A Place To Call Home

I was lost in the sea of blue

CHAPTER 3

Monday came too quickly, and here I was in my uniform staring pale faced at my reflection. In the week that I've been here I hadn't seen Tom and James, but apparently we go on the same bus, and we attend the same school... I pinched my cheeks to bring some color back, and then headed down to the kitchen.

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"I hope you enjoy your first day at school" said Aunty El as she handed me my bag

"Yeah I hope so too" I said nervously

"You better get hurrying, or you'll miss the bus" she said as she politely shoved me out the front door.

I ran down the drive just in time to see the bus coming around the corner...

The bus pulled up. I could already see the students face's peering out at me through the bus windows...Taking a deep breath I gripped my bag stepped up into the bus. The feeling of eyes directly on me was a bit intimidating. Quickly I found a window seat by myself up the back. The bus pulled onto the road and continued to the next stop. It surprised me that so many students were out of town.

"Hey can I sit next to you" a girl that just got on the bus asked me.

"Yeah sure" I said moving my bag off the seat.

"Thanks. So are you Sally Rivers?" The girl asked plonking herself down beside me.

"Yes...how do you know" I asked suspiciously.

"Max Rivers told my dad...my dad and him are good friends" She said as she laughed

"Everyone seems to already know me" I said sarcastically

"Yeah, word travels real quickly around here" she said half rolling her eyes

"Sorry I didn't get your name?" I said to her.

"Oh no problem, my name is Rebekah Bush but just call me Becky" She said smiling.

"My brother Tom sometimes gives a hand at Max's farm" Becky quickly added

"Yes I've sort of met him" I huffed.

"Yeah, he told me about you...cleaning the chicken yard" Becky said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, that" I laughed at the thought of me trying to clean out the Chicken yard... I wondered what he had told his sister. "So are you related to James...the boy who he was with?"

"Oh, no Tom's just friends with him" Becky answered smoothing out her school dress "They've been friends ever since grade 3" she quickly added

I nodded in reply.

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The bus pulled up outside the school gates...

The students filed out of the bus in a squabbling mob, I was lost in the sea of blue.

"Sal, follow me" Becky called grabbing my arm and dragging me off the bus, and through the groups of teenagers. Her hand never left my arm until we reached the lockers.

Becky reefed open her locker and thrust her bag inside. "You're in some of my classes" She said, her head was inside the locker buried amongst books, clothes and paper...lots of paper.

"Thank gosh!" I said in one breath. I was glad, because it would have been awkward on my own.

"I think the first class today is Math's" Becky told me as she continued to rummage through her locker "And I'd watch Mrs Williams; she always singles out students she doesn't like, which is nearly every Student in her class!! She pulled her head out, gave me a dirty look and rolled her eyes. "Especially, new kids"

"Damn...I always get the nasty ones" I replied sarcastically

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Math class was awful! Becky was right Mrs Williams singled me out and made me answer all the hard questions...and it didn't help that I was already bad at it! I can still here her sharp voice ringing in my head!

I found my way to the cafeteria and joined the line up to the counter, I ordered a chicken salad then scanned the room for Becky; she was already seated in a booth by the window that looked out into the oval. Becky and I got along really well...I found out that she lived in the house on the side of the road, so within walking distance of each other. She was very pretty too, with blonde wavy hair, these amazing blue eyes and was slim with a little curve.