Chapter Two
The first morning at our new house was a bit of a chaotic affair. After arguing with my mother about who should get to use the bathroom first – it was my first day at Forks High and I wasn't going to go smelling of sweat – Dad finally intervened. Mother gave in, huffing and puffing about how she needed her hot early morning shower more than I did. I obviously didn't agree. Sleeping on the floor, wrapped up in an old blanket the night before didn't help. My hair was more dishevelled than normal and I looked like I hadn't slept in a hundred years. I was glad that after a long, hot, ten minute shower; I finally felt clean. Normally people would be freaking out at starting a new school – they would make sure their hair and make-up was perfect and they wore their best clothes. I on the other hand wore a pair of grubby, grey, skinny jeans, a tight fitted, yellow, vest top and a black button-up cardigan. Nothing out of the ordinary – I was hoping to blend in. Jogging down the stairs, my messenger bag bumping against my thigh, I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. Dad was leaning against the counter, a mug of tea clasped tightly in his hand. I nodded good morning – Dad mumbled back; he wasn't a morning person. I began to rummage around in the cupboards, another flaw of living in a new house – you never knew were everything was kept. After about five minutes opening and closing cupboard doors, I managed to find something un-organic and not fat free: pancakes. This was no doubt something my Dad had smuggled into the house. I glanced up at him and he was smirking impishly. And so, after quickly savouring my roughly made breakfast, I glanced at my watch; it was almost time for me to endure the joys of starting a new school.
I said goodbye to my Dad; it was nothing verbal – just a wave. Bidding my mother goodbye was a lost cause; she was in the shower draining away all the hot water. We don't talk as much any more, Mum, Dad and me. Ever since James moved out there's silence at the dinner table and we can barely stand to be in the same room as each other. I suppose there is nothing to talk about, but normal parents would ask their child about school, hobbies and whatnot. Dad does occasionally, at least he attempts to – Mum on the other hand, well, it seems that no one matters more than herself. That doesn't bother me, but the fact that Dad doesn't see it, does. I made my way towards the porch, grabbing the keys to my Dad's Mercedes, which I was now claiming as my own as I would be using it most. He even brought it up when I retreated from my room for a midnight snack the night before – he was leaning against the counter in the kitchen, staring at the floor – he basically told me that it was mine until further notice. I ignored the further notice part, not wanting to know what it meant. As soon as I opened the door I was greeted by grey clouds and rain. I glanced down at the clothes I was wearing, they seemed suitable for the rain, but a coat of some sort would be much more beneficial – too bad I didn't own one. That was when I made a note to myself to go out and buy one after school; I was for living in this rainy residence after all.
The drive wasn't as maddening as it had been the night before. Maybe the fact that my mother hadn't pissed me off and the music station had been switched over to a more tasteful channel, contributed to that. It didn't take me long to find Forks High, the sign sort of gave it away, but I couldn't see the actual building – it was shielded by bushes, and trees. I drove rather cautiously towards the first building I saw which donned the sign; Front Office. Not noticing until I got out of the car that I was the only one parked there, I simply shrugged it off and began to make my way towards the door. The first thing I was hit by was the surprising warmth, not to mention the vibrant yellow walls. The office was rather small, the walls donned flyers and notices, and the floor was covered in an orange flecked carpet. I walked rather sheepishly into the middle of the room towards the counter. Behind the counter, there were three desks and countless filing cabinets. It was almost deadly quiet, I felt as though if I breathed heavily enough the ginger haired woman who was sitting at one of the desks, would notice my presence. 'Um – excuse me?' I said, though it almost came out in a whisper.
The woman looked up from her work, that was when I noticed she was wearing glasses rather similar to the ones my mother used to wear. 'Can I help you, dear?' she asked, in a tone that my mother would use to bribe me into doing something. I blinked precariously, this woman was increasingly reminding me of my mother.
'I'm Ruby Taylor. I – I just moved here,' I said, hoping that she had been informed of my transfer to this particular school. She looked at me curiously for a while before she began rustling through the mountain of paperwork on her desk. She got up from her chair – it was the swivelling kind, the ones I find most amusing – and she walked over to the counter with a few sheets of paper in her hands.
