If I had to pick one thing I was extremely excited about on my little trip, it would have to be the prospect of going to school and meeting people my own age! As mental as I may seem, I had spent my entire life surrounded by Papa, Mama, Nick and the elves. That was it. I didn't know anyone my own age and, frankly, making friends with other people was scary. Like, how do you talk to people? Do you introduce yourself or just walk up to them and start talking? The many mysteries of actual conversing and socialising with other people.

Though, honestly, the part about socialising didn't bother me half as much as I thought it would, it was definitely how people would react to me. Okay, so I'm not one of those hippie-types who wear tie-dye shirts and don't shower, I do shower and I own one pair of tie-dye shorts. However, my general appearance might put them off. How many kids do you know who have white-blonde hair? Like Elsa from Frozen. None. Zilch. Zero. Not only that but the only things in my wardrobe are fluffy, warm clothing, nothing in there is suited to Autumn weather, it's all for Winter. Luckily, Granny had brought some Autumn clothing for my arrival, whether I wore them was up to me. I loved my Winter clothes too much to part with them. They were just so fluffy!

Anyway, since I didn't have to wear the school uniform (I was only going to be there for two months unless I changed my mind), I got to pick whatever outfit I wanted. The news that morning said that it was cold, but not freezing cold. For most people, that meant jeans and some kind of cool shirt, for me, I wasn't going to let a small thing like heat get in the way of my Winter love. So, I chose a pair of black, skinny jeans, my snow boots, a long-sleeved blue and white striped shirt, a fluffy body warmer, and, of course, my snowboarding jacket. Not gonna lie, I looked like an Eskimo.

Granny was not too happy with my particular outfit choice, but she kept her mouth shut tight. Her annoyance was shown through the tightly drawn lips and small raise of the eyebrow when I looked into the room. Of course, I couldn't help but copy her actions, I even followed it up with the folded arms across the chest. That changed her face almost immediately, the tightly drawn lips turned up at the edges to create a small smile. The copying never failed to put a smile on peoples face, unless they were Papa or had no sense of humour. Again, like Papa.

"Are you ready for today?" Grandpa said, turning the page of his paper and looking up at me.

"Yup, not too nervous. Actually looking forward it," I replied as I took my seat at the kitchen table, Granny placing a plate of peanut butter toast in front of me.

"That's the best way to approach it," Grandpa said, a smile stretching across the bottom half of his face, though it was partially hidden by the beard. I couldn't wait for Nick to get the beard, it was going to be the funniest thing, ever.

"You sure you're not going to be too warm in all that? You have, what, three layers on?" Granny said.

"I'll be fine, if it gets too warm, I'll take the jacket off," I replied with a mouthful of toast. Safe to say, I was not the most ladylike of people, in fact, I'm still not. Mama always said I was the most unladylike lady she had ever met.

"Make sure you so. I don't want a phone call mid-way through the day saying you had passed out from being too hot."

"You won't. You seem to be forgetting, I'm a Claus, we are not affected by normal muggle things like heat exhaustion," I laughed, finishing almost half my toast in one single bite. Yes, I had a big mouth, problem?

"Shouldn't you two get going? You don't want to be late on your first day," Granny said, checking the clock on the wall.

Grandpa was still absorbed in his paper, he ha the worst time keeping ever. You would have thought, that by being Santa Claus, he would have much better timing problems, but he didn't. I remember a story Mama told me once when Grandpa completely forgot it was Christmas Eve and only had a few hours to get all the presents delivered. By the time he had dropped the last couple off, the sun was beginning to rise and he almost got caught by some eager six-year-olds.

Quickly glancing at his watch and checking his time, Grandpa shut his paper, the pages fluttering slightly as he did so. He pushed his chair back, the wooden legs scraping against the floor in protest as he did so. I watched as he placed his bowl into the sink for Granny to wash up and slipped on his green army jacket and slipped the car keys into his pocket, something he will surely forget to do by the time we made it out to the car.

I quickly brushed my hands together to get rid of the crumbs that had become attached to my fingers, once they were clean, I brushed off my jacket, removing the remainder of the toast from my person. Grabbing the plate, I too pushed back my chair, the legs making the same sound Grandpa did, before following suit and dropping my plate into the soapy water. I snatched my school bag up from beside my chair and hoisted one strap onto my shoulder. Not gonna lie, the bag was stupidly heavy but needs must and I didn't want to get into trouble for not having a pen on my first day.

"See you later, Kenzie, have a good day!" Granny said, grabbing me tightly by the shoulders and planting a kiss on my forehead. It felt like I was a toddler all over again, line Mama taking a photo the first ever time I helped decorate the Christmas tree. Only this time, it wasn't Mama, it was Granny and I was going off on the biggest adventure anyone could ever face.

School.

Grandpa and I walked from the kitchen, into the garden and through a little side door into the garage where his car was parked. The moment I was in the car, my bag resting at my feet, the engine running, was the moment realisation set in fully. I was going to an actual public school for the first time in fifteen years. Not only was I going to learn normal things like Maths and Science, but I was also going to spend time with people my own age. People who understood a lot of the things that Papa, Mama and Nick didn't, like my love for rather attractive famous people like Lin-Manuel Miranda (that man).

