Rose Between Thorns

TWO - Cindy White

CHAPTER 2

The minute I walked through those double doors leading into Palmer High I absolutely regretted every thought I had had that morning about dress code.

I stared at the blinding splash of colour before me as the crowds of people buzzed around like bees to their classes.

The first people I noticed were the Hippies sitting on the steps. They were dressed from head to toe in peace signs and they looked like rainbows with dreadlocks. One girl with a bright beanie pulled out a plastic packet filled with green herbs. She already seemed high.

Under the stairs, sat the Goths. They were sitting in the shadows, covered in black, each with heavy eye makeup. They were all girls - except for one tall, pale, boy with spiky hair and a mass amount of eyeliner.

My gaze was interrupted as a flying toilet roll nearly hit me in the face.

I dodged just in time as it went sailing past, hitting a kid next to me. He was a huge boy with a similar appearance to a burglar, with a shaved head and five piercings on each ear lobe. When he turned to look at me I swear he was going to beat at me up. I held up my hands.

"Err, it wasn't me, I promise-"

But the kid pushed past me to meet one of his friends.

Umm, okay then.

I began to walk down the hallway, clutching my bag as though it was my life. As I walked, I could easily differentiate the groups. There were a group of girls like Brittany, all filing their nails or putting on lipstick through a mirror hung on their locker doors.

There were another group of girls, completely antisocial, texting so fast I could barely see their fingers.

Squeezed in a gap between two sets of lockers was a girl (or was it boy?) with a hoodie over her head as she looked down at the ground.

A huge boy knocked past me, pushing me into a locker right next to two people making out. They stopped kissing and glared at me.

"Uh, sorry..." I murmured, but they had already resumed their steamy session.

I watched them for a second more, thinking of Scott.

My thoughts were distracted as a group of jocks walked through the hall. People parted for them as they ran their hands through their glossy hair and walked arrogantly down the aisle.

The guy at the front was holding a rugby ball and the deep curves of his muscles were visible underneath his white singlet.

The girls filing their nails completely transformed, from staring at themselves or gossiping about people to twirling their hair and greeting the jocks as they walked past. I realised Brittany and Cindy were among them.