Turns out isolation was being forced to sit and complete work by myself for the entire day - kind of self-explanatory.
I was ushered into a small room which had a single row of tables shoved together along the back wall. A divider wall was placed between each chair, splitting each person up so they couldn't see one another.
I saw the back of a girls head, whose bright artificial pillar-box red curls overflowed out of a black hair tie on the top of her head.
"Just sit down Mr Lokison, please."
I slid into the seat next to the red headed girl, and stared at the old computer placed on the table. I shoved my bag under my feet, and slumped in the chair so I could rest my head on my arms.
Already bored, I twisted back to see two teachers sat facing us, with a huge mountain of incompleted paperwork stacked between the pair of them. Me and the mystery girl where the only students in here, and I knew that by the end of the first period I would have gone insane.
After ten minutes of staring at the peeling paint behind the blank screen, I decided to make light conversation. "How was your weekend, Miss?"
The blonde teacher who had directed me to class, and was technically the one who got me in trouble in the first place, snapped her head up. "Silence Tyr. This is meant to be a punishment."
"I was just making conversation-"
"Well don't."
I sighed, and resumed my staring competition with the crack of exposed brick.
A minute later, a neatly folded slip of lined paper was pushed under the divider that sat between the desks. I glanced at it, then tried to peek behind the divider wall between the chairs.
"Mr Lokison, if I have to warn you again-" The same teacher warned.
"Yeah, yeah," I shrugged her glare away, as I unfolded the piece of paper she hadn't noticed was sat on my desk.
'So you're the famous Tyr right?'
I flicked the lid off my pen as I stared at the bubbly handwriting. In the slightly messy cursive I inherited from my father, I replied.
'Depends who you are. Maybe.'
'I'm Cleopatra.'
I raised my eyebrows. 'Like the pharaoh?'
I swore I could hear a grimaced sigh as the mystery girl, Cleopatra, read my note.
'Who else could I possibly be named after?'
'Could be worse, you could be named after the Norse God of War.'
I heard a stifled laugh, which quickly morphed into a cough as the teachers chairs behind us squeaked a little. 'Are you serious?'
I smiled as I decided on my reply, 'Would I lie to you, oh complete stranger?'
There was a pause that lasted several minutes after that. I began to revaluate my reply; I should've written something funnier, or nothing at all. I wanted to keep the conversation going though - I was growing insanely bored without it, and even though I hadn't met Cleopatra, I was enjoying her company.
'What are you in for then, oh young God?'
I smirked at the new nickname, feeling some kind of kinship with the girl sat in the booth beside me. 'Late to first period. You?'
Seconds later her paper reappeared, her writing scrawled a little messily this time. 'Apparently the demons in charge don't like unnatural hair colours. I either have to dye it back or stay here until it fades.'
I managed to hide the weird noise that rose from my throat, at reading the rule she just pointed out, and I stared at the paper for a second. 'Is that a joke?'
'Would I lie to you, oh complete stranger?'
This time I couldn't hold in the snort that escaped as I saw she'd replied with the exact same words I'd said to her.
An authoritative voice broke into our conversation. "Mr Lokison, your mother wants to speak to you."
I spun in my chair, feeling dread plummet in my stomach, "You rang my Mum already?"
I heard a soft laugh come from Cleopatra, but I was already halfway out the door, grumbling as I followed the short blonde teacher to the office.
I gingerly took the phone from her hands, hesitantly raising it to my ear. "Hi Mum-"
"Tyr Lokison what has happened now?"
"You know exactly what happened," I crossed one arm defensively over my chest as I held the phone to my ear with the other. The old fashioned cord connecting the phone to its handset made me crouch at a slightly uncomfortable angle.
"I told you to explain it to them!" She sighed, obviously exasperated with me.
"And I did." I muttered. "The teacher had a go at me, apparently I disrespected him by calling him a liar-"
"Tyr!" Mum shrieked, interrupting me.
"Which I didn't! You know how I feel about liars!" I stared at the woman opposite me, who had an empathetic frown on her face as she witnessed the one sided phone call.
I could hear Mum growing more tired with the conversation. Her hormones were raging wildly, and Brooke's cough wasn't helping her by giving her countless sleepless nights. "Look, I'll get Freya to swing round and pick you up tonight after college-"
"Don't bother," I glared up at the ceiling, kicking the floor softly with the toe of my shoe. "She has to pick up Charlie and you've got to get Maya, I'll just get the bus."
