Kwenthrith was in the kitchen, making some latte for her to drink in class as she didn't have time to savour it home. It was the second day of school and she was already trying to buy her some time. She poured her coffee in her travel mug and put it in her bag. It was a purse large enough to contain everything she needed to follow the class and it was very fashionable and fitted most of her outfit. It was made with the finest leather and the shoulder strap was made in the same leather, but with some crimson velvet on one side. All of it was adorned with golden metal pieces. She remebered precisely the day she bought it. And who bought it to her. She remembered her trip with her exentric grandma in Paris. She remembered the moment she fell in love with that very purse that was on display in the shop window, and how her beloved grandmother noticed her face and bought it to her telling her to not tell anybody. She smiled thinking about these precious memories. Now, that purse was all she had left from her. She passed away a few years ago. Kwenthrith was still sad thinking of her death. After all, she was the only person in her family that really loved her and whom she really loved. She missed that exentric grandma.
She took a picture of her outfit for her instagram account and repared herself to leave when Gisla, one of her three roomate entered the kitchen with a grumpy face.
- Hi sweetheart! Did you sleep well?
Gisla answered by an inaudible grunt and Kwenthrith asked with her usual joyful voice:
- Don't you have school today?
- Yeah, she answered yawning, but not until this afternoon.
- How lucky you are, Kwenthrith smiled at her. See you tonight, she said slamming the door to Gisla's annoyance.
Her smile faded as soon as she was outside. She never showed anything other but joy and happiness to other people and as soon as she was out and alone, smiling became a terrible pain. Yet, she couldn't let herself go to this sadness. She intended to make a success of her year and to have the work she dreamed of: trend maker and stylist. She didn't want to come back to her homeland. She only had painful memories from Manchester. Never did she wanted to go back there. That was precisely why she left for London as soon as she could to study here, and when her family came to visit her talking about nothing but moving here, she immediately left for Dublin. As she was turning over her dark thoughts in her mind, she walked to the tram station to star her school day. On her way, she updated her twitter account, posted her morning picture on instagram without any filters -she was way to pretty to use one- talked to a german friend on facebook and checked the latest trends on her smartphone. The only thing she liked in herself was her look. It was sad for a woman, she knew that, but she couldn't see anything in herself that she could call good.
On her way to school she stared at everyone's outfit. She couldn't help it. She loved pretty things -and pretty girls- and took picture discretly of everyone's outfit. She admired these people, guys and women, who were confidant enough to wear anything they wanted. She really loved to watch people. Often, she wondered what they did for a living, where they were going, why, and who they loved. She wished to be at their places. Despite all her depressing feelings rushing and hitting her, she managed to hold a faked smile which became less fake after she witnessed a child smiling happily to her. This small second of happiness faded away when her phone rang and she saw her father's name on the screen. She sighed and tried not to throw her phone on the floor. She hung up and put it back in her purse.
She arrived right on time for the beginning of class. She put her mug of coffee on her table, took her notebook and sketch book out of her purse. She was ready. She tried not to pay attention to the other girls in the classroom. She felt quite threatened by all the gorgeous ladies in the room. Yet, she admired them. She thought that they were probably more confident than her and she couldn't help but to compare her value to their's.
The class began. Kwenthrith was focused. For five hours she thought would never end, she endured the teacher's horrible voice and kept taking notes. At the end of the class, she didn't bother to talk to other girls. She didn't get a nice feeling with them. She was the kind of girl to avoid people she thought would be bad for her. And these girls seemed to be able to harm her. She wasn't proud of herself, of course. Who wouldn't want to make friends? But still, she left to eat at the Starbucks that was next to her school.
There, she met a familiar face. It was one of the girls she talked to at the ERASMUS party. The blonde one. The one that gave her chills the first time she saw her. She stepped next to her and armed by her most beautiful faked smile she engaged the conversation:
- Hey, how are you? Do you remember me?
The girl turned her head to her's and said smiling a little.
- Hey! Yeah, how could I forget that energetic girl with the beautiful dress?
Kwenthrith smiled shyly and kept talking.
- Did your class began well?
- Yeah, some of our teachers are assholes, but that's okay. After all, I am perfectly able to learn with or witout him.
Kwenthrith envied her. She wished she was as confident.
- By the way, what is your number? I really wish to know you a little better.
- Well, I suppose I could give it to you. Here, I sent it to you.
- Really? Thank you!
She hugged her for a brief moment and the line moved. Lagertha ordered her coffee and Kwenthrith asked for a sandwich and a chai latte. While they were waiting Lagertha asked:
- Where do you live again?
- In a small house outside Dublin with my two roomates.
- Are they nice?
