Blue Dome (The Blue Dome Series) by J.G. Gill Page B

lounge, when he decided to
take his chance. With her back towards him, Bede suddenly turned on his heel
and ran towards Stanley ,
plunging his fist deep into the man’s fleshy stomach. Stanley gave a winded “oomph” and slumped to the ground.
    “I, I can’t breathe,” he
gasped.
    Bede snatched the door
handle and twisted it in one sharp movement. Before anyone in the room had time
to react, he fled down the stairs and ran from the building.
    “Why, that little...” Morana
was incandescent with rage.
    The man at the desk,
however, seemed unconcerned.
    “Let him go Morana. He
can’t get far. Besides, it’s not him I need, it’s the girl.”
    “Of course,” Morana
replied quietly. “I know you’re right. It’s just that I’ve already had enough
disrespect from that boy. I was looking forward to turning the tables a little.”
    “And so you shall,” said
the man. “All in good time.”
     
     

CHAPTER VII
    Vince got ready for
school with unusual enthusiasm. His meeting with the boss the night before had
put him in an extremely good mood. Not only had he landed himself a job that
paid a lot of money, but the work itself was a doddle. He stood before the mirror
in his towel, rubbing the hair putty in his hands to warm it before smoothing
it into his freshly-showered scalp. Looking good , he thought to himself,
separating the curls with his fingers. He turned his head to catch a better
view of his profile. His Mum’s boyfriend had left his aftershave in the
bathroom cabinet. Vince popped the lid and splashed the contents around his
neck.
    “Chicks love this stuff,”
he said to the mirror. His reflection smiled in agreement.
    Vince grabbed a fresh
shirt from the drying rack, and his trousers from the back of the chair where
he’d slung them the night before, and dressed quickly. Passing through the
kitchen on his way out, he grabbed a wedge of cold pizza from the fridge and
his school bag from the counter and headed out the door. He couldn’t wait to
get to school.
    Arriving at the gates,
Vince ran into one of the BBTs. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
    “Hey babe, what’s up?” he
said. She gave a simpering giggle. “Seen Thomas?”
    “Thomas? Doubt it,” she
replied. “He’s probably still running home to Mummy, or whoever it is he lives
with.” She laughed. “Man, that was funny yesterday.”
    “Yeah,” said Vince
distractedly. “I’ve got to find him, so if he turns up let me know, yeah?”
    Vince hurried up the school
stairs and began scouring the classrooms and corridors. Being a nerd, there was
a good chance that Thomas had arrived early and was already studying somewhere.
If so, there was no point wasting a perfectly good lunchtime trying to track
him down. But Thomas was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t until halfway through
English that he finally arrived, dragging his bag dejectedly into the classroom.
The teacher simply nodded as he walked in and made his way down the back.
    From the corner of his
eye, Thomas could sense that Vince was staring at him with scalding intensity. He
tried to ignore him, concentrating instead on the back wall. After what seemed
like miles, Thomas eventually made it to his desk. He dropped his bag and quietly
breathed a sigh of relief – so far today no one had tried to trip him up or
make a fool of him. As he pulled his book from his bag he glanced across at the
desk in the opposite corner of the room. Clare’s place was empty.
    Several desks up, Vince
had begun scribbling on a piece of paper and was now folding it in half. He
turned to Justin who was sitting directly behind him.
    “Hey man, pass this to
Tom, Tom,” he whispered. Justin shrugged.
    “Whatever,” he said.
    The note passed through
several more pairs of feverish hands, eventually landing on Thomas’s desk. He
rolled his eyes forward, cringing at the sight of his name on the paper – there
was no mistaking that it was for him. He stared at it for a couple of seconds
before