Barred by Ballet

Chapter 9: My New Amis

As I walked out of class I made my way to the lunch room. I scanned the room before I fully walked in. It was amazingly beautiful and huge. The ambiance of the room was enough to make you awestruck. I've never experienced anything like this from a dance school's cafeteria. 

There was a percussion band playing renditions of famous classical and jazz music on the miniature podium which was surprisingly upbeat and catchy. Some of the tap dancers were grooving away to the beat. 

Red velvet table top covers and white and black chair dresses decked the room. And a few shiny crystal chandeliers hung from above. There was also a huge window that overlooked the greenery outside. 

There were no waiters but the servers were friendly. I stood in line for a while just trying to decide what to eat. Most of the food was healthy but it smelt delicious. They even allowed one dessert item on our tray. 

The room wasn't so fancy that you felt as if you shouldn't touch anything but it was more shocking that a school's cafeteria could look so inviting. 

"Hey!" Kemma hailed me over to her table. Frantically waving, she called me over with her hands and I caustiously walked in her direction. I wasn't sure why she was so friendly but I hadn't any friends since I got here and not to mention I had nowhere to sit in the lunch room so I played along.

I began sipping on some orange juice to recover my parched throat and to cool me down.

"Let me introduce you to two of my other friends." She said excitedly. "They are both in Year 3. I promise, you'd really like them." she said pointing to a familiar red headed girl and  guy with black disheveled hair. As they walked toward us with their lunch trays in their hands, out of shock, I spat the orange juice I was drinking and it skyrocketed into the air and unto the guy's white T-shirt.

"What a way to greet me squirt!" he said trying to wipe away the spill with the tissue in his hand.

"You're that guy! The one I saw outside the studio." I frantically stated. 

"Yes I'm quite the head turner aren't I?" he replied full of wit while straightening his shirt.

"No! I was about to give you a piece of my mind. You're very lucky mister." I warned while furiously pointing my index finger toward him.

"The name's Freddie," he said while placing his hand on his heart "No need for the formalities mate." He thrust his hand to greet me but I groaned at it.

"Am I missing something?" Kemma asked with a confused expression. "Well, anyway..." she continued the introduction, "This is Poppy!"

"We've met!" Poppy responded while taking a seat next to Kemma, "Kem, I'm glad you're making friends in your Year group. I'm sure tappy here is a keeper." She said picking up the sandwich on her tray.

"It's Mia!" I shouted back.

"Hey, hey keep it down, tappy." She hushed me holding one finger to her lips and waved the bitten sandwich through the air with her other hand, "People are gonna think we're crazy." She muffled with food still in her mouth. This girl was never going to address me by my given name so I physically gave up and I flung my arms in mid air then rolled my eyes. 

That entire time, Kemma and Freddie were laughing their lungs off at the both of us.

"That was so not funny." I shook my head in disgrace at both of them.

"So Kemma here tells me you're from Miami in-it." Poppy stated trying to put the conversation back on track.

"Yeah! Coral Springs, Miami Florida." I responded.

"Miami Ay? I had a cousin who lived there once." Freddie said.

"Crud Freddie! How many bloody cousins do you have? They each live in some country that someone else is from."

"Hey! It's true. He told me himself, once he rode on this great white over the crashing waves of the big old Pacific Ocean right back to the sweet, sunny, sandy, shores of Miami Beach. True story."

"Allow it Freddie! Geez! You're just sitting there making up some fantasy of your nonexistent family members." Poppy argued. "Besides Miami Beach lies within the Atlantic Ocean."

"I knew that love!" Freddie responded unsurely.

"What's it really like there?"  Kemma inquired – ignoring them both.

"Well, you can definitely feel the heat from the sun. That much I can tell you."

They all laughed hysterically at my statement.

"But seriously! It's so different. It's like two different worlds. Over here the sun is out but it's still chilly. How does that work?"

"We must have a shy sun!" Kemma giggled that chirpsy giggle of hers.

"I know how you feel, mate. I'm an Aussie and it was pretty strange moving here for the first time too." Freddie assured me by patting my back.

"It's so weird, don't you think?" I questioned.

"I guess we've grown accustomed to it. It isn't much of a bother." Poppy said.

"Hey! We should take Mia around town some time so she can get the full experience of London." Freddie suggested.

"That'd be cool." I agreed. The others did too. 

Maybe moving wasn't so bad after all. Just maybe.

Hi there Wattpaders, Brown here. Just here to give you and insight into the slang Poppy uses.
'In-it' means isn't it? (Or 'ent' if you're Trini)
'Crud!' Is another way of saying rubbish! But not like trash more like an insult, swear or an expression of disbelief.
'Allow it' means don't bother, forget it or stop it! In this case it meant stop it.
I hope I cleared up any confusion you may have had.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to comment and vote if you liked this chapter.
Bye lovelies!
More to come in the next one →→→→→→