that it’s comfy as hell.

“Let’s do it” Andy said, fist-bumping me gently to not aggravate my wrists too much which I was grateful for, I had to let these heal naturally as annoying as it is. I grinned and grabbed my backpack as I lead them to the oval, putting my bag on the bottom terrace and doing some stretches to warm up.

“Do you know how tempting it is to grab you and take you right here and now?” Ashley growled in my ear, standing right behind me as I downed some PowerAde, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, holding me to him making sure I knew just how aroused he was. I shivered against him at the thought of that happening but now wasn’t the time for that, as tempting as it was.

I turned around and whispered into his ear while smirking, “As fun as that sounds, you’re just gonna have to wait a bit longer Ashley… I have a score to settle with Andy for now... tonight we’ll be one again” as I said that my hand brushed his erection, squeezing him, making him inhale sharply as I bit his neck sharply, leaving a mark, before winking and walking off to finish warming up.

Once we were ready to go, with Ashley sending me evil smirks the whole time (I knew I was in trouble from that hehehe, gonna be so worth it), Andy & I decided to do a lap of the oval. So, we lined up at the starting point after I’d ditched my school shorts & shirt, making Ashley cough and look away to everyone’s amusement. I also tied my hair out of the way, Andy doing the same after ditching the batman shirt he wore – I know for a fact Mara would go nuts if she was here, and told him when he asked what was so funny after hearing me laugh, he just chuckled and blushed slightly – yep he likes Mara.

Jake decided he’d be the race announcer or whatever it was called as he yelled for us to take our marks. Andy and I stood on the lines that had been spray-painted who knows how many times onto the grass, smirking at eachother, hearts beating insanely as we knelt down, one foot in front of the other (his right foot was out, I had my left foot in front), with our hands out in front.

“GET SET!” Jake yelled, Andy and I pushed up so that we were barely touching the ground. “GO!” Jake & CC yelled simultaneously then Andy & I pushed off and started running. For around the first 200m Andy was just ahead of me, and then I managed to get ahead of him.

At the 330m point I heard him panting although my breathing was still relatively normal, though I was panting slightly. Then I sped up, pulling ahead even further. Let’s just say I crossed the finish line at least full five seconds before Andy, panting a little bit, and then when he crossed the line he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

I turned to CC & Ashley, and gave them a smug grin, hands on my athletically toned hips. They grinned back even though they’d lost the bet. I hi-fived & Jinxx & Jake then drank some of my PowerAde, tossing one to Andy, knowing he’d need to be rehydrated after that run, and PowerAde was kinda handy for that.

“I told you that you hadn’t seen anything yet, besides I was holding back,” I said, smirking at Andy who was still gasping for air lying on the ground like a starfish. I grabbed my phone out of my bra where I kept it when it wasn’t in my pocket and took a photo of him sitting like that and texted the photo to Mara.

She replied with a few ROFL (rolling on floor laughing) emoji’s and a few smileys that have hearts for eyes and a few winking ones. I chuckled as I sat on the terraces allowing Andy to get his breath back then we went back up to the hall and I changed again and fixed my makeup a bit. “Done in there?” CC called out.

I chuckled quietly, “Sorry C, just cleaning myself up a bit” I took a photo of myself in an interesting pose as Ashley would call it and sent it to him. “Damn” I heard him mumble, sounds like he liked what he saw. “Like that do you Ash?” I asked, repositioning my hair.

Then I zipped up my makeup pencil case that I’d enchanted to be bigger on the inside and to be lighter than it really was. Oh yeah, when I was a kid I kind of discovered that I had these cool powers, but I had to keep it a secret so shhh! After spraying my hair and fluffing it up I packed my things away into my backpack, giving anyone behind me a good view of my ass, but not in a slutty sort of way.

“Whoa” I heard a few voices say behind me, one of them being Ashley’s. I smirked and popped a piece of my favourite peppermint chewing gum in my mouth and started chewing on it as I turned around, smirking at them, Ashley in particular. “Bloody hell!” Ashley exclaimed, an awestruck expression on his face.

“You like?” I asked, blowing a gum bubble and popping it, startling them out of their trance. “You look awesome!” said Andy, grabbing a mic from what I'm guessing was their equipment that their manager Jon dropped off. “Thanks Batmandy. I’m guessing Jon dropped your equipment off sometime yesterday?”

