The New girl

Mabel Jefferson drove into the school parking lot and looked around. So this is it, she thought, this is Good free High School. The school was big. It had two stories of red, brown brick. The students were already walking around the school, talking to friends, comparing their holidays. She found a car park and grabbed her school bag from the passenger seat of the car and set out for the school office. As she walked down the path following the big sign that said, Reception office this way, she could feel people staring. It was no wonder why they were staring. She was different. She fit in back home. This was different though, she had changed schools, changed towns, and her whole life had been turned upside down in one day.

About one month ago her life had changed for ever. She arrived home to find her parents gone. She just thought that they were held back in a meeting, or were going out for dinner. They always did stuff like that. Her parents were important people, she thought. They were both joint CEO of a major research firm in New York. They were always out with important people. Their careers took preference to their life with her. It had always been that way. She was raised by nannies and household staff. But that night everything had changed. By around midnight began to wonder what they were doing, so she called her mums mobile. Nobody picked up so she assumed that they were just staying in a hotel for the night. It would have been easier than driving home. She went to bed and decided that she would ask in the morning.

She was woken up by a banging sound on the front door. She looked over at her alarm clock and the light of the green light hurting her eyes, it read 2.58am. Maybe her parents were home and left their keys somewhere or lost them. She put on her dressing gown over her pyjamas. The floor was cold on the soles of her feet so she found her blue fluffy slippers and slipped them on her feet. She got the front door just as the knocking started again. She opened the door to two uniformed police officers. She just stared for a minute; her brain still had not woken up properly.

"Miss Jefferson?"

Mabel took a minute to register that they were talking to her. The first officer looked at her expectantly. He turned to his partner and shared a cautious look. The fog in her brain clear slightly to register that there were two police officers looking for her. She quickly thought why they would want her. She had a few parking tickets that she hadn't got around to paying, but then why would they come to follow them up at three o'clock in the morning?

"Um, yes...can I help you?" she asked, her voice was still thick with sleep. She really wasn't a morning person, especially at three o'clock in the morning; it should be illegal to be awake at this time. The uniformed officers relaxed slightly, determining that she was indeed Mabel Jefferson and the one on the left smiled.

"My name is Officer Smith and this Officer Paulson, we were wondering if we could come in please?" he asked.

Mabel opened the door and stood back motioning to them to come in. They walked through the door and looked around. She led them through to the sitting room and gestured to them to have a seat. The she realised that the feeling in her stomach was fear, something that she wasn't used to. The sleep had completely disappeared and her brain was ticking fast. This could only be a bad thing, like something from a bad drama movie, when the police brought the news of the death of a loved one. Mabel felt her blood freeze; her parents.

"What's going on" her voice was calm, a miracle seeing as she felt like she was about to fall apart.

"We are sorry to tell you Miss Jefferson, but there was an accident. Your parents were driving home from a social engagement this evening when their car drove off the road" he sounded sincerely sorry. Mabel just stared at them, her eyes darting between them. She was waiting for them to say "Joking" or "just fooling you". But they both sat there, watching her face like they were expecting her to turn hysterical, watching her cautiously. She felt cold; a shiver went down her spine. She guessed she was in shock. Her parents were dead. They were gone. What was she going to do she thought? She had no other family that she knew of, and she refused to live with those people that pretended to be her friends, they wouldn't take her either.