The Story Collection: Volume One

by Matt Shaw

  “He’s right,” said Claire, much to my relief.

  “Well what about me?”

  “Go back under the bed!” whispered Claire - a stern tone of voice.

  Tom went to say something but realised there was little point. He shut us back in and we heard him crawl back under the bed.

  And so it was just the two of us.

  Claire.

  And I.

  Her leg’s resting against mine. I try not to move it, just in case she hasn’t noticed. It feels nice. I try and sense where she’s looking as I look toward the outline of her body, in the darkness. I think she’s looking out of one of the cupboard’s small gaps - no doubt keeping an eye out for Josie. Clever thinking. I should have done that too - save shitting myself when the door suddenly gets opened again!

  She’s not all that bad.... Claire. Her heart seems to be in the right place. She’s pretty. Loyal....

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “What?” she whispered back.

  “I’m sorry if I’m ever a dick to you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Is that it? Thanks? I’m trying to apologise and get shot down with a ‘thanks’. A bit disappointing, I feel my heart sink a little.

  “It’s playground mentality,” I whispered.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The more the boy likes the girl.... the more he winds her up....”

  There was silence. I wish I could see her face.

  “I like you too,” she said.

  I shouldn’t have used the word ‘like’ - too generic.... but I do like her though. A lot. I don’t love her. I hardly know her. What is love anyway? And does she even like me? We hardly talk and I don’t think we’ve ever spoken outside of the drama group, sadly. I’d love to, though.

  “I was wondering if I could take you for a drink sometime?”

  “A drink?”

  “A date.”

  Silence again - made worse by the darkness of the cupboard. Shouldn’t have said anything. Should have stayed quiet. No, no point in keeping my mouth shut. How are we supposed to meet people if we don’t ask them out. Probably a little unfair of me to ask her when she was trapped here with me but, well.... saves the embarrassment of her running away.

  “I would,” she said, “but.... I’ve kind of agreed to go out with Tom.”

  And now I wish I had the opportunity to run away. Can’t. Trapped in here now. Hurry up, Josie.

  “Oh, no... no, that’s cool.... You should go with him, yeah.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “No, really, it’s fine.”

  Is it wrong to wish the bed gives way and flattens Tom dead? And if it doesn’t kill him, at least cripple him.... no, he has to be crushed. Sorry, Tom, but I couldn’t get over him being chosen over me if he were in a wheelchair too!

  “Could go out as friends sometime though?” she continued.

  The sympathy card.

  “Yeah, that’ll be nice...”

  All this time I thought I hated Tom because he was such a fucking retard. Took me all these weeks.... months.... to realise it’s because we both liked the same girl.

  I wonder whether I would have still had a ‘no’ if I asked her sooner. Too slow. Story of my life.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  I nodded. A pointless gesture in the darkness.

  “Brilliant, thanks.”

  Well, this is awkward.

  “I think Josie might look here first,” said Claire. “You think I’ve got time to run somewhere else?”

  “Sure, why not.” I said.

  We both knew Josie could be along any minute but, I guess Claire felt just as uncomfortable as me. Way to go me. Well done. How to ruin an otherwise ‘okay’ weekend. Hopefully she’ll keep it to herself - what I said. I’ll fucking die if she says anything to Tom.

  “See you in a bit,” she whispered as she opened the cupboard door.

  “Yeah, see you....”

  She shut the door and plunged me back into blackness again. The quietness of the cupboard is shattered by a scream from somewhere in the corridors.

  “What the fuck was that?!” asked Tom.

  I opened the cupboard door. Tom has stuck his head from underneath the bed and Claire was peeping out from behind the curtain - another brilliant hiding place.

  “That was Game Over,” I said.

  I knew what it was - Josie. I crawled out of the cupboard and went through to the corridor.

  “Hello?” I called - hoping either Josie or someone else would give us a clue as to where they were.

  “It’s probably a trick,” said Claire. “We should keep hiding.”

  I never knew Claire was so competitive. Regardless, I’d had enough of hiding.

  “I’m going to check it out,” I said before calling out again, “Hello?!”

  “Andy?” Josie cried from down the next corridor.

  I left Claire and Tom in the bedroom and hurried towards Josie’s voice. When I turned down the next corridor - she was sitting on the floor, against the wall and opposite a door.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “You didn’t hear that? Please tell me you heard that....”

  “Heard what?”

  Hannah and Joel made an appearance from the other end of the corridor. Hannah must have changed her mind about hiding in the first room.

  Joel called out to us, “What’s going on?”

  I shrugged. Hard to put into words that one of the group is having a melt down. Josie was crying now. Her complexion - white as a sheet and her hands were shaking. I crouched down next to where she was sat and she buried herself into my side - a clear sign of how upset she was. Normally, when the group is saying goodnight to each other, at the end of a meeting, they all hug each other but no one hugs me - probably because I never make the effort to go and hug them and I give off some sort of vibe. For her to cuddle into me now, something scared her.

  “Babe?” said James from the same side of the corridor I had come. He gave me a stern look, probably because I had my arm around who he perceived to be his girlfriend. Fuck him.

  “She thought she heard something,” I said - saving Josie from having to explain it.

  “Like what?” asked Hannah.

  Can’t answer that.

  “I heard crying,” said Josie. “In this corridor.... I thought it was one of you trying to frighten me....”

  “We were round the corner,” said Joel - referring to Hannah and himself. “In one of the other rooms...”

  I turned to James, “Where were you?”

  “Girls’ room....”

  Not even going to ask what he was doing in there but I don’t think ‘hiding’ was on his agenda.

  Joel looked around, “What about Tom and Claire?”

  “Claire thought it might have been a trick to lure us out of hiding,” I said. “They’re still hiding....” and it breaks my heart to think of the two of them alone together.

  “So you heard crying again?” James asked Josie.

  She nodded.

  “I went to the room, thinking it was one of you playing around and when I pushed the door open - I heard a loud scream.”

  “The same person?” James asked - acting all concerned.

  It sounded different to the crying. I held her closer. If anything, just to fuck James off. If I can’t be happy.... why should he?

  Joel, ever the alpha-male, stood up and opened the door to the room we were opposite. There was nothing. No crying. No screams. Nothing.

  “I’m betting there’s speakers in here, somewhere....”

  Hannah followed him in.

  “Did you want a hug?” James asked Josie. She shook her head and dug in deeper to my side. I tried desperately hard not to have a smug grin on my face but, sadly, failed.

  It was only a couple of minutes before Joel and Hannah came out of the room.

  “Well?” asked Josie.

  “There’s nothing. Hardly any furnitur
e either, for the owner to hide things in.... a nice looking chair, some curtains tied back with thick cord and a desk with some random pieces of stationery on it. Nothing.”

  “I’m telling you I heard something....”

  I knew Joel wouldn’t believe her - what with being the most cynical out of the group but, I don’t know why, I did. I believed her.

  “Let’s go downstairs....” said James.

  Joel turned to me, “Do you want to get Claire and Tom out from where they’re hiding.”

  “No, let’s see how long it takes them to realise we’re not coming,” I smiled. The smile was simply me putting on a brave face. Tom’s getting less ‘sexually-driven’ around Claire and Claire has admitted having feelings for him. Not entirely sure I’d like seeing what I would find if I went looking for them. If she’s always liked him - it would have been all of the over-the-top sexual comments he was making which kept her at arms length. Girls don’t like that. Well, not all the time.

  6.

  “I heard something, I know I heard something...” said Josie - still shaken.

  “That’s pretty heavy,” said Adam.

  Back in the drawing room and the atmosphere was thick with smoke from Tracy and Adam’s weed. They were going to be of no use calming Josie down. James came over and passed Josie a shot glass, filled with some sort of alcoholic drink. Going by her face, after she downed it, I can only presume it was some sort of whiskey.

  “Good, isn’t it...” said James. “I found it in one of the other rooms - a whole load of drinks.”

  “You found bottles of drinks and thought you’d sample them?” said Joel. I can already see where this is going, “What if they were there for decorative purposes only?” Yep, I knew it.

  “What do you mean?” asked James.

  “They could be years old - just sitting there, gathering dust.... just to make the house look a little lived in....”

  “I want to call Sarah and I want to go home,” said Josie.

  “Fuck you!” said Adam - suddenly turning aggressive. “We’re all having a nice fucking time and you’re not about to ruin that for us.”

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to get involved. By now, though, I too had had enough of it all. It could have been a great weekend had the owner made some effort in scaring all of us and not just Josie but, picking on her just made it boring for the rest of us. And Claire.... Not sure how I can look her in the eye now and I know she would have told Tom.

  “I want to go home! I want to go home!” Josie screamed.

  Hannah put her arm around her.

  “Look, it’s what Joel said - just the owner having a laugh at your expense...” said James.

  “Then why does he always pick on me?”

