'Life is like the ocean, once you get lost in it, you might never be found... again.'
~JRP
Hayden paced around her apartment building. It was not the first day of school, and she hated it.
She had planned to start school the day everyone started. Nothing stopped her from doing that, but herself. She didn't want to meet anyone new, nor did she want anyone to call her the 'new girl.' So, she stayed at home and tried to convince herself it was nothing to worry about.
The convincing took an entire week.
It didn't take long for Hayden to reach the school.
The school was the largest place Hayden had ever set her eyes on. It had floor to bottom glass windows everywhere that sparkled in the sun. The brightness was a bit too much for Hayden. The walls that didn't have windows were painted a warm grey colour.
Everything about it was modern, from the trending architecture to the glass doors. It looked as if it was finished yesterday.
Even the grass and flowers surrounding the school were in perfect shape. The grass was the greenest she had ever seen, and the flowers were arranged in perfect circles. She couldn't help but wonder how much money they spent just taking care of the flowers.
Realizing she had hardly seen anyone on foot, Hayden took three gulps of air, slowly calming herself down before entering the school grounds with a hurry, just like everyone else.
This is for you, Dad.
She walked into the school compound with slow steps and her head down. The first thing she needed to do was see the Secretary. Staring at the chaos of students in the hall, she didn't know where to start from. Neither had she a map of the school—which would have been essential at the moment—nor did she know anyone, apart from the Secretary, whom she had a phone conversation with.
The students stood or moved around in cliques. Hayden didn't know whom to ask for directions.
She could ask the red-haired, lean boy, or the dark curly-haired girl, or the Asian-looking short girl with huge glasses. She watched as a tattooed 'bad-boy' approached the girl. Striking the hugging couple from her list, she moved on.
The redhead looked dangerous. Doing the needful, Hayden struck him from her list. Her best option was the curly-haired girl. She assessed the girl and was glad to find her looking almost as lost as she was.
She had almost made her way to the curvy girl when she made the mistake of raising her head and making eye contact with the glasses girl. The girl smiled at her. Hayden found the smile inviting and decided to approach. Not because the boyfriend had left her or anything.
Act natural. Three deep breaths.
She did her best impression of a smile. "Hi," she said, testing out the smallest word in her mind. Hello, she decided, was too long of a word.
"Hello, I'm Wren," she replied, adjusting her black-rimmed glasses. Up close, her skin looked like a baby's. Her pencil-dark hair was packed into a perfect bun with no strand peeking out. She looked flawless.
"Um, can you show me the secretary's office?" She raised her head to look back at Hayden with eyes darker than the night sky. Wren was some inches shorter than her. Hayden had a hard time believing she forgot her manners. He would never tolerate it. "Please."
"Oh, sorry for zoning out. I'll definitely take you. It's just your eyes. They're captivating. I have never seen anything like them."
No one had ever said something like that about her eyes. They weren't captivating; they were just light grey. But the girl was trying to be nice, and Hayden wanted to return the compliment.
"I love your eyes, too," she said.
She let out a soft laugh. "Thanks, but they're black. I'm sure you've seen black eyes a thousand times." Not ones that looked like they've hidden too much pain.
Hayden gave her a brief smile and kept quiet.
The students, as she had expected, looked dressed to kill. Even Wren looked wonderful in her clothes.
I look just fine, right?
The girl had ripped jeans, a blue expensive-looking hoodie, and blue sneakers. She subconsciously glanced at hers. White shirt tucked in jeans and white sneakers.
Should I remove the tuck?
She had gone shopping the day she arrived in town; two days before the actual resumption date. After much contemplation, she decided shopping was nice alone. Even if you had a little money.
Despite her short time in the school, Hayden had already noticed a pattern among the students they had passed on the way to the secretary's office. Almost all the students knew each other, greeting themselves with a hug or a handshake. A small part of her wanted to learn the handshake.
She wanted to ask her why they had a special handshake, amongst other things. Like why she was helping her out or who the guy that had kissed her was. Or even if her clothes fit in with the norm of the school.
Yet she said nothing till the girl asked her a question that made her heartbeat fasten. "Where are you from?" she asked, dodging a couple of students and turning right.
Hayden thought for a while and came up with a clever answer. "Very far," she said.
"No, I meant your school," Wren said, turning around to give her a small smile before continuing to navigate the big hallway.
"Um, I'm sure you don't want to know it." The girl might be nice, but she didn't trust her enough to be telling her important stuff like that.
"Oh, it's fine if you don't want to tell me," she said. Hayden didn't get a chance to apologize when she made a sudden stop. She had a strange feeling she hurt the girl. "We're here."
They stood in front of a door with the words 'The Secretary's office.'
Three deep breaths.
"Thanks," Hayden said.
"You're welcome. I wish I could help you out because Ms. Flora can be a bit of a handful, but Mason's waiting for me." Mason? She must've realized Hayden didn't know whom she was talking about because she explained in a second. "He's my boyfriend. You missed him earlier."
