Chim- Sweet sixteen

Chapter 2

“Guess What I’ve got!” shrieked Sarah from across the once again crowded cafeteria.

“Herpes?” Nadine joked, causing the other girls to burst into a chorus of rich laughter.

Apparently Sarah was distracted by the task of getting to the table (and checking out the many boys on the way there) to pay any attention to Nadine’s comment. After a few minutes of intense weaving, bobbing and perving Sarah finally managed to reach the table out of the intertwined mess of hungry students. She held a piece of paper tightly in her grasp, which she slammed on the table in order for the other girls to see clearly. Cheryl leaned in and saw an illustration and a multi coloured heading which read, “Romeo and Juliet: The Musical.”

 “I was on my way here when I saw this on the noticeboard. They are holding auditions for the school musical and I thought we could all give it a go. Plus Cheryl could use it as her extra credit.” “You know Sarah that’s actually a pretty good idea...are you ill?” said Nicola, who was previously preoccupied with eating yet another food item. Sarah just beamed, pleased that her suggestion and been given some approval. “Sounds pretty fun to me, what do you think Cheryl?” queried Nadine. “Umm well....I don’t know...What if I get stage fright? What if I don’t get through the audition? It’ll be so embarrassing, and anyway I really have to focus on my other work and...” “Cheryl!” the girls all said in unison. “Yeah?” Cheryl mumbled, already predicting what would come next. “JUST SHUTUP!” All the girls once again chirped with laughter, even Cheryl was not able to suppress a smile. This little ritual had begun when the girls had started high school. Cheryl was head over heels in love with a boy she sat next to in her Geography class, and was not able to verbalise a sentence which did not somehow involve him. After numerous months of putting up with her constant chatter the other girls simply told her to “just shut up”, an inside joke which had been carried through the years with the group.

“Hey who’s that?” Nadine asked with a puzzled expression creeping across her perfectly structured face. The other girls turned in the direction that Nadine’s eyes indicated, and caught sight of Kimberley standing underneath the archway of the cafeteria entrance. “Oh that’s the new girl; she sat behind me last period. I think her name is....err...Kimberley?” added Nicola. “No, No, No!” thought Cheryl. At that moment Cheryl felt incredibly confused. The logical side of her was beyond terrified at the prospect of Kimberley sitting with the girls at lunch. What if Cheryl said something stupid? But deeper within her she yearned to be close to Kimberley, to feel the glow of her smile radiate onto her skin and hear her hearty laugh once more. Right on cue Kimberley caught sight of Cheryl and began to make her way over to the girls. “That’s just great” Cheryl moaned to herself.

“Hey!”

Kimberley stood over the girls, that all too beautiful smile covering the expanse of her face. “Hi” all the girls chimed in unison. “Do you guys mind if I sit with you?” “Of course not” Sarah said enthusiastically. Sarah was always able to appear open and confident with ease, a quality which stirred the green eyed monster in many. The group chatted and asked boundless questions of Kimberley about how she was finding Green Gardens Grammar so far, and what her old school was like. Cheryl noticed that all the girls seemed to be fond of Kimberley; once again this conjured many contrasting emotions. “Oh! Are you guys auditioning for the musical?” asked Kimberley excitedly towards the end of the lunch period. “Yeah we were discussing that before.” Nadine replied. “We were thinking it would be a good group bonding exercise. Wanna come with?” “Well I was talking to the drama teacher earlier and asked if I would be able to be an understudy. I have always loved musicals but I'm supposed to take photos of the musical rehearsals for the yearbook, so I can’t really have a main part.....are you going to do it Cheryl?” This last statement was delivered with a slightly shy demeanour. “Uhh...Y-Yeah definitely!” exclaimed Cheryl, who then smiled widely at Kimberley. Cheryl noticed Nadine raising her eyebrow slightly. Cheryl simply flashed her a strong stare, which Nadine knew meant “don’t go there.”

For the rest of lunch the girls laughed and spoke casually, recounting stories and sharing the happenings of the day. Every now and then Cheryl looked towards Kimberley taking in her features and admiring her mannerisms; and sometimes she swore she caught Kimberley doing the same. 

 ~

Cheryl had arrived home late after walking through the rain, resulting in every inch of her body being wet and shivering profusely. After grabbing some left over’s from the fridge she jogged up stairs, dried herself slightly and put on some clean pyjamas, her skin rejoicing in their warmth. She lay on her bed, tucked into a ball, pulling the covers up to her chin ensuring the warm air had no escape. One might have thought that after such an eventful day Cheryl would have fallen into a deep slumber easily, but she was not able to sleep. Kimberley had stirred emotions inside Cheryl which she had never comprehended or even known the existence of. When Kimberley walked into a room Cheryl couldn’t help but smile, her voice was reassuring and comforting and her eyes seemed to penetrate deep into Cheryl’s mind. And they had only known each other for two days. “Maybe I'm just happy to have a new friend” Cheryl thought, aware that this was more of an attempt to convince herself then unlock the truth. “But people don’t usually want to kiss their friends right?” Cheryl continued to think of Kimberley well into the night, and when she finally managed to drift off into sleep, her dreams were filled with the beautiful girl who had an even better smile.