A Day At School

Amber's story

"Rise and shine ladies. Up and add'em." One of the female teachers went around knocking on everyone's doors.

Amber stretched herself out and yawned. Even though Chloë had to wake Amber up, Amber got ready before her. Neither one of them was entirely ready for the first day of the new school year though.

"It's going to be a busy day today. Then again it always is." Chloë said as they left the dorm.

"Yes it will be, but that's not going to stop me. I have plans for this year." Amber responded confidently.

The first two periods had been rather long for Amber. She had mostly different classes and a different attitude towards work than Adrienne. She refused to sit where the teachers told her, sitting where she wanted and doing none of the work. Not that sitting where she was told would've changed the working outcome. She still wouldn't have done what she was expected to do. She just didn't want to be in the front where, in her opinion, the nerds hung out. By the time the third period came she was already contemplating whether or not she should cause more chaos than what she was already doing. Of course, she wasn't going to do as told that had become predictable and was indeed very typical of her to do. She believed she was better than that, above expectations. By the time lunch came around Amber had already gotten herself sent to the principal's office for misbehaving in class.

"Hmm let's see here... Amber?" The principal said stepping out of his office, "You're welcome to enter now."

Amber stood up and strolled into the office. Once inside she dropped herself into one of the chairs. The principal closed the door and proceeded to his own chair behind his desk.

"A little too early in the term to be getting sent here. Don't you think?" He asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well, it really is not my fault your entire staff is a bunch of stiffs," Amber responded.

"Amber you come to this school to learn, not fool around." He started. "Now I know and understand the situation with your family because I knew your parents. It can't be easy and I'm not expecting you to have moved on. All I'm asking is that you please try not to get into so much trouble this year. I know you are better than this. You have so much potential, Amber."

Amber had frozen up at the mention of her family. 'That's right Adri was here as well.' She thought quickly and brushed it off just as quickly.

"Yeah, I'll try. Sure. Yeah. Yeah." She said half interested. "So... can I go now?"

The principal sighed. It was clear she wasn't listening to anything he had said. Amber had become a 'Barbie doll' of sorts. Always wearing the least appropriate things she could find. She developed a reputation for being a 'bad girl' and enjoyed every bit of attention she got from the guys. For her, life at school couldn't get better than that. Who needed good marks when you had popularity.

"Yes sure, you can leave." The principal responded and Amber got up and left.

Adrienne's story

Adrienne sat cross-legged on her bed while her roommate got ready for the day. She usually took a few minutes for herself before doing anything.

"Aren't you coming? Not that I care anyway." Her roommate said as she left.

Adrienne didn't bother to say anything back or move. 5 minutes later she got up and got ready. She walked straight to her locker, then went to fetch her timetable. Every student had to go and get theirs from the office. Each timetable had the student's name on it. That indicated that it belonged to that particular student. There were no extra copies and no replacement copies. Well unless you paid a fee to get a second copy made. You only had that one. Most students memorized all their classes within the first two weeks since the timetables were repeated at the start of the next week.

After Adrienne got her timetable she went to her first class. The teacher was still seating everyone according to how she wanted them to sit. Once fewer people were crowding the doorway and/or passage Adrienne could see how the teacher was seating them. The 'naughty' students were split up and the more trusted students were either together or filling a space next to a 'naughty' student. As expected no one really wanted to sit next to Adrienne. After all Amber still 'ruled' the school and she tortured anyone who wanted to be friendly to Adrienne. Adrienne sat on her own in the far left, right in the front.

It was nice being able to sit by the window in most classes. If a distraction was needed Adrienne could just look outside. She didn't mind it at all even though some people would think that she did. To her, it just meant she could get her work done without any serious distractions, and she was quite happy with that. 'I would rather sit alone anyway than have someone bug me while I'm working.' She always told herself and any of the teachers that asked. It was the times when she got used to having people around that hurt her the most anyways. Sure it wasn't always like that, but when she became known as the 'smartest kid in school' Amber decided that she didn't need a nerd ruining her 'chances' at popularity. The second-year was the hardest year she had ever had at school. She spent the better part of it crying, but Adrienne had gotten used to being a loner that year. She was left without a roommate and no partner in classes.

