𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 → 𝐥.𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝟔 | 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮

Squeezing past a group of girls who were talking by the main door, I finally made it into the hall where hundreds of other students were making their way to the cafeteria. After finishing biology with Professor Alvarez and her million rules about the upcoming school assessments that we must not fail –her words, not mine– I couldn't help but feel my stomach grumble, especially with the lack of breakfast.

When I say the cafeteria is one of the most terrifying places in this school, you'd probably think I'm exaggerating; I'm not. You could either end up eating alone under a trash can, or you could somehow get invited to a group filled with popular and rich kids if you're lucky.

Grabbing a red tray, I slid it along the cafeteria line, grabbing a few things that seemed remotely appetizing. As I neared the end of the line –in possession of an apple, blueberry smoothie, and a chicken caesar wrap– I couldn't help but overhear the conversation a few students down.

"She was doing what?" One of the girls exclaimed as she grabbed a banana from the fruit basket.

"Chased him down the hall," The other replied with a roll of her eyes, "Yelling for her book back,"

"If I were her, I would've just let him have it," The first girl laughed as they slid her tray down the rack.

"Of course you would, he's hot, and I could see that you were drooling over him," The second girl mocked, pushing her raven-black hair off of her shoulder.

"Come on! We both know that he's going to ask you out," The blonde said as they moved closer to me, making it easier to see and hear them. "I feel bad for her," She added as the second girl nodded.

"And I heard that she's..." She lowered her voice, "American," The blonde girl gasped as the dark-haired girl nodded vigorously.

"Your change," The lunch lady said as I looked away from the two girls who were still gossiping.

In the process of thanking her, I decided to give her a friendly smile instead, not wanting to draw attention to myself. I took my lunch and moved away from the line before stopping. As my eyes scanned the cafeteria, they landed on Amelia who was standing up, waving her arms in hopes of grabbing my attention.

Smiling softly, I stepped past a couple of kids before finding the table located in the middle of the cafeteria. Taking a seat at the long, rectangular table with a few other students, I slumped my bag off and pushed it under my feet.

"I owe you," I told her with a smile as she spun the cap of her smoothing off and took a sip.

"Well, I couldn't leave you stranded, and I was worried if you tried the accent again, you would scare everyone off," I laughed at her joke and the two boys at the table grinned. "Oh right!" She exclaimed, "This is Joshua Leyoway--"

"Josh," The mixed boy corrected, "Just Josh,"

"And," She stretched, "Dylan Madden," She finished as she motioned to the Indian boy who had just taken a bite out of his apple.

The boy looked up, then looked towards his two friends, "Hi?" He questioned, unsure of what had been going on.

"He's not very smart when it comes to new people," Amelia joked as Dylan shoved her playfully. "Well, boys, this is Y/n,"

"So you're the new American girl," Josh said as he stabbed some lettuce with his plastic fork, "Word has gotten around pretty quick about you," He added and I took a bite out of my wrap.

"That's just great, huh," I replied sarcastically, knowing that the girls back there aren't the only ones who've been talking about me.

"Hey, it's mainly just a British thing-- so don't think too much of it," Dylan piped up as leaned against his elbows. "At least we're all in the same house," He added as I noticed our ties.

"So what's the deal with this school?" I asked, eyes scanning the giant cafeteria. "I know that sounds ridiculously dumb, but I just assumed that there's some type of pecking order to this place,"

"No, no, you're right, Josh, wanna explain?" Amelia asked as she looked towards Josh who was seated next to me.

"Well, basically, you've got the athletes," Josh said as he pointed to a rowdy table a few meters away, filled with boys of all ages and a few girls.

"Like football?" I asked as all the boys began laughing.

"Yes--er no. Not your football, our football," Josh explained, in which he meant soccer.

"Right, forgot about that," I added as Josh continued his explanation.

"So you have the athletes, Westbrooke's finest players in all of London. The co-captains Kory Garza and Louis Partridge, and their best friend Vinnie Potts –nice guy, not much playtime though," My eyes flickered to the brunette that was laughing at something Vinne had said.

You've got to be kidding me; I can't escape him.

"Then you have the plastics," Josh joked as he nodded towards the two girls I had seen earlier. "I'm kidding, they don't call themselves that-- they don't actually call themselves anything. I just call them 'the girls you should not come into contact with',"

"Those are the girls who were talking about me earlier," I said as I stared at the dark-haired girl who was scrolling through her phone while the blonde girl blabbed about something interesting to only her.

"Yeah, Sloane Garrison and Nikayla Parrish," Amelia grunted, "Possibly the two riches girl at this school, and by far the rudest,"

Raising my eyebrow at the sudden coldness in Amelia's usually-friendly voice, I looked to Josh or Dylan for an answer. "Year eight, Sloane spread a rumour about Amelia and the whole school believed it. Then the principal got involved and took Sloane's side--"

"Because of her dad," Dylan added.

"What was the rumour?" I asked and Amelia's face went bright red.

"No--" She began but Josh cut her off.

"That she shagged Lucas Hethway in the school's janitor closet," Josh said which received a hard punch from Amelia straight at his arm. "They had to have a whole assembly about safe sex, it was terrible,"

"How old were you?" I asked, completely taken aback by the rumour.

"Almost thirteen," She whispered as she covered her face with her hands.

"And they believed her? That's some major bullshit," I replied as I sent a sharp glare at Sloane, who was still distracted with her phone. "At least nobody remembers it now," I reassured her with a small smile.

"Anyways..." Josh exclaimed, "You have the band geeks over there, the art kids, a few skaters, book club and yearbook," He finished as he pointed to an array of different tables, labelling each with their clique.

"The schools not as boring as it seems, it definitely has its moments," Dylan grinned as he began to pack up his backpack, followed by Amelia and Josh. "And the bells about to ring, so if I were you, I wouldn't want to get caught in the rush,"

Taking his advice, I grabbed my bag and tray, before following the three of them to the trash cans. As I dumped my tray and set it aside, I glanced back at the soccer table, but when my eyes met with Louis' I immediately looked away.

I'm already labelled as the new and weird student, I don't need more attention, especially with him.