Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE
"anarchy in the uk"
EDEN HALE WANTED TO JUMP OUT OF THE BUS.
To begin with, Mr Sahni had lied to everyone. He had told them countless times, through gritted teeth, that this was to be a 'solitary experience'. He never mentioned other schools, never mentioned meeting new people or being split apart from your best mates. No, why would he ever bring that up? Why would he bring up the sole purpose as to why they were going on this stupid expedition?
Eden decided that he was scared. Yes, he was downright terrified of his students. He could barely even look them in the eyes now. He had perched himself in the back corner of the bus, probably calling his mum. Mr Sahni was always a coward. But it was fair enough. A crowd of half-asleep teenagers would make any teacher shit bricks.
Someone at the front row had put on some rave music, piles of Oreos had been thrown all over the ground and all that Eden could focus on were the disgusting walking boots she'd brought. Her brother had thrown them down the stairs for her just as she left the house. He didn't clean them. They stank of mouldy cheese, didn't fit right and were the colour of diarrhoea. She'd stupidly only brought one pair of shoes. With her luck, they would become a duck pond by the end of the week. She couldn't wait to give them back to her brother once they had been destroyed.
Screams were echoing throughout the bus. People were getting impatient. They all wanted more details, to find out if their teacher had been hiding more information from them. Mr Sahni was not smart to leave them unattended. Eden noticed the two students sitting behind her had smuggled a pack of cigarettes. They just smoked them without a care in the world. Mr Sahni had gone into his strop mode. He'd be there for a while.
"He's having a laugh." Eden nudged her friend, Belle, who was sitting beside her. "And he didn't have the nerve to tell us. Wanker."
Belle pulled out her earphones to take in the atmosphere. She laughed to herself at the sight of the smokers. "He can go to Hell. D'yer think they'll split us up or summat?" Her strong Mancunian accent always made Eden's day a whole lot better. No wonder it was voted the sexiest accent in England
"I'm praying they won't." She clung to the thought like a lifeline, the words 'keep me with Belle' echoing through her mind like a mantra. If they were split up, she'd make her way right back home.
Belle's mind went straight to the next worse thing. "What if we get mixed with a group of right nobheads?"
"I'll tell them to do one." She'd learnt that phrase from Belle.
Belle grinned up to her ears. "'Course you would."
Finally, after the longest ten minutes of Eden's life, Mr Sahni reappeared. He was a mess with his floppy hair and oversized hoodie. The eye bags under his eyes had grown even darker and his eyelids were drooping. The group fell silent as he made his way from the end of the bus to the front. His booming footsteps were like something out of a horror film. Some pupils were staring out of the window in order to escape his hooded gaze. He could be terrifying at times. Especially when he looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks.
"Students of Hillview, I must apologise sincerely. I should've told you this earlier." Eden wanted to steal Belle's airpods in order to get away from that soul-shaking accent. He was posh to an extent that was barely imaginable as if he'd just walked out of Downton Abbey."I've just been on the phone to Principal Grantfield. He's decided that we're still going to go through with us and that it would be great for all of you to meet new people. These students are coming in from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Isn't that exciting...?"
Mr Sahni was met with blank faces. Everyone was consumed by boredom. Arms crossed over chests, lips pursed shut.
"Well, we'll be arriving in less than 5 minutes. Phones will be given in once we get to The Centre as one person in each of your groups will be given a walkie-talkie," Mr Sahni continued. He was still staring each student down. He turned his head rapidly at the flash of a camera. "Who was that?"
No reply. Eden snorted.
Belle had brought up her instax camera, taking a picture of the madman through the gap in the seat. He didn't suspect her at all. The picture shot out of the top of the camera. She shoved it into her pocket with a malicious grin. "I'll save that one for later," she murmured.
"The fuck does that mean?" Eden's eyebrows lowered in confusion.
"Always thought Sahni was a dilf."
"Christ."
Mr Sahni sauntered straight towards Derek Barley, the self-proclaimed 'class clown' whose phone was taken away instantly. Derek didn't even argue which was suspicious in itself. The last time his phone was taken, he screamed louder than a mother giving birth and the sound echoed throughout the school. This time he had a back up plan. He'd shown off to everyone that he had hidden two extra phones in his rucksack. He pouted his lips to feign his sadness then went back to munching through his Oreos. Mr Sahni was fuming.
