Natti stepped inside and drifted as she took in the new surroundings. To her right was a cozy little living room. Light blue curtains were drawn across the bay window that viewed the front gardens. Just past a knee wall in the back was the dining room and a full view of the kitchen. The walls and cabinets glared bright white, even in the shade, and the counters and tile floor were a dark, slate gray.
Shuffling back into the hall, Natti turned to her left. Two small hardwood steps led into the vast, dark family room. Its walls hinted more of a gray than a white. And in the far back on a diagonal wall, a door opened to an office. From what she could see, it had a large, corner window facing southeast into the backyard and was painted a hunter green.
“We both have master suites upstairs,” her father told her. “Of course, we’ll have to sleep on air mattresses until I purchase some furniture. But . . . What do you think?”
Natti put Bastet down, wandered a few steps, and leaned against the arched threshold. “Not bad, I guess. It’s not our old townhouse.”
Her father exhaled. “No, it’s not, but it’s home.”
Natti nodded despite the fact she probably will never consider it her home. She had left her heart in London, along with everything else she loved.
After winding through about a hundred and fifty cars, Natti finally found a single parking spot in the back of the student lot. It was an aggravating experience, but she was relieved she didn’t have to use one of the parking meters along the sidewalk. She pulled up on the parking brake of her Mini Cooper, grabbed her pack from the back, slipped out, and headed to the entrance in front of her.
Setemple High School was a long, two storey building made of a limestone colored stucco. It was obviously modified to look like a large, ancient Egyptian temple in profile. Toward the front, the architect had apparently placed pylons, two vast towers that would have been decorated in giant reliefs. Along the length of the building, windows glittered in the sunlight and sparkling glass doors led into the interior halls. Over the entryway, four open flower columns held up a large pergola.
Natti groaned. “We could have just moved to Cairo.” She couldn’t even believe her father agreed to move here. His taste for Egyptian culture died along with her mother when Natti was five. So what in the world persuaded him to move here?
She took a deep breath to settle her uptight nerves, deciding to give her father the benefit of the doubt that maybe he really didn’t know. After all, the town website wasn’t all too revealing when she checked it out last night. Neither was the high school’s, considering the main content hadn’t been updated for nearly ten years.
Natti started to walk toward the door. Each step felt like a crawl. She didn’t want to do this—to start at a new school. She wanted her old friends, her old teachers. Her nerve endings cringed. The lush green lawns were covered with patches of students. She tucked her head between her shoulders. If she just lay low for the day, maybe she could get through this without throwing up. She just wouldn’t draw attention to herself.
Several girls and a few boys fell silent for a moment as Natti walked by. Eyebrows rose with curious looks, whispers drifted from all around, and fingers pointed in her direction. Natti tucked her head low, her cheeks burning from the embarrassment.
Brilliant, she felt her body trembling. So much for lying low.
A weight in her heart drew her attention to three male upperclassmen who were gathered around a black Jaguar XK convertible. They were staring along with the rest of the student body, each with an intense hungry look in their eyes. One boy in the center let his eyes wander over her figure before nodding his approval. He sent her a beguiling smile. Latching her attention onto the pavement, Natti pretended not to take an interest, even though she could still feel their gaze on her. One let out a deep wolf whistle. She shook her head and picked up her pace.
“Arse,” she muttered to herself.
The bell rang when she reached the door and opened it. Students were shuffling to their classrooms. Natti gazed around, watching the chaos while trying to stop someone for help. She finally grabbed hold of a female underclassman.
“Excuse me. Where is the school office?”
The girl stared at her then used her pencil to point down the hall next to her, “In the north wing by the main entrance. Just follow this hall and make a right at the end. You can’t miss it.”
“Lovely. Thanks.” Natti nodded, still trying to get her bearings.