Resumption Day

Seventeen Years Later.

"Peregrine!"

"Yes mama I'm coming!"

The house was in early morning drive full throttle. It was Peregrine's first day in his new highschool since they moved into Grace town.

His mother was in the kitchen, juggling between cooking for her mini restaurant and serving her son's food, while Peregrine was frenzily searching through drawers in a cabinet in his mother's room for the essential files he needed for school. He just picked up the last of the files he needed when he noticed a certificate which was under the file he had just picked.

He picked the certificate up and wiped the area where a name was written.

"Abigail Schae..."

"And what are you doing with this?"

His mother was over him. She snatched the file from his grip, leaving Peregrine half-frozen while his mother perused the file. She adjusted her glasses and looked at the boy.

"If you're asked, by anyone, what is my name?" His mother asked, pointing at the stack of files Peregrine had arranged beside himself.

"Esther," Peregrine said in a subdued and weary voice.

"Esther what?" She queried further. This time she rested the knucllkles of her hands at her side as if to exert her motherly dominance.

"Ma, I know my surname quite alright," Peregrine replied his mother in a time that suggested his patience was being taxed.

His mother nodded negatively while smirking. "Still don't trust you if you still have to QUITE remember your surname," his mother replied before giggling. She put the certificate back into the drawer and closed the cabinet, then carried Peregrine's files and beacons on him to follow her which he did grumpily.

They headed into Peregrine's room, and his mother proceeded to properly arrange his backpack properly with the books he needed and other materials.

"Here," mother said, turning the boy around and mounting his bag around his shoulders to his back. "Try not to dirty this uniform and wear it out fast. And be careful not to get injured at all regardless of the type of play you do today." His mother said as she brushed his uniform for no particular reason.

Peregrine pouted with his lips outstretched. "Mom I'm not a kid anymore you know, I'm seventeen today."

His mother looked at his face, and smiled wildly. She then tugged at his left cheek. "That's what every kid would say my love," she replied him and then laughed.

"Haha!" Peregrine moaned as his mother pushed him out of the room, and to the kitchen. She packed his food and a bottle of water into his lunch cross-bag and swung the bag's handle around his head.

"This should do," she said, and patted his chest. She looked intently into his eyes and grimaced lightly. "Where are your glasses?"

"Ma, they're fake. I really don't need to wear them here too." Peregrine turned around and attempted to bolt out, but his mother caught him before he could do so.

"They're in my pockets." He brought out the case of the glasses and wore the circular spectacles that looked more like a grandpa's pair.

His mother smiled, on the verge of laughing. "My Harry Potter..." She couldn't help but burst into laughter while calmly tapping her son, much to Peregrine's distaste. She then turned him around and began pushing him out of the house.

Peregrine bolted when they got to the front of the house to the main road and continued along. His mother was behind, waving and howling words at him.

"Have a great first day! Love youu! Will cook your favourite when you come back for your birthday, so study harddd!" She then dropped her hand, looking on as Peregrine disappeared from her sight.

***

School resumption day was perhaps a day most students anticipated because they got to meet their friends after a long break, and the fact school work wouldn't be as much on that day. But for Melicent, she really couldn't care as much for friends.

She sat near the window of the public transport bus, her ears plugged with earbuds as she listened to her playlist with the bus stuck in traffic. She wondered whether it would've been better to just run to school. It didn't bode well to be late on the first day.

She rested her head on the window and looked out through it at the busy street. Grace town's military were all over the place, as usual, and were always overcautious of their surroundings. It had been five years since she remembered an infected being spotted in public.

From the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of someone run by. She turned her gaze at the person. A boy.

He wore a similar to hers, supporting his lunch pack with one hand while he swung with the other. As much as she also wanted to run to school, she wondered about the boy. Running about like that in Grace town wasn't something you'd see, especially as the military might mistake you as a infected.

She watched on as the boy zoomed past soldiers, who just looked at him with briefly before they continued at their post.

Melicent smiled lightly, and turned her gaze forward as the traffic started to gain little momentum. In her mind, she thought Grace town's security might have become lax.

***

Resumption day in Grace highschool, and the resumption of the flutter of students who flooded their way through the gate of the school as the final minute countdown began before the gate would be closed against late comers.

Peregrine was atleast a hundred meters away from the gate when he saw the big counter above read ten seconds. As athletic as he was, he was already spent running all the way to school, and was barely hugging to the gate to make it in time.

He reached the gate just as the teacher incharge closed it shut, and saw himself being shoved off his feet to the ground as a girl just failed to stop herself in time.

"Melicent! First day back and late again ehn? Old habits don't die!" The teacher said to the girl who pushed Peregrine aside. She squeezed her face bitterly at the teacher as she tried to gather her breath. She looked at the floor to see who fell and relaxed it after realising the mess she had made of his clothes.

The teacher looked at Peregrine on the floor and raised his eyebrows.

"You must be a new student eh? Well, Melicent, get him to the laundry room to change his clothes and you both should meet me later for your punishments."

The man looked intently into Peregrine's eyes and said to him; "I won't lessen yours just cus you're a new student. Okay?"

Peregrine nodded. He brought out his glasses from his pocket. He had kept it there without its case and had now fallen on it. It was now smashed and heavily compressed.

"Ugh!" Peregrine groaned.

The teacher opened the gate for the both of them to enter and looked around to see whether there was still another late student arriving, before closing the gate.

Later on, in the laundry room in the school, Melicent got Peregrine a clean set of clothes from a wardrobe and handed it over to him. Peregrine bowed lightly to thank her.

"I'm Melicent," she said to him while extending a hand to shake him. There was a degree of remorse on her face.

"Hmm. I'm Peregrine," Peregrine replied her as he smiled lightly, and shook her hand.

"Your glasses..." Melicent looked towards his pocket and Peregrine thought he could sense her almost crying.

"Oh! Don't worry about that. I've got a space at home. Haha!" Peregrine chuckled nervously.

"Oh, so how're you going to cope today then?" Melicent asked.

"I'll I'll manage. My problem's not so much."

Melicent's face lifted, and so did her mood. It was as though every sense of remorse had left her.

"Nice to hear then. After class today we'll go see the teacher, so we'll quickly do our punishment and go for night prep." Melicent picked up a small laundry basket and handed it to Peregrine.

"You can leave your clothes in here. After our punishment you can wash them."

"Hmm!" Peregrine grunted in response.

"Oh, and go to the staff room to see our class teacher so he can introduce you to the class since you're new here. It's just ahead in the corridor outside this room. Ok?"

Peregrine nodded in response.

"Right. I'll leave before classes start. You should be fast too so you don't miss much."

Melicent then left the laundry room for class. Peregrine was already feeling exhausted with everything that had happened so far, and just wanted to get things done with.

He looked around the room he was and noticed a door with a sign that read 'bathroom'.

"Nice." He carried the laundry basket with him to the bathroom and opened the door to reveal a sight that made his heart skip some beats and drop the basket. He grabbed his nose to block it from all the smoke about.

He was looking at a boy in the bathroom, who looked like would be the same age as him. The boy blew out smoke from his mouth towards Peregrine's face while he held the lit wrap of weed in his hand.

"Close the door and get out!" The boy said in a deep, dragging voice.

"What?"