"Oh, thanks, again." She gave her one of her beautiful soft smiles before disappearing into the crowd.
People knock first, right?
She followed her instincts and knocked first, then twice, until, "come in."
With slow steps, she entered the office. "Yes, how can I help you?" The Secretary, Ms. Flora, according to Wren and her nameplate, asked while typing away on a sleek desktop. The office was neat. Hayden wondered if she should sit on one of the two chairs for visitors or not.
She didn't. Instead, she stood by the door after closing it.
"I said, how can I help you?" Ms. Flora glared at Hayden.
"I'm sorry." Her voice came out like a whisper. She took her three deep breaths, praying for her voice to come out. "I'm Hay-Hayden, Hayden James. I called you the other day."
The Secretary looked up since Hayden entered the room. "Oh, the scholarship girl." The woman was slightly overweight and should be in her mid-30s.
Hayden nodded.
"Have a seat. We need to cover some things first." Hayden agreed; her legs were hurting from standing for long. She had reached the seats when a guy barged into the room.
"Can I get a new timetable?" he asked. His skin was as golden as honey with long nut-brown hair styled to perfection. He wore tight jeans with a green polo t-shirt and a jacket. He smelled like expensive cologne and cinnamon.
His attractive features and towering height made her queasy.
"Calvin, how are you?" Ms. Flora asked. Calvin sat down where Hayden was going to sit and crossed his legs. He didn't answer.
Calvin.
The Secretary ignored Hayden, so she kept standing. She couldn't talk to the guy and didn't want to sit next to him. Despite his attractive looks, he still looked dangerous. Stepping back as slowly as she could, she found herself back at her original position.
"Won't you sit down?" His voice was deep and smooth to her ears, although sudden. She flinched. He was talking to the Secretary. In case she was wrong, she glanced at him; he wasn't looking in her direction. She kept standing. "You'll have cramps."
Hayden didn't respond. She took his advice and sat down. She kept her space and pushed her chair a little to the right, whereas he was to the left.
Hayden wanted to speak with the Secretary, but the woman wasn't having that. She was too busy printing Calvin's timetable. She didn't know whether it made her angry at the woman or angry at herself for not speaking up.
She drummed her fingers on the table, trying to get rid of her anger. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes; he was using his phone.
"Thanks." He collected the printed paper, nodded his head, and left. Hayden convinced herself the nod wasn't meant for her, but the woman who gave him his timetable.
"Send your father my warmest greetings." She often forgot everything gravitated towards money and status. "Right, where were we? Before we begin, I think you should know that we do not accept tardiness of any kind. We expect you to resume school the day everyone resumes." Her voice stern, almost scolding.
"I'm sorry," Hayden said, truthfully, having no excuse to give.
"If you keep up with this behavior, we may have to consider revoking your scholarship." Hayden gasped. "Any behavior out of the ordinary might cause that. Are we clear?"
Hayden nodded. "Yes."
"I need a copy of all the documents you scanned." Hayden brought out the documents from her new black backpack.
Ms. Flora scrutinised the documents, bringing out rectangle rimmed glasses. "Are you sure these are real?" They were a copy, but Hayden didn't want to correct her.
"Yes."
"Are the signatures of the guardian real?" Guardian, how she hated that word.
"Yes," she replied.
Ms. Flora kept the documents in a folder, and Hayden's body flowed with relief. She didn't want to think of what would happen if she refused the documents.
"Okay. I need you to answer these questions first before I hand you your essentials." Hayden nodded her head, took her breaths, and prepared herself for the questions.
I have to try for Dad. Her hand felt sweaty as she tried to convince herself she wouldn't fail the questions. If she had earned the scholarship, these questions definitely wouldn't be harder than the work she had put on.
"What is your favourite subject?" Easy. Hayden almost caught herself laughing. She thought the questions would be hard, given the standards of the school.
"Creative Arts."
"So you're the artistic type?" Ms. Flora asked, typing Hayden's answer.
"You could say that." She wanted to talk more about her writing, but she didn't. The quicker she left the office, the better.
"Why did you leave your former school?" Why did she leave her former school? She never expected the questions to jump from 2 to 7 on her scale.
There were a lot of factors that contributed to her leaving her former school. She went with the one that pushed her to actually do it. "I wanted to have more experience."
Hypocrite. She took the easy one. What she wanted to say disappeared in a battle between her heart and brain.
"Why did you choose Winston Royal Academy? We have lots of schools out there. Why Winston?"
Hayden didn't answer. She stared at the secretary, begging the words to come out. But they didn't. Her heart and brain were still fighting. Her heart couldn't bear to relive the memories while her brain was ready to dump it all out.
Mom and Dad met here.
"Very well then, since you won't answer my questions, you might as well just leave." Ms. Flora handed Hayden her timetable, some books, and a key, a snare on her face. "Enjoy your year at WRA," she muttered.
Hayden planned to.
***
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WASH YOUR HANDS AND STAY AT HOME.
~R.