She set the papers down on the counter for me to see. 'Now, I have here, your schedule and a map of the school – just in case you get lost,' she said, with a small smile. Then she began going through my classes for me, and showing me the best way to get to them on the map. She handed me the map and schedule, advising me to keep them safe and then she handed me several slips, which I was to give to each teacher and they were to sign it. The slips were then to be returned to her at the end of the day. She smiled once she had given me everything I needed. 'Good luck, and have a nice day,' she said, as I made my way out the door.
Getting back into my Mercedes, I glanced behind me, not knowing where to go. I was sure enough that you weren't allowed to park by the front office – I was the only one there. I waited for a while, surveying the map until more cars began to arrive. I turned on the car, swung it around and followed the same red car that I had seen last night, the one Embry had jumped into. Driving into the student parking lot, I immediately noticed that my car was probably the most conspicuous. I tried to keep my eyes on the road, rather than looking into the eyes of the teenagers staring at me and my car. I was beginning to wish that I hadn't claimed the car as my own now. I parked the car in the first available space I could find, cutting off the engine immediately. After putting every sheet that the lady at the office had given me into my bag, I got out of the car, swung my bag over my shoulder and locked the door. As I walked across the parking lot, it seemed as though I was attracting all the attention – that was something I hadn't wanted to happen. So I kept my head down and began to walk towards the building in front of me, listening to everyone's conversations around me. It wasn't exactly eavesdropping; they were hard to ignore.
'Who's that?'
'Must be a new girl, I've never seen her before.'
'What is she wearing? Doesn't she own a coat?' I rolled my eyes – why would I own a coat if I formerly lived in California where it barely ever rained. This is going to be extremely gratifying, I thought to myself sarcastically. I'll be constantly battling the fashion pretentious barbie dolls about my dress sense, and getting odd looks every time I wear something normal.
'You have spoken to her before, haven't you?'
'Yes, but – '
'Well make friends with her or something! I can't walk up to her and go: Hey! I really like you, wanna go out sometime? I've never even spoke to her before!'
'Listen, man. I know it's hard, but she seems like a nice girl she wouldn't just blow you off.'
'You don't know that.'
'Hey!' I had to halt abruptly to stop myself walking straight into the person who had plucked up the nerve to talk to me. Not to mention, I was rather irritated because I was content listening in to that rather heated conversation. I blinked furiously, before looking up to see a rather gangly looking girl with glasses, braces and an annoyingly stupid grin. 'You're the new girl, aren't you?' she said, I eyed her carefully. If I had to make friends, she wasn't exactly what I was looking for – and I wasn't being rude.
'Yes,' I said rather bluntly and continued to walk, hoping she'd get the hint. I looked up at the wall on the building – I needed to find Biology, it was my first class. I didn't dare look behind me, she might have been following my every step. And if she was, I'd have to tell her stalkerish people aren't my type. Suddenly I felt someone breathing heavily, as they were looking over my shoulder.
'Biology is to the left and up the stairs,' that very same voice said. I cringed. If she was going to follow me like a lost dog, she should have said so, rather than jumping up on me at every available moment. 'I'm Mauve. Mauve Higgins,' she said, holding out her hand which was home to a countless number of colourful rings.
I examined her hand for a moment before I glanced up at her. She was at least six foot something, pale skin and wearing clothes that the pretentious barbies would be ashamed of. 'Nice to meet you,' I said, though that wasn't the case. I brushed past her, and began to walk towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. I was still getting stared at, but I didn't care. All that I cared about was getting rid of this … leech, that wanted to be by my side at all times, unaware that I was trying to dismiss her.
'So what's your name?' that annoying voice that belonged to Mauve Higgins said. I growled and began to walk up the stairs. Maybe if I ignored her, she would leave me alone. And that's what I did, until she asked me again and I was just getting the feeling that she was about to leave me alone. I was either going to have to be harsh and tell her to piss off and leave me alone, or, tell her my name and ignore her for the rest of the day.
