‘Hiru, darling! Come on! You’re going to be late for your first day of school!’ Veridia called up from the entrance way, Hiru could practically hear her checking her gold wrist watch. Hiru brushed his hair again, trying to get his bangs to lay just so. They had to be perfect. This was his very first day of school as a big kid and he had to make a good impression, both on the teacher and on the other students. The weight of being Veridia’s child ever oppressive. He had known many of them for years, but knew there would be new faces joining the class this year, their kindergarten class leaving the vestiges of play and entering the classroom.
His mother appeared at the doorway to his rooms, looking harried and annoyed, a small frown on her face, making her sharp fox-like eyes look even sharper. ‘Darling, I really don’t have time for you to be late,’ her hand on her hip, the slim gold watch peeking out from her sleeve, the diamond face glittering as she turned her wrist, sleek cream pantsuit a striking contrast with her long dark curly hair, brushed back from her face but not tamed. It was her look, as the stylist had advised, something that made her stand out from the other public figures.
Hiru pulled the brush through his hair one more time, his bangs curling slightly over his eyes, before setting it down and fetching his bag. His mother sighed, bending on her knee to fix his school uniform tie for him. ‘You don’t need to worry so much, no one would dare to say anything, even if you went in your pajamas.’ Hiru knew she was trying to be comforting, but she had never exactly excelled in that particular area, despite all her other talents.
They stepped into the waiting hovercar, the sleek craft silently rising in the air before pulling out of their gated estate. Verro, his mother’s personal assistant of several years, the only one to consistently meet Veridia’s high standards, greeted them politely, his eyes kind as he smiled at Hiru before handing Veridia her itinerary for the day. Veridia flipped through it before tossing it on the seat next to her and pinching the bridge of her nose with one manicured hand, sighing. ‘Call Gual and invite him and his family to dinner this weekend. We need to get ahead of the new toxic waste disposal regulations, lobby for some leeway before they’re implemented. Hiru,’ she said, shifting from Verro to her son, ‘be sure to make friends with Iseult, it wouldn’t hurt if you and Gual’s daughter are on good terms.’
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Hiru wrinkled his nose in distaste. Of all the people his mother could have asked him to befriend, Iseult was the most annoying, even if she was the councilman's only daughter. First of all, she was a girl. And not just the ordinary kind either, but the most pink-loving girly girl of all. And the only boy she liked was her older brother Mnomo. There was no chance of a friendship between them. But he didn’t say any of that, his mother didn’t take well to things not going according to her plans.
The car pulled onto the school’s long driveway, an imposingly long wooded road that was probably intended to impress upon those driving down it that their expensive tuition was worth the price. They pulled around to the entrance, into a line behind other vehicles at the drop off point. Veridia tapped her manicured finger on her crossed leg impatiently while Hiru looked out the window at the other students. Older children walked passed chatting happily, disembarking from the school’s hover buses, having chosen to commute without their parents.
A young girl with long black hair about Hiru’s age was being peppered with kisses from her mother and grandmother with an expression of resignation on her face. She didn’t know how good she had it, Hiru thought with some bitterness and no small trace of longing. He looked at his own mother, hoping for an encouraging word, even her backhanded reassurance would be appreciated now that they were at the cusp of the drop off point, but she was busy on her vid screen, her fingers flying across the keypad, preparing for her first meeting of the day.
Verro caught his eye, and made a face of support, his hand fisted with his thumb up in a ‘you can do it’ gesture. Hiru smiled half-heartedly and got out of the hovercar, his shoulder bag dragging behind him.