“Yeah, he texted Andy and he relayed the info to us, and you look beautiful” Jinxx said, picking up his BC Rich Bich and setting it up with his amp, Jake nodding in agreement while setting up his BC Rich Mockingbird. “Thanks guys. What song are ya’s gonna do?” I asked, mentally wishing I had a stubby with me, scratch that – wishing I’d packed one but alcohol isn’t allowed on school grounds, so I’d have to wait until later, until after I get my hands checked out and my back piece filled in.

“Hmm, maybe God Bless You?” Andy suggested, the other guys grinning and nodding, CC sitting at the drum kit that was set up onstage and pounding out a mini-solo. Ashley laughed as he plugged in his bass slung the strap over his shoulder and made sure it was in tune, sending me a flirtatious look that I returned, making him shiver.

I smirked as Jake & Jinxx made sure their guitars were in tune and played around with effect pedals while Andy did some vocal warm-ups. “Why don’t you join us?” said CC, looking at me sitting cross-legged on the floor near where Jinxx & Jake were still messing with pedals & Jinxx tuning his violin for later.

I shrugged, “There’s not really much I can do at the moment aside from vocals, my hands are too sore for me to grip anything at the moment so guitar is out of the question for now which is a pain in the ass” I said. “Why not sing with me then?” Andy suggested, adjusting the height of his mic stand. “Oh, all right then” I grinned, setting up a mic & stand for myself, then doing a few warm-ups with Andy after ditching my gum.

“You ready?” Andy asked, CC bouncing on his seat in excitement as though he’d eaten a bunch of Mexican jumping beans, Ashley, Jake & Jinxx clearly ready to get going, from the way they were impatiently tapping the fret boards of their instruments with their left hands and fiddling with the picks they were holding in their right hands. I nodded, grinning insanely – I mean come ON these guys want ME to jam with them! I’d be an idiot to pass this up, seeing as how they’re one of my favourite bands.

Though now they have to swim with me when my hands get themselves together. Then suddenly Jake, Jinxx, Ashley & CC began playing, making me jump slightly, but continue grinning as Andy & I began to sing. “We’re all told that when we die, we leave to a better place. And all I know is what you left, a love I can't erase” here I paused to let Andy lead us into the chorus, “All the same in love and war, burn my name and ashes scorn” then I took over. “You left me with these broken lies and I let you. Got no more time for your goodbyes, so God Bless You”

“God Bless You” Andy joined in again as we started the second verse, “shed those faded memories, this your curtain call. I’ve had enough of sympathy; it’s time to watch you fall. All the same in love and war” “You left me with these broken lies and I let you. I got no more time for your goodbyes so God Bless You” again I owned that chorus, and judging by the looks Andy & Ashley gave me, I knew I had to tell them at some point why I put that much emotion into my voice.

“So God Bless You, God Bless You, God Bless You, God Bless You” Andy & I sang as Jake & Jinxx played the solo, with me wishing I had full function of my hands. Then we finished the song. “Damn girl you sure have a set of lungs on ya” Andy commented, taking a large sip of the PowerAde I tossed him from earlier.

“I’ve been told that a lot, along with the fact that a lot of the misfits think that I look a LOT like Jinxx especially when I have his war paint on, my BC Rich Bich I have at home and when I wear blue-grey contact lenses” I explained, lying about the contacts. My eyes are naturally the exact shade Jinxx’s are which I thought was a bit unusual.

I use a colour-change spell to make them the chocolate brown that nearly everyone sees and wear contacts so I can see. Neither me, Mara or Arya are any good with those kinds of healing spells. We didn’t dare try them in case we made it worse, so I’m stuck with not being able to see too well for the time being.

But earlier, when I said I couldn’t use my magic to heal myself, I meant that our magic automatically speeds up the healing process to twice as fast, if I used a spell or potion it would have healed instantly and would have alerted the guys sooner than any of us would have liked. “Really?” CC asked, a little sceptical.

“Mm-hm, one nickname that’s since died out was mini-Jinxx “You ok there Andy?” I asked seeing as he was laughing. He nodded and stood up, breathing heavily. “I’m ok” he said, still grinning, I just rolled my eyes. “Either way, you’re pretty good at singing” said Jinxx. “Thanks Jinxx” I said, grinning and knocking back half the PowerAde that was left in my bottle.

“No worries kid” he replied, shrinking back a bit as I glared at him and told him “better behave yourself Jinxxy.... you never know what kind of trouble you could get into,” my glare turning into an evil grin that made the guys all shiver in their boots. “Huh?” said Andy, Jake & CC while Ashley burst out laughing as I smirked at Jinxx.

