Chapter one: Normal Morning
The resonating alarm suddenly shrieked, alerting the world to the fact that it was seven o’clock. This was intended for the girl lying in her bed, cursing as she turned over to face the clock. An arm was unravelled from under the duvet, snaking towards the ‘Alarm off’ button. She jabbed down, ceasing the infernal sound. She yawned, raising a hand to her mouth. It was Monday morning, the beginning of a new week. Only, this wasn’t exactly good news.
Elena Borquen realised, as she stepped out of the warm sanctuary of her bed, that Monday mornings were the worst of all mornings. It was the first school day, so it began with the knowledge that there were going to be many school days to precede it until the weekend. Elena walked over to her mirror, her dishevelled self staring back. Her fair hair was all over the place and it looked as if she had received an electric shock. Turning from her hideous appearance, she picked her freshly ironed uniform from her chair. It smelt pleasantly of the spring fresh washing powder and that smell all ironed clothes have.
Getting dressed, Elena took extra time in tying her tie. It had to be a certain length, not too short and not too long. After she made her tie beautiful she grabbed her bag and blazer. She burst through her door, striding down the corridor that led to the landing. She passed the stairs, dropping her bag and blazer there then carried on into the bathroom. She normally got up before everyone else because she had to wait for her brother to use the bathroom. Now he was in university, she didn't had to get up so early but habits were hard to break.
She quickly performed the sink act, which consisted of brushing teeth and cleansing her face. Once dry, she left the bathroom and headed back for her bedroom. She made her way back to her mirror again. Now she was nice and clean, she could do what all teenage girls did before school, applying make up. Not very many people understand the importance of school makeup. It had to look good, but not too good. You’re not supposed to seem as if you’re trying too hard. Though, it had to make them look good enough for approval. Elena whisked out the mascara and her eyeliner. After decorating her eyes, she worked on her face. Once she was done, she combed her hair. She worked hard to make it look perfect, getting her parting perfectly straight. Once she was happy, she scanned her face for any signs of spots.
She saw a mysterious red splodge on her forehead. Suspicious, she poked at it. It was definitely a spot. She sighed and left it for later. Elena looked around her room again, making sure she hadn’t left any homework behind. Once she was sure that her upstairs routine was done, she left her room and walked briskly to the stairs.
She grabbed her bag and blazer, cleverly placed there for this moment, and descended down the stairs. The hallway was empty, only the house plant stood beside the stair case. Elena placed her bag on the floor, folding her blazer over it. Finally, she could get some breakfast.
Elena hated acting out of schedule because she knew that she would panic about forgetting something. It was just safer to be over organised. As she made her way through the living room, her cat, Philippe, meowed ruefully at her. She stopped to stare at him, watching his lithe black body twist through her legs.
“Morning, Phil.” She said, and then crouched down to stroke him. His black fur was pleasantly silky and warm under her fingers. Standing up, she made her way to the kitchen where her mum was waiting for her. Elena walked in, seeing that her mum was making a sandwich for her. Elena eyed it curiously, seeing that today was going to be a ham and lettuce day. She walked behind her mother and gave her a big hug.
“Oh Elena,” her mum exclaimed in surprise, “I didn’t hear you come in,” Elena smiled cunningly earning an exasperated look from her mum. She shoved her sandwiches in a bag then pushed them into Elena's arms.
“There you go; you can buy the rest of your lunch in the cafeteria.” Her mum said, brushing the crumbs from the top.
“But I don’t have much money left,” Elena said, bewildered, then scowled, “You said you’d give me a couple of pounds.” Elena’s mum sighed, and then gestured to the table where her handbag sat.
“Fine, grab a couple quid from my purse,” she said, then as Elena scrambled toward the bag she said, “Don’t forget that you owe me, I may need it sometime in the future.” Elena took two pounds from the purse then shoved it back in her mum’s bag. She pocketed the money and looked back at her mother.
“Of course I’ll remember.” She then walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a bowl. “As soon as I get a job.” She turned to the food cupboard, rummaging around for the cornflakes.
“Then look for one,” her mum said, causing Elena to stop looking. “The cornflakes are here,” she said, throwing the box at Elena, who caught it.
“Thanks,” Elena mumbled, opening the box and pouring some cereal out. “It’s not that easy you know, especially when I’m not sixteen yet. I’m not even supposed to have a job.” She shoved the cornflakes back into their proper cupboard. She moved past her mum to get the fridge.
