Julie : ...
I woke to the barking of a dog.
With a grunt, I rolled sleepily out of bed to close the window. A large Belgian Shepherd was leaping and rolling around in my neighbour's flowerbeds. The daisies were all flat against the ground.
I laughed. "Poor John." I shut the window.
When I turned on my phone, it was only 6:50AM, and I had at least an hour and a half to get ready. I threw my phone down on the bed and staggered to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and had a quick shower. After I dried myself off and blow dried my hair, I slid into a pair of skinny ripped jeans and a black top. I turned on the television in my room and called my aunt.
"I'm taking the bus," I said as soon as she picked up.
"Wait- I'm coming!" She hung up. I furrowed my brows at my phone, and snorted.
I laid in bed for a while, listening to the voices projecting for the tv. Before long, the alarm on my phone went off and at the same time I heard the front door slam open and something- a lot of somethings falling onto the floor.
"I'm here! I'm here!"
"Yeah, I think that was clear enough," I said as I stood up to greet my aunt. She dodged my hug and headed straight to my bathroom.
"Um, sorry. My apartment's getting fixed." She flashed an awkward face when she came out. I sighed and took my turn in the washroom.
"I guess you can." I cleansed my face and, for no reason at all, slapped my face until I was wide awake. I wasn't self-harmful, promise. My aunt grinned and headed downstairs to lug everything, which was a lot, up to the half-empty second bedroom. She tossed me some makeup from on top of my dresser. "I found a job for you in the mall, by the way."
I smeared on some products. "I hope it's not at a restaurant…"
"No worries. I know how you are with, um, restaurants," my aunt reassured, as she watched me curl my lashes and layer on mascara. "I set you up at a makeup counter. You have two hour-long shifts three days a week. That's pretty good; my company sponsors the brand. And considering how good you seem with this, you're starting next week."
"Ha." I gave her a blank look. "Just keep in mind that if someone came up to ask me something, I'd probably stare past them and drool like the person I am."
I pulled out my old black tote from deep inside my closet, and stuffed in all of my notebooks, along with my earphones and wallet. I quickly brushed out my eternally tangled hair and neatly tied up the top half.
"I'll see you later!" I called to my aunt.
"Goodbye!"
I quickly laced up my oxfords, and grabbed my keys.
When I arrived at Sweet Amoris, I already knew I was early. I groaned and slumped down against a tree.
"From all the the things I could be early for, it's school?" I muttered to myself. I looked around and shimmied deeper into my thick, knit sweater.
A voice chuckled behind me.
"Sorry, I'm Lysander," the boy said. His silver hair glistened in the light and his eyes- Jeez, am I poetic today.
"Um." I didn't know why I was just sitting there, but the only thing that came to mind was how it was the first time I heard a guy apologize and introduce himself in an absolutely monotone voice. When I looked up from my daze, the silver haired guy was gone. I let myself up and hurriedly walked into the school building.
I immediately ran into something.
"Oh, sorry." I hung my head in embarrassment. When I lifted my head, my gaze was infiltrated by two large things smushed by a tight pink blazer. My, what a lovely sight.
"Sorry," I repeated.
"No, no, dear. Excuse me." The short, plump, woman gave me a full body size up and nodded, as if satisfied. "Good, good. You are the new student, are you not?" I nodded. She nodded back. Then she pushed me towards a door.
"Nathaniel will help you." And as if she were some high warlock she disappeared. This school and disappearing. Wow, it was impressive, if not annoying. Nevertheless, I knocked timidly on the door, and peeked in. The room was stacked high with papers and folders. The open window let a breeze shift through the room, messing everything further.
"I'm sorry, is this a wrong time?" I pushed the door open and kneeled down to pick up some wandering documents. I looked at the boy who stood in the middle of the chaos.
I stopped myself before I could go into poetic mode.
"No, it's fine." The boy ruffled his golden hair and moved stiffly to retrieve the documents from my hands. "Thank you."
I stood in silence as he shuffled around with the papers.
"If you don't mind, could you help me with the new kid stuff?" I tried. I failed. He gave me a small look. Then as if realization hit him like cold water, his face lifted.
"Oh yes." He immediately dove into the pile of….office things...and dug out a thin booklet and a folded piece of paper. "Here are your schedule and classes. Fill the booklet out by the end of the day."
I flipped through the pages, and gave him a nod.
He seemed like an okay guy.
After third period, as I was about to leave, I felt a hand tug on the hem of my shirt. I slowly turned around.
"Hiya." A white-haired girl grinned at me, waving her manicured fingers in my direction. "Where're you going for lunch?" I saw a pair of boys glance at her and leave.
