NATASHA

New.

Today it's rumoured that there's a new girl coming to the school.
Some think she's from the highs of Barcelona, and think she'll be the next Shelly. But others think she's from the ghetto of Africa, and that she'll just be another girl to toss to the reject pile. I sit at the window of the back seat on my bus, riding to school. Everyone is chattering away on the new girl.

"So, do you think the new girl will be cute?" Catherine asks me, turning my face towards hers. "Of course not Cathy." I roll my eyes. Cathy is my almost girlfriend; although she's still unsure if it's dating right now will last until we're old. Cathy smiles and turns back to talking to her other friends across from us.

The bus halts suddenly and the creaking of the doors is heard loud and clear. We get off the bus and walk just a couple of steps to find a horde of people crowded around something. "Ooh that must be the new girl!" Cathy's friend squeals dragging Cathy into the crowd. I follow them closely behind as everyone makes way for the head of Cathy's clique; Shelly.

"Oh my LANTA!" Shelly yells dropping to her knees. I look around her friends to see the new girl, and damn she is definitely not  part of the reject pile. She cocks her head to the side at Shelly. "You okay?" She says, reaching her hand out to Shelly. Shelly shoots her head up whipping her blonde hair out of her face and into Catherine's and Wren's faces. Shelly grunts and picks herself up; storming off.

The new girl and the crowd are both as equally confused. The crowd dissipates and I turn around too, starting to make my way towards the school before I hear a voice. "Wait!" I stop in my tracks and pivot to see the new girl calling out to me. "Is that girl okay?" I nod. Shelly was probably just in shock. "She's fine. No sweat new girl." My eyes widen and I cover my mouth; I don't even know her name!

"It's pronounced Natasha." She giggles, sticking her hand out to shake mine. I sigh in relief. "I'm Brenton." We shake hands, she has a strong grip. "So where are you from?" I ask as we start to walk together towards the school. "That's a hard question to answer.. let's just say I've moved a lot but I've been living here for the past couple of years practising my English."

I nod understandingly. "What's your first class?" I ask, stopping at the stairs. "Computing." I look down at my feet. Computing is my second class. Natasha walks up the stairs and acts as if she knows where she's going. "You know the class is behind me, right?" Natasha turns around and her face turns bright red as she scurries down the stairs running past me.

I walk up the stairs towards the Algebra class, along with the other 50 students to get to my class. "Brenton!" I look up from my feet and see the captain of the basketball team calling my name; a.k.a Robert my best friend. "It's 8:13, 3 minutes late." I let out a sigh. "Don't take it personal. I was just talking with Natasha."

"Natasha Gene? My ex?" Robert asks grinning. He still isn't completely over her. "No, Natasha New Girl." Robert gives me a face of confusion. "That's the new girls name? Is she any good?" I shrug. "How would I know if the only good I know is Cathy." Robert grunts and walks away. I run up to him.

"Where are you going now Borker?" Robert turns to me but keeps his pace. "I'm going to Haley to ask her about Natasha."  I stop. Haley can't possibly know everything (or anything) about Natasha since she just moved to our school. I turn around and go over to Algebra class. Robert isn't worth chasing after.

I stride into my algebra class, turning heads. I sit in my regular seat which is furthest from the desk, front row. My seat is in front of Delilah and beside Adele and across from Trey. Adele silently pushes her desk towards mine until it's close enough to whisper distance. "Is there a test today?" She whisper shouts.