I kept my gaze downcast as two more students walked in, talking and laughing. They took seats at a desk a few rows in front of me, continuing to converse while I stayed sat at the back silently.
Only a few people had come in so far and not many seats had been filled, but apart from a couple of curious glances, no one had seemed to notice me. But why should they have? I was just the quiet girl at the back of the class.
I busied myself pulling my pencil case out of my bag, taking as much time as possible in an attempt to not look like a complete loser while waiting for the class to start. I felt uncomfortable sat with a bunch of strangers, especially since it was already a few weeks into the semester and everyone seemed to have already made friends.
I was discreetly watching each person who entered, seeing if any of them might possibly be people I might hang around with. I knew exactly what it was like to have no friends and trust me when I say, it was not fun. You had no one to support you throughout each day.
Four more people walked in, two girls and two boys. And let me tell you. They were all really good looking.
They were laughing and smiling, before one of the girls pushed the other playfully, who in return gave a mock gasp and clutched a hand to her heart. The two boys were just watching with large grins, before one leaned over and smacked one of the girls on the upside of her head gently. In response she elbowed him in the ribs, and I winced upon knowing just how painful that could be.
As the boy began to straighten up, the girl darted away from him and snapped her gaze around the room until finally settling on where I was sat at the back of the room. Oh shit.
Not only a moment later, the girl sprinted towards me, completely ignoring Miss Turner's warnings to slow down as the boy she elbowed began to run after her. The other two of their friends were following behind, looking purely amused with the situation.
"Hey there!" the girl grinned breathlessly as she practically leaped into the seat next to me.
"Hi," I smiled in response, tensing slightly at the fact that I was actually having to socialize.
"Amara," the boy she elbowed pouted as he also slowed to a stop next to us, slipping into the seat beside the girl who I now knew as Amara. "You hurt me."
"Good," she deadpanned in response, earning a laugh and slap on the back from the second girl who then sat in the seat on the other side of me.
"Harvey deserves to feel pain," the boy who had just been watching grinned innocently at the boy who had been elbowed, before sliding into the seat next to the second girl who I still didn't know the name of. It was only then that I got a good look at them.
The first boy, Harvey, had dirty blonde hair with a couple of brownish streaks styled into a quiff. He had kind of tanned skin and looked like he could be a tik toker.
The second boy had dark hair that gave me Percy Jackson vibes, and black, round rimmed glasses that I immediately associated with Harry Potter. He was a mixture of fandoms. He had a face that you just knew could be permanently in a bright smile, showing off his perfectly white teeth.
The first girl (Amara) had dark skin and curly brown hair that had lighter highlights. Her face shape and features were literally perfect, and I could see myself dating her if she was lesbian. She was pretty. Like, really pretty.
The second girl and the final one in the group had light brown hair and pale skin. Her eyes were a really nice hazel color and she wore natural makeup which blended in beautifully with her skin.
Damn. These four were hot.
"Um. Hi. I'm Gabby," I smiled, since they hadn't made a move to introduce themselves.
"I'm Clara," the pale girl with brown hair said, "That's Harvey," she then pointed to the blonde boy, "Leo," the black haired boy with glasses, "and Amara." She was the really pretty dark skinned girl.
"I don't recognise you. Are you new?" Leo asked, pulling what looked to be a mint out of his pocket and popping it into his mouth.
"Yeah. I just moved here," I nodded in response.
"Poor you. Now you're stuck at this school with these losers," Amara said while shaking her head with exaggerated sympathy and looking at her three friends.
I let out a laugh as they all whined 'hey!' at the same time. Was this what friends were like? If so then I'd been missing out on a lot.
"Ok class! Settle down!" Miss Turner suddenly called, effectively causing the loud chatter in the class to die down into silence. Only the occasional whisper, squeak of chair and rustle of paper could be heard. "We have a new student today. Gabriella? Would you like to introduce yourself?"
I immediately froze at the mention of my name, stiffening as all eyes turned in the direction that Miss Turner was looking which was towards me. It was only then that people seemed to notice I was actually in a room, but I wished I could have just stayed invisible. I hated all this attention.
Being the new kid sucked.
Sure, at home, I was pretty confident, but that was because I knew my family and I trusted them. They were six people who I had lived with for five years previously, and I knew for a fact they would never hurt me or bully me. I felt safe and comfortable around them.
"Sure," I mumbled in response, knowing that I didn't actually have a choice in the matter and Miss Turner was just being polite. She would probably have made me do it either way.
I winced slightly as I pushed my chair back, the sound of it scraping the floor dominating all other noises in the room. It was awkward for me as I then began to walk up to the front, aware of everyone's eyes following me, judging me, inspecting all my movements. How I introduced myself now could literally be the decider of which clique I ended up in.
Seriously. High school was cut throat.
For me, each step brought more dread than the last as the silence suffocating the room and the expectant looks I had to assume was on each students face made me even more nervous. I was too busy keeping my gaze focused straight ahead of me to tell, but it was expected.
I may have appeared to be overreacting, but for me, a girl who learned to live in the shadows for fear of being beaten up, hiding myself and losing any confidence I had left as each day made me more and more scared of the world, I found myself wanting to hide in a hole when I twisted around and saw the gazes trained on me as soon as I reached the front.
A sea of faces, all belonging to strangers. All who had never met me before and were judging me on these few moments I had stood up at the front. This could have decided whether I was going to be bullied for the rest of high school, or actually be happy with my social status.
"Hi, my name's Gabriella but I prefer Gabby and I just moved here," I said, wiping the sweat on my hands discreetly on my leggings.
I tried to seem as confident as possible while speaking, but I couldn't help but duck my head slightly and allow my words to come out quieter than I'd wanted. I'd never been good with public speaking.
"Thank you, Gabby," Miss Turner smiled kindly, nodding at me which I then took as my cue to walk back to my seat, my cheeks slightly red from the the short sentence I said to everyone.
"Well done," Leo grinned, squeezing my shoulder slightly as I slipped back into my chair and Miss Turner started speaking again.
"Thanks," I grinned, finally allowing myself to relax after that nerve racking experience.
"Hey, Gabby. Want to sit with us at lunch?" Harvey asked in a slight whisper, probably not wanting to draw the attention of Miss Turner.
"Yeah sure," I smiled, wanting to do a happy dance because I had actually been invited to sit with someone at lunch. Not only that, but these people seemed genuinely nice!
Wait. Oh shit.
The no boys rule. But my brothers wouldn't mind, right? It wasn't like I was dating them. We were just friends.
Please God. Don't let them get all overprotective.
So um yeah hi
OK I need to get to bed
So um yeah bye
👋
-Elin 🤪