A whole week had passed. Mum was still fully into work mode, not being much at home, but when she was, she was asking mostly about school. I understood it, but it was also kind of annoying—the school talk. Of course, I knew that she wasn't only caring because it was a new environment, but because she also wanted me to go to university or college without much of a problem.
The talk about the pet—a new family member—was soon forgotten as there seemed to be more important things to solve. Although I thought that it might be because of my father, too. My parents were divorced for a few years already, the entire thing was pretty chill, but it still could be only an act in front of me. I had no idea, truly.
Taking off my headphones, I entered the school hallway. Kids from all years were everywhere. It was such a crowded and loud place, full of people I didn't know and felt like I didn't even want to know. It made me feel like a lost puppy even after a week here.
Thankfully, being a new kid wasn't a big deal for other students. They obviously didn't know everyone in the school, as we were in a big city. Only sometimes one of them gave me a probing look. Hopefully not in a bad way. Even though I couldn't care less about that. Just one year.
During the day, I had to pay a visit to the lavatory. Thankfully, I somehow remembered the way, so it didn't take me much time to get in front of that room.
The moment I entered the room, I could hear someone crying, but I could also see a few pairs of eyes turning to look at me when they probably realised that they weren't alone in the room anymore. I blinked, confused at first. Nothing too weird about a girl crying in there accompanied by a few others. However, the feeling of getting in here uninvited made me rethink that quickly.
"Get out," said one of the girls who looked slightly annoyed after being interrupted. Something occurred to me. Maybe, just maybe, they were bullying the one whom I couldn't see yet.
"I thought this was public space."
And at that moment, I knew I poked at the wrong place. I made them angry—I could see that on their faces. It could be either that they were talking about private things, or it was bullying. And something, perhaps my sixth sense, made my thoughts go for the latter.
For some stupid reason, I didn't stop there as I made my way to one of the stalls. Unfortunately, with an obstacle in front of me. Another girl, a tall ginger, stood in front of me, blocking my way while glaring down at me. "Didn't you hear?"
Tilting my head to the side, I crossed my arms over my chest, "You're in my way."
I could see her slightly shocked reaction. Maybe she didn't expect me to talk back, or they weren't used to people interrupting their business. The latter was actually a little questioning because this place wasn't very private.
"Leave it. Let's go," said another unfamiliar voice.
Giving them all one last look, I turned around and went into the stall the ginger girl instantly stopped blocking. I could hear them leaving the lavatory in the next couple of seconds. And then, I was completely alone.
Looking around the school canteen, I sighed. There was not a single table empty. Everywhere was at least one person, which meant I had to choose—choose someone with whom I would spend a few minutes of lunch break. And that meant asking them and expecting an embarrassing moment of moving from one table to another. But at least there weren't any familiar faces.
"Hey, can I?" I asked a girl with a mustard yellow hijab who was reading a book. She was probably so into the plot that she didn't even realise that someone was talking to her. And so, I put my lunch on the table, hoping that would maybe disturb her—and it did.
"Huh?"
I smiled as she looked up at me with a question in her dark brown eyes. Nodding to the empty seats at the table, I spoke up, "Can I join you?"
"Yeah, sure," she smiled back, then returned her attention to her book. It must have been a really good book. Or she was just being polite by letting me sit down with her.
I sat down across from the girl who seemed to be more interested in the plot of her quite thick book. So many pages where she could run away to from this world. I could understand that.
A few minutes later, I was—just like the previous days—eating my lunch, and from time to time looking around. I would say that in my home town, there were fewer people who sat alone in the canteen. Some minor differences.
Looking around the room some more after taking a couple more bites from my lunch, my eyes met the ones that belonged to the tall ginger girl. She was staring at me angrily. I most likely had made new enemies just in the first month of the school year. And I didn't even really know why. What were they doing there that made them so angry when I interrupted them?
My eyes went over the other girls at her table. They all were there, unsurprisingly. Thankfully, I just hadn't noticed them until now. How lucky I was.
Thankfully, the end of the school day was soon here. And that meant that afternoon and evening plans were waiting for me.
Like every other day, I was the first one to come back home. Well, at least here, because when it was still me, my mum, and dad, there was a thirty to forty percent possibility of me coming home as the first anyway. But now, with my dad living away and mum having a new workplace, the times have changed. Sort of.
