Monday

Bette clicked through her MySpace comments and replying where necessary. Near the top of the new comments was a reply from Alice.

Hey, B! Weds sounds good, who else is coming?? Text you when I find my phone. Al xxx

Bette smiled at the thought of Alice stumbling around her room searching for her cell phone. Having been reminded of the cellular device, she pulled out her own and wrote out a message.

Up for Weds night at the mall? We can get the train after school. Me & Alice so far. B x

Selecting numerous recipients, she pressed send to Dana, Carmen, Shane and Jenny. Within minutes, all had confirmed their presence for the following Wednesday’s excursion. Bette placed her phone down and ran her fingers through her hair. Turning back to the computer, she noticed the last comment from a girl in her year group. Bette knew of her through various friends but they rarely exchanged more than mere phatic talk. The said comment was an example of this. It was, in short, asking her how she was and what she’d been up to over the weekend.

Tina Kennard had joined the school at the beginning of the year. Jenny knew her from her previous school and subsequently, they’d been introduced. The number of mutual friends they had meant they were occasionally in one another’s company so they were not complete strangers. In a moment of goodwill, Bette typed out a similar message to the one she’d messaged her friends; inviting Tina along to the shopping trip.

Wednesday

“Yeah I’ll meet you once I make it out of Psych. Meet you guys here.” Bette called over her shoulder as she walked out of the common room, “See you later.”

Sitting in her Psychology class, Bette felt her cell phone vibrating in her jeans pocket. Knowing the teacher couldn’t see her from that angle, she removed the device and read the new message.

“Fuck.” She mumbled as she punched out a reply.

“Language, Porter!” She heard from across the room, “And do I see a phone in your hand?”

Bette frowned but cancelled her message and stuffed the phone in her pocket.

At the end of the lesson, Bette made her apologies for her disruptions and headed to the common room to meet her friends. Approaching the doors to the “Centre” which had been named after a founder of the school, she saw Tina stood alone with her cell phone pressed to her ear.

“Hey.” She said as she dropped the device, “I was just trying to call you. I guess I have bad reception. Um, I saw Shane earlier and she said she wasn’t coming anymore.”

Bette stared, “What? Alice text me, she can’t come either. And it doesn’t look as if anyone else is turning up.” They stared around at the deserted area. “Do you wanna head to the train then? I’ll let the others know we’ve gone and they can come later if they want”.

Tina agreed and the pair headed towards the nearby station talking about the natural lack of motivation they both felt towards their own lessons.