Mum paused, "you're lucky your Dad's working late today."
"Dad wouldn't do anything." I was telling the truth. When I did something wrong, Dad would threaten me with a suitable punishment, but in this instance I was the victim. Dad would only lightly scold me, then rant about how awful Midgardian teachers were, before Mum would sigh and end the conversation between the three of us.
"Just stay out of trouble." She murmured weakly.
"I will. I love you." I mumbled.
"I love you too."
I was escorted back to the isolation booth, before Cleopatra was dragged out for a similar phone call with her father. I waited for her to return, fidgeting with the pen in my hand as the seconds of the clock ticked loudly.
I was doodling around the brief notes I'd taken for my English Literature course when she finally sauntered back into the room.
I managed to catch a glimpse of her black blazer and matching skirt before she slipped back into the chair, noticing her painted nails matched her vibrant hair as she gently held onto the divider.
'I'm not big on the uniform code but I'm sure nail polish isn't allowed.' I knew for a fact it wasn't, as Dad and I had argued with Mum for hours about me having to take my black polish off the night before.
'Yet another reason for my torture today' was Cleopatras reply, the sarcasm strong enough to be visible through her words.
'Rookie move Pharaoh, you should've read the uniform code.' At least I had learnt that much after moving schools three times.
'I got away with it in year 12. We got a new head of year who I swear is a demon.' I bit back my smile by how indignant she sounded.
'I've yet to have the pleasure of meeting her.'
Instead of a reply in the large bouncing letters that I'd grown used to receiving, when the paper was pushed back through the gap, there was a cartoon doodle of the devil wearing the school uniform.
I let out a snort, that was luckily covered by the sound of one of the teachers coughing. I turned around to see the blonde teacher standing up.
"Miss?"
"Yes, Mr Lokison?" She sighed, directing her attention to me with a raised eyebrow.
"What's your name?"
She was growing bored of my questions, but as I flashed her a smile she weakened her resolve. "Miss Baker. Now are you two ready for lunch?"
"Thank God!" Cleopatra moaned, throwing her head and arms back in the small plastic chair.
Her voice wasn't how I imagined it. Not overly high pitched like the screechy girls I'd met during my life, but not monotone and gravelly. Somewhere in between, but it was sweet and bubbly too, just like her handwriting.
"I am starving! Mr Betts, may I say you are rocking that tie today?" She spun in her chair, skidding to her feet as she grinned cheekily at the fifty year old teacher who was working with Miss Baker.
"Thank you Miss Stella, although that doesn't get you out of isolation." He smiled at her, and I could tell Cleopatra was one who could easily twist anyone around her finger.
She flashed me a smile as she stepped fully around the divider and I caught a breath as I saw her for the first time. Surprisingly, she was wearing a matching red blouse to the colour she'd dyed her hair, and painted her nails.
"You can stop staring now," she laughed, eyes sparkling as two little dimples popped out on her cheeks.
"I wasn't staring," I straightened defensively, flushing a little as I turned back to grab my bag from under the table.
"I was joking," she grinned, pulling her large purple handbag over her shoulder, "that's cute, that blush right there." She pointed to my cheek, and I groaned as I turned fully around.
"Miss Stella, stop winding Mr Lokison up. Just go to the canteen please." Miss Baker opened the door, gesturing for me to lead.
I lifted my hands in surrender, "I don't know where it is."
"Ooh, newbie follow me!" Cleopatra bumped my shoulder as she snuck past, almost skipping in her slightly heeled boots.
I glanced at the two teachers who were smiling at each other following Cleopatras remarks, and I resigned myself to trudging after her. Not only because I have no other friends here, but because I actually enjoyed her company, even though I've only communicated with her through private notes.
"Come on God." She called over her shoulder, the nickname growing on me as she laughed gently.
I slung my bag over my shoulder as we left the back exit of the reception, joining the side of the courtyard. Streams of children in uniform flooded past us, all a lot shorter than we were. "Where is the canteen?" I asked, looking down as Cleopatra glanced up at me.
"Down at the other end of school, but cause we're in isolation we have to use the lower school one." She scrunched her face up as we entered through a side door, and joined the end of the long queue.
"Oh."
She bit her lip for a moment, before grinning at one of the younger boys. "Dude, have you been working out?"
His eyes widened before he realised it was her who was speaking. "Cleo! You bet I have girl!"