'Ruby,' I finally answered, and I didn't even look at her. I continued to walk up the stairs, until finally I was on the right floor – as Mauve pointed out. I walked slowly, much to her annoyance, she seemed eager to power walk ahead but didn't want to walk too fast in case I lost her. I dragged my converses along the ground on purpose, slowing my walking pace down even further.
'You don't look like a Ruby,' Mauve piped up suddenly. I glanced sidewards at her, irritated that she doubted me suiting my name – which I liked. It was my Dad that had named me, James had helped. Mum had insisted in calling me; Marie-Jane, but apparently Dad wrote Ruby down on my birth certificate. 'I would have though that Rubys had red hair; you don't. You have dark, honey blonde sort of hair. I thought you would have been called Sarah, or Melissa, maybe even Lauren.'
I glowered, and growled to myself but I was sure she heard me. 'My name is Ruby,' I hissed rather vehemently, picking up my walking speed and leaving her to ponder until she finally realised that I had walked off on her. I could hear her shoes clacking along the tiled floor behind me, she didn't sound like much of a runner – too bad I was. I glanced behind me subtly before I took off quicker than she could have said hello to a new student. I sprinted down the hallway, receiving rather peculiar looks from the other teenagers; I didn't care. It was rather childish, running away from her, but it seemed to be working. The buzz was incredible; it felt surprisingly good to get away from her. I didn't intend to be mean, but she was getting annoying. I was in such a daze that I ran past the classroom in which my Biology class was held. I skidded to a halt and quickly walked back towards the door – which was open.
The room itself was quite small, with aisles of black-topped lab tables. The teacher; Mrs Bannerman, looked like quite a sweet old lady who reminded me of a Gran that would make you cookies and knit you sweaters. The class was already half full and some of the seats were taken; I immediately noticed Embry sitting near the back with someone who I presumed to be his friend Quil. Sitting at the table to the right of them, might have been his friend, Seth. But I dismissed that idea as Embry had mention that Seth was two years younger than them. I pulled my gaze away from the strangely familiar eyes, smiled feebly at Mrs Bannerman and shuffled over to her quickly. 'I'm Ruby Taylor – I'm new here,' I explained quietly, not wanting the rest of the class to hear.
'Nice to meet you, Ruby,' Mrs Bannerman said loudly, before turning to face the rest of the class. They were all sitting patiently, waiting. 'This is Ruby Taylor, she's going to be a new member of this class and I hope you all treat her well,' she said, finishing with a broad smile. The rest of the class seemed to have donned smug smiles or were stifling giggles. I stared wide-eyed at her. I wished I could have died there and then. She turned back to me with an expectant look. 'Do you have a slip for me to sign?' she asked. I nodded and dug a small paper slip out of my back pocket before handing it to her. She quickly signed it with a scribble of a signature before handing it back to me; I placed it carefully in the small front pocket of my bag. 'Now wait there, I have some books for you,' she said, disappearing into a door just behind her. She emerged with two very large books in her hands. 'Here you are – make sure and bring them with you every class. Now … why don't you go and sit down there beside, Mauve.'
My eyes, I'm sure, bulged out of my head – I hadn't even seen her come in. I opened my mouth and stared at the seat beside the gangly girl who had been following me earlier. She was grinning up at me, an overly excited look on her face. 'Um – ' I gulped, 'M-Mauve?' I repeated, glancing at Mrs Bannerman for conformation.
'Yes, dear,' Mrs Bannerman replied, nodding as well. 'See the girl there with the glasses – ' she pointed straight at Mauve who was grinning, her braces glinting in the light, ' – she's sitting just in front of Embry and Quil – the two big guys there – ' she nodded towards them, they were also grinning.