"If that happens again..." He took a deep, slow breath. It was as if he was inhaling all of the oxygen in the entire world through his nostrils. "...I will throw all of your phones into the nearest river."
...
Eden didn't know whether to be excited or terrified as they entered 'The Centre'. The exterior was stained with graffiti and to be honest, it didn't really feel like the peak district. Yes, there were lovely sights of cows and sheep perched in fields but this random city-style building was really out of place. Belle had snapped a photo straight away for 'memories' but instead she was trying to get pictures of Mr Sahni. Eden didn't understand what she saw in him.
As they passed through the first corridor, then the next, then another, Eden tried to contain her irritation. The rucksack lugged over her shoulder was at least 15 kilograms. It already felt like bruises were forming at her hips. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Why was she chosen out of the 100 or so people in year 13? Who in their right mind saw her name and thought 'yep, let's choose her'?
Most of the students on the trip were the worst-behaved in the year. Eden assumed that the teachers thought that this would do them good, teach them a bit of discipline. But she knew that was not going to go as planned. She could just taste that sweet flame of anarchy rising upon her tongue.
Foreign voices filled Eden's ears as they finally approached a large hall. There were at least 50 teenagers gathered in groups. It was like a primary school assembly all over again. Everyone was sitting cross legged and waiting. Bundles of rucksacks were stacked in a corner and chairs had been set out for teachers to sit down. It wasn't really a nice sight for sore eyes. Eden already knew that Belle was scanning around for any sight of fit guys.
"They're all shit." Eden decided for her. Her quick scan showed no triumph. She was met with that familiar sight of nike tech, tattered sweatpants and dreadful haircuts. It was just like being in Hillview all over again.
Eden and Belle dropped their rucksacks off in the corner, then their phones and maybe a snippet of their sanity. Neither of the friends felt like interacting with other people their age. They both wanted to hide in the corner of the room and be sucked in by the walls. Scottish and Welsh accents caught both of the girls off guard as they settled down right at the back of the hall. The rest of their class followed along. Mr Sahni made his way straight towards the teacher chairs, seemingly thankful to be in the presence of more adults. Over one hour in the same bus as 15 insanely loud teens was enough to drive any teacher mad.
Eden and Belle didn't speak to anyone. They ate through their strawberry laces without a care in the world. Food could really make a daunting situation a little bit better.
A young woman appeared at the front of the hall. The clothes she wore included almost every colour Eden had ever seen. From neon green to pastel pink. It was horrific. Eden tried to keep her jaw from falling right down. The woman clapped her hands together in an attempt to silence everyone in the hall. The sound reverberated, bouncing off each and every wall until the whispers completely ceased.
"Welcome, all." A thick Scottish accent fell from her mouth. "Am Miss Alderidge and am very pleased to see so many new faces. Canny believe it. I hope ye're all as excited as I am fo' this incredible event. D'you'se know how lucky yer are? This is a once in a lifetime experience. I wish I could've dun something like this when I was younger. So, let me explain how this'll work. We'll mix together different schools by putting ye all in random groups of five. Within these groups, you'll pick yer team name and you'll choose yer three tasks. There are many different options. From writing a poem to filming a vlog."
Eden tried to come to her senses by squeezing a finger to her cheek. "Do you have any idea what she's on about?"
"Not at all," Belle replied.
At least they were both on the same page.
Miss Alderidge continued rambling on about how to use maps and that at the end of the week they'd all meet back at The Centre. She showed them a safety video about how to help someone who's choking. The first thing you had to do was ask them, "Are you choking?"
"Obviously they fuckin' are if they're makin' those noises," Belle whispered to Eden who was bent over laughing at the sight of them. "This is my last straw-"
Just as Eden was about to go on a rant about how stupid the following videos were, the doors shot open. Every single eye in the hall went straight to the doorway. An extremely Irish-looking man was leading the herd of at least 20 teenagers. He had a brilliant mullet and was actually dressed well. Suit and tie. Eden hadn't noticed she'd been staring wide-eyed for at least 10 seconds. She traced her gaze away from the man to the gathering behind him. Some of the students were wearing the usual: grey sweatpants, muddy rugby shirts.
"The ones at the back..." Belle almost gasped the words as she gripped onto the wall to peek around. She had taken off her earphones. That meant whoever she was looking at was out of this world.
Eden took in the sight. Three lads. Leather jackets, fancy blazers, luscious hair.
