The time seems to pass running before her eyes, almost as if it was enthusiastic for the events programmed for the next day. However, Alice wasn't excited, she was horrified with the thought of it. She wished the 'first day entering Gotham society' would never come.
Neverthelçess, the sun rose from the east and her alarm clock rang at seven am indicating that her wish did not come true. Ignoring the annoying sound she buries herself more in the comfy new bed and warm sheets, much like a cocoon; she wasn't ready to get up from her slumber, in other words, her smooth and soft refuge protected her from the obligation of facing the world. Nevertheless, her alarm clock rang again warning her about her responsibilities, her work, and her new life that was waiting for her just outside her house.
The brunet was seriously contemplating the idea of not getting out of bed when her niece entered the room, washed up, and dressed in her new uniform.
"Alice what are you doing still lying down? We're going to be late if you don't get your ass off the bed."
With a grunt that showed her displeasure, she finally got up. She took a shower and got dressed fast, they still needed to get breakfast before going to Gotham Academy. They ended eating in the same coffee shop as before, Lea ordered the same as last time, pancakes and orange juice, Alice just ordered coffee.
"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"
"Yeah I'm sure, you know I can't eat anything this early in the morning…" She was gazing out from the window observing the streets full of people and cars, trying not to fall asleep.
The taxi driver was right, Gotham is chaotic during rush hours.
"Alright then, are you ready? The bus should be here soon." Lea was adjusting her leather briefcase school bag, ready to go.
If she didn't know her niece so well she would assume the little girl was excited about her first day of school. In fact, Lea was eager to finish it as soon as possible, but she didn't want to worry anyone so she tried to look excited. However, that false enthusiasm died quickly after they entered the bus; it was bursting with passengers and the two girls were being squashed in the mass of sweaty bodies.
"Lea are you alright?" Alice asked, noticing how pale her niece was. The girl was clutching her light blue shirt, trying to find support against the shake made by the long vehicle in the bumpy road.
"More or less… Don't worry I can handle it, I just need to close my eyes." She lied frowning her eyebrows in a way Alice recognized as a signal of a headache or worse dizziness. With cold fingers, from the mourning low temperature, Alice started to massage Lea's temples and the nape of her head, messing light brown locks yet succeeding in relieve Lea's discomfort. After a few seconds, her niece leaned her head into her abdomen, eyes shut tight.
"Lea I think we need to buy a car."
"But the school isn't that far away from home. Are you sure about wasting money in a car?" Her voice was muffled by her shirt.
Alice pondered about that, the events of last night passing through her mind. Her leg still throbbed a little when she put too must force in it and only a thin pink line was left on her skin. And even that would fade away by the next day. In twenty-six years of life, she had never been mugged, not until yesterday. And she had only been in Gotham City for a couple of days. Alice didn't want this to become a normal thing in their lives.
"A car is expensive but it's better than having you passing out every morning on the way to school and it will be safer for us to move around the city, I don't want to be mugged every time I leave the apartment. Besides, with a car, we can go for a ride on the weekends." Alice concluded absently, her fingers combing Lea's hair, trying to undo her own mess.
The bus stopped in front of the academy front gates. To get out of the vehicle was a fight. Asking people to let them through was useless after a few 'excuse me, let me through' and no movement at all, Alice ended up pushing and squirming through the dozens of bodies while pulling her niece with her, not caring about stepping and elbowing people. They barely got out before the doors closed and the bus started leaving a dark smoke in his course.
"Alice, how is it?"
"The school?"
Lea made an affirmative sound.
"It looks like a big and old mansion, but it's well maintained. There is a wall with ornate black iron railings, more or less ten feet tall, surrounding the school grounds. Many trees are delineating the stone path, the branches are nude to the cold weather. Right in front of us is a small staircase with five steps leading to the front doors."
"I think I'm going to get lost in such a big place…"
"If that happens - be careful with the stairs now…- you can always ask someone for directions."
"Huh."
Alice guided her to the classroom.
"Do you remember your schedule for today?"
They were both in the hallway near a room with a label number thirty-three, a tall dark woman in her forties with the biggest coke bottle glasses Alice has ever seen was waiting patiently for them to finish their talk, she was her niece new English teacher, Mary Baker.
"Yes, now I'm going to have English, then Science, and after lunch Social Studies."
"Alright, your professors should already know about your condition and how they should treat you. My office's on the second floor at the end of the west hall. If you need anything call me."
Alice's worry and apprehension were evident, with the corners of her lips slightly down, the small frown on her brow, and the rigidity of her movements. She was always like this in the first days of school, since she had found out Lea suffered from bullying.
Children could be cruel and unfair, especially if they had money stocked up so deep into their arses. It happens every time, in every school, every year. There were always students harassing her, they would mess with her things, call her names, make fun of her condition and despise her for being different. Nevertheless, after all the things Lea had to go through, never once had she complained about not wanting to go to school, never once had she come home crying about the mean things that they had done to her, and never once she asked for Alice help. She would just deal with the situation in her own way. Lea tried to act as mature as she could and although she was still a mere child who should rely on adults in this kind of situation, she preferred to maintain quiet not wanting to bother anyone with her problems. As she had mentioned before to Alice, it was her problem and she would deal with them as she sees fit.