I laughed, although, not because it was funny – it was just my luck. I paused for a moment, before glancing briefly at Mrs Bannerman. 'Uh – right – thanks,' I said, trudging past her, the heavy books weighing me down. I walked down the aisle closest, keeping my gaze on my destination. I eventually made it to the desk where Mauve was sitting, she smiled up at me and I managed a small crooked smile. 'Um – you couldn't …' I gestured to the small space between her chair and the front of Embry and Quil's desk. She nodded enthusiastically before pulling her chair in quickly, causing a loud ungodly screech to echo through the room. I cringed and glanced heavenward before squeezing myself past her chair and throwing my books down on the table with a loud thump.
'Hi Ruby,' Mauve said cheerfully, gazing at me as I sat down on the chair beside her. I grunted a reply, not bothering to make it translatable. I pulled the chair in, sighed, rested my elbow on the tabletop and began to attempt to listen to Mrs Bannerman explaining the composition of blood. That was something I had already went over with my Biology teacher the year before. 'I'm so glad you're my lab partner, Ruby. This year will be so much fun,' she said, spraying spit over the table.
My expression remained dull. 'I'm sure it'll be bloody fantastic, Mauve,' I replied, thinking the exact opposite. If she continued to blabber on in my ear, I swear I would have her strangled by the end of the year. Realising that everyone else in the class was either taking notes or listening very attentively to Mrs Bannerman, I reached down to my bag and grabbed my file pad. I pulled a pen out of the front pocket and began to jot down a few notes.
'Ruby?' Mauve asked, her annoying voice stinging my ear as she leant closer to me. I took a glance sidewards and she was practically leaning against me. I subtly moved myself further away from her. 'You look like the type of girl that has had a boyfriend, right?' I almost swallowed my pen that I had been chewing on the end of; I choked. I heard a quiet chuckle coming from behind me, but I didn't bother to glance back. I glanced at her and she was looking out of the corner of her eye at something behind us. 'Well,' she said, looking me in the eye with great concern. 'This guy keeps looking at me – ' she took a deep, dramatic breath, '– and, I don't know what to do. I mean, I've liked him for a while now and I think maybe he likes me back.' She studied my face for a reaction as I attempted not to smile. This was obviously going to be a sensitive subject, so I decided to be nice – seeing as she looked like she'd never even spoken to a guy before.
'Well,' I began seriously, trying my hardest to keep a straight face, 'What's his name?' I bit my lip to stop a smile forming as I watched her swoon and attempt not to giggle girlishly.
Finally she let out a giggle and quickly brought her hand up to her mouth to stop anyone from hearing her. She grinned broadly, almost letting out a spasm of joy. She moved closer to me and sighed in my ear – to my disgust – before she paused. 'Paul,' she then whispered, and let out a quiet giggle again.
I almost laughed at her giddiness. She seemed to be a total virgin to the butterfly effect. I was curious to find out who this Paul was – curiosity killed the cat – but this cat has nine lives. 'So what does he look like?' I asked her interestedly, but I kept my gaze on the board where Mrs Bannerman was still rambling on.
She smiled, in a strangely mischievous way and glanced over my shoulder. She stared, dazed for a while before glancing back and staring into my eyes. 'He's sitting behind us,' she whispered and I glanced behind us to see Embry wiggling his eyebrows at me. 'No – not him,' Mauve snapped impatiently, grabbing my shoulder and turning me to face the front. I must admit, I felt rather affronted by her actions. 'He's sitting over there,' she nodded her head towards the left, the desk sitting diagonally from where I was sitting.
Feeling brave, I quickly glanced over my shoulder; another russet skinned giant was sitting causally, his legs stretched out under the table. I turned my head back, before suddenly glancing back, recognising his face from somewhere. This time I met eye contact with him; he had light brown – almost golden – eyes and a small, friendly smile was playing on the corner of his lips. Instantly I noticed my mouth was open so I snapped it shut. I blinked a couple of times before snapping out of my daze and turning my head back to the front quickly. I kept my gaze on the page in front of me, though I couldn't help but smile, the vision of him sitting so casually playing over and over in my head. I shook my head – boys were the enemy – they cheat and lie. That's from my experiences anyway. I couldn't let one look at a good-looking guy – who was probably like every other guy I've been with – ruin my theory.
