I arrived at school at 8:10, all previous worries and paranoia erased from my mind.
I set my bag down on the table and pulled out some work.
The first thing I learnt when I came to secondary school was that 'homework' secretly meant 'work-that-you-should-do-during-registration-and-break-or-face-getting-a-detention' and it wasn't until the start of year 10 that I found out the true extent of this secret meaning; with essays and exams being thrown at us, left, right and centre.
I tried to concentrate but gave up after what seemed like 2 minutes; there wasn't much I could do apart from just wait for people to start arriving.
By 8:25, there were only 5 people in the class, including me.
I frowned to myself, this wasn't normal.
I turned round to ask the people behind me if there were problems on the road, before my friend Alyssa walked in; she looked tired and breathless and could barely even gasp out a 'hi'
'What's going on?' I asked
'Traffic' Alyssa gasped out, 'really bad, cars everywhere, not good, can't breathe…'
I was in the middle of asking if there had been an accident or something, before Dawn walked in.
'Taking the fecking piss these bloody cars are! And bus drivers as well! Could have been here 10 minutes ago and finished of my History essay but NOO! They cant let us exit the bus unless we're at a goddamn bus stop!' she yelled, slamming her bag down onto the table, her Irish accent thicker then I have ever heard it in the 3 and a half years that I have known her.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a newspaper, 'here's something that'll cheer you up' I said, tossing it towards her.
'Taa darling' she responded in a voice a lot calmer than the one she used entering the classroom.
'Honestly' Alyssa said, her breathing controlled and voice calm 'just cause you have a flashy car that's all shiny and nice doesn't mean you can just park it anywhere!' she sighed 'and what are they thinking parking it round here!? Someone will just be walking past and be like 'oooh shiny pretty car' then' she then mimicked looking round, breaking into the car and hotwiring it before driving off; sounds effects included.
I laughed, that was the sort of person she was, wonderfully erratic and sarcastic.
An absolute lethal combination when arguing with her.
The door opened and in came Davina, Kailah and Alice, all breathless.
'SEE!' Alice yelled, stamping her foot on the ground 'we weren't going to be late! There was no need for me to run, but no one believed me, hmph.'
'Yeah well, I didn't have a watch, neither did Kailah, and with the bus going at a mile per hour, can you really blame me for thinking we were late?' Davina yelled, sighing 'tramp' at the end, and giving her shove with her hip that made Alice go flying into the corner.
'Behave children' I smiled, before joining in with the others laughter.
Alice and Davina were always arguing but no matter how many insults or play fights that went on between them, they were actually quite inseparable.
Davina flashed a cheeky smile our way, her teeth pearly white and incredibly noticeable against her tanned skin (ah, the perks of having half-Portuguese genes) and then turned on her heels and went to put her bag down.
'Ah, that was fun' Kailah said, smiling.
Her smile then formed a frown as she looked round the class and noticed only half the people were in 'what is this? No ones in' she said looking round in confusion
'They all died' Alyssa said solemnly
'How sorry would you be if that was true?' Dawn mumbled, eyes on the newspaper.
'Not as sorry as I'd feel if I was forced to hide behind a sofa due to your little sister attacking me with soft toys again' she replied as a group of 5 people walked in.
Spotting my "twin" Yuki amongst them, I caught her eye and opened my mouth to ask if there was traffic before she beat me to it and started by kissing her teeth.
'These goddamn cars think just cause there all black and shiny they can stop in the middle of the road and take up the parking space in Tesco! There was buses on one side, cars on the others and these big damn shiny things just in the middle! Swear down, it made me more road crossing illiterate then ever!' she ranted.
'Please, you're always road crossing illiterate…' I mumbled
She was in the process of opening a bottle of cherry lucozade when her head shot up and she sent daggers towards me.
I smiled widely at her, making sure she could see all my teeth, and she merely kissed her teeth and turned away.
Alyssa laughed; this was just our normal routine.
The bell rang 10 minutes after that group of 5 arrived.
The majority of the class had given up all hope on the buses and decided to run to school, causing them to arrive just in the nick of time.
Settling into my chair, I groaned as I realized that this was now officially registration, which meant it was now officially a Monday; meaning another week of work, stress and no sleep for me.
Yuki turned towards me and narrowed her eyes, 'stop making unnecessary noises' she said, I smiled to myself before replying with 'your turning into your mother'.
Before she had a chance to reply our form tutor arrived.
She was laden with around 3 different bags and a massive purple umbrella, but didn't seem the slightest bit bothered about that –or us for that matter.
'You okay miss?' a person yelled out at the back.
Slowly turning towards the class, she replied in the most softest voice 'Why yes. But I believe these following girls have to go to the office at once: Alice Kensington, Alyssa Cole, Crystal Lloyd, Dawn O'Shay, Davina Da Silva, Kailah Carter and Yuki Evans'
Catching the eye of all my friends, I frowned, wondering what we had done.
With a shrug, Dawn stood up swung her bag round her and walked out.
We all looked at each other for reassurance, did exactly the same and followed pursuit.
As I left the classroom I hesitated, and turned back to look inside.
Our form tutor was now sitting at her desk, but something was wrong.
She looked dazed and confused, not at all like her former self.
Different thoughts swirled round my brain; but I had to shake them out and get myself psyched up for the walk of doom towards the office.
