Climb | ✔

Chapter 2 | Liberty High

Monday morning hit Winter like a pile of bricks.

First days were always difficult, but the first day of Junior year at a new school, in a new country, days after the semester already started, was another story all together.

Winter appraised herself in her floor-length mirror her aunt had graciously put up for her in the attic. She'd decided to wear the outfit she and her aunt had picked out. The yellow top she thrifted cinched nicely at her waist, and her dark jeans fit just tight enough to be appealing and just loose enough to be comfortable. Her short wave of dark hair looked well-managed for once, and the rosy undertones of her pale face made her look more lively than she felt. A sense of confidence swelled within her, if only for a moment.

Rose had come up at one point to give Winter a pep-talk, not that she needed it. Winter was quite comfortable with going at things alone by this point in her life. A single day at high school wasn't much to contend with, she hoped.

Winter served herself some toast and jam, leafing through some old pamphlets Rose abandoned on the dinner table long ago. She scanned her surroundings while she ate, trying to memory all the details in her aunt's kitchen--from the French teapot collecting dust atop her cupboards, to the collection of novelty oven mitts stacked on her open cabinet shelf.

"I packed leftovers from last night if you want to take them for lunch," Rose said, pointing to her fridge, which was laden with post-it note reminders and pictures. "Or if you want to get food at the caf, that's cool too. It's your first day, after all, so it would make sense that you'd want to sample the cafeteria food," she babbled nervously.

"It's fine. I'm good with the leftovers." The teen gave her aunt a reassuring smile.

Rose fidgeted in place. "Ugh, I'm just so anxious for you and your calmness is making it worse."

Winter stopped mid-bite and shot her aunt an incredulous look. "So, should I freak out a bit more?" She mocked seriousness.

"Yes. No!" Rose slapped her head with an open palm. "I don't know. I remember high school being so... high school," she groaned. "I just want you to have a good day," she confessed. "And a good year, for that matter," she added. "And a good life," she added again, praying that she wasn't jinxing Winter.

"Okay, one step at a time." Winter snickered. "I'll be fine. It's just high school."

"I wish I was as cool as you," Rose sighed.

As far as she was concerned, Winter never once thought of herself as cool. She was simply numb to the stupidity that came part in parcel with high school. It comes with years of practice, she thought.

On the drive to school, Rose made sure to point out all the places kids liked to go during lunch and after school, from a quaint diner to an old, run-down arcade called High Score!, talking about each one with a sense of nostalgia that made Winter feel warm. This was the town her parents grew up in, and she was beginning to realize that some of the experiences she had here could be shared with her family--something she severely lacked growing up in Toronto.

As she entered the front doors of Liberty High, the speckled linoleum and fluorescent lighting of the halls felt eerily familiar and foreign at the same time. Liberty High was a far cry from the boarding school she attended in Toronto. The ceilings were lower, and the walls were composed of rough, manufactured bricks that were thickly coated in off-white paint. The halls were smaller and more densely packed, but Winter couldn't help but feel they were still less confining than the walls of Sierra School for Girls. More importantly, there were boys at this school, something Winter hadn't dealt with since the eighth grade.