Warm and Bright

Odd man... no, odd woman out

The sick feeling in my stomach filled all through my body as I navigated myself through the empty streets to my sixth form. The street in front of the secondary school building was flooded with students but the sixth form entrance was barren and empty. East View Sixth Form loomed over me at 3 floors high with the entire front side covered from ceiling to ground with windows. It was almost a reminder or a reflection of my misgivings. I tried not to notice how dishevelled I looked. In a desperate attempt to get things under control, I brushed my curly hair against my head but it would not listen. I sighed loudly and opened the door to the sixth form. I was either early or late and I didn't want to check to find out. I had to remind myself over and over again that everything was going to go fine.

The day was cursed from the beginning with my alarm ringing an hour earlier than it was supposed to. I was unable to fall into proper sleep anyway. I spent the night tossing and turning and wondering all the possibilities of things going wrong. Then my toast. I somehow managed to burn it to the colour of coal. The entire house smelled like burned toast. I left the house in a huff and nearly got hit by a car. My head was in shambles. The more I walked, the more I felt like I was walking on a tightrope with one side being puking out my lungs into a bush or shitting myself. 

I followed the signs to the office to be informed of my form class. The office sat on one of the entrance area. There were a purple sofa that sat against the wall next to the office with a coffee table in front of it. There were a stack of papers that sat on top and I recognised my brother on the front of it. A fresh wave of nerve filled my belly and I blinked back tears. I pushed against all my instincts defiantly and took a step in front of the opening of the office. The office was covered by glass.

The lady who was sat at the office smiled brightly and I wanted to hit my head on the wall. How was someone this happy this early in the morning? The lady asked for my name and then struggled to pronounce it for a good few minutes. To her credit, she didn't give in until she got the pronunciation right. Her blue eyes glanced through her screen and eventually, she found where I belonged as she brushed her blonde hair behind her. 

'12 C.' She said while directing me to the room that sat just behind the office.

I nodded back with a smile. It was a little too early to settle myself in the form room so I decided to sit down in front of the canteen and scroll through Facebook to distract myself from my nerves. I wondered what form Parker and Andy were going to be in. We've been in the same class all through secondary school and it would be unfortunate if we were all placed in different classes. As time went by, however, it was clear that they were somewhere else in the building entirely. I texted a quick message to Andy and Parker questioning where they were. Andy responded with a picture. I opened the picture to find Parker and Andy sat in one of the science labs in the secondary school building. I texted back asking if that's their form class. Andy replied simply with a yes. 

'Good morning.' I heard someone greet and I wanted to implode on the spot. I looked up from my phone anyways to be polite. He was in a red and white jumper and if I didn't like him, I would think he looked quite good for a Monday morning. 

'Good morning to you too.' I replied.

Jason dragged the seat next to me and sat down. I fixed my gaze back on my phone to avoid just absentmindedly looking at his face even if his face was quite the sight to see. I tried to concentrate on stupid status updates random cousins of mine make in the middle of the night. I grappled my hardest to concentrate on not completely embarrassing myself. 

'Did you have breakfast?' He asked and I was reminded yet again of the failure that was my toast this morning.

'Breakfast?' I grumbled perhaps a little rudely.