Top Marks

‘It’s not going to be easy,’ Owen said, staring into her eyes. ‘I won’t be able to see you as much. But know that I love you. Nothing in this world could hold us apart.’

Eyreen, Owen’s mum, opened the door making him jump.

’Owen, are you talking to Natalie again? You know cats don’t talk right? she said with a chortle.

‘It’s going to be my first day at Mangrove college, give me a break.’ Owen fired back as he watched Natalie drop gracefully onto the ground.

He felt a bit bad for saying that, but he owed it up to the nerves. He had moved to the North Island in New Zealand a few weeks ago and was still adjusting. Everything seemed different from the South up here.

The way people walked, the way they talked. It was like living in a totally different country. At least for him. Owen’s older sister had seemed to instantly adapt to this new environment. Only yesterday she had gone to some club in a local event centre and made some friends.

Friends. That’s what Owen was worried about the most. He’d had plenty at his old school that liked to play football with him during lunch and then hang out after school. But after the move, he worried that he would lose contact with them. They did all have phones to communicate with (who didn’t) but he needed to make some new friends. Here.

Since he was year ten, not many new people would be coming to the school. That left him at a serious disadvantage.

That was why he had the need to open up about his troubles to a cat.

‘I’m sorry, will you forgive me for my misbehaviour.’ Owen said in a mock posh voice.

‘Only if you assist your mother in taking out the dishes from the dishwasher.’ his mum played along.

With a melodramatic sigh, Owen began unloading the dishes. Putting the plates in the cupboard and the cutlery in the drawer actually helped him to calm down. For the first time he appreciated the simplicity of a task when a complicated one lay ahead of him.

Once everything was in its correct place, Owen opened the fridge door and pulled out a carton of milk. The cereal boxes were already on the table meaning his Dad had got there before him.

Paul Greenwood was a scientist, or more precisely, a neurobiologist. Every time someone would sneeze at a party he would make his joke.

‘Did y’all know that a sneeze can travel a hundred miles an hour’ His American accent made him sound like a cowboy talking about a beloved horse. ‘If sneezes were cars, they’d get speedin’ tickets!’ It wasn’t even funny but you couldn’t expect much from dads.

Owen poured some milk into a bowl and set it on the table. He said a quick prayer before snatching his favourite cereal. For as long as Owen could remember he’d had the same brand of cereal for breakfast every day. Crispy granola was his favourite and usually a fit would ensue if no one had bought any.

In this way he was very different from his dad, who was a mixer. He’d grab three or four boxes to make his concoction. It made him shudder at the very thought of it.

Owen hated soggy cereal so he always finished it as fast as possible.

Better not to brush my teeth while I still have pieces of granola in my mouth. He thought to himself.

Maybe it was time to put on his new uniform.

Owen opened his cupboard with a flourish.

Hanging on a clothes hanger was a light blue suit with buttons running up it. You knew it was fancy if it had buttons. The suit also came with dark black shorts that were a bit too tight and hadn’t seemed to fit quite right when he had tried them on.

The socks were the most unusual though. When at their fullest stretch they totally covered Owens calves and nearly touched his knees.

‘Why hello?’ he said as he noticed someone in a frame while he was dressing. A boy who looked just like him, dressed in a funny looking uniform.

‘You look silly.’ Owen told him and was insulted when his reflection said it back.

The uniform did look a bit stupid, especially since they had been able to wear mufti at his old school. But most importantly how was he supposed to run around on the field in those shoes?! He liked to call them ‘clonkers’ because that’s the sound they made when they made contact with a hard floor. The shoes were black all over, definitely polishable, stiff enough to survive world war two and extremely uncomfortable.

Owen saluted them as he walked over to the bathroom. He picked up his toothbrush and started brushing. He stared at the bathroom mirror. It showed a boy with chocolate brown hair, a few freckles gracing his face and hazel eyes.

His mother had stopped mollycoddling him years ago and that’s where he adopted his own fashion style. His hair was always gelled so it curved upwards at the ends. He had tried getting rid of some of his freckles with a home-made remedy but it hadn’t worked. He also liked to wear oversized t-shirts with denim jeans at home and in public.

Sometimes Owen felt like he worried too much about what other people thought of him but he tried to hide it.

Once the toothbrush vibrated in his hand he spat out a mixture of water, granola and minty toothpaste and wiped his mouth in a towel.