“What’d she say?” Andy asked, watching me stand there smirking at Jinxx, tapping my converse clad feet while Ashley managed to catch his breath. “She said ‘better behave yourself Jinxxy, you never know what kind of trouble you could get into’” he translated, still chortling. “Is it just me or does she seriously resemble Jinxx when she has that expression on?” I heard CC mumble as quietly as he can.

Unfortunately for him I could still hear what he said, one of my abilities being able to turn into a part-animal, cat in me and my covens case, and cats had pretty damn good hearing. “Yeah CC I’ve heard that enough that it’s gotten kind of tiring” I said, letting him know I heard him. “Damn you heard me?” “Yup, I have uncommonly good hearing and Ashley’s attempt to sneak up behind me was doomed” I said, snickering when I heard him curse under his breath as Jinxx set up his Rich Bich and began practising, Jake joining him a few minutes later. Then I thought of something.

“Hey Andy?” I asked. “Yeah?” “Is the concert you guys are doing here just for the 12’s or all the kids?” “Um just the 12’s I think, why?”

“I was just wondering where you’re gonna play cos if it was for the whole school, in here wouldn’t be a good idea, they can barely fit the concert band up on the stage and with the size of CC’s drum kit along with the amps and the rest of the stuff you guys use.... well it’d be pretty cramped up there and with all the students in here with a bunch of teachers, you’d be squishing the tiny Year 8’s if some of you stood in front of the stage cos there wouldn’t be enough room” I pointed out.

“Ok, you have any suggestions for the venue?” Andy asked, stretching out. “Well if you guys wanted to keep it here, the oval where we were earlier would be a good spot, there’s room on the terraces for the kids to sit and I'm pretty sure they can put the tech stuff in the shed that’s there cos that’s where they put on music for the fun run and the announcing stuff for athletics carnivals” I began to explain, thinking of other venues that might be suitable.

“That doesn’t sound too bad, any other places around town?” said Ashley, reading through random stuff on his phone. “Well that depends on whether you want an indoor or outdoor venue. If you want indoors which would be handy with how hot it gets in November thanks to the humidity along with the onset of summer, the Empire Theatre is an option if they haven’t got anything on at the time. There’s also the Humeridge centre in Hume Street, we have awards ceremonies and our school musical there, the stage has plenty of room for you guys and your equipment. I would know I'm on that stage at least two or three times a year, and there’s the City Golf Club which has a few rooms to choose from and can provide snacks and stuff. Hell we could book in a lunch or cocktail function at the TAFE restaurant for afterwards, the students there cook and serve the food and drinks depending on what they’re studying”

“What do you guys think? Indoors or outdoors? And what is TAFE?” Andy asked Jake & Jinxx who’d stopped playing to listen to my speech. “I think outdoors” said Jake, “Me too” Jinxx, Ashley & CC agreed.

“It’s a tertiary college, but it’s referred to as school since college is a weird word over here, I’ve done a handful of short courses there and it’s where I studied my hairdressing course and there’s a training restaurant there which is why I mentioned it. So for outdoors then... well aside from the oval here, there’s Queens Park. When the Carnival Of Flowers is on, they have a stage set up for various artists to play on along with Easterfest and other local events, namely New Years. Other than that the only place I can think of without diving into research and making a bazillion calls would be the showgrounds which my grandparents live near, like a 5-10 minute drive away”

“Carnival Of Flowers? What’s that about?” CC asked curiously. “It’s a spring festival, people grow pretty flowers all over town and there’s tons of garden tours, the parks are busy as hell with all the floral displays, traffic is a nightmare cos the streets get closed off... there’s also a big parade that goes through town – gave me the mother of all foot aches when I marched in it one year as a kid – and activities are all over the place too”

“Cool, when is it?” Andy asked. “Sorry boys, you’re about a fortnight too late. It goes during the last week of September from the 22nd to the 28th then Jeremy’s birthday on the 30th and you guys didn’t seemto get here until the 8th of October which was yesterday” I said. “Aww man!” they whined, making me laugh.

“Yeah October is when things start winding down, though Oktoberfest has come and gone too... really I think the only things left are Halloween, Christmas and New Years but there are a bunch of smaller things on too. The street that me & Jeremy live in always has a massive street party which is always a lot of fun, they have one for Halloween, Christmas and New Years along with Australia Day, Easter and other holidays throughout the year, but Halloween, Christmas and New Years are always the three biggest ones” I explained as my phone rang.

