~XxX~
A week later and I woke up to the insistent beeping of my mobile alarm and reluctantly left my warm quilted cocoon, fumbling with the buttons at five 'o' clock in the morning I succeeded in phoning a takeaway place in London, my Mother downstairs, and the library in Wimbledon I had worked at before I finally hit 'Sleep'. Yawning, I made my way out of bed, surprised that I'd actually slept for longer than two hours.
I stood and looked around my room, still sparsely decorated, and wandered over to my clothes rack, selecting the school uniform. I had asked for the boy's uniform due to my insecurity in a skirt, apparently a commonplace request. I pulled them on and ran a brush through my short hair, cursing my Scottish ancestors for their stupid frizzy genes as I did so, I was only glad that my Spanish side, at the very least, made sure that I wasn't pale or easily sunburnt.
Reaching under my bed, I frowned. Usually I wore my work heels, but these days I wasn't aiding my Mother in Real Estate. I sincerely doubted that at a Japanese State School, I would be able to get away with wearing red, two-inch heels. I rummaged around in my suitcase for the black pumps I used for lounging and slipped them on, they'd have to do. At the very least they looked presentable. I grabbed my laptop from my desk and threw it into my messenger bag before taking it downstairs with me. The refurbished laptop was the only real reminder of the days when my family unit consisted of more than just my Mother and I, and perhaps keeping it was a sentimental choice rather than a technological one.
I bolted to the kitchen, grabbing some bread out of the fridge and slamming it into the toaster as I looked at the clock, 5:30am. I was still on time, at least. Relaxing a little I started to scrabble around the cupboards, looking for my saviour and became increasingly more frantic as I couldn't find it.
"Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee," I muttered under my breath in a continuous stream, mildly concerned that Sandra didn't seem to own any.
"Mommy doesn't like coffee, she says that it's the reason people don't have enough calcium in their bodies." I heard a small girl's voice from behind me and I glanced over my shoulder, rolling back onto the base of my feet from their tip-toed position.
"Heya, Sunny." I greeted her with what I hoped was a pleasant tone and not laced with annoyance, "Why're you awake so early?" I decided to not insult her Mother's coffee-based beliefs in front of her. The brunette sister of Chloe grinned at me in a manner that made me sure she was going to go for my throat, my hand twitched subconsciously towards it.
"I had candy last night, I didn't sleep." I raised an eyebrow at her. Definitely related to me, sneaky, clever and proud of it. These kids weren't allowed sweets after six, she'd obviously hidden a stash. I laughed a little at the thought.
"Well, what are you doing now? Don't you want to go back to bed? At least try and sleep, darling…" I trailed off, trying to think of a good enough excuse to get her to go back to bed. "You won't be able to do whatever it is that Auntie Josie has planned for you today." I decided on lying through my teeth. Mum had nothing planned for them, but I didn't want to have to deal with a sneaky, clever, hyperactive five-year-old. Coward's way out and I knew it, but I didn't exactly care at the moment. Sunny's eyes widened and she ran back upstairs without a backwards glance. It briefly crossed my mind that she could get into my room, but I'd locked the main door and had the key in my bra. Not to mention I'd still wedged the chair and the luggage case under the doors too.
Keerrrchuck.
The printer in the hallway signalled it had finished its printing session and was now going to go back to sleep because, damnit, it was 5:30am. At the same time, my toast popped up. I snatched the bread slices from their cradles (burning my fingers in the process), and bit into the corner of one, venturing into the teal hallway and getting the sheet. I chewed thoughtfully as I looked it over before folding it and placing it in the right pocket of my blue school blazer. I snatched another piece of paper from the printer and dug in my messenger bag for a pen, leaving a folded note behind detailing my Sunny-related-ploy to my Mother and leaving it on the kitchen table before scrambling out of the doorway.
~XxX~
Arriving at the school in the space of an hour so that it was 6:30am as I looked up at the dauntingly tall bell tower. I had taken a few wrong turns and almost walked into a suspicious group of men, but reached it in time for the register.
You know.
If I could just find out where that was.
Re-folding the mini-map I'd printed and placing it back into my blazer as I walked through the doors of the school, I largely ignored all the other people milling around and going to their classes until I saw the reception desk. I placed my palms on the counter and cleared my throat to draw some attention my way. It wasn't strictly needed, I'm six foot tall and my hair generally acts as a beacon. It was a sad fact of my life that I generally hoped for inconspicuous arrivals and departures, but it never seemed to become a reality.
"Detention is down the hall on your left." The black-haired lady said to me, not even looking up from her computer. I forced a laugh and leaned a little forward, making sure she had to at least look at me.
"I'm not in detention-" 'Yet', my mind said, "-I'm new here, Could you tell me where I'm supposed to go?" This seemed to warrant a glance from the woman, she looked me over in a second before gesturing to a plastic holder with pamphlets in it.
"Maps to all classrooms and all extra-curricular centres are here. Have a nice day." Her tone told me to have anything but, but I nodded, feeling that I wasn't going to get anymore help out of her. Still, there was a slight feeling of comfort to be taken in the fact that it seemed to be a universal rule that secretaries were disinterested all over the world. Of all the things to make me feel happier, the curt secretary made me think that I may just have nothing to worry about after all.
Running my nail down the index of the pamphlet I reached the directions for room 1-B after a moment. West from the desk, then a left, another left, a right and it was down the hallway on the right
"Ooookay then..." I muttered, placing the pamphlet in my bag and chanting the directions under my breath as a mantra.
~XxX~
'Why!' I was screaming in my head now, after I'd knocked on the door of room 1-B I was greeted by a nicely-turned-out lady of about thirty-something. She had then proceeded to wave me inside and tell me to stand at the front of the class and introduce myself. I took a deep breath, steeled myself and put on the face I used when Mum and I were trying to sell a property to a person with doubts. Smile, observe, adjust accordingly.
"Hi," I waved a little, "I'm Sophie McCallaghan, I've just moved here from London and…" I floundered momentarily, "I'm here to stay." There, short, to-the-point and I had noted the reactions of my new classmates. Bored, uncaring, curious, happy. Four different reactions, four different types of people in my new class. The teacher smiled at me and pointed out a seat in the third row, next to the window on one side and a white-haired boy on the other. I sat through the rest of the class in silence, answering only when my name was called out. The rest of the time I was looking out of the window aimlessly. I paid little attention to the lesson. At 16, I'd already gained my English A-Level. A hardly unheard of achievement, but still better than average. I snorted as I thought that, it seemed to be the tagline for my life so far. 'Hardly unheard of, but better than average.' I considered this for the rest of the hour, waiting for the bell to ring before I could move onto the Sciences. My personal favourites.
Triiiilllll.
My prayers were answered as I doodled on the page I was using to note out the stanzas of the current module's poem when the bell rang. It was weird, having to answer to a bell. To be honest, the whole school environment was weird to me, however. I was used to having brunch at about this time with my Mother in a little café that we liked after a successful sale, not stuffing my books into my bag, drumming my pen on my desk and being generally bored.
It wasn't that I felt above such things, it was just that I had done all this before. Being home-schooled has its upsides, especially if you are being taught by a person that you inherently look to for education. I stood with the rest of the class and moved out of my seat, consulting the back of the pamphlet once more.
~XxX~