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TODAY WAS THE DAY. Our first day at the new school. Four students from San Esteban, the local school that had collapsed, had received scholarships to attend the prestigious school, Las Encinas. I, of course, had been one of the lucky ones (after breaking my arm in the collapse) and today would be my first day at the school. I texted Samuel as I walked from my house to his, which took only a mere five minutes.
"Samu?" I knocked on the door, and his mother answered, opening the door widely with a smile.
"Jada! You look nice. Excited for your first day?" His mother moved to let me in, hugging me before closing the door behind us. I smoothed out my skirt as I stood inside, before making my way over to the sofa, sitting myself down.
"Estoy emocionado y nervioso al mismo tiempo." She laughed as I made myself comfortable, looking around at the familiar room, noticing the photo of Samuel, his mother and his brother that stood on the coffee table.
"Wow, don't you look amazing?" His mother spoke up as Samuel left his bedroom, quickly stubbing her cigarette out so he wouldn't see she was smoking again. Samuel wasn't silly, and he noticed but said nothing, noticing me sitting on the sofa.
"Jada!" He said as he walked over to me, pulling me up from the sofa and embracing me in a hug as if we hadn't seen each other in ages when in reality I saw him yesterday. The truth is, we've been pretty much inseparable since I moved just five minutes down the road almost a year ago. We're incredibly close; mother and father invite him and his mother for dinner with us every Sunday, and that's how it's been for months.
"Let's go then, J." He says, pulling me out of the apartment, saying a quick goodbye to his mother, before rushing out the door and down the stairs as if we were late. In reality, we weren't late at all, we left a lot earlier than we were used to at San Esteban due to our new school being much further from our houses.
"How do you think the school will be? Do you think we'll make lots of friends?" Samuel excitedly rushed out as we were walking towards the wealthier side of the town, a small bounce noticeable in his step. Samuel began talking about how he thought this was a great chance for us. Better school, new friends, interesting classes, a giant pool, and a school with connections that could help give us a bright future. At least, that's how he saw it. I, however, had done my research and found that this school was for the rich and privileged, which meant we would stand out like a sore thumb, since we were scholarship students, and we only come to this school as a freebie. To be completely honest, I wasn't too keen on attending Las Encinas, but my family wouldn't have allowed me to miss out on such a great opportunity. So here I was, walking along the little bridge to the school with Samuel, going to meet up with the other two scholarship kids.
As we were walking up to the school, my phone rang and I excused myself, to answer the phone.
"Hola?" I answered the phone, seeing the caller ID as Christian, a good friend of mine. I began walking over to a quiet area of greenery near the little riverside as Samuel stayed talking to Nadia, one of the other scholarship students.
"Hola! Buenos Dias! Donde Estas?" He responded excitedly and I sighed, lighting my cigarette as I sat on the grass, out of sight of all the students and teachers. Somewhere in the school's handbook, it had said no smoking on school grounds, and I didn't want to get expelled on my first day.
"Christian, I'm at Las Encinas. Es mi primer día aquí. Qué Quieres?" I groaned, not really in the mood for his usual jokes today. I heard a giggle in response to my sour attitude, and I ran my hand through my hair, squinting my eyes a little as the sun beamed down on my face.
"Te veo." He whispered through the phone, and I sighed, not taking this boy seriously, although I couldn't resist the urge to look around just in case he could see me. I looked around me, not seeing anyone resembling Christian, before rolling my eyes in annoyance.
"En serio, qué quieres?" I huff out, ready to hang up on the boy before I felt hands covering my eyes. I gasped in shock, about to turn around and hit whoever it was when I heard a familiar voice speak.
"Caught you." The voice said, and I turned around, removing his hands from my eyes to see none other than a smirking Christian Varela, who I'm now guessing was the fourth scholarship student.
"Christian, qué bueno verte!" I said laughing as he joined me sitting on the grass beside me. Putting the cigarette that he kept balanced on his ear, as always, in between his lips, he holds his hand out, without saying a word, and I hand him my lighter. He lights the cigarette, taking a puff from it, before turning to me smiling.
"Hola a ti también, Miss Mandolini." I groaned, shoving him slightly as leaned his head on my shoulder. See, Christian and I have been friends since we were 10, and we've grown up together. He and Samuel know each other too, through his brother, who I've never had the pleasure of meeting. Samuel and Christian are very different, with Samuel being the good boy, barely drinking and never smoking anything. Christian and I, however, spent many nights smoking, doing drugs, drinking, and clubbing, but Samuel never was involved. He disapproved of those kinds of things, especially since his brother always kept him away from that kind of stuff despite him being involved in all kinds of bad behaviour himself. Perhaps the reason Samuel doesn't get involved in drugs and drinking is that Samuel's brother mixed with the wrong people and ended up in jail.
"Crees que hoy será bueno?" Christian asked me, as we stared towards where all the students were walking up the stairs to school. I sigh, shaking my head as I think about how badly today could go for all of us. As much as I would like to think positively about today, I have a gut feeling we won't exactly be welcomed with open arms here. The reality is that as much as I would like this to go well, this school is filled with wealthy people, who are normally very against new people, especially since we don't come from wealth and are instead from the poorer parts of the town.
"Disaster incoming," I said, staring at him beside me, and he smiled, giggling slightly. I stood up, flicking my cigarette into the river, before pulling Christian up with me, who copied me, flicking his cigarette into the river too.
"Come on!" I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards Nadia and Samuel.
"Samu!" Christian called out as he climbed up the stairs to embrace Samuel, who he knew from hanging out with Samuel's brother before he went to jail. While they talk about Samuel's brother, I decided to introduce myself to Nadia, who somehow looked familiar to me. She seemed very nice, and from what I remember she was one of the smartest in our old school, San Esteban. As I'm walking to her side, I realize where I recognize her from.
"Hey, I'm Jada Mandolini. Are you Omar's sister by any chance?" I ask her, almost one-hundred per cent sure that she was Omar Shanaa's sister, Nadia Shanaa, who I have seen many times at the shop they own in town. She nods happily, a small smile on her face, and just as she goes to speak, Christian appears in between us, running past us both, grabbing my hand as he did.
"Let's go take a look around," Christian said, pulling me up the stairs, and through the doorway to the school. We look around in awe, Nadia and Samuel a little behind us as we walked through the corridors, taking in our surroundings. As we reached the steps, I realized instantly that I was right.
