breathe// 5SOS

86

"I know. This time, though, you aren't new. You have Sam and Amber, and Owen and Charlie, and Harry and Marcus. All your teachers will help,"

"I'm just nervous,"

"I know," I sympathised, "I will reply to your messages when I can,"

I took her hand and then grabbed her bag, Marcus following. He slung his into the backseat and climbed inside, while Ava quietly sat in the front.

"And Marcus, how are you feeling?"

"Fine,"

"Make a good impression, okay? I know you can be lovely, your teachers deserve that respect too,"

"Yeah. I'm meeting Harry at the gate,"

"That'll be good,"

"Yeah,"

I got that he didn't want to speak, so I turned the radio on quietly and stayed silent. The school was buzzing, full of bustling people when we arrived- clearly everyone had the idea to be early.

Marcus got out and spotted Harry, giving me a quick hug before rushing over, whereas Ava stayed beside me.

"Shall we go to the office, and find sir?"

"Okay," she squeaked, gripping my hand, "stay,"

"We are going to have a meeting ay?"

"Okay,"

I rubbed her hand as we walked, weaving between students until we found the office. I knocked on the door and Mr Carter appeared, giving Ava a warm smile.

"Mrs Lockheart wants to speak to us in her office," he said, "it's nice to see you again,"

"Why do we need a meeting?"

"Just to discuss things before class this afternoon,"

We sat down in the office, around a table, but it ended up with Ava hugging my body and the two of us opposite the others.

"Have you had a good summer?" Miss asked, "lots of fun?"

"I didn't want it to end,"

"I feel like that too," she laughed, "but school is back, and we need to shift our mind back to being focused,"

"Do I have lessons today?"

"You do. Maths and Biology,"

"No," she whispered, her already puffy eyes filling with more tears.

"Ava, you and I are going to draw some designs on your time out card which can't be used all the time, but if you really need a breather then you just set it down on the desk. We are also going through timetables with Charlie, and seeing how we are going to reach our top grades," Mr Carter said.

"I don't want to,"

"I know poppet," I said, watching tears stream down her face, "but you'll be amazing. Why don't you go with sir, and I'll be out soon,"

"I don't want lessons,"

"Hey, hey, remember the deep breaths. You will have a good seat, next to the desk, and it'll be super fun to learn. I'll come and see you again later,"

I kissed her head and she let go, following sir out of the room. This time round, she had handled it so much better, and I needed to make sure I made it clear that I was proud.

It was such a hard thing to do.

"Does Marcus know where he is going? I want to catch up with him later,"