He pulled his arm up to flex his bicep as Cleopatra whooped, "Yes kiddo, see you later." She ruffled the hair on the top of his head, before he left to sit with the rest of his friends.
She caught my questioning glance, then grinned. "I used to babysit him when he was a lot younger. He lives down the road, bless." She watched him with a fond smile, before turning to face me, walking backwards as the queue moved on.
"Anyways, oh mighty God, what's up with you moving here? I heard you nearly killed someone but I don't buy it."
I felt my eyebrows lift involuntarily at her comment, this having been the first rumour I'd actually heard of me moving here.
"I broke someone's arm." I mumbled, a little self-conscious of telling her in public. I didn't mind telling Cleopatra: at least I had somebody to tell, but I didn't like the eavesdroppers.
She seemed to cotton on to the fact I didn't want to continue, and gave me a small smile instead. It wasn't like she was simpering to me, but simply acting like she understood. "Been there."
"Really?" I didn't mean to ask, but her question caught my interest. She nodded as she turned around to pick up a bottle of orange juice. "I mean... you don't have to tell me."
Her loud chuckle cut me off as she tilted her head back to smile at me. "Everyone knows the story God, you may as well know. Beans and chips, please." She asked as she leant towards the lady stood behind the counter.
The tray slid across to her, and she grabbed it, thanking the dinner lady. "You aren't getting anything?" A frown appeared on her face as she turned back to face me.
I shook my head, "I have food in my bag. Just wanted to leave the room for a bit."
"Fair enough." She shrugged and paid for her food, before leading us back out into the busy courtyard, where huge groups of milling students caught up after their summer break.
"Anyway," she started, after shovelling a forkful of baked bean smothered chips into her mouth. "My Mum cleared off when I was a kid. Turns out she slept with a lot of the guys around here before she disappeared for good. A guy was chatting shit to me back when I was in... Ooh, year nine? I got angry, and he tried to fight me."
I was taken aback by how light hearted she was being, but I just stood there like a fool, and didn't say anything.
"He tried to hit me but I grabbed his arm and twisted it back. My Dad raised me well, and taught me self defence. Apparently taught me too well, cause I was thrown out that day." She laughed as she finished the story, her tray of food almost empty now.
I opened my box of pasta, deciding I may as well eat it out here on our seat on the wall. "What did your Dad say?"
"Told me he was proud of me." She smiled, staring at the ground for a moment. "Probably not the wisest thing to tell a cocky thirteen year old after she broke someone's arm, but the guy had it coming."
"I would've done the same," I murmured. "Actually, I did do the same. That's exactly what I did."
"Someone spreading rumours about your Mum?" Cleopatra tilted her head to the side.
"The first time. The second time it was my Dad."
"Dude, you've been kicked out twice?" She leant forward, with a slightly shocked look on her face. "Okay, there's a guy here called William, who will try and make you join his group. He likes to think he's popular, but he really isn't - people only spoke to him cause he was new last year. He got thrown out of his old school for bullying, and when we realised he was a massive tool, we stopped playing along."
"Why would William want me to join his group?" I shoved the now empty box back in my bag, and pulled out my water bottle.
Cleopatra shoved her polystyrene tray into the bin. "Cause you were thrown out of school! He'll think you're misunderstood, and a silent loner type - he thinks girls dig that so tries too hard. Anyway, he's a bad guy. Not telling you how to live your life, just see it as a warning." She lifted her bag off the wall as she peered around one of the trees planted in the courtyard, to check the time on the clock mounted on the brick wall across from us.
"Are you ready for our silent torture to continue?" She waggled her eyebrows, and stepped back to the door.
"You like talking don't you? This must be hell for you." I smiled.
"You got that right God. Three more hours trapped in silence with you."
"Hey!" I argued, but she simply shot me a charming smile over her shoulder as Miss Baker opened the door for us.
"Quiet Mr Lokison, otherwise it will be a detention."
"Oh, come on Miss-"
I shut up as I saw her brow raise in a challenging motion, and slunk back to my seat. Cleopatra gave me one last grin before she slid into her chair, chucking her bag under the seat as she did so.
Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hiya! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
If you like this story then please check out my new book: Room Across The Street. It's not a fanfiction, but a romance (with a hint of action), and I would really appreciate it if you gave it a read. It's available on my page :)
I also have a love story called Quiver, including the MCUs Quicksilver, which is also available on my page.
Thank you for reading! Please give this a vote and comment away if you like it!
Thank you :)
xxx