CARTER'S ARMY: WILLIAM CARTER
1
Chapter 01 - By Christopher Patrick Lydon
November 28th
Will was distracted; he was sitting as he always did, rushing
at the last minute to get his homework done. He should have been concentrating
on his work, he knew that, but it didn't seem quite as important at that moment.
He was simply not into his work. Classic underachiever syndrome at work, he
should have been the poster boy for it, except he wasn't attractive enough.
Not that he was unattractive, quite the contrary he was tall,
dark and handsome, with careless hair and a pair of those deep hazel `Irish
eyes' that drew people to trust him on instinct. But he was not hot. He had
been told repeatedly that he looked too intelligent, he looked like a scruffy
academic; add ten years to him and lose him in a museum and people would just
assume he belonged. He was handsome in that classic Englishman manner that
brimmed with raw charisma, but without the accent he was simply... normal.
Now Tom Cruise was hot, but Will was definitely no Tom Cruise.
He shifted his hand to rest his chin on it, staring vacantly
up at the doors to the library. He could play sports if he wanted to; nothing
stopped him, except the fact that he just didn't know how to play most of
them. He had grown up in England - a place where basketball, football and
hockey weren't played. Hell, they were even laughed at back home. Will could
play soccer modestly, but he had been an ace at cricket. Nothing like going
from ace cricket rookie to geek because his father had wanted to emigrate.
It sucked.
There had been a rather embarrassing incident when he had tried
out for the baseball team in the summer. He had stepped up to the plate feeling
the awkward round bat in his hand and tried to swing for it, missing the first
two times. The last time he had just relaxed, holding the bat like a cricket
bat, and had connected hard enough to send the ball right out of the field,
into the coach's Volvo. That had ended his sports career. Though it had bought
him the respect of his friends who thought it was cool that at 16 Will could
hit a home run and make it look effortless.
Will started from his thoughts as Andrew Highmore walked into
South Carleton High School's library with a smug expression that wasn't so
much arrogant as it was confident. It was rare to have many guys willing to
spend their study period in the library, especially not someone with Andrew
Highmore's reputation. His green leather letterman jacket only contained his
threatening broad shoulders. And the gold lettering on the sleeve read `Storm
hockey', a real sport in the coach's eyes, not like Cricket.
He grabbed the first seat available, which happened to be beside
the tall windows that overlooked the ramp up to the main doors of the school.
Honestly, this caught Will off guard. He would have assumed that Andrew would
have placed himself out of sight, hidden away from his teammates in case they
saw him there. Yet, he sat with an emanating confidence that confounded the
instincts. He seemed like the type of guy that over-exaggerated every moan
while working out in the gym. The type that fell asleep each night reading
his own stats. He fished out a pair of reading glasses, also out of character,
as he pushed his blond hair away from his eyes. Andrew was tall, built for
hockey in that typical Canadian way, and to Will he was definitely handsome
in an Old Navy commercial kind of way. It made Andrew appear young, wholesome
and clean-cut. He was the kind of boy girls could take home to meet their
mother. He had sandy-blond hair, parted in the middle almost carelessly, which
only served to add to the image of a typical wholesome youth. But it was Andrew's
sharp blue eyes that gave Will a way to see past the stereotype to the intelligent
and determined man beyond. Those powerful eyes that shone every time he spoke.
Will shook his head as the bell rang for the start of the study
period. Will went back to his own textbooks; his English paper was due later
that afternoon, and typically he was leaving it until the last minute. But
it wasn't a big deal for him. Much to his English teacher's frustration, he
had an innate understanding of the English language, one that let him bang
out an A-grade paper in less than an hour. He stared at the selections of
William Blake. It was simple for Will to see where Blake was going with the
poem; the tricky part was connecting it to his later works. Those were scattered
about him in a disorganized pile waiting for his attention. There was something
thrilling about being lost in the written word, and Will was enjoying himself.
