Laura's Time to Shine

Chapter 3

When Mum and Dad were gone, I was left on my own in the wide room, and I wrote a new song. As I finished playing it on my acoustic guitar, I heard the noise of people from outside the window. I peeked out and saw tons of cars parked on the gravel and girls hopping out of them. A few of them were chatting and giggling as they reunited with their peers. I saw a group of girls who looked around my age, looking over one girl’s shoulder at a mobile phone. Would they be my new friends? I pondered on and on until I heard a rustle of keys behind the door.

            Two girls came in, one taller than the other. The taller one had shoulder-length blonde hair and the other had wavy, brown hair. They were both wearing gorgeous and stylish clothes. I felt quite embarrassed in my dull Canterbury’s and purple jumper.

            “Hi,” the brunette said casually, “I’m Clarice and this is my best friend Harper.” Harper grinned at me and waved as if she couldn’t speak. “Is your name Laura? Naomi told us that you’re sharing with us. Dyed hair isn’t allowed here, you know that, right?”

            “It’s permanent,” I lied.

            “It’s awesome!” Harper said, finally speaking. She had a strong American accent. They both sat down beside me on the bed, eyeing my fringe. “Where are you from?” Harper questioned.

            “Nowhere really, I’ve been travelling all over Ireland ever since I was small. I’m from a circus – Mr. Blimpler’s Travelling Circus”.

            “Oh, I went to that circus last year. It was fantastic”, Harper said.

            “Wow! That is so cool Laura!” said Clarice, looking at her watch. I didn’t think she really meant it. “But I think I’m a bit too old to be bothered with circuses at this stage. By the way, dinner is in half an hour… we better unpack”. I felt a bit insulted.

            They didn’t talk to me a lot while they took their clothes out of their bags, but Harper did ask why I came to St. Stephen’s in the middle of the year. I didn’t mention anything about my circus problems; I just said my parents decided to send me to school. They told me more about themselves. Harper was from New York, and moved to Ireland six years ago, and Clarice was from Wicklow. Harper also told me that she played basketball in St. Stephen’s and that Clarice did gymnastics. I was pleased that one of them did gymnastics; it’s just that Clarice did not seem very friendly.

            We got dressed into the awful uniforms for our dinner, and raced down to the dining hall at two minutes to six. It was the biggest room in the school. We sat together and Harper and Clarice ate their Sunday roast lamb and potatoes while I just had some vegetable soup followed by some plain potatoes. It tasted fine, but not like Mum’s cooking.

I met three other girls, Rachel, Lily and Jasmine, who were in our class. Rachel was into swimming, Lily did basketball with Harper, and Jasmine also did gymnastics.

            I went to bed feeling glad that the first day was over. The school was okay and my roommates were fine, although Clarice did seem a bit bossy. I couldn’t wait for gymnastics the next day, but I was still quite nervous about what the classes would be like. I had never been in a classroom before. It took quite a while for me to fall asleep.

¶ ¶ ¶

            At breakfast the next morning, I was still feeling very nervous about class. The more I thought about it the more I was taking bites out of my nails.

            After my yummy breakfast of bread and jam with some nuts and a glass of orange juice, I went to class with the other girls from sixth class.