One Day at a Time

Chapter 5 - "Good Morning."

          This version of me was beautiful. 

          My reflection.

          After staring into my reflection for a little while, Nessa came and stood behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders, and her chin on one of her her hands. 

          "You look..." She said, sighing. "Beautiful, Blaire."

          I smiled, and we just stood like that for a little while, until she finally said that breakfast was ready. We walked down the stairs together, and, smiling, enter the kitchen to see my father and Jeanine sitting next to each other, and Trinity sitting opposite Jeanine, leaving two seats next to her for me and Nessa. Trinity, again, was too busy eating to notice us; for once, she wasn't clutching her teddy. Father was talking on his phone, with Jeanine talking quietly to Trinity. Father noticed us enter, and smiled at us to greet us. Jeanine gestured to sit down, wiping some jam from the corner of Trinity's mouth. She was sat there with her backpack leaning against her chair, obviously ready for school. 

          "Good morning." Jeanine whispered, careful not to interrupt her husbands phone call. It must be important for him to answer it at the table. "Did you sleep well?" 

          Nessa and I sat down at the two empty spaces by Trinity, her still munching shyly on her toast. "Yeah, thank you. It was lovely, the best I've ever had, actually." I said, trying not to sound as nervous as I was. 

          "I slept alright," Nessa grabbed a slice of buttered toast from the plateful in the middle of the table. "I forgot to do my homework, yesterday, before Blaire arrived, so I had to do that last night." She offered me a slice, whilst biting into her own. I waved it away. 

          "What would you like to eat, Blaire?" Jeanine said, getting up with plates in her hand and walking towards the sink. "I'll make you something quickly now before I go and drop Trinity off at elementary school." 

          I laughed at Trinity, who groaned at the word 'school'. "I'm fine, thanks. I'll just by something on the way to school, myself." 

          "Oh, alright," She said, scrubbing a plate. "Vanessa will take you, because she's studying there too." 

          Nessa nodded. "Yeah, I am. I'll tell you about it on the way there." She said, standing up and pulling her handbag over her shoulder. "Grab your bag, we'll be leaving in five."

          I picked up my bag, like she said, and checked the time on my phone. 08:45. We had fifteen minutes before we needed to be there. Slipping it into the back pocket of my jeans, I reached in my bag and pulled out my purse, checking how much money I had. thirty dollars, that should be enough for a coffee. Nessa walked around the table to her father, who was still talking on the phone, and leaned down and kissed his cheek, he gave her a quick squeeze and waved us goodbye.

          Vanessa walked to a silver convertible, and opened it. 

          "This is my car," She said, throwing her handbag on the backseats. She climbed in. I followed in after her, placing my bag on my lap, and slipping my purse back into the depths of it. "It'll take us about ten minutes to get to Blackwood Uni."

          Blackwood University. One of the best in the world, definitely the best in America. There's nothing like it in London, so I had to travel miles to study my dream in a grand university with good people. I'm one of the hundreds of pupils who travel from all over the world to study there, there's only a handful locally. 

          "When we get there, I'll introduce you to my friends and my boyfriend. Then you can go to your classes and make your own friends," She said. "I'll meet you back at the parking lot at the end of the day, okay?" She continued. "I've got Business Literature, first,"

          She took a left turn and a huge, grand building came into sight. 

          "Welcome to Blackwood." She mumbled, pulling into a parking space.

                                                                              +++   

          We made our way over to a group of people, hanging around a car, like a bunch of highschoolers. A girl - with black, curly hair and dark skin - sat on the bonnet of the car, with her legs crossed, holding onto another girl's arm. She had pale skin, and blonde, straight hair tied up, into a bun. A boy stood, arms folded across his chest talking to them. he had dark hair and big, brown eyes. He was handsome, but I guessed it was Nessa's boyfriend.

         Nessa jogged over to him, placing her hands on his hips and pressing her lips against his cheek. I don't understand how she can run in heels. The two girls rolled their eyes playfully, then looked at me, almost falling over in my heels. Nessa turned to face me, moving her hands from his hips, but he pulled her back to face him, setting his hands on her waist and leaned down, pressing his lips slowly to hers. I continued to walk over. 

          Nessa pulled away, mumbling into his lips, "Hang on, babe, I gotta introduce someone." He pecked her lips once more, and let her face me, his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. 

          "Everyone," she said. "This is my half-sister, Blaire." 

          The black-haired girl looked at her, then to me, and back. "She's your sister?" She began, startled. "I didn't know you had another sister, apart from Trinity." 