- One of them, yes. She is very shy but she can do magnifiscent drawings. The other one, on the other hand, is more... wild. She doesn't talk very much and is a little arrogant though I recognize she has some qualities too.
- Are they english too?
- Judith -the nicer one- yes, but Gisla is french. And you, where do you live?
- Same as you, except I live with my ex boyfriend, her current girlfriend and his brother, Lagertha casually said.
- What? And you are not bothered by your ex's new girlfriend, Kwenthrith asked shocked.
- Well, I was, at first, but then, we became really close friends. By the way, she was the girl that was with me at the party.
- Aslaug. That's her name, right?
- Yes! I'm surprised you remember her name. You drank so much if I recall right.
- Yeah, alcohol is not an issue to me, she said smiling.
- How lucky you are.
The starbucks guy gave them their coffees and they immediately checked if their name were rightly written. It wasn't. Even though Irish people were used to original names, Kwenthrith and Lagertha's name were spelled the worst way possible. They looked at each other and laughed. Even if they were at the farther country they could, Starbucks remained Starbucks. They both separated when they left the starbucks. Kwenthrith waved her hand at Lagertha to say good-bye and turned her feets to return at her school, where, she knew it, hard time awaited her.
After she left Kwenthrith, Lagertha walked hastily to her classroom. She already ate before taking the tram and ordering her coffee at Starbucks was the first thing she did when she arrived in centre Dublin. She hastened her steps, afraid to be late. She walked in the classroom with confidence and sat where she pleased. The class began to her utter delight. She always loved History and it's little anecdotes she savoured with pleasure. Class was like a movie: its was all about History and stories. Lagertha loved it. She felt like she was travelling through time and space everytime. She listened carefully and happily to what the teacher was telling. It was a class about witches in the middle ages. Lagertha loved these stories. She didn't relate to these women that much, but she loved them anyway. It was so mysterious. And magic. Just to imagine magic could have existed -even in people's mind-, she felt marveled. Her favourite era was the middle ages. The stories about knights, witches, strong leading women, just like Isabella de Castilla, Joan of Arc, Alienor of Aquitaine... It was her favourite stories. Of course, she didn't just focus on europe. She also liked to hear about what happened in other countries at the time. She read a lot about it.
She remembered when she was a child and she read every book at the library talking about queens and warriors. She remembered when she first saw the movie Mulan. How she loved the heroine. How she later read what was her life, when she saw the movie with Zhao Wei. She remembered when she read the lord of the ring and when she saw its adaptation in dvd. How she loved Eowyn's character. And how she looked for every woman that made history in her books. She loved their stories as a child. It really inspired her to be more than what people expected her to do. She remembered with a smile the day she pestered her mother to do martial arts. And the day she finally said yes. How she was beaten up every time. How she cried because it was unfair to her eyes. How her mother told her that she needed to practice and be patient if she wanted to kick asses. How she followed her advices and how she ended up the best of all.
Now, she remembered her mother's face with nostalgy. Her eyes, her face, her hair. Even if it was now just a blurry memory, she still remembered how she loved her. What saddened her the most was that she forgot her voice. Her mother had that particular voice that made her feel safe instantly. When she died, it was the first thing Lagertha missed. She remembered she cried for weeks after her death. She remembered how Ragnar comforted her, and how him and Rollo welcomed her home. She owed them so much -even if she resented Ragnar for being this selfish-. Now, she remembered how she teased Rollo. How she became close to him. How she considered him like her best friend, her brother. She knew he loved her and always rejected him, which he couldn't stand. Their link broke at this moment. But it came back moments later when he met Siggy. Siggy. She remembered the day she met her. She was beautiful, proud and kind. She always listened to Rollo and was as compassionate as stern with him. She liked her. She somehow reminded her of her mother. And that was what she liked the most with her.
She was 13 when her mother died. And never has she knew her father. Her mother told her that he left after he heard her mother was pregnant. Lagertha had a lot of admiration for her mother to have raised her all alone. She loved her mother.
After class, she went to the library to find another history book. She turned over the project of writing a book about women in the middle ages and the ancient times in her mind. She felt like ther wasn't enough stories of them and decided to fix it. She began to read it on her way home and busted into Aslaug in front of their door.
- Hey! Sorry, I didn't see you. Did you have a nice day, Lagertha asked.
- Hey! Yeah, it was pretty rough actually, but it was nice, Aslaug answered with a smile. I made a friend yesterday and he and I decided to work together.
- Really? What's his name?
- Athelstan.
- Is class interesting yet, Lagertha sked again opening the door.
- Well, I didn't have grammar yet, so, yes. For now, we are studying the writing style of Victorian era novelists. Especially women. I immediately thought of you then.
- You know me too well, Lagertha said with a tender smile.
They entered the house and found no one.
