On my first day of high school, April caught the bus with me. Seniors did not start classes until later in the week, so she really had no use coming. I was also skeptical as to what she would do with her day considering the next bus home wasn’t until after school. But then common sense kicked in: she’d be going to Anna’s.

Yet as I got off the bus, she began walking with me onto the school grounds.

“Where are you going?” I asked her hesitantly.

“I’m just making sure you get where you need to go safely before I run off,” she said, smiling down at me.

Her warm gaze was like a comfort blanket, untangling some of the knots I had tied in my stomach on the bus ride over. She had noticed I was nervous about starting high school and took it upon herself to calm my nerves in whatever way she could.

Walking through the school grounds, she led me to a large enclosed area with a basketball court in the middle, stands for seating up the back, and a large stage up the front. 

“We call this the hall,” she told me, glancing inside. A plethora of other students mulled around, large backpacks attached to them as they chattered. I recognised a handful from primary school, so I knew she had taken me to the right place.

Though as April crouched down to my height, my peers shot us cautious looks, wary of April out of uniform, but too young to be an adult.

Their gazes, combined with the bell that sounded in that moment, brought back the nauseating feeling in my stomach.

“You’re going to be fine, May Day,” she said, reading my inner thoughts already. 

“What if I get lost?” I asked.

“Then you ask a teacher for directions.”

“What if I get detention?”

She laughed. “Be good and you won’t.”

“What if the kids are mean?”

“You went to primary school with a lot of them.”

“Yeah but… they all played together over the holidays. It’s been six weeks since I have seen anyone except Evie.”

She pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear. “You are a strong, brave woman who can get through anything. No stupid kids will ever put my sister down. If they do, you tell me and, first thing when school starts for me, I’ll hunt them down and beat them up.”

“Then you would get detention. Or suspended.”

“Well you’re worth that.”

Shaking my head, she managed to rouse a laugh out of me. “That makes no sense, April. How will you look after me from home if you’re suspended?”

“I’ll just keep coming to school even if they suspend me.”

“You’re silly.”

She smiled at me, with her mouth, eyes, and heart, before pulling me in for a hug. “Just remember this conversation if any moment gets scary, okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered, hugging her back. 

“April?” a teacher called out from behind us. 

My sister let me go, getting back to her feet. “Hi Miss Delgado.”

‘Miss Delgado’, a petite short lady with black hair and thick-framed glasses, walked over to us, arms crossed over her chest. “School for year elevens doesn’t start until Thursday. Are you aware it is Monday?”

“Super aware.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Just dropping my sister off, Miss. She’s a little nervous.”

The teacher’s narrowed gaze turned down to me, softening as she took me in. “First year of high school?”

I nodded, smiling shyly at her.

“You’ll be fine dear.” She turned back to my sister. “You, Miss Moretti, won’t be fine if you don’t leave the school grounds now. We will take care of your sister.”

April nodded then saluted the teacher. “I leave her in your capable hands.” She then turned to me, gave me one more brief hug, then began briskly walking over towards the exit.

Miss Delgado turned back to me. “You look just like your sister.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

“Less sass though. I hope that remains.”

Nodding, I kept my eyes turned down, avoiding the teacher’s gaze. 

“Head on in, Miss Moretti. I’m excited to see what talents you show us.”

Evie and I managed to meet up after receiving our timetables and heading out of the assembly on our way to the first session. Somehow, the only class we shared together was homeroom, which meant this would be a long year without each other.

“Let’s meet at the undercover area by the front office at lunch, okay?” Evie said to me as we exchanged our timetables back.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“You’re going to be okay, May. Just try to talk more and make friends.”

Since we first moved to this town, Evie had been in all of my classes. Three whole years counting on her being by my side, I now was nervous to embark on this next adventure without her. But she was right. I did have to grow used to it. We were always bound to have some classes apart… though I never imagined it being this many.

They eased us into the content in each class, starting with pretty simple things like rules, expectations, getting to know our peers, and other class-building activities. In maths, we did barely any maths. And English was barely any English. All the actual content learning would start tomorrow, apparently. 

Nonetheless, at some point in the class we reached the dreaded part of the lesson: roll call. Each time was the same.

They would read through the list of names until they got to the M section, called out my name then looked up to find me.

“Any relation to April?” is the first thing they would ask.

I would nod, mumble that she is my sister, and shrink further into my seat. But the kids were certainly beginning to notice.

They would always follow up the question with a comment about how they just can’t wait to see how well I do.

By the second week of school, some of the teachers were calling me ‘little April’ or ‘mini-Moretti’. Little did they know, that was the worst thing they could have done.

The peers in my class were beginning to get amused by the constant comments—evidently not too familiar with the comparisons I have had my whole life prior to moving here—and decided to create their ‘original’ nicknames (which I had heard many times in my life before moving here).

Some kids started by calling me ‘Beta April’, others thought they were funny calling me ‘December’ or some other month. 

But then one student in science, in all their rhyming spirit, decided to shout out ‘Gay May’ after the teacher called my name.

The class erupted into laughter, people muttering the nickname around the room.

Ducking my head, I looked at my notebook, watching my tears that collided with the page send my ink running across the page.

Noticing my reaction, the teacher walked over to my desk and whispered that I could leave the classroom to ‘get a drink’. She signed my school diary with permission to leave, and I was immediately bounding out of my seat, hiding my face behind my hair the whole way.

The moment I was out of the room and away from the windows of my staring classmates, I ran for the bathroom. 

I sat on the toilet seat, letting the sobs shudder out of me, for much longer than I should have. But no one came looking for me, so I waited until I managed to calm my breath, pulling a spare bit of toilet paper from the dispenser to wipe my tears.

Then finally I got up and began to head back to class.

To my chagrin, I ran into April on the way who had her school diary in hand, heading towards the toilet block.

“Hold up,” she said, grabbing my arm before I could run away. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled, avoiding her searching eyes.

“May.”

“The kids are calling me names.”

“What are they calling you?”

“Same things I got called in Brisbane.”

April sighed, pulling me against her. “We’ll get them to stop, May. Just hang in there and remember you’re better than them. They are just intimidated because you’re so smart and beautiful.”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

“It totally is.” She crouched down to my height. “This afternoon, you and I will hang out in the cubby and you can tell me everything they said. Then we will develop a game plan, okay?” Her thumbs stroked my cheeks, brushing away the wetness.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“Now, give me a smile.”

“No.”

“May.”

“No. I don’t want to.”

She poked me in the ribs, then the belly. Knowing she wouldn’t stop until she got her way, I gave her the worst smile imaginable. “Much better. You’re way more beautiful when you’re smiling. Now get back to class.”

My science teacher stopped calling the roll after that, choosing to mark it in silence. Though I wished the other teachers did the same.