A New School

“Clara,” her mom, Dr Ellen, called out with concern etched on her face.

Clara turned away from the window towards her mom, with a sad expression on her face.

“What's wrong, darling? You haven't said much throughout the journey. Aren't you excited about your new school?" her mom asked, trying to engage her.

Clara shook her head. "I am not. I miss my former school. I miss Mislan High School, mom," she complained, with her arms folded tightly across her chest.

Her mom let out a sigh. “I know, darling, but you know why we had to leave New York City... ” She gave a long explanation, which Clara didn't want to hear. Of course, she had already heard it a thousand times.

“So we can start a new life together,” they both chorused, and Clara rolled her eyes slightly, feeling frustrated.

“I know why we had to leave, but I still miss all my friends - Tracy, Emmy, Nico, James and a whole bunch of others whose names I can't remember right now," Clara said, still sounding sad and nostalgic.

“I know, I know... I know how you feel, but we both had to make sacrifices. I left my job, you know? Not everyone could do that. Being a doctor at one of the highest paying hospitals in America is not child's play, but I left it. You know why?” her mom asked, trying to remind her of the bigger picture.

“For family,” Clara answered, remembering their discussions.

“Yes, for family. For you, Clara. You are my family. The only one I have,” her mom said tenderly, reaching out to touch the back of Clara's hand with her right hand while the other hand was still on the wheel.

“So why don't you give dear mommy a smile?” her mom said further, with a broad smile of her own, hoping to lift her daughter's spirits.

Clara managed a small smile. “I love you, mom,” she said softly, grateful for her mom's understanding.

“I know, my pretty angel, and I love you too,” her mom said compassionately, sensing the sadness that still lingered in her daughter's eyes.

After a long drive, Clara's mom pulled into a car park area where different kinds of cars were already lined up, and there it was: Great Hill High School.

“Wow!" Clara was awed by the sight. It was a gigantic structure, way bigger than her former school, but she didn't feel any connection to the bricks of this building like that of Mislan, her former school.

Mom and daughter said goodbye, and Clara watched as her mom drove off. Then, she turned around, taking one last full picture of the massive building with her eyes before taking in a deep breath. She followed the crowd of teenagers like herself, walking like zombies as they marched towards the school's main entrance door.

Clara was wearing a shirt and jeans with a pair of sneakers. She carried a backpack big enough to contain all her books and writing stuff. As she walked into the large hallway, she was multitasking - scanning around for her new locker while also dodging passers-by. She reached into her jeans pocket, brought out a key, and checked the number on it.

Locker 126.

She sighed at the sight of it, feeling disappointed.

“Oh great! Just great... Now I will have to walk the whole hallway just to get to my locker," she complained, feeling tired already. Her big backpack was weighing her down.

After a long walk, she finally saw her locker. Heaving a sigh of relief, she opened it with the key in her hand and emptied all the stuff from her backpack into it, leaving only a few books and writing materials in the bag. Her backpack felt less heavy now, and she felt much lighter. She could afford to carry it on one shoulder without dislocating her shoulder blade, which is exactly what she did. As she flung it on her right shoulder and slammed the locker shut, securing it with the keys, the bell rang, and the once crowded hallway was completely empty in a matter of seconds.

"Oh great! How am I going to locate the history class now?" Clara lamented with a worried expression, since there was nobody to ask for directions, as everyone suddenly was in a hurry to get to their various classes.

She looked lost in her new school, not knowing whether to go left, right, back, or front.

"Miss Jackson!" someone called her by her surname.

Huh?

She turned around to see a tall black man. She recognized him; he was the school principal. She was actually glad to see him.

"Morning, Mr. Phillips," she greeted with a relieved smile as she walked to meet him.

"Morning to you, young lady. Didn't you hear the sound of the bell? You should be in class by now," he said calmly with a concerned expression.

"Yeah... I am actually trying to figure out where I am having my class," she said, then made a weird silly smile.

"Okay, what subject are you having now?" he asked with a curious expression.

"Hmm..history, I think, yeah definitely history," she said.

"That's Mr. Collins's class, alright follow me," he said and threw his long legs forward.

Minutes later, in History class, Mr. Collins was busy teaching about the ancient practices of some popular tribes that were no longer in existence.

