Downside Up

Chapter Ten (Outer Space/ Carry On - 5SOS)

Time was flying by and only a few days after my arrival in Australia it was my first day at high school.

I was terrified because all this cliché high school stories tell you about two types of people. Depending on your social status you are life is either well or – not so well. Because one way you are queen bee or you are just another loser.

I was pretty sure my position had been set before I even entered the school building and I really didn't want to think of the consequences it would have for my exchange year. But every shit would be better than what I had to get through back at home. I mean – that's something!

In order to get to school on time, I had to get up way too early in the morning. The boys of the Mellet family didn't have to go to school – Tyde was homeschooled and Troye had already graduated – but luckily Sage was only a senior and went to the same high school as I was supposed to go to, so I wasn't completely alone.

When I was done dressing, I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. Back at home I had always been a huge supporter of school uniforms, simply because we didn't have uniforms and the idea of having them sounded nice, but now that I actually had to wear one I hated it.

Shaun, Laurelle, and Sage were already up when I entered the kitchen. They had already prepared smashed something that looked like avocado on a piece of bread and on the stove I saw a pan with eggs in it. Sage wear her school uniform as well, but she looked way better in it than I did.

"Good morning", I greeted and tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible, but I failed so I put up a weak smile. Maybe that would help.

"Good morning Oli", Shaun welcomed me, "did you sleep well?"

I nodded and sat down at the table. "Yeah, just like sleeping beauty."

Sage giggled at this statement and Laurella shot me a warm smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear that! It wouldn't be too nice to be tired at your first day of school, would it?"

Again I nodded and just at that moment, the eggs were ready and Shaun placed a delicious looking mountain of food in front of me. "Thanks", I told him, overwhelmed by the amount of breakfast in front of me. I originally hoped to lose some weight during my exchange year, but apparently my host parents had other plans.

I tried to eat as slow as possible and enjoy every bit of it, because a) avocado on toast (which it turned out to be) was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten in my entire life and b) I wasn't sure when I would eat again. I knew that I had a lunch break in between classes, but at my old school you had to wait at least 30 minutes to get your food and then most of the seats were already taken – with a lunch break that lasted only 25 minutes eating seemed like an impossible thing to me.

When Sage and I had finished, we quickly said our goodbyes, grabbed our bags and went outside. After a five minute walk, we reached the bus stop and waited for the school bus.

I liked the part of Perth the Mellets were living in. Everything was neat and clean, the houses had small gardens in front of it and it felt like a good place to call home.

Only a few seconds later the school bus arrived, Sage went in first and sat down at the back along with her friends. I didn't want to bother her, so I kept searching for a free seat and felt like Eleanor from Eleanor&Park, but without Park. In the front row, there were the gossiping freshman, in the back the super cool seniors and I was stuck belonging to none of this groups. Eventually, I settled on a free place in the middle and no one seemed to complain about it, so I stayed there.

At each station, some kids joined in and when we reached our destination is was astonished by the number of students that attend this high school.

Back at home we had a maximum of about 100 students per year but things were completely different in Australia. I somehow managed to get through the mass and reached the school building. I had been here before and when I got my schedule they also showed me the way to my classes, so I had no problem finding them.