by Ginny Clyde
Putting aside the frail book, I said, “Can I have some money, Mother?”
I noticed the instant change in her demeanor. “What for?”
“None of my dresses look good enough for school. When I was packing back home, it was all in such a rush that I picked whatever my hands could grab. I want to buy some new ones.”
“I’m sorry, Olivia, but there is no money in our budget for new clothes,” she said, not meeting my eyes.
“Not even for clothes?”
She shook her head. “Both you and James will need new books and supplies for school this month. I am saving the money for that.”
We both sat there in silence for some time.
“I am sorry,” said Sarah, turning towards me. “I will start applying for jobs soon. Once I get one, we’ll have more money for other things. Until then, we have to make do with what we have.”
“I could get a job too, right?”
“You could if you wanted to, but wait until school starts. There are extra responsibilities that come with a job. Make sure you can juggle both homework and work before committing to someone.”
“It doesn’t matter, Mother,” I said, my voice higher than before. “We need all the money we can get. I knew we were going to be poor, but not this poor.” I watched Sarah’s eyes welling with tears. Exhaling a long breath, I said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. If I wasn’t such a fool, none of us would be in this mess.”
“Who knew Uncle Kelvin would do this to us? I thought he loved us.”
“He does love you and James. Just not me.”
Shifting closer to my mother, I put my arm around her. “James and I love you.”
“I know,” she said, pushing her face against my shoulder. “Anyway, it’s late. You have to wake up early for school tomorrow.”
“I wish I could just work and make money,” I mumbled.
“Finishing school is important,” she chided at once. Her soft eyes hardened as they stared at me. “To get a decent job and good living, you have to graduate with honors. Now, get to bed.”
Since we spent most of the days at the Academy, she was rarely strict with us back home in Edinburgh. Her sudden sternness came as a surprise. “Fine,” I muttered, getting up.
I traipsed back to my room and looked through my clothes again. The green skater dress that I’d worn while traveling to the States seemed like the best option of all. It stopped a few inches above my knees and seemed like a good choice for school.
With nothing else to do, I climbed into bed.
I woke up to loud knocks on my door. Opening my eyes, I saw pale sunlight flitting through the curtains.
“Wake up, Oli!” I heard James shouting outside my door.
“I am up!” I shouted back. “Stop banging my door.”
When he stopped, I fell back into bed with a groan. I had gotten so used to sleeping late that waking this early felt like a punishment.
Grumbling to myself, I kicked away the blankets and sat up. I rubbed my eyes hard to drive away the sleepiness.
“Are you up, Oli?” James was back at my door. “Mother says we’ll be late if we don’t eat breakfast now.”
“I am up. Just give me a minute.”
Putting on a cardigan over my pajama top, I went downstairs. James was already seated at the dining table with a plate of eggs and toast.
“Morning,” I said, taking the chair opposite him.
He grunted, turning away to read the newspaper.
“Eggs, Olivia?” Mother asked. She was wearing a faded apron with large red poppies over her dress. Her hair was up in a messy bun with tendrils of blond hair escaping around her face.
“Yes, please.”
While Sarah fried the eggs, I pulled the carton of orange juice towards me and poured some into my glass. Taking a sip, I glanced at James who was looking handsome in jeans and a denim jacket. He was absorbed in reading the sports section. Some things never changed.
“Here you go,” said Sarah, sliding a plate of eggs beside my glass.
While we ate our breakfast, Sarah went out of the kitchen for a while. When she came back, she had her purse.
“Here’s some money,” she said, giving us each a ten dollar note. “For emergencies, you know.”
“That’s it?” asked James, his eyebrows raised high. “Will it be enough to get a cab ride home?”
“It will be enough and if it costs more, I can always pay more,” said Sarah.
I took the money, folded it and shoved it inside my pajama pocket.
After a hurried breakfast, I went back to my room to dress. James decided to go ahead without me and I didn’t blame him. We would both needed to look for our classes and find our own tribe at the new school.
I put my hair in a high ponytail and took one last look at myself to make sure I looked my best. Most of the shadows under my eyes had disappeared by then. Before moving away, I applied a light coat of colored gloss on my lips.
I picked up my bag from the chair and headed downstairs. Sarah was standing at the foot of the stairs, chewing her lower lip. She looked as nervous as I felt.
“Do I look all right, Mother?” I asked.
She hesitated. “Yes. You look fine.”
Wondering what that was about, I kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the house.
It was a cool morning and perfect for a walk. On the way, I watched families putting children in cars to be driven to school. It was only then that it struck me that we didn’t own a car yet.
There were more students on the street when I neared the school. Three yellow school buses stood parked near the gate. Knightswood High was a collection of beige colored buildings, spread around a big campus.
The last time I was here, it was with James and it was on a Saturday afternoon. The front lawns had been empty and the gate closed. Now, the place teemed with students. Without uniforms, the crowd looked wilder. As I walked by a chatting group of girls, no older than me, I felt overdressed. They were all wearing shorts and tank tops. Further ahead, I saw more girls walking in fashionable skinny jeans and sleeveless, halter tops.