Entering the kitchen, where I planned to get some apple juice to drink, I saw a piece of paper that Mum must have left on the kitchen island maybe yesterday evening. Some information clarifying our plans for the evening was written there.
Soon after, I left to go into my room with my backpack and the juice. I had to find something acceptable to wear tonight, which could be a challenge because yes, I did have some clothes for the occasion, but… I didn't really feel them right now.
Almost the first thing I did when I entered my room, I put an AM vinyl in my player and turned it on. Of course, I also put my bag away and my glass of juice too, before changing into more comfortable clothes. And then, I started looking for something for tonight.
Colourful trousers that were probably no longer my size, same for some shirts. Things I no longer really liked but still kept even in our new home. I should do some closet sorting and cleaning. Perhaps I could send them to one of my friends who had younger siblings, just like mum used to do, or… send them to my dad, who had been starting a new family.
A couple of minutes later as I had some clothes lying on my bed, thinking about what to choose, I heard the front door open. Mum was apparently back from work, and she was most likely going to ask me if I was prepared already or something—I could be sure she had clothes prepared since yesterday.
"We're leaving in an hour, okay?" I heard my mum call through the closed door. She was probably heading to her room to get ready.
Sighing, I looked at the clothes on my bed, and then with another sigh, I picked up the black dress with a skirt that ended by my knees. Minutes later, I had all these other clothes back in my closet, from which I took out a box with black heels that weren't very high—thankfully, because I wouldn't wear the very high ones.
After putting on some jewellery, brushing my hair, and getting my phone and ID, I was ready whilst there were still a couple of minutes left. Well, more than that. And so, I turned off the music and, after everything was done, I came out of my room into the corridor from where I could hear my mum opening and closing her drawers.
Not having much to do, I went to her bedroom and knocked on the half-opened door before going inside and leaning on the door lining, "Mum?"
She only hummed as she stood in front of her tall mirror and tried to fix her suit. I would rather wear one too, but there wasn't really any reason to buy one in the last few months.
"Is this alright?"
Finally, her attention was on me as her eyes looked over my dress and hair. And then she smiled while nodding, "Yeah, sweetheart. I'll be out soon."
After a while, we were on our way to a nice restaurant. I didn't really know the place as I was in London just a few weeks now, but mum did, it seemed. Probably because of work or something. I hadn't thought about it much.
Leaning back on the headrest, I looked out of the window of my passenger seat. The night was coming, and all the buildings around were making the city beautiful. All the lights seemed so comfortable. I loved cities at night. There was just something spectacular and comforting about it.
For a while, I watched all the buildings and people around in the streets, just living, being there—it was quite a pleasant view. Watching people sometimes made me think about how everyone had their own story… how we all were living in our own world and at the same time not.
However, I couldn't watch it forever as my mum soon turned the car into the restaurant parking lot. And the real world was waiting behind the door.
"I was here only a couple of times, but their cooks are really something," Mum announced as we made our way into the building that definitely looked like one not-so-cheap restaurant.
"Looks nice in here," I nodded, just as my eyes scanned the spacious room. The food for sure was going to cost tons of money, which I was sure mum had, with her new workplace—a new law firm.
A few minutes later, a waiter showed us our table by one of the windows from where I could once again look over the enlightened city. We sat down before the waiter took our drink order and left us looking through the menus. Pretty long menus, to tell the truth.
Not knowing what to choose, I looked over all the pasta on the list. If I didn't know later, I would go for carbonara. It was always hard for me to just choose—so many great options.
Looking over the nicely prepared table at my mum, who looked deep in her thoughts, I sighed. She was no help in this. Thankfully, seeing the prices, I was sure what my decision was going to be.
"Good evening, may I take your order?" came the voice of our waiter, who was a very good-looking guy. Looking up at my mum, I waited for her to talk first, but she only nodded at me to go first. Thanks, really.
"I'll take the carbonara, please."
"And I'll have the pan-seared sea bass." Mum smiled as she closed her menu and let the waiter take off with our orders.
Taking another sip of my sparkling water, I looked out of the window, it was actually a nice view, an expensive one at that. My family, as I knew—the one I grew up with—was never poor or anything, but we just didn't have the need to spend much. And now, here we were, in a luxurious restaurant on Friday evening, with more plans coming.
Hearing the noise of breaking glass, I jerked my head away from the window to look over the spacious room. There was a waitress who seemed surprised with her hands empty, and then an older woman, who probably bumped into her as she was standing up from her chair. Poor waitress, stressed from her work, and now she had to clean all of this. With an embarrassing amount of stares directed at her, no less.
