Clementine

Mountain

Tristan King

I put my breakfast tray back on the trolley for it to be cleaned and I turn back to Clementine. Just as I open my mouth to speak the bell rings.

"Anton and I have a free, see you guys at lunch?" Giovanna says, Clementine nods and waves goodbye to her. She turns back to me, "To French?" She says.

"To French." I reply.

Clementine leads me through a mass of confusing corridors and subject blocks, until we reach the Languages wing.

It's a beautiful modern wing, students are standing chatting by lockers. It actually looks like something from an advert for the school. "So, why'd you take French?" Clementine asks me.

I turn around to look at her, "I do ski competitions in France alot. Mum and Dad thought it would help me out. Plus I like the subject." Clementine nods respectfully. 

We finally reach a corridor with classrooms on either side. We walk to the last one and Clementine pushes the door open. "Brace yourself." She hisses under her breath. 

I brush the words off, but once I step into the room all the chatter stops. A girl with crimson red hair and massive green eyes looks up at me and spins to whisper to the girl beside her. "That's Dana's new boyfriend!" She whispers. Clementine rolls her eyes beside me.

"Actually, I'm not Dana's boyfriend. Sorry to disappoint." I tell her. The girl smirks, "That's not what Dana's been saying."

Clementine grabs my hand and pulls me towards a seat at the back of the room, next to a window overlooking the outdoor swimming pools. I can see the steam from the hot pool rising into the air.

"Thanks, Clementine." I say, she turns around and actually looks happy. She grins at me, "Anytime, King. Anytime."

I look around the room for the teacher, who is very obviously not here. It's 8:53 am and the bell rang at 8:50 am. "Clementine? Where's the teacher?" I ask. 

"They give us an extra ten minutes to talk in the mornings. Get to know each other and all that." She says, I sigh. "So, Clementine. Let's get to know each other."

"What's your full name?" She asks.

"Tristan Laurens King, you?"

"Princess Clementine Alexandria Ottoline Dubois of Rodovia." She says smirking. I smile back at her. "Long name." I note. "How insightful." She replies.

Clementine leans back in her seat for a moment, and the sits back up. Her back as straight as a statues. "So, Tristan Laurens King, have you any siblings?"

Unfortunately, I do. "Yep, an older brother called Henry. He's an idiot." Clementine arches her eyebrow and smirks. "And why isn't Henry here?" She asks slyly.

"He's still at school in England." I say, unwilling to give up anymore information about that. 

"I have three sisters, Alika, Jasmine and Ophelia." Clementine says, staring out of the window. "How come they aren't here?" I ask.

"They're all older than me." She replies simply. I wish the reason Henry isn't here was as simple as that.

The door to the classroom flies open, and no other than Dana Richards struts in. Her friend Kadence in tow. She scans the room and latches onto my eyes.

Her face completely changes, and she weaves her way through the tables to get to me. "Hey, Tristan baby!" She calls.

Clementine snorts. I glare at her and she raises her hands in surrender. "Sorry!" She mouths at me. "Um, Clementine?" Dana says, "Can you move so I can sit next to Trist?"