Kotlc in a high school context!

Chapter Three- The Gossip Queen

After music, Dex was appalled that she had been, 'associating with the likes of that stuck-up, no-good, wannabe clown.'

But Sophie was convinced that Keefe was actually a pretty nice guy.

"He helped me find my way, Dex. Without him, I would still be lost right now." She expressed light-heartedly, mildly curious at the reason for the level of hatred Dex seemed to posses towards Keefe.

"Whatever." He growled, "Let's talk about something else."

Sophie took a deep breath. She needed to get something off her chest that had been niggling at her mind all morning.

"Can I sit with you today?" she asked nervously, "Not forever, of course, but I don't really know anyone else, and I don't want to be a loner."

Dex smiled, cute little dimples emerging on his cheeks. "Yeah of course! I have to warn you though, the people who I sit with are not very cool."

Sophie smiled back, relieved. "I don't mind at all. Thanks, Dex!"

How bad could they be?

The cafeteria was a large expanse of tables, all of various sizes. The biggest table was crowded with a mix of boys and girls, slouching and lounging and draping themselves all over each other. The amount of noise that was exuding from that table was pretty much 75% of the noise in the cafeteria. Sophie spotted Biana, Maruca and Keefe all on that table.

"That's the popular group," hissed Dex bitterly, "They all suck."

Keefe winked at her from across the room. Sophie smiled back, cheeks reddening.

Dex glared.

Sophie shoved him playfully. "Stop being so grumpy! Its not like I'm making out with him or anything!"

Although that wouldn't be a bad idea...

Dex glowered, then his expression relaxed. "Yeah well. Just stay away from them. Come on."

He led her to a small table slightly obscured by a jutting out wall.

Sophie realised with a sinking heart by what Dex meant by 'not very cool.'

The group had a population of five boys, (including Dex,) and three of them had identical greasy ponytails. They ogled her ravenously like they had never laid eyes on a girl before. The only other boy who didn't have a greasy ponytail lept out of his chair like he was high on fizzy drink.

"HI I'M JENSI!" he babbled excitedly, "WHAT'S YOUR NAME? MY NAME'S JENSI. OH WAIT DID I SAY THAT ALREADY? MY BAD I JUST LOVE MEETING NEW PEOPLE!"

'He obviously didn't meet new people very often,' thought Sophie grumpily.

Sophie had thought that Dex was enthusiastic, but this was a whole new level. She found herself slowly backing away, feeling violated by his intense volume and movements. He was literally jumping manically around like a pogo stick.

"Calm down, bro." whispered Dex, scared that Jensi would scare off Sophie. One of the ponytail boys grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to it. Sophie cringed and wiped it on her jeans.

It was like an oil slick had embalmed her hand.

"My name's Valin." Said the kisser, in a voice thick with phlegm. Sophie took another step back as she saw a single drop of drool drip sluggishly from his mouth and roll down his Fortnite shirt. He wiped his mouth slowly with his hand, and smiled creepily.

Her skin crawled.

She was now entirely unsure if she wanted to sit with Dex. She had a lot of experience in paralysing social situations, (from her other schools,) and knew that she did not want to become a social pariah on her first day.