Truce

One // Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One//

Jacob

The first thought I had as I stepped foot inside my old school was why the fuck am I here? It had been six long years since I'd attended school at Tempest High, where the school was wealthy and the students were even wealthier. Nothing had changed. The gates were still rusted and creaky, making everyone scared to walk through them. The trees were still tall and gloomy, hovering over everyone's heads as they walked to beneath them to get to the building. The old fixtures of the rich brick structure were still crumbling into nothing. Nothing had changed, but everything had.

With my little sister by my side I strode towards the entrance, my chin held high as I ignored the looks everyone was giving me. I could feel the judgment burning through the back of my head but I couldn't let it get to me. I had to see out my final year of secondary education so I might as well have gotten used to it.

"Where are your friends?" Ada asked, her hands grasped tightly around the straps of her backpack. It was a different experience for her, because she was still in primary school when we were here last. She was fourteen turning fifteen now, meaning she was about to enter into year eight. She should have been in year nine but she was held back because of the shitty Celti schooling.

"Hayden said they'd meet me at break. We have to do paperwork first," I told her, referring to my best friend. I was smart enough to keep close contact with Hayden and the other two idiots I called best friends. They would make the transition easier.

"Yay, paperwork," Ada drawled with sarcasm she got from spending far too much time with me.

I laughed, holding open the door to admin for her. "Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Mrs. Barden was still the head of administration which made me inwardly cringe. On my last day here six years ago me and the boys had spray painted obscenities on the floor to her office and then filled it with plastic balls we had nicked from a ball pit.

That reminded me; there was one person I had to see.

"Mr. Beck," the nasally voice greeted, acid dripping off her tone. Mrs. Barden's eyes had narrowed into slits.

"Happy to see me, ma'am?" I smirked, leaning against the counter. "I'm sure you'll be glad to know I'm back for the year. Could we please fill out our paperwork?"

"Are you going to fill my office with plastic balls again Mr. Beck?" She asked, as if whether we could do our paperwork would be affected by my answer.

"No ma'am," I said with the most serious expression I could muster up. "I grew out of going to the playhouse."

Ada stifled a laugh.

"Hmph," Mrs. Barden grumbled, but handed me the paperwork never the less. I handed it to Ada, who had much neater handwriting than I did. She also wouldn't be tempted to fake it for a laugh.

She handed it to me once she was done, for me to have a look over. Everything seemed in order, but I had to check our emergency contact numbers. I hid my grin and handed the papers back. Mrs. Barden gave us our class schedules and subtly gestured for us to bugger off.

"Remind me to tell Luca and Milena that they are our emergency contacts," Ada said, referring to our older brother and sister. Two of the five of us kids.

"How did you know?" I had to ask, snatching her schedule so I could see where she was going. English, in the language block. I started leading her towards the room which used to be my English classroom.

"With the trouble you've gotten into the past few years, you think I'd be stupid enough to put Mutti as our contact? And I'm not going to put Vati, for obvious reasons."