daily drabble

From St. Jude's School for the Gifted, Chapter One

"Hi," he said again, hoping this time for better results. "I'm Bobby."

The boy directly in front of him did not even look up. Bobby could see the top of his head through the space between the two seats, and could see that his hair was dyed black, tousled, mouse brown roots starting to show. His head was bent over something in his lap.

"Hi!" the other boy said eagerly. He was sitting across the aisle and had pushed back the armrests and stretched out across his two seats like a bed. He had longish wavy blond hair and cunning hazel eyes that peered out from under thick brown eyebrows that seemed to be constantly in motion as he talked, sometimes in chorus, other times wiggling independently like furry brown caterpillars.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Geoff." He spoke with a thick British accent. "That there's James. He's from New York. Really boring bloke. Barely said two words to me the whole trip. Met him on the plane. Want some peanuts?" He dove under the seats suddenly, rummaging through his knapsack.

"No thanks," Bobby said with a grin, "I had some on the plane."

"Oh right, then," Geoff said happily shredding his own packet of peanuts and tipping most of the contents into his mouth. "Only, I've got loads if you change your mind. Loads. Stewardesses took a shine too me, innat right Jamey?"

"It's James," the other boy replied flatly. "Not Jamey, or Jimmy, or Jim, or Jack or anything else." He glanced up and over his shoulder through the crack in the seats at Bobby. "And I think they gave him the peanuts with the hope that he couldn't talk and eat at the same time." He went back to studying whatever it was he had in his lap. "Pity it didn't work."

Geoff waggled his eyebrows across the aisle at Bobby as he crunched his peanuts noisily, a huge grin plastered across his face despite James' harsh words.

"What'd I tell yeh. Manky swot, inne? I like him."