'Well?' Mauve asked me suddenly, tugging on my arm which I had resting on the table.
I quickly tore my arm away, and glanced at her, a disturbed look on my face. 'Well what?'
'So, Miss Taylor, what are the three main contents of white blood cells?' Mrs Bannerman's, seemingly sweet but manipulating voice echoed through the classroom. I snapped my attention to the front, my mouth open slightly, the question playing over in my head. From the corner of my eye I saw Paul sit up straight in his chair and rest his elbows on the desk.
I inhaled deeply, leaving my mouth open. 'Um – ' I gulped, ' – Neutrophil, Lymphosite and Monocyte,' I said, although I wasn't purely confident that it was right. I watched Mrs Bannerman as she stared back at me, a smile was threatening on the corners of her lips.
'And what are their functions?' Mrs Bannerman asked. I blinked, slightly annoyed that my first answer wasn't enough to satisfy her, but then again, I had been talking in her class.
I knew the answer, it wasn't hard to forget after having it practically drilled into my brain by my former Biology teacher, Mr Hains. He was a scary man, class tests were the norm and if you didn't get above eighty per cent; detention for a week. 'The Neutrophil engulfs and digests bacteria; the Lymphosite produces antibodies and the Monocyte detects infections,' I said, with an innocent smile once I had finished reciting the answer. The two girls from the row in front turned around and stared at me; slightly disgusted looks were etched upon their faces.
'Very good, Miss Taylor,' Mrs Bannerman said, and began once more to ramble on about unnecessary facts of the white blood cells.
The class dragged on, I glanced at the clock; surely I hadn't that long to wait until the end. There was easily fifteen minutes left and from then on I was in nothing but a daydream. I watched Mrs Bannerman's mouth formed words, but I heard nothing. That was until Mauve shoved me with her elbow – an attempt to wake me from my daydream – making me jump and almost topple off my seat. There was a sudden scrape of a chair behind me as I wobbled, but as I regained my balance, I glanced around to identify where the noise had come from. Paul was feeling around on the floor; presumably looking for pen he had dropped. 'So,' Mauve began, I saw her take a sneaky peek at Paul over my shoulder, 'He's gorgeous, isn't he?' she said, not bothering to look away from him.
I smirked, and was almost begging him in my head to look over and notice Mauve staring longingly at him. I saw Mauve glance at me out of the corner of my eye; it seemed that she was expecting me to confirm that she was right about his 'gorgeousness'. I sucked on my bottom lip, humming thoughtfully before shrugging and sighing, 'I suppose you could say that.'
'Well,' Mauve said, all of a sudden sounding very serious. 'I'm going to apologise now – just in case you take a sudden liking to him – ' I furrowed my eyebrows and glanced to see her sitting up straight in her chair looking very business-like and sincere. ' – I think he – um – likes me, so I hope you don't, like – well, you're probably not like that anyway – you seem really nice and everything. But I just – I just wouldn't want you to steal him away from me or anything,' she said, looking me in the eye. I felt the urge to laugh in her face, but thought that would be rather insensitive of me.
I opened my mouth to speak, and even then I couldn't stop smiling. I turned my head away and looked towards the floor, still smiling – this girl was insane! I had only met her and she was already pouring her hearts desires out to me, not to mention she thought I was going to steal Paul from her grasp. She wasn't wrong about his appearance though, he was strangely good-looking – and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I shook my head and bit my lip, laughing quietly to myself before turning back to Mauve. 'I –' I couldn't help myself, I laughed again but suddenly realised what I had done and quickly shut my mouth. 'I – I wouldn't do anything like that, Mauve.'
Mauve grinned widely; you would have thought that Paul had got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. The girl was madly infatuated, I would have thought that she would have been more interested in books rather than boys. Well, I was wrong. 'Thanks Ruby,' she said, nodding her head and sighing. 'You're a really good person.'
