The Melody Of Us

so, you wanna bully the newbie?

I swear to god that if Letty George sees me, we're so gonna have another row and this time, we'll have solid witnesses.

I plunge into my bag and start fiddling with anything that doesn't really exist. For example, Gabriel Stone's anniversary gift for me?

I pick out a register and slap it open on the desk.
Hailey looks at me weirdly and takes out her own register.
I start doodling Gabriel's name around the corners and give out a sigh.

"You're too a Gabriel Stone fan?" Hailey asks, looking at the doodled images.
"Well, duh." I say.
"Funny, because his –"
"You!" We're interrupted by a high pitched voice.

Well, I know that voice pretty well. The world's most annoying voice ever created.
I look up from my register and find The Bitch throwing daggers at me.

Okay, folks. It's show time!

I shut the register with a pen inside it and smile extra sweetly at her.

"Hey, what's up?" I colour every syllable of mine with A-list sarcasm. She tastes the bittersweet melody and scowls.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She barks. Well, there's this annoying pin drop silence surrounding me and I hate it with everything I have.

"Well, what do you do in school?" I ask, still smiling.
"That's none of your business." She spits, locking her arms in front of her chest, which inevitably allows a disgusting skin show.

Wanna know what I did? I laughed. In her face! Well, that must've shown her how freakishly childish she sounded.
Her face paled for a second but then she was back to being the same wicked bitch.

"We can't say that for you, right?" She asks, flicking at her blonde locks. "We all know what you do."
"Really? Can I have the pleasure of knowing that?"

I can feel Hailey getting numb every second. She even pinches me lightly on my arm to stop me, but I know that I've got this.

"Don't mess with me, newbie. You don't want me to put your name in my 'Devastate Her Life' list." She says and I raise an eye brow.
"Oh. So, you wanna bully the newbie?"
"Oh, the poor soul!" She laughs bitterly. "She's calling it bullying. Honey, I can make you dig a hole for yourself and bury your fucking body inside it for good."

I make an amused face. This is interesting.
I nod my head lightly and stand up, slapping the desk a little.
I walk around the table and stand at my full height, still a little shorter than her.

"Do me a favor, George." I say and know instantly that I've hit a sore spot by using her surname. "Try me with your degraded skills."

She narrows her eyes at me and grits her teeth. The mole above her lip looks prominent and I wonder if what I've done has invited a bitch's full waved wrath upon me...

"Watch your back, newbie." With that, she marches off towards the last bench of the class, followed by her minions.
***

"You do have a death wish." Hailey says, looking at me.
"Uh, well. I can't stand her bitchy aura."
"No, you don't understand. There's a reason why people never match steps with her. She can destroy even her best friend's life, without having second thoughts. You've got yourself into trouble the first day of your school. Why would you do that?"

"Hailey, chill. I have really amazing experiences. You'll have fun, trust me."

This is our free period and we're taking a walk across one of the football fields of this school.
Hailey said that the view from this place is breathtaking. I couldn't disagree with her.

So, here we are.

I sit down beside her, leaning against a tree trunk. Hailey dives her hands into her bag and pulls out a packet of onion crisps.

"Are we allowed to eat here?" I ask, remembering how Dean Abigail would glare at a student for littering her school's property.

"Technically we're not. But who cares?" She says, popping a crisp inside her mouth. I gape at her with a weird expression. "What?" She asks, her eye brows knitting together.
"You don't look like a rule breaker to me." I say, still looking at her weirdly.
"I might not look like a rule breaker. But I am one." She winks. "For others, I am like a closed book with many secrets to be revealed. But in reality, I can be a cool person as well."
"Good to know." I grin.
"So? You're into music, huh?" She asks and I smile at where this conversation is going. Music always makes me happy.
"Oh, totes. Music is like my alter ego. Just being the better one of the two."
"That's amazing. I too sing, you know? Just like a whole group of wild cats screeching at midnight."
"Oh wow." I laugh.
"But seriously. It's amazing. Do you have a YouTube channel?"
"Of course."
"Well," she pulls out her phone from her pocket and shoves it in front of my face. "Type it down."

I shake my head and take her phone, opening my channel for her to see.

"Oh my," she says once I hand over the phone to her. "You've got so many subscribers. That's amazing."
"Thanks. I like sharing what I record. It makes me happy."
"Well, I'm gonna watch all the videos once I get back home."
"Sure." I smile. "So, what do you do in your spare time?"
"Uh... I... I don't do much. I like baking. So that's all I do when I have nothing else running around in my head."
"Then you're baking my birthday cake."
"Done." She grins and I copy her expression.
"I like your hair." I say, looking at the perfect blonde falls.
"Thanks. I dyed them blonde two months ago. I had honey brown hair before but they didn't look good on me. So, I decided to dye them. Red, blue, black. Everything. But, mom ended up pushing me in for blonde hair. Guess, she was right about the colour suiting my complexion."
"She definitely was. But I can't imagine you with blue or red hair."
"Yeah?" She laughs. "It was a disaster. I almost gave a heart attack to my boyfriend. He threatened to break up with me if I didn't change them back to normal."
"You have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah. Wait for recess, honey. I'll show you what fun sounds like."
"That'll be great. You have a friend circle?"
"Yeah. It's seven of us, including me. Three girls and four boys. That'll be Janice, Cath and me, and Nick, Adam– my boyfriend and the twins."
"Twins?"
"Yeah. Elliot and Jonah. Jonah is dating Janice and they both are just amazing. Nick and Cath are THE best friends and they've got each other's backs. Nick is like the bad boy. He's dated Letty for three months and then dumped her for someone else. He's got guts. Elliot is more like the shy–guy. He hardly ever talks. And Adam... well, he's Adam and that's it."
"Right. You've got an amazing group of friends. I'd love to meet them."
"Oh, you're so gonna love them. They're insane, but as welcoming as one can be."
"That's great."

The period bell rings and we both groan in unison. It's maths for me and life skills for Hailey.
We both get up and straighten our clothes.

"I'll see you at recess. Meet me in front of the café." She says, taking the left aisle.
"Yep. I'll see ya."

And this is how I finally found a new friend.
***