"Pretentious bastards." She scoffed. She continued watching the video Miss Alderidge had put on which was titled 'top ten places to go to in the peak district'. The Scottish teacher looked so smug until she noticed the late arrival of 'St Andrews College, Dublin'. Yep, Eden could read words on a rucksack from miles away. She had the vision of a God. That was probably the only thing going for her.
"Eden, you're missin' out. Look at the lad with those blue eyes. I think I'm in love." Belle almost gasped the words. The guy she was talking about had a similar mullet to the teacher but it was rugged and messy. He was wearing black corduroy trousers, a Kiss shirt and a dark brown blazer. There were sunglasses atop his head which had pushed back all the hair which hung over his face. His strides were effortless and confident.
"As I said, pretentious bastard." Eden shook her head. "They're posh twats from Ireland, why are you talking rubbish?"
"Well, look who decided to show up!" Miss Alderidge was definitely not as happy as Belle to see them. She trudged over with an obviously fake smile and started arguing with the Irish teacher. Eden thought it was stupid that such a big deal was being made. It probably took them about 4 hours to get to the stupid Centre if they were going by plane. The whole hall had gone quiet in order to listen to the discussion. It wasn't at all as interesting as any of them anticipated. "Let's get started with groups."
The St Andrews group sat down at the front of the hall. None of them looked half as embarassed as their teacher. They all seemed quite proud of themselves, especially the ones Eden had deemed as the 'pretentious bastards'. They were chuffed.
Miss Alderidge pulled out a jar which was filled to the brim with countless names. She was just about to start picking them out when she rolled her eyes and shoved the jar back on to the ground. She took a seat down in front of the computer screen, typed in 'random name picker', copied the entire list of names on an excel document then grinned to herself. What a strange woman.
"So, the first group-"
The door crashed open again. Miss Alderidge stood up out of frustration. This time, however, only one boy entered the hall. Eden could now partially understand where Belle had been coming from. This one was the whole package. He had curly hair which had been blown in all directions due to the wind and an oversized leather jacket which perfectly matched his Sex Pistols shirt. His shiny black shoes click-clacked against the hard ground. Maybe this is what Eden had been envisioning when she'd thought of anarchy. He didn't seem to care about the countless staring faces or the fury painting every inch of Miss Alderidge's face. Eden guessed he'd been having a smoke. But, he'd probably been taking a shit. Not really the best image to arise in one's head.
"'N you were sayin'?" Belle could sense when her friend was attracted to someone. Eden had insanely high standards but there was a slight chance, every once in a while, that she'd find someone handsome. The problem was, she always fell for a person far too quickly and last time that happened, it didn't end well. So, she strayed her gaze away from the boy, instead focusing on her walking boots again. She already felt as if she had blisters and they hadn't even started properly walking.
"Very sorry, Miss." The boy spoke in a very strong Irish accent. Eden had never heard one so low. She could almost feel it vibrating the floor, peeling the floorboards just by a fraction. It was one of those voices that lingered. The words replayed over and over in the back of her mind.
"Now, I am praying that is everyone." Miss Alderidge placed her hand on the mouse once again until the cursor hovered over the spin button. "Aye, Mr Orman. Elijah, I want to speak to ye at the end of this."
A name to a face. Elijah. He had sat down now with his group of friends who were all teasing him. They made faces at the teacher once she'd turned around. Belle laughed to herself. "We better be with those lads."
"Nah, I'd rather die. They'll carve us up and throw us into some ditch." Lie. Deep down, Eden thought they were the slightest bit entertaining. She was asking herself how Elijah was wearing such a bulky jacket in the room. It felt as though they were sitting on the Earth's mantle.
"Group one is Derek Barley, Liam Jenkins, Sadie Munda, Josh Jenkinson and Primrose Lawrence. Go stand with yer group and choose yer options."
One of the boys left the group of friends. Belle groaned. "We lost one."
Eden zoned out as Miss Alderidge continued with her random wheel generator. She wondered whether they'd never leave that hall. It felt as if each minute was slowly turning to hours and everyone was melting. Until her name was called out.
"Group eleven is Robert Keating, Min-Hee Kim, Belle Astley, Elijah Hewson and Eden Hale."
Belle stood up. Eden had never seen her so excited. Her cheeks were stained a deep shade of pink. "That's us!"
"I know." Eden raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so excited? "
As they tried to walk through the countless students who were sitting down, Eden had been focused on trying not to step on someone's head. She hadn't even listened when Miss Aldgeridge read out the other names.
