Bus CXIII

Louisa: Be Christmas soon

Jack: Argh, don't remind me

Louisa: Not looking forward to it this year?

Jack: I never look forward to it. We've been friends for eleven months, and you don't know I hate Christmas?

Louisa: Was hoping you'd change your mind. How can anyone hate Christmas?

Jack: Well, hating things gets easier the more you do it

Bus CXII

Louisa: Did you hear what happened to Mr Halley?

Jack: Who's Mr Halley?

Louisa: Science teacher with the afro

Jack: Don't think I know him

Louisa: He comes to work on a skateboard

Jack: Not ringing any bells

Louisa: Well, he was covering for Miss Caesar yesterday

Jack: Who?

Louisa: You must know Miss Caesar. She has a peg leg. Anyway, Mr Halley decided to show the class a documentary, but he mixed up the discs and accidentally put on a porn film.

Jack: He showed his class porn?

Louisa: The worst part is he went to the toilet as soon as it started running, so it took him five minutes to come back and realise his mistake. By then Paula McIntosh had called her dad to ask some pertinent questions, and the damage was done.

Jack: Ha. Typical Paula.

Louisa: You don't know Paula either, do you?

Jack: Not as such

Louisa: Her dog played piano in assembly that time

Jack: I must've been sick that day

Bus CXI

Jack: I saw your dad in Plumpton last night

Louisa: Oh yeah?

Jack: He was going into a flat up near the big roundabout with the flowers

Louisa: Yeah, a lot of his friends live up there

Jack: Must be really close friends. He had a key and everything.

Louisa: He's a friendly guy. And obviously he has a degree in floristry, so he probably likes being near the big flowers.

Jack: They're not big flowers. There's just a lot of them.

Louisa: Whatever

Jack: Okay, I'm not buying this for a second. Have you guys moved or something?

Louisa: You came round my house three days ago. No, two days ago.

Jack: It was four days ago

Louisa: If you must know, my parents are taking a little time apart. That's just where he's living at the moment.

Jack: Oh man, I wish my parents would do that

Louisa: You'd be welcome to it. I just wish my parents liked each other.

Jack: Well yeah, me too. But I've learned to be realistic.

Bus CX

Louisa coughs violently

Jack: Hey, are you okay?

Louisa: My head's on fire and I feel like I'm about to vomit

Jack: Some of us just call that Monday

Louisa: And these so-called cough sweets aren't working at all

Jack: Probably cos those are breath minths

Louisa: That's no excuse

Jack: Didn't you wonder why your breath was all minty?

Louisa: I thought it was another symptom

Bus CIX

Louisa: Sorry about Lizzie

Jack: Huh?

Louisa: Oh. Nothing.

Jack: What is it?

Louisa: Well, I thought you must've heard. She's got a new boyfriend.

Jack: Oh, okay. I guess that's her business.

Louisa: Wow, I'm glad you're taking it so well

Jack: How did you expect me to take it?

Louisa: Major tantrum. Like your sister when they run out of strawberry ice cream.

Jack: Lizzie uses strawberry shampoo

Louisa: She really doesn't

Jack: Well, she would if her hair didn't naturally taste of strawberries

Louisa: You've tasted her hair?

Jack: Well, I tasted somebody's hair. So who's the lucky guy then? God, it's not Scott, is it? No wonder he hasn't been around much lately.

Louisa: No, Scott's still as lonely and unfulfilled as the rest of us. It's Ronnie Phelps.

Jack: What the fuck? I wish it was Scott. At least he can tie his own shoes.

Louisa: To be fair, Ronnie wears loafers now

Bus CVIII

Jack: God, you're completely soaked

Louisa: Wow, really? I hadn't noticed.

Jack: Where's your coat?

Louisa: I hate coats

Jack: Yeah, all that warmth and dryness could piss anybody off

Louisa: For what it's worth, you piss me off even more

Scott: Guys, I think it's starting to rain

Louisa: Coats make me feel all fat and puffy. And then when it stops raining, I'm stuck dragging a wet, useless lump around with me all day.

Jack: And yet you have no problem hanging around with Scott. What about an umbrella then?

Louisa: They make my arms ache. All that holding.

Jack: So you just walk around getting soaked all the time like a moron?

Louisa: Pretty much

Bus CVII

Jack: It's weird to think we're all gonna die, isn't it

Louisa: I guess...

Jack: You don't think it's weird?

Louisa: I think it's weird that we're having this conversation just before Double Maths

Jack: Oh Lou-Lou, always with the witty punchline. You must fear death more than anyone.

Louisa: Why must I fear death more than anyone? I fear mice and clowns and helium balloons, but not death.

Jack: You fear helium balloons?

Louisa: They defy gravity. It's eerie.

Jack: Doesn't it bother you that one day, everything you know is just gonna end? No resolution. You'll just be gone.

Louisa: Well, I guess there's an upside if you get to see all your enemies die first

Jack: But what about if you die first?

Louisa: Then at least I don't have to live in the same world as my enemies

Jack: What about if you and your enemies all die at the same time, and you're stuck up in the afterlife together?

Louisa: Damn

Bus CVI

Louisa: Have you guys got a costume for Halloween yet?

Jack: Yeah, I'm going as you

Louisa: That's nice. How about you, Scott?

Scott: Yeah, I'm going as Finkelstein

Louisa: Frankenstein?

Scott: No, Finkelstein

Louisa: Well, who's Finkelstein?

Scott: Just a guy who used to live next door to me

Louisa: Not very Halloweeny

Scott: Well, he had bolts in his neck

Jack: I remember him!

Louisa: What happened?

Scott: Oh, he moved away years ago

Louisa: No, I mean how did he end up with bolts in his neck?

Jack: Apparently there was an old unexploded bomb under his toolshed

Bus CV

Louisa: Don't forget the clocks go back tonight

Scott: I'm not falling for that crap again after last year

Louisa: What happened last year?

Scott: I went to take my alarm clock back to where I'd bought it, and the shop wasn't even open at 2am

Bus CIV

Jack: These new shoes are killing me. Why didn't you talk me out of buying them?

Scott: Cos I wasn't there

Jack: That's your excuse for everything

Scott: Have you tried cutting holes in the sides?

Jack: Then they'd just be wet as well as tight

Louisa: Hey, some people would pay good money for that

Jack: I guess this is what I deserve for getting out of bed in the morning