Ignite

Chapter 2

Forty-five minutes later, I'm standing at the entrance to Randwick Girls High, staring at the concrete buildings that surround the oval. Randwick Boys sits off to my left, and a street busier and honk-ier than any highway we had in Bellbird Creek is a few meters behind me.

Back home, our houses had been woven into the landscape, surrounded by gnarled eucalypts and red dirt. But here, the buildings and roads encroach onto each other, only leaving cracks in the pavement for grass to spring from.

As I stand there, a school bus pulls up, and I get caught in a rip of pleated green skirts. Their owners tug me forward, sweeping through the front doors and down the hallway until I'm deposited outside the student office.

A greying woman, whose name tag says 'Brenda', pops her head over the top of a computer monitor.

"Can I help you?"

I swallow and grab my bag straps.

"I'm Claudia Cairns. Today's my first day."

Brenda grunts and moves to a filing cabinet, pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it to me.

"Here you go. You're in homeroom 2A. If you follow this corridor, it's the second door on the right. Once you're there, someone will direct you to your classes."

I nod and grab the paper, zipping it into the front pocket of my bag as I turn and make my way in the direction Brenda pointed.

When I find room 2A, there are a few girls inside already. I hover at the entrance until I realise I'm attracting attention that way, so I move to an empty table and sit, looking determinedly towards the front of the room.

Their gazes stay on me though, their whispers slipping around the corners of the room, and I realise this is what I'd been dreading; this crawling feeling that only comes when Jake isn't here and I'm surrounded by strangers.

"Hi!"

I jump when the chair beside me scrapes against the tiles and a small Asian girl plops down into it.

"I'm Emmy. You're Claudia, right? We heard you'd be starting today."

She grins at me, her smile all bubbles and sweets.

"Yeah, that's me. Everyone calls me Claude, though."

"I've been so excited to meet you! Principal Humphrey told me we have most of our classes together and I need a new desk buddy. I always used to sit with Aleisha, but most of her subjects are on different lines this year. It's dreadful."

Emmy pauses and looks at me. The silence drags for a second before I realise she's waiting for me to offer sympathy.

"Oh... I'm, ah, sorry that has happened to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Emmy waves away my condolences with as much confidence as she'd silently requested them. "Not compared to what you've been through. It's awful what happened. Really horrific."

She leans forward, her eyes glinting.

"Did you know that apparently they've already caught the person who started the fire? My mum said they're worried about what the public would do if they found out their identities, so they're hiding them away."

Emmy's words hit me like a speeding eighteen-wheeler and, for a moment, I'm reeling.

"Yeah, the police are probably right."

Emmy nods and pulls back.

"I can't imagine how terrible the last few months have been for you. But you're going to love Sydney. There's so much to do here. I'll be able to show you around. Is your whole family here?"

"No. Just me and my brother."

"Is he at Randwick Boys?"

I nod.

"I can't wait to meet him," Emmy says, "particularly if he's even half as attractive as you. Is he also blonde? I'm not super into blondes, personally. Who else are you living with if it's just you two, though? Are your parents separated? Was one of them already here?"

I'd been staring at Emmy and her fountain of words with mild fascination until she asks about our parents. Then, I look away, the spell snapping quick, like the sharp, jagged crack of a wood beam.

"No, neither of them are here," I say. "Dad's never been in the picture, but Mum was. She's not... I mean... when the fire happened, she didn't..."

My voice grows more pained by the second, but then I cut off and clear my throat.

"I'm living with my aunt and uncle now."

There's an awful silence and I feel Emmy's eyes trailing my face, wide and wounded.

"Oh," she breathes out. "Oh, Claudia, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine. And it's Claude, not Claudia."

She watches me for a moment, and then nods. I'm relieved when she does because the change in her tone was making people stare again.

"Of course," she says. "I do hope they've caught that arsonist. He deserves everything that's coming to him."

I look over at her and manage a weak smile.

"Yeah," I say. "I hope they have too." 

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- Skylar xx