text: [Themes: Slice of life, teenage protagonist, strong NPCs, sexual content, complicity, anxiety]
  
  > Describe the surroundings
  PJ's Cafe - Dining Area (on the chair)
  The dining area of the cafe is reasonably large, and fairly empty at this time. The room is striving incongruously for a jungle theme - with mahogany-effect tables and chairs, potted plants scattered everywhere, an annoying green carpet, and prints on the walls depicting tropical scenes. The self-service counter is to the west.
  
  I can see Alice and Claire here.
  
  Alice takes a sip of coffee.
  
  > talk to Claire
  I really can't think of anything to say right now.
  
  Now I'm inside, the eye-watering scent of that aftershave is really starting to get quite powerful again. Alice is already beginning to turn her nose up...
  
  Where the fuck is Ferdia?
  
  > talk to Alice
  Please select one:
  
  (1) "So... Alice..."
  
  > 1
  "So... Alice..." I begin.
  
  Oh shit, what do I say now? They're both looking at me as if I was mad!
  
  Alice takes another sip of coffee.
  
  > run
  You'll have to say which compass direction to go in.
  
  Alice looks at me pointedly and starts coughing.
  
  > ask alice about the weather
  In this story, to talk to somebody, use 'talk to'.
  
  Maybe Daniel just didn't notice me that time. If only I had said something... Maybe we'll meet him later on, and he'll come up to me, and apologise... or not apologise, what does he have to apologise for? I wonder is he thinking about me now...
  
  > Kiss claire
  It would probably be better to talk to her first. Though I doubt anyone could work up much enthusiasm about her.
  
  He's probably a bit embarrassed about ignoring me... though I understand... it would be a bit awkward meeting me in front of his friends... maybe he'll write me a letter later...
  
  > sit
  What do you want to sit on top of?
  
  > talk to Claire
  I really can't think of anything to say right now.
  
  Alice makes a face. "What is that smell?" she says.
  
  > In this story, to talk to somebody, use 'talk to'.
  
  Alice glares at me.
  
  > Go outside
  I really should stay here and try and make some conversation... it would look bad running away so soon.
  
  Come on Ferdia... Come on...
  
  > talk to Alice
  I really can't think of anything to say right now.
  
  "Have you any idea where Ferdia is?" asks Alice.
  
  > talk to Alice
  Please select one:
  
  (1) "He should be along in a few minutes... he said he might be a bit late."
  (2) "He's working late on his science project... he said he might be a bit late."
  (3) "He's off licking some teacher's arse after school. He'll be here soon, don't worry."
  (4) "I haven't a fucking clue."
  
  > talk to myself
  It's one way to get intelligent conversation around here, certainly.
  
  "Would you like to get something to drink?" asks Claire. It's the first time she has spoken. She has a really weedy voice. She looks at me with big, childlike eyes that stick out of her face.
  
  > talk to Claire
  Please select one:
  
  (1) "No thanks... I'm not that thirsty really."
  (2) "No thanks... I don't drink coffee, actually."
  (3) "Yeah, okay..."
  
  > 3
  "Yeah, okay."
  
  "Well, the counter is behind you," says Alice.
  
  > stand
  I can't take this anymore! I get up off the chair.
  
  "Where are you going?" says Alice.
  
  "Oh.. I'm just going to get something to drink."
  
  "Well, I don't want anything, thanks for asking," says Alice. Bitch. I walk over to the self-service counter. Yes! I'm away from that table!
  
  It's the contemptuous look on their faces I couldn't stand. Why did they have to look at me like that all the time? And now I can see them over there, giggling...
  
  > Inventory
  I am carrying:
  some casual clothes (being worn)
  my underwear (being worn)
  my watch (being worn)
  
  Who the fuck does Daniel think he is, anyway? What the fuck is he doing, flaunting his fucking girlfriend and his all his fucking friends at me... does he think I care? Does he think that impresses me? Is he trying to say 'Look at me now! Look at all the friends I have! Why should I need someone like you anymore?' Fuck him.
  
  > examine the counter
  The counter is now bare apart from a few unwanted cans of cola, which may just be there for display purposes. The cafe will be closing up shortly... Ferdia better hurry.
  
  Is he trying to dismiss everything that ever happened to us? Is he dismissing my whole life with a glance? And why is he being so insensitive? He was never like that before... Doesn't he realise how much he hurt me tonight?
  
  > Sing
  I can't sing very well. It's my adenoids.
  
  > get the cola
  I don't want anything from the counter. I just came here to escape the girls for a while.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  Ferdia comes in, at long fucking last. "Hi Ferdia," I say.
  
  "Oh, hi Alex," he says as he brushes past me officiously. He heads over to the girls.
  
  "I hope Alex has been entertaining you," I can hear him say to them. Then he laughs. He has the most annoying, offensive laugh you could possibly imagine - he sounds like a horse being castrated.
  
  I am about to follow him over, but when I see him there laughing, and the girls laughing, all all of them together, I feel nauseated. And the cool evening air coming from the exit is so tempting... lulling me to go...
  
  And I know then that the best thing I can do, the only thing I can do, is to leave all of them. Leave all of them forever. So I walk out the door, on to the main street.
  
  . . .
  
  > Space
  The cool evening air calls me, and I follow it. I follow it through the main street, past sleepy houses; I follow it to the quayside, where the sea breeze is strongest. It's raining now, but the rain is soft and comforting, caressing me as it falls. I feel as if I love everything in the world, as if everything is singing to me, as if my mind is filled with poetry and music. Everything, everything is beautiful now.
  
  I step up to the water's edge.
  