Checking it I noticed it was Glenvale Hockey Club I worked at. “Hello, Gabby speaking” I said, gesturing the guys to be quiet, as I walked over to the kitchenette area and leaning on the bench as I watched Andy, Ashley & CC debate about the venues I mentioned/suggested while Jake & Jinxx continued to mess around on their guitars while debating about dropping by to TAFE to look around.

“Hi Gabby, its Emma here” “Oh hey Emma, shit happening at work again?” “Yeah, the boss asked me to ring you to tell you that she doesn’t need you to come in this week, according to her, there won’t be much activity this week and doesn’t need you here” I scowled and thought about how to respond.

“God Fucking Dammit, this is the 7th or 8th time this year she’s done that! Though when the footy matches are on, especially State Of Origin she’s beggin on ‘er hands and knees for me to come in” I growled, slamming my left wrist on the bench, causing it to hurt more, letting my secret accent out – I think it comes from my biological family.

“Yeah it’s getting ridiculous” “Tell me about it... maybe I should have applied at the sports club in Ruthven Street, I like the atmosphere there better, plus there’s the big projector screen to catch the game on...” “Hahahaha”

“Nah I betcha it’s because she hates me but won’t get rid of me cos she knows damn well and good that I'm one of the best bartenders they have and the fact that I can resolve conflicts pretty damn well” I said, getting a few curious looks from the guys but I just shot them a look that said ‘I’ll explain later, drop it’ and they looked away nervously. “That does sound pretty accurate... you still gonna drop in anyway?” I scoffed and pulled a sassy ‘of course!’ expression even though Emma couldn’t see it.

“Of course you are, how could I forget! And you're forever gonna pull sassy expressions through the phone aren’t you” “Dammit you know me too well... I was gonna ring up later and say that I won’t be able to come in anyway” “Oh really, why?” “Well you know how that breakdown I have at the end of each term, especially around this time of year?”

“Yeah” “Had it today, punched Tahlia in the face too, pretty sure she has a black eye and broken nose” “She had that coming... but how would that prevent you from coming in?” “Well then I ran out of the classroom after leaving a few parting words with my teacher and tripped on the way to where I usually sit until I’ve calmed down and from what I can feel cos I have brace things on at the moment, I jolted the bone that’s only just healed so I most likely fractured it and my right hand was the one I punched Tahlia with and it feels fractured too” I explained.

“Ouch! You gonna get that checked out?” “Yeah I am, gonna drop into the hospital briefly before my tattoo appointment this afternoon” “Oh I forgot you had that on, what are you getting done again?” “My back piece filled in, it’s gonna take a while cos of the colouring I had in the design that I drew up then finished up on the computer in IT last year, may take up to 3 sessions according to my artist”

“Ah yeah so it’s just your wrists that were gonna prevent you from coming in” “Yeah if it was just my back I would have been fine if I didn’t need to carry in full boxes of various bottles, cans and shit like that” “Ok, so see you sometime this week?” “You know it girlfriend and text me your schedule so I know when you’re there” I said, laughing. “Ok, I’ll let the boss know that it’s fine with you and that you were gonna call in and say you weren’t gonna be able to come in anyway”

“Sure thing, I’ve got a band to hang out with... the bassist of which I am madly in love with. Too bad he’ll have to be a bit gentler with me later on for a little while” “You and Ashley together at last?”

“Yep, the others are here too, not just Ashley, their manager is floating around somewhere in town, I haven’t seen him around yet though he dropped off their music equipment here at school yesterday afternoon according to Andy, just gotta get their things from their motel since they’re hanging at my place, though they might do that while I’m over at Skin Art” “Awesome! Gotta introduce us sometime soon!” “Ok ok I gotta get going. Jake and Jinxx seem to want to interrogate me about something” “OK seeya” “Bye” I hung up my phone and put it in the pocket of my shorts. “Who was that?” asked Ashley as I sat next to him and kissed his cheek.

“Just one of the other bartenders I work with. Apparently, my boss thinks there won’t be much activity this week and supposedly doesn’t need me for the week A-FUCKING-GAIN. That’s the 8th time she’s done that this year. The next time she does it I’m throwing in the towel, I know I can get better hours at the salon”

“Seriously? I'm surprised she hasn’t fired you” “Oh I know she wants to but holds back cos she knows that I’m one of the best bartenders there and that I have a knack for sorting out arguments before they become all-out brawls, especially the sore losers when it’s footy time. I had to make all the New South Wales supporters shut up and get going every time they lost, especially the grand final which Queensland won for the 7th year in a row. Damn the blues are cry-babies chucking dummy spits whenever they mess up and lose and when Queensland does something right and win” I explained, shrugging.

