New start

Three months have passed since my mother died and I really didn't realize at the time that she was really gone, it was still a bit illusory and I had a hard time accepting it. But now I really realize that she really isn't there anymore. Frank does his best to make me feel better in his big mansion but nothing helps. I missed our little apartment, admittedly it was small but full of life, especially my mother and I cooked every Sunday.

My old room was 5 times smaller than this one and yet it was comfortable for me. In the evening, we could hear our neighbors arguing, others left their TV on all night and it was very noisy but I still managed to sleep. The funny thing is that this room was the one I had always dreamed of having, big, spacious with lots of stuff, nice clothes, a big bed and yet I was not happy, I couldn't not be happy.

My bed was big and the mansion quiet with no noisy neighbors and yet I had trouble sleeping. The food was delicious at first but now it tasted bland in my mouth, it didn't taste like my mother's cooking. The only thing I had left of my mother was her handwritten cookbook that I always kept on me.

Frank really tries to spend time with me but his job takes him a lot and he's hardly ever home, leaving early in the morning and arriving late at night. I spent most of my days sitting in the chalet by the pool, sometimes I found Sofia reading in the library. I chatted with Mr. Milestone too sometimes but he spoke like in the 1800s so I got bored quickly. Besides, I still wasn't used to the staff Mr. or Mr. Blake. Victoria, when she is always so cold and hostile towards me but she smiled at me from time to time when Frank was around, seeing the son of her husband's mistress every day is not an easy thing to bear.

Now I also have my own car, one of the many gifts Frank gave me to supposedly make up for lost time, but I preferred the motorbike more, it went much faster and when I was on it, it's as if I was escaping a little from my sad reality. So now I was on long motorcycle rides to pass the time.

I also have my first day of school tomorrow. Mr. Milestone enrolled me in Northview High School, it's a bit of a high school for the elite or for the rich kids. I formally asked Mr. Milestone to register me under the name of Blake Hansen, and not Blake Campbell, this name still sounded false to my ears.

I woke up very early that morning to go on a little motorcycle ride, took a shower and put on my uniform, a dark green jacket embroidered with the Northview emblem, a white shirt with a tie and gray pants. I never wore a tie before so I didn't know how to tie it. I then went downstairs to have my breakfast where Frank was already waiting for me.

" WOW !! Look at you ! " , he said with a big smile on his face.

Blake didn't say a thing and just sat down to savor his breakfast.

" What happened to your tie ? " , Frank asked.

" I don't know how to tie it " , Blake said coldly.

" Come here let me help you " , he said but when saw that Blake wasn't coming towards him, he approached him and tied it anyway.

" I have something else for you " , Frank said and handed me a brown box. I opened it and there was an old pen inside.

" It's the pen that I used to sign my first contract and now I'm giving it to you and maybe later you will give it to your son too " , Frank explained.

" Thank you " , said coldly and then continued to eat my breakfast.

" Alright ! What would you say if we went in the same car today ? " , Frank suggested with a smile.

" No thank you but I prefer to go there on my own " , Blake told him.

Then Victoria came in and said : " wow !! Look at you boys ! You are both handsome ".

" Good morning love " , Frank greeted her and gave her a kiss.

" I'll go now, I don't want to be late for my first day " , Blake told them, stood up and left and once again, he prefered to take his motorcycle rather than his car.

Northview High is one of the most famous and reputable in the country, most of the students who went there were all rich kids but there were also middle class kids of course. Blake entered through the gate and went to the office to get his locker number and schedule.

" My name is Blake Hansen. I signed up here not long ago and I'm picking up my schedule and my locker number " , Blake explained to the old lady behind the desk.

" Blake Hansen ?! " a female voice from behind him said.

" Yeah ?! " , Blake turned around.

The voice coming from a girl who was sitting with an open book in front of her, she stood up and introduced herself.

" My name is Caitlin Peters. On behalf of all Northview students, welcome. I'm part of the welcome committee for new students and today I'm your guide to help you find your way around this wonderful high school " , she said cheerfully but with a hint of sarcasm when she said the word 'wonderful'.

" Well ... Thank you " , Blake stuttered, still a bit surprised.

" Here is your schedule and your lock number. You can change it later. I noticed too that you hadn't chosen an extracurricular activity yet. You have to choose at least two activities among the fifteen offered by the school. Can I recommend the robotics club ? We are desperately looking for a tenth member " , Caitlin explained to him.

" Yeah, I will think about it " , Blake told her.

" Sure ! I'm going to show you around a bit, here it's already the secretariat with Mrs. Frye behind the counter " , Caitlin said.

" That's Headmaster Peters' office over there ", she added.

" Wait, you are the principal's daughter? ", Blake asked, shocked.

" Yes, but let's move on now " , she said, trying to change the subject quickly.

" As you must already know if you have read the book on Northview, it was the first high school established here after the formation of the city and it is ranked third best high school in the country. The area of ​​Northview high is about 9750 square meter and about six hundred students are here including foreign students " , Caitlin explained.

" To your left of our music room, over there the theater. The gym and the swimming pool are in the other building but we don't have time to go there because the lessons will start in about 15 minutes and it would take us about 10 minutes to cross the whole courtyard as well as the parking lot and therefore we will be late if we go there " , Caitlin told him as they walked down the hall. Blake during this time was speechless, his old high school seemed so small compared to this one.

" Here is your locker ", Caitlin said as they stopped in front of Blake's locker.

" The cafeteria is just down the hall and the restrooms the other way. Our classroom when it's just on the floor above. You and I have pretty much the same schedule today so we're going to the same classroom, we have math analysis as our first lesson today " , Caitlin added while Blake was opening his locker.