“Then how come some kids your age have jobs,” Her mum said, while frowning at her daughter. “Paper rounds, retail work. I know they don’t get much but it’s more than you’re getting now. “Elena pulled the milk from the fridge, and then turned to her mother.
“I don’t know,” she said, while shutting the fridge door with her foot. “They’re just lucky,” She crossed her mum again to get back to her breakfast. Her mum wasn’t finished with the lecture yet, her arms were crossed.
“Whatever Elena,” she said, in a dangerous manner. “You just can’t be bothered. It’s about time you put your back into something.” Elena poured milk onto her cornflakes then when she’d finished, she sighed.
“I’m so bored of this conversation because I always end it the same way,” Elena said, heatedly, “I am a straight A student at school, mum. Please don’t offend me by saying I don’t ‘put my back into anything’.” She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and then walked over to the table. As she sat down, she saw that her mum was still watching her.
“I know why you aren’t getting a job,” her mum said quietly after a while. By then, Elena was munching on her cornflakes. She gave her mum a baleful look. “It would muck up your scheduled day.” Elena put her spoon down, swallowing down a mouthful.
“Now you’re making me sound like I have OCD or something,” Elena said, she picked out her spoon again. “Listen mum, I’ve tried to get a job, you know I have. But, please, just let me do this in my own time.” Then she started eating again. Her mum didn’t look too pleased, but then she sighed and unfolded her arms.
“Ok, fine Elena.” she said, causing Elena to look up in surprise. “I suppose I am bossing you around a bit. Just don’t put this off, ok?” Elena finished her breakfast, and then smiled at her mum.
“Sure, I need the money anyway.” Elena said, grinning. Her mum sighed and started to unload the dishwasher. Elena watched her for a moment before walking off to sort out her bag.
Before long it was eight fifteen and time to leave. Elena’s mum drove a Mercedes, it was sleek and black. Elena preferred to be driven by her mum because her car was much better than her step-father’s. He drove a Land Rover which was ok, but looked a bit shabby in comparison to the stylish Mercedes. Her mum worked with a magazine company as their editor so she had quite high wages. Her step father was a lawyer, so his job kept him busy. He was away a lot, helping people with their needs. At the moment, he was working on a murder case. Elena was intrigued by this because she had read lots of murder mystery novels.
Unfortunately, he was away too much to talk about it. Elena wasn’t as close to her step-father as she was with her mother. She never called him dad; it was just ‘Eric’. Her mum was the main family in Elena’s life; they had been through a lot. Especially after her father’s death, they needed each other. Perhaps that was why Elena never got close to Eric, because of the death of her real father. He was replacing someone who was irreplaceable. Instead of appearing as a father, he was more of an outcast.
Elena got into the passenger seat of the car and belted up. She waited for her mum to sit beside her and start up the engine. She smiled at Elena as the car coughed life and jolted forwards. They twisted out the drive and down the road. They lived in a street called ‘Peony Drive’, because of the small flowers that littered every garden. As they drove around it, Elena’s mum let out an exclamation of pleasure.
“Oh, don’t they all look wonderful,” she bursted out, gazing out at the multicoloured gardens that Peony Drive was full of. Elena’s mum loved flowers; she spent enough time outside in the garden to be a flower herself. Elena looked out, seeing all the blue, red, yellow, orange and purple flowers gleam at her. It was always the same every spring. She sighed and looked at the stereo. She turned it on and the boring voice of the radio present came on.
“I seriously don’t get why people listen to him,” Elena said to her mum as the monotonous voice spoke from the speakers, “He bores me to tears.” She opened the glove compartment and pulled out the wallet of CDs. She unzipped it and flicked though, browsing for a decent CD. When she found on suitable, she pulled it out and pushed it into the stereo. At once, the car was filled with the sound of rock music.
“So what is it today?” Elena’s mum asked her as they head down the main road. “Tortured singer, depressed signer, or rubbish singer?” Elena smiled at this, and then looked at her mother.
“It’s a damn good singer today,” she said, as the car was filled with a very harmonious voice. “See what I mean?” Her mum sighed at this, grinning.
