SHANEGORMLEY

“Wake up,” crooned a distant voice, “it’s your first day. You don’t want to be late.”

 

Sleepily Oscar pulled back his sheets and sat up in bed. He rubbed at his eyes until his room came into focus. With a sudden lurch in the pit of his stomach he realised that it was his first day at his new school.

Over the summer his dad had been promoted so the family had relocated to London. Now they lived in a big three storey house crammed into a street with hundreds of others just like it side by side. At first Oscar had been scared of moving to London, he’d heard about gangs and crime and violence and it seemed a far cry from the quiet home he had enjoyed in Derbyshire where the hills rolled on for miles and everyone seemed to know everyone else. Yet, the new house was much bigger than their old one and for the first time Oscar had a room to himself. His younger brother Tom used to share with him and would always wake him up too early, or keep him up late into the night with inane questions about ‘big school’.
 

Today though was Oscar’s first day at his new school. To add further to his worries it was also the start of his GCSE’s; a prospect which made him nervous to think about after his previous care free years. “Oscar where are you?” shouted his mother from somewhere downstairs.

 

He jumped out of bed and quickly threw on his school uniform. He’d never worn it before and it had that uncomfortable shop feel to it. The folds in the fabric felt too firm and the shirt and trousers were itchy on his skin. He also remembered that he was now expected to wear a tie and had no idea how to tie it. He battled with it for a few moments before giving up and crumpling it into his pocket. Finally, Oscar grabbed the new back pack he had insisted on despite, in his mums opinion, the old one having ‘plenty of life left in it’ and bounded down the stairs.
 

When he arrived in the kitchen his mum stuffed a slice of toast into his mouth. She mumbled something about him having to eat and then bustled off in a mad hunt to find Tom’s shoes. Oscar’s older sister Leanne was sat at the breakfast bar scooping out the insides of a nasty looking grapefruit whilst chatting mindlessly on her phone. Leanne had already met a friend who was going to be in all the same sixth form classes as her – it was no coincidence, Leanne had purposefully taken the exact same classes so that she had a friend. Oscar thought she was stupid for picking classes based on what her friend had taken, but secretly he wished had been able to do the same thing.
 

Suddenly Tom came hurtling into the kitchen being chased by their dad. “You little monkey,” their dad shouted after him as Tom skidded across the floor barefoot, his unbuttoned shirt billowing after him like a cape. Tom was only seven and sometimes he acted even younger. Today he had banana smeared in his shaggy brown hair. Oscar thought he looked a bit like Tarzan as he watched him sail through the kitchen and careen into the counter.
 

“Hey champ. Ready for your big day?” asked Oscar’s dad while he affectionately tussled his hair.

“Don’t do that. I’m not a kid Dad,” replied Oscar amid bites of buttery toast. “You will be coming to pick us up tonight after school, right?”
 

“Of course kiddo,” replied his dad, forgetting Oscar’s previous request and tussling his hair again. “You can tell me all about your first day on the way to McDonald’s”. At the mention of McDonald’s Tom shouted gleefully and Leanne snorted with distain. Last year in sociology she had been taught that McDonald’s was responsible for a lot of deforestation and now she refused to go any where near one. She frequently referred to it as her personal crusade against capitalism.
 

Oscar didn’t entirely understand what she meant all the time, but he liked his sister. Although she was a girl, she was a nice one and always had time to help him with homework or keep Tom entertained when Oscar was too frustrated to cope with him. Tom was sometimes a handful, but he was always happy and excitable and would usually share anything he had with Oscar, whom he admired greatly.
 

Mum walked back into the room with a pair of shoes that were dripping wet. “Why were these left outside?” she said in a stern voice looking at Tom. Tom giggled like he always did and simply shrugged his shoulders. “You’re lucky we got you that extra pair,” she said as she pulled out another pair of shoes from a closet and began to wrestle socks and shoes onto Tom’s resistant feet.

 

“Right gang, I have to get to work. I need to make a good impression for the board members,” said Oscar’s dad. Once more he tussled both of the boys’ hair, before kissing the oblivious Leanne on her cheek and giving his wife a quick peck on the lips.
 

“Wish your Dad good luck kids,” urged their mum as she straightened his tie. “His big presentation is today.”

“Good luck Dad,” they all chorused as their Dad picked up his briefcase from the kitchen table and with a wave turned and headed out of the room.
 

“Okay, we’ve got ten minutes before we all have to leave. Everyone make sure you’re ready,” said their mum. “Oscar have you got all your books for today?”
 

“Yes,” Oscar lied. He’d actually forgotten to pack his bag the night before so making his excuses he headed back upstairs to get them. When he came back down, his bag now bursting at the seams with books and his teeth freshly cleaned, he saw Tom and Leanne waiting by the door and once more his stomach lurched. Leanne seemed to notice his apprehension – she was very intuitive when she wanted to be – and put an arm around his shoulder.
 

“Don’t worry Oscar. Today’s going to be fun. They’re going to love you,” she offered in an attempt to make Oscar feel better.
 

Tom looked longingly up at Oscar and said in a sulky voice, “I wish I was going to school with you. It’s not fair.” That actually brought a smile to Oscar’s face. Secretly he wished they were both going to be at school with him, but he knew they were both near and somehow that made him feel better.
 

Their mum ushered them out of the door and shepherded them to the car. Frantically she rummaged through her handbag searching for her car keys before running back into the house to find them while the children sniggered at her. She seemed to be more nervous than any of them. Moments later she returned and gave the two older children a big hug each. Their school and the adjoining sixth form was only a two minute walk away so they had decided right away they would rather walk than be dropped off and suffer the unknown levels of public embarrassment of being seen with their mum. Tom had wanted to walk too, but he was too young and the junior school was even further away. With a sad expression on his face he leapt into the car and watched longingly as Oscar and Leanne set off.
 

“Don’t forget to put your tie on Oscar,” shouted his mum just before she got into the car. Oscar groped in his pocket for the tie to make sure it was still there. He decided he’d put it on when he got nearer to school.
 

As they walked Oscar thought about his old school friends. He tried to remember how he had first befriended them, but it seemed like he had known them all his life. Leanne had arranged to meet her classmate outside a shop near to school so with a hug she left Oscar to the last of his journey alone. By this point there were plenty of other children around. Some were older than Oscar, some were younger, yet all of them seemed to have friends joking merrily with them. Oscar had never before felt so alone. He continued his walk whilst daydreaming of his old friends and was nearly at school before he remembered he hadn’t put on his tie. He took it from his pocket and began to fumble with it. Still wrestling with his tie he started across the road.
 

There was a sudden screeching of brakes; that awful sound of rubber burning on tarmac. Somewhere a mother and baby screamed together as bloody life was thrust ingloriously into the world. Oscar glanced up just in time to see the car slam into him. Instantly he forgot all about school and friends old and new. Suddenly it didn’t matter. His tie flew in slow motion through the air. It coiled like an Olympic ribbon as it soared. Oscar soared too. His feet left the ground and for a moment he was fine. He could see the car. He could see the man driving it. He could make out the horrified expression on his face. He rose still higher into the air and he could see other students pointing and screaming, but he couldn’t understand why. He was fine. Then he was falling; falling faster and faster. The world whirled past in a drunken haze. Blue skies blurred with green trees and grey pavements. People, tarmac, railings, cars, bricks. For one beautiful, disorientating moment everything became everything. Then everything faded into nothing.