Friday was supposed to be alright. . . heck, the week was supposed to be alright but then, our adviser, just this homeroom had to come.
From the moment I saw her during the first day, I know I wouldn't get along well with her. She's already about in her forties, some grey hair showing up here and there already, and with the strictest voice that signifies she'd kill you if you put one toe out of line.
I won't give her a headache. . . at least not now. I'm still familiarising myself with the place.
Just a few minutes before the bell rung, she said, "One last reminder. . ."
She started walking around the class, looking at us directly. Some of them couldn't even look at her eye to eye but I've been so used to that, I managed to.
"On Monday morning, I want each and everyone of the gentlemen to have the standard, proper haircut," She said.
And I forgot about that teeny tiny detail. My eyes widened, of course I won't be exempted. I don't want to cut my hair! I've gone for a bit of trouble just to have it grown again, now they just want me to cut it?!
"None of you will be an exception," She said and then looked right at me. She points to my curls using her ruler while saying, "I want these curls gone by Monday, understood?!" And she yelled the last part.
Oh great, now she recognised me and that meant I really have to cut my hair. . . damn.
"Yes, ma'am," I said politely, when in reality, I am muttering curses about how she should forget about such a little thing.
Honestly, what's a haircut got to do with learning?! So long as I can see through properly, and I'm learning, what's the bad side of having my own hairstyle?!
And then she turned away, doing the same thing with everyone with awful haircuts, only with different phrases but with the same meaning.
"I don't freaking want to cut my hair!" I yelled at Niall once we are inside the room. "What the bloody hell has that got to do with education?!" I yelled, "I mean come on!"
I yelled it the way Jim Carrey did in one of his movies.
I dropped my bag at the doorway and pulled my hair like I'm going crazy. I keep groaning and groaning in annoyance while Niall laughed at me.
"Harry, that's just standard rules. If you break that, then bye bye Canada," He teased but it is, in fact, true.
"Fine!" I said, partly grumbling. "I don't even want to stay here anyways. Have fun." I sunk on my bed and then pulled the covers above my head.
"You say that like you haven't had fun," He said.
"I haven't!" I yelled, and I'm lying. "Come on, Niall, how do you expect me to have fun when there's the rules-police on my arse every minute of the day!"
Niall didn't take it personally. He laughed again, "You'll get used to it," He said. "You have to."
I rolled my eyes and closed them after, not bothering to reply to Niall. Come on! Most of the schools had already given freedom to their students, why can't Hansson give that to theirs?! It's just a haircut! That will never affect the student's capability to learn.
But then again, they're the adults, they run the place, they're older so that meant I'm overruled even though there's most likely a million out there who has the same opinion.
Monday rolled in pretty quick, most of the folks that had known me complimented about my new haircut, I always politely reply but, inside, that never helped my rebellious mind. I might take this prank resistance out a bit earlier. Honestly, I don't want to cause trouble during the first month, I really want to figure this place out for now.
The whole weekend consisted of me running around, boarding, walking and exploring the place. I've counted the many places I can hide in, use for rendezvous, and a load more stuff to use them for. . . I've found places to put some colour in as well.
I kept scratching my head for the rest of the weekend because I felt like there is always something missing. . . and there is! I know that, my curls are gone! The sides, are completely thinned out while the top just had these quiffs but other than that. . . gone!
"Stop scratching!" Niall said, he also got a haircut, but that's his usual hairstyle and of course he's used to it. I even asked him earlier about why he's still got blond hair when he is a natural brunet but he said that's the way they've known him and that's the way it'll remain. . . and I accused him for being a liar –which he is.
I kept scratching, "Easy for you, my curls are gone!" I yelled. Heads all over the halls turned to look at me yet ignored me just a second after.
Now that the first week is over, we are obliged –no, actually mandated– to wear our uniforms. Don't get me wrong, they are actually quite comfortable and have very likeable colours, but to me, it makes a place full of students, for example hallways and schools, plain. We are all at the same colour and it seemed a bit more like we're controlled. Despite that, I love the uniform.
