How the Flower Bloomed

Chapter 2: The Festive School

I clipped my loose curls to the back and walked out of my house, trying to save every bit of confidence for my first day at school.

I heard a familiar unlock of a door across of mine. Oh no! I'm still not prepared enough to look him in the eye, after I screamed at him and kicked him out of my house a few days ago. How does he dare claim that he was with my father, the
night he was murdered? Why is he trying to make me believe an evident lie?

We were both walking towards the elevator when I found myself subconsciously walking towards the stairs. I technically ran down the stairs heading for a cab, which was more like a safe haven to me, until I get to school.

How cliché! We arrived to the outside grey pavement, that was the taxi station, together. I was just about to sit in a cab when he grabbed my arm fiercely and turned me around. He started spitting in my face while speaking in an incoherent voice.

"I need to tell you something," he said staring at me with his yellow tired eyes. His hair looked like it had been attacked by a skunk.

"What happened to you?" I questioned him with a titled head and honest concern embedded in my voice. He started crumbling to his feet in front of me, and I had no choice but to hold him and carry him back to the couches in the lobby. He fainted in my arms, only to give me his full weight to carry.

I shouted to the concierge and had him call an ambulance.
"Tell them that he smells like hard liquor; I need to go to school now," I said in a cold voice trying not to show any feelings while heading back to my cab. I was positive that this definitely had something to do with the 'confession' he told me days ago.

******
My mind cannot comprehend how a high school girl like my best friend Sasha can have that much drama in her life; we started talking about how jerky her ex-boyfriend Raymond was for breaking up with her on my arrival. On the other hand, my other best friend Reina was technically a date doctor with her flawless relationships and reasonable break-ups. They were amazing people and I'm sure that if they knew about this Harry situation, they would've helped me with it, but I wasn't planning on making Harry the subject of the day. In fact, I felt the urgent need to stay away from him for a while.

One of our school's unique qualities is the way it welcomes its students every year; the first day is mainly festivities, although not in a very conservative way like you may think a school might be celebrating. A carnival takes place in the school's magnanimous garden and wide hallways: cheerleaders show off their new dances, a couple of male and female students sing light-heartedly and teachers demonstrate the most enticing experiments on kiosks that are splattered around the hallways. I always forget how fascinating this is. Sasha and Reina excitedly went to watch some aberrant experiments that blew up in their face while I wandered around the school the way I have always done. While a guy's voice was echoing through the speakers, I walked to a particular beat making my steps, as dramatic as the music of the song he was singing to was. I passed by the teachers' lounge and easily glanced at its luxurious furniture through the cracked open door. Glittery papers were being splashed on the huge crowd that was standing beneath a stage, watching a band of students play the incredible music that I was dancing to a while ago, in the school's front yard on the lush grass. I noticed ,through the TV screen, how well-dressed the leading singer was. He was wearing an attractive black leather jacket that had shiny spikes all over it's length and had his hair gelled into erect spikes standing above his head with a bright blue painted on their edges.

Afterwards, I continued my journey down the school halls. Ah... Drama club, my favorite. Two swing doors separated the festive school from the relaxing drama wing that welcomed me with a familiar smell of wax, dust and wigs. A used to participate in plays before the accident, and now i'm just coming to pay the club a visit.

A short hallway embraced four doors, each leading to a different world of color and art. The two doors facing me were clearly marked, 'STAGE' and 'STUDIO', but I just discovered that I was subconsciously strolling down the studio's entrance door. Just as I swung the doors open, a huge wave of beats and music soundtracks hit my eardrums and I tried to peak through the small windows on each of the doors to get a glimpse of the talent flowing in the room, but the windows were shaded to protect its contents from exposition.

A guy wearing the same jacket as the guy I saw singing on the stage in the garden, was in the studio. I walked in, let him see me and arrogantly sat down on one of the chairs facing the control panel for everything present in the studio in front of me. A layer of glass separated us, and he was singing freely, too freely, like he had just gotten rid of the single most annoying thing in his life.
He sung his grande finale tune and emerged from the studio with a wide smile on his face.

"What's your name?" he asked, a bit too nicely.

"Alison, what's yours?" I asked back in the same tone he used and his smile grew wider.

"Skylar," oh so that's him, but I still had to make sure...

"Is your sister Jade?" I asked too excitedly.

"Yes, and my brother Adam," what brother? No! Is he referring to the lead singer with the blue highlights?

"Yes, this is everyone's first reaction," he said answering my unspoken question, " Jade and I were adopted this year."

How can Harry miss important information like that?