As we pulled out from the garage and took off down the road towards my new life, my new world, I tapped my fingers absent mindlessly against my knee, something I only ever did when I was extremely nervous. Half the time, I didn't know I was doing it until someone else pointed out, but this time I was well aware of the tapping. Although I may have denied it to Granny and to, well, myself, more importantly, the fact of the matter was that I was terrified of branching out into this new world, into this new life. I didn't know what to expect, and more importantly, I didn't know who I would meet or if they even liked me. It was possible that I would spend the next few weeks alone, wondering the school corridors like a loner, looking for something to keep me occupied until my time was up. But that was the worst case scenario.

"Right, here we are! You know where you're going and what you have to do, don't you, Ken?" Grandpa said. I gazed out the window for a second, taking in the large brick building that was laid out before. It was huge and I was going to get lost, no questions asked.

"Yep. I've got it covered Grandpa, seriously," I said, unplugging my seatbelt and grabbing my bag from the floor.

"Okay good. I'll meet you out here at three.

"See you later," I said, smiling as I popped open the car door and took a step into the brisk Autumn air. Grandpa smiled and waved slightly as a shut the car door and watched as he pulled away from the kerb and out of sight. It was now me against a big brick school building, and I was scared as crackers.

I hoisted my bag higher onto my shoulder and exhaled a deep breath, ready to venture into my new life. My hands shook slightly as I began to take my first few steps towards the school building. The majority of people ignored me completely, but some turned and looked, many were almost stunned, either by my hair or by my clothes. I didn't know which since I couldn't read minds, even though I wished I could. The stares didn't bother me very much, it was expected as I was the newbie and Granny had told me the school was small so everyone practically knew each other anyway. I was walking into unknown territory, like a lone wolf walking into a pack.

When I told Grandpa I knew where I was going, I was lying. I knew I had to find my tutor room somewhere on the first floor, but I didn't know where it was. I was like a headless chicken looking for its head, as strange as that may seem. Walking down the enormous corridor, I glanced up at all the room numbers, trying to find the one I had memorised when I first had the letter through the door. Granny had said it would be on the bottom floor, but not specified where, though judging by the numbers increasing the further away I walked from the entrance my form room was likely to be somewhere in the middle.

I was right.

My tutor room was almost smack bang in the centre of the corridor, the room belonging to, by the looks of it, a maths classroom. The wall displays surrounding the room were covered in formulas and other maths-related things so it was the one thing that gave it away, though I expect the inside of the room probably would have had the biggest clue for it.

The room itself was already full of students, almost all the seats were occupied by one person or another, all of them engaged in conversations with their friends. I did not feel like going in there and breaking up the conversations, or having everyone look at me. Then again, it was going to happen sooner of later and I would have rather gotten it out of the way then delay the inevitable. So, taking yet another deep breath, I pushed open the door, the hinges squeaking as I did so.

Everyone in the room stopped talking the moment I opened that door. It was as though they had all heard the hinges squeak at the exact same time and they were all annoyed by a presence disturbing their conversation. Luckily, the silence didn't last too long as everyone soon went back to the conversation they were so enthralled in. None of them was interested in me, thank Rudolph.

"Ah, you must be Mackenzie, our new student, correct?" I'm assuming the teacher said from behind his desk.

"Yes, Ken, or Kenzie to, well, everyone I know," I laughed, readjusting my bag on my shoulder to give me something to do.

"Right, Kenzie, my name is Mr Eaker and I am to be your tutor and Maths teacher," he smiled, spinning on his chair slightly.

"Nice to meet you," I replied out politeness. In reality, I didn't know what I was saying or what I was doing. By this point, I was going on lessons Granny had gone over with me the day before. They were my backbone by this point and I was so thankful she had decided to give them to me. If not, I would have been in a big mess.

"Right, why don't you take a seat over there near Niska, I'm sure she'll help you out today if you need any help," Mr Eaker said, pointing to one of the empty chairs near the back of the room. Beside the empty chair was a girl with jet black hair, pushed back off her face with an emerald green ribbon. She didn't even look up at the mention of her name.

Niska was involved in a full, in-depth conversation with the boy sitting next to them, neither of them looking at me as I took my seat beside them. Well, I thought they ignored me. "Okay, new girl, question, how well would Harry Potter do in The Hunger Games?" Niska asked, turning to me, her eyes were almost as startling as the ribbon in her hair, they looked like contact lenses.

"That depends on whether or not he had his wand with him. If Harry has his wand and wouldn't get done for using an Unforgivable Curse, then he would win, no doubt," I shrugged, scanning my eyes over my timetable quickly to double check my lessons for the day. I already had them committed to memory, but it didn't hurt to look.

"I told you, Joel! Thanks, new girl."

"Kenzie, my name is Kenzie."

"Right, well, thanks, Kenzie, and welcome to Ashbury," Niska smiled.

Maybe school wasn't going to be too bad after all. 

~~~

A/N - Okay, after an entire month, I finally uploaded! I apologise for the lack of updates, when I went back to school after Half Term they sprung some mock exams on us. Most of them are out the way now, I have one on Tuesday, but then I'm done and as Christmas is approaching (22 days) I'm going to make some more updates!

Anyway, so, Kenzie has started her first day of school in full winter gear! Girl is off her head, but I suppose if Winter is her thing, that isn't going to change anytime soon. As for school, the fact that she thinks it's not going to be so bad is rather sad. We all know what school is really like xD

Comment below what you think about this chapter and don't forget to vote and add to your reading list to you never miss an update!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to invisible_Airplane for their sweet comments on the previous comments! They were adorable! 

First Published - December 4th, 2016