A quiet tapping noise rang across the room, as one of the pupils drummed their fingers on their desk. Sun shone through the window, reflecting off of a young girl's auburn hair as she sat in her chair, staring idly out of the large window next to her. She was, vaguely, paying attention to the teacher as he talked until he said her name. Then, her attention spiked, and she looked over at him.
"-Sara won the recent year-wide kendo competition, she and one other student are allowed to go to stay at the esteemed school, Hopes Peak," The teacher said. Other students made noises of happiness, annoyance and unfairness as Sara looked at her desk, a bored expression on her face. She knew that she would be excited when the week started, but right now? She was too tired to think properly. Seconds felt like hours, and she had to get home and pack to leave for that night. HPA was in the next city over, and so she needed to pack for overnight stays.
A loud noise pierced across the school's campus, and a storm of footsteps could be heard from everywhere, and the teacher shouted something about the bell not dismissing them.
"Bye, sir!" Came a loud, cheerful voice from by the door.
"Joe Tazuna, you cannot-"
"See you in a week!" Joe cried as he led the class out the door in a chaotic bundle of chatter. Sara ran up behind Joe, a displeased expression on her face. After a few moments of him looking nervously at her, and her gazing sternly at him, the pair broke out into laughter and headed out of school.
"Alright! This is your stop, Sara," Joe pointed out, grinning happily at a joke he'd just made. "Don't be late for the train, alright!"
"Wouldn't dream of it, Joe. But don't you go and be late either!"
Joe beamed at Sara, beads of sweat on his face, "N-no way! I'm never late!"
The redhead smiled, "Whatever you want to tell yourself, Joe."
"W-well, I have to pack! So I'll be going now!" Joe waved goodbye to his friend and continued his walk up the road. Sara sighed at his antics, but turned to her door and unlocked it with a click. Stepping inside, she flicked the lights on and ran upstairs. Her parents weren't in, but that wasn't unusual, they always came home later than her due to their jobs. Almost tripping due to her haste, she arrived at the door to her room and pushed it open.
Her room was an average size, with three pale blue walls and one pale green one. Her neatly made bed was in the corner, next to her wardrobe. She walked over the fluffy white carpet and over to it and looked through it for the suitcase she's packed earlier. After a few moments, she found it and tugged it out of her closet. Glancing at her clock, she noted that she had half an hour before she had to leave for the station, and so went downstairs with her case. Dropping it by the table in the hallway, she walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Once there she got to work making two sandwiches, one for her and one for Joe. She was working off of the assumption that he would forget to eat something before leaving, and if he did remember to eat... well, there's a first time for everything. As she spread the jam out on the sandwiches, the door to the house unlocked and a mans voice called out:
"Hello? Sara? Where are you honey?"
"In the kitchen dad!" She shouted back, "I'll be right out!" Packing the sandwiches into two Tupperware boxes, she took them with her back out into the hallway. Placing them in her backpack, she gave her dad a hug. "You're back early!" She exclaimed, grinning.
"Well my little girl is going away for a week! I couldn't just miss her leaving!"
"I'm not a little girl! I'm seventeen dad, jeez."
"You'll always be my little girl."
"Well," Sara smiled, "this 'little girl' is going to be late if you don't let her leave now."