I smiled and turned away, afraid that I was going to laugh in her face. 'Yeah. Right,' I muttered to myself, and glanced up to see that Mrs Bannerman had wrote what looked to be our homework, up on the board. I grabbed my pen and began to scribble down a reminder. When I had finished, as if right on time, the bell ran and there was a chorus of chairs scraping against the black tiled floor. In a hurry not to be late for my next class, I picked up my bag and stuffed my file pad into my bag. I got out of my chair and pushed it in.
'Hey – um – you dropped your pen,' a low husky voice said. I glanced up to see Paul standing at the end of my desk, then glanced down to see my red pen in his hand. From the corner of my eye I could see Mauve almost hyperventilating.
I looked up at him and smiled feebly. He was even more handsome close up; it was rather intimidating. Once again, my eyes overrule my brain – but the theory still stands. 'Thanks,' I said, glancing between his face and the pen before taking it from his hand. 'Uh – I – I'm Ruby,' I said, stammering slightly. I was almost getting as giddy as Mauve, and I was ever so surprised she hadn't fainted by now.
'Mrs Bannerman seemed to make that pretty obvious,' Paul said, chuckling quietly. He almost looked nervous to be speaking to me, I don't know why, I could hardly do him any harm – he was huge.
'Yeah, and embarrass me in front of the whole class,' I said rather bashfully. From out of the corner of my eye I could see Mauve trying to get my attention. I glanced at her, confused. She widened her eyes and glanced blatantly between myself and Paul. I sighed to myself and glanced back at Paul. 'Um – this – this is Mauve,' I said, nodding towards her and glancing back at Paul with a rather awkward look on my face.
He smiled and seemed to have realised that I hadn't informed him of her name on my own accord. 'Hey Mauve,' he said, nodding his head slightly. Mauve smiled back at him, her braces in full view and batting her eyelids.
'Yeah – well – um – I gotta go to my next class,' I said, wanting to get out of this awkward situation. I might have come across as rude but I brushed past Paul and stopped beside him at the end of the desk. I was sure I looked like a dwarf beside him. 'See you around,' I said to him and Mauve who was almost drooling. I waved slightly, turned around and made my way to the front of the classroom.
'Er – wait – um, I'm Paul by the way,' Paul called after me rather urgently. His hand was in the air, and he seemed to notice me staring at it, so he every so subtly bent his elbow and began to scratch the back of his head.
I couldn't help but smile at his embarrassed expression and I had to bite my lip to stop myself laughing. 'Nice to meet you, Paul,' I replied, glancing towards the open door and the crowds of teenagers in the hallway. I quickly looked back at him; he was smiling to himself. 'I'll see you around,' I said before joining the stream of people walking towards the stairs. In this distance, I swore I heard him call back 'yeah, sure', but I wasn't certain.
The rest of the morning went by fairly quickly, and I surprised myself by actually speaking to the girl I sat beside in Art and Design – she also happened to be in my French class. She had blonde hair, a tanned complexion and was around the same height as me. Her name was Brie – you know, like the cheese. She seemed to be quite friendly, though I considered her very brave for actually speaking to me as I was assuming I looked quite hostile. Or, perhaps I didn't look unfriendly at all, maybe this was something I needed to work on. But the thing was, I didn't want to be unfriendly. I just didn't want to get knuckled down into a tightly knitted group of people who knew everything about each other. In Art, we were assigned coursework which was to be done in pairs, this meant I was going to have to meet up with Brie sometime out of school. Clearly my intention of not making friends wasn't working out too well. Much to my relief, neither my Art and Design teacher nor my French teacher made me stand up and introduce myself. But like Mrs Bannerman, Mr Nutt – my French teacher, made it quite clear to the class what my name was. For the rest of that morning I didn't see Mauve – or Paul for that matter. Embry and Quil weren't in any of my other classes either. After my two classes, Brie and her friend Sophie showed me the way to the cafeteria where they suggested that I sat with them. Seeing as I had no one else to sit with – unless annoyingly infatuated Mauve dragged me off to sit by her – I agreed, and sat at the end of a long table of their friends. I sat beside a guy who Brie introduced as Mark; he was her cousin. He seemed pretty nice, and asked me a couple of questions about myself, but kept the small-talk minimal. Lunch was average; I got a muffin, an apple and a bottle of water. This got Brie talking about how I didn't eat very much, thus leading to a conversation about the cafeteria food in general. I sat, nodding in agreement and occasionally offering my opinion.
