The school looked a lot bigger than it did on the website. The path in front of her led in-between trees to the big staircase into the sweeping doors. Students here and there where sheltering under trees, talking to friends and walking into school.
Christy took a deep breath, and followed the path in. The hall was full of students getting into lockers and chatting. The air was swimming with an eccentric incoherent babble. Christy searched on her map for the boarders' rooms. It was like a maze.
She finally found it, up a couple of flights of stairs. She double checked her room number, which was 11, and reluctantly turned the handle.
Inside, it was a room big enough for about 4 people. There were two bunk beds, each covered with a white duvet cover. The ceiling slanted downwards to the facing wall, to a long window seat. Two computer desks sat opposite the beds, along with a wardrobe, a couple of squishy bean-bags, a bookcase, a small TV and a pin-board filled with notices.
On one of the top bunks, a blonde haired girl lay on her stomach writing in a book.
"Uh…" Christy said.
The girl sat up and turned.
"Oh, im sorry I didn't see you come in." She said, flashing Christy a smile.
"Im Torrie," She said, jumping down from her bunk.
"Im Christy Hemme."
"Are you new here? I don't think I remember you from last year…"
"Yeah I am. Are you in this room too?"
"Yeah. You will love it here. We have the best room too. Room 8 leaks 'cause the pipes run over head. 10 I think gets really stuffy in there…and supposedly 13 makes noises at night. It's easy to climb out the window," Torrie continued, motioning her towards the curtained window. "It's got a pipe you can use as footing."
"Well then I guess we are lucky."
Torrie laughed as she headed over towards the dresser and began to brush her hair.
"So…what's school like?" Christy asked.
"Uhmm…well it's not that bad…," Torrie exclaimed as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "Except if you are new, the school can seem like a maze. So, do you know anyone else here?"
"Oh, no. The only person I've met so far is you."
Torrie giggled.
"That's ok. You can hang out with me if you want. My friends are really nice. You would like them."
After 10 minutes, Christy and Torrie headed down to Biology.
On the way, Christy opened her locked and put her books inside.
"Well, well, well," a sugary voice said from behind her.
Christy spun around to see a blonde, leggy girl standing in front of her.
"What do you want, Stacy?" Torrie asked, glaring.
"Just trying to make a conversation, Tor." Stacy said. "I see you've found yourself a sidekick," She laughed.
"And I see that your brain hasn't gotten any bigger over the summer holidays," Torrie retorted, mocking the girls' sweet tones.
"I see that you haven't gotten any bigger over the holidays…and im not talking about your height."
A girl standing next to Stacy giggled.
"Let's face it Tor…" Stacy said, walking closer to Torrie. "You will never be in my league. We saw an example of that last year, right?"
Torrie blinked, trying to hold back tears, and looked down.
"Yeah, we did. Don't ever think that you can be as good as me…cause you never will be."
Torrie glared at Stacy.
Stacy laughed, and walked off with her friend.
"Torrie, are…who was she? Are you ok?" Christy asked.
Torrie slumped down the locker, and put her head on her knees. Christy put a comforting arm around her.
"Hey, what's up?"
Christy looked up to see a red headed girl in brown cargos and a tee shirt staring down at them. She bobbed down.
"Torrie, what happened?" She asked.
She continued to sob.
"Hi, I'm Amy Dumas…I hate my name, so you can call me Lita." The girl said.
"Im Christy," she whispered.
"Torrie," Lita said, "Its not Stacy again, is it?"
Torrie buried her head into her arms.
"Tor, I told you not to take any crap from her. She only lives to harm people. She's a bitch."
"I know…" Torrie sobbed. "Look guys, im fine. Really…"
She stood up.
"Let's go to class. See you at interval, ok?" She asked Lita.
"Yeah…ok see you."
Christy and Torrie continued to biology.
