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"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall"
- Measure For Measure
(Act 2, Scene 1)
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Unlike the day before, it was bucketing it down outside. It'd been so sunny and warm, but I'd been awoken by the sound of my alarm joint with the harsh pattering on the windows and roof. Rain had always been a comfort to me, but today was different, the first day of school was already doomed.
With a huge and probably over dramatic sigh, I flung the duvet off me, swinging my legs over the bed. Cold air immediately hit my body, causing me to groan as I steadied myself on my feet. The first thing I did was grab the thickest, fluffiest gown I could find, wrapping it around my body, then slipping on socks before making my way downstairs, phone in hand. I'd never been much of a breakfast person, but I decided to fix myself a bowl of cereal. Halfway through eating, my phone rang as predicted, the name 'Monica' flashing up.
"Hey." I mumbled, trying to talk with a full mouth.
"Good morning, we were wondering what time you'd like us to escort you to school." Monica sounded cheery, unsurprisingly. I honestly didn't know how she did it.
"Don't, I want to go by myself, there's nothing worse than showing up at a new school with two body guard looking people in a smart looking car. No offence." A sigh escaped my lips, but a low chuckle was heard on the other end of the phone.
"None taken. I know it's uncomfortable, but you know how.. persistent your mother can be."
"Please Mon, I just want a shot at settling in." Me calling her a nickname normally softened her up, so I was glad when I heard her give in.
".. Okay fine, but you can't tell Mrs (Y/L/N)." She held a tone of seriousness, so I agreed. When we hung up I realised I hadn't sorted out an outfit yet, so I quickly ran upstairs and started rifling through my bags. Eventually I found some nice looking clothes; a grey turtle neck jumper, black straight legged jeans and finishing it off with a pair of vans and a necklace. One thing I prided myself in was my outfits. Not the designer brand parts, but putting everything together, I liked my style.
Twenty minutes later I was ready, a small backpack slung across my shoulder and texting Carson and Monica one last time before opening my umbrella and leaving the house.
The school wasn't hard to find, I'd searched up the distance and according to Google Maps it was a ten minute walk. And it didn't lie. Soon I stopped outside the gates of the building I'd seen the photographs of yesterday. There were a load of students walking in, mostly in their friendship groups, making me feel a little like an outsider, but that's what I was, so I couldn't complain. Gearing myself up with nonexistent courage, I took a deep breath, walking across the playground towards the entrance.
People bustled around, talking loudly and doing typical high school stuff. I searched around helplessly for a sign that could lead me in the right direction, and luckily I did. A sign reading 'reception' turned out to be my life saver, because it lead me to a friendly looking woman in an open office.
"Good morning lovely, I haven't seen you around, you must be new?" She smiled, finishing what she was doing on the computer.
"Yes, I'm (Y/N) (Y/L/N), I'm starting today." My eyes found a badge on the woman's shirt, revealing the her name, Mrs Peterson.
"Ah, yes, I have you written down. So, here is your timetable, the classrooms are easy to find, each block is signed, and the numbers are on the doors." She slid the timetable across the table, which I gladly picked up.
"Now, let me check who your form tutor is, they'll be the teacher you go to if you need anything." Mrs Peterson looked at her computer, searching it up. My mind wandered, thinking about what they'd be like. Strict or kind? Would they also teach me one of my subjects?
"Oh. Well, you've got.. Ms Venable." Mrs Peterson looked a little.. off? There was something in her expression, though I couldn't work it out. Ms Venable, so that meant she most definitely didn't like her picture taken, because the theory that she didn't work here was now ruled out.
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked curiously, opening up my timetable at the same time and seeing if I had Ms Venable for anything. Yes, yes I did. Once a day in fact, for English language and Literature. That would be interesting then, because literature had always been my favourite subject, I just hoped she taught it well.
"Uh, not at all. It's just that you seem so sweet." Her statement seemed strange, but I had to brush it off because Mrs Peterson suddenly gasped, "Oh, you're ten minutes late for your lesson, and I'm pretty sure you have Ms Venable first period. You better take this." She got a piece of paper from her drawer, presumably scribbling down her signature on a late form.
"Good luck." She smiled as I took the slip from her, seemingly back to normal. My urge to question her more was big, but I suppressed it, not wanting to be even later for my first lesson.