A sudden realization hit me. Students here did dress how they pleased.
Feeling self-conscious, I made my way to the administrative building. The paths around the campus were well marked, making it easy to reach my destination without asking for directions.
I pushed through the glass doors and entered the main office area. There were three women working on computers behind a counter.
“Can I help?” asked an elderly woman with glasses.
“Yes,” I said and stepped up to the counter. “I am Olivia Buchannan. I start here today.”
“One minute,” she said, opening a blue folder. Shuffling a few sheets, her beady eyes ran down the length of the current page. “Yes. You are listed for registration. Wait right there.”
She brought me back a form to fill and sign. After I was done, she handed me a flat packet.
“Schedule, class directions and locker information,” she recited, handing it to me. “And here’s the slip. Get the teachers to sign it and bring it back to me at the end of the day.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, where are you from?” she asked, staring at me fixedly. “I detect an accent. Ireland?”
“No. I am from Edinburgh.”
“You’re from England.”
“Scotland, actually.”
She shrugged. “Good thing you are not too late. School started last week.”
“Right.”
I hurried out of the office to escape any more questions. Once outside, I took out the timetable from the registration packet. According to it, first period was English on level two of the Washington building. I was about to bring out the campus map when something made me look up.
Someone was staring at me from across the corridor. When our eyes met, I froze. It was the same guy I’d come across in the woods. He took a step towards me.
&nb
sp; Without thinking, I turned around and walked in the opposite direction. I collided with people on my way, but I did not stop to apologize. Up ahead, a sign depicting a female restroom pointed towards the right. Increasing my pace, I pushed through the door and locked myself in a cubicle.
I remained there for a long time with my ears pressed against the door of the cubicle. No one came in, but I heard sounds of laughter and talking coming from outside. My heart rate slowly returned to normal.
A sudden loud ringing made me jump. School had begun and I was still stuck inside the ladies’ room without a clue to where my class was. Just as I came out of the stall, a group of girls entered.
“Where’s the Washington Building?” I asked them.
They stared at me, suddenly quiet.
“Are you a teacher?” one of them asked me.
“She looks too young to be one,” whispered another.
“I’m not a teacher, but this is my first day here. Please, which way is the Washington Building?”
“It’s on to the left of this building,” said the girl who’d spoken first.
“Thank you,” I said and ran out of the bathroom. To my relief, the strange boy was nowhere to be seen.
By the time I reached the class, ten minutes had already passed.
The teacher raised his eyebrows at me. At the same time, I felt everyone’s eyes on me. Blushing with embarrassment, I handed him a slip.
Pushing his glasses further up his long nose, he read it.
“It’s your first day here,” he said, his eyes coming back to rest on me.
I nodded.
“I guess we can excuse you for today. From next class, be on time.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You can sit beside Mr. Hargrove over there,” he said, pointing towards the rows of students.
I looked towards the spot he was pointing at. It was the only empty seat there. My eyes moved towards the person who sat next to it. It was the strange guy I was so desperately trying to avoid.
“Go on,” urged the teacher.
Dragging my feet, I walked towards Hargrove. I looked at the floor as I moved, unwilling to meet his eyes. A low buzzing broke out as I took my seat.
“Settle down, everyone,” the teacher called.
People kept shooting curious looks at me throughout the class. I looked back at the timetable. The class was being taught by Mr. Robert Goon. It was a relief that he didn’t make me stand at the front and introduce myself. My nerves felt frayed just keeping my eyes on the badly scratched desk in front of me.
“Miss Buchannan, you can share Ryan’s book for the day,” Mr. Goon called from the front of the classroom.
A collective gasp went up in the classroom and every head turned back to look at me. It felt like someone had switched off all sound in the room. The boy next to me shifted his seat towards me. The scrape of metal against the tiled floor was loud in the stillness of the classroom. He pushed his book so that half of it lay on my desk.
I risked a peek at my neighbor. He was looking at me with an amused expression. I had missed most of his features in the shady darkness of the woods, but now, his sapphire blue eyes danced with mirth. They reminded me of the gleaming blue waters of Loch Lomond on a summer’s day. It left me to stare at him without blinking.
“Hey,” he mouthed.
I dropped my eyes back on the book.
A loud clap made everyone turn towards the front. “Pay attention, everyone!” said Mr. Goon in an irritated hiss.
However, throughout the rest of the class, people kept whispering and glancing back at me while I did my best to look anywhere, but my partner.
When the bell sounding the end of class screamed overhead, I jumped up from my seat.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
My sudden movement must have surprised him. I tore my gaze from his widened, brilliant blue eyes and got out of my seat.
I was almost out of the door when the sound of my name halted me. Turning back, I saw a girl with a mass of auburn hair coming towards me.
“Hey, you’re Olivia,” she gushed.
“Yeah.”