"...Blood was viewed as a potent source of nourishment for the Maya deities, and the sacrifice of a living creature was a powerful blood offering to the gods. By extension, the sacrifice of a human life was the ultimate offering of gifts to the gods, and the most important Maya rituals culminated in human sacrifice and_ " he had to stop when the principal entered the class with a pretty blonde girl with him.

"Sorry for the interruption," the principal apologized formally with a respectful expression.

"It's nothing, sir," Mr. Collins said with a polite expression.

"Great, well, there is someone I want to introduce to your class. Miss Jackson," the principal said with a smile.

Clara stepped forward, and it was as if all their staring eyes were trying to eat her up.

"My name is Clara," she quickly corrected with a nervous expression. Miss Jackson kinda made her look old in her head.

"Nice meeting you, Clara. Why don't you go find a seat amongst your new classmates?" Mr. Collins said, flashing her a welcoming smile.

She nodded and walked slowly. As she walked, searching for a seat, she saw a girl in particular smiling at her warmly, and she had an empty seat next to her, so Clara just sat down there.

"Hi, I am Nana," the girl greeted Clara with a welcoming smile.

"Nice meeting you. I am Clara," Clara said with a grateful expression.

"Yeah, I know," Nana said, smiling with a friendly expression.

"Really... how?" Clara asked, surprised, they only just met.

"You told everyone your name a few minutes ago, remember?" Nana said, smiling with an amused expression.

"Oh yeah, stupid me." Clara said in a silly smile.

Nana chuckled, and Clara joined her, laughing slightly. She liked her already.

Mr. Collins continued with his history class.

Alright, apart from the Maya people or tribe, which other ancient tribe do you know that offers blood sacrifice, either of animals or humans, to its gods?” Mr Collins asked the class. For a while, there was total silence in the class until someone stood up, and immediately everyone's eyes went to him, including Clara's.

He was a cute Latino boy, and he looked quite shy.

“Mathias, do you have something to say?” Mr Collins asked.

“Y-Yes, sir,” he said, sounding a little bit nervous.

“Alright then, you have our attention,” Mr Collins said, and there was calmness in the classroom.

Mathias began, “Well, according to the stories my grandfather told me when I was little, the tale about the Gran Lobo (Great Wolf) tribe that used to practice animal sacrifices in the festival of El que es LUNA to appease the moon god. This was an annual custom of theirs until things went terribly wrong when the magic of the Luna was used to create a monster of the night, a vampire... ” Everyone kept totally quiet as Mathias spoke, but then all of a sudden, there was a long outburst of laughter from the whole class, with Clara laughing slightly.

“Are you kidding me? Vampires and werewolves? What are you, twelve?" one of his classmates laughed even more.

“More like a weirdo," a girl said mockingly.

“I-I am not lying. You have to believe me,” Mathias stuttered, feeling really embarrassed.

“Weirdo!”

“This guy really is a joke,"

“More like insane.” The whole class was whispering amongst themselves, creating an unpleasant noise in the process.

“Silence. Enough!!" Mr Collins had to step in, and the classroom became calm.

“Thank you, Mathias, for trying, but maybe you didn't understand the question I asked. I asked you to tell me about ancient history, not ancient bedtime stories. Everyone knows there are no such things as vampires and werewolves,” Mr Collins said, and there was soft laughter in the classroom.

“B-But do you believe in magic?” Mathias said in a low tone.

“I believe in science," Mr Collins answered proudly.

“B-But it's not everything science can explain,” Mathias said timidly, and just then, the bell rang.

The students flooded to the exit door.

“Don't forget to do your assignment!” Mr Collins yelled as a reminder.

Clara quickly checked her timetable and saw that she had English class next. She walked with her new-found friend Anna to the locker, who also had English class. As they walked down the hallway, Anna kept telling Clara all the things she had learned about Great Hill High School. Clara got to her locker and quickly opened her bag, bringing out her history textbook and notebook. Placing them safely inside her locker, she replaced them with the English textbook and notebook.

“Oh my God! He's here!” Anna exclaimed, taking Clara's attention from the locker. Following Anna's eyes, Clara turned her head until it landed on a super cute boy who was surrounded by a group of boys and girls.