1.
Five years later- Year 12 for Mason & Year 11 for Darcy
“Darcy! Wake up, you’re late!” I could hear some scurrying around outside of my bedroom. I tried to open my eyes but my eyelids were far too heavy. I drifted back in to the world of dreams and tried to forget the fact that I had to wake up for school about twenty minutes ago. I closed my eyes for no longer than a few seconds before my mother burst in through the door and dropped a wet flannel on my face. I immediately opened my eyes, wide and alert. My mother only ever got the wet flannel out when she was angry.
I stood up and the cold bed room air attacked my body. I immediately shivered and I could feel the goose pimples rising on my skin. I ran into the bathroom and turned on the shower I got in and let the warm water loosen my muscles and wake me up. I grabbed my shampoo and squirted a blob of the pink liquid in to my palm and slowly massaged it into my long brown hair. I rubbed the shampoo deep into my scalp; my shower was my favourite part of the morning. I thought that it was calming and it helped to prepare me for the rest of the day. The moment I stepped out of the door I didn’t feel safe anymore. I was content at home, that was my place, my place to relax, my place to worry and my place to go when I had problems. After my shower I carefully stepped out of the shower and brushed my teeth. After I applied my moisturiser and added my serum to my hair, I walked into my bedroom to find my older sister raiding my wardrobe. Her long blonde hair was tied in a messy bun on top of her hair and her white dressing gown was falling down her shoulder.
“What are you doing?” She jumped, surprised by my entrance but she did this all of the time these days.
“I am searching for something to wear!” she started throwing all my useless clothes onto my bedroom floor and I could see her role her eyes. She pulled her dressing gown back up her shoulder, grabbed a handful of clothed and walked out of my room.
“Amalie! When you get home tonight you had better clear this all up, I’m not doing it!” I shouted as she walked gracefully out of my room. When we were younger, I was always the angelic sister, however as I have gotten older I have got a lot less elegant where as Amalie could be wearing six inch Jimmy Choo heels with one heel missing and still manage to stay up right.
I started to try and distinguish my uniform under the rubble that is my clothes. I picked up my navy blue blazer after it has fallen of the clothing hanger and I tried to find one of my nice new shirts, which had not turned a vile colour after being washed in a wrong wash. I found my red tie flung around the door handle and my pale skin coloured tights were laying on the floor beside my bed. Lastly I tried to find my navy skirt but I couldn’t find it. I started throwing all the clothes on my floor to the other side of my room to see if I could get to the bottom of the pile. I was running around in a shirt and tights panicking about being late. I had exactly twenty minutes before I had to leave the house, and I still had to do my hair and put on some make up.
I went to find my mom to ask if she had seen it, but as usual she took one glance and found it straight away, typical mother. I went back into the bathroom and found Tyler in front of the mirror styling his short blonde hair the exact same shade as Amalie. Lots have people have told me that my family is perfect, however I beg to differ. My older brother and sister are twins, they look very alike, they both have soft blonde hair that is the same shade as my mother, and their eyes are both blue again like my mother, however that is where the similarities with my mother stop. Both of my siblings have exactly the same shape nose as my dad and exactly the same face shape as my dad. My friend thinks that to have an older brother is to have a protector, but my older brother enjoys winding me up, and tormenting me and my sister and I do not really get along all that well, but I know that if I had a problem I could go to her for advice.
Both Amalie and Ryan got the looks of the family, I have long brown hair that falls down the side of my face, and my eyes and my pale skin make the dark circle under my eyes look even more prominent. The only part of my face that I actually like is my eyes. Golden. I have always had complements on my eyes; they are the first thing that people notice on me. Unlike Amalie I have quite a curvy figure. Amalie has long thin legs and a lovely olive shade skin, whereas I have long legs, a thin waist and quite a good bust area- for a 15 year old however I prefer to keep it too myself.
I dressed in my school uniform quickly making sure that there were no creases or faults in my clothes. My school uniform wasn’t remotely flattering but really there was no need for it to be. It was only school at the end of the day, there was no one to impress. Of course there were the girls in my year that personalised their uniforms. Some like to hitch there skirts up so that you could see the bottom of their bum, some like to leave the top two button of their shirts undone so that they were showing half of their bras and some liked to wear stiletto heels to make them look tall and curvy. There were the odd people who like to pierce their skin all over and then there is me, and my two friends. We dress sensibly.
