Gracie Rose | tracy beaker returns {on hiatus}

11

GRACIE'S POV

Every minute was like an hour, an hour like a day. School. But this time, secondary school.

I put my uniform on and slowly went downstairs for breakfast. It was the first day of year seven and I was absolutely dreading it. Carmen and I were starting a new school today, but we knew we probably wouldn't see each other often. However, we promised each other we would eat together at lunchtimes.

"I'll miss you both at school," Tee sighed.

"So will we, but don't worry, you'll be fine." Carmen smiled.

"You still have the earlier finish though," I said. "We finish later now!"

"UGHHH," Carmen whined. "Don't remind me! I haven't had enough sleep!"

"Well who's fault is that?" Liam laughed.

"Shut up!" Carmen shouted.

As we ate our breakfast, Gina came in to greet us all. We all must've looked sick of our lives.

"Nice to see you all so excited!" she said sarcastically.

We all groaned at the sarcasm.

"We say it every year, guys, but lets make this year a good one," Mike said.

"Yeah, don't listen to any bullies, and do your best in everything." Gina carried on.

Just then Tracy walked in with a smile.

"Morning!!" she chirped. Her eyes went straight to me and Carmen, and a smile quickly came to her face.

"You two look amazing. I can't believe you're off to secondary school!" she said. "Make sure you stick together."

Tracy looked at me and gave me a smile. I smiled back, but I honestly felt like I was going to throw up. My mind was in two places at once. I got picked on in my old school for being in care, and I really didn't want that happening again.

The school I went to before I got put into care was lovely. I had some great friends who helped me through so much, but then I had to leave when I arrived here because it was a while away from here. When I arrived at my old school, I arrived with everyone else, and people knew they were in care, meaning people picked on me just as much as everyone else. I just prayed it would be okay.

When breakfast was done, we all headed out to the minibus. We had to start off by dropping the younger ones, which this year was Tee, Gus and Harry, off at school, and then the rest of us would be dropped off. I sat down in my seat and strapped myself in, putting my bag on the floor. Like always, Tracy came and sat next to me. She put her hand on my shoulder and stroked it gently.

"You don't seem very excited. Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"I'm just a little nervous. That's okay, right?" I asked.

"Of course that's okay. It's normal to be nervous on your first day of school, but I'm sure you'll be fine," Tracy said. I took a deep breath and rested my head on her shoulder.

"What if people pick on me for being in care like they did in primary school?" I asked Tracy quietly.

"Ignore them. They don't realise how nice people in care are. They always just think they're messed up in the head. But that's until they meet someone who lives in care, and then people realise you're not really messed up in the head. I got bullied in school, but I just got really angry back. I had really bad behavioural problems and anger issues, and I ended up moving schools so many times. But for you, just give them a smile and walk away. They don't deserve your attention." Tracy said. I looked up at her.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. You have my number. If you feel like you want to talk, just give me a message and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Tracy." I said.

*****

By the time we arrived at school, it was about ten minutes until we had to go to our form room. Unfortunately, Carmen's form room was at the other end of the school to mine, but we really hoped we'd be in some lessons together.

"I'll see you soon. Hopefully in a lesson, but if not I'll meet you for lunch," I said. Carmen gave me a hug before we parted.

"You'll be fine. We can do this together," she said.

"Same to you," I replied. We left each other and headed towards our separate forms.

When I found my form room, I walked in to see half a class of kids, all looking pretty nervous. Each desk had a name on it, so I went to find mine. It looked as if they were all in alphabetical, so I got myself round to the other side of the room to find my surname. Once I found it, I sat down and faced the front. The teacher then passed me a planner, which I had to write my details on. My hands were shaking, so I waited a couple of moments so I could calm down.

THREE HOURS LATER

I met Carmen in the lunch hall at lunchtime. She looked a bit sad, so I hurried over to her.

"Hi, Carmen!" I said. "How's this morning been?"

"It's weird." she replied. "I don't understand any of the work."

"Honestly, me neither. We'll be okay." I said. When we sat down, I took my timetable out of my pocket to compare it with Carmen's. We were lucky enough to be in the same History, Music, PE, French and Maths classes. The rest were all different.

"Those lessons will be great. I hope we can sit next to each other!" Carmen smiled.

"Me too!" I replied.

We began to eat our packed lunches that Gina prepared for us, when Johnny, Toby, Liam and Sapphire ran over to us.

"Hey guys!" Johnny said.

"How's it been?" Toby asked.

"Not bad, but look, we're in loads of lessons together!" Carmen said excitedly.

"That's great!" Sapphire said.

Just then, a group of girls, who looked Sapph's age, strutted over to us.

"Oh wow! More care kids? Here we go again!" they moaned. I looked at Carmen and gave her a sad look.

"Look, just leave us alone!" Liam said, trying to get them away.

"You lot have serious issues," One of the girls said. They flipped their hair and wandered off sniggering.

"Don't listen to them, they've picked on me for years. Mike and Gina know about them, but they're not relevant to us, don't worry." Sapphire said. She gave us a smile to make us feel more comfortable.

4PM

We all met up by the MUGA before heading back to the minibus. It had been a weird day; although those girls picked on us, I still had a good day. Me and Carmen were in a lot of lessons together, and I felt so much more calm than I was expecting to. We arrived at the minibus, where Mike was waiting for us. Tee, Gus and Harry were all on the minibus already, and Tracy was sitting in her seat, waiting for me to arrive. Gina was at home making dinner.

"Hello everyone!" Mike said with a gleaming smile. "Gracie and Carmen, how was your first day?"

"Not bad!" We said in unison. We went to sit down in our seats to go home and have a long rest. Tracy stood up and let me through to sit in my seat. She gave me a smile, and gave me a big hug when I sat down.

"I'm so proud of you," she said.

"I can't believe it wasn't so bad!" I replied. "The girls who pick on Sapph came and made a joke to us when her, Johnny, Toby and Liam came to see us at lunch, but other than that, it was alright! Me and Carmen are in most lessons together too, and we sit close to each other as well!"

"Wow, I've never heard you talk so much in your life!" Tracy laughed. That made me blush.

"I'm glad everything went okay though, just don't listen to the bullies, or they'll have me to deal with." She whispered.