Paper Airplanes

Chapter 6

She pulled out a red card and swiped it into a small device attached to the wall. The door slid open and we stepped inside, giving me my first view of the dorm. As soon as you walk in, you can see the living room. It looked so nice; it had like a black and red theme. The walls were painted a deep red and black sofas were scattered around the room in front of a huge flat screen. There were some girls sitting in there already, watching some cookery show. They turned at the sound of the door being opened and started whispering when they caught a glimpse of me.

The new girl. I almost forgot for a second that it was actually me.

There was a lot of whispering going on; it’s just so annoying when people do that! It’s so obvious that they are talking about me but they still think they need to whisper about me, in front of me. Two girls, twins, stepped up and walked towards me.

They walked in unison, their rhythm matching each other’s as they both smiled warmly. They were both wearing the black jumpsuit and they both had red ribbons on their shoulders, stating that they were first years. But instead of having the normal bow, one of them had it tied into a circle. Probably a way to tell them apart I think automatically, trying to note down any other changes between them. But to my dismay that was the only way you could tell them apart. They both had medium-length dark chocolate hair and big brown eyes. They both looked strangely thin and their mouths were set into smiles.

“Hi! You must be Ashleigh! I’m Anastasia. Anastasia Petrova” the first one said with an unusual perkiness. She was the one with the bow. I also detected a slight accent within the words she said; whatever it was it was definitely Eastern European.

“And I’m Katarina Petrova. Hope you’re getting on well!” the second one said with a smile. She was the one with the circle loop near her shoulder. I smiled at both of them. They seemed genuine enough but given the nature of the school I wouldn’t be too hasty with the judgement.

“Hi. Thanks but I don’t think I’m getting onto a great start” I said nervously, trying to avoid the intensity of the glares around me. As soon as I said that heads perked up around the room.

Closing my eyes I couldn’t help but feel slightly bitter about the situation; none of these girls are interested until they get some gossip. I shouldn’t really expect anything different; we’re girls, gossip is like our personal life support. Hypothetically speaking of course.

Rosalinda looked around, noticing the immediate attention as well. The twins didn’t look happy about the fact I didn’t go off to a great start. Everyone just went silent. All eyes were on me, for the second time that day and no-one spoke. It only lasted about a couple of minutes but it was so uncomfortable and the tension was so thick in there. Seriously, you could cut it with a knife.

“Um, I’m gonna go show Ashleigh our room and then we’ll go down to dinner” Rosalinda whispered to the twins.  They both nodded briefly and followed our lead, with me following close behind. The awkward silence was unbearable. It’s like they can hear every misshapen heartbeat, the palpitations loud and obvious.

But moving on from that, I couldn’t wait to see our room. If it’s anything like the living room, I think I’m gonna like it. All four of us walked up the stairs silently, ignoring the instant noise that started happening as soon as I left the room. What a way to make a girl feel welcome I think spitefully as we ascend the carpeted stairs, letting my fingers run across the smooth cream wall. Soon we were in front of another door and Rosalinda pulled out her card.

“Um, these cards-” I started off worriedly, a dozen scenarios of girls managing to find their way into our room scaring me out of my timid mood.

“Don’t worry. Your own card can only open the dorm room door and our room door. No one else can get in our room unless they have our card” Rosalinda spoke brightly, swiping the door and waiting for the beep. I raised an eyebrow quickly; well that answered my question. I was starting to get a bit worried about these cards. The door slid open and all I could do was just stand there like a complete idiot.