I will make an effort, Franky thought to herself while staring at the ceiling. The clock was ticking rather loudly until the alarm blared itself awake. It wasn't much of use since Franky was already up and has been for several hours. She sighed, mentally preparing herself for the unravel of the day. After stepping into her black trousers, she tightened a black rope neatly into a bow. It would suffice as a belt. She pulled a matching black turtleneck over her head and a red plaid shirt as well. Franky looked around for her headphones that would act as a life preserver for her first day. It somehow made her feel less alone, since it was a given not many people would talk to her anyway, at least she wouldn't have to bare the awkward silences and glances that would surely be thrown her way. Her hair was parted to the side and neatly combed, a style she resorted to after the whole incident at Oxford where she chopped off her own locks. She made her way down stairs, passing by Jeff and Geoff. Hoping to avoid conversation, she quickly made her way to the door, but as always, they called after her.
"Franky! A new start, remember. Just…try to blend in," Geoff said.
Franky thought, I could never blend in. Are you blind?
"And don't take any crap this time," Jeff added.
Franky slightly nodded her head and mumbled, "Bye dads," before treading off to the bus stop. She stopped at a corner, questioning herself whether or not she turned off the wrong street. She placed her hands together, having drawn a map on them as reference. Finally finding her way to the bus stop, she saw a group of boys and instantly sensed trouble. Fuck. She pulled out her book, hoping it would repel the approaching danger. Instead, the boys surrounded her and one even dared to smack her book down. Here we go again. She bent down to pick the book up. As she was getting back up, her shoulder made contact with some boy's unlucky face. The second after it happened, Franky bolted. She conveniently stumbled upon a scooter with the keys in the ignition. Eventually, the boys stopped following her and she was making her way to college. She soon found out that the brakes were fucked.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY! MOVE! MOVE!" She kept screaming, but people just stared at her, dumbfounded, only jumping away when they were inches from being hit. She tried to turn away from the direction of the crowd, but she ended up almost hitting a couple who were too busy snogging. In the end, Franky crashed into a bike rack. Smoke was gathering around her, and she could feel the growing intensity of an entire crowd staring at her. Shit. So much for blending in. Franky turned around, only to confirm the number of people that gathered. She felt obligated to say something, to fill the silence.
"I'm sorry…I'm uh…really really sorry. The brakes were fucked," she managed to get out. The crowd just stared at her. After a few seconds, Franky just stalked off into college.
"Wow," Grace said.
Amongst the entire crowd, the most popular girl, Mini, spoke out. "Has the circus come to town or what?" Her thoughts contradicted what she actually said though. After her first glance at Franky, she thought, "What a beautiful boy." It was later when Franky walked into the girl's locker room that she realized she made a terrible mistake. She silently scolded herself for having thought someone like Franky to be beautiful and for mistaking a girl for a boy.
After sports foundation, lunch came around. Franky was sitting alone, minding her own business until Alo and Rich plopped down across from her. The sudden social attention surprised Franky, causing her to jump nearly 2 feet off her seat.
"Hey short stuff, what's up?" The pale red-head asked.
Franky explained how this girl, Mini, was already making her life at Roundview a nightmare. Rich and Alo looked at each other, and simultaneously stated, "She's fucked." Right on cue, Mini sauntered over trailed by Grace and Liv.
Mini glared at Rich and Alo saying; "Fuck off" with her eyes and words. They left without question, even when Franky's eyes pleaded for them to stay. It's the first day and I've already fucked up.
But surprisingly, Mini hasn't poured milk on her head or tell her to fuck off either. Something was up. "Those two are wankers; avoid," Mini suggested. "I haven't seen you in Bristol. How come you started so late?"
Franky stared at her for a beat, wondering if she was genuinely curious or if she was preparing to attack. "Look if you want to start shit, can you like, please get it over with. Cause I've had enough grief before-"
"Look, no hard feelings about before, okay? I'm Mini."
"Grace. Hello!"
"Liv."
"Franky," she managed to choke out.
"You know…you're pretty fucking-"
"Badass," Grace finished for Mini.
"Yes you are! So Franky badass, fancy hanging out later?"
This is a trap. Say no. Say NO! "Uh no! I mean, no thanks. I've gotta, I-I've gotta go home. After college." She made her excuses and quickly hid in a bathroom stall instead of going to class. She took out her phone and scrolled through the pages upon pages of insults from people back at Oxford. New start. New start. It was rather odd. She didn't know which kind of "new start" to take. A new start could mean keeping to herself and getting through college. But on the other hand, a new start could mean attempting to be normal. To blend in like Geoff said. A new start that could mean attempting to make mates. The word "mate" seemed foreign to her. She's only had one mate, Dean, who got locked up because he decided to take matters into his own hands. Ugh, fuck it. Franky trudged off to the front of college to wait for her impending doom. As insurance, she put her headphones on so other people wouldn't try to talk to her. And to block out the sound of muffled laughter due to the incident earlier that morning. Once the girls came into view, she took them off and ran up to them. New start.