Hey, so long as it wasn't math Will was happy to do the work. An innate understanding
of math seemed to be one thing he lacked, much to his dad's dismay.
Curiosity made him glance up and over to where Andrew sat, pencil
clenched between his teeth as he flipped through a chemistry book. Of course.
Mister Chiasson had the senior chem. labs that afternoon, a big deal apparently,
though Will had yet to take any of Chiasson's courses, those came next semester.
He considered opening up a conversation, but Andrew was too far away for that.
And you didn't just start a conversation with the captain of the Storm.
"Your english paper still isn't done?" Lisa asked
as she laid her books down on the table beside him. Late as ever, Will wondered
if she would ever pull it together.
She was a beautiful girl; there was a hint of the exotic in
her appearance, a slight roundness to her face and the curliness to her dark
hair that always made Will think of Helen of Troy. Men would destroy cities
for that woman one day. Trouble with her was, she never realized it.
He smiled up at her, "It's just Blake," he said with
a simple shrug of his shoulders, "I give myself even odds to be done
by the end of study hall."
She snorted at him as she flipped open her own textbook and
fished through her notes, "I was done with that paper a week ago."
"That's because you're a keener." Will grinned as
he returned his concentration to the paper and scribbled some more notes in
his near-illegible handwriting. It was like painting a picture: first he got
the basic shape for it, and from there he would fill out the details.
Lisa stared at him a moment and reached out to pull his ball
cap down over his eyes, "Jerk." She said with a grin.
"Shhhh!" Miss Harriet, the librarian, a wizened old
spinster admonished from the counter. She never even looked up from her book
cataloging. Will grinned up at Lisa as he readjusted his cap on his head,
shaking his head at his nemesis. "I'm still going to score higher than
you on this paper."
Lisa looked down at it then back up at him, and she gave him
a radiant smile, "And I am still scoring higher than you in math class,
so we're even." She stopped when she noticed Andrew Highmore sitting
over by the windows watching them, "Is that...?"
Will nodded, "Yep," he replied as he continued to
work, "chemistry lab this afternoon."
She tapped her pen on the edge of the table; "Hmmm, glasses
make him kinda cute." She shook her head as she caught herself checking
out a jock and pulled out her calculator.
"I thought that you and Brody were..." Will began.
"Don't even say it," She grumbled in frustration.
"He asked me out to the semi-formal this weekend, but hasn't shown up
for school. His friend Jeff said the last he heard Brody was off buying a
motorbike. Like school isn't important or anything. The guy just won't grow
up."
Will relaxed in the uncomfortable plastic chair that was supposedly
designed for posture and in actual fact dated from the middle of the Spanish
Inquisition. He set his pen down, "What made you say 'yes' then if he's
so irresponsible?"
Lisa remained silent as she laboured on a particularly complex
quadratic Equation. Finally, realizing Will wasn't about to just let it go,
she looked up at him, "I don't know, he asked, I guess." She looked
about her. "Think I could sneak into the teachers' lounge and raid the
coffee pot?" she said trying to change the subject.
Will chuckled as he picked up his pen, "Ah, so it's because
no one else asked. I understand." He ducked under her hand that flew
out to connect solidly with his shoulder. It stung, but he continued to laugh
at her.
He stopped laughing when Rafik came out of the audiovisual supply
room pushing a TV-VCR unit on its tall cart. Both Lisa and Will picked up
their textbooks at the same time, trying desperately to appear busy. But it
was too late; Rafik stopped the cart and grinned at them.
"Hey guys. Are you looking forward to the dance on Friday
night?" He leaned on their table, "They're letting Josh DJ it this
year, and I am rigging the lights; it's going to be fun." He stopped
and smiled at Lisa, "Are you g-going with anyone?"
