Splinters: Part One

Part One | 4

Chapter 4

Collie and Colleen

The next morning had been like the previous one, except Ursanne had woken me up.

"C'mon, Brayden," she whispered, pushing against my body.

"What?" I mumbled, wiping my eye.

"This is your first day at Constance!"

My stomach fell. I totally forgot about my first day of real high school. I wasn't sure what to expect, only from what I've seen in the movies. I wasn't too keen on it after the many times I've seen Mean Girls on Josephine's account, but High School Musical almost seemed fun.

"Oh... Yeah."

"C'mon!" She tugged me out of bed. "Your clothes are in the bathroom."

I scratched the back of my neck and went towards the bathroom. After my normal routine, I dressed into the uniform and looked at myself in the mirror. The blazer was a little large on me and the pants, although they fit, awkwardly hung at my hips. Trying not to worry about my appearance, I emerged from the bathroom and went towards the kitchen where everyone was eating. I took a bowl out of the cabinet and grasped some Lucky Charms and poured myself some cereal.

I was almost finished when Ursanne entered.

"Brayden! Aren't you going to brush your hair?!"

I touched my hair. "Um..."

"Ugh, c'mon!"

She grasped my hand and pulled me upstairs into my bathroom again, leaving my empty bowl sitting on the counter. She sprayed me with a water bottle and began brushing the knots out of my hair. I shivered as the cold drops fell down the sides of my face.

Ursanne left the bathroom and returned minutes later with a blue bottle. She squirted some type of goo onto her hand and rubbed them together. Before I knew it, she was about to put it in my hair.

"Woah! What is that?"

She froze and then shrugged. "Hair gel."

"I don't-"

She ignored me and began putting it into my hair. "You want to make a good impression at Constance, Brayden, don't you? And if you say no, your answer's wrong."

I gulped.

"It's gonna be tough the first few days if you don't look nice. I'm doing you a favor here." 

"So my usual self doesn't look nice?"

"Hence the hair gel."

I pressed my lips together and sighed, letting her do whatever she wanted. She was probably right anyway. Ursanne was already going to Constance so I guess I should take notes.

...

"Bye Mom!"

"Bye," Melissa called. "Ursanne! Make sure you help Brayden."

"K."

Ursanne shut the front door and together, we left the house.

"Why aren't we driving?" I asked Ursanne, clutching the book bag Melissa bought me last night.

"We never drive to school, except for when it's snowing or raining."

"But yesterday-"

"The only reason we drove yesterday was because my mom was coming into the school with us."