Melody

New Girl

How do you start at a new school when you have no idea what to expect? Worse, starting at a new high school mid-term when you've only been homeschooled before. Let me tell you, it's not easy. Especially when you weren't even a normal kid. Looking at the gates of my new school, filled with parents dropping their kids off, siblings squabbling, I felt severely out of place. 

I didn't have parents who would drop me off at school. I had never been to proper school before. 

I live with Kaylie and Sam, my guardians. Guardians, not parents, because I'm a foster kid. I never knew my parents. Kaylie and Sam are nice enough, but they don't really love me like that. Like their child.

Sam was out most of the time, so it fell on Kaylie to look after me. She said that there was no good primary schools near us, so she homeschooled me. I never had the courage to tell her that school offered more than just lessons.  

And now I was here. High school. It would be different if this was the start of the year, when friend-making was still going on, but now the groups were established, friends were made, lines had been drawn. I was the new girl. 

The bell rang, startling me. I hurried inside, looking at the schedule that I had been given. 

Year 7 Class 7C

Isabella Lenaway

English

Science

Recess

Mathematics

Drama

Lunch

History

And there it was... right at the end of the day.

Music

That forbidden, wonderful thing.

I sighed, and slipped the schedule into my bag. Now wasn't the time to think of it.

In my first class, English, whispers and stares followed me wherever I went. Some kids looked like they might be friendly, but no-one approached me - waiting to see if anyone else had a claim, as if I was a bag of lolly snakes and they all wanted it. Did it even occur to them that they could share the bag? 

This continued throughout the day, until lunch, where at least five people invited me to sit with them. I ended up with  a group of girls who seemed to be the 'cool' gang. I wouldn't have sat with them normally, but what did I know about friend-making? Besides, the leader had all but dragged me there. I stayed quiet as they chatted about makeup and boys and stuff that I didn't care about, until one of them said, "Cool necklace!"

I looked around. The speaker seemed to be a pretty blonde girl sitting two seats away from me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"My name is Allie," she said, smiling, "And I like your necklace. Where did you get it?"

I looked down at the necklace I always wore, a bright silver treble clef shimmering against the horrible maroon uniform. It was the one thing I had that represented what I loved. "I bought it on EBay." Sam and Kaylie had given me free reign to buy one thing for my birthday. They had been very disappointed in my choice of this necklace. 

Allie nodded. "You're Isabella, right? Do you like Isabella, or do you prefer Bella? Or maybe Izzy?" 

Sam and Kaylie always called me Isabella, but... "Izzy." I decided. "Call me Izzy." 

Allie grinned, and I wondered if making friends wouldn't be so hard after all.