"Hey, if you want, you can catch a ride with me today – even Cassie's old bomb is better than the train." Cara's voice rang out from over the breakfast table, starling me out of my thoughts.
"What?" I said, accidently knocking my cereal-filled spoon into the corner of my mouth, splashing milk on my face.
"Do you want to catch a ride with me?" Cara said slowly, eyes never leaving her phone as I cleaned my face with my shirt sleeve.
"Uh," I hesitated, surprised but nervous. What were her friends like? They had to be better than the train though, so why not? "Sure, thanks."
I normally got to school just in time for the bell to ring, much to the annoyance of my teachers, but with the help of a motor, miracles of punctuality could be achieved. It took us a mere fifteen to twenty minutes to arrive at the student carpark in comparison to my usual forty-five and I honestly had no idea what to do with the extra time.
"Hey, you remember the time we went to laser tag?" Mike said, grin widening across his face. It was one of the first impressions he gave you; a big grin, loud t-shirts and messy hair. A natural opposite to Cara who preferred kaki, black, and was all straight lines.
"Of course, I remember the time I completely destroyed the both of you." Cassie smiled mischievously, nabbing her bag out of the car and locking the boot.
"You did not!" Cara said, eyebrows raised, "I distinctly remember you won two out of three. The third game was all mine."
I stayed silent as their friendly banter rang out around me. It was nice to have happy people around and their mood buoyed mine up a few notches. But by the time the bell rang, I wanted to leave. Sometimes people who have been friends for ages get you feeling like that. Cara's group was nice and all, but it was almost like there was too much history and it had thrown up an invisible barrier.
Hurrying to class, I sat silent in my lone desk at the back of the room until the bell rang for lunch. As admittedly awkward as it was hanging out with my sister's friends, at least they didn't give me a ten-foot radius every time I came close.
I prepared to leave for the spot I knew Cara sat in for lunch, grabbing my lunch before closing my locker door. Wandering out into the quad, I smiled a little – I used to be afraid of this part of the school, filled as it was with teens and noise – now I could walk through it without even a stray thought intruding on mine.
However, before I reached Cara's table, I stopped.
Do you really just want to go and be a fourth wheel?
Better than eating by myself again.
Is it really? If you go now, they'll expect you to go every lunch. And they probably don't know who you are. Do you think they'll be so friendly if they knew you were the cause of all the trouble last year?
I hesitated, then spun around, heading to my usual spot.
Idiot, idiot, idiot! Why are you practically running away? It's not like Cara's friends are bad, and you're just running scared!
I stopped at the entrance of the gap between the art and English buildings, noticing that my usual spot was taken by some students in the year above. I felt my cheeks heat up and went to turn away, but they'd already spotted me.
"Hey," An athletic dark-haired girl quickly got up and jogged over, "Sorry, was this your spot? We were looking for a new one but if it's taken, we can move."
"No, it's fine," I mumbled, shuffling my feet.
"No, really," She said earnestly, placing her hand on my shoulder, "but if you really don't mind, could we share?"
"Um, okay." I said, trying to end the conversation quickly before I could embarrass myself.
"Cool! So, what's your name?" She said, leading me back towards the dual walls that made such good back rests.
"Jul-" I stopped, what if they've heard of 'Juliet the meta'? That'd just make things awkward. "Jules. I'm Jules. And you?" I finished uncertainly.
"I'm Layla and this is Oliver, Jinn, and Trudy, but we just call her Dee." She said, gesturing towards three others who were sitting slouched against the wall.
Oliver had a serious face and looked me over curiously before shuffling over to make room for us to sit. Jinn's short black hair had red tips and his nose sported a piercing, matching the seven other piercings that ran up his ears. Dee was short, but stocky and had grazed knuckles.
I nodded to them nervously before sitting next to Layla, a little back from the rest of them.
They seemed nice, cheerfully discussing everything from Ms Connor's botched haircut to how the police deal with crime when Flash catches most of the dangerous criminals. I kind of wanted to join in on that one but forced myself to keep my mouth shut just in case I let slip something silly.
"I can't believe they were going to expel that girl!" Layla said angrily when last year's event was brought up in the wake of that last topic.
"She did make everyone see their worst fears." Oliver said indifferently, doodling absent minded in one of his graph books.
"S'not like anyone got hurt." Dee argued, "Just a few scaped knees. It mostly just shook people up, and those senior teachers need a good shaking up sometimes."
"I'd be more interested in knowing why she did it. Motivations are crucial in figuring out whether the proposed punishment was fair or even necessary." Jinn said as he flipped and spun a rubix cube.
"Maybe she was scared."
I didn't realise I had spoken until everyone looked at me. I mean, I felt the words and I heard them, but I don't remember deciding to say them. I looked at the black asphalt and wished I hadn't finished my sandwich so soon. Having your mouth full is a great excuse for silence and stops you from running your mouth off like an idiot.
"That's a good point." Layla said after a moment, "Some adults think we're as mature as they are and we should act like it, but we're not. Not freaking out under pressure is learned, not innate."
"Ooh, fancy words," Dee said with a smirk, "What next, you going to pull out 'antidisestablishmentarianism'? Spell it for us, would you?"
Layla snorted, "Shut up, Dee."
Everyone laughed, the bell ringing along with us and we made our way towards our various classes. Speaking up, and Layla validating my opinion gave me a kind of warm glow in my chest that lasted all through the rest of my classes. I should be brave and speak up more often.
Author's Note:
Hey everyone! Sorry this is so late, I have WAY too much work at the moment.
Anyway, what do you think of Juliet's new friends?
Don't forget to review! Seriously - your feedback is very important!
Have a great weekend :)
Trix