Loves Me Not?

Chapter 1: The first day of school

It was 6 o’clock in the morning and I was up before the alarm clock. I had barely slept last night but that was my usual routine on the first day of school. I was so excited that we would finally get to start again that I couldn’t bring myself to sleep.

Before you go and classify me as a nerd in your highly prejudiced mind, let me tell you that the feeling of anticipation will be completely gone before the end of September when I will start wishing for Christmas holidays to come earlier than schedule. See? I am mostly a normal person. Maybe a bit too normal for my liking and everybody else’s for that matter, but still.

Anyway. Since I was already awake, I got my ass up from the bed and made my way to the kitchen quietly to make my breakfast; warm, no hot, milk with cocoa and a slice of homemade bread. Pure heaven.

When my brother and I were younger, mom would prepare our morning meal and the lunch we would take at school. Now that I was fifteen and my brother eleven we could handle it on our own and mom could get 30 minutes of extra sleep. She would have a busy way as it was (and lucky us, we would hear all about how tired she was later) so there was not need to add more to it. It was the easier way not to get the blame for yet another thing.

I ate in silence as the rest of my family was still asleep. It was the best time at home. That and the moment I closed my bedroom door when I returned. I washed my mug and plate and went back to my room to get ready. I made my bed and started dressing with the clothes I had prepared the night before.

Just to give you an idea of my attire, we are talking about baggy jeans and a loose fit pink t-shirt with a glittery heart in the front. I styled my medium long brown hair in a low boring ponytail and headed to the bathroom to wash my teeth and face.

And that was all.

I don’t have much of a morning routine and I had a shower last night before I went to bed, so I wouldn’t have to rush in the morning. I did not need to take anything with me for the first day, so no full schoolbag for me. By 6:45 I was ready to go and that’s what I did. I kissed my mom, who had woken up about twenty minutes ago, and left.

The village square where the bus would collect us was 5 minutes or so from my house and I was there in no time. The moment I arrived I saw Irene approaching too and I waved at her excitedly. She gave me a sleepy smile in return but did not quicken her pace.

I rolled my eyes as I watched her walking in a snail’s pace. She was not a morning type. I’ve known that for years and I have no idea why I expect that to change now.

“Morning” she greeted me in a drowsy voice.

“Good morning, Sleepyhead” I replied.

“Why does school has to be so early in the morning?” she complained stifling a loud yawn.

“We wouldn’t have to wake up so early if we didn’t have to go to the town” I reasoned.

It was true. We lived in a small village and as it happened with all the other nearby villages we did not have the luxury of going to high school here. In fact, we would attend school here until the age of twelve. After that we had to go to the nearest town to continue our education.

A bus was appointed to collect all children from about four villages and transport them back and forth the nearest high school. Imagine that; kids from six different grades and four different villages cramped up in a single bus. Our village was somewhere in the middle of the route but that was not any guarantee for a vacant seat in the bus. Afternoons were even worse as one had to fight his way through the bus to secure a sitting spot and the kids from the farthest village were sure to get a nausea from all the twists and turns on the road until they finally made it home.

The only good thing from this ordeal was that you got to meet kids from the other villages. That gave you a widest selection of friends. For example, out of my three friends, only Irene was from here. Angelica and Nicole (we called her Nicky) was from another village and I had met them both two years ago when in a one day trip with the school. Irene and Angelica were one year older but Nicky was my age and though I only got to see the first two only before and after school or in recess time, I had the latter to keep me company in class and from our second year we started sitting together in the classroom as well.

“Well, it’s all worth it since you will get to see your amore” Irene said winking.

“Shhhh” I scolded. “Keep your voice down”

“I did not say his name”

“Nor will you. You know how people are talking and till I get the hell out of this place I don’t want to be a part of their gossiping mouths”

“Alright, alright. I won’t say anything more here” she promised and we changed the subject until the bus arrived.

“What a delight!” Irene murmured mockingly once she got a glimpse of how full it was already.

“Indeed” I murmured back trying to make my way further in the bus to reach Angelica and Nicky without stepping on people’s feet.

Well, you can consider this task unsuccessful, as I did actually step on somebody’s foot just before I reached the girls.

When I looked up to see who the unlucky person was, my heart stopped.

Tyler Roberts.

“Get up!” I heard someone shouting but I groaned and switched sides.

“Suit yourself. The bus is leaving in fifteen and I am not the one that is going to get an earful from dad for missing it”

The door to my room slammed closed and I jumped up instantly. I dressed and washed my face in haste before I walked out of the house to follow my sisters that were already nearing the bus stop.

This was the last year of school and I felt so f*****g relieved I could not describe it. In all honesty, I had no intention of going today as we did not really have classes, but my mom would be disappointed and my dad would lecture me.

Now, about my mother (and sisters), I care deeply; my father is another story. I am not afraid of him but I am very much afraid of myself when I am around him. I knew that one word from his mouth was more than enough to make me lose my cool. The man talked like he was authorized to tell people what to do with their lives and that rubbed me the wrong way.

I knew what he was doing. We all knew…

As my guys approached me, I pushed all thoughts aside and laughed loudly at the first joke I heard. I knew them since we were like 5 and we were tight since then. We had not a lot in common as we grew up but I did not mind. I was not one for deep conversations anyway. All I wanted was to have a good time, especially this last year. I needed it.

As we entered the bus we sat at once but right before we reached the third village on the road I gave my place to a girl that felt dizzy. The guys rolled their eyes at my chivalry but I did not bother with them. If they wanted to be jerks (Cameron more than Hector) they could do it without my assistance.

This village had not that many children but the bus was almost full as it was and the newcomers tried to make their way deeper into the vehicle in hope to spot some empty seat. I was sure some s**t would happen and I was proven true when someone stepped on my foot. I looked down to see a petite brunette, my youngest sister’s age, looking at me quite embarrassed.

I felt the urge to chuckle at her obvious shyness but I held it back.

“I am sorry” she apologized and I almost missed her voice to the surrounding noise.

“It’s okay” I replied nonchalantly and I let her and her friend pass.

The rest of the day went as boring as I expected. The annual headmaster’s speech, the introduction of a couple of new professors and so on, so on.

The only good thing from coming to school was seeing Kate again. She was my age, close to my height, slim, tan, good set of breasts, straight brown hair and big green eyes. Kate was a sight to behold and I swear she had grown even prettier than last year. She had already given me some positive signals before the ending of the previous year thus I had decided to make my move this year. Either way I had nothing to lose.

We talked a bit about how our summer went and I told her I had not seen her in the bus this morning. She said she got up late and her father dropped her off as to not miss the first day. After that, she went back to her friends and before I did the same I went to check on my sisters.

I have three of them; one older Cora, who is already studying away from here and two younger ones. Marcy is a year younger than I am and is a bit of a tomboy. It was her that woke me up so sweetly today. We often fight for she likes to wear my t-shirts and hoodies and she even steals my cologne. Avery is three years my junior and to be honest she is still a child to my eyes.

I do not think myself as overprotective but I try to look out for them without putting much pressure. Besides, I have warned all of my friends to keep the hell off my sisters.

So, I’m cool. I think…