Chapter Two

Song: Perfect Now - Louis Tomlinson

*****

"Serendipity; finding something good without looking for it"

The nerves rushing through my veins only get worse as I make my way down the corridor.

My night-time habits seem to have become ingrained in me, as I don't realise until I reach the doorway leading into the kitchen that I've been stifling my footsteps on the creaky floorboards.

The smell of freshly made pancakes and maple syrup fills my nostrils and a small smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. Ever since our first day of prep, dad formed a tradition to make pancakes on the first day back at school each year.

Except this year, everything is different. And the gesture, although incredibly kind, seems to be just another way of trying to get things back to normal.

First, it was moving to a new house in a new suburb, mum's new job, then a change in schools and now this. A collection of small changes to push our lives back into motion, when deep down, we all know we can never return to the 'normal' life we took for granted for so long.

"Oh, Lola! You look wonderful dear!" my mum exclaims as I enter the kitchen. She's already dressed for work, sleek black pants with a delicate white blouse. The outfit complete with a coffee in hand. 

"Thanks mum," I respond, forcing a smile onto my face.

I certainly don't feel wonderful. The new school uniform sits stiffly on my body. The summer dress has a faintly checked blue and white print with a starkly contrasting white collar. And of course, it wouldn't be the classic Australian school uniform without the black T-bar school shoes combined with a pair of white crew length socks.

The conversation continues around me as my mind starts travelling on a winding path through the various emotions trapped inside me.  

After I got dressed this morning looking at myself in the mirror had been strange.

My dirty blonde hair hung in messy waves around my face, still tangled from my trip to the beach. And my body appeared weak, so much more fragile than it had ever been before. Where I used to have slightly toned muscles from spending nearly every day out in the surf, I now had nothing. My blue eyes, once a striking feature I would have received complements for, seemed dull, distant and empty. Pair that with the heavy shadows underneath my eyes, courtesy of not getting enough sleep for the past month, and I really didn't look all that great.

"The pancakes smell delicious dad," I say, suddenly zoning back into the conversation.

My dad stands over the stove, ladling out the pancake batter carefully into the saucepan, with a stack of pancakes already resting on the bench next to him.

He flashes me a smile, "Well, we couldn't have you going off to your first day of senior year without pancakes, now could we?"

"Of course not, it would be an absolute travesty!" I mock him, a slight accent creeping into my voice. It had always been a thing of mine to switch into British accents randomly every now and then, don't ask me why.

"Okay, well I'm off to work," my mum chimes in, turning to face me, "Lola sweetie, you're going to be amazing, I'm sure everyone at the school will adore you."

"I'm not sure about that mum," I reply, casting my gaze down to my nervously fidgeting hands. 

Walking towards me, my mum cups both my cheeks in her hands, staring into my eyes.

"They're going to love you. I promise. You just have to give them the chance to get to know you and pretty soon they'll all be falling at your feet."

She leans forward, planting a kiss on my forehead, before turning to walk down the front corridor.

As I take a seat at the kitchen counter, we hear the front door opening and closing, my mum calling out her final goodbyes to each of us. 

"So, now that your mother's gone, what will it be – maple syrup or Nutella?" my dad questions, a mischievous grin sliding onto his face.

"Why not both?" I smile back at him.

And just for a moment, everything seems so normal that I almost forget...

*****

The principle of St Domenico's High School, Dr Florentine, sits across from me. A welcoming smile is plastered onto her face as she explains the ins and outs of the school to me. It's clear she's done this a million times before, her voice never once faltering and her eyesight resting directly on me the entire time.

I hate being the centre of attention, and let me just say, this whole situation is honestly kind of intimidating.

"I have your timetable somewhere here, just hold on a second. Lola Thompson..." she mutters as her hands go searching through the various papers scattered across her desk.

For someone who presents themselves so poised and meticulously organised, you'd think she would have a cleaner desk.

"Ah, here it is!" she suddenly exclaims, handing me a sheet of paper.

I look down at the paper to read my new timetable, my eyes scanning over my subjects; maths, chemistry, physics, studio arts, English...

"I hope everything is what you expected?" Dr Florentine asks.

"Yep, everything's great," I respond with a smile, my gaze lifting up from the paper.

"Wonderful. Now, I've arranged for another one of our senior students – Bailey Papadopoulos – to be your tour guide of sorts for the day. I'm sure she'll see to it that you feel at home here and find all of your classrooms on time."

"Thank you, that will be really helpful."

Seeing my sullen reflection in the window behind Dr Florentine reminds me to flash her another quick smile.

People always used to say I had a radiant smile, that it looked so natural, brightening my features perfectly. Now, they would probably be repulsed by the grimace I force onto my face, my brain trying to persuade my body to act as if all of this is perfectly normal.

