Moving schools hadn't been hard in the past, it was change and I hadn't had enough time to settle or become attached. But this time was different. I'd spent five years with the same people at the same school doing the same thing but like things do, that had to change.
All the schools in Devon had shut down and been bulldozed.
The media called it an epidemic, no one knew why this had happened and teachers were just as clueless.
Within a month, there was no sign of education anywhere. For a kid, this was heaven, but then relocation happened. Of course it was bound to happen, the government couldn't just leave all the children without an education but still it was a shock.
I got relocated in a place near London, seven hours from my cosy countryside home, I still don't know the name of it, even after six months of being here. Luckily, Robyn, one of my extremely close friends who was the reason some people were still breathing, got relocated with me. Besides her, we were on our own, completely. I mean, I miss all of my other friends but I wasn't alone. My parents had to stay in Devon to continue their lives and maintain their normality and Robyn's parents, well, they were... indisposed. So, after a words with the government from my mother, we lived on our own in a nice little house within walking distance from our school. I guess we could say, we started out on benefits but not because we needed them, just as a permanent reassurance that we would never go hungry or get frost bite or something stupid like that. It was the governments way of showing the world it looked out for its youngsters!
The school itself wasn't bad, it had a sixth form and a recently added extension that now housed a college, the building surprisingly looked friendly, not in the 'I want to turn up to school everyday' kind of feel, more of a 'warm' feeling sort of place. But there was a drawback - the students. The other pupils instantly took a disliking to us, refusing to talk or interact with us. But being an outcast was something I was used to. Me and Robyn had started off by sticking to ourselves, not interacting, be secluded but after weeks of boredom, we needed something, anything to do. Yes, your average students don't own properties or run shops, but we were far from average.
Yep, we started a pet shop, not in the sense of it being a success, in the sense of we were that bored. It was kind of like a pet shop slash pet salon slash vets, you know? We hired some people to run it whilst we were at school and also some retired vets who were more than happy to help.
The pet shop is still running smoothly and nearly all the locals know us well. We still don't get on with anyone at the school but we couldn't care less. We enrolled as Bobbi Marshall and Fleur Rickard, we got a fresh start and so far - we loved it.
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Monday. Morning. Two words which should never be uttered in the same sentence unless the sentence is 'Monday morning is cancelled'. Me and Bobbi were sat in our tutor waiting for school to start. We did so every morning, the same thing, whilst we waited we spent about half an hour skyping all our buddies who were scattered across the country. It was the only way we all stayed connected now. When we all lived in Devon, every weekend we would meet up, now that was just a memory.
"Girls, phones away please," Miss Thathira called, setting down the pile of books and her laptop on the desk. "See ya guys," I said quickly before ending the call and putting my phone into my bag. Bobbi took out her earphones and I could hear the faint sound of Lucy Spraggan playing and smirked, Bobbi was one for a country singer. "What lessons do you have today Fleur?" Miss Thathira asked, wiping the whiteboard clean. I poked Bobbi until she pulled out her timetable, rolling her eyes at me. "Uh, Maths, English, Spanish, Art and then Free Period," I read of the sheet of paper, handing it back to Bobbi. Miss Thathira dashed to her desk, obviously remembering something she should have done, and pulled a few sheets of papers out of the draws. "These are for you," she said, cringing. I examined the papers only to realise they were maths papers. "Just curious, but are these due for today?" I asked, looking up slightly. Miss Thathira looked down, turning a vibrant shade of pink and she nodded her head, "I'll write you a note". I rolled my eyes at Bobbi, this was not the first time I had been given work late, Bobbi swatted me with her book and we both laughed.