“Ok, point taken,” she said, and lapsed into silence as they cruised to school. Elena stared out the window at her fellow students as they walked to school. They all looked a bit sad about going back to school; Elena didn’t blame them, she felt the same. Soon, her school loomed towards them. It was a fairly modern school, built with dark bricks and black framed windows. But inside, it seemed boring. Every room looked the same and every student looked the same.
They turned into the school car park, pulling up near the entrance. Elena kissed her mum on the cheek and left the car. She held her bag over her arm and made her way towards the school entrance. There was a teacher standing there, checking people’s uniforms. Elena walked over, anxious to not get a detention on the first day of the week. As a big group of girls walked past, Elena hid herself on the side so the teacher didn’t see her walk in. Safely inside the school, Elena carried down the entrance hall and down the corridor that led to her classroom. She passed several students on the way, some of which were girls that Elena didn’t socialise with. They were the girls who wore too much make up and who couldn’t look at someone without a look of disgust. They believed that they were better than everyone and most people believed them. Popularity was a terrible thing at school; because people can be easily pressurised into doing stupid things. The girls that walked past Elena where those people that made others do things in order to fit in.
She turned off down a mini corridor that led into a dead end. Elena’s classroom was right at the far end. She pushed the door open and saw that some of the class were sat there already. Elena made her way to the back, where her friends sat chatting away. Elena’s best friend and cousin waved at her. Emily Borquen was the daughter of Elena’s father’s brother, the uncle of Elena. He was also dead, but he died a very long time ago from a stroke. Emily didn’t know him; he had died when she was five months old. This made them both very close. The Borquen brothers gone for good. Though, they still had their offspring to hold the name.
“How was your weekend in Cornwall?” Elena asked, putting her bag on the floor as she sat down. Emily turned to face her smiling. They were almost like sisters, both blonde and blue eyed. However, Elena was taller than her cousin and her face was much more defined. Emily’s face was petit and round, a face more prone to smiling. Yet, they both were pretty in ways that were different. Emily could be described as cute and pretty, but Elena was normally described as beautiful and expressive.
“Oh it was just like every visit with my mum,” Emily said, flashing an exasperated glance at Elena. “It was dull and stressful. She kept moaning and bossing me around.” Elena smiled faintly at this, and then looked at Emily’s bag.
“You finally bought a new bag though,”
“Yes, do you like it?” Emily said, grinning as she pulled her bag on the table. It was a shoulder bag, black with white flowers all over it.
“Absolutely amazing,” she exclaimed, causing Emily to smile. “A souvenir?”
“Oh no, I brought this in a service station,” But then their conversation was cut short when the teacher started to speak the register. Elena looked at her tutor, his name was Mr Cole. He had brown hair cut stylishly and he had dark eyes set with serious eyebrows. He was the type of teacher that made foolish girl's hormones' run wild. He was at least twenty eight, but he looked much younger. Elena happened to know that his first name was Callum. She knew him out of school as well.
As he finished the register, he glanced at Elena and gave her a small smile. They both found it amusing that Elena was in his class. Though, he promised that he wouldn’t give special treatment. It was also ironic that Emily was in her class too. Relatives weren’t normally in the same class but then, that was normally due to quarrelling.
“What did you do in the weekend?” Emily asked Elena after they were sure the register was over. Elena looked over then smiled faintly again.
“Nothing much, I did a little shopping with Kate but I only brought some earrings.” Elena said, and then she looked at her watch. “What’s first lesson?” she asked Emily, who frowned and took her timetable out of her pocket.
“It’s Drama for me, I think you have music.” Emily said, causing Elena to grimace.
“Yes, I think I do.” She said, sounding down. “Mrs Godfrey drives me up the wall.” Emily nodded, looking over to the other side of the classroom where the boys sat; they were a rowdy bunch. Emily sighed as she looked over there.
“Well count yourself lucky.” She said, surprising Elena. “At least you don’t have Harry in your class.” Elena laughed and looked over to the boys as well. Harry Fitzpatrick was the nosiest and most annoying of the lot. Elena felt very sympathetic towards Emily.
“Poor you,” she said, just as the bell rang. Emily grimaced at this and watched Harry leapt from his chair and bound towards the door, knocking several people out the way in the process. Elena stood up, smiling at Emily. They both walked out the door together.
Emily and Elena both carried on until they reached the performing arts block. They hugged goodbye before setting off to different lessons. Emily turned left and Elena turned right.
Monday had begun.
(What a nice compliment eh?)
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A small poem to help you remember!