Make up your mind, New

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Run for your lives Parisian people! We have arrived

Alena

Paris was hot, too hot. I felt like all the water in my body was getting sucked out of me. We got off the train at about 10 pm Paris time; which is an hour ahead as Mrs Mosse constantly reminded us of; so it’s not as if the sun was out and heating my skin up. I don’t think I’m going to survive two weeks Paris. In the coach ride to our hotel, I watched the nightlife whizz past me, catching glimpses of people, and cars. The coach driver was a maniac! Swerving in and out of lanes; I hung on to my seat as there were no seatbelts. I could tell Mrs Mosse wanted to get up and ask the driver to slow down, but if she got up she would have been thrown around like a rag doll and that would have been most embarrassing for her. And of course we would never let it go. Ever. So she stayed in her seat and everyone hung on, while the driver sung loudly and out of tune. I was looking out for any famous monuments, but I couldn’t see any, just boring roads with nightlife like any other city. I slowly slipped into a trance staring out of the window while Arabelle, Billie and Sky were discussing what they were going to do when they got into the hotel; I watched their animated reflections, well, it was more exciting then Paris so far.

“I’m going to collapse on a bed, and it shall be my bed, and if anyone goes near it they will die!” Billie demonstrated how they were going to die by miming strangling someone. Arabelle just looked at her. “No you’re not”

“Aren’t I? Are you planning on stop me? I would like to see you try?” Billie gave a nervous laugh as she realised, that she just gave Arabelle a challenge. And I had a strange feeling that it was going to end up in tears. “No you’re not, we are going to hit the clubs and the nightlife, so Alena” she gave me a sharp nudge “Don’t fall asleep”

“I wasn’t planning on it mum” I replied sarcastically I turned and gave her a smile. She just rolled her eyes at me. “She must be awake Arabelle; she’s being sarcastic, unless she’s sarcastic in her sleep...” Billie and Arabelle shared a look. It was now my turn to roll my eyes.

“Oh be quiet you two” I replied half heartily, meaning to be firm, but it came out as a feeble request.

“Do you even know where the clubs are Arabelle?” Billie inquired

“Yeah! Pfft! What do you take me for?”

“Well...” Billie left it at that, and got a slap on her leg for it

“What the hell was that for?!” Billie massaged the place where Arabelle hit her,

“For doubting my intelligence” Arabelle replied loftily.

“There’s a lot to dou –” Billie’s voice tailed off from the look Arabelle threw her way. I shook my head, was there banter ever going to stop? The coach was starting to slow down. We pulled into a small car park, in front of a tall building. It was painted white, with a dark roof. There were 6 rows of windows across the building, with the same amount of space between each window, and 6 columns. There were continuous dips in the walls, like the wall was a wave. The windows were huge with square panes. The frilly curtains were drawn as the occupants slept. There was little else I could see in the limited light. Mrs Mosse got out of her seat and counted the heads of the students, in case we had gotten lost from stepping on the coach to now. We then marched off the coach with a hushed excitement spreading through our group, as we walked quickly to the lobby of the hotel. We waited for Mrs Mosse to finish talking to the lobbyist, our muttering getting louder and louder the longer she took.

“Now girls and boys, I have your room number and keys here. When I call your name, collect your card and wait for the rest of the students sharing your room, then make your way upstairs quietly and quickly. I will be checking that there is no noise coming out of your room after midnight. And I expect to meet you here at 8 o’clock, sharp.” A collectable moan escaped out of most of the students. And the rest of the teachers stared at Miss in shock. “And I expect you to be presentable as well. That means no wandering around in pyjamas” She looked at each of the students for a few seconds. “But Miss, what if we left something in the lobby and we remember when we are about to go to bed, can we just quickly run down to get it?” Everyone turned to the speaker. I didn’t need to, I knew the boy would have baby blue eyes and an array of tight platinum blond curls on his head. Good God, why the hell was he here? To ruin any happiness I could ever possess and a blissful holiday, that’s why. I turned, and saw Adam standing less than a foot away. Oh could it get any worse? “You would have to change out of your nightwear first”