Children Of The Crucible

Stevie

Stevie's PoV

'Ok, see you soon!' Gwen replied.

I didn't actually have to go but I couldn't be bothered talking about school anymore. Sure, I'm good at it, but that doesn't mean I want to spend my free time thinking about it. Actually, talking of school, I had chemistry homework to do.

I reached for my bag and pulled out my chemistry folder. Inside it was notebook, my homework sheet, a textbook (which weighs a ton) and a copy of the periodic table.

I left the textbook in the folder and brought the other things over to my desk. Opening my notebook, I began my homework. It was only balancing equations, so nothing too complicated.

After about fifteen minutes I had finished all twenty questions and checked them over for mistakes. Satisfied, I closed the notebook and put everything back in my bag. Chemistry is one of my favourite subjects. It's such a good class- the teacher has set the fire alarm off four times this term so far and the whole school has had to evacuate each each time. Yeah, the fire service hate us now. Personally, I think they should have a loyalty card.

My teacher had been telling us about this chemistry tutor who had just opened a new class and I was thinking of signing up. I don't desperately need help but I still want to strengthen my knowledge and go over some of the topics we covered way back at the beginning of the year. My teacher has started signing up people who she wants to attend but I think there's still one place left so I'll try to get it tomorrow. I hope it's not already been taken.

Seeing as it was getting late, I decided to get ready for bed. It wasn't like I had anything else to do anyway. I got changed and climbed under the sheets, putting my phone on silent so it wouldn't wake me up. I reached over for my book and opened it up to the marked page.

I read for a good hour or so before turning off the light, rolling over, and going to sleep.

My alarm woke me up at 7am. I jumped out of bed (well, more stumbled out but jumped sounds better) and went through my morning routine to get ready for school. Afterwards, I took my dog out for his early walk, before returning home only to grab a green apple from the kitchen to eat on the walk to school.

'Bye mum' I shouted up the stairs.

'Bye Steph. Have a good day!'

Urgh, I hate my name. My full name is Stephanie-Ann Rose Maxwell but no one ever calls me that. My mum is the only one who ever calls me Steph or Stephanie or Stephanie-Ann. She picked it from a book of baby names, probably hoping that I would turn out super girly to match the name. I wish she would just call me Stevie like everyone else.

I took a bite out of my apple, and was gratified to see that it was a crunchy one. Perfect. I continued eating as I made my way to school, throwing the core in the bin just as I entered the school gates. I still had twenty minutes until my first class so I decided to speak to my chemistry teacher to see if I could get the last place in the tutoring class.

I walked up the stairwell towards my class, glad for the pretty much empty corridors. The people at this school annoy me so much, constantly pushing and shouting. I'm surprised no one has been pushed down the stairs yet.

I knocked on the door to my classroom, seeing the teacher sitting at her desk. I waited a moment for her to put down her coffee and tell me to come in.

'Hi miss. I came to see if there was still a space available for the chemistry tuition.'

'Ah. Well that's great Stephanie, but I don't think you really need the tuition- you're doing remarkably well with your work without it.'

Ok I lied when I said that only my mum calls me my real name, all of my teachers call me Stephanie as well.

'Thanks miss, but it would make me feel a lot better to be able to practice my skills since I've got so much work to do in all my other subjects. I don't want to fall behind, you know?'

'Well, you make a good point. I suppose you can have the place. No one else seems interested. I'm sure you will do well.'

'Thank you so much miss. I'll see you in fourth period.'

'Ok bye Stephanie.'

I closed the heavy door behind me, making sure it didn't bang closed. I walked back down the stairs and waited for Gwen to arrive at school. She normally gets in just before the bell because she has a habit of oversleeping in the mornings. It doesn't bother me. I normally just sit and read a book until she arrives.

I had got through about thirty pages by the time Gwen arrived, and judging by the expression on her face, she was not in a good mood.

'Urgh, you'll never guess what. That Miss Stanley has signed me up for chemistry tuition when I didn't even ask her to.'

'Oh, well, I'm going as well, so at least we can keep each other company.'

'Why on earth would she sign you up? You're probably better at chemistry than the bloody teachers!'

'I asked to go.'

'God, Stevie. I cannot understand why the hell you would volunteer to do extra work. Oh well, at least you can help me. Chemistry is one of my worst classes.'

'Yeah that's true, and hopefully with the extra help then you might understand it better. The tutor will probably be a lot more helpful than our own teacher.'

We both laughed at this. It always lightened the mood to have a laugh at the awful teaching methods of the school.

Just then, the bell rang and we went to our first classes. Me to French, and Gwen to business.