I looked neat and pristine. My shirt was buttoned all of the way up (the top button being left undone so I could breath) my blazer was left loose and my skirt was exactly three inches above my knee. My shoes were comfortable brogues with a tiny heel that I was required to wear in order to correct my posture. I use to be that girl, the one that wore the uniform that showed half of my body. I had no self respect back then, but I wasn’t a popular. I wasn’t a girl that got with ten boys in a week, I couldn’t do that. I may not have had a whole lot of respect for my body but I had my own respect, and I wasn’t going to fall in love with a loser that would break my heart.
I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind. I was just about to do my makeup and I didn’t need red puffy eyes to cover, I already had to cover the bags under them. I sat at my dressing table and pulled out my small make up bag. I only applied a little make up, I didn’t want to cake my face with makeup, I didn’t think it looked very nice and to be honest it was very uncomfortable to wear. I put on a little bit of powder to remove the shininess of my face and a little bit of concealer to get rid of the bags under my eyes. I then put on my blusher so that I didn’t look colourless and some clear lip gloss. I didn’t ever apply any eyeliner so I went straight to my mascara. Unlike most of my class mates I didn’t apply it so all of my eye lashes stuck together; I applied it thinly, just to cover the tips. As soon as I finished doing my make up my mind emptied and the thoughts of a broken heart returned, and I could see the tears flooding to my eyes, but again I tried to get on with my morning routine, I only had five minutes to do my hair.
I wasn’t ever a girl that would make an effort with hair, some girls like perfect curls and some girls like straight perfect hair. I couldn’t be bothered to do either so I quickly piled my hair on top of my head and tied a band in it. I took a quick look in my full length mirror and inspected my appearance. I looked fine. I looked fine enough to go to school. I picked up my Cath Kidson school bag and went downstairs to my mom. Every now and then my mom was able to take me to school, usually on the rare occasion that she had a day off. It was lucky today because I was late anyway; we put our coats on and got into our small Ford Focus. Just living on my mom’s salary meant that we didn’t always have the luxuries that full families did have, and I didn’t really care that much. I had never been materialistic; I was quite content and happy with my family and our quaint little home.
My mom turned on the engine and we set off to school. I was never very talkative in the mornings and that included my car journey as well. It wasn’t a long journey, about five-ten minutes. My mom tried to start conversation a few times but it never went much further than an answer to a question. Although I didn’t look anything mike my mom, I was much more like her in personality than my siblings. We were comfortable in silence and our conversations were never really very deep, but we were very close. Like her my face was as easily read as a book, and I was very bad at hiding my emotions and lying. We listened to the radio and after ten minutes we were arriving at my school gates. The blue school sign had Francis Terrance High School written across it in big white letters. I used to enjoy school, I liked seeing all of my friends, finding out gossip, being liked by most but now I can’t stand it.
I am still good in lessons and I should graduate with good results but I don't like school that much anymore. I have two close friends and I am definitely no longer liked by most people. I could feel the burning feeling behind my eyes, the one you get before the tears start, but I bit it back and blinked quickly to remove the feeling. I got out of the car and said bye to my mom. I still remember my first day, walking through these gates and expecting a welcome, but getting none. When I look back it seems almost silly that I had such expectations, but I also feel proud of myself. I made my way in this school without help, without having a friend by my side, but I also lost it at the drop of a coin.
I could see my friends standing together by the canteen. They were standing next to the blossom tree, but the leaves were starting to drop and a patch of orange and brown leaves was beneath them. As I walked over they started to walk towards me. Nicola and Owen were my friends. I wouldn’t say we were the best of friends but they were the best that I had. It was surprising that we could hold down friendships with such a variety of personalities in our group. Nicola was a quiet girl and I would go as far as saying that we told each other nearly everything, however today she looked different, her hair maybe? She had curly auburn hair, it was beautiful, but today it looked really glossy, and she had some makeup on, a bit of mascara. She came across as really quiet, but she was actually quite lively. Like me she was in the athletics team but her forte was long distance running. Her petite and thin frame matched her personality greatly and she had liked Owen for ages and she told me all the time, but they had never progressed more than friendship. Owen however was out going and lively. He wasn’t bad looking, his strawberry blonde hair was quite long and it was always shiny and he had quite a muscular build but it didn’t look unnatural but he was my friend, he told me quite a lot but I didn’t tell him an awful lot about me. He wasn’t really egotistical but he was sometimes a tad arrogant. He liked to play the field a little bit and he had had quite a few girlfriends but it wasn’t my place to judge him. I didn’t have many friends and Owen was a lovely person, which is why I wanted Nicola and him to get together so much, Nicola would help Owen to decrease the size of his head.