"People should be more careful sometimes," my mum stated, to which I looked over at her, watching her take a sip of her white wine.
"Can I?" I asked, to which she nodded and gave me her wine glass.
As I was sipping the liquor, my eyes switched to the side where there was still scattered glass, cutlery, and plates on the floor. But now, another person was helping the waitress to take care of the mess.
"How is it?" Mum asked as I took another sip.
Shrugging, I put her wineglass back on the table. "Not bad, but not good, either."
Looking back at the waitress and some other cleaning girl in uniform, whose back was facing me before, I froze. As I could now see her face, I realised she looked slightly familiar. And then it dawned on me. She was one of those girls from school. And she was now here, cleaning the mess on the floor.
As if she felt my gaze she looked up from her work and her eyes met mine, then there came our waiter with our awaited dinner. And so, I rather shifted my gaze to the food that the guy just put in front of us. It looked delicious.
The waiter soon left, and we could finally start eating. I did just as my mum, who looked over to the ones who had the mess almost cleaned now, "You know her?"
"I think I've seen her in school," I shrugged, not wanting to look there now.
"So not a new friend?" Mum asked, to which I shook my head. Friend? Who was probably a bully? No, thanks.
A few minutes later, when we were fully focused on our food, I started to think about what the next thing on our timetable was. It was theatre or something along those lines. I should have read that paper carefully and not just looked over it. However, at that time I didn't really care because I was going out—something was happening and I was just happy for that.
"Sidney, I met someone," Mum broke the silence after a while. Her words made me look up at her. For some reason, she looked slightly worried—as if Dad wasn't already dating someone. It wasn't even my business. It was her life. Good for her that she had found someone she wanted in her life.
"I'm happy for you," I nodded with a smile after what felt like a bit too long. She shouldn't be worried about me. And I was soon going to study at university, so I would also move out… and she would be left alone. If she needed someone by her side, then so be it.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
Nodding, once again, I looked over at my almost empty plate. We were soon going to take off to the theatre, I supposed. Or was it an opera? I wasn't even sure if Mum liked that one. Both of us liked to collect old things; our piano was old, just as was the gramophone in the living room, and some other things, but going to the opera seemed a little too much. Maybe we were going to see a musical—that was what both my mother and I liked.
After we finished eating, we were once again back on the road, while my mum was driving to another parking lot. After checking the time again, I looked out of the passenger seat window. It looked like we were in front of our destination—a glamorous building. Definitely a culture night.
"It was so long since I was here the last time," Mum said as we made our way into the building.
With a question in my eyes, I looked over at her. However, and unfortunately, it was time for us to show our tickets, which my mum had to take out from her purse. So no answer for me for now, it seemed.
Soon enough, we were in what seemed to be a concert hall. Opera? Maybe, but I still questioned that one.
"Your father and I went here once, about twenty years ago," she said with a smile. Nodding as a sign of understanding, I smiled. It was nice to hear about their time together after years they had been living separately. At least I knew they used to be happy and in love with each other at some point in time.
"So why are we here?"
"You'll see," she gave me a happy smile, which made me slightly confused but also more curious.
Nodding, once again, I looked over at my almost empty plate. We were soon going to take off to the theatre, I supposed. Or was it an opera? I wasn't even sure if Mum liked that one. Both of us liked to collect old things; —our piano was old, just as was the gramophone in the living room, and some other things, but going to the opera seemed a little too much. Maybe we were going to see a musical—that was what both my mother and I liked.
About what seemed to be tens of minutes later, the performance finally began. At that moment, I couldn't understand my peers sometimes—the music sounded heavenly. Orchestra was a thing that often made me regret that I hadn't started playing one of those instruments when I was younger. Such an unfortunate thing.
Feeling the music in the room, I almost didn't notice my mum talking: "…the one I told you about."
"Hm?" I turned my head to her, to which she shook her head with a smile before nodding to the stage.
"The one I told you about; his name is Henry and he plays the second cello here."
Slightly surprised, I looked back up at the stage. There was only one man playing cello, the others were women. I had to admit that he didn't look bad. My mum had a good taste for sure.
I gave her a smile before turning my attention fully to the performance that captured me again. Sometimes, people could make very nice things. Very beautiful, even—such as music.