Claire Jones

Well Spent: Chapter 1

R-I-I-I-I-ING!!! R-I-I-I-NG!!! The school bell assaults our ears, shocking up everyone from the casual morning atmosphere. The frenzied students flock towards the assembly hall like birds disturbed in a jungle. They pick up their pace, rushing and pushing each other, forming a hectic whirlwind around Lyssa and I. A muffled voice comes through the speakers all over the school. It mumbles something but the ringing covers it up. Lyssa and I focus our attention at the speaker in the corner of the ceiling, trying our hardest to catch the message. "I repeat! New students, please gather in the auditorium!" The ringing stops. The corridor turns into an empty space of silence.

We follow a brief passage, meeting a balcony that runs in parallel to the vanilla walls of St. Antelope High. The balcony forms a neat brown ring that climbs up another two floors. Meanwhile, the soft morning sun shines through the thick glass ceiling above the ring, brightening up the tiles on the basement floor. Our stiff canvas shoes make loud stomping sounds on the staircase as we carry ourselves up to the top floor.

From there, we continue towards a row of three high arches that leads to the auditorium. An antelope head hangs over the top of each arch. The fur, the sheen on their antlers, their calm faces. They look so real. They could very well be alive just hours ago except that they're still, somewhat alive, but unmoving. They show no sign of struggle or pain despite being cut off from their bodies. My eyes fixate on the one above the middle arch. In a split second, its upper eyelids move down and up again. Did it just blink at me? I rub my eyes and squint at it. Its obsidian eyes stay open, locked in a distant gaze. "Did you see that?" I mutter.

"See what?" Lyssa raises her brow at me. Come on, Claire. Snap out of it. I shake myself back to reality. Lyssa looks at her red wristwatch and gasps. "Come on, or we're going to be late!" She grabs my hand and whisks me into the auditorium. We walk across the parquet floor, blending ourselves into the assembly of students, all in white tops and blue plaids.

Two women wrapped in baggy brown robes enter the auditorium from a little brown door in front of the auditorium. Set on their heads are a pair of antelope antlers that signify their identities as Antelopean nuns. One of them, a plump woman, stands herself before the lively crowd. "Quiet down!" she barks. The loud chattering fades quickly into silent obedience. Her tan skin and fiery mid-length hair makes her an intimidating figure. Her brows arch high over her eyes, giving her an angry disposition despite wearing a neutral expression.

The other woman is a thin nun with fair skin. She steps forward to approach the crowd. Unlike her colleague, she is a figure of grace. Her platinum blond hair is coiled into a braided bun, seamlessly hiding the base of the Antelopean antlers in her hair. As she stretches her arms out, her long trumpet sleeves hang with a straight edge from her arms. She stands, regal like a queen. "Welcome to St. Antelope. Please be seated." Her hands wave towards the ground. We sit down with our legs crossed. "When you hear your name, please head over to the left and sit in a straight line," she instructs. She opens the register in her hands and begin calling out our names one by one.

Just then, a familiar voice comes from behind us, "Hey girls." We turn around. Our eyes widen and our mouths open.

"Calvin??" Lyssa and I blurt out almost at the same time. Seeing him here is a surprise indeed. His mother has been a resident teacher of Kaki Hantu High for nearly a decade and she watches his ins and outs like a hawk. It would make more sense for him to be there.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"What everybody's doing here?" he says plainly in a matter-of-fact tone. He turns to a tall boy sitting behind him. Calvin taps on his shoulder and the boy turns his head to face us.

"Raju?" I look closer. "Is that you?" Seeing him in St. Antelope's school uniform strikes me dumb for a second. St. Antelope's plaids do little to match Raju's sporty, bubbly personality. It's a big change from the orange basketball jerseys he wore so often in primary school.

"Eyyy! Claire! Lyssa! So glad of you to join us," he says, making some space for us. It's funny how he stresses on the first syllable of every word. "What brings you here?"

"Erm... our parents?" I mutter.

"Of course!" he says, laughing. I glance at the circle of people laughing along with him. I recognize them from the school I came from. There's Sue Li with her large black-rimmed glasses; Ming, Raju's buddy; the twins, Jazz and Ian; Lucy; and her friend, Mira who looks amazing in the Muse-lyn version of St. Antelope's uniform – a sheer white headscarf that covers her chest; a white long-sleeved blouse that cascades down to her thighs, cinched at the waist with a thin ivory sash. Under her top is a blue skirt that drapes down past her ankles in St. Antelope's plaids. It's always interesting to see what the Muse-lyns come up with. They're just so good with fashion that their uniforms differ from school to school and region to region, but one thing's constant – they're required to keep themselves covered from head to toe almost all the time. They're fashionably modest to say the least.

It's been a good twenty minutes since the bell rang. The late students stroll in one by one into the auditorium. Among them is a familiar face from my previous school. I wave for his attention. He breaks into a smile and waves his hand to acknowledge me. My cheeks flush in pink. The sunlight from St. Antelope's glass-stained windows reflect like jewels on his pale golden skin as he struts in our direction. My heart skips a beat and I'm giddy with excitement. His gorgeous face glows under the sun's rays, and his copper hair cascades from his crown in loose ringlets. This is Christopher and he's the closest we'll ever get to a prince. "He's here!" Lyssa chuckles.

From the floor, a hand yanks on the leg of his pants, forcing him to crouch down for a seat. I look over at him. Instead, a pair of amber eyes meet mine, narrowing at me in disgust.

"Ugh! I can't believe she used to be our friend!" I grumble.

"Yeah, until she had her windfall. Now we're the bottom of the social ladder," Lyssa mumbles.

That's Catherine, our ex-best friend. She used to have sleepovers with Lyssa and I for years; then last May, her father won one of the biggest lottery jackpots in the history of Grande Salade. After a week, she had a brand new posse and the rest was history.

"We're not the bottom of the social ladder!" I counter. I turn back to Raju. "So, why did your parents send you here?" I ask.

"They had some bad bullying cases in Kaki Hantu High last year," Calvin cuts in. "The grown-ups got mad. I guess that's why we're here.

"And they think bullying wouldn't be bad here too?" My eyes dart a glance at Catherine, remembering how she once locked Calvin in the girls' bathroom for three hours. 

"Why didn't the rest come here too then?" I ask, referring to my other primary schoolmates who appear absent from the auditorium.

"Dey're not here because dey don't 'ave any money," Raju giggles in his usual sing-song voice, turning his palms up repeatedly. I giggle at his remark. He's got a point.

"Welcome to the Catherine empire," Lyssa sighs.

"Just because Catherine's here doesn't mean I'll let her ruin my life. Come on, it's a fresh start," says Calvin.

"You know, you're right." I put my arms around Calvin and Lyssa. "We have each other. What can possibly go wrong?"