The periods seemed to be really short for Adrienne. When lunch rolled around Adrienne had finished most of the homework she was given and decided to finish the rest in the library. That meant that she was clearly skipping out on eating until later. She had managed to finish all her work with still a few minutes left before the break was over. She packed up her things quickly and made her way to the roof. She could do whatever she pleased on the roof and it had become one of her more special spots. She hadn't passed by the cafeteria to get lunch so she just sat there. The bell rang as she decided she should actually go for something to eat. She cursed under her breath before hurrying back to her next class. She wanted to ask the teacher if she could get a few minutes to eat something. She usually recorded every single class anyway.

Each recording was labeled appropriately as well. It was rather convenient for her because not everyone has a strong attention span. Hers usually lasted 10-15 minutes, 20 minutes if she was really lucky. That was still less than half of the 45 minutes every lesson took though, so she had to record it for later reference, as she found she learned best through audio. At the beginning of the third year, she had arranged permission to record classes with the principal. Due to her high marks and the merit she gathered the previous years, none of the teachers minded anyway. She was of course the only student who was allowed to do this. None of the other kids had thought to ask. She ended up tutoring a lot of her classmates who failed to take notes or pay attention.

Third Person story

"We have two new students coming in tomorrow. Who will we select as their guides? They are in separate years. Year three and five." The principal said.

"Well, I think we can all agree that Adrienne is the perfect option for the older one." One of the teachers said.

"Yes. We should definitely send her and we can talk further about who to send for the third year since there are a few good options." Miss Lee said with a smile.

The teachers continued their meeting as the secretary printed the required documents. Transfer papers, subject choice options, student excuse documents, etc. Anything and everything that was needed for the day to go as smoothly as possible.

*~*

No one would ever admit this openly, but Adrienne was always considered the 'hotter' twin. It wasn't only because she was smart, but also because she wasn't fake. She never wore make-up and always allowed her hair freedom to do as it pleased. Her effort may have been minimum, but it showed her true beauty in the best ways. Amber put in too much effort. All she wanted to do was fit in with others, but she went about it in all the wrong ways. Her natural beauty was never allowed to shine through under all the makeup she wore. Her body was over-exposed and basically left next to nothing to the imagination. No one could say anything about it because Amber was a horribly mean girl when she didn't get what she wanted.

The fifth period was hell on earth. Amber and Adrienne shared their PE (Physical Education) class. What was worse was that the teacher decided to make them a team. It would have worked in the first year, but now they were in their fifth year. They didn't exactly get along with each other anymore. None the less they got through the period earning a decent enough mark. Amber smiled at the idea of ruining Adrienne's perfect record. She was given the opportunity to prove to everyone that Adrienne couldn't outsmart her. Amber couldn't have asked for anything better. PE was her chance to change her 'insecurity' of not being good enough. Destroying Adrienne's perfect mark was her best shot at getting that right. To Amber the way Adrienne may feel about it didn't really matter anymore because it was her turn to prove she was smart enough.

Adrienne knew her sister well enough to know that she may plan something to embarrass her, or worse, in front of the class. So she had to think about a way to not allow Amber the opportunity. Being her partner in PE was not the easiest thing in the world. Adrienne knew Amber would be under the impression she ruined a perfect mark. The perfect mark wasn't the issue for Adrienne, it was the failing mark that bothered her. She tried her best not to get caught going to talk to the teacher after class. She knew it wasn't really the 'smartest' option, but she didn't want to fail, and neither did she want Amber to fail.

"Adrienne it's okay. I had chosen to overlook Amber's attempts at sabotage. You both did really well regardless so you don't need to worry about failing and neither does Amber." The teacher said.

Tell Me Why

Song By Three Days Grace

(1785 words)