Free Wanderlove by Belle Malory

living in the same town every day. But if nothing else, I was grateful to have something to wear.
    On the way back to the car, we passed a stand where the peddler sold her own handcrafted jewelry. Miriam and I purchased from her stand. Miriam bought a pearl necklace with a matching ring. I bought numerous different bracelets, each with intricate weaving and jewels inlayed into the fabric. I thought I might offset my future life in uniforms with pretty bracelets.
    “You’re going to wear them all?” Miriam asked me as I fastened each of my new bracelets to my wrists.
    “I can’t choose only one.”
    Miriam raised a brow at this. “Come along, then. I’m starving. What do you say we grab a bite to eat before you start your community service?”
    “Sounds great.”
    I followed as she headed into another direction. “I know a great place that sells the most amazing spinach salads. . .”

EIGHT
     
     
    I was under the impression that my first few days of school were supposed to be dreadful. I wasn’t exactly sure why. Maybe from movies and television. So it was a nice surprise to realize that it wasn’t as horrible as I was expecting. The whole experience was actually kind of fascinating. There were so many complexities to high school life.
    I especially loved the element of mixing different subjects all in one day. On the road we had an appointed professor, Katzi. But Professor Katzi would only teach one subject at a time. And even though we roamed the planet, the setting always felt the same. There were only so many topics one professor could bring to the table; therefore, learning sometimes became boring and mundane.
    When I found out I would be taking six subjects all in one day-and from six different professors, I was afraid I might be overwhelmed. But now I was starting to think that learning a small portion of a subject each day would help me to retain everything.
    Biology class was my favorite, though I enjoyed music class as well. The only awkward time of the day for me was eating lunch. The patios were filled with students conversing. Everyone seemed to already know each other, had already made friends. And I didn’t know where to go or who to fit in with.
    I was positive there wasn’t a single student who didn’t know who I was. Although it was the beginning of the school year, it was a still small school and news traveled fast. I was labeled as the new girl here. Well, technically I was one of four new students in the junior class, though still the only girl.
    I heard the whispers, saw the stares. The other students gossiped about me left and right, wondering where I had transferred from, why I wore so many bracelets, if my boobs were fake, how much money my family was worth (apparently every student at this school came from a wealthy family), if my butt was fake, how big my house was, why I didn’t drive my own car, if my lips were injected and so on, and so on. I heard most of these topics come up in the girl’s bathroom. I was surprised that everyone was so vocal about their curiosity, but then again, it was a small school.
    I waited until all the girls had left the bathroom before I came out of my stall, causing me to be late for my second period class. I lied to the teacher, telling her I ended up getting lost on the campus. The teacher believed my lie without even questioning me. It was probably because the majority of the gaje became lost on a regular basis. It amazed me how hard it was for some people to find their way around. Even though I pretty much sucked at being a gypsy, I could at least claim an incredible sense of direction. I knew how to quickly scan a map and learn a location within seconds. But most times, I didn’t even need a one. I just seemed to find my own way. I knew it wasn’t much, but since I couldn’t see into the future and I had no recollection of my past lives, I figured at least it’s something .
    When lunchtime came, I ate alone on a cement bench in the courtyard,