Dr Florentine, exuding the natural confidence that comes with years as a school principle, doesn't hesitate to fill the empty silence with even more information about the school and its facilities. The amenities, rules, dress code, clubs, activities...

I'll be honest, most of the conversation goes right over my head.

I make sure to smile and nod when it feels appropriate, throwing in the occasional bit of eye contact to keep her speaking.

I guess it's safe to say my social skills aren't that great. It's not that I'm shy necessarily, it just takes a while for me to actually open up to people. And for the record, the school principle; definitely not someone I'm going to be opening up to any time soon.  

That's why this whole 'new school' thing isn't all that exciting to me. I know absolutely no one here and making new friends isn't exactly easy. Especially when you're joining a small school in a small neighbourhood, where everybody has probably been friends with each other since birth.

Finally, a knock on the door ceases Dr Florentine's incessant rambling.

As Dr Florentine and I stand up, a girl dressed in the standard blue and white uniform of St. Domenico's enters the room. As she moves, her shoulder length brown hair dances around her face, bringing a certain warmth to her features. Her hazel eyes light up with a welcoming kindness as she sees us.

"Hi Dr F," she says, a broad smile illuminating her face, "You called for me?"

"Bailey, this is Lola, she'll be starting in your year level today and I'm hoping you can show her the ropes of the school."

"Oh, okay sounds fun!" she replies, directing her luminous smile towards me.

"Um... hi," I state, my awkwardness emanating across the room, a nervous tremor in my voice.

If my embarrassment with the whole situation was obvious, Bailey doesn't show any sign of noticing it. Instead, she walks towards me with a spring in her step, linking her arm through mine and pulling me towards the door to the office.

"Bye Dr F!" she calls out over her shoulder.

Glancing backwards, my mouth agape with shock, I see Dr Florentine casting an amused look towards us before I'm hustled out of the room entirely by Bailey.

We make it all the way to the hallway before Bailey finally decides to unlink our arms, slowing down to a more moderate pace and turning her attention towards me.

"Well then, my names Bailey. But you already know that... whoops," she states with an impish smile. "Clearly I'm not very good at this whole 'getting to know people' thing, so how about we play twenty questions while I show you around our lovely school?"

I can't help but laugh at the sarcastic drawl she puts on the word lovely.

"Sounds like a plan," I respond.

"Awesome!" Bailey squeals, her eyes lighting up as she bounces on her toes and clasps her hands together. "Okay then, first question, are you a dog or a cat person? Be careful here, this could truly make or break our friendship," she exclaims, placing a hand over her heart.

"A dog person, one hundred per cent," I reply without hesitation, "I know cats are pretty cute and all, but dogs are just so fluffy and adorable, you know? I mean how cute is it when their little tails are wagging at a million miles an hour and their little puppy dog eyes are staring up at you."

For a moment I completely forget who I'm talking to and don't even realise I'm rambling on about dogs while Bailey is just standing there staring at me with a quizzical look in her eye. Something about dogs just does that to me, I can't help it.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry," I start to backtrack, "I mean, if you're a cat person I totally get it. Cats are so cute as well! I just really love dogs and wow, this is totally gonna break our future friendship isn't it?"

Bailey and I have stopped walking now, and she's just staring at me in complete silence while my rambling comes to a stop and my face turns bright red. My overactive brain tells me I've just ruined possibly my only chance of making a friend here already, and it's only been like 5 minutes.

And why has this happened? Because I love dogs and their stupid fluffy faces way too much.

Before I get a chance to apologise even further, Bailey's face cracks into a massive grin as a fit of laughter overtakes her.

"Oh my god, Lola that was adorable!" she says in between snorts of laughter, her hands resting on her knees as she tries to contain her amusement.

I'm so confused right now I honestly think my head is about to explode. "So, you're not a cat person?" I say uncertainly.

Bailey looks back at me with a huge smile covering her face, "Nope. I mean, it's impossible not to be a dog person when you actually own one, especially when their little tails start wagging," she mocks me.

"Oh, shut up," I grin back at her.

After Bailey recovers from yet another fit of laughter, we continue on the tour around the school. The conversation is filled with questions; ranging from basic questions about school and our subjects to some really random questions like what year we'd go to if we had a time machine.

"So, Lola... final question, what brings you to our lovely school?" Bailey asks me.

I feel my stomach twist. This was the question I'd been dreading having to answer the entire time.

"My family just moved to the area," I respond stiffly.

Even though my brain is telling me to give Bailey a better response, to 'open up' like my mum had encouraged me to this morning, my mouth does not comprehend.

Like I said – social skills; lacking.

