Stella's POV
The best time for new beginnings, is now. For the first time since I've started at Minehead Academy, I can actually find this quote relatable. Even before I started school here, I knew that my home situation must be kept a secret if I wanted to befriend my new classmates and not be bullied.
On the first day of school, I was a total wreck of nerves because I knew that settling in a new environment isn't easy. However, even though I had mentally prepared myself for this day, the shock had hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water thrown over my head: I hadn't expected to be picked on by the most popular girl in the year group. Imagine, Storm had already started being mean to me in tutor time!
Just like at every secondary school, every student always follow the popular ones because they're scared of having their reputation ruined and that's why I always had to spend my break and lunch wandering the empty school corridors, trying to find something to occupy my time until lessons started. As more days passed, that bucket of water I had thrown over my head on the first day seeped more into my bones; I thought that's how the rest of my Minehead Academy life would be.
Fortunately, things took a turn after Storm discovered that I live in foster care(I have Josh to thank for that). On Monday, in tutor time, she invited me to sit on her table. Happiness coursed through my veins as this could have been a good sign...and it was. Whenever we were in the same classes, I walked to lessons with Storm, Sophie and Emma. Sophie didn't seem to mind that I had joined them but unfortunately, I can't say the same for Emma. For the whole week, she's been muttering rude remarks under her breath and on a few occasions, Storm caught her(it was hilarious watching her tell off her BFF) but on those she didn't, I just ignored her.
Nothing could ruin my good mood. I was soaring above the white, fluffy clouds.
"Earth to Stella!"
Kate snaps me out of my thoughts. I assume that she was talking to me but I have no clue of what.
"Were you even listening to me, Stella?" Kate asks.
The confused look on my face answers her.
"I give up on you. Every time I try to have a conversation with you, it seems like you're in your own world."
"Sorry, Kate. From now on, I'll try and pay attention a bit more," I declare," So, what were you saying?"
Kate sighs, not out of frustration.
"How has your day been?" she repeats her question, which I guess she asked me while I had switched my hearing off.
"Good," I say and for once, I'm not lying.
Today's Friday, which means I haven't at all felt lonely once this week.
"I bet you're relieved it's the weekend," Kate suggests, smiling.
She's right and wrong. I am tired and looking forward to sleeping in but, I'm not as much dreading for Monday as I used to before.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storm's POV
Saturday Morning
The sound of rustling and shuffling disturbs my sleep. I rub my eyes tiredly. My bedroom is pitch-black, meaning that it must be early in the morning.
What had woken me up? As if in response, a dark silhouette moved across my room, the sound of footsteps following it. While the shadow approached me, a trail of musky perfume filled my nostrils.
"River?" I call out.
"Shush!" my sister hushes me," I wasn't expecting you to be awake."
"What are you doing out of bed at this time? Why are you even in my room? What do you want? What time is it?" I half-whisper and half-hiss.
"Maybe, if you'd actually stop talking, I could get the chance to explain what's going on."
"Can you blame me? A. It's Saturday. B. It's the morning. C. I was sleeping."
"If you're just gonna moan at me, then I won't answer your questions!"
Instantly, I clamp my mouth shut. Noticing this, River perches on the end of my bed.
"Ouch!" I whimper in pain as she squashes my legs.
"Sorry!"
River shimmies so that I can move my legs elsewhere.
"Ok?" she asks.
"Yep."
"It's six o'clock. I'm going to take a train to Bristol-."
That's when I realise that River's not wearing her pyjamas and slippers but, instead, a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, her coat and her pair of boots.
"Why?"
I forget to whisper and speak at my normal volume.
"They're sleeping!" River half-whispers and half-screeches.
"I'm guessing that Mum and Dad don't know?" I prompt.
"Of course not! Every child knows that you shouldn't wake your parents up when they're sleeping, otherwise you're just asking for them to be moody for the whole day."
I stifle a giggle because, for once, my older sister is telling the truth.
"As I was saying, I'm going take a train to Bristol. It's for my uni course. I'm gonna visit a hospital there."
"What time are you gonna be back?" I question.
"7. Maybe 8."
"What do I tell Mum and Dad?" I ask.
"I've left them a note on their bedside table, telling them everything I've told you."
At the same time she says this, she glances at her watch.
"I've got to go, sis. I'm gonna miss my train," she explains," Bye."
"Bye," I repeat.
River tiptoes out of my bedroom, down the stairs and out of the door. From my bedroom window, I watch her walk in the darkness until I fall asleep.
DU LIEST GERADE
THE PAINFUL TRUTH
Aktuelle Literatur'Our greatest challenge isn't speaking up against our enemies, but defying those whose approval we seek the most'. Storm Jackson is a thirteen-year-old girl who everybody envies. She's smart, popular and pretty, with well-off parents and a big house...
