Scarlet on Porcelain - Chapter 1: Déjà Vu
Kalyn
The curtains were drawn. The sunshine was slowly seeping into the room as the sun prepared to gaze onto another day. It was too beautiful a day for the first day of school. Kalyn came to terms with that as she opened her eyes, squinting as the light shone in her face. She lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. She was regretting every minute of having woken up and tremendously wished that she was just having yet another nightmare but, no. Kalyn pinched her arm just to be certain and didn’t even flinch at the brief pain that she felt, confirming her consciousness. She felt a pithy sense of triumph at her accomplishment in resisting the effect of pain.
Kalyn's mother called to her from downstairs and reminded her that if she did not get up soon, she would arrive late. As if she needed reminding. She was deliberately procrastinating and using up every second of her time alone. Oh how she longed to cuddle up under her windowsill, on her comfy armchair with a good book and maybe a cup of coffee! That was how she had been spending most of her time in the summer. That's the way she liked it.
The alarm clock on her bedside table showed 7:00. She had about half an hour to get ready. Plenty of time, according to her but her mother didn't think so as she cried out, more impatiently this time, for Kalyn to get out of bed once and for all. Kalyn groaned but finally did as she was told. She got up, chose a simple outfit from her disorganised closet, arranged her hair in a style she thought acceptable, grabbed her bag and walked downstairs, dragging her feet. Her mother had already taken up a routine for the scholastic year. She would always be a step further from Kalyn. Her mum handed her her lunch, and a bottle of water, along with a banana that she would eat before she headed out the door.
Kalyn ate her fruit slowly, trying to savour the sweet moments of freedom before she would be made to socialise and 'make new friends'. Her mum was telling her the usual that one would hear before starting life at a new school but Kalyn barely listened. How many times had she heard this before?
"Tell me something I don't know," she muttered under her breath as she turned to throw away her banana peel.
After she had brushed her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror with her braces on, she kissed her mum goodbye and walked out, quickly stopping herself from slamming the door shut. Kalyn looked at her watch. It was 7:25 - 5 minutes before she was supposed to catch the bus. As she got closer to the bus stop, she was relieved to see the bus just arriving for her to board. Being late was usually part of her reputation but she was glad that this proved otherwise. She got on, sat down at the very back and put on her headphones - an act which she thought of as 'blocking the world out of her life'.
"Nothing like Christian music to make you feel better," she thought, leaning her head against the window, smiling slowly.
Kalyn closed her eyes and prayed that her fifth 'first day' would not turn out to be a total disaster.
Sarah Zammit Munro
