Look Away, Ignore the Pain

Chapter 10: All You Need is Love

~Kaitlynn’s Point of View~

It’s been two months since I’ve came to Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. I never went out to see London with everyone else, but I’m okay with that. I like my quiet, quite literally because I don’t talk. Yeah, I haven’t even said a single word since I’ve told Sophie and Christie (who still hates me) that I’m from Dublin. I text Tom a lot and he always texts back, but we’re not allowed to see each other in our rooms, because it’s the rules that no lads are allowed in girls’ room and girls’ aren’t allowed in lads’ room. We have curfew at 20:00, which is when you have to be at your rooms for the regular inspection to see if everyone is in their room. How it works is that the superintendent of the common rooms (since the school is so big, it divides into 4 common rooms, 2 for girls and 2 for lads), comes every night and knocks on the door of every flat. We have to let her in and she has to sign all of us on her form. If we do not sign the form, the headmaster is called and we get punished, but I don’t know anyone who ever got punished so I don’t know what happens. On the weekends our curfew was at 23:00, but we didn’t have to sign any forms since most people in the Academy went home or visited relatives or something. The only thing about visits was that you had to leave the school before dinnertime on Friday, which was at 19:30, and return any time you’d fancy as long as you’re back before Sunday at the regular curfew. Aside from that, you could ask for special permissions to leave the school on normal weekdays for things like grocery shopping or special visits. For that, you’d have to have an adult come and take you or sign you out. Not that it’s ever going to happen for me… I thought. So far, I have not left the Academy even once. Dad said I am coming home for Christmas, but I really didn’t want to, however if I told him that I’d rather stay at the Academy, he’d get mad and yell at me or something.

Anyways, every weekend Sophie would sleep at Christie’s parents’ flat in London and Tom, whose real name was Thomas, would go to see his parents in Hertford on Friday and return on Saturday night. When he came back every time he would go to his flat and bring his guitar to the main lounge, or common room, and teach me some tunes. Again, I never said a single word and even when he gave me compliment as to how I was doing and playing, I would smile slightly and shrug it off. When I wasn’t with Thomas or Sophie, I would usually go to the library and read or do my exercises. That’s how I would spend every day after my courses until dinner and my weekend nights.

Since I haven’t taken my driving test yet, well I will take it when I’m 17 and I’m only 16 now (my birthday is on the 14th of October), I can’t drive anywhere so the shopping rests upon Christie and Sophie, who are both 17. It’s their second year here and they’re both leaving after next year, which means I’ll get new roommates in two years. I’ll just deal with it when it comes. I thought.

It was Friday morning and a few people kept talking about going out to eat somewhere in London, maybe some Nando’s or something. I’ve been to Nando’s in Dublin a few times for Niall’s birthdays, but it was a while ago. Actually, Niall hasn’t rang or texted me ever since he did that one time back in Mullingar 6 months ago. I didn’t pay much attention to people’s plans around me, since anyways I was planning on being in the library until it closes. No one ever came there on the weekends, which was grand since I didn’t have to talk to anyone (not that I did), even though you had to wear the weekend school uniforms if you were anywhere in the school except your flat. They were plain blue jeans and the school shirt, which was a navy coloured one with the school symbol on its left chest. My jean trousers were too long on my legs, so they dragged behind me and eventually got ripped and tattered, but I liked it that way. I’m weird, I know.

I was on my way to French when I felt a strong arm gripping on my shoulder. I turned around quickly to find Thomas in front of me with a shy smile. I waved at him with a smile and he relaxed a bit, but not too much.