Kellan
Where is she going? I stared at her back as she was escorted out of the room. Why are they so interested in her? She's done nothing to them. Leave her alone, please leave her alone.
Emilia
Where are they taking me? I've done nothing to them; I just keep my head low and mind my own business, like my dad says, and I'm happy in the background, for now. I'm scared. Leave me alone, please just leave me alone.
Kellan
I turned back to the awed faces at my table, sure that their faces mirrored my own expression. The room buzzed with speculation, and I heard snippets from confused conversations. They couldn't understand why a simple nought was now at the centre of all of this excitement. But they don't know Kayla, Nancy or Jo like I do. They are ruthless and will do anything to get what they want. I tried to show some interest in my tables' conversation, but I can't stop my mind wandering. She is just a nought. A nought that so far hasn't done anything, she hasn't even tried to stand out from the crowd. She probably thinks I hate her, but I don't. I just get lost in thinking about her beauty, and then I have to tell myself, 'she's a nought'. But although I don't know her, I have a feeling that she's a good person. It might be her frizzy brown hair that looks so uncontrollable it makes me want to laugh, or maybe it's her crystal blue eyes that are so expressive and innocent she couldn't possibly ever tell a lie. I just have a bad feeling about this.
I break away from my train of thought to realise that no one is speaking. I look up to see what has drawn my tables' attention, and am confused to see all eyes on me.
"What?" I whispered fiercely to my friend, Paul.
"Sorry, did I distract you from your own little world?" Paul teased.
I didn't say anything. I waited for the other Crosses at my table to continue their conversations before I spoke,
"What do you think that was about before?"
"Wha'?" asked Paul, his mouth filled to the brim with food.
"You know what. Now can you please close your mouth, I am in danger of losing my lunch"
Paul reluctantly complied, swallowing an unusually large amount of now unidentifiable food.
"Well, the noughts had it coming. They think that they have the right to come to our school and they think they're one of us. Filthy good-for-nothing blankers" Paul mumbled under his breath
Sometimes Paul was just so irritating, no matter how many times you try to make him understand that calling a nought a 'blanker'-I mentally winced at the word- was just as bad as calling a Cross a 'dagger', but he'll never change his mind.
There it was again. That silence. I turned in my seat to see what it was this time.
All eyes turned to the back of the hall.
She was back.