Our friendships were very strange, I got on with Nicola and I have watched for five years while she fell in love with Owen and I got on with Owen really well too and I have watch for five years while he has dated the majority of the year, except for Nicola. I don't think it is out of spite though, I think it more the fact that he doesn’t see her as dating material, he is completely oblivious to the fact she likes him. They have a very close friendship and I have told Nicola that I would say something if she wanted me to, but she doesn’t. The thing I liked most about my friends was that I could tell them anything, and they wouldn’t judge me for it. I suppose that is true friendship though, the way we became friends was ironic though, I had always been good friends with them but when I lost my other friends and I thought I had more or less no one, they remained by my side. They didn’t do what everyone else did, they didn’t judge me.
We met up quite regularly, we had gone to a few parties, me and Owen more often than Nicola and when we were together we had a laugh, and we were able to be friends outside of school. Before I came to this school I had a different best friend, and he left, my dad left, really, everyone has left. But now I have new best friends, they are my only ones.
Nicola started to walk up to me and I had my arms open for a hug, we hadn’t seen each other much over the summer because she went on a tour of Italy. “How was your summer?” She asked me. Really I hadn’t done very much, a bit of shopping a few parties and a holiday to Menorca.
“I haven’t really done a fat lot, how was yours?” I smiled naturally and she just looked at me sweetly, and innocently.
“Italy was beautiful, really beautiful! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you or Owen!” I could hear her voice get quieter when she said his name.
“How was your summer?” I asked Owen
“Well, Katie was over a lot but then she went on holiday and I saw quite a lot of Nadia and then last week I went on holiday and met a gorgeous Spanish babe! So really I haven’t done much.”
I rolled my eyes at his many girlfriends but he wouldn’t be the same if he wasn’t like that. “Shall we go to the form room then?” They both nodded and we started walking towards the room. We were all in the athletics team and we were also all in the same form. On the way we talked about our summers but I wasn’t really listening that hard. When I walked in to the form room, the majority of my class gave me filthy looks and someone shouted “SLUT!” at me. At first it used to really upset me, but I got passed all of that after the first week of it. I think I realised that for the rest of school I was going to be judged because of a simple misunderstanding, so I might as well get used to it now. Mrs Johnson tried to get the classes attention.
“Shush, everyone be quiet!” the class fell silent and everyone listened to her, “Now I am sure you want to find out how each other’s summers were but there are a few notices first, you head of year, Mrs Carter wishes you all a good year 11 and she says that you need to make sure you stay focused throughout it, you have GCSE’s at the end of it and for your study leave you will have an extra month off of school to revise. You also have the annual trip to celebrate the end of the year and of course prom. I need to make it clear that to join any extracurricular activities, you need to make sure your grades are up and that they do not waver. She also asked me to mention that as our athletic team is a key part of our school, there will be a meeting next week on Monday to decide who will be on it this year, as usual just because you were on it last year does not mean you will be on it this year. Thank you for listening so intently and as always if you have any problems come and see me, the only lunchtime that I do not have free is a Tuesday. Have a good day.” After she finished talking everyone resumed their conversations but we three were straight away discussing athletics.
I had always enjoyed running and I was going to try and stay on the team this year and as far as I know so does Nicola and Owen, “Do you want to stay on the team?”
Owen was the first to answer, “Well yeah definitely, I love being on it, but my grades are slightly less than last year,” he pondered quietly to himself for a moment.
“Well I think I want to stay on the team, but its GCSE’s and I am worried about those as well and I am worried about the commitment.” Nicola looked stressed and it was only the first day of school.
“Well I am definitely going to try and stay on the team, but if its votes they want, my popularity is lacking slightly,” I laughed to myself, and Nicola and Owen joined in. After form period I had Biology and only Owen was in my class. I got up to leave and I realised that I needed to go to the toilet before lessons started, so I told Owen that I would catch him up. I got up and started dawdling to the toilet but really I just wanted to check to make sure that I look okay, I did this most mornings before I started lessons. I just didn’t want my class to have anything else they could take the mickey out of me for.
