The Boy with the Blind Eyes

FOUR

Hi guys!

I am SO sorry that I haven't been able to update this past week. I have been absolutely swamped and it's been really difficult finding time to write. 

Hope you enjoy <3 

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Tamsin's eyes snapped open. She immediately covered her ears, wincing. The school had a seven a.m. alarm, apparently. She groaned and swung her legs over the bed. Tamsin hated lying in bed after she was awake. She haphazardly threw the covers over her bed—which was, funnily enough, the best night's sleep she'd ever had—and glanced over at Lina, who had turned onto her stomach, drooling.

Tamsin decided to leave her. Instead, she carefully selected an outfit for her first real day at school. A pair of black skinny jeans she'd gotten for her birthday last July, and a brown turtleneck sweater that Lina had given her the day before, claiming it didn't 'sit right' on her. Tamsin had graciously accepted the gift after a hundred excuses of why she shouldn't, but Lina didn't hear of it. Maybe she thinks I'm really poor. Like, no clothes poor. Tamsin frowned. That couldn't be good. She didn't want to be seen as some kind of charity case in her new school. Today was the day she had to make a good impression, and wearing someone else's sweater didn't exactly say 'middle-class'. 

Swapping Lina's sweater for a grey, thinner turtleneck that clung to her skin but was incredibly warm, Tamsin jumped into the shower and combed back her thick mass of hair, braiding it down her back. Back home, her parents couldn't afford to buy her makeup, so she'd never tried any. She saw a bunch of cosmetic cases of Lina's on the bench, though, and briefly wondered if she'd let her use whatever was in there...

She quickly brushed off the idea. Not a charity case. No borrowing. She thought she looked nice without makeup anyway.

Throwing her pyjamas into a hamper that was, according to Lina, emptied and washed daily by the time you were finished with class, Tamsin reached for the remote that controlled the curtains. Clicking 'open', they flew open, and she watched amusingly as Lina yawned and groaned, her bright green eyes even brighter in the sunlight.

'Ugh!' She cussed. 'What the fuck are you doing? I'm trying to sleep here, woman!'

Tamsin giggled. She knew Lina well enough by now that when she called you names; it was a term of endearment. It was strange, but somewhat humorous. 'Get up, lazy bones.'

Lina blinked directly into the sunlight, her eyes locked on Tamsin. She looked her up and down, sighing. 'Jesus, lady. You're showered and dressed already?'

Tamsin smiled, tossed her a knowing look, grabbed her bag and walked to the door. 'Move it, Lina!'

Tamsin smelled breakfast before she saw it. She stepped out of the elevator on the second floor, amidst carts full of plates of eggs and spinach omelettes, toast and jams and pancakes and waffles, all headed upstairs for room service. Lina would probably end up doing that, Tamsin thought, snickering to herself.

Inside, the room was essentially empty. Ladies dressed in spotless white uniforms with hairnets on smiled as she roamed hungrily down the aisle of food. The only few people in the room either looked hungover or alert. The only exception was a pretty strawberry blonde sitting at the back of the room in a booth, reading Wuthering Heights. Briefly, her eyes flickered up to meet Tamsin's, like she knew she was being looked at, and Tamsin dropped her eyes, embarrassed. She stopped in front of the fruit salad bowls, explaining to the lady behind the counter how she wanted it. When she had her bowl and a glass of OJ, she seated herself at a table next to a huge window, overlooking the school's backyard garden.