Music is the key

Chapter 8 (Bella)

I grip the sink in the bathroom breathing in and out slowly to to try and stop myself crying. I glance at myself in the mirror. I'm a mess. My eyes are red and puffy and my hair looks like I got dragged through a bush backwards.

"So are you going to tell me why you're crying?" Sophie turns me around to face her and pulls foundation, eye shadow, eye liner and mascara out of her bag and gets to work on my hideous face.

"He asked me about personal family matters." I mutter. Sophie looks at me expectantly, waiting for elaboration. "I don't want to talk about it right now." I say looking at the floor.

"Well, you are welcome to tell me when your ready." She yanks my head up to face her. "Close your eyes."

I close them and feel the hard tip of the eyeliner pencil brushing across my eyelid.

"Open them." I open my eyes as Sophie hands me the mascara. "You can do it yourself." I turn towards he mirror and gasp.

My make up covers any sign that I was crying. I look amazing as well. Almost pretty. "You're incredible!" I hug Sophie.

"I know, I know. Now hurry up and get the mascara on. We can't be late to the assembly." She says. I swipe the mascara across my eyelashes. Then we run out of the bathroom towards the hall.

We enter the hall and immediately all eyes are on us. The assembly hasn't started but we are definitely late from the glares the teachers are giving us. Great. Just what I need. Just got here and the teachers have already pinpointed me as a troublemaker. I feel my cheeks go up in flames and stare at the floor.

"Oh come on." Sophie grabs my wrist tugging me towards a group of kids in the middle of the room. We make our way towards them clambering over other people's knees and feet while they glare at us for treading on their toes. Finally Sophie stops and drops to sit on the floor beside 3 other girls and James. I sit next to her and carefully avoid James's gaze.

"Bella, these are the awesomest people you will ever meet." Sophie gestures wildly at the three girls who smile at me. A girl with red waves and freckles leans towards me.

"I'm Charlotte." She says with a wide smile "That brunette chick over there-" She jerks her thumb at a girl behind her who's got on a pair of dark sunglasses, a nirvana band shirt and black heels with spikes on them "-is Cin. It's short for Cinderella. No joke. Her parents are the weirdest people you will ever meet." She glances at Cin who's glaring at the kids around her. "She's going through a sort of rebellious stage." Charlotte whispers to me. I just nod and give her a small smile as she leans back.

"HI!" Says the last girl in the group. She's blonde like Sophie but with pink and blue highlights in her hair. "I'm Carmen. I'm a drama student, same with Cin while Charlotte is an art student and of course you already know James and Sophie. It's so awesome that we have a Sophomore hanging out with us." She giggles and flashes her perfect teeth at me. "I'm a Junior but the rest of them are Seniors so at least I'll have someone to hang out with next year."

She gives me another smile before smoothing down her floral skirt and turning to chat to James.

"She's a bit of a Bubbly person." Says Sophie, rolling her eyes at Carmen with a small smile.

"ATTENTION!" Booms a loud voice.

I look over at the stage where the principal, Mr Chase, is standing with a microphone. He launched into a speech about how good it is to have us all back, how we need to do our school proud with everything we do and how he will kick us out if we don't perform to his standards. I have really just zoned out and am just staring at the sage blankly not listening to a word he's saying.

"Bella?" Charlotte pokes me hard in the arm. I snap myself out of my daze and look at her.

"You need to go over to Ms Sellman so she can give you your timetable then go to lesson one." She rises off the floor pulling her blue handbag over her shoulder. Gives me a smile and walks off in another direction.

I make myself stand and elbow my way through the the flow of people towards Ms Sellman.

"Hello, name?" She asks glancing down at the list of names in front of her on the table.

"Bella Hale." I say and she sifts through a wad of time tables before handing me one.

"There you go." She says with a smile. "You've got maths in C3 first up with Mr Arra."

I give her a smile then walk out of the hall and try to find the maths building using only the memory of the quick tour I had with James to help me. I eventually locate the building, find the room and slip into a seat in the second row and wait patiently while the other students file in for the lesson to begin.

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Hey guys thanks so much for the 144 views of my story! Just a quick note 'Cin' is pronounced 'sin' like the start of Cinderella. You'll find out more about Cin's parents later.