          "We have the same dad." I said, finally next to Nessa. 

          "That's an interesting accent you got there, girlie," The blonde one said. "Are you from a different country?" 

          "Yeah, I'm from London," I said, setting my hands on my hips. "So, Ness, are you gonna introduce me?" 

         "Oh, yep, sorry," She said. "That's Isla," she pointed at the blonde girl. "Then there's Nina, and Jason." 

         I croaked a hello, and they all greeted me. Then, the start of the day began, and Vanessa had to go to Business Literature, so I was left to struggle, finding my way to my first class. 

                                                                              +++     

         Where the hell is this place? I was wandering around the halls aimlessly, trying to find the classroom. I kept walking passed people, rushing to get to their classes. I took a long sip of my coffee I had paid for in the cafeteria before I had to go. I saw someone running towards me, but slightly to the right. If he wasn't he'd surely run into me. Wait - he is running straight for me. s**t. 

         Before I knew it, I had been pushed to the ground, my coffee cup laying on the left of me. Thank god I finished it. The person who ran into me was also on the floor, but to my right. I sat up, looking at the person, who was also sitting up now. The boy was dark-skinned, with bold, dark eyes and a cheery smile. He was handsome. 

         "Oh my god, I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." He said, looking at me. He stood up, dusting himself off, and then giving me his hand to help me up.

          "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us." I said, taking his hand. "Are you lost?" 

          "Yep." He sighed, picking up his bag off the floor. "Do you know where this class is?" the boy said, showing me his timetable.

          "No, sorry. Wait - Classroom B1F? Do you have Art History?"

          "Yeah, I am. You too?" He said, laughing slightly. I nodded and joined in his laughter. "Great, we can struggle together." 

          "Come on, let's start with the left corridor," I picked up my coffee cup from the ground and threw it in the nearest bin.

                                                                              +++   

          We eventually found the classroom. Professor Bolton wasn't angry at us at all, since, even though we were ten minutes late, we were actually one of the first ones there. The classroom was in a secluded corridor right at the end, hiding from every other classroom. I found out that the boy's name was Uriah, and he was studying the same thing I was, which was a little bit of a surprise. When some other students entered later on, about five minutes after we arrived, a girl with mousy-brown hair arrived and sat down next to me. She was also pretty, but not as beautiful as people said I was. Her name was Mia.

          After our first two classes, we went out for lunch and ended up in a pizza place. I checked my phone and it was now one O'clock; my brother would be home now; it would be six for him. I took this opportunity to call him, whilst Uriah and Mia were ordering. 

           "Hey, little bro!" I said, excitedly. I hadn't spoken to him since yesterday. "How are you doing? How is school?" 

          "Hey, Blaire." Cooper replied. He had his usual happy tone, and I could picture him smiling. In the background, there were plates and metals and all sorts clattering together. Mum was making dinner. "It's alright, the same as normal. How's uni? How's dad?" 

          We talked a lot, and I told him that we had two half-sisters, Nessa and Trinity. I told him about how Uriah and I met, and about Mia. He told me that his girlfriend, Jennifer, was back from America, so I didn't need to go and find her for him. He also said that Mum was happy to know that I was settling in alright. By the time Uriah and Mia had sat down at the table with the pizza, I was still chatting to Cooper. I mouthed to them that I would be finished in a minute, and that concluded our conversation.

          "Sorry, Cooper, I have to go now! My friends are back with the pizza; I'll talk to you tonight, when I get home, okay?" 

          "Yeah, sure. You better keep that promise though!" He said, hanging up.

          Me and my new friends chatted away whilst eating the pizza. We got to know each other a little bit better. I learned that Uriah has a younger sister called Georgia, and his mum and dad are divorced. Apparently they live with their dad because their mum wasn't able to take care of them. Mia, however, lives with both her parents and is an only child.; apart her bulldog, Jamie. 

                                                                              +++    

          My first day at Blackwood flew by. i had said goodbye to Mia and Uriah, and gotten in the car with Nessa. She asked how it was, and I told her everything. 

          We pulled up in the same space that we pulled out of at 08:47 this morning. There was one car missing; a Mercedes Benz S - Class. I assumed that was father's car, since it looked the most expensive. Father was most likely at his office, like a usual businessman. And, like a businessman father, he was most likely barely ever around. Nessa said that he tries, though. He tries harder than any other. Yeah, well, he didn't try with me. Or Cooper. 

          I'm going to be holding that grudge for a long time.