Zodiac Kids

The sun shone brightly through the windows of classroom N4 in Westerway Community College and the class seemed to be zoning out completely, most of them staring idly out of the window, wishing they could go outside and enjoy the sun while it lasted and others stared at the clock, urging it to go faster. There was only one member of the class that actually had their head down, buried in pages of A4 covered in notes and scribbles. That was Shawn Reed. He was one of the smartest people in the school and he led the student council. He was also one of the most eligible guys in school. However, any girl that made advances on him got shot down. He made it clear he had no time for relationships but for some reason the girls never seemed to learn. He was a patient guy, except when it came to the pushy girls that followed him around like love struck puppies.

At the other side of the classroom, Neil Marsdon was leaning over his notebook too, but unlike Shawn, Neil was drawing. It was what he always did. His fuzzy blonde hair slicked back and his glasses falling down his nose. His pencil was like lightning or maybe it was just the sun making his pencil look slightly blurry. He wasn’t the most popular person at WCC but he had his friends, mainly the art crowd that spent their lunch times and free lessons in the art rooms.

In the back corner closest to the window, Annabelle Wright was giggling with her best friend, Rosslyn. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail as it always was. It was sort of like her trademark and no matter how many times her parents told her she looked way prettier with her hair loose, she never took any notice. Her wrists were covered in chunky bracelet and she had a couple of gold rings on. “Miss. Wright, will you and Miss. Grey please stop giggling? In fact, Miss. Wright, you can stay back when the bell goes. I want a word with you about your homework assignment from last week,” Mr. Albany called from the front of the room, his piercing blue eyes staring straight at the girl with a clear annoyance written over his aging features.

“Aww, what?” Annabelle whinged and she cast a quick side glance to Rosslyn who had shrunk back into her seat. “That’s bull, sir. There was no homework last week. If there was I would have remembered. Because let’s face it, your memory isn’t what it used to be, sir.”

The class burst out into a fit of laughter except Shawn who was immune to Annabelle’s childish sense of humour and Neil who was far too immersed in his latest masterpiece to even be taking any notice. The only thing that would break his concentration at that point would be the bell ringing signifying the end of class and more importantly, the weekend.

Then there was Emille Heard. She was fairly quiet but she was one of the nicest people on the planet, sometimes too nice for her own good. She was basically the class councillor. If you ever needed someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, Emille was there. Her only problem was that she had a tendency to get moody and overemotional. But in general, her good points weighed out her bad points.

“Right class!” Mr. Albany boomed over the subsided ruckus. “I want you all to write a journal over the coming holidays. I’m telling you this now since I don’t have you bunch next week and I can’t leave you all homework free for the holidays.”

The class, at this news, let out a collective groan and Mr. Albany smiled, acknowledging the misery he was causing his class and he clapped his hands together. “Write it down in your planners and pack up, since this is our last meeting for three weeks, I’ll let you all out earlier. Except you Annabelle, I still want that word.”