Once I was out in the corridor, I checked the room name, 'D4', so I followed the sign until I stood outside a door. There was a square window at the top, giving me a sight of the back of what would be my classroom. It took a few seconds for me to build the guts and finally knock twice.
Knock, knock.
I could just about see everyone's head turn to my direction, making me blush in embarrassment, I never liked attention, which was hard, being somewhat famous because of my parents.
The door opened, revealing a woman who was quite significantly taller than me, mainly due to the thick, high black heels she wore. My eye scan began from her shoes, then up to look at her outfit, a dark purple two piece suit that was styled to look like a skirt mixed with a blazer. Then my eyes travelled to her bony hands, which were both rested on the top of a raven headed cane. And then finally, my increasingly nervous gaze landed on her face. Dark lipstick, perfectly shaped eyebrows, fiery pulled back hair, and the deepest brown eyes that were burning into mine.
This, if I assumed correctly, was Ms Venable.
"U-uh, I'm (Y/N).. I'm new.." I stumbled over my words for some reason, this woman seemed to have frozen me on the spot. I didn't know how, but her eyes held something dark.
"You're late. Twelve minutes late, to be precise." Ms Venable's voice was low but clear, pronouncing each syllable precisely.
"I-I'm sorry, it won't happen again." I reached out the note tentatively, hoping she'd just take it and let me in. She glanced down at the paper, looking unimpressed, then took it, only to rip it in half and place it back in my outstretched hand.
"There's an empty seat in the back row, sit, and behave. I'll speak to you properly tomorrow after lessons. Currently you're wasting mine and everyone else's time." She stepped to the side, letting me in, and I didn't need telling twice, stuffing the ripped paper in my pocket and rushing as calmly as I could past her, seeing an unoccupied seat next to a blonde haired girl.
"Eyes at the front of the classroom, haven't I told you enough times?" Ms Venable rose her voice to everyone, but didn't shout, though her tone seemed to work, everyone shifted their attention away from me.
Finally I was able to breathe, sighing quietly as I set my bag down by my feet and looking at the board.
"Psst." A sharp but quiet noise made me turn my head slightly to glance at the girl next to me. I raised an eyebrow in response.
"Hey, I'm Valentina, but you can shorten it to Val or Tina." She gave me a small smile. I made sure Ms Venable wasn't watching as I returned the smile.
"I'm -" I was about to introduce myself when she cut over me.
"I heard you introduce yourself to Ms Venable, and your face is pretty famous, I'm pretty sure the most of the school will recognise you."
My heart sunk a little. Only two minutes inside a classroom and this had all started. I hoped she wasn't one of those unpleasant people who tired to use me for money. But somehow her smile looked genuine, so I didn't waver my smile.
"Unfortunately." I mumbled back, looking across the room to focus on what Ms Venable was talking about. It was mostly all about work that they'd done in the lessons I hadn't been in, so pretty much the whole period was just me sitting there, trying to make it look like I was taking it all in, when reality, I couldn't draw my eyes away from the teacher. There was just something about her, I just couldn't look away. She was intimidating, that was for sure, but to me, I could see so much more behind her eyes, god knows what it was.
"Miss (Y/L/N)?" A voice snapped me out of my daydream, a voice belonging to Ms Venable. All eyes were on me.
"Yes?" I cleared my throat, straightening up as she walked across the classroom to me, her cane tapping in sync with her steps.
"I think you mean 'Yes, Ms Venable'." Her beady eyes trained on me, "I was saying, tomorrow we'll be starting a new topic, so I expect you to start working tomorrow."
I nodded, trying to look away, but it was impossible now that she'd initiated eye contact.
"O-okay.. Ms Venable." She nodded slowly in approval, then walked away just as the bell rang. Wow, that lesson went fast.
Everyone started packing their backs, beginning to walk amongst themselves as Ms Venable dismissed them all. I stood up too, not really sure whether to stay behind and apologise for being late again or to ask about the other things I needed to know about the school, seeing as she was my tutor, but one flash of her eyes towards me showed that I wasn't meant to stay. So I dropped my gaze to the floor, walking out with Valentina.
But I felt it again. That strange feeling I'd gotten last night at the window, I had it just then, a weird sensation tingling the hairs on my neck. Automatically I stopped walking, turning around, but all I saw was Ms Venable looking at her computer.
Strange.
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