“I was gonna call up in a little while anyway, seeing as how my wrists are fractured – at least I think they are, I can't do my usual tasks at work without dropping nearly everything I pick up which would be a bad thing if I had to serve a customer a drink of some kind” I added. “What is State of Origin? Sounds like something you're all pretty damn passionate about here” said Andy.

“Oh we are Andy. It’s an annual best-of-3 NRL match between the blues and maroons which are the New South Wales and Queensland teams respectively. NRL stands for National Rugby League even though Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory don't have teams in the NRL. The QLD and NSW teams have also been nicknamed cane toads and cockroaches from an ad back in the 80’s and have been called that ever since, its sprouted countless jokes too. It’s also a major rivalry between the two states with the rest of the country watching on and probably pissing themselves laughing with all the hype and shit that goes down at Origin time” I explained, chuckling at the memory of the origin final that me & Jeremy watched at a pub with our mates for his birthday.

“Sounds interesting, how long has it been going on for?” Jake chimed in, a curious expression on his face. “1908, though the ‘State of Origin’ era didn’t come around until the 80’s. There are 16 other teams though, not just the origin ones” I said, almost laughing at their shocked faces. “Really? What other teams are there? Any games coming up?” asked Jinxx.

I shook my head, “Sorry, you’re too late again. This year’s final was on the 30th September which was Jeremy’s birthday, between the Bulldogs and Storm at ANZ stadium, Storm won which I was stoked about and I backed them that day, I can't stand the bulldogs, dirty little grubs especially the grub of a captain Ennis... though Paul Gallen isn’t really any better, he’s the NSW Origin captain” “Aww man couldn’t we have come in July or something?!” CC whined, I just laughed.

“Well you would have been here in time for a bunch of stuff, starting with my birthday... I can always let you guys watch the Premiership and Origin finals from this year sometime at home, I just won’t be able to explain what’s going on today, my tattoo session is gonna take a while” “Sweet!” “Anyway the 16 teams are North QLD Cowboys, Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans, Sydney Roosters, Cronulla Sharks, Canberra Raiders, Wests Tigers, St George Dragons, Canterbury Bulldogs, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Newcastle Knights, New Zealand Warriors, Manly Sea Eagles, Parramatta Eels, Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers” I explained, readjusting my wrist braces.

“Cool, do they use the helmets and shoulder pads like they do in the US?” Ashley asked with Jake adding “Which team do you follow?” I shook my head, “God no. Some of the players wear uglies which are weird hat things, but really all they use are mouthguards and sometimes support tape on their legs, and I support the North Queensland Cowboys” they all looked at me gobsmacked.

“I’m not even joking, that’s what they use. They could like get a busted lip, or a hit on the head and they’ll pretend they’re not hurt at all” I said, laughing at their faces. They just shook their heads, most likely wondering what the fuck the players are thinking. I’ll admit at times even I wonder what they’re thinking, though I love going to games at the stadiums at the Gold Coast, Townsville and Brisbane even if the food, snacks, drinks & beer is ridiculously overpriced.

It’s always a great experience made even better if your team wins. “Anyway, Jinxx did you and Jake want to ask me something? You both had impatient expressions while I was talking to Emma on the phone” “Yeah, we were curious as to what other short courses you did at TAFE and whether you could show us around sometime” “Other than my hair course I did one on some basic camera skills, a barista one – earns me points at work for sure – and my RSA that I need to have to legally serve alcohol. Sure, I can do that, maybe we could have lunch there, the theme varies a fair bit though just so you know”

“Neat” “Sounds good” “Though one thing I’m curious about is what the finished product of your tattoo’s gonna look like” CC said, and I snorted. “It’s not gonna be plain black if that’s what youse are thinkin” I said, grabbing my laptop and going into file explorer then into ‘Projects’ after Documents and then into ‘Tattoo stuff’ and opening the digital drawing.

