The Dragon Hunter- and the Lost Soul -

Chapter 4

Monday morning. Dreaded Monday morning. Amanda rolled over, as the sun from her window shone right into her slowly opening eyes. She groaned, lifting the blanket over her head, but she wasn't there for much longer before her mum began rapidly knocking on the door. "Come on Amanda. Time to get up!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Amanda groaned, slowly lifting her head above the covers.

"Hurry up. We need to leave soon! You don't want to be late on your first day of school," her mother said sharply. It was about two minutes later when Amanda finally sat up out of bed, rubbing her eyes with a tired expression. She looked over at her alarm which seemed to be working at a reasonable time of 7:34. Her dad still hadn't looked at it, but Amanda also hadn't had any weird things happen since 12am Sunday morning.

She walked to her wardrobe and slid open the doors. There, on a coat hanger, was her new school uniform, ironed from the night before. The girls' uniform had a white shirt with a blue tie. The skirt was made from the same material as the tie, and went down to her knees, which she found to be a reasonable length. Her winter jacket was beside it, all cozy and warm which she was obviously going to need.

She felt sick looking at the uniform though, as it was a constant reminder of a new school and a new environment she wanted no part in.

She got changed, packed her shoulder bag for school, and headed down to the living room.

"There you are," her brother sighed as he watched her slowly descend the stairs. "Can you go any slower? Mums already in the car."

"CaN yOu Go AnY sLoWeR?" Amanda repeated, mocking him in a high-pitched voice.

He waited for her to reach the bottom before handing her the car keys and walking out to the car, which had been parked out in the front yard. Amanda followed as slowly as she dared, making sure she locked the house as she exited the front door, as her father had already left for work by bus.

The trip to school was rather silent. Not much to be said, both Amanda and Robbie awaiting the entry to their new school, one less excited than the other. Although the conditions on the road were still new to Amanda, she had been placed behind the wheel for their first trip to school. She somewhat found it comforting watching the trees, which were so nice and fresh compared to the ones in New Mexico. It had been snowing as well lately, so all the trees seemed to be dusted in white, even though the snow hung heavily on the branches.

Amanda thought the scenery would've been the best part of her day, and before she was aware of where she was, her mother suddenly told her to turn right. Without arguing or even knowing where she was going, Amanda found herself driving through the gates of Harry Ainlay High. She gulped, searching for a car park.

It wasn't long after, that Amanda and Robbie were standing in the admin office, waiting to be told where their classes were.

It all happened so fast that Amanda had no time to recalibrate what she said or did. Beforehand, she'd had a whole idea laid out of how she'd react to every possible question or action, but now she found she'd already answered several questions without following her plan.

"So, are both of you excited to make some  new friends?" Their principal had asked, as she led them out of the office, towards their classrooms.

Robbie had shrugged, whilst Amanda merely continued walking with no sign she'd even heard, trying to dispose of the question while trying very hard not to be rude.

The school grounds were huge. Bigger than either of them had ever seen before.

Their old school was at least half the size and had nowhere near as many students, which was weird because their old school wasn't exactly small either.