A bell rang through the academy, echoing in the big nude white halls.
"Good luck sweetie and don't forget to be careful with the way you interact with others…" Alice whispered while kissing Lea's cheek and putting a stray light brown strand behind her ear. "I will see you later."
"Bye."
Lea stayed still while her aunt walked away in the direction of the director's office. The girl was pouting, her cheeks slightly puffed.
I know. You don't need to remind me every time. I'm not a child anymore …
"Come on we need to get inside." Her English teacher said with a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her inside the classroom.
The noise inside died out as they walked to the middle of the room, twenty-three lights shone before her eyes and Lea found herself trying to swallow her nerves.
"Good morning class, today we have a new student, Lea Silver. She came from overseas and will be joining us from now on." Mrs. Baker announced to the class, whispering the rest for only Lea to hear. "Now dear do you want to be the one telling them or should I?"
Lea turned her head to face the woman, teal eyes fully open and lips slightly apart in a confused stare.
"Hmm… telling them what?" She whispered back.
"About your condition of course."
Her mouth opened in a silent 'o' as she looked ahead once more.
"I'm blind."
Lea was always direct about this matter not giving much thought or importance, but it wasn't always the best approach. Even Mrs. Baker seemed a little speechless.
Silence.
Then within seconds, the room filled with whispers, similar to the sound of cicadas during the hot days of summer.
Maybe I should have said it in a smother way…
"Please class behave!"
However, no one seemed to care or listen to the teacher.
"Silence!" The shout was followed by a bang, the loud sound provoked by Mrs. Baker bashing her book against the table, it made Lea jump in her place and the room fell into silence once more.
"Miss Silver all the classes have double desks. There is a seat vacant near the window on the other side of the classroom, on the fifth row and it's the… seventh seat." The woman said while counting for herself, explaining the organization of the room, and giving directions in the way she was instructed to do.
"Thank you."
Lea hated to have people guiding her place-to-place; besides she didn't feel comfortable giving her hand or arm to someone she didn't even know, when with the right space instructions she could get the same result.
With a shaky breath, Lea reached out her left hand to touch the edge of the first table. Her fingertips grazed the smooth wood as she walked, chin up and with as much confidence she could gather in her small body, counting to herself the number of tables until she reached the fifth row, repeating the movements until she arrived at the empty seat.
She heard a small 'tt' coming from the student on her left when she sat. She gave him the coldest glare she could muster and returned her attention to her bag. Taking out her laptop Lea ignored the stares and whispers she was sure she was receiving and tried to concentrate in the voice of her new English teacher.
"From now on I will dictate and describe everything out loud, aside from that the lessons will remain the same. Now let's continue where we left last time-…"
"Mrs. Baker?" A redhead girl raised her hand drawing all the attention to herself.
"Yes, Miss Hudson?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt but it's against the rules to use a laptop or any other devices during class." The girl pointed to Lea.
"Yes it is, but Miss Silver has permission from the principal to use one because of her condition."
"That it's hardly fair for the other students, can't she write like normal people?"
Lea didn't like the way the noisy girl pronounced the word 'normal', she clearly said it in a mocking tone. That made some giggles and whispers rise here and there but with one look from Mrs. Backer, they stopped.
"Well if you go blind maybe the principal will give you permission to use one too during class." She wasn't going to let the girl mock her without paying in the same coin.
There were again students giggling and whispering.
"Miss Hudson and Miss Silver that is enough, if you continue with this behavior I shall put you both in detention and make a call to your parents and that goes for anyone I caught not paying attention to the class." With her warnings on the table, the teacher finally began the lesson.
Lea heard the 'tt' again, but this time she didn't pay much attention concentrating fully on the lesson.
Rich bastards.
After dropping off Lea Alice needed to make an appearance at the principal office.
She was now sitting on a fluffy chair waiting for him to finish making coffee. Donald Phillips, principal and owner of the most prestigious school in the city - Gotham Academy - was a meticulous skinny man that surrounded himself with cleanness and organization; there wasn't a single particle of dust or a paper out of place in the room.
"Are you sure you don't want a cup, Miss Silver?"
"Thank you but I already had coffee this morning."
"Very well then. I wanted to give you a proper welcome to the Academy. I'm expecting the very best from you."
"Yes of course… about Lea-"
"I have already spoken with all the employees about your niece, there shouldn't be any problems. I'm very happy to have Lea as our student, this is such a big opportunity for this school to grow in such aspects. We have another student in a similar situation, but he's deaf not blind. You see, most of the parents prefer to have their kids attend a specialized school for disable children so we don't have many chances of working with such special children."
Alice thought that all that came out of the man's mouth was a big load of crap, a speech the principal was used to dump on the parents to satisfy their pretentious self. Even so, she smiled, keeping her opinion to herself and deciding to ask something that had been bordering her since the moment she took the job.
"Mr. Phillips, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to the previous nurse? It's a little odd to be contracting an employee when the year already started."
The skinny man gave her a wary look his small eyes getting even smaller behind his glasses, after a few seconds of pondering he decided there was no harm in telling her the reason.
