Love Conquers All

Glossary:
Gassed: excited
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Edited

I walked down the sombre still streets with my twin sisters, Aaliyah and Ayla. They were non-identical, with Aaliyah having black Afro hair that resembled the full trees we passed and dark skin that gleamed the speck of light off like a mirror. Meanwhile, Ayla was a few shades lighter, including her hair which was in space buns.

Sunrise was fast approaching from the stream of light, under the blanket of darkness, that pressed down on us as we were on our way to our local Tescos before school. We were hungry and fancied getting a £3 meal deal. Even though it was early and I already felt exhaustion pull me down, I had a smile on my face as I lightly tapped along the grey pavement.

My black pleated skirt danced around my waist like waves. I tugged at the sleeve of my blazer as it rode up my arm under my puffer coat. I inhaled the chilly air that felt like ice rushed down my throat and prickled like needles through my skin. I heard the pigeons coo over our heads, and I covered my head in case one of them decided to use me as their toilet.

“I wanna go home! Can’t we just go back and call in sick or something?!” Aaliyah suddenly whined. She scrunched her face and stomped her foot.

“Bruh, you think our parents are gonna allow that? Shut up man,” I teased her.

“Maybe, I might try it tomorrow.” Aaliyah shrugged.

“Don’t even bother, it ain’t gonna work.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Guys! Look at the sun over there!” Ayla suddenly squealed and pointed towards the glorious, honey-dipped horizon. The sun peeked out from hiding behind the tall buildings. Its rays glossed over the windows that were like millions of eyes, all spying into each other. And it washed over the bricks, the light chasing away the darkness.

“Oh, it’s so pretty!” I exclaimed and quickly took out my phone. I loved taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets. Seeing all the colours blending into each other was like watching the sky being painted like a canvas.

I adjusted the camera like a professional photographer and then managed to take a good picture. It looked like the juice had been diluted into the sky, leaving behind a remnant of pink.

I then switched it around to take a selfie, making sure to get that sun-kissed look. But before trying to do anything, my eyes panned around to see there was nobody around us because I’d feel very embarrassed if I did this and someone was staring at me like I was a crackhead.

“Ooh!” I kept on squealing as the sun’s rays lit up my face. Meanwhile, I saw my sisters in the corner looking at me as if I needed help. I mean, it’s not my fault the sun gets me so *gassed. And besides, I rarely get any good pictures anyway.

I took some Snapchat videos before Aaliyah came and snatched my phone out of my hand.

“Harmony, stop recording yourself before we miss our bus.”

“Okay, okay.” I rolled my eyes and quickly put my phone in my blazer.

We then got to the bus stop and popped into Tescos quickly. I got a mango smoothie, Dorito crisps, and a cheese and ham sandwich. This was my favourite combination, d it would usually cost something around five pounds, but the meal deal made this a lifesaver.

We went out, and I got out my phone again and started texting my best friend Zena.

Me: Hey bestie!!! r u at skl yet?

Bestie❤️🌍: Nearly, where you at tho?

Me: At the bus stop with my sisters.

Bestie❤️🌍: Haha ok I’ll see u in a bit x

Me: Okay in a bit x

Zena and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. We knew each other because my mum was best friends with her older cousin. We did everything together from going to the park, shopping and eating and hanging out. We were always there for each other through thick and thin, and nothing could separate us.

I adjusted my tie, and after what felt like an eternity, we saw the bus coming quickly towards us. We all got our zip cards out, and then it stopped right in front of us. Other people came on as some jumped off, and we rushed upstairs to get a seat. The upper deck was the best part since at the front you can get a good view.

However, we sat in the middle, and I got my phone out. I felt the warms vibrations that sizzled my thighs cease as the bus started moving. An empty glass bottle rolled across the floor, clashing everywhere, and people had earphones plugged in, while their eyes were glued like magnets onto their phone.

It was peaceful as we were on our way to our secondary school, Willow Hill, in South London. I was in Year 11, and my sisters were in Year 7.

“Hey Harmony, are we gonna get McDonald’s after school today?” Aaliyah asked.

“Yeah, of course,” I replied.

“Okay good, because I feel like, after today, I’m going to need it.” Aaliyah sighed in relief as she slouched.

“I can’t wait to get the chips though,” Ayla said with a faraway look in her eyes.

One of our favourite things to do after school is for me, my friends, and sisters to go to McDonald’s because I’m always ripping the vouchers out from the newspaper every month. It was the only reason I would ever open one.

I got out my mirror and put on some lip gloss. I recently started wearing this ever since Zena got it for me as a present. Whereas, in the previous years, I’d just put on Vaseline.

I patted my warm brown cheeks that had dark, small spots spaced around, smiling a little and giggling at my baby face while my mascara made my eyelashes spread over my dark eyes like wings.

I put the mirror away and then started to relax, feeling the fluffiness of the seats.

Until the sounds of the Year 9s erupted through the silence.