"Look who's in our group." Belle squeezed Eden's side so hard she thought her lungs might cave in. "'N don't you dare call them pretentious bastards. I swear down, I've got a good feelin' 'bout them."
"We'll see about that."
The five of them all stood around Miss Alderidge. Eden snagged a look at each person they were standing with.
Min-Hee was a short girl who looked younger than the others. She had long, dark hair which went all the way down to her hips and she was chewing on her fingernails. She flashed Eden a small smile which revealed bright blue braces on perfectly aligned teeth. Who knew why she was even wearing them.
Elijah was standing next to her. He still somehow had that massive leather jacket on with barely a drop of sweat on his face. One of his hands was fiddling with a necklace sat above his collarbones and the other was trying to flatten the hairs on his head that stuck up. He seemed to be in his own world, staring off into the distance until he met eyes with one of his friends. He waved at him, made a face then shook his head. Up close, Eden could now see that his shirt had an inked version of Sid Vicious. She wanted to steal it from him.
Robert (Belle's crush) was the only one who dared to approach the Scottish teacher. He took the sheet of paper from her and was the first to say, "Well, we're all going to be stuck with each other for seven whole days."
"That's the whole point," Eden dead-panned.
Robert gave her a glare. Min-Hee bit back a laugh. This was already going swimmingly.
The group made their way towards a free table and settled themselves down. Girls on one side, boys on the other. It felt a bit primary-school-like but she didn't really want to be any closer to the boys. They probably stank of feet.
"Are we just gonna sit here in silence or get on with this then?" Eden was already tired. She wanted the week to be over already. She swiped the piece of paper so that it was lying flat before her eyes. "Team name?"
They all looked at each other.
"Nothing?" Eden scratched at her face. "Might as well call us The Wankers then."
She was about to properly write it down until Belle slapped her arm. "I've got an idea," she murmured. Eden had never seen her so quiet. She was definitely head over heels for the blue-eyed twat. "You like the Sex Pistols, right?" She pointed to Elijah's shirt. He nodded slowly, peering down as if making sure he was still wearing it. He was probably wondering where this was going. "Now, get this..." She brought her hands apart slowly as she said the words, "The Anarchists. Brilliant, innit?"
"I love that." If anyone other than Min-Hee had said that, it would've sounded sarcastic. There was such a genuine tone to her sweet voice that made Eden's heart strain. Just slightly. She was not going soft. That was her worst nightmare.
"Thank you, Min." Belle smiled. Nicknames already. She was getting comfortable. Eden was going to throw up. "Boys? What do you think?"
"Grand." Robert offered a thumbs up.
Elijah nodded as if he was partaking in the conversation. He didn't seem to enjoy being there. Eden felt the same. He hadn't even given in his phone and was messaging someone under the table. He had finally taken the jacket off to reveal a tattoo just beside his elbow, a bracelet and rings on his fingers. Eden lifted her gaze. His face had a natural blush to it, a pale pink discreetly stretched from cheek to cheek. A splatter of freckles painted his nose. He was alright-looking, Eden thought, but fancy-pants Irish buggers were not her type. For God's sake, he went to a bloody posh school in Dublin. He was a waste of time.
Eden was going to say something about him being on his phone but changed her mind. She just wanted to get all of this over with. She really wanted to start walking to clear her mind a little. The hall was too stuffy. She couldn't think.
Belle scribbled down the group name in the top corner. She then allowed everyone to write down their names. Eden started to scan through all the task options there were. The paper rustled in her hand as she ran her fingers over it. There were a vast array of different choices. This would be a great icebreaker to figure out what the others were into.
"Who are you texting, Eli?" Robert had taken notice of Elijah's actions.
"Josh." Elijah finally put his phone away. His head rose up and he took a swipe with his eyes at the people around him. He took a double take at Eden's shirt which had the word 'U2' imprinted on it. "He's supposedly in the worst group. He's been giving out for the past ten minutes about some bloke called Derek. And I quote, he's 'completely stuck up his arse'. Josh really has a way with words."
The way his lips moved as he spoke in that accent felt illegal.
"Poor bloke. I'd get out if I were him," Eden said. She actually felt for the poor guy. Derek Barley was not someone you'd want to share a tent with. Ever. He was one of those weirdos who pushed year 7's into walls at any chance he got. You'd think he'd grow out of it at his supposedly 'mature' age. He was a desperate-for-attention, foul-mouthed bellend. Whoever this Josh guy was, he had the worst luck in the world.
