Pieces of us

Chapter Five

It's finally the start of a new school session.

I have been telling myself for days that I'll be fine.

Standing in front of the mirror now, I am not nearly as convinced. I adjust the black tie around the collar of my white shirt, unbutton and button up my navy blue blazer and then run my hands down my pleated grey skirt. Nothing seems out of place.

Why do I even bother anyway? I'm not out to impress anyone…

Who am I kidding?

I definitely want my new schoolmates to like me or rather not look down on me. I don't think they're better than me, but what if they don't like me just because I'm poor?

“Dawn, the bus will be here any minute now, I think you need to go and wait outside, don't delay the driver.” I hear Mom say,

I step out of the bathroom and pick up my bag from the bed. Mom is standing at the door, holding it open for me.

“Have you eaten?” She asks,

“I'm not hungry.” I tell her as I hurry to get to the gate. As Mr Jonas opens the gate, I immediately see a large white school bus with CRESTWOOD INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE written on it, driving towards me.

“Dawn!” Mom calls, running to catch up with me. She quickly opens my bag and throws a few packed slices of bread.

“I told you I'm not hungry,”

“You might get hungry later. Don't start your day on an empty stomach.” She says almost out of breath while zipping up my bag and then gently nudges me towards the bus. I greet the driver and he answers rather warmly, making me smile. There are only about three students in the bus seated at the far back. I locate a seat close to the front door. As the bus starts to move I look at my mom who's waving at me and I wave back.

It took our bus about an hour to get to school because we had to make several stops at other students' homes.

This is my second time at Crestwood. The first time, I came to meet my new class teacher and get my uniforms and textbooks. I stare at the large blocks spelling out CRESTWOOD INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE, positioned around a water fountain and two statues of a male and female student who look like they're running after each other. Tall buildings surround me, all painted in blue and grey, and a huge open field stretches out ahead.

I find myself wondering how much land the school occupies.

What's even more fascinating are the flowers. There are so many of them, in so many different colours, spread all around the premises. The entire place looks like a movie location. I pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

This really is my new school.

Students move past me in different directions, and I realise I've been standing in the same spot for a while.

A girl walks up to me with a smile.

"Good morning," she says, extending her hand. "You must be Dawn, the newbie."

I reach for her hand, noticing the name tag pinned to her blazer.

Nicole.

That's her name.

"Good morning. Yes, I'm Dawn."

Her smile widens. She looks almost excited.

"Mrs Johnson told me about you. Here..."

She reaches into her shirt pocket and pulls out a name tag. My full name is printed on it. Before I can say anything, she hurriedly pins it to my blazer.

"My name is Nicole Evans. I'm your class president."

"It's nice to meet you, Nicole."

I smile at her, and she immediately grips my hand firmly.

"Come on. Let me show you around."

And so, we move towards the large field.

Except it's not just a field.

It's actually a mini stadium.

An empty basketball court sits to one side, right next to a group of students jumping over a bar more than a meter tall.

"That's our high-jump team," Nicole says. "They have a competition at the end of next month."

I nod.

"Do you play any sports?"

"No."

We move on to the swimming pool area, then the laboratories, the ICT hall, the art room and the library. We stop at the library for a few minutes.

It's enormous. Not school-library enormous. Actual-library enormous.

I drag my feet behind Nicole as she chatters on about how much fun I'm going to have at Crestwood.

In the hallway, I hear a girl's voice.

I stop.

She sounds like she's singing opera.

I peer through the window of the room, but all I can see is her back.

"This is the music room, in case you like to sing," Nicole says.

I turn to her.

I have no idea when she noticed I was no longer paying attention to her.

"I don't sing," I say with a laugh.

Mom always calls me tone deaf. She's told me to focus on the things I'm actually good at instead, like literature.

"Come on. Let's head to the hall. It's almost time for the general assembly."

Nicole turns to leave.

I nod and follow her, but I look back one more time at the singing girl before I go.

We quickly form a line along with a few others already there ahead of us. Nicole introduces me to two of the girls, while other students join the queue. Soon enough, Mr Bello mounts the podium. He gives a really short speech before sending us all to our classes. As we turn around to leave, I immediately spot someone familiar. I can only see his back but I'd definitely recognise him anywhere. It hadn't crossed my mind that I'd be attending the same school as Fairskinned-curly hair.