Going the Distance ✔️

Chapter two.

Looking through my closet, I had no idea what to wear. No uniforms. That sounded so strange to me and I was definitely not used to it. I decided to go with a pair of jeans and a simple plain T-shirt with a jacket over the top. I was nervous about going to a different school. I mean, they didn't even have uniforms. What else was going to be different and weird?

Xanthe walked into my view in the hall and smiled at me while looking me up and down. She was wearing a summer's dress with tights. Her blonde hair was down and it looked like she just curled her hair. "You look stunning!" She cheered.

I smiled and I was unsure why. I was only wearing casual clothes and my glasses really ruined it. "Uh, thanks."

"Come on," Xanthe urged, "we're going to miss the bus."

I nodded, grabbed my backpack and left to go downstairs with Xanthe. It was cold today and I wondered how Xanthe could wear a dress with no jacket or jumper over the top. I shrugged it off as we made our way to the bus stop. It was at the end of the street and only a few kids waited there.

"Isn't Liam catching a bus too?" I asked, curious as to why he didn't join us this morning. It slipped my mind that he was skipping school today.

As we reached the bus stop, Xanthe flipped her hair out of her face and sighed. "He's probably taking his car to school, he never takes the bus and he never offers me a ride to school and when I ask, he instantly says no."

I didn't think Liam could be so harsh to his sister. "Why don't you have a car?" I asked as the bus turned the corner and it was coming our way.

"Because I can't afford one and Liam saved up for his probably so he could use his car to skip school every last period." Xanthe explained as the bus came to a halt and stopped right in front of us. Everyone piled in and we took the first seats that were free.

"Does he ever get into trouble?" I asked. Her brother was a mystery to me. Why didn't he ever get caught and why didn't his parents do anything about it? My father would kick Harry's butt if he started skipping school.

"Only by the teachers," she said, "but they have given up because he's never going to listen. He doesn't want to go to college and he doesn't really care about school."

The bus began to move, driving slowly around the corner and into a whole new world. "I thought we were in college."

Xanthe laughed, it filled the quiet bus. "No, silly. We're in high school. College is like university where you go away and study."

I shook my head at the craziness of this new country I was in. The bus came to a halt once again and we are parked outside a large building with students already piling in to start their day. It was bigger than my school and I was dumbstruck once again by how different this country was compared to England.

We got off the bus and Xanthe was my tour guide for the day. We walked in and the corridors were nothing like I expected. Lockers lined up each wall and there were big glass windows where medals and trophies were presented. My eyes widened at the sight of this place and Xanthe chuckled as we walked into the main office.

"Hi." Xanthe said to the lady behind the desk. The lady looked up, her small glasses reflecting the light off the ceiling. "This is my exchange student, Louisa Shepard. She needs her locker combination and timetable."

The lady looked towards me and nodded. She typed on the computer quite quickly and the printer came on and printed out my timetable. "Here's your locker number and combination and here's your timetable."

"Thank you." I smiled as I took the pieces of printed paper. I was glad I already chose my subjects before I came here, that would have taken up so much time if I were to do that right now.