After I had come to the conclusion I looked okay I walked out of the toilet and straight into a sixth former. I dropped the folder I had been holding and the papers in side it flew everywhere, and the folder he was holding did the same. I looked down and saw a mess of random papers at my feet. I couldn’t be bothered to be annoyed so I just laughed to myself, it was just my luck.
I didn’t even look at the person right in front of me until I realised he wasn’t moving and was staring straight into my eyes. I looked up at him and I couldn’t quite believe who was right in front of me. I had always loved his hair, the glossiness and the sheen. His eyes had always been a stunning colour, and they reminded me so much of my child hood. My mind flashed back to when I was five.
*It was my first day of school; I was wearing a red pinafore and black woolly tights. A boy not that much older than myself ran up to me and grabbed my hand.
“Here you go,” He handed me a perfectly shaped daisy; I took it out of his hand and put it in my chest pocket. He smiled at me innocently and took my hand, and led me to the centre of the play ground. I was five; I didn’t know what he was doing, but for some reason I followed him anyway. For a short moment we just stood there, but before I knew what he was doing, he put his hand out in front of him and shouted, “Tag!” From that day on we were friends, until I came here.*
Mason. My friend Mason. My best friend Mason, my ex best friend. I tried to compose my folder back to its original condition, but it was difficult trying to sort out all of the papers without going through each of them individually. In the end I picked up a pile and gave him back the papers that were obviously not mine. I stood up as gracefully as I could manage, but the surprise of seeing him knocked me of my feet a little. I thought he was going to say something but before he could I quickly mumbled an apology, “I am really sorry, I should have been looking where I was going.” We should have walked away from each other, but neither one of us could draw our eyes away.
If someone would have walked towards us, it would have looked awkward, very awkward but I would have seen it completely differently. We had been standing there trying to organise our folders for five minutes, but really it was a bit of a facade because really I was trying to sneak a glance at him whenever I could, and I could see that he was doing the same for me. I could have stood there for the whole day doing exactly the same thing, and I couldn’t see we were going to be moving anytime soon. That was until Kendra walked up to us, Mason’s current girlfriend. As soon as I looked in her eyes I could see what she saw, and she did not think it was awkward, she saw the intimacy, the intimacy that I could feel.
I immediately stood upright, not having realised that I had twisted my whole body round so I was moulded against his, not realising that we were as close as we were. As I stood up he did the same, and as if on cue we both took a step back.
“Mason, what are you doing?! You said you coming straight to the common room!” I could see that she knew she had just walked in on something but she had no idea what. Kendra was beautiful; she had long red hair that was in tight ringlet curls. Her eyes were plain and quite unnoticeable but her figure was perfect, the right curves and the right size and her skin had not a single blemish. She was in the same year as me, a year below Mason but they had been dating for a few weeks.
“Oh nothing Ken, I bumped into her while I was on my way to the loo.” He tried to brush it of naturally, but I could see that he was panicking inside. Mason used to be a gentleman, when he first started dating girls, his relationships were sincere, but now they lasted no more than weeks. He was nothing without a girl, he needed someone to adore him, he needed someone to talk to him, and he needed someone to love him. He had turned into a player and my friend was gone. He used to be lovely person, he used to smile, and laugh but now he was set on filling a gap. He needed that someone to fill in the gap in his life, the one his mom had left, when she had that affair, everyone heard about it and his dad had left in denial, even when she returned the gap was still there, the loyalty, the adoration, the motherly figure in his life had gone, he had no one. I could see that he was worrying and I could see that she was angry. I wasn’t planning on saying much.
“Oh of course not, who would want anything to do with this slut?” She chuckled under her breath and I could see that she no longer felt that I was threatening her relationship. I tried to hold back the warm feeling behind my eyes. I admit that I don't really care what people call me when I am with my friends, because I feel like I have some support, but when I am on my own, it feels so much more personal. I have to admit that I thought Mason was going to support me, I had known him for nearly ten years after all, but now wrong I was.
“Ken, I cannot believe you thought that there was something going one” He rolled his eyes and I just laughed I thought it was silly at how dramatic her reaction was. “I would never get with a cheat like her!” And with that he smirked at me a walked off.