By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt

was doing it. It’s that dark-eyed, glowering thing he’s got going on. On someone with a better personality it would look hot, but not on
him obviously.
    ‘Stu and Fraser are really competitive with stuff like this,’ Gemma says in my ear. ‘They’ll hate being stuck with him.’
    ‘Why? Is he useless?’
    She considers it. ‘Probably not if he doesn’t want to be. He’s OK at PE when he can be bothered. Which is only when we have track stuff. Then he runs like someone strapped a
rocket to him and lit it.’
    I frown. ‘He doesn’t look like he’d go fast.’
    ‘You’d be surprised! He could be really good but he won’t join the teams. Which is why Stu is going to lose it with him. He won’t even try in group stuff. Plus Stu
can’t stand him.’
    And that is pretty obvious now. Stu is getting up in Emo’s face in a way that’s frankly making me uncomfortable. I wish their army guy would intervene because it looks like there
might be a fight, but the man’s busy with his planks and tyres and doesn’t seem to care. I look around but there are no teachers on our side of the field.
    ‘I didn’t know you knew him,’ I say to her, keeping a nervous eye on them.
    ‘Yeah, since primary.’
    Of course they do if they’ve all lived in Daneshill all their lives. I never thought of that.
    Their army guy finally looks up and goes over to them. Emo hasn’t said anything back to Stuart. He’s just not moving and glaring straight back at him.
    ‘Problem?’ the guy says in a bored voice.
    ‘Just sorting who’s doing what,’ Stuart says, and Fraser and the other boys laugh.
    The guy frowns and looks at Emo.
    Emo shrugs. ‘He can fuck off. I’m not doing any of this shit.’
    I hear myself gasp. ‘Oooh,’ Gemma says and she sounds excited at the prospect of trouble.
    Stuart steps forward and would have barged Emo, but the army guy puts a hand out and says, ‘No.’ Stuart backs off. I would too – he sounds like he means it.
    ‘You don’t want to take part? Are you ill or is there some other problem?’ the guy says to Emo.
    ‘No, I’m just not doing it.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I don’t want to.’
    ‘Now look, son, you’re going to come across a lot of things in life you don’t want to –’
    ‘Fuck you with your psychological bullshit! I’m not interested and I’m not doing it whatever you say so you can fuck right off. You’re a coward anyway, pissing about
doing this stuff while the rest of your regiment are getting the shit blown out of them in Helmand.’
    My jaw drops as Emo spins on his heel and starts to walk off. The army guy looks livid and then his face changes . . . to something I don’t quite understand. ‘Start planning your
route,’ he says to the group and he jogs after Emo.
    ‘What the . . .?’ I turn to Gemma who looks equally shocked. Emo Geek just a) spoke more than a sentence and b) totally, totally lost it.
    ‘Ooh, I forgot about that – Matt! Of course!’
    ‘Who’s Matt?’
    ‘His brother. He’s in the army – he’s off in Afghanistan at the moment, I think. He is
so
hot. I used to have the biggest crush on him.’
    The soldier has caught up with Emo and has a hand on his shoulder. Emo’s back is stiff and angry, but as the guy talks to him, he relaxes a little and begins to nod. Our army guy shouts at
us then to start the stupid crawling through nets so I miss what happens next because I’m on my face in wet grass. When I get to the other side and tie the dumb ropes while he yells over my
head for me to go faster, Emo has disappeared and his group are getting on with their task without him.
    ‘What happened?’ I ask Gemma when I get back to her.
    ‘I don’t know.’
    I watched Emo’s group. Was it my imagination or was the soldier giving Stuart an extra hard time? Now what was
that
about?
    ‘Is he close to his brother?’ I ask Gemma suddenly. So suddenly that she looks confused.
    ‘Who?’
    I can’t exactly say Emo . . . ‘Um, Joe – is