"It is not uncommon to happen… but if you must know we had some complaints from concerned parents, regarding the actions of the nurse towards the health of the child in question, therefore, with much regret from my part, it was decided to dismiss her and hire someone more suitable to attend to the children. You must understand that our mission is to provide the best education and welfare to our students and to do so we require the best employees, such as yourself. Miss Silver your resume was by far the best we received and although some parents may be skeptical because of your…" His hand waged in the air, a movement that reflected his attempt to find the right words "your young appearance, I'm sure once they are aware of you educational and professional background they will change their opinions about you."
So in other words the poor woman was kicked out for not bending over and indulge their golden needs. Rich bastards.
"I see… well, I hope I'm good enough to tend to some minor bruises and cuts."
If the principal noticed the sarcasm splattered all over her reply, he did not comment.
"Oh my, look at the time! It's already nine am, I won't detain you further. Do you know where your office is?"
"Yes."
He took a bunch of keys gathered in a single ring from one of the drawers behind his desk, they jingled while he extended one of his hands to the brunet, the keys suspended in one bony finger.
"Good. If you have any questions or problems contact my secretary, Vivian Ballard. Good luck on your first day."
"Thank you." She took the keys and left.
Once outside the office Alice took a deep long breath, she needed to hold her tongue. The principal was a cunning man who was more interested in keeping his moneymakers than his employees, and her bad morning temper could put her out of job, which led to Lea losing the scholarship given to the children of the Gotham Academy workers.
I need to keep my temper in check…
It took her almost five minutes to reach her destination, the school was excessively big and she was certain that most rooms weren't used. Her new office was just like the rest of the academy, too large. There was even an adjacent room with five beds in case people were not feeling well and in need to lay down or rest. Regardless of the size, the office was very clean and simple, with a big desk with a computer on it, a few chairs, a sink, and two huge steel storage cabinets, one full of medical equipment and supplies and the other with the medical records of each student, both with padlocks which matched two of the smaller keys she had. There was a white lab coat in the hanger.
Putting the coat on and the keys in one pocket, she sat on her chair spinning it a few times before looking out of the window with nothing to do.
Now, I just have to wait for some kid to hurt himself…
She had a feeling that for most of the time in her new job, she was going to be sited doing nothing.
I wonder how Lea's doing. She thought while viewing the sky full of grey clouds.
Lea was now in her last class of her (not surprisingly) crappy first day. First, Mrs. Baker had asked a girl with an adenoidal voice that was sitting in front of her to show her around the school during recess, the girl had accepted only to reject to accompany her when the teacher was no longer present. Lea didn't mind, after all, she didn't want to be a burden, but what made her mad was the fact the girl gave her the wrong directions, because of that Lea lost her way and ended being late for her next class. During the lunch break, the Science teacher asked the same from the previous student in charge of showing her around - the adenoidal girl - to accompany her to the dining hall, why no one asked the more obvious choice - the boy next to her - to be in charge of such duty she didn't know. This time she exited the room without approaching the girl or anyone else for directions, she guessed they would repeat the same prank as before, instead she tried to find the way on her own what ended with her getting lost.
After fifteen minutes of wandering around, she finally tried to ask the students passing by. The first ones ignored her or didn't hear her, but the second gave her a bush-league explanation that took her to the library instead of the dining hall. She walked around aimless, used the washroom she comes across in one of the too many halls, and continued walking until she found herself near her next classroom. Tired of being lost she decided to stay put, sitting in a nearby chair, she ate the cookies Alice put in her bag while working on her laptop, starting to create the basis of a GPS program of the academy grounds.
There's no way I'm going through this crap again.
When her classes ended she was surprised to see Alice waiting for her outside.
"What are you doing here?"
"I forgot to tell you I can only leave at six pm so you will have to wait two hours until we can go home."
Lea signed inwardly putting a hand on her belly, trying to calm down what felt like a raved beast. Her stomach was squirming in hunger and disapproval, believing they were going home right after the classes ended and she could eat something at last.
"Does your stomach hurt?" Alice asked noticing Lea patting her belly.
"No," Lea responded a little too harsh. "Anyway can I stay in the infirmary with you until is time for us to go?"
"Sure, there are even beds in case you're not feeling well and need some rest."
Lea was good at hiding her emotions from her, but Alice had picked up over the years small details that helped her unveil her niece's lies. For example, when she was trying to hide something, the small girl often talked curtly and harshly and when she did something bad or something she should not do, she always put her hair behind her ears in a nervous gesture. So when Alice tried to know how Lea's day went, and the girl didn't say much, a curt 'it was ok' was all she received, she knew something had happened. After a few more tries with the same type of response, Alice stopped prying and the room fell in silence, Lea tipping on her laptop the only sound on the white and awful big office. Lea's attitude stood for 'I don't want to talk about it…' and at dinner eating an entire pizza by herself means that for now own she needed to put more snacks in her niece's bag.
Hello! I'm sorry for taking so long to post this. I've been so busy lately, I didn't have the time to work on this story. I will try to post more regularly. I hope you liked this chapter!
Until next time,
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