"Kind of unusual to change schools for senior year. You know, with the new environment and everything? A lot of people I know would completely freak out if they had to move schools now," Bailey says.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty stressful. It was just... family stuff." I try to smile it off, but I can pinpoint the exact instant Bailey sees the sadness filling my eyes.

"Oh, okay," Bailey responds, her smile faltering.

Our conversation falls into a lull. I know she didn't mean anything by her question, she doesn't know me after all, and it was an understandable thing to wonder about, but it still hit a nerve.

Bailey seems to sense my hesitance instantly, and gratefully, changes the topic completely. As we continue to walk through the school's various hallways, she points out the different classrooms, the library, the study spaces.

Bailey holds herself confidently, a comforting and graceful atmosphere radiating from her mannerisms. I can already tell that she's well-loved by everyone here. Nearly everyone we've passed in the hallway calls out a greeting to her as she guides me around the school.

"BAILEYYYY," I suddenly hear someone squeal as they come running up to her, throwing their arms around her.

The girl is about the same height as me, with straight long black hair reaching down her back and a golden skin tone. When she pulls away from Bailey's embrace, I can see she has a layer of makeup caked onto her face – she looks gorgeous of course, but I'm pretty sure part of Dr F's speech to me this morning specifically mentioned that makeup was against the school uniform policy.

"Hey Mai," Bailey chuckles, stepping away from the girl.

I swear I see Bailey roll her eyes.

"I have missed you so much Bails you don't understand! You have to fill me in on everything you got up to in your wild holidays!"

"Lola, this is Maia. Maia, Lola." Bailey introduces us, glancing back at me.

Maia's gaze drifts over to me, scrutinising every detail of my appearance. I swear I see her stare linger on my dishevelled blonde hair.

"Oh...hi," she finally says, as I stand there awkwardly.

"Anyway, I can't right now Mai, I have to show Lola around the school," Bailey replies, throwing me an apologetic smile.

"Oh. Dr F. got you on welcoming tour guide duty again?" she asks Bailey, a hint of disgust evident in her voice. "That totally sucks. Promise me that today at lunch we'll catch up and you can tell me all about your holidays though."

"Yeah of course, Mai." Bailey responds flippantly, "I'll see you then."

Without waiting for a reply, Bailey links her arm through mine again and we continue walking in the complete opposite direction, away from Maia.

I already felt bad enough that Bailey was placed on 'Lola duty'. After all, it is the first day of term and if it was me, I would be dying to catch up with my friends.

But now? Maia's comments have just left me feeling like a complete waste of Bailey's time.

"You really don't have to stay with me," I stutter. "Seriously, the school's not that big, I'm sure I'd be able to find my classes pretty easily."

"Nonsense, I haven't even shown you the gym yet," Bailey responds, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

After seeing the remaining look of uncertainty on my face she continues, "Lola, I'll let you in on a little secret, you just saved my arse from having to deal with a whole bunch more of 'Bails I've missed you so, so, so, so much'. I think my head would have exploded."

Bailey rolls her eyes dramatically as I let out a laugh.

"So, I'm guessing Maia isn't your favourite person then?" I tease.

"Not in the slightest," Bailey states straightforwardly, "unless of course, you want to hear about what the best outfit would be to wear to a party six months from now. Otherwise, it's a big no; Maia is definitely not my favourite person."

"Wait I just remembered, I actually have a party coming up in a year, maybe we should just go back so I can get her opinion now?" I smile at Bailey, dragging our linked arms to turn us around. "Mai-"

Before I can call out to her, Bailey slaps her hand across my mouth, resting an accusatory gaze on me.

"Don't you dare," she gasps at me, a broad smile coming to her face, mirroring the grin covering my own as we both burst into a fit of hysterics.

"I believe I have misjudged you Lola Thompson and for that, I am so sorry," Bailey grins at me. "Here I was thinking you were just a quiet, humble, unassuming girl. I can't believe how wrong I was. You missy, are the devil in disguise."

I smile and poke my tongue out at her, "And here I was thinking you were supposed to be some legendary tour guide, but I still don't know where the hell my classroom is."

Bailey's eyes light up as her smile widens even more, "You and I Lola, are going to be the most amazing friends. I can feel it in my heart. This friendship was written in the stars."

She rushes in front of me, opening her arms out wide and spinning around in a circle, while people loitering in the hallway give her confused glances.

I open my mouth to make a remark about Bailey's cheesiness when she cuts me off again. "Don't even try to deny it," she shoves me playfully. "Now come on, we've got to get you to class slowpoke."

*****

Hiiii thanks for reading this far!

:)

Please vote / comment if you enjoyed this chapter!

~Eloise