She stared out of the window, watching the rain fall to the ground. The trees were blowing in the howling wind and the cloudy sky was darkening. She leant her head against the glass and breathed on it before drawing a sad face with her finger. Three weeks. It had been three weeks since her dad had left her and her mum to fend for themselves. She missed him. But she also hated him at the same time. It's not like she didn't understand why he left, it was just that she didn't want him to leave. She saw headlights coming up the driveway so she quickly got up and ran down the stairs. She opened the front door for her now drenched mum who greeted her with a hug.
"Hello Grace, did you have fun at the cinema today?" Her mum asked her.
"Yes...it was ok." She told her. There was no way Grace was going to tell her mum that she canceled her trip to the cinema. Her mum had begun to worry about her spending all her time inside moping around.
"I'm glad you had a good time." Her mum said setting down her bag on the kitchen table. "Do you feel like take-out tonight? We could have pizza or Chinese or..."
"Pizza sounds great mum!" Grace said interrupting her. Her mum laughed.
"Why does that not surprise me." She said grabbing the phone.
Several hours later, Grace was lying on her bed, facing the ceiling. Her mind wondered to school the next day. She was going to be the new girl. She'd just moved house, since her dad had left her mum decided to move out, finding a new place particularly quickly and very far away from their old place in London. Grace was now in Brighton. It was much quieter than London, but maybe that was just because it was winter and they were in a quiet little village. She wasn't sure if she liked it there or not. All she knew was that she didn't want to be the new girl at school. She wanted to go back to her old school with all her friends, but alas she was stuck starting a new school. Grace sighed and rolled over, grabbing her phone off of the table beside her bed. She had no new messages, perhaps her friends weren't bothered that she'd moved. She put the phone back down again and closed her eyes. This was going to be a difficult few weeks for her.
The loud screeching sound of her broken alarm clock awoke Grace the next morning. She groaned, knowing what was awaiting her that day. Eventually she dragged herself out of bed and slowly got ready for her first day at her new school. She stared blankly at her new green and black uniform. Grace hated uniform. She didn't see the point in it, especially since she was in year 11 now and just wanted to express herself. Nevertheless she put it on and brushed through her long brunette hair. She frowned at her own reflection in the mirror. Her green eyes showing the absence of happiness. A thought of just skipping her first day rushed through her mind, but the thought was gone when she heard her mum calling her name.
"Grace! Time to go!" Her mum called her. She picked up her bag and sighed before leaving her room.
It was smaller than her previous school. Good. That meant less people. She made her way to the front office before telling them who she was. They handed her a timetable and a locker key. The mumbled a quick "thank you" before heading to her locker. She dumped most of her belongings into the small cramped locker just as the bell went, indicating the start of first lesson. Grace internally groaned before pulling out her timetable and a map of the school.
Grace didn't have much trouble navigating her way around the school, it was quite small and the classroom was easy to find. This meant that she wasn't too late or too early, so no one noticed her arrive. She took a seat right at the back of the class, not wanting to be noticed. Unfortunately for her, she was noticed. As the teacher was calling out the names on the register, everyone stopped when Grace's name was spoken.
"Grace Willows?" The teacher called out and everyone turned around, searching for the new girl.
"Here." Grace only looked up for a second to meet the teachers gaze, but quickly looked back down afterwards. She could feel people staring at her for a while, but soon enough people didn't care anymore. Grace concentrated on the work and tried not to make eye contact with anyone else in the class. But she failed miserably when a perky blonde turned to face her.
"You're name's Grace, right?" The girl asked and Grace simply nodded. "I'm Mandy." Mandy smiled at Grace, but Grace merely waved, not once looking up from her work. Mandy sighed and turned back around. Grace could have sworn she mumbled something as she turned around, but she shook it off. She didn't feel like making any friends. It was her last year anyway. What was the point? The bell went shortly after her encounter with Mandy and she quickly gathered her things.
Maths was Grace's next subject. She was glad. Grace was goos at maths. This meant that she could just get on with her work. Again, she sat at the back of the class. She worked quietly for a few minutes until she head the classroom door open. A tall blond boy had entered the room.
"Luke Burton, you're late. Again." The teacher scolded him. He simply shrugged before taking his seat in front of Grace. She quickly turned back to her work on simultaneous equations until she felt someone staring at her. She looked up to see the blonde boy staring at her. He had turned his seat sideways so he could face her.
"I'm Luke." He told her, smiling.
"That's nice." Grace responded before concentrating on her work again.
"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Luke asked her.
"No."
"Why not?"
"You should have been here for the register. Then you would know my name." Grace said, still writing down equations.
"Well I wasn't, so are you going to tell me?" He asked again.
"No." She told him as she turned a page in her book.
"Fine..." He grabbed her book from under her arm.
"Hey! Give that back!" She reached for her book, trying to get it back from him.
"So you're...Grace Willows. Interesting..." He read her name off the book and she snatched it back.
"That was rude." She stated.
"I know." He smirked, and she rolled her eyes.
"Don't look so smug. All you done was learn my name. It's not like you won the lottery or anything." She said, scribbling down the next equation. He laughed.
"Well, I di..."
"Luke Burton! Can you please turn around in your chair and stop disturbing other students!" The teacher roared at Luke. He just rolled his eyes and spun round in his chair. Grace silently thanked the teacher for rescuing her from Luke. She did not like him one bit.
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That's the first chapter of my new story. I know it sucks, I'm sorry. Let me know what you think, if you want me to upload. Thanks guys! :)
Claire xoxo