I heard their heavy, dreaded, thumping footsteps as their chatters wreaked havoc into the calm atmosphere. My head tingled in annoyance as I closed my eyes, wanting to block out their noise. I felt their coats brush past me as they laughed and talked like they didn’t have an inside voice. They made a little pack at the back as heads turned to them for their disturbance.

I groaned as I felt a headache coming on and glanced slowly at the time. It was nearly 8:30, yet these lot decided that it’s the perfect time to act like they can’t hear each other at a concert.

When the bus stopped at our school, we got off along with other people and arrived at the school gate. Aaliyah and Ayla went to join their friends while I went to find my own.

I marched through the path that ran through the school until I heard my name ring in my ears.

“Harmony!”

I looked, and I saw my friends sitting near where I was. Zena and Melody were waving their arms frantically towards me.

I ran up to them and gave each of my friends a hug before I sat down in the vacant space next to Melody. There were six of us. Zena and Melody were my best friends and my other friends consisted of Daniella who was the smartest, Mason who was like my big brother, and Liam who was the most childish.

“What took you so long?” Mason asked. He was a few inches taller than me, with dark brown hair and blue eyes with a lanky figure.

“Um, I was taking selfies,” I said with a sheepish smile and giggled nervously.

“Seriously?” Daniella stared at me through her leopard-printed glasses. Her thick curly hair laid relaxed against her back in a low ponytail.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Never mind, come on, we have to line up for assembly now,” Melody said, as her fuzzy hair blew against her face. The texture was similar to mine, but blown-out and she was much lighter than me.

“Urgh, okay.”

I completely forgot that we had an assembly this morning. But I hope it goes by quick because I hated sitting in there listening to the teachers talk rubbish.

My friends and I lined up with our different tutor groups. I was in the same one as Melody, while the others were all in different ones. All around, we could hear our classmates chatting excitedly about what they did on the weekend and the teachers trying to take the register. I wiggled around uncomfortably because I wished they hurried up so we can go inside instead of staying out here in the cold.

When everyone was finally done, we all went in one line after another. I rolled my eyes as I walked in while having the biggest frown plastered on my face. I didn’t mean to look like this, but it was morning, and I’m grumpy.

My tutor group sat in the first row, and Melody and I were lucky to sit at the very end.

I removed my bag but kept my coat on, even though we were expected to remove both, but I was still cold. I discreetly got my phone out and kept it very low. At least this could keep me entertained before it started.

Bestie❤️🌍: Harmi, why do u look so grumpy😂?

Me: I’m tired fam, I can’t be asked for today.

Bestie❤️🌍: But you look like you were ready to murder some1 while walking in.

Me: Leave me be man, that’s just my morning face.

Suddenly I felt someone nudge my shoulder. I looked to see Melody pointing to a teacher that was appearing out from the stairs. I quickly chucked my phone away, faced forward, and smiled while folding my arms like a good student, as if I was actually interested in whatever they had to say.

“Good morning year 11, welcome to this morning’s assembly,” our Head of Year, Mrs Smith, appeared and started talking. I saw her lips move but the words just went through one ear and came out the other. It didn’t take long for me to start daydreaming and zoning out. I was just too tired to listen to her and wanted to be out of here.

Just when I was about to doze off, an eruption of laughter attacked my ears. We all turned to look at the people who were laughing, and there was my archenemy, Monique, with her friends.

“Er ladies, is there something funny you would like to share?” Mrs Smith glared at them with a disapproving look.

“No, miss,” Monique replied innocently.

Mrs Smith gave her one final glare before continuing with her discussion. Meanwhile, my eyes wandered up the staircase of chairs, filled with familiar mixed with unfamiliar faces.

Hmm, I wonder if these people are new or something, or if they had been here, and I didn’t notice because they were in the other tutor groups.

We didn’t get that many new people in our school, so when there was one in my tutor group, I was excited to see how the person looked.

When assembly was finally over, Melody and I took the long route to Maths together because we were in the same class and we didn’t want to be there too early. We linked arms and squeezed through the army of little year sevens and eights that looked like babies.

When we arrived, I sat next to her and my maths friend Shaniece as we waited for Mr Morris, our maths teacher, to show up. He was really nice, and he was one of my favourites. He was very good at teaching, and even though he was strict, he could take a joke sometimes. So even though I didn’t like maths that much, he made it more bearable.

“Hey Harmony, how are you?” Shaniece asked sweetly. She had silky dirty blonde hair, a pointy nose, and sometimes I liked messing with her during class.

“Tired, what about you?”

“I’m tired too,” She said with a giggle.

“Good morning!” Mr Morris said cheerfully as he sauntered into the classroom. He had some grey hair with a bald spot on top that shined like a bowling ball.

“Today, we’ll be doing some equations in algebra,” he announced.

I groaned as my head hit the table. I despised algebra. It was so boring and so useless.

Once he gave out the sheets, Melody nudged me slightly with a smirk. She was looking at the back of the class. I turned around, and the sight before me made my jaw drop.