It was as he was looking back, he noticed Sam and Erika had stopped kissing. They were no longer alone. Giving Dave and Dominic a nudge, the three boys were at Sam and Erika’s side in seconds as Damien Ashcroft approached.
“Well, well, well, Erika. Sam,” Damien Ashcroft said, grinning from either of them with an expression of pure delight.
“Fuck off, Ashcroft,” Sam said sternly, shifting Erika behind him. She rolled her eyes, no doubt thinking the same as Will.
Here we go again…
“Steady. You bumped into me remember?” Damien said, looking at his crowd of friends behind him.
Will spotted the new girl, Elivia Spencer, standing amongst them. It was no surprise. Since he’d seen her sitting with the likes of Tammy Richards in Form class this morning, he had known exactly what type of girl Elivia was. People like her always gravitated towards the likes of Damien Ashcroft and his merry band of affluent friends.
The tension grew rapidly between their two groups. Will, as usual, was ready for the inevitable. As he stood watching the two boys squaring up to one another, he wondered if there had ever been a time these two hadn’t hated each other.
“You need to fucking leave,” Sam snarled, pointing toward the gate of the beer garden, his pint of beer sloshing in his other hand.
“Sam,” Erika said, her grip on his shoulders. Will admired her courage even as her boyfriend shrugged her off. She was the only girl at this school who could handle the wild fire that was Sam Robinson.
Will’s focus lay firmly upon Harry Pearce and Charles Freeman, two of Damien’s closest friends, moving in to flank him. He wasn’t intimidated by either of them and neither, unfortunately, was Sam. Their friend didn’t fear anybody, especially not Damien.
“Nah, E. I’m not having this again. Not another fucking year of you,” Sam spat, finger in Damien’s face, “lording it over everyone like you’re the fucking king.”
“Sam, please,” Erika beseeched.
“Listen to your girlfriend, Robinson. I don’t want to play today,” Damien said.
“Fuck you,” Sam sneered, squaring up to him once again even as Erika tried to pull him back.
“Now, now. No need to be rude.” Damien tapped him lightly on the cheek like a naughty dog. Sam smacked away his hand and moved closer, Erika desperately gripping his arm. At any moment, Will would have to intervene. They couldn’t allow their friend to get into another fight, especially not at their local pub. Did Sam need reminding of Ms Oldbridge’s warning last term?
One more fight.
One more altercation and you’re out.
Try as he might, and try as Erika always had, none of them could control Sam’s mindless aggression and hatred for Damien Ashcroft that was always sparked whenever he was around. Damien had a power over Sam, an ability to pour fuel over the fire inside of their friend with the slightest snub or look. They were powerless to stop it.
“Sam –.” Will tried this time, reaching for Sam’s tense shoulder when he gave Damien a shove.
“Touch me again! I fucking dare you!” Sam bellowed, drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity, including the rest of their friends swiftly flying in to help.
“Touchy!” Damien feigned a gasp of surprise. Like a serpent, he swung closer, quicker than any of them could react, pushing his face into Sam’s red one. With a snarl, Damien hammered down another nail into the thin ice on which this heavy tension sat upon. “Erika not putting out? Want me to have a go? I’m good at breaking them in.”
“Fucker!” Sam launched forward. Fingers dragging across the shoulders of his shirt, Will lost his grip. So did Sam on his beer glass which sloshed over the rim and onto Erika’s blouse. She gasped from the shock of the liquid seeping through her clothes. Stepping back, she looked from the wet patch on her blouse and then up at Sam backing down. All the while, Damien chuckled to himself. Behind him, his friends guffawed. It didn’t seem to faze Erika. All she cared about was the fact Sam had allowed his aggression to control him, again. Her boyfriend had ignored her, again. Will flinched away from the glower upon Erika’s face, even if it was directed at her rapidly deflating boyfriend. She shook her head.
“E –,” Sam started when she waved away his attempts.
“Just stop, Sam,” Erika hissed.
Will and Sam noted the leer on Damien’s face as he grinned across at Erika. The beer had made her blouse see-through, straight down to her black bra. Will knew perhaps before Damien did that Sam wasn’t finished. There was a chorus of gasps and cheers as Will leapt forward and caught Sam before his fist could land into Damien’s face. Sam fought momentarily as Will heaved him away to face Erika and their friends. He needed to get Sam as far away from Damien as possible. Upon catching sight of Erika marching away, Sam fell slack in Will’s grip.
“Calm down, mate,” Will begged beneath his breath, loosening his grip ever so slightly to test the waters. Eventually, Sam shrugged him off to chase after Erika, ignoring their group of friends crowded around them. Only Will heard Damien spit his last retort.
“Fucking weak.”
Will met Damien’s cold eyes daringly. While he wasn’t about to start a fight in Sam’s honour, he would make sure this boy understood. The fight was over. Fortunately, his status as HSA’s champion boxer held some weight as Damien shot him one last grin and turned on his heel, beckoning his friends to follow him out of the beer garden.
Finally, Will could breathe a sigh of relief, but never relax. At Hillside Academy, it was only a matter of time before someone else came to blows over old hatreds. Could any of them even remember why Sam and Damien hated each other?
No…
It’s always been this way.
And it seemed, it always would.
Hillside Academy: September (Volume 1) Copyright © 2023 Jodie May Mullen