The Principal's Son

chapter three | a strange adventure

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All of the new students are having a test during Academic English for class sorting according to our English skills. Not all of them have English as their first language.

"Excuse me, do you have a pen?" A boy with a heavy French accent asks me. I swear he looks exactly like Ansel Elgort, just the 17 years old version of him.

"Yeah, here you go," I smile. Boys and their always non-existent pens.

"Ah, thank you."

I tried to make friends throughout the day, but the other girls from other countries don't really mind me as they continue to talk with their friends in their language. Why bother studying here if you don't even try speaking English? Rich kids logic. Looking ahead, all I can see is girls holding designer bags as their school bag, from Micheal Kors to Gucci, really, yet I'm carrying a plaid black Jansport backpack. Yay. This might make me feel better: most boys carry everything in their pockets. A girl at my left called Clara is chewing her gum rather loudly even though there are signs that write "no gums allowed" everywhere.

"What's your name? I'm Allie."

"Oui, I'm Alexandre. Just call me Alex."

The first day of school ends peacefully. I hate to say this, but usually, I have the worst luck. There, I said it. Just as I clear my thoughts, my phone starts ringing. The secretary of Quinn Innovations is calling me, and I pick up without hesitance, "Allie Forte."

"Hi there, Allie! It's Rachel. Just calling to tell you that we just finished our meeting, and the report is excellent. How are you?" The cheerful voice of Rachel comes to my hearing.

"That's good to hear. I'm doing fine, and you?"

"You know, same as always. Quick question, how can I add a new document in Excel when I already have one open?"

"See the 'File' icon on the upper left screen? Click it and choose 'New.'"

"Ohhhh! I got it, thanks, Allie. Bye then!"

I greet her goodbye and hang up. Sighing, I meet Melina at the reception. She is busy on her phone, texting someone when I come into her view. She has changed into her own clothes and is beckoning me over hurriedly.

"Where were you? I tried to call you."

"Sorry, I was on a phone call," I explain.

"With?" She asks, but when she sees that I only shrug my shoulder, she continues, "Nevermind. Let's go."

"Where?" At this moment we are already pacing to the tube station.

"Westminster. You know that my brother is in London, too, right?"

We ride the tube all the way to Westminster and meet her brother, Mason, and his girlfriend at his flat. Then he takes the both of us to a walk around the city, where we see the famous Big Ben, London Eye, and such. I have to say, London is beautiful. I enjoy this little trip a lot, although I seem to be ditched by Melina, who almost only talks to her brother during the entire walk. Mason asks whether we want to have London's best Indian food or Five Guys' burger for dinner, and since we can't make a decision, he takes us to the Indian restaurant called Dishoom. A friend of his is meeting us there.

We line up at the outside for 8 minutes, only to enter the actual restaurant, where you have a sitting area to wait for your seat. We aren't really chatting, as I barely know them. But when I check the time, I notice something important.

"Hey, Melina, wouldn't we be late for curfew? It's 9:00 pm and we still haven't got a table." I ask politely, trying to sound the opposite of forcing.

"It's okay, Allie."

We wait for another 20 minutes. Wow, this must be a really famous restaurant that I can't afford eating here. Mason is an adult who has a job, he wouldn't ask to split the bill, would he? Since I wasn't even the one who wanted to come in the first place? "Mason," I speak up, "when can we eat? I think we'll be late for curfew, and I don't exactly think it's a good idea since it's just the first day of school."

"Oh, right! Melina, why didn't you remind me?"

"I'm tired." She responds.

"Wait, dude, I thought she's a grown-up now?" Mason's friend adds.

"Shut up. She's 16." Mason frowns before returning the attention to us. "Okay, do you want to eat here?"

"I don't know, Allie, do you want to?"

"I'm fine with anything, but I think we shouldn't be late." I'm 100% being honest.

"But I'm hungry."

"You know what, I'll call the school and see if they'll let you have dinner with me." He suggests. But by the look on his expression when he comes back from the call tells me that we're in trouble. "They said no, and the houseparents are already looking for you two. They even want me to personally bring you back."

"What?" Melina and I both gulp.

"Yeah." He sighs and turns to his friend. "Hey man, sorry about this, but I got to go. I'll see you around."

The way back is very quiet, as I feel bad for kind of ruining the night by bringing the curfew thing up. When we arrive the boarding, a female houseparent that I have never seen before scolds us for being late, and I head back to my room half-heartedly. What a day. And guess what? Half an hour later, someone knocks my door. I quickly check my appearance in the mirror and open the door. Nadia, the nice houseparent from yesterday, and a tall male houseparent in his early 30s with hay-coloured hair are at my door.

"Allie! Hey!" Nadia chirps. I simply smiled at her because it has been a long day and I'm tired. "So, I've heard that you ran late tonight. Just checking on if you're alright."

"I'm fine. I'm so sorry about this."

"It's all good, Allie, is it? I didn't see you before." The male houseparent joins in.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you before either." Oh good lord, did I just say that?

"Haha. I'm Philip. You are not in trouble, we just hope that this will not happen next time. We can't take responsibility for any accident that happens to you and we certainly want you to be safe, although I think you can beat out any bad guy and snap them into half like chopsticks. I'm kidding. Anyways, I hope you and Melina learned a lesson today. Oh, I just don't ever stop talking, do I? Goodnight, Allie."

I chuckle at his words and bid both of them goodnight.

First day and you're already making an impression, Allie. Slow clap.

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