I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. I groaned sitting up and looking around. Light streamed through an open window, illuminating the white walls in light I had to shield my eyes from. The scattered light gave the empty room a glow, seemingly emphasising the emptiness. The sound of car horns blaring, and the general chaos of early morning traffic in the distance spilled into the room. I checked the alarm clock on the bedside desk. 09:25. Uh… that didn’t seem right. Wasn’t the opening ceremony for new students at 10:00? Wait, weren’t we supposed to be there 09:30, at the latest, to drop off our stuff. No, no, that couldn’t be right; somebody would’ve woken me up. I frowned standing up and stretching, before walking over to the window and peering outside. A few people walked through the relatively quiet street, the sun bathing everything in a golden glow. The view from the window wasn’t anything special compared to the one back home; we were in the middle of Brooklynn and facing away from all the skyscrapers. I didn’t know exactly what I’d expected, but I guess the New York in my mind was still a bit fantastical. Eh, the view from the roof was probably nicer.
I yawned and stretched out, before stepping out the room. I peered into the main hallway, the smell of pancakes wafting through the air.
“Tía? Tío?” I called out. I was met with silence. I frowned and made my way further down the corridor, passing the living room and stopping in the kitchen. The house was empty, with a note left on the counter next to the pancakes. I picked it up, scanning it.
‘Sorry we couldn’t drop you off, but good luck with your first day boys!’
“Hmm… thanks I guess” I said, grabbing a pancake. I stretched again then bit into the pancake, enjoying it's sweetness.
I paused and frowned. What time had Tío and Tía left? A knot slowly formed in my stomach as any sense of dreariness I'd had faded into memory. Big Sis had said they’d had to be up early, so they probably wouldn’t have been around to wake us up. If Quinten was still asleep, we had a big problem.
“Quinten?!” I said loudly. Nothing. Crap he must’ve been sleeping. I jogged around before finding his door and knocked loudly.
“Hey Quinten! Wake up man, I think we’re late” I shouted. I heard the creak of a bedframe and then a loud thud. Quinten groaned and then the door creaked open. I could barely make out a Nets poster in the darkness before Quinten poked his head through the small gap.
“Good morning” he said yawning, “What’d you say?”
“I think we’re late man” I said. He frowned rubbing his eyes.
“What time even is it?” he mumbled.
“It’s half past nine” I said.
“Huh?!” he replied loudly, the weariness in his body language evaporating. Just from his reaction I could tell we were already in deep shit.
“The station's like five minutes from the school. It’s like a twenty minute journey so if we catch a train, we might make it” he said.
“That gives us what… five minutes to get ready and make it to the station. That’s cutting it a bit close, no?” I said.
“Well hurry up then” Quinten said closing his door. Crap. I didn’t even have enough time to shower. I leapt back towards the guest room, and flung open my suitcase, rummaging around frantically. I found my school uniform, ignoring just how creased the shirt was. I changed quickly, leaving my tie and half my buttons undone. I didn’t have time to fix them now. I grabbed my suitcase struggling to close it properly, and then burst into the hallway. Quinten was already putting on his shoes by the door. I stood next to him and forced my feet into my trainers.
“I don’t think you can wear those” he said.
“I’ll change later” I replied. He sprinted towards the living room where his luggage was, as I stuffed my laces into my sides. I glanced in the mirror by the door and ruffled my hair. The blazer was a bit big, but it didn’t look too bad on me. I looked kind of professional, if you ignored the undone tie, mess of buttons, and the fact that I looked half asleep.
“Stop staring at yourself in the mirror. Let’s go!” Quinten shouted, as he barrelled towards me, with his luggage. I grabbed mine and threw open the door. Quinten took the lead as we made our way out of the apartment building, sprinting down the road with our luggage in tow. We weaved deftly through the pedestrians as we sprinted towards the station, my heart hammering in my chest.
The station was closer than I’d thought, but actually getting our luggage into the subway was a different problem entirely. I struggled, stumbling down the steps as my hands trembled under the weight of my luggage. We reached the terminal and Quinten fumbled with some money in his pocket before getting us tickets. Without a moment’s hesitation we bolted down to the tracks, barely avoiding slamming into unsuspecting bystanders. We slipped onto the train as the doors closed, both of us breathing heavily; earning a few glances from some of the passengers. I seriously needed to start exercising more.
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I sat down, holding the handle of my suitcase, and clutching my bag to my chest.
“So… you didn’t set an alarm either?” I said glancing at Quinten.
“Of course I did! Shit. I must’ve set it for six thirty pm by accident” he said, clenching his fists.
