High School Wars.

Chapter Five

As I sat listening to "Superman", (Taylor Swift was still playing on my iPod), I stared at the bland walls. There were a few certificates, and some pictures of sports teams and school students. They didn't look that bad. Towards the end of the corridoor was a trophy cabinet, and, well...it was empty. OK, I'm exaggerating just a little there, but it literally was. Whoever had bought it had been just a bit adventurous with the size. It had 6 shelves, and there were only trophies on the first one and a half. That must have been a waste of money then...

Out of nowhere, I began to daydream. I started to think about what my life would have been like if my Mom hadn't...left...and if my Dad hadn't been such an idiot. Would I still be here? Or would I be living in England with a completely different life? What would my Mum have been like? I'm like most people in the sense that I believe my Mom is the best (well, in this instance, Cathy, my adopted mom). But if I lived with my blood mother, what would life have been like? What would she have been like? Would I still love Manchester United as much as I do now? After all, for me, it's hard for me to imagine my life any other way. They're such a big part of me that it seems almost impossible for me to live any other way. But if I hadn't grown in a family that was football mad, I can't help but wonder whether I'd be like most other girls out there. Girls who wear dresses and make-up and are always out shopping. Who are always flirting or thinking about calories and on permanent diets.

All of a sudden, a huge RING pulled me out of my daydream. Taking a few seconds to recognise my surroundings, I unplugged my earphones, turned off my iPod and stood up. Rummaging through my bag, I found my timetable. Well, I had dance. So, I guess things could have been worse!! I began to walk out of the reception area (receiving a "Good Luck" from Mrs. Fisher) and tried to find my way to class. It seemed near enough impossible, especially as the school was enormous. I walked through the bustle of students trying to figure out where it was. I began to think that maybe the 10 minutes before the bell would've been better off spent looking around the school!

I looked up, and it was like a slap in the face. Y'know when something's right in front of you and you miss it? Well there was a sign and it pointed to the right saying "DANCE STUDIO". I presumed that was where I had to go...just a lucky guess.

I walked in to the studio to find that all the other dance students had already reached there. Well, pretty obvious seeing as they probably knew their way here. They weren't new. I walked in, and everyone just stared. And not the "Oh, she's new" stare and then looked away. Oh, no. It was the "Who the hell is she?!?" stare. Then they looked at each other, sniggered and stared at me again. Especially the girls. You'd think they were never taught that staring is rude with the way they were behaving! I began to walk towards the back of the studio, as Ms. Colron wasn't here and it looked to be where everyone had dumped their bags.

As I walked, one girl "whispered" (so basically said it loud enough for the silent room to hear) "What is she wearing?" I kept my head held high, and set my bag down. "Hey, nice top!" a jerk called out. Instead of mumbling, I responded, saying "Thanks! Cool or what?!?" to which most the class just erupted in to laughter. "You can't be serious?" one girl in a white strap top and leggings exclaimed. "Why on earth would you wear that?!? You're a GIRL!" I found that quite funny, so I just replied "And why don't you have any manners? You're a girl too! No-one said I had to wear pink everyday!" The whole class laughed at this, and the girl grinned at me. I sat down next to her instead of at the back. "I'm Katie." she said, holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Katie. I'm Jo."

"I kind of guessed!" she said, gesturing to the back of my top.

I grinned. Katie was quite pretty. She was slim, but not a size zero slim like the ABC's. She had naturally dirty blonde hair that was curled, and had dark red lipstick. Her eyes were a bright blue that complimented her heart-shaped face.

Just then, Ms. Colron walked in. She had ginger hair just past her shoulders that was gently curled and pulled back in to a pony tail. She wore a black top and leggings with some small pearl earrings and a simple necklace. She had white trainers on, and warm, brown eyes. Her lips were painted in bright pink lipstick and were just a little full for her small face, but all in all, she looked pretty safe. "Right, class. Let's get started. Apologies for my lateness, I had to take a quick phone call which had some very exciting news. First things first though. I hear we have a new student in the house?" Oh no. Please, no. "Joanne Forbes?" I stood up. She smiled, warmly. "Welcome to the class Joanne!"

"Um...can you call me Jo, please?"

"Of course! You can sit down now."

I sat down gladly. Thankfully, most of the class had already seen me, so we didn't go through the whole staring thing again.

"Now, on to the exciting news that I needed to tell you. I'm not sure how many of you remember, but a few months ago, I entered our dance group into the "Street King" dance competition." She must have realised that not many people remember [or just said the rest for my benefit] but continued, "It was the street-dance competition. Well, we got accepted! The official competition is only a month from now, so we have a lot of work to do. For those of you participating, that means a lot of after-school rehearsals, as well."

The whole class had a buzz to it now. I guess this was a chance for them to win a trophy, especially as they didn't have the largest collection. Ms. Colron said for today's lesson, we'd just be showing her what we could bring in to the competition. I was about to point out that a United top is hardly the best outfit for me to dance in, when she pointed to a store-room and said "For those of you who aren't wearing their dance clothes, feel free to change in there." I took the opportunity and removed my United top and the top I was wearing underneath, and borrowed a tank-top and leggings off of Katie. She seemed really nice!! I walked out and waited for my turn. I watched Hannah, Jade, Aneeta, Derek and a cute (!!!) guy called Jake dance. They were really good! So far, my impressions of the dance department weren't that bad. Then, it was my turn.

I stood up and walked to the front. Ms. Colron smiled, and I nodded at her. That was her cue to start the music. I closed my eyes, and waited for the track. It was a hip-hop with some mixed beats. It was extremely funky. I listened to it for around 10 seconds, getting the gist of the track. Then I began to dance. It felt amazing. Dancing to me is a second nature, in a way. The music literally speaks to me. When I dance, it feels like I'm on another planet. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I don't have to try. At least, it doesn't feel like it. My body just responds to the beat. I danced until the tracked finished. I finished in a position bowing down, and stood up, breathless. I brushed the hair away from my face.

The whole class was just stood [or sat!] watching me, completely speechless.

Then, out of nowhere, they burst in to applause.

I take it they were impressed, then.

Sorry for lack of posting! Exams and a serious case of 'Writers Block'. Off on Work Experience for 2 weeks, not sure when C6'll be up though. Thanks for reading(: