The Animal Inside of Me

Chapter Two - The New Kids

“Hey, Cat!”

I looked up as I heard my infamous nickname being shouted across the cafeteria. My friend, Sarah, was waving at me from a table, her lunch tray piled high with goop and god-knows-what-else sitting in front of her. Sighing, I made a bee-line for the table and took a seat next to her.

“Hi, Sarah. Don’t call me Cat.” I greeted my friend. Sarah and I have been best friends since first grade. Sarah has always been a girly-girl, wearing her long brunette hair in waves and outlining her chocolate brown eyes with black eyeliner. She always wears the latest trends and encourages me to do the same. Unfortunately, her kidnap-Katharine-and-buy-her-cool-clothes-at-the-mall missions always backfire the second we get there. I tend to zone in on the book stores and camp out there until closing time.    

“What’d get, Kitty?” Sarah asked, ignoring my no-nickname request. Sighing, I picked at today’s mold experiment with my fork.

“Leftover’s from today’s chemistry experiment.” I replied. Sarah made a face.

“Yuck!” She exclaimed.

“If you don’t like it so much, then why do you get it?” a new voice asked. I looked over at our new recruit.

“Because then we’d have nothing to complain about, duh!” Sarah said, taking a mouthful of what the school claimed was Jell-O.

“Hey Mel.” I greeted my second friend. Mel has been my friend since sixth grade. She wears her black hair short and is a part-time Goth. But I love her, none-the-less. Her only flaw is that she also calls me “Cat”. Though unlike Sarah, it’s just to get on my nerves.

“Hey, Cat how’s it goin’?” Mel asked, taking a seat across from me.

“Don’t call me Cat.” I mumbled, stabbing at my food.

“So, have you seen the new students?” Mel asked, taking a bite of the “Meatloaf surprise”.

“Which one?” Sarah asked. “They came in hoards today. And they all seem to know each other. I mean, look!” Sarah gestured over to two tables filled with kids. I followed her gaze and saw exactly what she meant.

Hunter and James were far from being the only new kids. And they seemed to have formed their own groups.

“Fascinating, aren’t they?” Mel asked. “I heard from some of the student that they’re rivals. Some even think they’re in a gang.” I turned to Mel in surprise.

“A gang?” I echoed. Mel nodded.

“Yeah.” She confirmed. “Look. See that sandy-blonde dude, the one sitting next to Hunter- you know Hunter, he’s in your History class-  he seems to be the leader of that group. You can tell because everyone treats him with some kind of respect. His name is Conner. Then there are the twins, those two boys with the blonde hair, you can’t really miss them, they’re practically identical. They’re names are Leon and Toby...though I can’t really tell which is which. And there’s Bell, the blonde chick who’s constantly touching Hunter’s arm. You can totally tell she has a thing for him.”

I stared at Hunter’s table in silent awe. Mel was right. They did seem to b one big group.

“What about James’s group then?” I asked, turning to the second group.

“Them?” Sarah asked. “Well, obviously James. And then the brown haired kid, the scrawny one that’s sitting beside him, his name’s Chase. And the blonde chick, The one with a little sparkle in her eye, that’s Willow. First day here, and already several guys have asked her out. She rejected them all. She seems to have a thing for the redish-brown haired boy. His name’s Zach. He’s the one that looks like he’s about to tear Conner’s throat out. Not the friendliest of people, but what he lacks in personality, he makes up for in style. And there’s Mark. He’s the rough-looking one with the black hair. Legend has it that he got sent here after he killed a person in his other school. He’s a wanted fugitive in ten states and eats pain for breakfast.”