The School

Chapter 1. The Letter

  Justin sighed in frustration, as he trudged up to the bathroom.  He walked in and looked at his reflection in the mirror.  For some reason he almost never recognized his own reflection.

  Not the intense gray eyes, or the hard set line of his jaw.  The one thing he did recognize was his characteristic shoulder length black. hair, tied back by a purple bandanna.  Originally, he'd started to grow his hair, because he grew tired of seeing everyone he knew with the same exact haircuts.   Why did everyone have to look the same?  So he'd grown his hair out, despite his mother's continuous protests.  Hardly a day went by when he didn't get the request/demand to cut his hair,but after two years he'd grown quite fond of it. It had become his most distinctive feature, and he would sooner run around outside completely naked than part with it.  Unfortunately, his mother didn't seem to understand that,as evidenced by her latest attempt to get him to cut his hair.  

 Justin grabbed up the brush and began to groom himself, for the day.  When he finished  he went to his room, to finish packing.  His luggage bag lay open on the bed, half full of clothes.  Mostly the clothes he could still fit after his explosive growth spurt over the summer.  He'd grown five whole inches,something he was extremely pleased about, despite the inconvenience of having to buy an entire wardrobe for the school year.

 He  knew he should hurry and finish packing,but he had all of his clothes folded up neatly alongside the bag.  He'd had to go through the torture of clothes shopping with his mother the previous day. Justin strode instead to the little desk that held his desktop and picked up a white envelope inside of which lay his invitation letter the new school he would be attending starting tomorrow.   

He didn't know much about the school except that it was only a year old and crazy hard to get into.  As far as he knew the only way to be accepted was to receive an invitation, just like the one he was holding in his hand.  When it had come in the mail, he hadn't known how to feel at first. Shocked at receiving an invitation, for one and slightly elated that he wouldn't have to attend the same high school for the rest of his school life ,but at the same time he was afraid because he would be leaving home for the first time.

Justin held the envelope in his hand and smiled  before returning it to his desk.  He turned back to his bed and resolutely began the task of placing clothes into his bag.  He had just finished when there was a knock on his door and his mother stepped in carrying a few more shopping bags.  She was a small beautiful woman of forty - one with gray eyes and dark black hair, both of which she'd passed on to her son.

"Thanks mom" he said taking them from her and immediately began sorting them to be packed. In the past few months Justin had shot past her in height and now had to look down at her.

"you forgot them downstairs" she said briskly folding her arm,managing to look imposing despite her smaller stature, but Justin knew that she was just putting on a front so that he wouldn't see her cry.

She stood there to watch him , making comments and suggestions sporadically.  "  Your sister is coming home tonight for dinner," she said once he was finished.

" Why," he asked, combing his fingers through his hair as was his habit.

"Why do you think? She wants to see you before you leave off to school," his mother replied heading for the door.

"what are we having?" Justin put his bag on the floor next to his door and slouched across his bed. 

"Nachos," his mother called over her shoulder as she descended the stairs and Justin punched a fist into the air.  Nachos were his absolute favorite, especially the way his mom made them. 

Justin turned on his side and stared at the light shining through the window as it spread across his wall.  He sighed and closed his eyes deciding to sleep the day away ,as he couldn't find the drive to do anything else.  

Several hours later a pressing weight on his chest woke him suddenly and he gasped for breath. He looked around wildly , his eyes finally focusing on the tangle of silky black hair and wide smile of his big sister.  

"why are you sleeping on your last day," she asked poking him in the cheek as he began to scowl.

"get your big butt off of me " he muttered shoving her off of his chest. This was of course an exageration,seeing as how Sierra, was the spitting image of his mother same height and and slender build. 

"my butt is not big " she snapped pulling his ear, forcing him to stand up.

"cut that out" he protested trying to pull away.

" say it first" she quipped tugging harder 

" you're so annoying. All right i'm sorry" he muttered and she finally let him go.  He quickly straightened up rubbing his ear,  so that she wouldn't be able to do it again. "you're such a pain."

" I love you too runt" she said stepping back to look him in the face.

"mhm" he grunted as he began to walk past her following his nose to the kitchen.

"wait up" Sierra called hurrying to keep up with his longer stride.  He and his sister had a pretty close relationship,despite their almost constant bickering, so Justin slowed down for her and they walked side by side to the dining room table, where their mother was waiting for them with a spread of chips and nachos and they soon dug into the meal. 

 In the coming months Justin would soon come to regret not enjoying this moment with his family as much as he could.