Over the next few weeks Arran genuinely tried to make friends with his classmates. He needed something to do during his self-moderated ban on going out at night and Celyn seemed to appreciate that he was focusing more efforrt on all aspects of his school life. 

It wasn't the same kind of fun as picking someone up at a bar or hastily erasing the memory of someone that he'd bitten, but he had a new-found motivation to focus on his school work, and it was a much better distraction for his broken heart.

He found himself thinking back over his first year of sixth form as he sat in the common room with James one afternoon. He had coasted through English, reading the bare minimum but turning out fairly good essays, Italian had been a breeze, Economics had been a disaster, but that was okay because he had dropped it this year and History he had just about gotten through with a decent grade. All in all, he couldn't really remember doing any work. In fact he couldn't remember much at all about the last year except the time he'd spent with Cree.

In review, his entire relationship hadn't been very healthy. They were good friends and they did get on really well together, but the driving force of their romantic relationship came from the adversity that the two had faced. It was easy to gloss over personal faults when people on all sides were telling them that they couldn't be together. Some of the best times that he'd spent with Cree had followed a massive fight with her father. There was just something about forbidden love that made it so much better.

James stood and broke the comfortable silence they had been sitting in. "I'm going to go find some people from my English class, get some work done."

"Okay, I'll catch up with you later." James didn't move. "Something wrong?"

"Are you busy this period? Could you do me a favour?"

"Sure, what's up?"

James opened his bag and handed Arran a thin file. "Could you read over my university application? It's just a first draft."

"Yeah, can do. I'm not sure what good my advice will be though, I haven't even started mine."

"I just need some reassurance that it's not terrible before I show it to someone else."

Arran thought that he understood exactly what was going on. "So you want someone less smart than Naomi to look at it and fix any obvious mistakes before you show it to her?"

"I knew you'd get it." He punched Arran on the arm lightly and left to go to the library.

Arran opened the file. James was applying for a degree in linguistics at mainly Russell Group Universities and James was predicted three As at the end of the year so he should have no trouble meeting the requirements. He moved on to the actual application and read it through several times. Arran didn't know much about Linguistics, but James' essay was really interesting, he was clearly passionate about what he wanted to do. This was new information, James had never let on about how much he cared about what he wanted to do at University, it was possible that he was faking the enthusiasm, but if he was, he had done it really well.

"Is that your UCAS application?" Naomi appeared, looking over his shoulder as she dumped her books on the chair next to him.

"Not mine, James'," he replied, writing a few thoughts at the bottom of the page.

"Have you even started yet?"

"I don't even completely know what I'm going to do yet. Aren't you all sent off and finished?"

"Hardly," she scoffed. "I've sent in my applications, but I've got to take ELAT in November and then there's a separate entrance exam for Churchill college and an interview for English and then another interview for Churchill. Plus I've got to pick and send in two previous essays."

"That's so much work."

"And here you are without a first draft of your application and no clue of what you want to do."

"Hey, I have some clues." Though he had to admit to himself, not many.

"Like what?"

"Well, you've just convinced me once and for all that I don't want to do English at Cambridge."

"But the gardens and the library at Churchill are so pretty." Naomi actually sounded a little disappointed, but Arran's predicted grades were not quite high enough and he had nowhere near the drive that she had.

"Then I will come and visit you at Churchill. And you can come and visit me somewhere more fun and cutting edge when you get bored."

"Like where?"

"I like York, Edinburgh is nice, Cardiff, but I don't know what I'd do there, it's so much better for science. Sussex looks fun."

"Sussex?" She asked, in the disapproving tone that Arran had begun to know so well.

"You're such a snob, Sussex out ranks plenty of Russell Groups."

"It's just such a party Uni."

"It's a really good institution and besides I love a good party."

Naomi smiled. "Well, it's your life." After a while she spoke again. "I applied to York and Edinburgh, you know. I think it's between those two for my backup."

"I can't believe you're picking a backup that requires three As."

"Well, there's no way I'm not getting straight A'*s is there?" She asked, smugly.

"Then why even bother about which to pick for a backup? You're never going to either of them."

There was a thoughtful pause from Naomi. "Dad works down in London a lot, if I was at Cambridge he'd drop in all the time, he's already talking about how it's not that far. Besides, there's just a bit more going on, like you said, it's a bit less boring."

Arran nodded, finishing writing his feedback for James, there really wasn't a lot wrong with it. He put the pieces of paper back in the folder and put it to one side. Naomi was peering around the room, looking for something.

"Don't you normally spend your free periods in the library?" he enquired.

"I'm on a mission. Does anyone in our English class have a car?"

"Probably, no idea who though."

"Ugh, I forgot, you don't have any other friends. You don't know anything about anyone."

"Charming. Why do you need someone with a car?"

"There's a production of Tis Pity She's a Whore in Blackpool at the moment and I really want to go, but I can't afford a ticket and a train fare. I'm going to go do some digging, see if anyone will drive me, watch my stuff."

Arran thought for a while and then took out his phone to send a message to his mother.

'Are you going to be away until after Friday?' He sent it over WhatsApp, as far as he knew she was sitting on a decision making panel in France, it could take a long time.

The message went from delivered to read and then Celyn was typing. 'Almost definitely, this is dragging. Everything ok?'

'Everything's fine. Was wondering if I could borrow your car Friday night to see a play with a friend?' He paused and then added 'it's educational.'

'What play?'

'The one I'm doing in English, Tis Pity She's a Whore.'

' You can use the car but if you damage it in any way you'll have to get a job and buy me an entirely new one. I've got to get back now, riveting debates about what constitutes legal boundaries for werewolf territories don't just happen you know. Talk later.'

He sent a reply thanking her and sat waiting for Naomi to come back, hoping that she hadn't found an alternative. He was in luck as she came back looking dejected.

"How is it that we go to a school full of rich people and not a single person I know in our class has a car?"

"I'll take you."

"What?"

"I want to see it. I'll borrow my mum's car. We can drive down on Friday after school."

"And you let me ask everyone I could find before offering?"

"You can just say thank you, Naomi."

"Sorry, that was rude. Thank you." She sat back down in the chair opposite him. "This'll be really fun. I'm looking forward to it."

So was Arran.  

---

Fact of the day: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore has gone by many more conservative titles over the years such as: 'Tis Pity She's Wanton,  Giovanni and Annabella and The Brother and Sister Play. That's what you want from Author's Notes right? Jacobean English Literature facts <3