I stared in silence before finding my voice. "Probably….nowhere." I looked down awkwardly at my feet. She grinned even wider.
"You're so cute. C'mon, you can eat with me!" She dragged me out into the halls. "I'm Rosalya. What's your name?" I merely just glanced at the friendly creature.
"Nira."
"That's cute," she exclaimed for the second time. There must be a lot of cute things in her world. Rosalya dragged me out into the courtyard. We sat at a bench.
"I usually only eat with Lysander and Castiel, so there won't be a lot of people," she told me. I nodded absent-mindedly and pulled out the forms I was supposed to fill out. The first page consisted of basic and health information and I quickly scribbled into the spaces. Rosalya watched over my shoulder, reciting everything I wrote down.
"Allergies…...perfume? Oh. Shoot, did I put on perfume today?" She jumped back and inspected herself. "Nope, that's good. Wait, woah. You're actually taller than I thought." I said nothing.
"You look adorably small, though. I can't believe you're 5'4." I let a small smile slip. I've never met anyone so friendly and straightforward, except maybe the red-haired girl from literature class.
I continued through the second and third pages, and when I looked up Rosalya was pulling out a flat, plastic container. Following her example, I reached into my own tote and took out a single energy drink before stuffing the forms in. Rosalya stared incredulously, but said nothing.
I roughly opened the can and took a long drink. All the introductions today made me thirsty. I could tell Rosalya was trying hard not to look my way. For a moment the two of us sat in companionable silence, until I noticed something from the corner of my eye.
"Bloody hell," I muttered. A shiny black car was circling the school parking lot, looking for a space. With a grimace, I turned to Rosalya. "I have to go." I slammed my drink down, grabbed my bag, and tripped over the leg of the bench table. When I regained my balance, I immediately ran for the school. I followed the hall through corridor after corridor, and when I reached a set of stairs, I sped up onto the second level, then the third, and tried all the doors.
I knew he would search the school, but there had to be a place he would miss. He always did. One of the doors flew open as I pushed it and I ducked in, locking it behind me. For a second, I froze on the spot and my mind went blank. Before I could even sigh in relief, I felt a pair of hands come around me, one clamped around my mouth and another around my waist, dragging me back. On instinct I squirmed and went limp.
"Hey-" A muffled voice, masculine and rough, sounded from on top of my head. "What do you think you're doing?" A hint of confusion and arrogance tainted his words, and I slowly twisted my head around.
It was one of the boys that had looked at Rosalya as she led me out of the classroom. His face was slightly twisted in annoyance, and his red hair was sticky from sweat, stuck to his temples and neck.
I pulled away from him and backed to the door.
"Hiding."
He eyed me once and shifted his gaze elsewhere. "Well, find somewhere else to hide. This isn't a place for you to be playing." I looked around. It was a small room, but there were shelves of boxes and boxes.
Drugs.
I sucked in a breathe of air. I turned to put my hand on the knob, but hesitated. If the school didn't want him to know about this, then…
"No. This is the perfect place," I said, mostly to himself. I walked further into the room. "All this…. they'd never let him in." I even didn't turn to look at the boy. I simply sat between one of the shelves and prayed that he wouldn't open the door.
The boy didn't look at me either. He snorted and lit a cigarette.
For about ten minutes nothing happened. Then I heard uneven footsteps.
"Sir, there is nothing but rubbish here," An exhausted voice said. "Ms. Heathelock would not be here."
"That is exactly what she wants you to think."
I tensed. It was him all right. I leaned forward onto my hands and knees. I gave the red-haired boy a pleading glance. He returned it with a confused but sharp look. Finally, the knob on the door, turned and roughly shook. I stood up slowly and shifted across the room, placing my hand on a broom that sat against the space beside the door. The door stopped shaking.
"I see you, Nira," he said. I flinched, heart in throat.
"Sir-" The other person attempted.
"No. I see her."
I lifted up the broom in defense. Nothing happened. I waited for five minutes, ten.
He had left.
I sat down in a heap, broom still in hand. The redhead had stood up, still drenched in sweat.
"You. What was that?" He demanded. I looked at him, then at the opened box where he had sat.
"Did you take the drugs?" I whispered. My voice came out cracked. He gave me a strange look, that confirmed my suspicions. Without thinking, I flung myself at the box and threw the rest of the contents into the garbage. "Don't." I thought of my mom; the back of my eyes burned, but I willed myself not to make any expression. I soundlessly opened the door. No one was there, and lunch was almost over.
Just as I left the room, the lunch bell sounded.
