House of Night: My Story Joanne Clarke
I woke up the next day to my blaring alarm still tired after staying up late to finish homework. I didn't want to go to classes today, I just wanted to curl up on the sofa downstairs and watch Glee all day and sing along. I couldn't though. I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I didn't bother to go for a shower as I had gone for one last night. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, and then I applied my make-up. I walked out and into the room to see Kelsey just getting out of her bed.
"Morning." She said all cheery even though she had just woken up a few minutes ago. I mumbled the same still not functioning properly. I walked to my wardrobe and pulled out a white cotton vest, a deep purple pullover with the third formers emblem. I pulled out a short black skirt and pulled that on along with a pair of high heeled black leather boots I had bought a few weeks back. I checked myself in the full length mirror and walked over to my desk where my book bag lay. I picked it up and slung it over my shoulder, I shouted through the door to Kelsey.
"I'm gonna head down for breakfast, I'll see you in class ok?"
"Ok, see you in class!" She shouted back over the noise of the shower.
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed some toast and a glass of fresh orange juice. I finished off my breakfast and practically skipped out of the dorm. I walked to the tree and sat down; I pulled out my playbook for drama and started reading the play we were going to be doing next. My light was blocked by a shadow in front of me. I slowly looked up and saw Craig.
"Hey Craig!" I said "What you doing out here so early before school?" I asked
"Just thought I would get some fresh air before the school day started and also the Twins were doing my head in!" He explained "So are you looking forward to your first ritual tonight?" He asked.
"Yeah but I'm kinda nervous at the same time." I replied.
"You'll be fine. So no Blair with you, what a shock!" He feigned shock.
"Well, I was going to call him to see if he wanted to meet up before school but then I decided not to. I instead decided to come out here and read my playbook for drama. You know get a head start." I said.
"That's very sensible of you Joanne." He said with delight "Well I'm going to go back and get my bag and some breakfast. I ran out before I could get any because of the Twins." He laughed "See you in class!" He shouted over his shoulder. After Craig left I went back to my playbook, I was really enjoying this play and getting the chance to perform. I stayed out under the tree until it was ten minutes until the bell for first hour. I gathered up my stuff and made my way to my Vampyre Sociology classroom. I walked in and went up to the back where my cabinet was. I put in the books that I wouldn't need until later in the day. I then sorted my cabinet out, tidied it up a bit and sorted all my books according to when I would need the throughout the day. By this time the bell had rang out signalling the start of first hour; people started to make their way into the class and sat down in their seats or went to their cabinets. I sat down in my seat and started to flick through my textbook, occasionally taking notes on something that I thought I would need for an exam later in the year. The second bell rang and by now everyone was in the class; Kelsey, Craig and Blair had come in just after I had started to make notes on the text that I was reading.
First hour went by really fast and then it was time for drama. I walked in and went to my seat, when Prof. Nolan started talking about the play I honestly think that I was the only one who understood it. I kept asking really detailed questions and answering all her most complicated questions. By the end of that class I think she was really impressed by my effort and knowledge about the play. I also handed in my stimulus writing; Professor Nolan was extremely impressed that I had handed it in a week before it was due. I then made my way to third hour which was Literature with Professor Penthesilea. We were going onto looking at the way Shakespeare would write his pieces of work and the way his words would speak to people in different ways. I honestly was amazed at the way his words made people feel and think in different ways. I absolutely loved the classes here because they opened my eyes to things I never knew before. My old school never really taught us anything about Shakespeare. Again the bell rang out for the end of third hour and I went to hand in my essay again a week before it was due. Fourth hour was time for Fencing with Dragon. He didn't mind us just calling him Dragon; he actually preferred it. I walked to the changing room for girls and changed into my kit. I then walked into the gymnasium and ran over to Kelsey; we started chatting animatedly then Blair and Craig arrived from their changing room. I walked over to Blair and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. This lesson went a bit slower than the rest had; we practised our stances and moves again as we always done at the start of every lesson. Then after practising our stances and moves; we broke off into pairs and had mini duels. I paired up with Kelsey and Craig and Blair paired up. We were giggling all the way through the exercise but still getting it done. Dragon let us go twenty minutes early to let us get changed and showered in time for the end of fourth hour. Kelsey and I walked back to the changing room with our arms linking still giggling our heads off. We showered and got changed back into our uniforms. We were finished five minutes before the bell, so while my hair was still a bit damp I searched for the hairdryer that was kept in the girls changing room. I found it and gave my hair a final blast that dried it off completely leaving it with the natural waves like last night. The bell rang and we all but ran out and towards the cafeteria.
Lunch was uneventful; we caught up with the Twins and what had happened to them. I was sat on the bench in the middle of Blair who had his arm around my waist, and Kelsey who was talking animatedly to Craig about the essay that they had to finish off for Literature. I finished my lunch and pulled out my phone and checked my texts; I had none. When lunch finished, I kissed Blair and watched as him, Craig and The Twins walked off in the opposite direction that me and Kelsey had to go. We headed to our Spanish class and when we arrived we sat in our seats. Professor Garmy walked in and started the lesson on how to form the past tense in Spanish. She set us a task and I found this opportunity to go up and hand in my essay. Yet again I had another teacher who was amazed that I was handing in homework way before it was due. I went back to my desk and started to work on the task. I found it kinda easy; I mean I learned how to form the past tense in French in high school but Spanish was easier than French to me. When fifth hour finished I said bye to Kelsey and made my way to the Field House. I walked in and put on all the equipment that Professor Lenobia said we would need for riding. The last lesson we had she chose a few people who would get to ride their horse the next lesson. I was one of those people; while the remainder of the class mucked out the stalls that their horse resided in I was trotting around the course on my horse Toby. I loved the feel of the fresh air on my face as we trotted and cantered around the course. I finished up on Toby and led him back to his stall. I removed all the equipment and went back to the stall. I stayed there for the remainder of the lesson, grooming Toby.
The last bell of the day rang and I put away the brush I was using, bowed to Lenobia and left the Field House. I walked out to find Blair standing there waiting for me. I smiled as I walked over and grabbed his hand. We started walking, just asking each other how our days had been. I started gushing about how amazing it had been to finally get to ride Toby and he was telling me about his Tai Kwan Do lesson. We continued walking until we reached our tree. We sat down underneath it and sat in quiet.
"So the ritual tonight," I started. "What do I need to wear for it?" I questioned
"Just your uniform but with your emblem visible. Fiona doesn't mind if we wear our uniform as long as we have something with our emblem on." He explained.
"Ok." I mumbled and lay down against Blair. We sat there for about an hour, we didn't need words we were in a comfortable silence and I was soothed by the fact that Blair was playing with my hair. We finally got up and made our way to the boy's dorm first so that Blair could change his top. It was the first time I would have been in the boy's dorm area. We always hung out in the girl's dorm for some reason. It was just like the girl's dorm except the colour scheme was different. While the girls had pinks, light purples, creams and other calm soft colours; the boys had bright colours such as blues, greens and reds. Blair took my hand and led me up to his dorm room. It was number fifteen; he opened the door and led me in. His room was a deep blue colour and the furniture was a deep mahogany colour. It was elegant and I really liked it; I noticed that it was only his stuff in the room, so he mustn't have a roommate. I sat down on his bed while he grabbed another shirt and quickly stripped off the one he was wearing and put on the clean fresh one, also throwing on a jumper that had our emblem on. We stayed in his room for a while until we had to leave for the ritual.
As we made our way to the hall, the only thing going through my head was; Oh My Gosh!