Breath I thought to myself as I scanned the noisy cafeteria, trying to find where to sit. Just like my old school, there were obvious clichés everywhere; the nerds, the populars, the band-geeks, the emo’s, and the outcasts, but unlike my old school, no one knew me. There was no Nora to get on my nerves nor was there Mike to test my patience with his pervy words. All around me, people continued with their conversations, oblivious to my existence. This was the one thing I had been dreading about moving to a new school, in a new state entirely; finding new friends. Back in Maryland, I had floated between the band-geeks, the populars, the Asians, and the outcasts. Here, I was…nothing.
I sighed in relief, exhaling a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding when I noticed an empty table not far from where I stood. As quickly as I could without seeming to desperate to get to it, I made my way towards it. Just as I was about to sit down on one of the round metallic low chairs surrounding it, a whole bunch of girls, about seven or eight of them, in matching red t-shirts and dark blue jeans settled around it all at once like they owned it. I froze, momentarily embarrassed by the image of what I possible looked like in the eyes of the onlookers. One of the girls, one with bright blue eyes, blonde hair, and the whole Southerner package glanced up at me and smiled, showing off perfectly white teeth
‘Hi….are you new?” She asked, her voice slick, smooth, and pleasing to the ears. Every eye on the table turned on me, but strangely, I wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that they were all looking at me. It may have been mostly due to the fact that unlike what I expected, they were actually smiling at me.
“Uh...yeah. Yeah, I am,” I replied, wincing slightly at how hoarse and unused my voice sounded. I probably looked like a total loser to them. I suddenly wished I hadn’t worn the yellow long-sleeved shirt and black tailored pants my mother had made me wear. It made me feel ancient.
“Well, why are you standing there like that? Come sit,” The girl said, and without even thinking, I did as she said, settling on the seat directly across from hers. There was just something about her that screamed ‘leader’. “What’s your name?’ She added.
“Luna, Luna Williams,” I replied, smiling stiffly at her. My back felt as though someone had poured cold-water down my shirt.
“Nice to meet you Luna. I’m Eleanor,” She said, reaching across the table with her left hand. I took it in mine and shook it slightly, withdrawing it to my side when she released it. “And I am the leader of the school’s HOSA team…by the way, this is that team,’ She added, her smile widening. She was pretty, like model-like pretty. She had the high-cheek bones and full plum lips that modeling agencies were usually looking for and she also seemed to have the brains to go with her looks. It was easy to see why she was leader. “This here is Anna, Diana, Deliria, Juliet, Jenny, Emmy, and Lori,” She added, gesturing around the table as she pointed at each girl in turn. They all flashed me bright, sunny smiles. Anna, Diana, and Juliet all had blonde hair and looked a lot alike; the same high-cheek bones, the same shiny brown eyes, the same flawless olive-colored skin, the same slim noses and tiny bodies. Jenny, Deliria and Emmy all had waist-length black hair, wide heart-shaped faces, and thick plum pink lips. It was strange how much they looked alike, and if not for the fact that they were the only ones who had even bothered to invite me to join them since when I arrived earlier that morning, I would have thought it creepy. Lori was the only one who stood out among all of them. She had shoulder-length deep red hair with streaks of black in it, bright green eyes that complimented her hair, pale skin and the body of a dancer. She was the only one who seemed….real. Not-so-plastic, and unlike the others, she wasn’t smiling. Instead, she was staring at her phone like it was the most important thing in the world. I didn’t mind though. The other girls were talking to me so it didn’t really bother me.