It almost looks like a three-piece suit but just almost. Light grey shirt on the inside with a black sweater on it and a plain black tie. Also, added with dark grey slacks and of course, black shoes. It's the same with the ladies although instead of slacks, they wore checkered black, grey and white skirts above their knees and black stockings.
Yes, we are plain in colour though I can never say no to black. It's the most satisfying uniform I've ever had, actually.
But still, the haircut thing is annoying!
"I said, stop scratching," Niall ordered like a boss.
I rolled my eyes and continued scratching as I know it'll annoy him. "Make me."
"One of these days. . .," he mumbled, groaning.
"Oh I hope getting my hair cut is worth it," I said. "Because if it isn't, trust me, I'll make it worth it," and then I warned.
He shrugged in an obviously bored way. "When that day comes," he smirked, "better prepare yourself too, amigo."
"Oh is that how it's gonna be?" I asked, chuckling since I sense a bit mischief in his tone. Even though it meant busting my ass if I make a mistake, it'll be a fun game. Honestly, it'll make my life here in Canada more exciting.
"Oh that is how it's gonna be," He replied, chuckling as well. I know that tone when I hear it. . . games.
But, like in any other game, I've got to have a strategy, right now all I can think of is: wait. Wait for the right moment.
Classes were alright, our adviser, old Mrs. Gordon smirked in satisfaction as she found out most of her students have standard haircuts. . . apart from a couple of them who disregarded the rules.
Nope, I definitely do not like other rule breakers apart from my friends.
During lunch time, I ordered Mac and Cheese and I went forward to the gang. Of course, I had a decent talk with all of them. This time, I've got a spot in between Ronnie and Niall while in front of me is pretty lady Kendall, beside her is the ever-prim Taylor.
"Mac and cheese? I'm sort of already sick with that," Kendall commented.
I shrugged as I nibbled on a few bits of my food, and then I swallowed, "Can't complain about that, love. It's delicious," I replied, licking my lips.
Kendall rolled her eyes with a scoff while the rest of them jeered for a bit –of course except for Victorian Era.
"Oh Harry, not Kendall," Niall said, probably misreading what I just did. Well, it's a bit misleading anyways.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Her boyfriend is in the Hockey team, not a good person to rival with," Berlyn said.
"Ah," I said. "Don't worry, love, no flirting," I told Kendall and she smiled. And then I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, "I wasn't flirting anyways."
Ronnie laughed, seemingly, he's the only one who heard it, thank God.
When a few moments have passed, I couldn't help but notice the Queen of Silence seated on our table.
"Hey," I called her. This time, she seemed to be aware that I'm finally calling for her.
Taylor looked up, taking a split second to look for me and then both her eyebrows raised, "Hmm?"
Honestly, I've never seen Taylor Swift without a neatly styled hair apart from the first day of classes. And none of them are constant. Unlike the rest, she tends to change her hairstyle. I'd usually see her hair in different styles of braids, everything seemed to be perfect on her actually. Today, it's a side braid starting from the right side of her head to the left, the braids practically stuck to her head. . . that seemed painful.
When I snapped out, I realise, I didn't have any back up question to ask her. I asked what first came to my mind. "Uhh, well, how are you?" I asked.
"Uhh, good?"
I almost laughed at her answer. Also honestly, I don't even know if she's just that way or there is something in her aura that's just really bothering me. "Course you are." Doesn't seem like it though.
It's a bit strange to see her in a dark uniform when all this time I've been seeing her wearing white. Of course, she changed her set of clothes everyday but still, the sight of her wearing clothes completely opposite of white is sort of distracting.
"What about you?" She asked.
"Honestly?"
"Yes?"
Only then has it occurred to me that we've been asking questions to each other. I answered anyways, "Life's full of complaints, honestly."
She laughed a bit, "It's quite normal." Only now have I realised that her way of speaking is a bit different from them. I have a bit of conclusion that she may not be Canadian but, I'm not so sure.
