Within the next few minutes, she was done. She sauntered over to her dresser, drying her hair with the towel. Just as she got there, she threw the towel on the hanger and took out the hand dryer; drying her hair with it. Things haven't been going on so well for the past few days but she still had to keep fighting. She looked herself up in the mirror and sighed, turning the dryer off as she dropped it on the table and took her seat, staring at her reflection.
"Let's not give up Delia," She muttered to her reflection. "We have to keep fighting. We can do this." She encouraged herself, took the comb, styled her curly brown hair into a ponytail; holding it up with a sea blue ribbon.
She checked the time and it was past 7:30 am. She quickly got into her uniform, snatched her backpack from her study table, and rushed out of her room. She got to the hall to meet the whole house empty. "Aunt Emma!" she shouted and a voice answered from the basement.
Just then, she heard footsteps approaching the hall. "Oh dear, thought you had already left," Emma uttered as she got to the hall to meet Phidelia. "I had Isla checked up on you but she said she didn't hear sound from your room after several knocks and your door was also locked."
"Well, I..." She mumbled.
"Come on," Emma hastily snapped in, picking a brown pack of an envelope containing a sandwich with juice from the dining table. "You should hurry now." She handed it over to her. "I heard from Isla that you have a test this morning. Hurry, hurry, get going." She hastily ushered Phidelia to the door.
"Okay, okay, Auntie. I'm leaving." She instinctively halted at the door and deftly turned hugging Emma which took her by surprise. "Love you, Auntie." She grumbled.
"Love you too dear., Emma muttered with a smile, robbing Phidelia's back.
"You should get going now." They broke from the hug and Phidelia quickly pulled the door open "Have a nice day auntie." She rushed off.
"You too dear., Emma shouted after her before slamming the door shut.
Claire had called earlier on to inform Phidelia of not being able to drive by her house which meant she was heading to school alone.
Not long had she stepped out into the streets she saw a cab approaching. She stopped it and hopped in. From the uniform she was wearing, she needed not to tell the driver where she was going since her school was one of the top educational institutions in the Netherlands. When he was sure Phidelia had settled in, he sped off.
*****
It's already been 30mins since Claire got to the school but she couldn't find Phidelia anywhere. She stood in the hallway, lurking around for any sign of her but she was nowhere to be seen.
"What's up with her?" She grumbled to herself, still searching through the crowd with eagle eyes. It was at that moment that she saw Isla approaching from the locker room with her friends.
"Isla," She hastily called out, making Isla and her friends stop in their tracks. She quickly rushed to her. "Hey, have you seen Phidelia?"
Isla stared at her confused, "Isn't she in school?" She questioned Claire who looked puzzled herself. Just then, the bell rang. "We have to go now, Claire. Don't worry, I think she might be on her way." She added and strolled off with her friends, not even waiting for another second.
Claire glanced expectantly at the entrance and sighed. There was nothing more she could do. Moreover, she had to head to class if she didn't want to be late. She took a last glance before finally sauntering off to the class.
Phidelia sat anxiously in the car, dying out of anxiety as the cab took the turn leading to the school. After a few minutes, it finally pulled up in front of the school and Phidelia hurriedly glided out of it with her school bag in hand. She quickly rushed into the premises without even having another look at the cab.
The entire school block was so quiet that you could even hear the sound of a pin drop.
This grew Phidelia's anxiety as she took up the corridors to her class. Just when she was about to walk past the hallway, she noticed Rowan and Tina. They looked like they were quarreling.
"What are these two doing here?" She grumbled to herself. "Aren't they supposed to be writing the test too?" She uttered, examining their body movement and their expression from afar if she could make something out of it but then, she got nothing. She instinctively shrugged and strolled off.
After about 5 minutes, She got to the door of her classroom. She slowly pushed the door open and saw their teacher who had all her concentration on a book she was holding with the test questions on the board and her colleagues busy solving it. She quickly sneaked in, praying in her mind not to be caught as she found her way to her desk. Fortunately for her, Bella and Roxy who would have told on her were also busy with their test.
She settled in her desk, took out her pen and exercise book for the test, and started solving them. It was at that moment that Rowan and Tina also sauntered into the classroom. Mrs. Leticia looked up from her book at the sound of the door and saw them. "Why are you two now coming in?" She queried, drawing the entire class' attention.
"Sorry Mrs. Ruks," Rowan uttered. "We were called into the principal's office." He made an excuse which was very difficult to doubt and the teacher released them to have their seats.
Rowan went to take his seat next to Phidelia while Tina sauntered over to hers. After about an hour and a half, the bell rang for break. Bringing the test and morning lesson to an end. Mrs. Leticia Ruks went around and took the answers for the test. "See guys tomorrow." She muttered and trod out of the class.
The class was instantly thrown into rumpus with students making a scrapping noise with their desks as they stood up. They were all discussing the test as they found their way out of the class in groups. Phidelia returned her pen to her bag and turned well to face Rowan who was getting ready to leave the class.
"Rowan?" She cried. "What's going between Tina and yourself? Last night I saw you two and this morning too I saw you guys. Do you guys know each other before coming to this school?" She queried.
"Well, yeah." He answered without a second thought. "Her family and mine know each other so we also happen to know each other." He added as he stood up from his desk. "Can we go and get something to eat now?"
"Y– yeah." She stuttered, surprised by her discovery. Rowan scoffed at her surprised look and took the lead. "Hey, wait for me." She hastily took her brown envelope pack from her bag and went after him. Walking into the hallway, Claire got up with them.
"Hey guys." She grinned. "Where did you go, Delia? I was so worried about you?"
"Sorry Claire, was just feeling too lazy to come." She replied and they went on chatting and giggling. They were halfway through to the canteen when Phidelia felt like using the washroom. She instinctively stopped in her tracks, making Rowan and Claire stop too. "Can you guys go ahead first? I need to use the washroom." She stretched out her envelope to Claire.
"Oh, sure." Claire replied taking the envelope "We'll take the lead then." She smiled and sauntered off together with Rowan.
Phidelia also grinned and rushed off.