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     Student after student after student poured through the revolving glass doors of the wide college lobby – some on their way to lectures, but most either heading to or from the campus caff. All of them ignoring Ambrose Obego, his stall and his boyfriend.
     You couldn’t miss the stall. Ambie and Dante had positioned it in direct line of sight between the entrance and the escalator – so everybody saw it. For the most part, Ambie’s eyes were aimed solely at the entrance. He knew people would look up at the balcony to see if their buds were in the caff. They’d see the tall promo flag, then they’d glance down out of curiosity and bam – he’d catch their eye. Eye contact was amazing like that.
     That’s how Ambie knew they were ignoring him. They actually had to force themselves to look some other way.
     Plus they had to pass the stall to get to the escalator. So Ambie called to them.
     "You wanna be in government, guys, surely right?"
     A curt, apologetic smile, and they were gone.
     "Guys, the minute you spend on coffee could change the world."
     Those ones blanked him. Heard him, but blanked him.
     "You look like a government minister! Come on girl..."
     She looked his way, quickly focused on something past him.
     "Less than 2% of the Commons is your age, mate, but tha’s 4% of the country. Tha’s a huge difference..."
     One of those looked like they were about to engage with him, but then some prick got in the way and dragged the party outside.
     Ambie turned to Dante. "This is why, blood. This is why we’re never gonna get a decent future for our country."
     Dante shrugged. "Maybe it’s a bad time. Everyone’s off to lectures."
     Ambie guffawed. "Who likes a lecture, man? Everyone wants an excuse to skip class! Damn, maybe you’re right. But if we don’t get any traffic come lunch, that’ll just mean..."
     Ambie stopped as he heard the beep and felt the throb of the mobile in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the message:

     Where r u?! Your on the rota for this morn - u forget?

     Ambie rolled his eyes. "Shit, it’s my bo– What?"
     Dante was frowning, looking past him.
     Ambie turned. Now the clear majority were leaving the foyer, and the few students coming in were only grabbing friends to encourage them outside.
     Now Ambie frowned. "What the wha’?"
     After a quick exchange of looks, Ambie and Dante left their stall to see what all the fuss was. Ambie hopped up on tip-toes to see over the heads in front, but all he caught were students outside looking up and pointing or shielding their eyes.
     Finally they made it outside. A dark, thin mushroom cloud was slowly stalking upwards, probably just a few blocks away.
     Ambie felt Dante’s fingers touch his knuckles. He turned his head to someone beside him, though his eyes never left the cloud. "What is it? Another fire?"
     It was a girl who spoke back. "Someone heard a bang. They think it’s a bomb."
     Ambie shook his head slowly, and turned his mouth towards Dante. "So that’s what you need to do to get a brother’s attention..."

Next Chapter: Xandra