Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.
Unforgivable Habits
Chapter 2
"Reality continues to ruin my life."
― Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
Her Uncle Harold turned out to be a leathery skinned, sharp blue eyed man with fading auburn hair like his sun and cataracts in his eyes. He hated coffee, seemed to growl or bark every sentence and Valentina soon found that there was little difference in his normal glare and his angered one. After a grim family dinner together, he told her to look him in the eye, or he'd assume that she was hiding something.
She couldn't help but like the old man.
Her school term started a week after she arrived. In that time Andrew managed to drag her all over the neighbourhood, even walking her to school the day before so that she knew her way. He was a kind man, Valentina couldn't deny that; as grumpy and snappish as his father was, Andrew was equally soft tempered and cheerful. Neither seemed to mind that she wasn't a talker, and never mentioned the reasons for her presence.
The city still unnerved her. It was loud all around, no safe area to turn her back to. If it wasn't for her cousin's insistence, Valentina would have stayed inside the house, which she admitted to liking. Modern decor looked too clinical in her opinion, and the smell of the timber beams that held up the old building calmed her.
She entered the chain linked gates of the school with apprehension, her hands hanging in the pockets of her grey coat by the thumbs while she marched in her beaten down brogues to the front entrance. Kids were filling in behind her, loudly re grouping with missed friends and creating a buzz of white noise alongside the beeping life of the city. The school was a very large one, made of large sandstone slabs and divided into both a middle school and high school, the main office and staff facilities separating them as a weak banner of authority.
Valentina pushed through the double doors, mildly irritated that the air conditioning flickered at the escaping curls of her pony tail. There were several burgundy seat in the waiting area, a beech wood desk with an open window into the secretary's booth to the right. Valentina paused at the desk to gain the bone thin lady's attention. In a dry voice she coughed and said, "Hi, I'm a new student. I was told to come here first thing."
"Yes, good, you're in the right place." The woman said briskly, not even looking up from the computer screen she was entranced by. "Name?"
"Morani."
After tapping away at her PC, the secretary nodded and stood to retrieve the paper that spat out of the printer. "Read and sign this document, and I'll give you your map. You'll have homeroom first in block A, R11."
"What is this?" Valentina mumbled as she read the typed up page.
"Consent form, legal necessity to state that you agree to the school's code of conduct and that you agree to be a part of the student body. The rest has already been sorted out with your guardian."
She nodded, satisfied that she wasn't selling her soul away and signed a tall and narrow signature on the space provided. After a glance at the colour coded map, she thanked the secretary and made her way to whatever the 'homeroom' was, hoping that it wasn't going to be as odious as it sounded.
Unfortunately, school was still school no matter the continent.
Homeroom turned out to be the equivalent of a form room in the UK, with a teacher to pass out notices and watch them for the first 15 minutes of the day. When she entered, most of the class was there as well as the teacher, though only the latter bothered to look up with interest when she entered. Mr Clark was a 30 something bulky man who had shaved his head into a shine for supposedly convenience's sake and seemed far more interested in his newspaper that the other 12 year old kids in the class.
Valentina greeted the man warily, in the same manner she was treating everything in this place. "I'm the new student, Sir."
The man nodded with a polite smile. "Ah, Miss Morani of the United Kingdom." He pulled at the syllables in a typical teacher's drawl. "The seat over there is a spare."
Before she could make it to the secluded window seat, Mr Clark called for attention. "Alright zip it folks. Class, Valentina Morani. Moran, class. Keep the meet and greets contained till I dismiss you."
No one made an effort to disobey him and try and gain her attention, though several eyes bore into the back of head. She slowly ran her nails hard through her hair and down her scalp, as if any sharp movements would cause a dog fight.
Her body was tense the entire day. While in class she could briefly relax and listen to the monotone voices of education, lunch was the epitome of a bad high school flick. The cafeteria seemed to be divided strictly into cliques of stereotypes, and the food gave off an odd rubbery smell. After the ordered grumble from her stomach, Valentina chose a burger, soda and an apple and moved towards a half filled table of kids so nerdy looking it should have been a crime. She pulled out a worn book from her cargo pant pocket and refused to make eye contact with their bewildered stares.
She relished the taste of the questionable burger, wondering when was the last time that she had had junk food. As the warm sustenance fell to the pit of her stomach, she started to relax and pulled up a knee to lean her chin again while she read and alternated between chewing her knuckle and slurping her drink.
There were only a few minutes till the end of lunch when a boy she hadn't seen in her classes swaggered over with several others, clad in baggy jeans and a grey jumper tucked into his underwear. The only thing missing was the gold chains to match his nose ring. As Valentina looked up to meet his smirking eyes, she got the feeling that simply ignoring him wasn't going to cut it.