Belle pushed the sheet towards the two boys so that they could have a look at the choices. They whispered to each other, laughing every now and then.
"I like the canoeing one," Min-Hee mused. Her accent was almost indistinguishable. There was a hint of Scottish to it but it was mainly foreign. Eden took a guess that she was probably born in Korea then moved to Scotland. She made a mental note to ask her later. "I used to canoe all the time when I was little. I could teach you all how to do it. Takes a bit of practice but it's worth it."
Robert picked up the pen and ticked off the 'canoeing' box. "Alright, two more."
"Take 1 photo each day?" Belle thought out loud. She grabbed her instax from her pocket and placed it on the table. It was a pale yellow and had stickers all over it from years of use. The amount of pictures she'd taken on it would be impossible to count. All four of her bedrooms were plastered with hundreds of pictures.
Robert gave her a sly wink. Long eyelashes jumped down and up. Eden was probably the only one who noticed the interaction. Belle bit on her bottom lip.
"Ahh. Eli, you'll like this one." Robert pointed his index finger to the final option on the list. "Seeing as your dad's Bono and everything—" He paused. "Shouldn't have said that. Fuck."
"WHAT?!" Eden pressed her hands on the table to push herself up. She'd been leaning on her hand for ages. This was something worth getting up for. She pointed to her shirt out of pure shock. "You're playing. You're joking. Fucking Bono? U fucking 2? No... You can't joke about that."
"Bobby, you goon. We said you weren't going to mention that, remember?"
"It slipped out. Sorry, lad."
Eden had never met a famous person or a famous person's son. She didn't expect it would happen here of all places. She now felt slightly embarrassed. She was wearing a U2 shirt in front of Bono's bloody son. That's why he had made a face when he saw it. That's why he had given it a second look.
"Let's pretend Bobby didn't say that." Elijah gave his friend a playful punch on the arm. Eden was going to find it very hard to forget he'd said that. She was one person away from the man, the legend, Bono. Belle had literally grabbed Eden's hand out of pure shock. Min-Hee seemed a bit confused. "He wants me to 'write a song about my experiences'. It'll be terrible, though."
"Just call up your dad or summat. He'll give you some pointers, won't he?" Belle suggested.
The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes.
Robert ticked the box for him. "Well, Eli, we'll buy you a crap guitar once we get out of here."
"How class." Elijah laughed to himself, revealing pearly teeth and smile lines.
Eden couldn't imagine them carrying both a massive rucksack and a guitar. She could barely move her legs with 15kg on her back. How were they going to cope?
She picked up the sheet of paper and began walking back up to Miss Alderidge. She did not want to waste a moment more sitting around. She wanted that lovely taste of fresh air. Shockingly, she actually wouldn't mind seeing cow dung. Anything to get out of there. She could hear Derek Barley shouting from across the hall. Her ears were going to start bleeding out.
She hadn't noticed that Elijah had followed behind her. He waited for her to pass in the paper before saying, "What's your favourite U2 song, then?"
Caught off guard by his voice, she almost walked into the wall. Her eyes met his pointy noise and the sharp line of his jaw. There was an earring in his left ear that glinted as he turned his head.
"Fuck off." She raised up two fingers as she pushed him away from her, her pinky finger against the bare skin of his arm.
He held his hand to his heart in mock sadness. He'd covered the top of Sid's head with his long fingers. "Oh. Ouch. That hurt."
"Bugger off. I won't say it twice." She was about to kick his shin when he changed his mind. He stared at her shirt for a solid 5 seconds before strolling back over to Robert. His leather jacket was thrown over his shoulder. It swished from side-to-side, along with his flared jeans. He really wasn't dressed smartly for this trip. If he fell into a river, he'd never be able to swim out. Eden would not be the one who'd jump in to save him.
"So, what do you think of 'em?" Belle took her spot beside Eden after what seemed to be a very long conversation with Min-Hee. "They're not half bad are they?"
Eden thought about the question. She didn't usually think before she spoke. She stared at the two boys who were talking to their friends. They were all hugging each other and joking around.
"If all goes well, we'll get away from them." Eden smiled to herself. "We'll throw them off the first cliff we get to."
"I'll help." Min-Hee offered. She had been keeping quiet for a long time but seemed to like Eden's ideas. "Boys fucking suck."