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“Are you okay, Shan?” Lizzie asked after big break.
We were walking toward our next class, English in the south wing, when I stopped midstride, causing a pileup of students.
“Oh crap,” I muttered, suddenly realizing my blunder. “I left my phone in the bathroom.”
Claire, who was on my left, turned and frowned. “Go and get it; we’ll wait for you.”
“The bathroom in the science building,” I replied with a groan. Tommen was ridiculously large, with several classes taking place in different buildings around the vast property. “I have to get it back,” I added, feeling anxious at the thought of someone finding my phone and invading my privacy. The mobile phone itself wasn’t worth anything. It was one of the cheapest prepays on the market and didn’t even have a camera, but it was mine. It was filled with private text messages and I needed it back. “Dammit.”
“Don’t panic,” Lizzie interjected. “We’ll walk you over.”
“No.” I held a hand up and shook my head. “I don’t want to make you both late for class, too. I’ll go and get it.” I was new. It was my first day. I doubted the teacher would go hard on me for being late to class. Claire and Lizzie, on the other hand, weren’t new and didn’t have any excuse for not being in their seats on time.
I could do this. I didn’t—or at least I shouldn’t—need a babysitter to walk me across the school.
Claire frowned, her uncertainty evident. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I remember the way.”
“I don’t know, Shan.” Lizzie chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe one of us should go with you.” Shrugging, she added, “You know, just in case…”
The second bell rang loudly, signaling the start of class.
“Go on,” I urged, waving them off. “I’ll be grand.”
Turning on my heels, I hurried down the hallway to the entrance and then broke into a run when I reached the courtyard. It took a solid nine minutes running at full speed in the lashing rain down a laneway that circled several sports training pitches to reach the science building—not an easy feat in heels.
By the time I reached the girls bathroom, I was breathless and sweating.
Thankfully, my phone was exactly where I had left it—on the sink next to the soap dispenser.
Sagging in relief, I swiped it off the sink, quickly checked the screen, sagged again when I saw the unperturbed locked screen, and then tucked it safely into the front pocket of my schoolbag.
If this had happened in my old school, a phone left unattended in a bathroom wouldn’t have survived fifteen seconds, let alone fifteen minutes.
You’re walking shoulder to shoulder with the wealthy now, Shannon, I thought to myself. They don’t want your shitty phone.
Splashing some water on my face, I shouldered my bag onto my back, using both straps like the nerd I was. I hadn’t been to my locker yet, and I was carrying what felt like four stone in there. Both straps were entirely necessary in this situation.
When I stepped out of the science building and looked at the long unappealing trek back to the main building where my class was, I bit back a moan.
I wasn’t running again. I physically couldn’t. All of my energy was zapped.
Forlorn, my gaze flickered between the unappealing uphill laneway and the training pitches. There were three pitches in total on this side of the school. Two smaller fields, neatly tended, which were empty, and one larger pitch, which was currently occupied by thirty or so boys and a teacher shouting orders at them.
Torn, I debated my options.
If I cut across the training fields, it would shave several minutes off my walk.
They wouldn’t even notice me.
I was small and quick.
I was also tired and anxious.
Cutting across the pitches was the logical thing to do.
Sure, there was a steep grassy bank on the far side of the pitch that separated the fields from the courtyard, but I could make it up that without any problem.