“Let me guess it’s gonna be colourful as hell?” said Andy, I nodded as I turned my laptop around so they could see the finished product of an afternoon long session of photoshopping. “Ho-ly shit that looks incredible” said Jinxx, an awestruck expression on his face. “Shit that is awesome” “Fucking awesome” “Seriously cool” “Bloody brilliant” the others agreed, scrolling through the folder to see the other finished designs, some of which are now on me. “Hey Gab, can you sit here for a minute?” Jinxx asked, gesturing to a spot in front of them.

I moved to where he indicated and put my left arm out seeing they had the ‘Apollo’ design on the screen. “Damn that’s cool” they said, looking through the rest of the designs and comparing them to the ones I had on me. The only ones I refused to let them see (except Ashley of course) were my pentagram and ninja star ones, seeing as they were on my hips, and I wasn’t getting nude for just anyone.

“So you’re intending to have full sleeves” Andy summarised. I nodded, “Yep, some others here and there as well, obviously with the wings, pentagram, outlaw and ninja star” I said, confirming his guesstimation. “Cool” they all grinned as I checked the time and to my dismay it was only half past 12. “Ugh man!” I complained. “What's wrong?” Ashley asked while Jinxx returned my laptop as he and Jake resumed practising bulletproof.

“Still have about three quarters of an hour before we can get outta here” I grumbled. Ashley laughed and hugged me close to him, dammit that deodorant and body spray stuff combo that he uses smells delicious, the sort of smell you can't get enough of. “Actually why don't we hold off on practising until your hands get themselves together” said Jinxx spotting the somewhat sad face I’d pulled when they started to practise again.

“Yeah I want to wait until you can join in, you’re pretty good at playing for an athlete” said Jake, nodding in agreement. I smiled, “Ok” I said, grinning. For a little while after that the guys and I sat around with them chattering about various things, and I couldn’t help but think of how much Anakin would have loved these guys, even though I’d lost him before he was anywhere near ready for birth.

Then I felt tears freefall down my cheeks (most likely tasking my mascara and eyeliner with them but I didn’t particularly care at that moment) as I thought ‘Oh Anakin, I miss you so much even though I never got to know you. Why did I have to lose you’ with a sad expression on my face. I sighed as I walked into the girl’s toilets to clean myself off, noting the alarmed expressions on the guy’s faces, especially Ashley which I felt guilty about.

Setting up a sound-containing ward on the toilets so the guys wouldn’t hear me I let out some more of the grief I still carried with me as I cried loudly.

When I was sixteen, in 2008, I had a boyfriend whose name was Aiden, yes the Aiden I mentioned earlier. When we first got together not long before I turned 16 he was kind and caring, the sort of guy any girl would want. Not long after I’d turned 16 (like early August seeing as my birthday was the middle of July), I made one of the worst decisions of my life, because I had thought I was in love, but I realised it was more I loved the idea of someone caring about me like that, because I never had love from my parents.

Sure I had my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins but it wasn’t the same as the love a mother and father should have for their child, adopted or biological. I’d found out when I was 10 that I was adopted, easily seeing the signs all around me, and it was super obvious by the time I’d interrogated my aunts, uncles and grandparents that I knew for sure I was adopted, I just have no idea whose family I belong to. Back to the worst decision I had made, I let Aiden take me.

After that night he was awful, controlling, possessive and even abusive. Thankfully we had split up shortly after that when a band I used to be in to help Mara try something, ‘Hell’s Angels’ was formed, he had tried to stop me from going on tour with them, I'm just glad my parents didn’t give a damn what I did so they never bothered to try to stop me. But of course, Aiden being the jerk he is broke up with me in the worst way possible.

Tahlia isn’t just my rival because she’s all preppy, pop etc and I’m alternative, nerdy, weird, basically polar opposites and that sort of thing. No that wasn’t what really got our long-term rivalry going. Aiden cheated on me as though we had never been together, and the worst bit was, he cheated on me with Tahlia. I had been shopping for clothes and makeup to take on the small 3 week demo tour the record label had given us when I saw Aiden standing with Tahlia.

I had frowned, thinking that was odd since they’d never been friendly towards each other as far as I’d known, but what drove it home was when they began making out with me in plain sight. I had gasped, tears in my eyes as I dropped the bags I’d been carrying, sinking to my knees when they broke apart from playing tonsil hockey and spotted me. They both smirked evilly and laughed at me before walking away, arms around each other.

I just knelt there and cried before one of the girls from Cosmetics Plus came out and comforted me as she’d seen the whole thing. Turns out she was our keyboarder Amy’s elder sister Sammy. She fixed up my makeup for me and taught me a few new tricks and pierced my lip for me when she asked if I wanted any piercings.

