Ariana Chambers - The New Girl

‘Nessa! Come and join us. Eve was just going, weren’t you, Eve?’ She turns and gives the girl a cold stare.

Eve has a full plate of spaghetti Bolognese in front of her, but she nods and picks up her tray.

‘Are you OK?’ I ask as Eve shuffles past me.

‘Yes, fine,’ she mutters without looking at me at all.

‘Come on, sit down,’ Izzy says, smiling up at me.

Reluctantly, I sit down next to her, still staring at Eve. I think about going after her but I don’t know what I’d say. I watch as she scrapes her lunch into a bin before heading out of the canteen. I feel really sick.

‘Did you bring lunch, or are you getting something here?’ Vivien asks.

My heart sinks as I think of the Tupperware box Aunt Clara gave me this morning. I didn’t dare ask her what was in it.

‘I brought it,’ I mutter, taking the box from my bag. It’s full of brown rice and vegetables and weird white cubes. I think they might be cheese, but when I try one it’s tasteless and as chewy as rubber. I look up to see Izzy, Stephen and Vivien all staring at me. My face flushes.

‘What’s that white stuff ?’ Stephen asks, nodding at my lunch. I wonder if he’s going to start teasing me the way he was teasing Eve and I feel a hot burst of anger. If he does, I decide, I’ll shove whatever this stupid lunch is right into his smug face.

‘I’m not sure,’ I reply, my face burning even hotter.

‘You don’t know what you’ve got for lunch?’ Vivien asks.

‘No.’ I stare back at her.

‘I think it’s tofu,’ Izzy says with another smile. ‘It looks delicious.’

I look at her, feeling a weird mixture of gratitude and disbelief.

‘Thank you,’ I mutter. ‘My aunt made it. She’s vegan.’

Izzy nods. ‘Your aunt runs the vegan café in town, doesn’t she?’

‘Yes. Paper Soul.’

Izzy just keeps on smiling, like she’s on some kind of sponsored grinathon. ‘I haven’t been into Paper Soul for ages. We’ll have to have lunch there one weekend, won’t we guys?’

Stephen and Vivien nod but they don’t seem quite so keen.

I glance at the table in front of ours. The girl from our class with the dark curly hair is staring at me over the book she’s reading. When we make eye contact she gives a quick smile before looking back down at her book. I look around and see loads of other students glancing over too. I take a deep breath and force myself to eat another cube of white rubber.

By the time the bell rings for the end of the day my mouth is aching from making myself smile and my entire body is stiff with tension. I have to get out of here. As I shove my books into my bag I look up and see the girl with the dark curly hair staring at me again. It’s definitely different to the stares I’ve been getting from the other students; she’s looking at me like she knows me, or knows something about me. I hoist my bag over my shoulder and head over to the door of our form room. Izzy calls out after me but I pretend not to hear her. I need fresh air and I need to be on my own. I’m all new-peopled-out. As I rush along the corridor, I hear the other classroom doors opening behind me and students spilling out. I race down the stairs and through reception. It’s only when I get out on to the driveway that I start feeling calmer again.

‘Nessa! Wait!’

My throat tightens at the sound of Izzy’s voice.

I turn and see all three of them running to catch up with me. What is wrong with them? Why are they so desperate to hang out with me? It’s obvious I’m not in their league – this is going against all the natural laws of the school feeding chain.

‘Why did you race off like that?’ Izzy says, catching me up. Her pale cheeks have flushed pink, making her look even more like a porcelain doll.

‘I don’t know,’ I mutter.

‘Do you want to come and hang out at mine?’ she asks. ‘We were going to go in the pool.’

‘The pool?’

Izzy nods. ‘Yes. Don’t worry. It’s indoors and it’s heated.’

‘Oh, well,’ I rack my brains for an excuse. ‘I – I don’t have a swimming costume.’

Izzy grins. ‘That’s OK. You can borrow one of mine.’

My insides start crawling with embarrassment. It’s been bad enough having to hang out with new people all day without them seeing me semi-naked. And something tells me Izzy’s the kind of girl who would own only the skimpiest bikinis.

‘Come on, it’ll be fun.’ Izzy links arms with me.

I automatically pull away. ‘I’m really sorry. I can’t. I have to – I have to help my aunt, in the café.’

Izzy sighs. For a moment I think I’ve managed to wriggle out of it, but then she starts smiling again. ‘We could come with you – hang out there for a while.’

I look at the others hoping they’ll disagree, but even Stephen’s nodding.

‘You can’t!’ I say, way too forcefully.

‘What do you mean, we can’t?’ Vivien asks, icily.

‘It’s not open today,’ I stammer. ‘I’m helping my aunt do a stock check.’

Izzy stares at me for a moment, like she’s not sure whether to believe me. ‘Wow, your eyes,’ she says at last.

‘What about them?’

‘I swear they were pale blue this morning. Now they look really dark.’

‘It’s just the light,’ I say. People have said this about my eyes before. I guess they’re just a weird shade of blue that looks different in different settings. ‘Anyway, I’d better get going.’

Izzy looks at me for a moment, then she nods. ‘OK. See you tomorrow.’

‘Yes. See you tomorrow.’ I pull up the hood on my coat and start walking, my heart pounding in time with my feet.

As soon as I’ve got away from the populars, I start feeling better. The icy air feels lovely and fresh after the stuffy, overheated classrooms. I don’t feel ready to go back to Paper Soul just yet and face trying to make conversation with Aunt Clara, so when I get to the crossroads instead of turning left on to the High Street I go straight on. I follow the road round a corner and see a footpath leading up into the woods. It looks so quiet and peaceful that I feel drawn to it like a magnet. As I head in among the trees all I can hear are the chirps of birds as they flying to roost for the night. It’s so soothing after the all the yelling and clattering of school. I take a deep breath. The air smells of a beautiful mixture of woodsmoke and damp pine. I follow the footpath up the hill until I come to a huge old oak tree. Its roots are gnarled, pushing up through the icy ground like a pair of giant arms. I nestle down in a nook between them and lean back against the huge trunk. It feels as if the tree is hugging me and slowly I start to relax. I’ve survived my first day at Fairhollow High. I take Mum’s locket from my pocket and trace my fingers over the star.

It’s weird to think that I’m now living in the town that Mum grew up in, going to the same school she went to, and with the same teacher. Weird but nice. Imaginary scenes start playing in my head. Mum walking down the High Street. Mum going to school. Mum sitting at a desk listening to Mr Matthews take the register. Mum walking and playing in these woods, maybe even around this tree. My body starts filling with a warm glow. Hopefully, coming to Fairhollow will help me get to know her better. Whenever I asked Dad to tell me about her he’d just close up and mutter, ‘I can’t’, so I gave up trying. But I’m living with Aunt Clara now. Surely she’ll be able to tell me loads once she’s got used to me being here. Scrambling to my feet, I decide to go back to Paper Soul and give it a try.