Under Your Skin

Chapter 7

I’ve got good hearing ya know

Carlos tried his hardest not to turn around as Carmela led him over to her table. In the end he gave up, looking back over his shoulder, but they were already gone. Well, he was just going to have to make the best of things.

“Hey Carlos,” Lucy cooed as they reached the table. He smiled back at her, not knowing why she was being so nice. She’d been at the school since the middle of year 7 and had never liked him. When she got there, along with Jenny Staton, the two girls bonded instantly, both being bitches, and they looked down their noses at him, and at the other Spanish boys that were there (those boys had left a couple of years back though). So he’d played them at their own game, showing them up and making their lives hell like they did to him. They were only twelve at the time so it wasn’t really that much, but they’d become almost enemies. Then when the other boys left (in year 9) and they were replaced by Miguel and Guillermo, Lucy and Jenny didn’t seem to mind them, but they still hated Carlos because of what had happened before. It was only last year that they changed slightly, wanting him around, but still being bitches anyway. Maybe it was because he had changed at lot over the summer before, well in looks anyway, at least that’s what he overheard them saying. He still opted to sit with the others though, regardless of the fact that him and Jachan didn’t get along at all. Now it was a new year, and they were being nice to him once again, it still didn’t seem right.

“Carlos!” Miguel shouted as he walked past, slapping him on the back.

“ Heyyyyyyy!” Victoria called out. That was his other problem: Victoria. The girl was crazy. The last time he was on his own with her, she tripped over an imaginary stone and came hurtling towards him, pushing him onto the bench and landing on top of him in a pretty awkward position. That wasn’t the worst thing though, because afterwards she didn’t move, she just stayed there on his lap until he pushed her off. He smiled at them all and took a seat. Carmela did the same, putting her heel on the bench and using him to lift herself up so that she was sat on the table like before.

“So, Carlos, why were you sitting with those losers when you could’ve been sitting with me?” God, she was blunt. Even Lucy and Jenny, who were masters at speaking their own minds, weren’t that to the point. He groaned inwardly, preparing himself for a hellish lunch time.

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“Are you missing home?” Tara asked her as they walked back up the hill towards the school. Robyn and Mark were a way behind them and were making slow progress down the hill, for obvious reasons: they weren’t really that interested in walking, or anyone else. Sarah was still in the shop, flirting with the guy behind the till, and Xavier and Sammy were up ahead, bickering and teasing each other. Jack was with them, well, he was walking beside them, but he seemed to have something on his mind.

“Yeah, a bit. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But I guess it’s exciting, I’m really happy to be here,” Lana replied honestly, and Tara nodded knowingly. She really was a nice girl. Walking to the shop and the time they spent in there, Tara had been asking her loads of questions about herself, while all the others argued or teased each other, or made out (in the case of Robyn and Mark). It was weird how she was the one who’d barely spoken when they’d been in the school.

“I know I could never do it. I’d be too scared to leave my family and move to a foreign country all alone,” she replied, then she blushed, “I-I’m sorry, that didn’t sound right. I didn’t mean it like you’ve done the wrong thing; I just meant I don’t think I’d have the guts to do it.”

“Don’t worry, I know what you mean. I never thought I’d be able to do it but now that I’m here I’m really glad I did. My first impression when I got here wasn’t that great, but since then it’s been good, really good.” Lana felt herself sneaking a look at Jack as she said the last bit.