The Ambrose Clique - now published on Amazon

6 - First for Everything

- updated - 

Apparently, the class was fairly small to begin with – around fifteen students at most – and there were even less in today, with Katy's death. Many had gone to see counsellors and I suspected that some took advantage of the disorganisation to skip class. It was hollow kind of day, but trying to find a seat was still oddly hard.

The tables were arranged to seat four students, two on either end. I'd made a beeline for the seat opposite Daisy to be told "someone already sits there" by a sullen Skye. I ended up having to awkwardly ask a table of three if the fourth seat was taken.

I sat next to a boy who introduced himself as Felix. He had bronze skin, sharp, angular green eyes and dark, wavy hair that fell to his shoulders. His feline features reminded me of Skye, though his weren't as sharp.

"I'm May Archer," I told them with a voice that shook more than I'd expected.

"This is Clover and Leilani. Sorry, Lei," he tacked on after one of the girls shot him a glare.

The girl introduced as Clover had silver hair and large blue eyes. Her face was heavily made up with dark makeup. Looking past the intimidating makeup, her features were very delicate. Her nose upturned slightly and her cheeks held little colour. Her forehead held an indent, probably from frowning so much. She had a silver nose ring and a stormy expression, still, she smiled at me in greeting.

Leilani, or Lei, was her polar opposite. She had golden brown skin and sienna eyes that narrowed thoughtfully at me, framed by long lashes. She had a wide, flat nose and full, plump lips coated in a dark brown lipstick, and wore no other makeup. Her eyebrows were groomed perfectly. Her ashy-brown hair reached her mid-chest in beach waves.

They both smiled at me, setting my nerves at ease. I was happy to learn that we were on the topic of memory this term, a topic I had already covered in my old school. An easy, possibly boring term was in store for me.

The lesson didn't really end up being a lesson with the amount of students missing. Our original teacher hadn't turned up, and the substitute teacher left us to talk and speculate with each other. It seemed to be more of a topic for gossip than the reality of a student dying. I caught Skye shooting me foul looks a few times, but decided not to let it bother me. It didn't work but I didn't rise to her bait. Daisy came over to my desk to chat, telling me how guilty she felt for leaving me alone. That term didn't sit well with my table, they were warm and were happy to see me. Daisy returned to Skye – who was still glowering – and I had to admit that her departure was a relief to the tension building between my room mate and my table.

"So you're already in the clique?" Felix sounded merely interested, doodling tornadoes on his paper as he spoke.

"I guess, maybe? I've only just met them." Truth was, I didn't actually know.

"Huh. Not a good idea, if you ask me."

I didn't.

"How so?" I stayed as indifferent as he, but I was overcome with a certain desire to defend them.

"They're weird. Not right," Lei spoke up, her sweet voice twisted with venom.

"Maybe they're not human," Felix's voice was only a whisper in my ear as he dropped the heavy statement. How ridiculous; theories of a small town kid who doesn't go out much. There's no alternative to human. I was probably dwelling on this for too long, it was just a harmless comment. Lei and Clover were shooting me furtive glances every so often, deep in conversation. I turned to start a conversation with Felix, I realised that I was probably being rude. He was staring at me, deep in thought. Something about his face made me self conscious, but there was no hostility in his face. When he caught me looking back, the corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile, flashing a set of perfect teeth.

"You coming over tonight?"

"Where?"

"I've just realised I hadn't invited you." He grinned again. "We're meeting at Clover and Lei's after lessons, coming?"

"Sure!" I blurted out without a second to think it over. Really desperate. But instead of laughing at my forwardness, he beamed.

"Great!"

The bell rang, ending the lesson. I stood up like everyone else, but I didn't know where I was going next.

"What've you got?"

"Social studies, but I have no idea where to go." I hated asking for help, I was embarrassed to admit that I needed it. Another trait passed down from my mother, but one that worked only for her. She was independent and confident, I was lonely and shy.

"I have outdoor studies, it's like gardening. I'll take you to your class on the way over if you'd like?" He laughed at my blank expression. "Nobody thinks it's cool but growing plants is the best therapy. I plant seeds and get to watch them grow for the rest of the term. It's therapeutic."

The smile on his face dropped quickly as Daisy walked over. They'd probably get along really well, if their social groups didn't decide that they had to hate each other. Being a teenager was so messed up.

"I asked Aurel to wait for you outside so she could walk you over!"

I instantaneously felt guilty, I couldn't go back on Felix's offer but Daisy was trying so hard for me.

"No need. I'm going to walk her over, it's on my way."

"Oh! I'm sure Aurel will be alright with that." I knew she'd be more than okay with that arrangement. Daisy waved goodbye and disappeared with Skye.

"We best get going then, not that the teachers would mind you being late today." We walked out of the class lazily, brushing shoulders occasionally. The corridors were quite empty now, with a few students hurrying to class.

"So, are you interested in Aurel Laurence? Since she's waiting for you and everything? I've heard she's into girls." He scratched his neck, blushing as he diverted his eyes from me. I wondered why he cared.

"No, nothing's going on with us. If that's what you're asking." I wasn't sure of where this was going. I wasn't ashamed of who I was, I just didn't want to be associated with Aurel.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't want to assume anything. I'm not judgemental or anything, I mean I have gay friends so... That came out wrong! I didn't mean I think you're ga-"

"I am," I cut in. "Well, I'm not a lesbian, but I like girls too. I'm probably bisexual." The last sentence was tacked on as an afterthought. The truth was, I never really thought about a label. I liked girls and I liked boys. That was it, no complications were needed.

"Ah, well there's nobody here who would judge you." He wrung his hands and smiled. "Hey, this is social studies!" He didn't manage to hide his relief at our parting, clearly I was making him uncomfortable.

Instead of going straight in, I stopped at the door to ask him one last question. "So why do you care whether or not I'm involved with Aurel?"

"It may have been a not so subtle way of finding out if you're available or not." With that, he ducked his head down to hide his pink cheeks and walked off, hands in pockets. What did that mean? Did he like me? I had to admit, the idea made me grin, he was so easy going, I couldn't help it. It was easy to get along with Felix.

A delicate cough came from my left, pulling me out of my warm thoughts. I turned to face Aurel, sullen as usual but even more so now. Was she still angry at me for breakfast?

"Are you coming in or am I still pointlessly waiting for you?" she spat, in a voice laced with venom.

"I didn't think you'd want to walk with me." To my embarrassment, tears of anger welled up in my eyes and my voice was full of hurt. She raised her eyebrows, scoffing softly. As if she couldn't stand looking at me any longer, she swiftly passed me into the classroom.

"Absurd," she muttered.