"You ready Haley?" I ask as I look at Haley Bugeja as she walks up to myself, Madeline, Jasmine, Jessie, and Leah outside the apartment building we live in.
"Yep." The Maltese woman says as she locks her car. "Who's car are we taking?"
"We're gonna use a train." Leah says. "Traffics really bad right now so a train is our best option."
"Then I'll just follow your lead." Haley says then we start walking to the nearest train station.
Myself, Leah, Jasmine, Jessie, Madeline, and Haley are going to talk to some kids at my Madeline and I's old secondary school, Marble Hills Academy.
Everyone else on the team is going to schools around London to talk as well.
"Where are we going again?" Jessie asks.
"Croydon." Madeline and I say.
"Is that far?" Haley asks.
"Around 20 minutes." I say.
Once we reach Victoria station we head inside, buy tickets, then head to the platform where our train will be.
A few minutes later our train arrives at the platform so we get on and sit in our seats
"Scarlett." Jessie loudly whispers. "Your girlfriend's are giving me evil eyes."
Jessie and I are sitting together while Leah and Jasmine are sitting across from us.
"They're big softies." I say. "And if they want snuggles later then they'll relax."
"We want snuggles." Jasmine says as she and Leah stop giving Jessie evil eyes.
"Smart." I say.
"Scarlett how long have you been posting music?" Haley asks.
"Oh I only released that song yesterday cause I lost a bet." I say.
"What bet?" Jessie asks.
"My sisters had a Sunday league game while we were in Switzerland and they bet me that if they could both score then I had to release a song." I say. "Obviously they both scored."
"Do you write songs?" Madeline asks.
"I write my feelings down and if those feelings turn into a song then great." I say. "But if they don't then at least I released my feelings in a non destructive way."
"Nice."
"Is this the school that Kamilya went too?" Jessie asks.
"I don't think so." I say as I look at Madeline. "Did she go there?"
"No she went to Broad River Academy." Madeline says. "Only Sofyah came to Marble Hills out of that family."
"Did Sofyah look like Kamilya?" Haley asks.
"No." I say then I get out my phone and show everyone a picture of what my best friend looks like.
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"Wow." Jasmine says
"She's beautiful." Jessie says.
"Yes she is." I say.
"This is our stop." Madeline says so I lock my phone.
"Come on people." Leah says. "Let's go talk to some kids."
- - - - -
"...and yeah." I say as I look out at the Year 10 and Year 11 students here in Marble Hills Academy. "That's how I got to go to space."
"That's so cool." The girl who asked me how I got to space says.
"Very." Jasmine says from next to me
"How many times did you do a space walk?" A guy asks.
"I did two." I say with a smile. "The first one lasted for 6 hours and 56 minutes and the second one lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes."
"What'd you do on the spacewalks?" Jasmine asks.
"The first one was to install a Ka band antenna on Columbus in preparation for Bartolomeo's activation, replace a pin on the Quest Joint Airlock, and remove a grapple fixture on the P4 Truss for the beginning of a series of experimental solar array wing upgrades." I say. "And on the second spacewalk we replaced the batteries on the Integrated Truss Structure as well as install and upgrade several cameras on the starboard truss, the Destiny laboratory, and the Kibo robotic arm."
"Did you help on that stuff?" Leah asks.
"Sort of." I say. "I just filmed for my YouTube channel, helped hold stuff, and did some easy work that the astronauts said I could do."
"Hey dickhead in the front who's been on his phone the whole time." Madeline says causing everyone to look at said dude in the front who's been on his phone the whole time. "Fuck's wrong with you?"
The teenage dude loudly sighs and puts his phone up then he looks up at us.
"I have Mock GCSE's to study for and this shit isn't helping at all so i'd rather be studying."
"Who gives a fuck about Mocks?" Madeline says.
"Mock GCSE's aren't the be-all and end-all." I say.
"Easy for you to say." The guy says.
"How many Mock GCSE do you think I passed?" I question.
"10?"
"Nope." I say. "I passed 2 out of 13."
"2?" Some girl says.
"But you've been to Space." A different girl says.
"And the only 2 Mock GCSE's I got a pass in was in Astronomy and French." I say. "But after I failed I came to every fucking after school study session I could get to and got study material when I couldn't and I got an A or an A star in all thirteen of my subjects."
"What subjects?" A teenage girl asks.
"Astronomy, English lit, physics, French, maths, history, geography, religious studies, ancient history, economics, engineering, music, and photography." I say.
"See." The dude who started this whole conversation. "You're smart."
"My sister Lavender got 1 GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition and now she's the owner of the biggest luxury shoe store company in London as well as one of the most sought after photographers in the fashion industry." I say.
"Granted she is married to Bella Hadid." Leah says making the students laugh.
"Yeah that helps." I say with a smile. "Seriously though GCSE's are important and you should try to do your best, but it's not the be-all and end-all."
"You all are growing up in probably one of the best times to because you can actually do whatever the hell you want to do." Jasmine says.
"And believe it or not your teachers do actually care about how you do in their class and on your exams." I say. "You just have to ask."
