ICE COLD | billie eilish

02 | plump lips

When I entered the classroom everybody was seated and talking in their groups and the teacher, Mrs Guerres was writing on the smart board.

I approached her and tapped her shoulder. She turned around and her eyes widened in surprise before she cleared her throat. "Class, can I have your attention, please!"

Everybody quietened down and I felt so many eyes scrutinise me as Mrs Guerres talked.

"We have a new student joining us today, please welcome her kindly. Would you like to tell everyone who you are?" She smiled kindly at me and moved to sit at her desk.

I held my head up high as everybody stared at me. "Santana Angeles. I'm 17." I looked at them all and noticed that both Athena and Jane were in this class. Athena was surrounded by a large group of girls and they were all whispering to each other, crowding around her. The whole time Athena didn't take her eyes off me; her gaze felt predatory and menacing.

"My name is Mrs Guerres but you can call me Mrs G, it's easier to say." I nodded and shifted my gaze away from Athena.

Jane Emily was on the other side of the room with her friends and they all stared at me too, though less threatening than Athena and her posse. It was definitely obvious that the room was spilt in two.

"Okay! How about you take that seat at the back, Miss Angeles And we'll get started." My seat was right in the middle of the row at the back and I felt heavy eyes stare me down as I walked there. But I never let my calm demeanour drop.

The lesson was filled with Athena staring at me, and when she wasn't doing that she was whispering rapidly to her friends or mugging Jane Emily and her friends, who glared back. Is there some type of war between these two groups, for real? This is some middle school shit.

I just got on with my work and at the end of the lesson was the first to walk out because quite frankly, I couldn't stand to be in that classroom any longer.

My next class was Defensive Combat, which I guess was just learning self defence and how to beat a bitch up. Okay not that last bit, but you get the gist.

It was situated in the basement floor, a wide expanse of grey concrete that stretched on really far, so you couldn't really see the end of it.

One of the first things I noticed when I entered was how the temperature was freezing. I felt goosebumps prickle my arms and rubbed at them to warm up.

The second thing I noticed was how the only people there were a large group in their kits laughing and talking loudly to one another, so their voices echoed across the entire room.

I ignored them all and headed into the direction of the changing rooms to right.

It smelled like sweat, unfortunately. I took out my gym clothes out my bag and stripped to my underwear before slipping on the fresh leggings and black shirt.

I was stuffing my bag and uniform in a locker when Athena and her numerous friends walked in, talking loudly. They glanced at me as they began to change. Take a picture it'll last longer.

I locked my locker and walked out the room. I decided to sit down on the concrete and close my eyes to block out everyone else.

Athena's group came back in, then Jane and her friends showed up too. Now there was three separate groups, all glaring at each other. Great. The loudest people were the ones that were in the room first, and I had yet to meet any one of those people.

"Alright class! Settle down," Mr Creed, the Defensive Combat teacher strolled in and set his briefcase down on a desk to the side. He was a lean man, maybe about 35 years old. His voice was gruff and he gave off the impression that he didn't want to be here.

"First things first, let's get it over with. We have a new student, blah blah blah. Stand up and come to the front. Give your name and element variation, please."

I opened my eyes and almost shrunk away from the amount of people that were watching me. There were at least 60 pairs of eyes watching me as I stood up and walked to stand next to Mr Creed.

I kept my face blank. "My name is Santana Angeles and I don't have an element variation. I have a Pure gift."

As soon as my last sentence left my mouth it was like an flurry of surprise. People chattered with curiosity and talked loudly amongst the groups, looking at me differently and turning to each other to whisper. Then, everybody began to quiet down and look at one girl in particular who looked at me with an unreadable expression.

She wore the gym kit in her own individual way: the black shirt was a couple sizes bigger and she wore black basketball shorts. Her hair was down, jet black and on her head she wore a LV patterned bandana. It was undeniable that she was gorgeous; blue eyes that looked like glass and plump lips. I admired her ruby rings that shone on her fingers, and the silver linked chains around her neck.

She was one of the people in the group that got here first, I think. Her expression was completely guarded, no room for invasion.

They all looked between her and me and no one made a sound. She opened her mouth and I noticed her perfect teeth. "What element?"

Once again the focus was on me. "Fire."