Acid Song Read Online Free PDF Page A

never give up
. The almost-sports-stars they dredged up for assemblies told them so, every second Wednesday.
    ‘Get a die each. There are twelve green, twelve white. It doesn’t matter which you get.’
    They took their dice, continued their conversations, milled about. Mr Krane was in no hurry.
    ‘Here’s what’s happening. Hold your die in your left hand.’
    ‘It’s dice. The word’s dice.’
    ‘That’s plural.’
    ‘That’s stupid.’
    ‘And with your die in your left hand, you cross your arms like this, hands to the opposite shoulders.’
    ‘Why? Why are we doing this?’
    ‘Because you don’t need your hands to reproduce.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘It’s so we don’t touch people’s tits.’
    ‘Shut up.’
    Without Lionel, and Gavin, and possibly Andrew, this would be a good class. Without Ollie, school might be okay. Sophie forced herself to think of something else, but already a film had spread across her eyes. She wiped it away before anyone noticed, and swallowed down the misery.
    ‘Okay, now I want you all to close your eyes.’ Perfect. The world went dark, and Sophie’s mind followed into blankness. ‘And thenvery gently, within this space … eyes closed, Lionel.’
    ‘It’s Sean, Mister. He’s been looking at me funny, ever since you mentioned reproduction.’
    ‘Fuck up.’
    ‘Thanks, Sean, eyes closed eh? Now, we are going to very quietly move about the space. If you bump into somebody, just gently move away, without opening your eyes, and keep going.’
    ‘Then what?’
    ‘I’ll explain when everybody’s doing it.’
    Sophie felt a hand slide across her arse. She opened her eyes, but the groper had moved on.
    ‘And eyes open. Face the nearest person. Good. That’s your reproductive partner for this round. Introduce yourself.’
    Laughing. Stupid comments. Boys faced boys, girls faced girls, Randall the exception. He faced Sophie shyly. He was shorter than her, and had made a good head start to obesity. He blushed, too hot in the jersey she had never seen him take off. The groper?
    ‘Now roll your dice. Whoever gets the lowest number must come to the front and change their die for one of their partner’s colour.’
    ‘What say we’ve got the same colour?’
    ‘Then nothing changes.’
    Dice were rolled. Comments were passed, dice changed. Sophie watched Mr Krane write ‘Random Selection’ on the board. She tried to remember the words. He could not be relied upon to make his points clearly. He had no staying power. He wasn’t the sort you could depend upon, when it came to the exam. Sophie made up her own notes at home.
    ‘And if any pair throws two sixes, let me know. Eyes closed; mingle again.’
    Three rounds later the first double six was called. Mr Krane stepped forward, took the pair’s dice and replaced them with red ones.
    ‘What’s this?’
    ‘A mutation has occurred.’
    ‘Mutants!’ Lionel jeered.
    ‘We’re all mutants, Lionel.’
    ‘I’m not.’
    ‘No, possibly less so than the rest of us. Quick show of hands. Who’s still got green? How about white?’ Three quarters of the class now had green dice. ‘Okay, remember that. Now, people with red dice: whatever you roll, add a two to the number.’
    ‘Random Drift’ and ‘Mutation’ were added to the list on the board. Sophie said each to herself three times. The game was good. It was helping her to forget.
    ‘Eyes closed, let’s go.’
    It came from nowhere. That can’t have been true, it must have been bubbling over, perhaps all year, but from nowhere is how it seemed to appear.
    ‘Fuck off!’ Loud, angry. Every eye opened in time to observe the half second between intent and action. Sean eyeballed Lionel. He was only half Lionel’s size, but his eyes burned dark and there was spit at the corner of his mouth. Lionel raised his eyebrows in invitation, his head pivoting back on his neck, jeering. For half a second.
    The first blow, a close-fisted punch, caught Lionel on the chin. The second, a