Finding Family

Evalynn: Routine

It took me a while to get used to it all. There were so many new things and sometimes people expected me just to know (usually at school) and sometimes things would be explained to me only to have been forgotten. Mamma tried her best to remember to remind me of different things, but it didn't always stay in my head between weeks. Being at a new school of course meant different times for lessons and lunch and leaving the house in the morning. That was the problem with where mamma lived, it kinda was the middle of nowhere so I had to get the bus to school, meaning I had to be up earlier, to go out earlier and get a bus rather than taking a ten minute walk through the allies like I had back in Gloucester. Classes happened at different times to they had before, and the buildings obviously had a different lay-out, which being fair seemed to make more sense than my old school's. Each block had an assigned letter - based off it's name - for it's class codes, and each classroom had a three digit code after the letter, the first of which referred to the classroom. For example G204 - my biology classroom - was in the green block (all the doors were painted green so you knew) and on floor 2. You just had to know where each coloured block was and you were fine, though it was hard for me as I'd never had much joy keeping maps in my head.
Along with having all that to familiarise myself with, I was still getting used to all the things that happened at home on different days. Wednesdays, for example, Mick usually worked late so dinner was later. On Fridays me, mamma and Benjamin watched a movie, usually Disney films because as it turned out we were all quite fond of them, and sometimes Mick would join us depending on whether he had stuff to do for work and a bit on what film we were watching. And I found as time passed I really enjoyed it. That I really enjoyed just spending time with my family, because we were a family, even if I wasn't related to Mick I loved him and I had a distinct feeling that with time he'd become my first proper father figure. The Goodwin's had never been this close as a family, I can never recall there even having been a nominal night of the week we were all at home, so it felt almost strange to snuggle together on the sofa with mamma and Benjamin to watch cute little films like Snow White and Cinderella. But I definitely liked it.

However the early mornings were a challenge still, and as I tried my best not to swear at my alarm I tried to work out if it would be cold out of bed. It was Friday, which on my timetable wasn't a bad day and I knew I'd spend most of it thinking about coming home and watching a film after dinner. It was as I was sat eating breakfast sleepily that I was trying to work out if I had any homework due today. Fortunately I concluded I didn't, so sat nibbling on my toast and working out whether Elsie would be in today or if I'd have to spend another day with the girls who I didn't know so well. Mick smiled at me as he came into the kitchen to get something, and I smiled back at him. It wasn't exactly busy or chaotic in the house during the morning, it only got a little complicated when Ben was going out with Mick, but generally we all seemed to avoid getting in each other's way.

Ben had hugged me before I'd managed to get downstairs after brushing my teeth, but he'd then gone in the front room and started watching some sort of cartoons (clearly Mick's way of getting him out of the way). While I was getting my shoes on mamma came downstairs, and I just had to hug her before I could go out. She hugged me back and for a brief moment I didn't mind too much about anything else, because hugging mamma still felt super special to me.
"You need to go out Evvy." Mamma said, letting me go.
I nodded and picked up my bag from the floor, slipping my backpack over one shoulder. We smiled at each other and she went to go get Ben and sort him out for pre-school, while I headed out to walk up to the bus stop. The bus stop was off the top of the drive and left, the stop was located just before the crossroads where you'd go left to go into the village (which I'd found out was the one where the playpark we went to with Ben was). It was just over 5 minute walk for me to the stop, and there were only four people at it. All of them were older than me.