Tybalt and Juliet Ch. 04

After assembly, I was collared by our music teacher Mr Lane, who wanted to know if I'd be willing to perform with Amy again at the end of term concert. That was a school event that I'd been hoping to avoid, but agreed to do it if Amy did as well.

As I'd promised Lauren, I caught up with James on the first day to ask him about tables for the Prom. Far from being unhappy that I was proposing to sit (with Danny) in a different group to him, he confided that he was relieved that I'd brought the matter up. Apparently, Becky had talked non-stop since the cast party about seating plans and removing Danny and myself from the equation (and onto a table of apparent singletons) made things a lot simpler.

In fact, Becky was not the only one in our year group to have spent the Easter Holidays obsessing over the Prom. The Parent Teacher Association had made the mistake of sending out the email about the event on the Monday after the end of the previous term, which had provided the perfect distraction for anyone wanting to put off the start of their revision during the holidays. Chatter in the school corridors was all of who was likely to ask whom to accompany them and how couples should group themselves into tables for the meal.

The Danny-James 'thing' was easier to handle than I'd expected. The three of us were taking Biology and Chemistry together and, so long as I made sure I talked to both equally, things were OK. (Lauren was in Biology with us too, so could be called upon if back up were necessary.) James and I also had Maths and Physics together, whereas Danny was on his own for Geography. He tried to avoid talking to James if he could, but it wasn't as if they were at each other's throats if interaction was necessary.

-

I had been a little surprised that Amy's mum had agreed to let her daughter have horse riding lessons. The response that I'd expected was that Amy should wait until her exams were over in mid-June, but perhaps Jenny had recognised her virtual prisoner status and though it wise to give her an outlet once a week. But maybe also she was realising that Amy was now an adult and at liberty to spend her money on whatever she wanted.

In the end, Amy asked me not to secure a discount with Jackie at the Stables, partly because she didn't want to be known there as 'Jake's girlfriend', but also to avoid any complicated explanations to her mum.

I hung around the entrance to the Stables at the appointed time as casually as I could, waiting for Amy to appear after her first lesson. I have to admit I was feeling nervous again, both hoping that it had gone well, but also that she wouldn't say 'no', to accompanying me to the Prom!

Although I'd been forbidden from observing the lesson (or cheering her on from the sidelines), I had been watching Amy as she rode around the sandy arena at the rear of the Stables. I was walking across the fields at the time, some distance away, but her posture looked good and the horse did at least appear to be doing what she wanted!

As I'd anticipated, Amy emerged from her lesson considerably later than planned, but the sight of her walking up the road away from the Stables in her tight jodhpurs, with the widest smile on her face, more than made up for it.

As soon as she reached me, she took my hand and dragged me off the footpath, behind a large hawthorn bush. She threw her arms around me and pulled my lips down to hers, thrusting her tongue into my mouth.

"Oh Jake," she gasped with delight. "I've missed you so much. We haven't kissed in ages!"

I felt my cock stiffening as her small frame and pert breasts crushed against me. I let her hold me for a few seconds as her hands slipped down my back to squeeze my butt.

"Come on," I said. "I've got a surprise for you!"

"Oooh," Amy replied, her eyes shining. "I like surprises!"

The two of us struck out across the fields towards the millpond, with Amy taking my hand in hers as soon as she judged that we were a safe distance away from prying eyes. It took around a quarter of an hour or so to reach the jetty where our rowing boat was moored. Amy talked non-stop the whole way about her riding lesson; it was wonderful to see her so animated and enthusiastic.

I fetched a blanket from the Fishermen's Hut and spread it out on the bank overlooking the millpond for the two of us to sit down. Amy looked around expectantly for her surprise. I wasn't entirely sure what to do next, and I had vaguely considered going down onto one knee, but I decided that would probably be excessive.

"I have a question to ask you," I said, hearing the nerves in my own voice.

She looked up at me anxiously.

"Would you do me the honour of going to the Prom with me as my date?"

Amy squealed with delight and threw her arms around me, kissing me on the cheek.

"Oh Jake," she cried, "of course I will. I'd love to. Thank you, I'm so happy."