"Don't worry, princess. I'm used to it," I replied. I said that to see if she's anyway interested in the conversation, I tried testing her. It's the same with Facebook Messenger, I end my replies like that to see if they are interested, if they're not, then I might as well leave them alone.
"Do you like our school so far?" She asked, and I smiled a bit, acknowledging the fact that she's not uninterested, and that's very awesome to me.
"So far," I answered, lacking the reserved appeal that she always had.
"Or maybe I've asked you too soon?" She asked. "It's still the second week after all and--"
I heard something, like a ring and she immediately stood up. "I'll see you later," She said. Taylor took her bag and ran all the way out of the cafeteria, leaving me absolutely flummoxed. Even with her in a hurry, there is still that unusual grace, and that confused me even more.
Niall must have seen me, hanging over there so he elbowed me. "Eh, typical Taylor. She's a bit strict about time."
"How strict?" I asked, time pressured people tend to be a bit grouchy oftentimes. Though, I've never seen Taylor like that, she's just a bit gloomy, that's all.
"Very," Jhanelle answered it for him then went back to her conversation with Marshal.
"Hermione Granger to Miss Peregrine, how strict?" I asked, referring to the two time-strict characters I've thought of.
"Definitely Miss Peregrine," Niall replied right away which meant Taylor is really strict.
I huffed, "I honestly find that a bit annoying."
Kendall rolled her eyes, I forgot about her. "Look, if you're going to talk about my best friend like that, try not to say it right in front of me. . . or don't say that at all." She frowned and I understand.
I nodded, "Sorry." Another uptight student. "Didn't mean it in an offensive way, I'm just stating it out."
"Have a filter system next time, it's not like you're a Candor anyways," She muttered and I've caught that.
"A what?" I asked.
"A Candor?"
Oh man. "You watched Divergent? Really? What other movies have you watched?" I asked.
Her eyes widened, "Don't tell me you're a movie-freak."
Niall laughed, "Congratulations, Harry, one spotted," He said, confirming my thoughts.
"Oh great, here it comes," Jhanelle said, rolling her eyes.
Kendall had shown her movie-side self, asking me questions about her favourite movies. I've watched them, but that doesn't mean I really liked them, I just know a few bits of fun facts here and there.
I've talked with Kendall for the rest of the afternoon, oftentimes, it's just about the movies. And then after, she went to her boyfriend while I came to town once again, exploring the old place.
Niall told me earlier that maybe we should spend more time outside although, he knows me too well that I won't agree until we do something out of the old habit. And because of that, he keeps pushing away his own idea.
Honestly, I don't know what happened to Niall. He can't just change all of a sudden, he can't just forget that life. I always try to guess what but he doesn't want to tell me. All he does say is he just woke up like that. No one just does that!
So I can up with a bunch of theories, for one, including being heartbroken by a girl. It's unlikely but, I've got to think of something to get my head going. I'm just going to have to investigate for a few moments.
But, maybe I'll start that for tomorrow.
The next morning, as I was playing with my cards and walking towards my next class, –which I'm too early for– I heard someone called me.
When I turned around, it happened to be Aerielle. She said she arrived almost the same time I did and since we're a but early, we can just hang out in their usual place.
I've been here for week but I never knew anything about their hang-out place.
"Sure, should be fun," I replied.
"Jhanelle brought her guitar today so expect a noisy hang-out time," Aerielle said.
"She did?" I asked. "I didn't know she can play, let alone have one."
She shrugged, "Oh well, you've been here a week so you can't know everything."
Actually, I wanted to know everything and I've checked their bios already so that meant I know about almost fifty percent of them.
"Besides, we're all dying for a jamming time. We didn't get to have much during the summer," Aerielle continued, and I liked her way of giving information, it's not at all boring. "Can you play the guitar?" She asked.
I shook my head, "No. I'm not much into musical instruments." I replied. Correction: I just haven't played some in a long time.
"Aww, too bad. You should see the group, we're enthusiastic," She replied and then walked a bit faster so I kept up.
