White Lies and Music Notes

Chapter Six

The next day was Monday. My first ever school day at a boarding school. Let alone a horse riding school! As I woke up, the thrill of the unknown overwhelmed me.

I rolled over in the bed and hit my alarm clock to switch it off. It didn't stop. My eyes flew open. I hit it again. It still didn't stop.

"Damn it, you stupid alarm clock." I cursed it under my breath, finding the button to switch it off.

"Good morning to you too." A warm American girls voice greeted me. I looked up and saw a girl with short blonde pixie hair and light blue eyes. "Hi."

"wh....h...? Hi." I finally managed to say.

The girl seemed to sense my confusion. "I'm Melanie," she smiled, "you must be Leah?"

I groaned. That must have been the tenth time I've heard that phrase. 'you must be Leah?' 'Your name's Leah, right?' 'So, your Leah, the new girl?'.

"Yeah. I thought... Aren't you....?" I looked at the girl.

"What? Oh right, you mean, was I not ill?" I nodded. "I was. But Dad dropped me off last night. I had a cough and Mum insisted I stay at home even though I felt fine. I'm just dead tired now, after the long night. Hey, could you help me unpack my suitcase? I could really do with a hand."

God, the girl wouldn't stop talking.

"Um, sure."

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After spending almost two hours of helping Melanie unpack, we realised how terribly late we were.

"Oh shit, damn it." she swore. My eyes went wide. To be honest, I had never heard someone swear. Not even the stupid guys at my old school. I was so surprised to hear that she was the swearing kind.

"Leah? Are you okay? OMG. Are you one of those religious people who aren't allowed to be around people who swear or something? Does that even exist? Or was it just if you swore yourself? No. I'm pretty sure it was if someone else swore. Ah. Why didn't I listen in RE?"

I started laughing. "Don't worry, Melanie. I guess I'm just... I never swear. And I've never really been around the swearing type." I blushed, realising that my comment could be taken as an insult.

"Ah right no problem." She let out a sigh. "What I meant to say was," she glanced at her watch, "WE ARE 7 MINUTES LATE FOR BREAKFAST AND THEY CLOSE THE KITCHEN IN 3 MINUTES! And we're not even changed yet!"

I just stared at her. "Earth to Leah! Get ready! Super quick!" she spoke to me as if I was a baby. As if I didn't understand what she was trying to say. Come to think of it, that's exactly what I felt like.

"Oh right. Yeah."

In the next two and a half minutes we were changed and racing down the 6 flights of stairs to the dining room.

"Less than one minute left." Melanie squealed.

"MELANIE ....... WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING AT THIS TIME IN THE MORNING?" a roar came from the top of the stairs.

"Going... to breakfast?" she said in a small voice. A huge figure came down the stairs. A tall man with grey hair and a long nose with glasses perched on the end came towards us. The closer he came, the more he intimidated me.

"AND WHY WERE YOU RUNNING DOWN THE STAIRS? YOU MADE THE WHOLE HOUSE SHAKE!"

"I'm sorry, professor. It will not happen again." she said in a small voice.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"I'm very sorry, professor. I will ensure it does not happen again, sir." she said, this time a little louder.

"WELL IT BETTER BE THE LAST TIME MISS........" And he walked off. Just like that.

"And now," she said looking at her watch, "we are exactly 2 minutes late for Breakfast."

I looked at her. She looked at me. And we just burst out laughing. And we couldn't stop.

"GIRLS?" It was the Professor again. "IS THAT YOU MELANIE?" We could hear his footsteps.

"Run!" She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards a door and then slipping inside. "Don't. Even. Breath." she whispered.