Blue Striped Tie

Chapter 1: The first day

Heathcoat Academy was a posh school, Ross knew that much. He had heard stories, at his old school. Tales about students getting dropped off in helicopters and Aston Martins in the parking lot. Back then, he'd listened intently to the gossip, laughing at the ridiculousness of the rich. He'd never thought he'd actually be here. But alas, his old school didn't have a Sixth Form. Against all odds, he'd lucked out with a place at Heathcoat.

Looking down at his map of the school, Ross sighed. A new school came with a lot of new classrooms and buildings to memorise, brilliant. He tugged his blue and black stripy tie nervously, a habit he had picked up a long time ago. Most Sixth Forms didn't have a uniform, unfortunately all the posh boys and girls had to look especially smart. Black blazers, stripy ties and white shirts were mandatory.

Standing outside the main gate, he looked back to where his sister was still parked. She gave him an encouraging wave and he pulled a face. Turning back to the gate, he walked over to where the card scanner was. His Sixth Form ID card had come in the post yesterday, every Sixth Form student had them, allowing them to exit and enter the campus when required. The machine bleeped green after scanning his card, and the gate swung open. Following the instructions he had received over the phone yesterday, he headed into the massive old building in front of him.

Out of all of his twelve years of school, he had never met a more stereotypical headmaster. He was a large man, easily over fifty. White tufts of hair were spread over his scalp and a bit of his chin, making him look like a shaven father christmas. His black suit and pointed gaze accompanied the disturbing sense of intimidation that radiated from the room.

After the headmaster had 'welcomed' him to the school and explained the basic rules and requirements, Ross had been sent meet his new form tutor where he would collect his paperwork and timetable. Unfortunately, all Ross had been told about his form room was that it was in G13.

At some point during his search, a bell sounded. Suddenly there were students everywhere, creating a sea of black blazers. Every student looked the same, only distinguishable by their ties. Ross' was blue, meaning he was Sixth Form, but this was a whole school. Students in year seven and eight were Discovery Collage, meaning they had black and grey ties. In year nine, students picked their GCSE's, meaning they got segregated into different Collages depending on the subjects they chose. Green for Arts. Red for Enterprise. Purple for World. It was all very confusing.

To his left, Ross heard a shout. Turning his head to look, he saw a flash of blonde before something heavy barrelled into him. He hit the ground with a large 'thump', wind completely knocked out of him.

"Oh shit man, sorry."

He looked up to follow the voice, finding a large blonde boy looking down at him, a concerned look on his face. Behind the blonde, he saw two more boys approaching them, a short ginger sporting a curly beard and a taller brunet with tanned skin, their blue ties showed Ross that they were Sixth Form too. Ross blinked up at the blonde, too dazed to respond.

"Here." The blonde said, offering Ross a hand. He was hauled up by the boy, surprisingly stronger than Ross thought. The boy's friends arrived as Ross was picking up his rucksack.

"Duncan!" The tall one growled. "What did you do?"

"Accident!" The blonde - Duncan - exclaimed, raising his hands in mock surrender. The brunet shook his head and sighed.

"You alright?" The shorter one asked, looking up at Ross.

"Yeah." Ross said, dusting dirt off of his black jeans. From the waist down, Sixth Form students were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. Within reason anyway. It looked like most people just went with jeans.