School. The only legal form of torture left. For the children of Octavian County Day the summer had been a long one, though people still clung to it in realisation it was over. Short skirts and pretty dresses were swapped for humble jeans and a sweater now that winter’s chill was kicking in.
One girl in particular, Harleigh D'Lacey was feeling the bite. She had just returned from a month of partying in California, with her irresponsible cousins, and now had to climb back up the school's ever-changing social ladder.
Walking briskly toward her brand new Lexus Sport she tsked at the sight of a freshman, who was in Harleigh's opinion severely under dressed for school. She looked as if her family had never had a paycheck over $250,000 and even worse, the girl had zero taste. The drab brown sweater clung to her arms, making her seem even fatter than she actually was.
The girl hurried towards the bus stop, and sent Harleigh apprehensive looks every so often. Harleigh had taken to sitting on her bonnet whilst staring at herself in the compact of her NARS blusher, pouting occasionally to see the full force of the Jungle Red lipstick she bought back in Cali.
The bright yellow of the school bus flashed in her peripheral vision causing her to laugh aloud. She couldn't remember the last time she stepped on that death trap, and to be perfectly honest she didn't want to. Harleigh looked on with malice in her eyes as 'brown sweater girl' boarded the bus, and sat by herself in the front row. Watching them go, she slunk into the plushy leather seat of her brand new Lexus.
The car itself was a gift, but not from any family member. It was from a rich lawyer who she slept with just after the summer break started. It was well worth it, Harleigh thought as she felt the car purr into ignition, even if he was an incredibly rubbish shag. The engine jumped to life and sent off down the tricky roads of Huntley toward Octavian County Day, or rather OCD.
The social order at OCD was ever changing, meaning Harleigh had to be versatile to stay on top. If it were fashionable to date a nerd, she'd do it. If it was the trend to become even skinnier than her pencil thin size 0, she'd die trying. Stepping out of her car, she strolled towards the front entrance. She smiled to herself. It was an odd smile, even for Harleigh.
That's funny, she thought, don't people normally swarm me at this point? The odd person waved at her, and scurried away, but nobody really engaged in conversation with her. Boy, this summer had been almost too long. She hadn't been home to defend her home court, and she was sure that Khloe and Angela hadn't defended it either. They'd still be number two and three around here no matter who ended up at number one.
The automatic doors swung open just as she swung her Prada hobo bag in peach off her shoulder with a heavily manicured hand. Her false nails clung to the soft leather like glittering talons. Dumping the bag on the conveyor belt, she stepped through the metal detecting gate. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Miss, I'm going have to ask you to come over here." A friendly security guard sounded sorry for having to pull Harleigh over. Sighing softly, Harleigh plucked her gorgeous white gold hoops from her ears and dumped them in the security guard's tray. With a final, bored sigh, Harleigh strutted through the gate and this time a beep didn't greet her. Handing Harleigh her bag with a smile, the security guard turned to the next student. Feeling particularly malicious Harleigh just had to comment.
"You know," Harleigh glanced at the name tag on little miss security's front. "I know that being a security guard is seriously butch and you have to live up to the men, but couldn't you do it in something less frumpy? You're an eyesore hon." And with that Harleigh sauntered away toward her locker where both Khloe and Angela stood nervously.
Khloe was picking stray pieces of yarn from her woollen sweater, whereas Angela was wringing her hands every so often.
"Hey... Harleigh! How's it going?" Khloe seemed faux- cheerful setting Harleigh on edge. Without a word, she stepped toward her locker and was seconds from opening it when Angela enveloped her in hug. Or as much as a seriously thin girl can envelope someone. Harleigh pushed her away and wheeled round to face the both of them.