After lunch, I made my way to the Music corridor for my hour-long class. I was quite surprised at how developed the corridor was. I was expecting a simple piano room, several classrooms and maybe a recording studio. It had all of that and another recording studio and a very well staged rehearsal studio. I was impressed. My Music teacher, Miss Sawyer, I'm sure was barely out of school and looked more like a student rather than a teacher. But that made her more approachable, she appeared to understand that I didn't want to be introduced in front of everyone. It was a rather personal Music class at the beginning. Miss Sawyer sat with me and asked me about my musical interests and if I played any instruments. She obviously took pride in her job. She was practically thrilled when I told her that I played the piano and occasionally sang. But when she suggested that I sang for the class, the look of death I gave her seemed to quieten her down. The general mood of the class was very relaxed and was constructed of mostly working on your own or in pairs to compose a piece of music. I was somewhat disenchanted when the bell rang, insinuating the end of class. I had almost finished composing a piece of music to play on the piano, about ten more minutes would have finished it off. But nevertheless I packed my things away and made for my last class which was P.E in the Gym. I was surprised at how much I had enjoyed Music, maybe it was the fact that I spoke to no one and was left to work on my own – independently.
I made my way to the girls locker rooms quite sufficiently, considering I had only been at the school for a day. There I met the antagonistic, intimidating Coach Clapp, who found me a uniform and directed through the door of the girls locker room. I got changed into the scratchy, uncomfortable uniform which consisted of blue shorts that were too short for me, and a white t-shirt that made my breasts look humongous. I made a mental note to bring my sports bra with me every day I had P.E. So, as a make-shift sports bra, I wore my yellow vest-top underneath. I was one of the last girls to make it out of the locker room, well, I had the excuse of the slight hold up; it took Coach Clapp at least five minutes to find me a relatively decent uniform. Nervous, I made my way to the Gym, peering through the glass in the door before entering. Mixed classes. Volleyball. The volleyball I was looking forward to; I used to play a lot when I lived in California. But the thought of playing it with guys when I looked like some sort of hooker, made me cringe. Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the door and jogged towards where the class was gathered. As I listened to Coach Clapp rambling on, I could feel myself absent-mindedly pulling down my shorts – I might as well have walked out in my underwear. Soon, Coach Clapp had us sorted into four seven a-side teams. I was handed a green bib and found myself on Embry's team. There were two other girls on the team, both who I recognised to be in my French class, though, I couldn't remember their names. They stood at one side of the court, speaking very intensely whilst I stood in front of the net; my usual position.
'Can I just say – you look very lonely,' a voice surveyed suddenly. I glanced sideways to see a very muscled shoulder, and glancing up I saw Embry smiling down at me. It felt weird to be short – now I know how people shorter than me feel. It makes you feel timid, and somewhat weak.
'Just because I'm on my own doesn't mean to say I'm lonely,' I responded, with a small smile. And what I said was entirely true, I valued my alone time. It gave me time to think, to creep into my own world. I found it nicer than having to share everything with everyone.
Embry made a face of agreement to what I had said, and turned his gaze towards the net in front of us. He was probably taller than it. 'You played volleyball before then?' he asked, out of interest obviously – or tactics. If I answered that I had never played before he would most probably put me in the middle of the court. That way everyone around me could take over if they had to. But that wasn't the case.
I nodded, 'When I lived in California – um – I guess I played it nearly every day,' I said, making it sound like it was no big deal. 'I like to play by the net,' I said, gesturing to how close I was to the net which separated the two teams.
'Ooh – So you like spiking then.' It wasn't a question; he seemed to have evaluated me quite well.
I smiled, though in a rather mischievous manner before shrugging. 'Yeah,' I replied, looking up and noticing that the other team appeared to be ready to play.