I told Amy about the 'table of nerds' that Lauren and I were trying to put together, explaining how we were trying to look like a group who were sitting together because they didn't have dates, and that this would allow us to make our relationship public at a time of our own choosing. Amy nodded and agreed that was a good idea.

I stood up. She looked at me. "Are we going already?" she asked surprised. "Can we just sit here for a little while longer? I've hardly seen you all week, I've missed you!"

"It's OK," I said, "I just need to get something."

"Oh," she said.

"But," I teased, "if you don't want the second half of your surprise, that's fine, I can stay here!"

Amy brought her finger up to her chin, pursing her lips as if pretending to think hard.

"OK," she said. "I'll let you go, as long as you come straight back."

I walked a few paces to one of the large oak trees that grew along the side of the bank and reached behind it, bringing out the small bouquet of red roses that I'd hidden there an hour earlier.

"Oh Jake, they're lovely!" Amy gasped, accepting the flowers from me and kissing me on the cheek.

"I just wanted to thank you for being such an amazing, beautiful girlfriend," I said. "And I'm so excited about taking you to the Prom."

We lay on our sides on the blanket and looked deep into each other's eyes, as I gently stroked her cheek. Then she pushed me gently onto my back and laid her head on my chest. I kissed the top of her head as she snaked her hand under my top and gently stroked the ridges of my abs.

"I love you Jake," she said. "And I love this chest!" She kissed me through the fabric of my sweater.

"I love you too Amy," I replied.

-

"So, what did she say?" asked Lauren impatiently, as I drove the two of us to school on the Friday morning.

"Who say?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Amy, what did she say about the Prom?"

"Oh that," I replied, teasing her.

"Well go on, what did she say?" she asked, exasperated.

"Yes, she's wants to go with me and she's happy to be on a table of nerds," I said, half-dreading the barrage of instructions that I knew Lauren was about to issue.

"Great," she said. "Can you talk to Danny and Nick today and I'll ask Frankie?"

I nodded. "What are we going to do about the other two spaces?" I asked.

"I was thinking Derek and Libby," she said.

I rolled my eyes. Derek and Libby were the two shyest people in our year group. Lauren had been convinced for as long as I could remember that the two were destined to be together, but neither had plucked up the courage to make the first move. I, on the other hand, suspected that if anything was likely to happen between them, it would have happened already. Still, they'd be a safe bet, as neither would have committed to a table yet.

"So you're going to talk to Libby and you want me to talk to Derek?" I asked.

"Well actually I thought it would be nice if Derek was the one to ask Libby," Lauren replied mischievously.

"OK," I said sceptically, "how do we engineer that?"

"Well," she replied, "now that you're an expert, I thought you could talk to him and pass on a few tips."

I rolled my eyes again. Getting together with Amy had scarcely been a textbook manoeuvre, although Lauren was unaware of the circumstances. I flippantly wondered whether I could persuade Ritchie to make a pass at Libby and then send Derek into action to defend her honour. But Derek wouldn't say 'boo' to a goose, let alone the Head Boy.

"I'm not an expert," I scoffed. "I've only been going out with Amy for three weeks!"

"I'm sure someone with your brain can figure it out," she said.

I grimaced and gripped the steering wheel more tightly, grudgingly admiring the way that Lauren had roped me into her scheme before placing the most difficult task on my shoulders.

-

Within half an hour of arriving at school, Lauren had sent me a message to say that Frankie had agreed to join our table. By chance, Nick and Danny were having lunch together and it was straightforward to persuade them to sign up too, although I suspected that my task might have been a little harder, had I approached them individually. (I'd been half-expecting Nick to tell me that he had no intention of going.) Neither raised an eyebrow when I mentioned Amy's name, but I noted that Nick looked pleased when I said that Frankie would be with us!

I managed to corner Derek in the school library about half an hour later. He seemed surprised and genuinely pleased that I'd suggested he join us for the Prom, but needed a little reassurance that the others on the table weren't going to pick on him.

"That's really great, so we're seven at the moment, so we need one more," I said. "Preferably a girl," I added, hoping to nudge him in the right direction. I furrowed my brow, pretending to mentally scroll through the list of girls in our year group who were both single and qualified as 'nice' by Derek's criteria. "Can you think of anyone?" I asked innocently.

