Chapter Three

At home I showered and washed the blood off my nose - it wasn’t broken, that was good - putting my crimson clothes into the washing machine so that my dad wouldn’t notice. I got dressed and left for my English class, keeping my eyes on the floor the whole way there. My nose really hurt. It wasn't even as if it was schoolyard bullying anymore, I was eighteen! It was assault. Just because we had a past and Sarah didn't like it.
When I arrived at the Youth Centre where the class was held I looked around and made my way towards my usual seat, the air conditioning whirring in the background. Then I froze. The new girls from Spring Bank were here. I hardly breathed as the younger once glanced around the room but her eyes passed over me without recognition. I breathed a sigh of relief. I don’t know why; she seemed nice enough, but there was something uncanny about her, a certain flawlessness that made her unreal. “Hello class!” Said the teacher, Vicky, “We have two new students, this is Jenny,” she pointed to the older girl, “And this is Caroline,” she gestured at the younger of the two who seemed embarrassed to be the centre of attention.

I didn’t really pay attention during that class, even though I love Pride and Prejudice. My nose was throbbing and my eyes kept slipping back to Jenny and Caroline. When the lesson finished I waited around until people had gone before I went home. When the room was almost empty I left. I walked past where Caroline was leaning against a car, waiting for her sister who was talking to this gorgeous boy from our class, which was strange because he rarely talks to anyone and he was chatting away to her. I suppose the reason he never talked to anyone in the class was because everybody else was about seventy, we had exchanged a few ‘hellos' but I didn’t often talk to him. A couple of my old friends had been obsessed with him and I was just bored of hearing about him. Caroline didn’t notice me but as I moved away I saw her head turn towards me, her hair trailing behind her in the wind. There was that expression again, the same one she had worn at Spring Bank. I slipped away, unnoticed. As I turned my back on the car park I heard Jenny ask “What’s wrong?” but Caroline’s murmured answer was lost to me as the wind whipped it away.

***

So, there you have it. That used to be an almost ordinary day in my life. A pretty lame excuse for an existence. So far anyway. The rest of my week passed in much the same way: Get up, go to work, survive, A-Level class, sleep, repeat. Pathetic. After the next few days though, I would have given anything to go back to such a dull, monotonous life.