Dark eyes

Chapter 1 - Blondie

How did I get myself into this mess? I was only seventeen, and while most other seventeen year olds were learning how to drive, partying and only care about their crushes and boyfriends, I was here being evicted and wondering were I was going to stay now. I was still in school, which I was determined to finish, even if I had to do it without the support of my good-for-nothing parents, who'd abandoned me as soon as I turned 16. Yep, you heard that right. My parents decided to go on a tour of the world for 2 years, and leave me with barely 20 dollars to my name, rent and responsibilities to look after. I didn't even have a job when they left! They said it was something about me learning independence, but surely there are better ways to do that. 

I was only able to have a part time job, with school and studying, and in addition to that, I worked some weekends at the local diner; but even with that, I still couldn't afford rent. I'd moved out of my parents house as soon as they left me, I didn't want any reminder of them, but even with a one bedroom studio flat on the bad side of town, it was still too expensive. Hence, my current position of being evicted and leaving the warmth of my 'home', with only the clothes on my back, into the cold streets. 

The place of town which I lived in was by far the worst in the area, and my school was about an hours walk from my flat, but it was the cheapest one I could find. Now that I didn't have to worry about paying rent, I could always set up my 'base' nearer to the school, but it was in one of the nicer areas of town, and a homeless person would soon be noticed. 

I knew of an alley way near to the diner where the occasional homeless person resided. I thought that there would be the best place to live until I finished school. It wasn't that bad really, it was sheltered by the buildings surrounding it, and it wasn't directly in the street so I would be too visible. It would have to do for now. 

It was around five past 4 when I left my old flat, and with only a couple of blankets, a couple of pairs of clothes and my binders of school work. I would have to save up for a while to buy a proper sleeping bag and stuff to survive outside, but for now, this should be enough. Hopefully. I walked into the alley, which was luckily empty. Of course there were occasionally people here, but I didn't want to invade and have to explain myself. Today really wasn't the best of days. 

You may think that it would be hard to sleep on the concrete floor of an alley, but I actually slept very well. As a matter a fact, I can sleep anywhere, it was something I considered to be a secret ability of mine. So the next morning, I woke up feeling rather refreshed, with my watch telling me it was 6am. I knew that school didn't start till 8, but I had to walk there, and I wanted some time to freshen up in the bathroom. I really didn't need anymore excuses for people to pick on me. 

I arrived at school five minutes before 7am, so only a couple of teachers were in, all of whom, I managed to avoid on my way to the bathroom. Our school was considered one of the best for education in the country; many students graduated with mostly A and A*, which was great of course. However, because the school was only focused on the grades that the students got, and not their wellbeing nor happiness, bullies thrived here. The occasional first year student would speak to a teacher about the wild animals which roamed and ruled the place, but they soon leant that there was no point. No one cared. The teachers even went as far as to say that being bullied only made people stronger, and 'prepared them for the real world'. Bullshit. I only had a year left here, but that still seemed too long. September days made everything seem to go slower, and the winter months certainly didn't do anything to counteract them. 

My first lesson was English, which was on the second floor, fortunately, right next to the girls bathroom. That is were I spent an the hour before school brushing my teeth, and washing myself. As a matter a fact, it was more half-an-hour, as at half seven, students began to arrive and I wasn't ready to risk them seeing me wash in the sink. Could you imagine the rumors? I made my way down to the canteen to finish my homework which I didn't manage to complete over the weekend - you know, with being evicted and everything - but the moment my foot touch the bottom step, the bell for first period rang. Great! My English teacher wasn't exactly know for his leniency with homework deadlines. You could literally die and he'd still give you a detention for handing your homework in late - or not at all.