Will hid his choking laughter by coughing into his hand. Lisa's
face was truly a sight to behold and if he had a camera, it would have made
a great Kodak moment. There was something about white on Lisa; it set off
her deep auburn hair. "I'm going with Brody...I'm sorry, Rafik..."
she apologized, and it almost sounded sincere, at least there was something,
Lisa always seemed to let guys down gently.
Rafik nodded his head, adjusting his glasses sullenly as he
made an excuse and wheeled the cart out of the library destined for whatever
class had requested it. When the doors had closed, Will looked up from his
paper, "That was almost cruel."
Lisa shrugged, "What? I told him the truth didn't I? He's
a sweet guy but, hello...Desperate!"
Will looked towards the doors and shook his head. No doubt that
was the reason Rafik couldn't get a date; you just couldn't go around with
a big neon sign over your head that screamed 'desperate'. And despite the
fact that Rafik's dad ran the paper mill that employed half the town he just
couldn't compensate for his total lack of social graces. He affixed a prospective
date in a set of floodlights, concentrating so much emotion upon them that
they couldn't help but say no to him. It was a shame, Rafik really wasn't
that bad of a guy.
"Who are you taking?" Lisa asked interrupting his
thoughts; it brought Will back from his deep contemplation and grounded him
in the present. He hadn't actually been planning on going to the Semi-Formal.
His jaw worked a few times as he struggled to offer her an answer and in the
end shook his head, "Hadn't thought about it. I don't go to dances..."
She shrugged, "but there must be someone right? I mean
there has to be someone you want to take...what about Jennifer?"
Will shook his head, "Jenny and I are just friends. She's
going through a rough patch right now with the pregnancy..."
"Oh." Lisa grimaced, "How's she doing? Has she
heard anything from Jacob - he is the dad, right?"
Will sighed as he continued to work on fleshing out his paper,
"Jacob took off as soon as he heard she was pregnant, typical deadbeat
dad. She's over it though; I saw her this morning in the cafeteria, and she
was devouring a banana- raisin muffin..." he shook his head, "but
as for taking her to the dance, I'm not interested in her that way, we're
just good friends."
Lisa studied him for a moment, trying to read his face to see
if he was trying to trick her, and finally she gave up. "Well she likes
you, she won't stop talking about you."
Will rolled his eyes, "I'm just a shoulder she cries on,
it's not as if we're ever going any further with it, I'm not attracted to
her." He thumbed at the doors Rafik had recently gone through, "It's
like you and him, I can't explain it, but I'm not interested."
Lisa held up her hands, "Hey it's okay; oh, and you spelt
necessary wrong..." she indicated with her pen to the word that was now
flowing from the end of his biro pen. He stopped and mumbled a curse, liberally
applying white-out to the loose-leaf page.
He checked the word again and continued with his writing, though
the paper was secondary in his mind, as he tried to work out why he wasn't
attracted to Jennifer. She was a beautiful girl, pretty in a rural kind of
fashion. Not to mention the fact that some benevolent god had gifted her...
But he just didn't look at her in that fashion. It was like
looking at a sister; you could see everything and instantly know it was wrong
to consider her in that way. Jennifer had been his friend ever since he had
been dragged to that godforsaken edge of nowhere by his father who was determined
to start a new life for him and his boys. They had shared common interests,
and that was great but that still wasn't enough for him to be attracted to
her. Then there was the whole Jacob -- baby thing.
He didn't understand how anyone could let themselves get pregnant.
He had never been that in love, he guessed, never been in a relationship long
enough to be swept up in the rush of emotions that led to `mistakes'. He just
couldn't picture anyone worth his risking his entire future for.
The baby-trap was a danger every guy faced in that small town.