Derek followed suit, giving his best impression of thinking hard. I was about to give up on him, when he spoke.

"How about Libby?" he asked, looking anxiously up at me, hoping his choice would meet with my approval.

"What a good idea!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, as a wave of relief swept over me. "Tell you what, why don't you ask her next lesson?" I asked.

Derek looked even more hesitant. "It's OK," I reassured him. "I'll be there too - I'll be your wingman."

The bell sounded the ten-minute warning. Derek smiled thinly, and looked even more anxious than usual.

"It'll be fine," I reassured him. "The worst that can happen is she says no!"

-

I reported back to Lauren as the two of us drove back to the farm after school. Libby had been over the moon to be asked to join our table of nerds for the Prom. I'd made sure that Derek had been the one to actually 'pop the question' and, although I'd prepared the ground, had downplayed my role for Lauren's benefit.

"There you go," she said, delighted by the success of her scheme. "I knew you could do it."

"That's the last time I get roped into playing matchmaker," I replied. "And no, I'm not setting Danny up with anyone."

"I've been working on that already," she replied, with a secretive smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Well you're on your own there!" I said.

Lauren gave a quiet chuckle. "So what are you up to this weekend loverboy?" she asked.

"I'm going over to Amy's at nine tomorrow for a revision sesh," I said, "and then we're going to go see a film after lunch." (We'd deliberately decided to go to the cinema in the neighbouring town to reduce the chances of being spotted.)

"Snogging in the back row?" she enquired.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out," I replied. "Oh, and I was supposed to be hanging out with Danny in the evening, but he's cried off. Some family thing he'd forgotten about apparently."

"Oh, so can I use the car tomorrow night?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, if you like," I replied. "What are you up to?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out," she grinned, repeating my words back to me.

-

Compared to the Easter Holidays, I saw very little of Amy during the first few weeks of term. She spent her breaks and lunchtimes alone in the administrative office at school and we didn't share any lessons. It required a fair bit of adjustment to go from being with her, generally on my own, for at least three or four hours most days, to a couple of evenings a week and a day each weekend. Of course, we'd phone and text each other, but it wasn't the same.

April turned to May and I allowed myself to become perhaps a little nostalgic. Our teachers started to count down the number of lessons remaining, in some cases to pressure us into working harder, but for others it was a chance to reflect on and celebrate the journey that we'd been on over the past two years of our A level courses.

It was interesting to see the way that my fellow students were dealing the stress of the exams ahead. Clearly discussion of the Prom had provided a temporary distraction, but as the weeks progressed, we grew closer, hunkering down against the coming storm. Perhaps some of us were hoping for a stay of execution, but I for one was impatient, tired of waiting for them to begin.

Our exams would take place over a five-week period, the middle week of which was the end-of-May Half Term Holiday. We'd only be expected to be in school if we had an exam and, although the library and Sixth Form Centre would be open to us, the teachers were keen to discourage us from hanging around and distracting other students.

Our lessons would finish on the first Friday in May and then we were given an entire week of 'Study Leave', when we were supposed to revise at home, but our teachers would be available to consult if we wanted. The idea was that, with just over a week to go before the start of exams, each student would have different priorities and areas that they wanted to work on, so it was impossible to teach everyone together as a group.

-

So our final Friday of lessons arrived. All one thousand students, aged from eleven to eighteen were ushered into the Sports Hall first thing that morning, for the big farewell to our year group. Other than the Prom, it would be the last time that we'd all be together. There were a few of us getting a little emotional but, as we'd be back at school for exams at different points over the next month, it wasn't as if we were truly leaving on that day.

The school assembly was supposed to be an opportunity to wish the Upper Sixth well in our university courses and future careers and to thank us for our contribution to the school over the past seven years. It should have been a happy occasion, but I was dreading the half hour ahead. My heart sank further when I saw Ritchie's mum sitting next to her son, the Head Boy, at the front of the Sports Hall. 'What the fuck is she doing here?' I thought.