We reached the stairs to the third floor and pretty much, I've heard a group singing. No doubt, the loudest ones being Jhanelle's and Marshal's. They are singing one of Miley's songs, this one, Party in the USA.
They were sitting on the steps, Jhanelle holding her black guitar and playing it while singing, Berlyn right besides her, and then Niall while in the lower step is Marshal playing with his phone yet still singing the loudest, Kendall and then Ronnie. Aerielle sat with them and started singing as well.
I wondered if the school would mind this noise in the halls, but they didn't mind it. I asked Niall why and he told me it's because the school's greatest achievements were all from music so they tend to support every student that has a knack for it. . . I can't say I'll argue with that ideal because, that is awesome.
Niall's group of friends seemed alright to me. Honestly, I'm amazed of their bonding, they're this combination of unique yet the same individuals. It's rather hard to put it into words.
When the bell rung, we all head to our designated classroom. Luckily, I had at least one of them in every class.
Again, the only class I've focused too much on is World History, I get caught up with the best discussions, I tend to recite quite more often than I usually would.
Once lunch time rolled around, we found ourselves in the cafeteria again, aging and chattering like normal students.
Looking around the table, there's only one person missing from the group. . . and she's been missing since earlier. I wonder how busy that girl is to always miss the fun time.
"Stop. . ." Niall took a deep breath as he looked at me, "scratching."
I frowned, yet I still scratched my head. Even though days had already passed since I got my haircut, I've never really been comfortable with it, much less stop the scratching.
"Whoa, chill out, Niall," Berlyn said, "He's just uncomfortable. Aren't you, Harry?"
I nodded and took a sip from my juice. "Definitely."
"Well, get used to it, then," He mumbled.
I smiled at his annoyed adult tone. "Yes, father," I said and some of them around the table giggled. "You need to loosen up, Niall, breathe sometimes."
"Sometimes, but not always," He replied. "Speaking of breathing sometimes, where the hell is Taylor?" He asked and we all looked at only one person, Kendall. . . who is currently drinking from her juice pouch.
Kendall put down the juice pouch and then raised an eyebrow, "What are you guys looking at me for?" She asked. To be honest, Kendall looks pretty despite that bad girl appeal. . . but then I remind myself, no thoughts like that, she's got a boyfriend.
"Duhh, maybe because you're her best friend," Jhanelle said, taking a fry and eating it.
Kendall shrugged, "I wouldn't know, that girl's schedule is hectic, you'd think she's some popstar on a tour." She almost sounded like she was whining right there.
Although, good comparison. . . Taylor Swift is definitely a Miss Peregrine time-strict kind-of-girl.
"Why is her schedule hectic anyways?" I asked.
"Oh here goes," Niall said.
"President of the theatre club," Berlyn answered.
"VP of the Glee club," Kendall added.
"Member of the Chess team," Marshal said.
"Handler of the Student Council on Foreign Programs," Niall added along.
"Also, helps out in the library," Kendall said.
"Plus the schedule that her parents gives her, that comes with learning languages, musical instrument tutorials and courteousness lessons in the weekends," Berlyn added.
"Lastly, member of the Math, History, Literature, Music and Science teams," Jhanelle said with a bright finish.
My jaw dropped. I haven't known one person can do all of those. If that was me, I would rather die. I wouldn't be able to live up to that kind of pressure. Especially with parents like that.
"Uh--" I didn't know what to say but I thought of something anyways. "That's sort of enough extra curricular for Ivy League schools," I said.
"Definitely," Niall said. "But I don't think she's interested."
"Well, she's never interested," Kendall said. Hearing it from her best friend that she's not actually interested in those stuff makes me a bit sad.
The subject must have gone a bit deeper than expected so immediately, Jhanelle changed the subject, "You guys remember the time when we went out for Christmas Carols?"
And so the topic went.
After all of our classes, they invited me to hang out at the mall once more although I declined. One reason is to explore the place again.
I kept walking until the bridge I stayed in last time is within my vision. I walk towards it, playing with my cards and listening to music.
My day is alright so far.