Lost and Found

Chapter 7 | Where is the hill?

The last days of the summer break fly by. Julia watches the different houses flash by her as her cousin Cecil drives them to school. Everything is a lot different here. She has to make a good impression, or she's going to end up a loner.

This morning, she paid extra attention to her looks. Her brown curls are braided in a loose plait. Her mascara and eyeliner are on point, and she even put her new lip gloss on. She picked out a knee-length forest green summer dress with flared short sleeves.

For some reason, the school has clothing rules, which include no-bare-shoulders. What kind of person is distracted by the skin of someone's shoulders?

Julia was really proud of herself until she saw Cecil. Cecil's face looks flawless–or at least her make-up does. Her mascara makes her eyes seem bigger, and her lips are a light shade of red. She wears skinny jeans with a loose black bell sleeve top. The sleeves are made from an almost see-through fabric that narrows at the wrists.

They drive into the parking lot of the school. Julia furrows her brows. Is this the right place? She looks up at Cecil, who's already stepping out of the car.

"Where's the hill?" Julia asks. Cecil slams the door and walks away without answering the question. Oh, no, she's not getting lost on her first day of school. Grabbing her bag, she rushes after her cousin.

Two girls walk up to Cecil. They do the classic high school movie social things; hugging, laughing, and showing off their clothes. The one with the shorter black hair turns to her. "You're the Dutch girl, right?"

Not the description she would use. She's the cousin or the new girl, but yes, she's also the Dutch girl. "Yeah, Julia, Cecil's cousin."

The other girl with long blond hair tilts her head at her. "The one who went missing?"

Missing? Cecil nudges her friend in the side with her elbow. Julia tilts her head and says, "No, the one who moved to the Netherlands."

"Do you have schools there?" The girl with the black hair says.

Julia narrows her eyes. "Uhh, yeah." Why wouldn't there be schools?

"What about the internet? Does the Netherlands have running water?"

For a second, Julia stares at her cousin's friends. "Are you serious?"

Before Cecil's friends can interrogate her further, her cousin takes them by their arms. "It's kind of civilised like the US, but different." Cecil drags them along towards the school.

Julia trudges behind them. Her first class is American history, which she has with Cecil.

Her Dutch teacher taught her some of American history, but it was the basic stuff. The Europeans found the land. They screw over the Natives—which is kind of an understatement. European history doesn't look pretty. American history doesn't either, though.

What else happened?

They fought for independence from the British, and France helped the US. They fought with themselves–oh, and the space race. Anyway, she's more interested in world history, which she has tomorrow.

Stepping inside the school, she is greeted with banners welcoming the students back to school. Her eyes drift off to a big corkboard hanging on the wall, pinned with flyers of sports, events, clubs, and other flyers. The social stuff movies had promised her.

They walk past some offices and into a hallway with lockers. Cecil gestures to her where Julia's locker is. The lockers are smaller than on TV.

Julia puts the books for after the lunch break in her locker. Closing the locker–and with a lighter backpack–Julia looks up. Oh, no. Cecil and her friends are gone. Domoor! Julia speed-walks through the hallway, slow enough to not draw attention and fast enough to see where Cecil went.