What next? He thought. It felt like an eternity had passed since he had gone to school.

Owen grabbed his bag from his room and rushed to the kitchen, sliding on the linoleum floor.

He snatched his packed lunch box from the countertop and shoved it into his bag. He could see it was filled with some fresh fruits, a sandwich and a muffin. Over to the charging port which was a big jumble of cables and wires. He unplugged his computer and also shoved it into his bag. His ginormous two litre water bottle was empty so he filled it up in the sink. It took thirty seconds because their water was filtered so for some reason it went slowly.

It was important to stay hydrated. Owen didn’t want to faint on the first day of school just like he had at his other school.

‘Mom, I’m ready!’ he called out, his voice pulsating in the house.

‘Yeah, yeah, coming, just hold on a sec.’ His mum was jumping on one leg trying to get a sock on her foot while also doing something on her phone.

‘I’m the greatest multi-tasker.’ she cackled, putting on her shoes.

Owen reached for his pair, out of the shoe rack. They made a clunk as he placed them on the ground. This could get nasty. But surprisingly they weren’t that bad. They still were a bit tight around the collar of the shoe, but in time he’d get used to it.

With his bag on his back, he opened the front door and headed straight for his mum’s ute. It was big, red and dented in some places.

Owen closed the door behind him and unlocked his phone. Fifty six notifications from his social media accounts. He mainly used Instagram, so that’s what he opened up.

He got some reels showing his friends doing all sorts of things together. Playing video games, pranking others and playing football. He turned off his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. Opening his phone had been a big mistake. His friends were enjoying themselves without him.

Owen jumped as his mum opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat. She put her iPhone in a holder and opened maps.

’The street is called Mangrove Street right? His mum asked as she scrolled through the phone.

‘Yep, Mangrove College is on Mangrove Street.’

Once the address was entered the car sped down the driveway and onto the street.

‘We’re going to be there in fifteen minutes,’ announced his mum, as was her duty.

‘Woohoo,’ Owen replied sarcastically. ‘I can’t wait to get to school.’

‘Come on Owen, It can’t be that bad. You have such a good sense of humour. Most of the time. You’ll make some friends before you know it. Maybe even some girl friends.’ his mum winked as if she was letting on some great secret.

Owen leaned his head against the window. He wasn’t in the mood to pursue this topic. All he wanted from today was to be normal. Not do anything crazy or unexpected. Just be another school boy doing his work.

Bullies had a way of finding the new kids and making them their targets.

‘Take a left turn in three hundred metres,’ came a robotic voice from the GPS.

Only ten more minutes until he arrived at school.

Going against his previous decision, he picked up his phone and opened an ebook app. The one he was reading right now was called ‘High Tide’, a book where two friends are stranded in a cove and they don’t know if they’ll survive. He was approaching the end and really wanted to know how it would finish.

The world around him disappeared as he embarked on a journey like no other.

The character’s troubles made him forget about his own.

A sudden halt took Owen back to reality.

‘Why did we stop?’ he asked, demanding an answer.

‘We’re here of course.’

Outside stood a tall brick building that was shaped like an ‘L’. A large courtyard outside where students, dressed just like him, milled around.

Owen glanced down at his military-grade watch which told him that school would start in twelve minutes.

‘You should probably go now, so you can find out what class you’re in and everything. You don’t want to be late on your first day,’ His mum said sternly before giving him a kiss on his forehead.

Owen wiped it off before closing the Ebook he didn’t get to finish. Another time.

He opened the car door, exposing himself to the cacophony of noises outside. Groups of people stood around talking, some kids were on the basketball court, playing and shouting. Others were sitting reading books or looking at their phones under the shade of a large maple tree.

This is it. Thought Owen. Time to make some good first impressions.

He breathed in and then exhaled.

He slung his bag over his back and shut the door of the car.

A muffled ‘Good luck’ from inside the car as it sped off behind him.

The buzz of talking engulfed him and he felt like a little kindergartener again. Everything was so big. So formal.

Owen didn’t know where to go. He could go ask a student. Maybe a potential new friend? His eyes skimmed over all the students, trying to find one that looked like a good person to talk to.

A Korean kid with black hair talking to a group of three other boys struck him.

‘Hey,’ Owen walked over, trying to act casual. ‘Do you guys know whe-’

Owen’s sentence got cut off as something hard hit the back of his head. Within seconds he blacked out.