Standing before the partly giant sized mirror that was just adjacent to my wardrobe and directly opposite to my reading table. I ran the green comb through my mouse brown colored hair. I was through the only one in my family having the that hair color. Mum had black silky hair and dad's - well,his hair color was not really distinguishable. Sometimes, it glittered like the sun, other times it looked light brown. I just couldn't tell. I heard mum say my hair color was probably inherited from her parents. Her father to be precise. He was retired already. I glanced at my wristwatch. It was 7o'clock on the dot. Had exactly an hour to go. Classes began at 8am.
" Elijah, lower the music now. " I heard mum shout authoritatively from downstairs. Elijah was an obsessive fan of music. He could go on and on playing music till the end of the world. Music is life,he would always say. Even when he turned on the music and sang along with the it. It made everyone close by do the same. It was not about his voice. (I don't mean he has a terrible voice). It was about the nature of songs he played. There was something unique about it. Something peculiar. Intriguing. Inspiring.
I tugged at the collar of my shirt, the hem of my skirt, the embroidery of my school name at the top right of my chest. My fingers tracing the letters one after the other. I moved a bit backwards to look myself over. The white shirt gave me a good fitting as though the designer used my measurements exactly for them. While the high waist flair printed skirt that started above my waist and stopped at my knees. I just adored the color. It was too shiny or dull. I'd call it a neutral color. Grey. My white socks were long enough that it nearly covered my knees. I remembered dad saying they would've if not for my long legs. I had smiled at that. My shoes were black and shiny. Beautiful, too. ⁷
" Set to go ." I held my hair quickly with a ribbon into a bun. My hand had barely reached for the door handle. " Maria "The voice was obviously mum's.
" mum"
" Don't forget your cardigan. It's chilly outside, you know. "
" I almost forgot ." I reached for it across the bed wondering what would have happened if I had left it behind. Wondering if I would've frozen to death in school. Or freeze to death before arriving at school. Wondering if the cold had the capacity of freezing someone to death.
I had a brief breakfast before I hurried out to catch up with the bus. While I was younger, my parents usually drove I and Elijah to school but ever since I got into high school, things changed. Mum said I had grown old enough to fend for myself. So I took the bus everyday to school. As soon as I paid my fare, I sat at my usual spot; close to the window recalling the previous day's experience and how I had gotten ready for the present.
Well, everything had not been my effort alone. Dad assisted me in getting my school uniform ironed though I never forgot to tell him that I was grown enough to do it myself. He still did it anyway. The only moment he did not or perhaps, forgot was whenever he was so busy with work. Dad was a civil engineer and he owned a construction company. I had watched in movies where the offsprings of a company owner were at war with each other over who would inherit the company. I pondered over how it felt to be at war with someone you were supposed to love. Though in the movies ,the parent usually had a will. I couldn't help thinking whether dad had a will and a lawyer in possession of it. Whether he had chosen either Elijah or I to succeed him. But I knew dad loved us equally. I knew he never wanted us despising each other over a mere position. I had always felt that whoever desired to live life to the fullest should readily achieve their dreams by their own efforts and not waiting upon another man's labor to wrestle over it. Nope. That was despicable. Even if such happened, I was ready to hand it over to Elijah. I had my own dreams to pursue. The bus pulled to a halt and a few students of Pacific Crest high school filed out and I followed suit. Dragging my feet together as I took an eye tour of the school vicinity. It was a new session. I was moving into grade eleven. There had been a refurnishing,the flowers few meters close to the wall had been trimmed. The school walls had been repainted. The statue of a female student clutching her school bag behind her. The statue had been sculptured by a student who had just graduated few years ago. I could not recall his name though I knew it was written in italics at the bottom left of the plinth which the statue stood on. I did not bother checking it out as my eyes traced its way to where the sculpture of the male student was. The sculpture now had no school bag, he held a book balanced on his left hand. I thought of how long it had taken him to do that. Whether he had done it bit by bit each day after school or he did it during the holidays. Whether his parents had been in support of it. I increased my pace as I walked into the school hallway where other students stood mostly in groups and some relaxed against the wall chatting heartily.
" Grade eleven, here I come. " I managed to say confidently.