“I’m Stacie Abbott. Mr. Brown told me about you last week. I am one of the student council members and here to help you!” She said the last part very fast. Pausing to take a breath, she said, “What’s your next class?”
She waited while I fished out the timetable.
“History,” I said.
“That’s not until another hour.” She leaned forward to read the timetable. “It looks the same as mine.”
“Looks like the class will be held in this building,” I said, checking the location.
“Yep. How about I show you where the cafeteria is? Or do you want to check out the library, first?”
“The library, please,” I said, not feeling hungry. “Maybe you could point out the buildings to me while we’re at it?”
“Sure. This way,” said Stacie, leading the way.
I took the opportunity to study her a bit more. She had a slight figure and was shorter than me. Her navy blue pinafore dress made me feel less conscious of my attire. She had a fast way of speaking. While we walked, she talked about herself and the colleges she was looking to apply. At first, I listened to her but after a while, my mind drifted away.
We walked through the campus. It felt nice to have a different companion other than my brother for a change. Stacie was the kind of person who could talk about any topic. No silence was awkward for her. They were just an opportunity to get started on a different subject. She told me what each of the buildings was used for.
“This is the Jefferson Building,” she said, coming to a stop beside a three storied building.
Its front was completely covered with tinted glass. I could see shelves of books on the upper floors from where we stood.
“You will have to fill up a form to get a library card,” she said, taking one out to swipe at the doors. We entered and were immediately hit with the scent of coffee. “There’s a café on the ground floor. Most students come here to chat though. If you are in the pursuit of silence, go inside the main hall.”
The café was not crowded at the time. Only a few students sat there with coffee cups and reading.
“Do you want to go inside?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No homework yet.”
Stacie grinned. “Wait till you get to Mr. Brown’s class. He always sets us a problem.”
Stacie launched into another long rant of Mr. Brown’s class while we came out of the Jefferson’s Building.
“Let’s check out the gym and the student union,” said Stacie after a while.
“There’s just ten minutes remaining,” I said, checking my watch. “Maybe just point them out to me?”
“Fine.”
Stacie showed me the buildings marked in the map and pointed them out in the distance. I began feeling more familiar with the layout of the campus. Wondering how James was doing on his first day, I followed my new friend until we reached the classroom where History was supposed to take place.
“Is it ok if I sat with you today?” I asked, not wanting to come across the strange Ryan Hargrove. There was something about him that perplexed me.
“Sure.” She leaned towards me and said, “I guess it was kinda intense sitting with Ryan Hargrove, huh?”
“I don’t know about intense,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “Just prefer to sit with you.” I hoped my smile was convincing.
“All the girls would kill to sit beside him,” said Stacie, popping a chewing gum in her mouth. “Gum?” she asked, holding out the gum case.
I shook my head. “Is he single?”
“Yep,” she said with a big nod. “Everyone’s gearing up to ask him to prom this year. I heard some of the twelfth graders asked him out.”
“Wow.”
“Just hope the girls won’t paint a target on your back.”
I halted. “My back?”
Stacie dropped her backpa
ck on a seat in the second row. I took the desk next to hers.
Turning towards me, she beckoned me forward.
I leaned in, eager to know what she meant.
“Ryan doesn’t really hang out with girls. He chooses to sit alone in all the classes. Even if a new kid is made to sit next to him, he doesn’t talk to them. But we all saw him smiling at you today. It never happened before.”
“Is something the matter with me?” I asked. It had not even been a day at Knightswood and I was already attracting trouble.
Stacie sniggered as her gaze fell on me. After a moment’s inspection, she said, “You look like a wound-up chick, but you’re pretty. Add in your funny accent and you’re positively foreign. By the way, where are you from? Mr. Brown didn’t mention that part.”
“Edinburgh…Scotland.”
“Whoa! From the land of hot men in kilts?”
I laughed. “They are not always hot.”
Her guffaw was punctuated by the screeching school bell. I kept my eyes at the doorway, waiting to see if Ryan Hargrove was in History too. To my relief, he did not turn up throughout the lesson. Apart from that, the class was tough. I did not have much knowledge about American History. This was going to be one subject that would need a lot of effort to catch up with.
There was another free hour before lunch. I followed Stacie as she led me out of the classroom and down the stairs.
“We are not really supposed to loiter around the school,” said Stacie with a smug grin. “Free hours are meant for studying or filling it up with laboratory time or something of the sort.”
“Then why are we not in the library?” I asked, feeling confused.
“Because you are with me and this is your first day,” she said, grinning cheekily. “No one will mind since one of the student council members is giving you a tour of the school facilities. So, just enjoy a day of freedom.”
I chuckled. Everything at Knightswood High was a new experience. However, I still couldn’t help but miss my old school and friends. Walking around campus with Stacie reminded me of my old companions. I knew exactly how each would react to the things that were different here.
I even missed the Academy’s sixteenth-century Gothic structure with its winged and horned boars with their perpetual glares. My sigh of nostalgia went unnoticed by Stacie who took my silence to talk about Mrs. Smith, the History teacher.
