KAYLA

To me, the only exciting part about school is the uniform changes! Being in a country with four seasons, we get to change our uniforms twice each year, when the weather became warmer or chillier. It’s always refreshing to see changes during the tedious routine we’ve gone through every day! After the holidays, people tend to look more fresh and sometimes improved their looks as well; whether they got haircuts, extra ear piercings, tannings, or even just a new kind of perfume they’re trying on, it’s always exciting to see these sorts of transformations - even though they would somehow lose its magic after a week or two.

In Sterling, as we transferred from elementary, junior high, and high school (which starts in tenth grade according to Anglova’s education system), we would get new sets of uniforms. All of them were very elegant and stylish - kids and teens from all over the world would dream of wearing them, and parents would dream to see their children clad in them. More than once, I stumbled upon Sterling uniform replicas made out of cheap materials in magazines and costume shops, and people would wear them to costume parties and Halloween - which always came across as awkward and bizarre to us, not to mention desperate! And then, as if it wasn’t enough, someone found a sexualized replica in an adult costume shop! Thankfully, the issue was taken care real quickly by the school, and we never heard any X-rated Sterling uniform replicas appearing elsewhere to this day. To think that people growing fetishes over our uniforms was just...ugh.

But out of all the pretty uniforms, the high school winter uniform would always be everyone’s favorite; I remembered being so jealous at my older sister Jessica when I saw her put them on for the very first time - garbed in the ivory-colored box skirt and blazer, she looked really beautiful and so mature! At that time, I couldn’t help but wonder how I would look on them. And it finally came true three years later – today!

When I finished putting everything on, I stood in front of the mirror and I couldn’t held back the smile I’ve been trying to hold - oh my, I looked so much better than I thought! The ivory box skirt fluttered like flowers on a refreshing summer breeze as I twirled and bounced in front of the mirror to look at every beautiful details on the folds and seams on the cream-colored Egyptian cotton fabric. And just to add something a little bit more, I carefully slipped on a navy blue Alice band on my perfectly groomed hair. Oh my, the color matched so perfectly with the school-issued scarf!

“You’re crazy, sis. It’s just the school uniform!”

It was my little sister, Tasha. My god, she surprised me! I didn’t know when did she managed to sneak into my walk-in closet, because I was too busy paying attention to my new uniform. She then told me to hurry up because she didn’t want to be late on her first day as an eighth grader, and walked out of the room.

Well, she was right - it’s just a uniform. And I do admit that what I was doing kinda look ridiculous for a tenth grader, but it’s not like I could help it! I didn’t know that I could look this pretty in a school uniform!

But somehow, I could tell that Tasha was feeling the same way I was towards Jessica three years ago. When I meet up with her in the dining room to grab breakfast, I just stroked her head and smiled, telling her that she would get to wear the same uniform in two years. Tasha just rolled her eyes and went away, but I know that sooner or later, she would be sneaking into my closet again to try on this uniform…

The trip to school was okay, although it was surprisingly quiet; this was our first time to go to school without our older sister because she just graduated last summer. Tasha was busy reading the newest issue of Just Seventeen, only glancing at me whenever she thought I wasn’t looking; her envious eyes clearly reflected on the car window as I gazed at the beautiful morning view of Valenfields. Oh well, she’s on that phase where hating-everything-is-the-new-cool after all...

Once we arrived in school, we immediately parted ways to our respective buildings; she went off on her own, while I marched towards the high school building with James and Russell, my two personal bodyguards. Sterling might be one of the most highly secured places in Anglova, but I insisted to have at least two professional bodyguards around me all the time. People misunderstood me many times for this, saying that I only wanted to look cocky and super exclusive by having two professionals in black always following me around, carrying my stuff, and doing petty little errands for me. But you know what? People always make the wrong and bad assumptions in their mind just to make themselves look better! And why would I always take bodyguards with me? Well, to keep this short - let’s say that I had a few unpleasant childhood experiences that made me terribly anxious if I don’t have someone familiar near me to keep me safe whenever I’m out of the house.

Even with my bodyguards around me all the time, I’m usually quite independent when it comes to running errands or carrying stuffs around the school. However, I do make exceptions sometimes; like now, for instance - I don’t wanna squeeze through the crowd to check The Board because I was afraid of ruining my new uniform, so I sent out one of my bodyguards to do so! I feel a little guilty for acting like a spoiled brat, but today’s a special day - I didn’t even give a goodbye hug to my Diamond this morning because I don’t want to get kitty hair all over my blazer!

Soon enough, James - the bodyguard I sent, returned from the crowd and told me that I’m in Prodigium again this year - yay! He also mentioned a number of my close friends’ names, and that made me even happier – I can’t wait to see them all!

And just when I was about to go ahead to class, I heard some sort of commotion going on near the door. Curious, I decided to peek through the crowd, and saw two familiar girls entering the door...

Oh, it’s the Whittman Sisters!