Then she gave me her number and wished me luck for the tour and said she’d say hello to Amy for me. Not long after that I had been hanging with my friends Jeremy, Mara, Matt and Arya when Matt brought out some sort of food (can't remember what it was) that I normally enjoyed but that day it made me nauseous and so I sprinted to the toilets and stayed there until it was time for class.

After a week nonstop of that I had noticed that I’d missed my period, my breasts were super tender and I had been craving foods I didn’t usually have which made me panic. After school I had driven to the nearest chemist and picked up a box of pregnancy tests (one of ones that had a few tests in them) along with a bottle of some kind of drink. Racing home and hiding out in my room like I often did at home, I drank whatever drink it was that I’d gotten and took the tests, 30 minutes apart in case one of them was faulty.

Unfortunately, they all came back positive. “Shit” I’d muttered and immediately looked up the phone number to the family planning clinic and booked in an appointment. A few days later I went in and found out I was 7 weeks pregnant with my ex’s baby, they also gave me a few ultrasound photos and a few other things I couldn’t focus on. I immediately rang my friends and we hung out at queen’s park for the afternoon. They were shocked when I told them what was going on but believed me when I showed them the tests and the stuff from the clinic.

After that I rang Sammy and filled her in on everything I had found out and we decided to keep my condition under wraps, my morning sickness was thankfully pretty light but was present, the need to go to the toilet a lot was annoying. I got through the tour in one piece and had a good time, but Mara was crushed when the record label rejected us.

So, the group broke up and we went our separate ways, never to hear again from Josie and Kirra-Lee our bassist and lead vocalist (I was lead guitar and backing vocals) which I was fine with. The record label let us keep the equipment they loaned us which was nice, hell Josie and Kirra-Lee practically dumped the equipment they’d been loaned on me.

Anyway, Mara and I kept in touch with Amy and Casey our drummer who gave us their email addresses and friended us on Facebook. Of course, when I was 14 weeks – surprisingly not showing, but apparently the fitter you are the less likely you are to show and according to the doctor I’d been secretly visiting I was pretty damn fit from all the swimming and stuff I do – it all went to hell in a hand basket, complete with a big red bow on the handle, made out of fabrics I don’t like.

I had been feeling out of it but not so bad that I had to stay home one day at school and it was a free dress day in term 4. I had walked out of Business Ed with my class on our way to HPE (Health & Physical Education) and had been talking to Jenny one of the girls in my PCG (Pastoral Care Group) – in year 8 you go to all your classes with your PCG, except Maths, English & Science in my case – when I suddenly felt worse.

I couldn’t focus on what Jenny was saying which she noticed and went to get Mr. McMillan who was our Bus Ed teacher at the time, now head of yr 12 and ICT teacher. As I started getting light-headed, it felt like my blood pressure either spiked or plummeted as I barely had time to put my books on the port rack before sliding down the wall and sitting weirdly. Just as I lost consciousness I saw Jenny come back with Mr McMillan while I felt something soak the pants I wore.

A few hours later I woke up in hospital, dressed in an annoying hospital gown with a cannula in my nose. I’d sat up carefully with someone’s help, I wasn’t sure who it was at first since I was barely awake and not aware of my surroundings. “How are you feeling?” I heard the person who was there with me ask. “Tired, weak” I said, wincing when I felt an uncomfortable cramp. “And crampy” I added when it subsided.

“What happened? The last thing I remember is collapsing outside Bus Ed” I said, looking up to see Mr. McMillan and Mr. O’Connell looking at me with concern on their faces. “Well Jenny came to get me and she said there was something wrong with you. She said you were out of it and looking very pale and dizzy. When she lead me to you, you were on your knees and fell onto your side as you lost consciousness with blood all over you. Then I let the relevant staff now including Tim, and we got you here” Mr. McMillan had explained. “Where exactly are we? And why am I in the middle of a transfusion?” I asked, looking around me and seeing I was linked up to a blood bag. “St Vincent's hospital, it’s the closest to Centenary, you also lost a considerable amount of blood”

“Oh. Mom – I mean Sophia – works here” I grumbled. “Sophia?” “My mother. Adoptive actually and she’s not the nicest person around” I said, sighing as I leant back against the pillows, rubbing my tummy, a habit I’d developed since I hit 8 weeks. “Gabby?” Mr. O'Connell asked, noticing what I did. “Yeah?” I had asked warily. “Why are you rubbing your stomach like that?” I gulped nervously, I hadn’t wanted to tell any staff members other than the school nurse and my PCG teacher about my condition.

