Hooky on the First Day

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Scarlet yelled at Alex who was huffing like a train with cheeks as red as an apple. Who knew that their first day of transfer would result in a bad start?

None of the children knew that the traffic in Singapore would delay the bus by a good fifteen minutes. Even if they left ten minutes earlier because of Scarlet's leg, they spent a lot of time at the train station trying to find the bus stop, so they were now two minutes away from being late on the big day.

"I-I can't..." Alex wheezed. "You go... go without me!"

Jasper clicked his tongue and looked at Scarlet who was lost. As the unofficial leader of their team, she had to make a decision to abandon their weak link and complete the mission or walk as fast as the last man and let the team fail their mission. Despite the crutches, Scarlet still walked faster than Alex. The pampered young mistress wasn't used to carrying anything heavier than a spoon. Walking with a five-kilogram backpack was tiring on her.

The girl stopped and looked at them. "You go ahead," she told Jasper. "I'll walk with her."

The gardener's son was surprised. He thought that Scarlet would have all three of them accompany Alex.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Scarlet nodded. "One of us has to make it. I will come up with something later, don't worry. Keep your phone on."

With that, Jasper left and Scarlet and Alex rested at a nearby bench. She looked up at the sky while her sister rehydrated. The sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy, and the wind felt great. Since they were going to be late anyways, Scarlet decided they might as well enjoy the time they had outside the school.

"What do you think about having a commoner's breakfast?"

Alex blinked. "What about school?"

Scarlet shrugged. "Our first lesson officially starts at eleven, we still have a bit more time. Besides, it isn't even a proper lesson. Physical education is just a gym class for exercising. We can use that to slip into the classroom before that and change into the sports attire. Nobody will know."

Alex was flustered. "How can you be so confident?"

Scarlet grinned and waved her phone. "Jasper's inside right? He can be our lookout. Don't worry too much. We'll try again tomorrow to arrive punctually."

The Wilde princess was speechless. Was this even in the rulebook?

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to think. Scarlet was hobbling over to check out the convenience store. The children were given pocket money by the week just in case they had something they wanted to buy. If they didn't, that money would go into the saving box at home. So far, Alex never needed to spend on anything. Jasper was determined not to spend a single cent and save up as much as he could now that his mother wasn't here to control him. Scarlet decided that saving wasn't as important since she was going to be earning money very soon. Besides, the money was given by Mr Wilde. Saving it just to repay him back doesn't sound quite right.

Alex was amazed by the variety of instant food on the shelves in a local convenience store. However, Scarlet skipped right past them and made a beeline to what she knew would be good. However, she couldn't quite reach what she wanted, so Alex had to give her a hand.

"These are known as puffs. It's a local thing that you should try. Are you a fan of spicy food?"

Alex shook her head. "I don't think I've ever had spicy food in my life..."

The blogger nodded and filled a huge cup with a slushie drink until it nearly overflowed. The girls headed over to the cashier who raised a brow at the two girls wearing uniforms. Weren't they supposed to be in school already?

"That's six dollars and twenty cents," she told them. The cashier was slightly startled to see Scarlet confidently hand her a fifty dollar bill. Damned rich kids! Normal kids would have to think twice about spending that much money. They would have to save for at least a week to afford something like that.

Ignoring the judgemental stares from the cashier, Scarlet retrieved their purchase and kept Jasper's share in her bag before they strolled the neighbourhood. Alex oohed and ahhed over almost everything and pressed her nose to the glass at a pet shop much to Scarlet's amusement. The blogger guessed that Alex hasn't seen much of the local scene, so it was a good opportunity to do so while there weren't too many people around. However, she kept a close eye on the time and informed Jasper of her plan.

The gardener's son sat alone in the empty classroom and was reading through his textbook when his phone vibrated. He checked the message and was surprised to see Scarlet texting him about the detour.

Rich and Rotten: | Why do I have such an awful name?! |

Secret Pen: | For fun, laughter, peace and joy. Now, enjoy your slushie. I'm talking to Jasper. |

Money Face: | ... |

Secret Pen: | How is it looking over there? Did you find out where the security posts are? Any gates we can slip past or fences we can crawl through? |

Money Face: | I can't believe you girls went out to buy good food without me! I'm not telling you unless you get me something good! |

Secret Pen: | I knew you would say that so, I got you a chicken mushroom puff. Also, before you complain, I can't sneak in a slushie. I did get you cola although it wouldn't be chill by the time it reaches you. |

Money Face: | You're forgiven. I'll say that you can enter by the side gate by climbing in. The security post is only at the main gate. However, you should watch out for the camera on the second stairwell, I think it faces that side gate.|

Secret Pen: | Roger that! ETA is ten minutes from now... please stall the teacher for us and let us know where the class is held! |

Money Face: | *thumbs up* |

"Okay, we have to run soon..." Scarlet told Alex who was eating messily. They found a park not too far from the school, but it was going to be a twenty-minute walk back.

"Ok, I think we should change first so that we can save time by dropping our bags in the classroom and joining Jasper right away."

"Good thinking!" Scarlet approved and the girls packed up before heading to a public washroom to change to the sports attire.

Besides, it was way easier to climb the fence in sports attire compared to the uniform with a skirt. Sadly, neither girls realise the problem they were about to encounter.