Coach Clapp's shrill whistle echoed through the room and Embry left my side to situate himself behind me slightly. The first game was fairly evenly matched, and it was obvious that I wasn't the weak link of the team. It seemed that one of the girls from my French class, was almost afraid of the ball meaning that we were supposed to feel like we had a man down – but Embry could have counted as two people. We battled on. I managed a couple of good spikes; earning our team a few points. I also nearly lost my head when a very tall guy spiked the ball towards me, it was a good thing I ducked. In the end it came down to Embry's leadership to guide us to a win – if it hadn't been for him doing all the communicating we probably would have lost. The second game was a bit of an annihilation. The opposite team consisted of four uncoordinated girls and three guys who looked like they'd rather be in the library. It made me wonder whether Coach Clapp had mixed the teams fairly enough. It was quite a boring match – so boring that Embry thought it would be funny to hoist me on his shoulders and make me do all the returning. I must admit, I was quite shocked when he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me like I was a child. I barely knew him! And even after I demanded to be put down on countless occasions, he just laughed and continued running around the court.
Coach Clapp then insinuated us to rotate around once the fifteen minutes was up; winners versus winners, losers versus losers. Our team made our way over to the other court, and immediately after surveying the players on their team, the walk to my preferred side of the court began to appear more daunting. They were tall, athletic and looked like they meant business. Embry's friend Quil was standing at the back, along with a tall, blonde haired girl. Paul was also on the team, though I was surprised to see it, he was standing by the net. But he wasn't my opponent. My opponent was a girl with her dark brown hair tied back in a pony-tail and wearing shorter shorts than I was, but I was pretty sure that they were like that intentionally. She would have appeared to be a nice person, if she wasn't glaring at me. The saying, if looks could kill, flashed across my mind. She must have been trying to intimidate me, but it wasn't working. I raised an eyebrow and stared back into her brown eyes. Yes, I'm the new girl – no need to send a deathly glare my way just because I'm new. Or maybe she thought I was a threat, I mused over that thought.
The game began rather smoothly at first – then it got rough. I often found myself dodging the ball as it was spiked to the ground. The girl who was also at the net for our team – Emma, I found her name to be – wasn't having a good time either. It was only when I let out a slight whimper after nearly getting skinned by the ball that my opponent had hit, that Embry offered to swap with me. I gladly took his spot further back in the court. After five minutes, and deciding he preferred being back in the court, I was put back in my original position. Agitated at the fact that 'the new girl basher' thought she was getting one over on me, I decided that I would play as nasty as her. The first time the ball came within my reach, I slammed it hard with my fist towards the ground, straight in front of 'the new girl basher's' feet. I saw her fists clench first, then glanced up to see her almost snarling at me; I simply smiled back sweetly. That got her angry, and the strange thing was her anger seemed to radiate towards me – and me only. I think she must really hate me. The play continued; Paul constantly warning 'the new girl basher' who's name was Charlotte, to calm down. But that didn't stop her from glaring at me and trying to break my skull by sending stray strikes at me.
I growled. I was hot, sweaty and irritated. Charlotte had annoyed me so much that I was determined to make sure that they didn't win – or at least strike a ball at her, knocking her unconscious. Once again, I dodged a stray ball that she had aimed at me. 'What is your problem?' I hissed, before lobbing the ball over the net.
'You,' Charlotte snarled back. She was standing in a stance that reminded me of a predator preparing to attack its prey. I was the prey.
I narrowed my eyes and watched the ball fly over my head before glancing back at her. 'Well, I'm sorry – but I can't seem to grasp why,' I replied acidly, watching her as she aimed to strike the ball. I smirked as an ingenious idea popped into my head. I coughed loudly in an attempt to put her off – and it did, she missed but managed to lob the ball up. I chuckled at her aggravated reaction, before making eye contact with her and smiling innocently.
It so happens that once I made that fateful eye contact with her, not noticing of course, the ball flying towards my face at a tremendous speed – I found myself seeing stars. You know, the kind that encircle your head before you …. blank out.
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