  “Because you’re an easy target,” said Tracy. Was that a hint of venom in her voice? I turned to her but she wasn’t even looking at us - instead, she was sitting at the table with her face down on the wood and eyes shut. Stoned to hell.

  “Fuck you!” spat Josie.

  “We’ll stick together,” said Joel... alpha-male turned peace-keeper... “from now on we’ll stick together, we won’t leave you alone... how’s that?”

  “You said that last time.”

  “But this time we’ll make sure...” continued Joel.

  “I’ll stay with you,” said James.

  “Oh, fuck off,” I didn’t mean to say that out loud.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked James, picking up on what I was meant to think as opposed to say.

  “She doesn’t need that sort of comforting,” in for a penny, in for a pound. Might as well say what’s on my mind.

  “What do you mean by that?” James continued.

  “He means, the last thing Josie needs right now is you trying to creep up her asshole anymore than you already are,” Adam joined in.

  I knew I wasn’t the only one who could see it.

  “What? Fuck you. Fuck you both,” shouted James.

  “This isn’t helping,” said Joel.

  “Fuck you too,” said Adam. “Who died and put you in charge?”

  “Whoever it is - they’re upstairs crying about it,” muttered Tracy. Credit where it’s due - that was quite a good line from her.

  “And fuck you both,” said Joel.

  I see some friendships fracturing this weekend.

  “Please, can we just call Sarah and go home.... I’ve had enough,” said Josie.

  “I’ll stay with you,” said Hannah. She rested her hand on Josie’s in a vague hope of offering some sort of comfort.

  “I just want to go home,” Josie whispered - eyes welling up once more.

  “Well, this is a fucking great weekend,” I said as the room fell into a sulky silence that only teenagers have seemed to master.

  * * * * *

  The afternoon went by slowly as each member of the group made their own half-arsed attempt at an apology - with the exception of Tracy and Adam; they never apologised for themselves.

  I’m not sure if that’s because they’re rude and never think they’ve done anything wrong or because they’re too stoned to remember whatever insults they threw. The jury is out on that one but I suspect it’s a bit of both.

  Claire and Tom came downstairs soon after the arguments of the late morning. Again, I’m not sure whether it was because they heard us all yelling at each other or because they suspected something was actually wrong.

  It was so uncomfortable in the room, part of me wished I had stayed with them in the bedroom. Mind you, would it have been nice to be in the room where they were cosying up or nicer in the room with all the arguing. Tough call.

  A few more shots later, of the drink James found, and Josie had calmed down a fair amount. She was also slurring her words but I’ll be kind and put that down to the shock of earlier... and not the fact she’s a lightweight.

  Unsurprisingly, the rest of the group declined from trying the drink.

  No one was talking about calling Sarah now, which was a shame. Hannah and Josie were sitting in one corner of the room with Joel and James - the argument earlier forced people to admit their feelings. Josie, apparently, likes James too but doesn’t want to rush into anything. And Hannah tongued Joel. But that’s not to say she likes him in the same way he likes her. Probably her way of saying ‘thank you’. Tom and Claire were cosied up one of the chairs, together. Periodically you could hear them laugh as they mutter to each other.

  It seems this ‘new’ Tom is Claire’s ideal man. I bet he wished he calmed down on the sexual innuendos a lot sooner - had he known how it would have turned out for him. The less he mentions sex acts, the more girls think about having them with him. How ironic.

  Adam and Tracy were just Adam and Tracy. Stoned.

  Yeah, no one was talking about calling Sarah. As I sit here, alone and watching the rest of the group - I wish they had though. I don’t think I’ll go on the next group outing.

  A quick look around the room.

  Who am I trying to kid - there isn’t going to be another group outing. How we won’t walk away from this without criminal records is beyond me.

  “You know what we should do?” said Adam.

  “What?” I asked - thankful to be distracted from having nothing to do but people watch.

  He didn’t answer, instead he just stood up and disappeared from the room. It must have been a rhetorical question. Tracy, not wishing to be alone I guess, also stood up and wandered over to sit with me.

  “So how are you doing?” she asked.

  “Great, thanks.”

  “You look as bored as I feel,” she said.

  “Something like that.”

  We fell into a stony silence - the extent of our chit-chat already exhausted. Thankfully it wasn’t long before Adam came back into the room.

  “Well.... good talking,” said Tracy as she stood up to rejoin her man.

  “You too,” I lied.

  “This!” shouted Adam - he held up the ouija board.<
br />
  “No! No way!” said Josie. “I want nothing to do with it.”