“Hey no need to be scared, you can tell us” Mr. McMillan said. “Well I haven’t told many people about this aside from Miss Haines and the school nurse along with my only friends...” I started to explain, feeling more anxious by the minute.

“And?” they prompted gently. “I’m pregnant. Most definitely unplanned but it happened when I made the worst decision of my life 3 and a half months ago. I didn’t have it in me to abort the baby” I said, wiping away tears and looking away from the two teachers because I was scared of their reaction. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped you” I heard Mr. McMillan say.

“I was scared. Scared of what would happen if word got around about it, scared of what my parents would have said if they found out. Terrified of what Tahlia would have done if she knew... god I hate her now... and I was scared of what your reactions would have been and I can't do as much in HPE without putting the baby at risk with strenuous exercise” I explained, wiping away tears. “That’s understandable” said Mr. O’Connell.

“Wait, what ward am I in?” I asked, suddenly terrified and feeling like a part of me was ripped away from me. “Um the Dorothy Devine ward I think” said Mr. McMillan looking at Mr. O’Connell for confirmation and he nodded. I gasped in horror. “Oh no” I choked, hanging my head. “Are you alright?” Mr. O’Connell asked. I shook my head, “I think I have a suspicion of what happened but I don't want to think about it though it makes sense” I said, sniffling.

Then a doctor came in to check on me and said what I was hoping NOT to hear. “Miss Belleci, I am very sorry to say that you lost your baby. I’ll bring your discharge papers when you finish the transfusion” as soon as he said that, tears were pouring down my cheeks like waterfalls. “No.. no no no no no no no!” I cried, my head in my hands, my shoulders shaking as I cried. “Oh my god I’m so sorry” said Mr. McMillan, rubbing my back.

“Don’t worry about it... ugh first the record label rejected Mara then this. Why me?” I said, whispering the last two words. “I don't know. Do you want us to tell your friends what happened?” asked Mr. O’Connell. I nodded, “Yes please and can you ask Sammy to bring some clothes for me to change into when I can get outta here?” I said, passing them my phone that had Sammy’s contact ready. A few days later I had gone back to school, but I had somewhat retreated into myself.

Soon afterward I had found the videos for ‘Knives and Pens’ & ‘Perfect Weapon’ on YouTube and immediately downloaded them onto my iPhone and iPod classic. I perked up again soon after, forming an online friendship with Dahvie Vanity and talking to my music teacher at the place I learnt guitar at about some other coping methods, she suggested diving since it was in line with the other things I liked doing, they turned out to be a great way to let out anything I’d kept bottled up.

Pulling myself together I stood up and looked at my reflection in the mirror, leaning against the sink. It was that event, losing my unborn baby and all the drama surrounding it that made me how I am, and how I got good at what I do.

A few weeks later I discovered that one of the abilities I have is that I can communicate with a loved one be it family or friend who had died. Using that power, I was able to form a bond with my baby who turned out to be a boy and I named him Anakin. Smiling softly, I cast a charm to remove all the makeup I had left on. I splashed my face with water to help me calm down even more then after taking a few deep breaths I removed the sound containing spell I steeled my nerves to go back out to the guys waiting for me.

I know that sometime soon I would have to tell them about that, especially Ashley but I couldn’t do it yet. To this day I can’t even think about it without having a breakdown. Pushing the door open I saw their heads snap in my direction. “You ok now?” Ashley asked, walking over to me and holding me closely. “Not really but I will be” I mumbled in reply as we sat down again. “You alright?” the rest of BVB asked me.

“I will be, I just thought of something that still gets to me like that while you were all talking” I sighed, snuggling with Ashley. “Well since we still have a bunch of time to kill, why don't we play a game?” CC suggested. I looked at him curiously, “What I was thinking is we put your iTunes library on shuffle and you guess what's playing as quickly as you can, like song name, artist, album and whatever, bonus points for year and track number” CC explained.

I nodded, “Sure I could use a distraction” I said, smiling a bit. I handed over my laptop and they turned shuffle on and played a random song. “Bat Country, Avenged Sevenfold” I said. “Smart girl” said Jake, I poked my tongue at him. I think I can really trust these guys. They really do care about me and my friends... I thought, my mood brightening.

Notes

Poor Ani :(