A new school. A new start. I liked the sound of that.
I looked in the mirror, grimacing at the uniform. A white blouse, with a green and red striped tie, a black oversized blazer, a green and red checked pleated skirt, to the knee. So unattractive, but I was stuck with it. I'd never seen the point in uniform, I mean schools were supposed to be about the grades, and not about what we look like. We'd all be so much comfier in our own clothes, and we'd probably learn a lot better. But unfortunately, it wasn't our choice. I put my hair up into a quick, neat ponytail, mostly because I didn't have the effort to do anything more with it. I liked my hair. It was long, and chocolate brown. Straight, and easy to do whatever I wanted with it.
I looked at my reflection.I'd grown out of my chubby cheeks, thank god. My hips and chest showed that I was one of the oldest in the school, and I was a comfortable size. Not a stick, no thigh gap or anything like that. But comfortable. I had green eyes, which I'd always liked, and my name was pretty ordinary, Melissa Hazelwood. I hoped I wouldn't get picked on, but then again I had bigger things to worry about this year.
Starting at a new school in the most important year of secondary school isn't the best idea in the world. A lot of my coursework was being sent over from my old school, but I'd already been told of the work I'd have to do to keep up. I was prepared to do it though, I had to get good grades. Grades were everything I cared about. It had to be better than before though. I couldn't go back there, it was bad enough the first time.
I smiled at my reflection, sure that I looked presentable. I bent down and picked up my bag, and then looked at my watch. I had twenty minutes until the bus came, and even though the bus stop was at the end of my road, I wanted to get there early. Missing the bus on the first day would not be a good idea. I looked through my bag to make sure that I had everything I needed, and then I took the stairs two at a time.
"Melissa, I made you pancakes for your first day. I know they're your favourite," I smiled and kissed my mothers cheek, as I sat down to a plate of pancakes. I ate a couple, said bye to my parents and brother, who was starting college today, and left the house. I walked up the road and waited awkwardly with two other girls taking the bus, but they were starting year 7 so they were too busy being nervous to notice me. As soon as I sat on the bus, alone, I put in some earphones and relaxed, blocking out the world. My phone buzzed and I looked to see a text from Sylvia.
Good luck today babe, school's not the same without you x
I could only count on one hand the amount of people who actually missed me like Sylvia did. I'd never been popular, and since everything happened and I left when dad got a new job here, I was even less popular. I'd never been bothered before, but when I only met up with 3 people over summer, I felt more lonely than ever. I wondered what my new classmates would be like. Would they hate me? Most probably. I just hoped to find at least a few friends. The bus pulled up next to school, and I was one of the first off. Here goes nothing.
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Once I was given my timetable and told where to go to my form room, I made my way up the steps. Once I found the right classroom (eventually) I knocked on the door shakily.
"Come in." I stepped in, to a classroom full of noise. Students everywhere were chatting with friends, doing late homework from over summer, laughing and swapping stories. Not at all like form in my old school, where everyone was forced to sit in silence whilst the teacher did whatever. A balding man with a blonde beard introduced me to the class, and then sent me to the back with other girls in my year.
Oh, god. Oh, god. Be calm, just say hi. If they ignore you just sit and read. Maybe they're nice?
I approached the group, and they looked at me curiously. I took a chair next to them, and mumbled hi.
"Hi! I'm Carly, and this is Sophia, Michael, Imogen and Joseph. You're Melissa, right?" I nodded and smiled. I looked round at the group and they all smiled at me.
"Can we look at your timetable? We want to see when we have the same lessons as you." A tanned, dark haired girl asked me. She was very pretty, with dark eyes and a wide smile. She reminded me of one of my old friends, and I decided to trust her.
"Sure." I handed it to them and they all discussed it.
"So, what do you think of the school so far?" A pale, blonde haired boy asked me. I think his name was Joseph.
"I think it's okay, it's supposed to be one of the best schools in the area right? I'm just a little nervous. It's a lot bigger here than my last school." He nodded, understanding.
"It's normal to be nervous, but you have us, and you'll soon settle in."
"Okay, thanks that helps. I think it's mostly Year 11. I mean we've got so much work to do this year, plus some things I have to redo that I did in ym old school, or I can't pass."
"Plenty of students, and teachers here can help tutor you so don't worry too much, okay?" I nodded, and smiled.
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By lunch time I was exhausted. I'd met so many people and had so many teachers, I felt sure I would never remember everybody. I'd been in every class with the people from form, and I was starting to learn their names which was good. We sat down in the lunch hall, me, Carly, Imogen and Joseph.
"Where are Sophia and Michael?" I asked as we sat down. They all rolled their eyes, and gave each other a look. I felt like I'd missed something.
"The caretakers cupboard, probably. If not, I'd say one of the bathroom stalls."
"Oh." I understood straight away, and I was a little disgusted but if that's what they like doing..
"Ever since they got together a few months ago they've been to lunch about 5 times. They're too busy having something else to eat." Why, oh why did I have to have mayonaisse in my lunch? I threw away my sandwhich, suddenly not wuite as hungry as I was before.
"There are a lot of people like that here, you just get used to it." Imogen said, shrugging.
"So..do any of you have a boyfriend?" I asked. They all giggled.
"Well...we don't, but Carly does. Care to explain?" Carly, a small blonde haired girl, giggled and blushed.
"My boyfriend's in college...he's so hot and flirty. Best part is..he doesn't even know he's my boyfriend yet!"
"Okay..I'm confused."
"Basically, she's been flirting with him for weeks. The bitchiest girl in school, Anna, she has the biggest crush on him, and we hate her so we're messing with her, just a little. Carly shows her the texts, telling her they're together, when they're not."
"Do you like him?"
"He's okay, I don't know him very well though. We're seeing how long we can make Anna believe this. Do you see her, over there?" They pointed to a tall, slim girl. Her skirt was so short it couldn't really be classed as a skirt, and most of her top buttons were undone, showing that she had developed. The boys, around her were enjoying the view.
"Um she...she's delevoped." They laughed and nodded.
"She's like that all the time. She's slept with most of the boys here, she's even got her eye on Michael, I wouldn't be surprised if she burst into the cupboard and joined them. That's how desperate she can be." I was very surprised. I'd never even kissed anyone, and yet people around me had done everything with people. It was pretty astonoshing.
"This school isn't what it looks like, be careful." Joseph said to me, when Carly and Imogen and gone to get their lunch. I nodded, wondering exactly what he meant by that.
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Thank you for reading, I hope you liked my first chapter :) more updates to come
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