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This is a collection of short stories about supporting characters and antagonists from my novel Nemesis. It's probably not necessary to read Nemesis to enjoy these, but if you intend to read Nemesis you should probably do so first, as this contains spoilers. Hubris can be found here. And the first story has been posted! Alan Summary: Finding out that the boy he's been secretly in love with for years is together with his best friend whom he thought was straight, leaves Alan Bradford confused and angry, and still unwilling to admit to himself or anyone else that he's gay. However, an evening in the company of Matt Taylor might make him change his mind. Warning: Contains a fairly graphic sex scene.

So, I'm working on the sequel to Nemesis for NaNoWriMo. I'm gonna give it a proper title, it's not actually gonna be called Nemesis 2, but I thought I'd share a little bit of what I've written so far. It was September, and Nick found himself standing in his underwear in the middle of his bedroom, on the morning of his first day at Sapswell College, without a single clue what to wear. In the end he settled on his favourite Placebo t-shirt and black skinny jeans, and a white and grey checkered shirt over with the sleeves rolled up. Then he scrutinised his appearance in the mirror on the inside of his wardrobe door. ‘Zoë?’ he called. ‘Yeah?’ He heard footsteps down the hall and then Zoë was standing in the doorway to his room. She was finishing up braiding her long, red hair and spoke around the elastic between her teeth. ‘What is it? Ready to go?’ ‘Do I look like a hipster?’ Zoë tied the elastic into her hair and then looked him up and down, frowning. ‘Turn,’ she commanded. He did. ‘Turn again.’ ‘Zoë!’ Nick glared at his sister. She laughed. ‘Sorry, it’s just funny to see you turn. No, you don’t look like a hipster! You have neither moustache nor black-rimmed specs you don’t actually need. You look fine, little brother. Now, are you ready to go?’ ‘Yeah, give me a minute.’ Nick opened the drawer in his nightstand and pulled out the bracelet Dave had given him for Christmas. Clasping it on, he took one final look in the mirror, messed up his hair as much as he possibly could, and grabbed his bag before heading out of the room and down the stairs. As a final touch, he put on Dave’s Diesel jacket and a pair of black converse and declared himself ready to meet the new world awaiting him at college. Sapswell College was a state run sixth form that served most of the surrounding towns, villages and hamlets. Nick would have a bit of a commute, but it wouldn’t be too bad, with buses every fifteen minutes. Today, Zoë didn’t start work at the library until eleven, though, so she had time to take him for his first day. The college itself was a fairly modern red-brick thing consisting of three buildings and a large courtyard between. In the centre of the courtyard was a grassy area with a tall oak tree in the middle. Zoë dropped Nick off outside the gate, told him to look after himself, and then drove off again. Nick drew a deep breath and wished, not for the first time that morning, that Dave was there with him. They would have taken the bus together, sitting in the back and talking excitedly about what it would be like, and then they would have entered the college hand in hand, looking like some fabulous power couple, all heads turning after them. This was an entirely unrealistic thought, Nick knew, but he couldn’t quite help thinking it all the same. He sighed, shouldering his bag, and, head held as high as he dared, walked through the blue metal gates. The first thing that struck him was how big everyone here was. Nick had never been tall, and was of slight build, but it had been a while since he’d felt like the smallest person in school. Here, even the smallest girls seemed to be wearing heels and thus towered over him, while the guys were tall and muscular, some of them quite grown up, and Nick felt properly tiny. He recognised some of them, people he had gone to school with. People who had been in his year or the year above. He didn’t feel like he could speak to any of them. After all, he hadn’t exactly had a multitude of friends. Then one of them waved at him, and for a moment Nick couldn’t place the ginger boy who was walking towards him, but when the boy had nearly reached him, it hit him. ‘Chas?’ Nick said uncertainly. ‘How you doing, Nick?’ Chas Arden smiled. He wore no baseball cap, and his trousers actually fit and were held up by a belt instead of dangling off his hips and showing off his underwear. There wasn’t a hint of tacky gold chains anywhere, and he’d grown out his hair to a respectable length over the summer. He wore a green hoodie over an orange t-shirt with some no doubt very fashionable motif. It all painted a picture of a young man who was just a bit big rather than fat. ‘Wow, you clean up well,’ said Nick and smiled back. ‘What happened to Chas the Chav?’ Chas scratched the back of his head and looked down at his feet, still smiling. ‘I dunno. Didn’t really feel like me anymore. I figured, college, fresh start, innit?’ He looked up at Nick again and grinned. ‘Good chance to just be, you know?’ Nick nodded. ‘Yeah.’ ‘Oi! Nick! Chas!’ Running footsteps approached, and then a pair of long, tanned arms had flung themselves around Nick’s neck from behind. Matt Taylor pressed a very wet kiss to Nick’s cheek and grinned at them both. ‘Good summer?’ Nick shrugged. ‘All right. You?’ ‘Yeah, well, you know . . . Lots of attractive people in Ibiza.’ Matt raised both eyebrows suggestively and then laughed, flipping his long, dark hair. ‘Hey, Chas, you seen Alan yet?’ ‘No, not yet. Why?’ ‘No reason.’ Matt examined his fingernails nonchalantly. ‘No Dave, Nick?’ ‘Oh, you didn’t hear?’ Nick stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked at the asphalt. ‘He’s going to the Dorcrest Independent College for Posh Twats or somesuch.’ ‘Oh, ouch! Sorry, mate.’ ‘Yeah. His dad’s a dick.’ Nick shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter. Not like we would have had any lessons together anyway, he’s doing almost all sciences.’ Matt looked sympathetic. ‘Still sucks. Speaking of, I’ve been counting on you doing Music, Nick. Tell me you’re doing Music?’ Nick grinned. ‘Of course I’m doing Music, silly!’ ‘Awesome! High five!’ Matt raised his hand happily, and Nick obliged him. ‘What about you, Chas? What are you most looking forward to?’ Chas shrugged. ‘I dunno. Media Studies, maybe? Or Computing.’ ‘Wow, this place really has a lot to choose from,’ Nick remarked. Matt clapped a hand onto both of their backs and grinned, surveying the courtyard. ‘You know what, guys? I think this is going to be a really good year!’