“Calm down man.” I sighed, “ We made the train didn’t we?”
“We’re still late. I mean we’re late on the first day! God, I’m so dead. Dad’s going to kill me, Alexandra’s going to kill me, and Mum is most definitely going to kill me” he said frantic. Geez.
“Well play it off, just say there was some traffic, and then train delays. Believable right? They’ll understand” I said. Quinten fell silent, his face still wrought with anxiety. I slapped the seat next to me.
“Just sit down man, you’re good" I said. He sat down next to me, his shoulders relaxing slightly. I checked my phone. 09:32.
“See man, we’ll be fine”
-
We were anything but fine. The train had gotten delayed and the stop that had been five minutes from the station had been closer to ten minutes away. On top of that we’d shown up at the wrong entrance and had to circle all the way around to the back. In that moment the school had felt a lot bigger than I’d remembered. By the time we’d reached where we were supposed to be Murphy’s law had hit us full force. We were drenched in sweat, I’d tripped and my jumper had gotten dirty, Quinten’s suitcase had fallen apart, and a pretty older female student had been made to tie my tie, which was up there with some of the more embarrassing moments of my life. Worst of all, the moment we’d stepped into reception they’d confiscated my air forces. I’d been given slippers to wear for the rest of the day till I got the “appropriate footwear”. Stupid uniform, it’s not like anyone was going to be looking at my feet.
I trudged down the hallway, wiping sweat from my forehead as an assistant teacher led me to my homeroom class. Quinten had been taken ahead of me, whilst they’d stolen my shoes. I peered out the window down at the streets of New York. The school felt bigger than when I’d come for the exam, but I guess being on the fourth floor in a school really put things into perspective. The buildings were a bit too modern for my tastes, but who was I to complain, the facilities were way better than my middle school.
“So, are you nervous for your first day?” the assistant said turning to me. I shrugged.
“Uh not really? I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it” I lied, yawning.
“Oh, ok” she said. I glanced at her. She was slightly taller than me, with stylish pair of glasses and long blonde hair. Her name had been… Heather, I think. She’d seemed friendly enough even if she’d been reluctant to take me to homeroom, which I couldn’t exactly blame her for.
She frowned and paused, slowing down slightly. I was grateful, the speed we’d been walking at was making the slippers grind against the balls of my feet. I needed to get these off as soon as possible.
“Your name was Lucas right? Lucas Escarra?” she asked. I nodded.
“Does your sister go here?” she asked hesitant.
I felt my shoulders droop,
“Yeah. Not that she’d advertise the fact we were siblings. I think she was surprised I got in in the first place” I said dejectedly. Maria and I had never seen eye to eye, because of how uptight she was. She didn’t exactly get on with everyone, but she definitely had it out for me.
“Ah we’re here. Classroom 4-12” she said. She knocked on the door and the sound of a voice droning on came to a halt.
“Come in” the voice called out. Heather opened the door slightly and gave an apologetic smile.
“Apologies Ms Jane, I’ve brought the late student” Heather said.
“Thank you, Hailee” the teacher said, her voice surprisingly soothing when not projected through a metal door. Hailee, whose name I had gotten really wrong, stepped back from the door and motioned for me to go inside.
“Good luck” she whispered before walking off quickly.
I stepped into the classroom, a normal sized classroom with a large floor to ceiling window on the far side that overlooked the inner garden at the centre of the main building. That’s where things stopped looking normal. For some reason there weren’t any desks, the students seated around science tables instead. I looked over the group of twenty something students, all of them staring back at me intently. A few of the girls were cute which was a bonus. There were only sixty students in a cohort, and three homeroom classes. When you thought about it like that the school definitely felt oversized.
“Hello Lucas. You’re late, please sit down next to Yerin” the homeroom teacher said, her soothing voice lined with hints of annoyance. My eyes fixed upon her and I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. I’d seriously lucked out. Ms Jane was a seriously hot twenty-something, with a mess of frizzy red hair, and a beautiful face painted with freckles. She wore a well fitted black jumper over a white shirt, and blacks trousers.
“Uh wow… uh…sorry I’m late. Won’t happen again” I said stiffly.
“I’ll hold you to that. Being late on the first day doesn’t give me the best first impression, so you better not break any promises you make” she said.
“Ok” I said, before making my way over to my seat, celebrating internally. I sat down by the window next to Yerin, a cute girl with pale skin and shoulder length jet black hair. Was God making up for my journey here?
“Sorry about that students, now back to rule 12 of the general code of conduct. Always treat your fellow students with respect.”