Most of the intelligent guys who had steady girlfriends and a bright future
ahead of them suddenly found that future snatched away from them by unscrupulous
girlfriends who saw their boyfriends preparing to head off to university and
leave them behind. Nothing killed the dream of a bright future like a bouncing
bundle of joy dropping into the lap like a bombshell. That had been Jennifer's
goal; she had confessed it to Will one night when they had been sitting up
watching cheesy movies. Jacob was getting ready to go on to college to become
a carpenter's apprentice. And rather than lose him, she had tried to catch
him like so many others. Only Jacob wasn't like the other guys; the last anyone
saw of him was him gassing up his car at the edge of town. He had run far
and fast.
Will swore that wasn't going to happen to him. He was a rare
commodity, a young, intelligent man destined for university. He was attractive,
if rather average. He wasn't an all-star athlete like "captain"
Andrew Highmore over in the corner, but he was still a prime target. And daddy
wasn't something he wanted to add to his resume anytime soon.
He just kept his mouth shut as he worked on his paper. His education
was his ticket out of that small town, a pothole on the road of life as he
thought of it. He was destined for other things, go to university, get a good
job. He would have a great house in the city and never have to worry about
things again. His golden path was set, and he wasn't about to be derailed
by a girl.
He set his pen down, "Done."
Lisa looked up from her own homework; "You know I hate
you, right?" she nodded to the paper, "You're the English department's
golden boy. He that can do no wrong..." She rolled her eyes as he flashed
her a smug smile, "And what makes it worse is that you know it too."
"Yep." Will replied as he allowed his eyes to wander
about the library, over the battered books and metal shelves that were typical
of high school libraries everywhere. The librarian was still working to put
the day's book returns back on the shelves. The announcement board that no
one bothered to read, announced the Christmas Semi-Formal on Friday. And Andrew
Highmore was watching him. He stopped and glanced back, but the captain had
gone back to his textbook, and Will shrugged it off. He was a sophomore, and
beneath the notice of a senior. Shame really; Andrew was supposedly a good
person to talk to, and if his reputation was to be believed, really good at
getting the girls. He was one of those people everyone tried to emulate in
one fashion or another; even Will had to admit that he respected Andrew.
Will yawned as he closed his books and glanced at his watch;
the bell would go in a few minutes and then English class. Mister Greenwood
would give them their review for the Christmas Finals. A good chance to re-examine
the texts covered over the year, and Will was secretly looking forward to
challenging himself on the exam; he could prove that he had earned his grades
for all the effortless papers he had written over the course of the year.
"Jared just walked in." Lisa's voice dropped to a whisper as she
stared appreciatively at the Storm' goalie as he walked over to Andrew. He
was also in their year, and a good athlete, even if he wasn't the best of
students. He had earned his place on the school team that year. Will liked
Jared, they spoke occasionally, and mostly Will helped Jared with his English
assignments when they got a chance. Another throwback to their Freshman year
when he and Jared had been paired up for a number of biology labs. It wasn't
that they were friends, but rather they knew each other and worked well together.
Jared had a way with the practical lab assignments that allowed Will to work
on the notes.
Will glanced up and watched as Jared and Andrew talked by the
windows, and Will noticed it had started to snow again. He shuddered, glad
he had brought his heavy winter coat with him. The Canadian winter was cold
enough to cut to the bone, and that year it was especially severe. Rumor was
that it was supposed to drop to minus-fifty later in the week. Toque-wearing
weather.
He always looked stupid in a toque. He owned one, but refused
to wear it unless the weather was exceptionally cold because he looked silly
in the gaudy blue-and-white knitted hat with its bobble on top. But he had
to admit it looked better than the silly fleece jester hat Lisa wore in the
cold.
He grinned at her, "Snowing again."
She groaned catching sight of it herself, "Great, I'm taking
the bus home tonight." She folded her arms in disgust, "No way I
am walking in that."
Will yawned again as he picked up his books and stood up, "It
will be okay, only one more period to go, we should be home before the worst
of it hits."
Lisa picked up her own books, her eyes still locked on the drifting
white snow building up outside, "Well maybe tomorrow will be a snow day."
Will grinned at the pleasant thought, "I think it might..."
