Running for Tara

Chapter 2

Tar finished breakfast and continued readying herself for the day. She finally kissed her mother on the forehead and ran for the bus, narrowly avoiding a cyclist. Tar held out her hand and with a smile gave the bus driver £1 extra change. Tar was kind hearted and even though her jagged exterior would like you to believe, she wanted at least one friendly face. The bus driver thanked tar and handed her a ticket and a small piece of paper,

"You're new here aren't you kid", Tar nodded and the bus driver said "that should help".

Tar looked at the paper and realised that it was a plan of the bus with little drawings of people. This was a plan of where everyone usually sat so that she wouldn't be forced to move. She looked over to the bus driver and mouthed thank you whilst finding an empty seat, finally settling for one near the back, facing out the window. Tar looked out at the rolling hills and trees of the shires that led home. The bus jolted to a stop to allow an elderly couple and a girl who looked like she was heading the same way as Tar. Then just as the doors were closing a rush of wind blew up the isle of the bus, this was the moment that Tar found her iPod in her pocket and unravelled the twisted headphones, turning up the volume and allowing the music to take her away.

"Good song" a voice came from behind Tar and startled her. Tar span around to find a boy about her age with a shock of silver hair on the top of his head and wearing a tattered pink floyd shirt. "Sorry?" Tar said quietly, expecting the boy to laugh and make a joke about her eyes but he just repeated himself and extended his arm,

"Peter" the boy said and Tar took his hand

"Tar" she said and the boy looked into her eyes, causing Tar to flinch and turn away.

When the bus finally arrived at Tar's new school, the grey haired boy didn't get off the bus, he just sat there and as Tar slid off the bus she tried to not look at him.

The school was big, bigger than any she'd been to before and she reported to the head office looking up at the messy architecture, trying to figure out what drugs the character who designed this building had taken. She picked up a map of the school and slid it into her black satchel, looking at her daily planner: Maths, Physics, Art, Spanish, Music and a free lesson. Tar then headed in the general direction of the building labelled, 'Mathematics'.

Tar realised something at the new school, she hated maths. Tar had found a quiet and peaceful section of the classroom sandwiched in-between a chubby yet pretty girl called Milly and a mysterious boy called James. James didn't talk enough and his eyes were the same colour as a storm, Milly talked too much and her eyes were hazel. After that maths lesson, Tar learned that Milly was born in New York and that her parents moved here when she was a baby, that Milly's favourite colour is yellow and that she hates Mondays. James just listened and drew a beautiful picture of a dragon and right at the end of the lesson handed it to Tar,

"You are a beautiful listener" was all that he said the whole lesson.