- Where is Rollo? I thought he was supposed to stay here all day, Lagertha said puzzled.
- Maybe he went out to buy some stuff. If you know what I mean, Aslaug said full of insinuations.
- Shut up! He'd never do that. He is not feeling that bad, Lagertha protested.
- Hey, just sayin', Aslaug said shrugging her shoulders.
They threw their bag in a corner and took a bottle of pumpkin spice latte Aslaug prepared earlier. Each of them poured it in their own mug and they drank it, still chatting like the two best friends they were.
- Did you find the book you wanted, Aslaug asked.
- Yeah, I did! I read it a little and for now, it is so fascinating.
- Could you lend it to me after you finish it?
- Of course!
- Helga texted me today.
- Really? How is she, Lagertha asked with enthusiasm.
- She is fine, she made a new friend in class and she is very inspired by that girl.
- I am so happy for her, Lagertha said with a tender smile on her face.
- Yeah, she really deserves it.
- And I met that girl with the bloody-marys today.
- The drunk girl with the beautiful dress?
- Herself.
Aslaug sipped her mug.
- She gave me her number, Lagertha casually said.
- Ask her if she is free saturday afternoon so we can hang out, the three of us.
- That'd be nice. And she really seems nice when she is not drunk.
- That's what I want to see. Come on! Text her!
- Woa, calm down missy, Lagertha laughed.
She typed on her phone and when it was done, she looked at Aslaug victorious.
- There! Done! Happy now?
- Quite, Aslaug said with a little voice sipping her mug.
They finished their chai latte and began their homework. The day was far from over.
Gisla was always grumpy the morning. Especially when she hadn't slept enough. She stayed awake until 3 O clock Pm, reading and studying and all these lost hours of sleep were carved on her face. So when she saw Kwenthrith being just as joyful and noisy as usual, she immediately felt like screaming. But she restrained herself. Even if Kwenthrith was too joyful that early in the morning for a normal human being. Gisla drank her black coffee -she hated it with sugar and milk- in one gulp. In less than a minute, she felt less tired and her eyes opened completely. She couldn't wake up completely without coffee. When she was done with her breakfast -without any croissant or pain au chocolat at her ultimate despair- she went to the bathroom to shower. After she cleaned her body, she pulled a dress and a pair of tights and took some books to work in the living room.
She worked for what seemed to be hours, or even days. It was always like that with her. She always needed to be the best. It was a duty. She ought to be the very best, even if that meant not sleeping enough. She was in the middle of a book about law in the late 15th century when Judith came in the room.
- Hi, she said with a sleepy voice.
- Hi, Gisla answered. Did you sleep well?
- Not enough, I'm afraid, she said while sitting next to Gisla.
- Why?
- I might have work all night long.
- Really, you already have big projects?
- No, not yet. Aethelwulf just kept me awake.
Gisla looked at her puzzled, her eyes asking for more explanations.
- Well, he just kept texting me. He called me twice. He harassed me with dumb questions like "do you love me?", "Are you cheating on me?", "Do you see other guys?". The usual stuff.
- Thank god I don't have a boyfriend.
Gisla went back to her books. She already lost too many time. She needed to study. Judith noticed it and asked:
- Aren't you tired from studying? You're doing that since sunday.
- I need to, Gisla said her eyes on her book.
- Why?
- To be the best, she answered still without looking at Judith.
- What if you already are?
- Then I need to study more in case someone tries to outrun me.
Judith remained silent for a moment. She went to the kitchen to take her coffee -with a lot of sugar and milk, because she loved it- and sat back on the couch.
- Did it go well with your father?
- Yes. He skyped me sunday and I dealt with most of the details myself.
- You don't seems to rely on him that much, Judith noted.
Gisla sighed in sign of her annoyance.
- I mostly rely on no one. I can only rely and trust myself. The others are no use.
Judith hid a sad smile. Which Gisla noticed as she immediately said:
- Don't worry, I'm not saying that for you.
- I know, Judith said with a gentle smile. This must be so nice to be the best. Well, at least, to be good.
- Yeah. But you are good right? You must know that feeling.
- What? No! I'm barely good enough, Judith said nervously laughing.
- Well, I thought you were good, looking at your drawings, Gisla said shrugging her shoulders.
- Thanks, Judith said blushing. I'll let you work now. But don't forget to take some breaks.
- I'll consider it, Gisla answered with a smile.
She went back to her books, urging to be the best. When it was time to go to class, she already knew half of the programm.
Hey, hey hey! New chapter! I might update the story every month, just so you know it (I really hate updating a story if I haven't written at least 1 chapter ahead). So, yeah, expect this story to have a really slow rythme.
Thanks to my first follower, who is amazing for even reading this story and don't forget to write me a review ;). Enjoy, sweet cupcakes!