  Everything here is so peaceful, so beautiful - why have I never noticed it before? Raindrops dance on the river bay beneath my feet. Seagulls play in the air above me. Old fishing boats sway gently with the lapping of the water. And the air - I always thought the salt air was foul before, but now it seems so fresh, so clean, so pure!
  
  > jump
  I look down at the water beneath me, and then -
  
  Hey! You're asking me to kill myself? What the hell made you think I wanted to do that? I'm young, I've still got lots to live for... it's just that I just feel so restricted at the moment... and then of course there is the Daniel thing. But don't think that means I want to end it all! It can't always be like this! I know it can't. In fact, for all you know, something could happen tonight, this very night, something to make me love life again... And if that something happens, I'll seize it with both hands!
  
  Where the hell am I, anyway?
  
  The quay must be the most miserable place in the whole town, especially when the rain is pissing down like it is now. Beneath my feet, the rain-pelted river flows like sludge, which probably has something to do with all the raw effluent that's pumped into it. The smell, needless to say, is truly nauseating. A handful of rusty old boats lie abandoned against the quay wall, and seagulls scream overhead.
  
  > examine the boats
  Useless, rusty old boats, which are a complete fucking eyesore. They are obviously only left there because nobody can be bothered to scrap them.
  
  > Pray
  Nothing practical results from my prayer.
  
  > look at the rain
  It's soaking everything.
  
  > go to the east
  Yeah, what's the point in staying here.
  
  "Alex!" I hear a voice calling behind me. I turn around. It's Claire, running hesitantly up to me.
  
  > jump
  Oh come on, I've had enough suicide attempts for one day.
  
  "Are you okay? We were a bit worried about you after you ran out of the Cafe, so we went looking for you."
  
  Ugh. I could just imagine Ferdia directing the search operations, keeping a cool head under pressure, telling people to go here and there.
  
  Claire steps a little closer to me and looks up into my eyes. "Is... anything the matter? You can tell me... if you like."
  
  > talk to Claire
  Please select one:
  
  (1) "Nothing's wrong. Now go away."
  (2) "No, I like standing here in the rain."
  (3) "Yes. There is."
  
  > 2
  "No, I like standing here in the rain."
  
  Claire sighs heavily as if about to deliver a baby whale.
  
  "Look... I get a little... nervous too... when I'm meeting guys for the first time... if that's what you're worried about -"
  
  "No! No, that's not it at all!" I suddenly shout. "It's nothing to do with that!" I stop for a moment, not really sure how to go on.
  
  "It's just that... I can't... do anything! I can't do anything!" I scream at last. "It's like I'm trapped inside and can't get out and can't be myself and... I'm stuck.... And I've no friends! - Not Ferdia, he's an asshole, he doesn't count.... There's no-one I can be myself with! No friends! And the only friend I ever had... my only friend -"
  
  I just break down in sobbing.
  
  . . .
  A few moments pass as I try to recover, sniffling away tears. Claire looks up at me, tenderly. God, I can't believe I've made such a show of myself in front of her. Why did I break down like that? And now she's seen me crying... and heard all that crap....
  
  Claire speaks. "I'll... be your friend... if you like." Her lips are trembling.
  
  I answer with a sniffle.
  
  . . .
  
  > talk to Claire
  Claire moves closer to me. We're standing very close now. She gazes into my eyes, expectantly.
  
  I believe something is now supposed to happen.
  
  > talk to Claire
  I think actions, rather than words, are required now.
  
  Claire still gazes at me, and I gaze back at her. Her appearance seems to be changing every second - now I think she's angelic, beautiful; but now I see her cracked lips and the hairy mole on her face.
  
  > hug her
  (Claire)
  I could... and it would probably be nice... and warm... but I can't help looking at that mole on her face...
  
  Our eyes are still fixed on each other. She's breathing a bit more rapidly, I can tell. Her chest bobs up and down visibly.
  
  > look at the mole
  A hairy brown thing that's like a blot on her face. I can't help looking at it.
  
  Suddenly, Claire reaches out to me. Our hands touch for a moment, but I recoil. I can't do this! I must run away! I turn and run, and I run, and I keep on running, and I don't look back.
  
  . . .
  It was the right thing to do! The only thing I could do. Her cracked lips and the mole on her face and that stupid expression - though fairly pretty in a way - but I couldn't have given her what she wanted! I wouldn't have put the same feeling into it, I would have hurt her. This was for the best.
  
  . . .
  
  > press the green
  Anyway, could you imagine if I had gone out with her, and her podgy face and cracked lips, and Ferdia would be there with Alice looking smug and condescending, and Wayne and Gordon and everyone in St. Enda's knowing about it, and the hard time I'd get, and the hard time she'd get? I wouldn't be able to take that! I wouldn't!
  
  . . .
  
  And then she saw me crying too! She saw me weak and crying and babbling in front of her. And I'd remember that every time I met her, and she'd remind me of this miserable night every time, and she'd be so condescending in front of me. So conscious of my vulnerability. And I don't think I could bear that.
  
  . . .
  
  And we'd always have to be together, her hanging out of me, me hanging out of her, with the mole on her face, and everyone would be looking at us and laughing. But that's not going to happen to me! I'm going to have my freedom! And that's one thing you 'people of action' are never going to understand. I'm keeping my freedom within me, and I'll laugh at you, laugh at all of you, and laugh at you forever!
  
  . . .
  
  I am standing on the edge of the quay, by the river - it's cold, it's raining, and seagulls are flying overhead. Then I hear a voice behind me call my name. I turn around. It's Claire! She runs up to me. "I love you, Alex," she says. And I say nothing, but put my arms around her, and hold her close. And as we embrace, the rain beats down upon us, and the cold wind whips around us, but we go on, holding each other, arm in arm, and let the rest of the world GO FUCK ITSELF!