True to form, our Headteacher's speech began with a retrospective on the school's sporting year. Apparently our rugby teams had hospitalised more of their opponents in a single season than ever before (a momentous achievement in the school's history) and the girls' hockey team had dispatched a similar number for emergency dental surgery. It was going to be an excellent cricket term too, with high expectations that we would demolish schools from far and wide.

Many sportsmen (and yes, even some sportswomen) at various stages of their school careers were identified for praise; Ritchie received the first of his many plaudits - apparently he'd broken some high jump record and had only just missed getting onto the county athletics team. It was a shame that brown-nosing wasn't an Olympic sport, I thought, he'd have had no trouble being selected for the national side.

Then it was on to the cultural and artistic life of the school. Our Headteacher had been amazed at the talent on display in the end-of-term concerts, so amazed in fact that he couldn't remember to mention a single performer that had caught his eye. But he did congratulate Mrs Slater on an excellent production of Romeo and Juliet, remarking on Ritchie's role as the dashing leading man. I was a little incensed that Amy was not recognised for her portrayal of the Capulet ingénue, but I bit my tongue.

There were a few high-achievers from the lower years who were given a name check: a twelve-year-old chess whizz who was on course to be a grandmaster; a genuinely very talented artist in the Lower Sixth (whom I liked and respected) who'd won a regional portrait competition; and finally the debating team, who'd finished in a 'very strong' fourth place in the local heats, but hadn't progressed to the national finals.

Then it was on to Mrs Gasson, the grande dame herself, who was thanked for bullying the other mothers and fathers as Chair of the Parent Teacher Association for five of the preceding seven years. She'd raised enough money in that time to buy a minibus and miscellaneous items of sports equipment. And we were all looking forward to the Prom that she was taking credit for organising. We all clapped dutifully as she was presented with an enormous bouquet of flowers, which very nearly hid her double chins.

Next there was a message for us, the departing Upper Sixth (one incidentally I'd heard every year for the past six years), wishing us well for the world beyond, telling us how fondly we'd remember our time at school and highlighting the important values that had been instilled in us that we'd take forward for later life. Too many students had received offers for university (conditional on A level results) for him to mention, but I was forced to briefly suspend my cynicism when I was congratulated on being the first student from the school in three years to get into either Oxford or Cambridge. (I quietly savoured the sight of Ritchie and his mother turning a little green when my name was read out.)

Then it was a thank you to the school prefects, each of whom were called to the front to receive a pen inscribed with the school's crest. Next the Head Girl, Anna, who was also sitting at the front of the hall (without either of her parents). I liked Anna a lot, she was a genuinely nice person, who'd put up with a lot of crap from Ritchie that year (he'd even tried to hit on her before turning his sights on Amy). She'd be going up to Newcastle to study Biochemistry come September.

Finally the Head Boy himself was praised to the rafters for his inspirational co-leadership of the student body. It was interesting to compare the reactions of the different year groups to Anna and Ritchie. Any student in the bottom three years (up to the age of fourteen) would have applauded a donkey wearing a Head Boy badge and the junior year groups were clearly oblivious to the fact that Ritchie was in fact a massive bell-end. The majority of the students in the next three years were enthusiastic supporters of him but, after seven years, too many of us in the Upper Sixth had been kicked in the head as he'd climbed the ladder. Whilst our appreciation of Anna was heartfelt and genuine, our applause for the Head Boy was not, and I thought I might even have heard a few boos.

Finally, it was all over and we trooped out of the Sports Hall again. I looked at the time on my phone. 'Forty fucking minutes this year,' I thought. 'And we'll be ten minutes late for our final ever Biology lesson.'

-

That afternoon, we filed out of the science block after our last Physics class. We were done with school and were ready for a pint.

There were only ten of us (we really were the hard-core science geeks) but, to my surprise, everyone had been persuaded to come to the pub. James and I had cooked up the idea for our little outing the night before, and I'd had to separately promise Libby and Derek that I'd buy the round, as neither had brought cash with them that day. In fact that was another one of Lauren's schemes, she'd only agreed hang around to pick me up later on the condition that I slipped Derek enough money to enable him to purchase Libby a drink!