It's hard when someone dies. It's even harder when someone close to you dies. And something more painful than all of those? When you're the one to find them lying there. Dead.
It was 3:45 when I walked through the front door, after a long day at school. I called out, but there was no answer. That should have been clue number one, she always replies. I went into the kitchen, the living room and her bedroom. No-one anywhere. I then went to check the bathroom.
Now I don't know if you've ever experienced that feeling, the one where you see something that makes your whole stomach drop.
That's what it was. Seeing your own mum, lying on the floor not moving, with an empty bottle of pills by her side, and vomit lying by her mouth. I mean, what do you do in a situation like that. I stared at her for too long, like I was in a trance. It was the sound of the phone ringing, that pulled me back to my senses. I ran out of the room, grabbed the phone and ran back to the bathroom. I hit the answer button, then hung up on them immediately. I then rang an ambulance, and the rest of it was a blur. A fast, surreal blur. The ride in the ambulance, the hospital, seeing my dads face. It was all too much.
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6 Months Later
'Come on, you'll be fine.'
'I don't want to go Dad.'
'Well, you don't exactly have a choice Dan. So, let's go.' He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car. Despite my constant moaning for three months, my dad had made his mind up. I was going to boarding school, and apparently I didn't have a say in the matter.
I stood looking up at the large school and then around the grounds. I saw families saying goodbye to their children. Most of them seemed, happy. Only a few seemed to be annoyed at having to come here. I turned back round to face my dad. He had opened up the boot, and was taking my suitcases out. I rolled my eyes, and walked over to help him. I grabbed the lightest case and shut the boot for him.
'Here we go then.' He said smiling at me. I gritted my teeth together, and started walking towards the entrance. I passed parents crying and hugging their children. They're going to school, not fucking prison. Mind you, is there really any difference?
We stopped outside the entrance and I faced my dad. 'I can take it from here.' I said, not looking at him directly.
'Maybe I should see you to your room. You know, help you with your stuff?'
'No. You wanted to get rid of me, so give me my case.' I spat at him.
'That's not why I'm doing this Dan, and you know that.' He said while handing me my other suitcase.
'Yeah, whatever. Bye, I guess.' I turned to walk away, but he placed his hand on my shoulder.
'Wait.' I spun around and stared at him. 'I'm not doing this to be mean, it's just that we both need to...'
'Fine dad. Can I go now?' I cut him off, before he could finish his sentence. I knew where it was going, and I didn't feel like crying in front of strangers.
'Ok. Bye son, I'll see you in the holidays.' He moved forward as if about to give me a hug, but thought better of it and patted my head instead. He then walked away, and I stood in the entry archway for a few moments, before heading indoors.
It was very big, and very fancy. I'm not sure how we could afford to send me here. There were pictures, on the walls, of the students over the years, along with awards and trophies. They seemed to like showing off, I wasn't going to fit in at all. I suddenly realised that I wasn't too sure where to go. I followed all the other students, and hoped I was going the right way.
'Ow!' I had walked into someone walking in the opposite direction.
'Sorry, it was an accident.' I looked up at them, a boy. Dark, almost black hair and bright blue eyes. Very attractive, I noted. I couldn't quite place an age on him though.
'Just watch where you're going next time.' He smiled at me and then walked away. He must be some sort of prefect, he looked older than most people here. I shrugged to myself and continued following the crowd.
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I had been here for a whole day and I already hate it. Firstly I don't really like my room mates. They stick to themselves and haven't actually talked to me yet. They just stare at me every now and then. They also whisper to themselves a lot. One of them has curly short brown hair, and green eyes. The other, has longer hair, but it was more black than brown. He had dark chocolate eyes though. Quite nice. No, I can't think like that here, who knows what they think of people like me. Just act normal.
I was lying in bed, I managed to grab the bed by the window, so I was staring up at the sky. I was just about to fall asleep when the curly haired one shouted at me. 'Close the bloody curtains would you?' I quickly sat up and drew the curtains. I then lay back down and pulled the covers over my head. I could hear them laughing quietly to each other. I don't think I'll be making friends any time soon.
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Today, I had my first lesson. I'll admit I was bricking it, I'm not the smartest person in the world. I got up at 6:00 because one of the boys' alarm was going off. Was that really necessary? I rolled out of bed and went to use the bathroom. When I walked back out, both of my room mates had changed into their uniform. I looked over to my suitcase, and realised that I didn't have a uniform yet. My dad was having it sent next week. Well, this should be an interesting day.
I had to walk to my first lesson by myself. Actually, I followed the other two, but technically they didn't know, so I was walking alone. 'We' reached the door and I stopped. This was it, all I have to do was be normal. I'm just an average person. I can do this. I stepped into the classroom and took a seat at the very back.
'Right class, Welcome back.' That voice sounded familiar. My head shot up and I felt myself starting to panic. It was him. Oh crap, he wasn't a prefect. 'My name is Mr. Lester. I know most of you already know that, but we have a few newbies this term.' He looked at me and grinned. I felt a blush rising in my neck. Oh shit, this place just got interesting.
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