• Chapter 2 •
"Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand."
-Neil Armstrong
When I was younger, I always wished it would storm so I could throw on my pale yellow raincoat and splash in the puddles. As I grew older the rain became more of a grumpy-mood setter and eventually turned into my sleeping pill. So you could guess that when my alarm set off this morning at six o'clock and I awoke to the pounding of rain on my strangely large windows; I was not nearly ready to take on the day.
You would be more than correct.
Not only does that highlight my morning, but the three bathrooms in this place share a water tank. Therefore my shower was deathly freezing as my brother and parents rejoiced in their saunas.
After quickly brushing my long dark brown, slightly curled hair and applying light makeup to my face, I was ready for my first day of prison.
"Sorry Declan, we don't have any cereal this morning but I promise your father and I will get groceries while you are at school." My mother says patting my brothers head.
"It's okay, I'm not very hungry anyway." Declan replies swinging his old book bag over his shoulder.
"Alright! Let's get going!" My dad says entering the kitchen; fixing his suit sleeves. "I called a taxi and they should be here any-" The honk of a horn cuts him off.
"Op! Their here." He finishes grabbing his briefcase.
"Why are we riding in a taxi again?" I ask.
"We are car shopping this week, so it won't be for long." My mother says hustling out the door.
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"Ahhh yes! We have your name right here." The school secretary says digging through her file cabinet. She pulls out a large folder filled with crisp white papers.
"Here you are dear." She smiles handing me a small slip. "This is your schedule. Your books will be given to you by your teachers in each period. This folder just holds all of the things you've missed, but it shouldn't be hard to catch up." She turns and grabs a large bag. "And here are your uniforms. You can change in the office bathroom." She begins to walk away. "I'll be right back."
I give an understanding smile. It fades as I look at the navy skirt, white blouse, and grey cardigan.
I hate uniforms.
I go to the bathroom and put it on, and surprisingly it isn't that bad. I walk back out and sit in the chair while looking at my schedule.
"Okay-" My head snaps up to see the secretary returning with a girl. She has blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "This is Claire, she is an office aide and will help you get around this morning to see all of your classes. Good luck!" She says before walking off again.
Claire gives me a smile and sticks out her hand. "Claire Watson."
I stick my hand out and give her a handshake. "Brennan Avonel."
"It's nice to meet you Brennan! So tell me..." She says as we exit the office. "Why did you move to London?"
"My father got a job." I say as I pull the file to my chest.
"That's cool, where did you live before?"
"The United States, in Maine. Bridgton, Maine..."
"I knew it had to be somewhere in the U.S." She laughs. I raise an eyebrow.
"And why is that?"
She laughs again. "Your accent is so unique!"
Now I laugh. "I could say the same for you!"
"Haha, let me see your schedule." She says snatching it from my hand. Then she squeals. "Oh how exciting; we have Maths, History, and Writing together! That's first, second, and fifth period so we will eat together too."
"That's great! I'm glad I won't-" But suddenly I am interrupted mid-sentence by a large hard force crashing against me, knocking my file to the ground. My head throbs from hitting it. I look up to see not only did I run into something; but it was a someone... And he looked pissed.
He forcefully grabs my shoulders and pushes me against the lockers. Pain shoots up my spine and I wince.
"Watch where you're going!" He growls. His dark brown eyes are locked on my fear-filled blue ones. My body must be in a state of shock because I can't breathe or speak. It seems like forever when he finally looks away and looses his grip on me. Then he turn and darts away, the three boys of his posse following close behind.
I let out a large needed breath and hold my left shoulder.
"Holy crap!" Claire yells in a whisper. "Are you okay?"
I breathe again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Who the hell was that?"
Claire looks back at me.
"That my friend, was your first encounter with the one and only; Peter Pan." She says throwing her bag over her shoulder. I start laughing.
"Okay seriously, stop joking around. What's his name?" She sends me an icy glare and throws her hand over my mouth to muffle my laughs.
"You better keep your voice down, if he heres you making fun of it, he won't be afraid to come back and pound your face in."