Traditional Education

Tina

Okay. Oh? Am I comfortable? Uh, sure. I guess. Memory what? Uh, fine, I guess... Where do I start? Well, maybe it starts with me getting dropped off with my little overnight bag at my new school. I could feel the gravel through my thin-soled pumps, and my bag was digging into my shoulder. Why am I-? Oh, because setting is important for these things of course!

You know, it's funny how when big terrible things happen to you, the not-great things start to seem unreasonably unfair too. I passed by a total of five gorgeous guys on my way from the taxi to my Uncle's office. Which seems pretty impressive until you realise that I was walking through a boy's school. One of them was a teacher, so immediately look but don't touch. Which was a pity, because Philosophy teaching, jumper wearing nice guys? Sign me up for that module.

Forward second left.

Then there was the boy with the blond hair and unf abs who walked out of a changing room drying his hair and wearing just a pair of shorts and converse.

The gym? WRONG WAY! Turn, awkward eye contact with blondie, take the first left, now the first right.

The guy with the DS who was sitting on the ground beside the tall, leafy houseplant, with big brown eyes and long lashes and these high, delicate cheekbones that made him almost girly.

Continue until you reach the stairs, first floor.

How many have I reached? Yeah, three. Then there was the strange one with the dyed orange hair and the paint on his face. Ever seen Ouran? With the refreshing contest? No? Well that's what he was, refreshing. You know, the sort of guy who'd volunteer at his granddad's garden centre during the summer. By the beach. Or the kind of guy who'd wade into a river to get something you'd dropped. Damn- I'd better remember that as a character for later. That one could be cute.

Second floor. Head right to the end of the hall, left.

And finally, just as I turned the corner? There was a group of three guys chatting on a bench, and with them, gorgeous guy number five. Average height, caramel hair, freckles. But also this sort of nineties nice guy with a hint of quirky look. You know, when actors were handsome but not same-y. He was just about getting this great jaw line. But then he opened his mouth and it wasn't that he was a douche, just, god, the oddest thing I've ever heard I guy say.

He turned to this short, young looking guy with a grin. "So, do you know what I realised today?"

Shrugs all round and a ridiculously deep "What?" from the ridiculously lanky boy insisting on wearing a hood indoors.

"So, my hair's pretty long, right? Did you know it's so long I could eat my hair if I wanted to?" He tilted his head to the side in a carefully prepared flick, grabbed the end of a strand of hair between his teeth. That's when he looked up and caught me staring in disbelief.

My mouth stretched into an embarrassed teeth-baring smile, reverting to an embarrassed biting of my lower lip when the small one burst into laughter. I tried to remedy the situation the only way I knew how. By running. Well, more walking very quickly the five metres to the principal's office. Yeah, I know, super classy.

I opened the door and slid in making my uncle look up from his filing as I did so. "Hello Uncle Jay." Ooh, I can remember dialogue. I can never rememeber conversations is that the? Okay, I'll continue...

"Tina." He nodded over to a small couch, which I plonked myself down on. "I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up from the airport, I really am it's just-"

"Don't worry," I shrugged. "I get it, life's tricky like that, you had to work, and the only plane I could get was on a Sunday because of hospital stuff."