Jane |UTA|

③

Japanese
English

⦿

Jane stared at the ceiling with her eyes unable to fall into slumber. She had managed to stay awake this late yet nothing would force her into darkness. Therefore, she closed her eyes, more like an extended blink than sleep. And she strained her ears, to hear the night in its purest form. The wind rattled the bars adorning the window, it rustled the few trees nearby and if she pushed her hearing enough, she could hear footsteps clacking against the concrete. In all honesty, when she kept her self just as she is, Jane felt like she was home. However, she went too far.

Suddenly, an earth shattering scream rang through her room, it assaulted her eardrums and attacked her heart as it scratched at her ribs. And the screams did stop soon enough, but Jane knew that wasn't a good thing.

⦿

"How did you sleep?" Amber asked as Jane changed into her school uniform. It was just how she expected, revealing.

"Fine." She quickly replied.

"I know you heard the scream Jane" she announced, crossing her arms over her chest as her sister continued to dress. And with no success, Amber left her with a deep sigh. What more could she possibly do? Her sister was quite a confusing person, hard to understand to say the least. Jane could be a ball of nerves one day where the other she could see a gruesome scene and think nothing of it, she could be her cheerful, bubbly self.

When Jane grabbed her new bag -provided by Amber- she entered the kitchen with her face bare as anything. Surprising Amber greatly once she sat down.

"I see you're going all natural" Amber smiled as she put down a bowl of cereal.

"New place, new me" Jane said with a curl of her lips. She was desperate to erase last night from her mind. Therefore, she spoke all morning, even while in the car. She was lacking the old introvert traits she once had. And despite the scream, Amber knew that in some way, this year was going to be interesting for Jane.

Once they pulled up, Jane took a deep breath and looked up to her sister.

"New place, new you, right?", that's when Jane gulped down a piece of air and nodded firmly. She exited the car with a new-found determination that defined her. She would keep a stiff upper lip and face everything new even if fearful.

With her foreign features, she found many students staring at her as she walked through the gates. They murmured and pointed subtly with no shame. But, Jane didn't mind, she kept her stride right up until the entrance of the building. Unlike her school in England, it was all clean and pristine and nothing seemed out of place... Only her.

"Jane!" A girl suddenly cheered with an exaggerated wave. From the the name and honorific, instantly she realised how out of it she was. How she was just standing there with people avoiding her as they rushed past.

The girl that was already rushing toward her with another in tow. She seemed bored or maybe fatigued, Jane wasn't quite sure. But she knew that girl number two, just didn't want to be there.

"Good morning!-" The girl cheered once she was face to face with Jane, "- I'm Yui and this is Akari. We have been assigned to show you around today".

"Oh... That's nice, I guess",

For a moment, Yui seemed confused before she turned bright red. She played with the hem of her jumper and flickered her eyes between Jane and Akari. Instantly, she knew what this meant.

"I am sorry-" Akari spoke up in English, her accent heavy, just like the woman's on the plane, "- Yui is bad at language".

"Don't worry, me too. But, I hope you can help me with my Japanese. It's a bit rusty" Jane said with an airy chuckle before the school bell went off, giving her quite the startle as she jumped.

"Don't worry, I could help you. But, I doubt Yui would be able to" with this, Jane smiled as she proceeded to let them give a tour of the school.

Jane's heart was beating so fast as she walked behind the two, hugging her bag to her chest as they made themselves down to home room. For each moment they moved forward, Jane felt the halls elongate and grow bigger along with the school. Never had she been somewhere so big, and it scared her to think how she would get around. Like Amber, but different at the same time, she had a warm feeling in her gut that life would never be the same, not like it was in England. Too much was unfamiliar, it was all so much to take into her small form. Yet, she still pressed forward with the promise she made to her mum weeks ago...

Have fun, don't let the past pull you back... Promise.