First Day at School

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First Day at School

        I sat uncomfortably in the back seat with a stony expression set hard on my face. Surrounded by my childhood possessions that travelled everywhere with me; my bear, my blanket and my christening bangle, I could escape reality for a while – with them I wasn’t on the way to a new school where I knew no-one – they were my protection from the harsh actuality of the real world.

        As the school loomed ever nearer in the dark, ominous mist of the frosty December morning, I became overwrought with nerves, shivering with apprehension, filled with dread. I tugged my coat on silently as I prepared to leave the car; I opened the door lethargically and mustered all my might to drag myself up from the safe haven I had created around me.

        Anxiety set in as I approached the school gates, which were rusty and falling off their hinges, and my stomach plummeted to the floor as though I had swallowed a ton.

        “Oww!” I exclaimed as a herd of stampeding children bustled past me in an excited rush, sending me colliding into a menacing sixth-former with formidable-looking earrings dangling from her over-sized ears. I cursed loudly as the sweet, sickly liquid she had been clutching ricocheted off my freshly washed denim jacket and splashed onto the floor.

        “Blasphemy will not be tolerated in a school of such high standards young lady!” bellowed a stern teacher as she seized me by the scruff of the neck and dragged me towards the main building, an unsympathetic grimace settled firmly across her face.

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        The whole of the playground had stopped in its tracks. Heads turned and eyes focused, all on me, I could feel their watchful eyes boring holes into my back. The blush rising in my cheeks as my mind’s eye formed a humiliating picture of me, red as a ripe tomato, being the laughing stock of the entire school.  

        As we arrived outside the head teacher’s office, my distress slowly diminished and my nerves calmed, partly due to the soothing classical music that brought a sense of tranquillity to the serene surroundings I had just entered. I waited patiently alone ...

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