11

The class was fairly small to begin with, and there were even less students due to Katy. Many had gone to see councillors and I suspected some took advantage of the situation to get out of classes. It was an empty day.
Trying to find seats was oddly hard, considering the lack of students filling them.
The psychology tables were tables of four, with two students on either end. I'd made a beeline for the seat opposite Daisy and Skye only to be told "someone already sits there," sullenly by Skye.
I ended up awkwardly asking to sit with a group of three. I sat next to a boy, who introduced himself as Felix. He had sharp, angular green eyes and wavy brown hair that fell to his shoulders. He reminded me of a cat, something about him was very feline. The two girls sat across from Felix and I were polar opposites.
"This is Clover and Emmeline. I mean, Em," he tacked on as one of the girls glared at him.
Clover was gorgeous, they both were. She had white silver hair and huge blue eyes. Her face was heavily made up with dark makeup, a style one could only call goth. Despite her obvious intentions to intimidate, she had very delicate features. She had a nose ring and a stormy expression.
Emmeline, or Em, looked like a doll. She had cropped brown hair, reaching just to her chin. Her eyes were green and wide, accentuated with her long lashes. She looked sweet, innocent.
They both smiled at me with genuine friendliness, setting my nerves at ease. I was happy to learn we were on the topic of memory this term, a topic I had already covered in my old school. An easy, possibly boring, term.
The lesson wasn't really a lesson, with the amount of students missing so the teacher left us to talk and speculate with each other. I caught Skye glaring in my direction a few times but I found it didn't upset me as her obvious hate did before. She didn't matter too much. Daisy, however, came over to sit on my desk, exclaiming how guilty she felt for leaving me alone. This didn't sit well with my table, as they had possibly welcomed me with a warmth that wasn't present when I met the clique. The tension built up and Daisy returned to Skye, who was still glowering. I was ashamed to admit it, but her departure was a relief.
"So, you're already in the clique?" Felix sounded merely interested, although there was a certain venom in his voice when he called them the clique.
"Um, yeah I guess. Maybe. I've only just met them," I trailed off helplessly. I wasn't in the clique but admitting I was only involved through the roommate system seemed weak.
"Huh. Not a good idea, if you ask me." I didn't.
"How so?" I kept my voice civil, but I was struck with the desire to defend them, the group that had coldly allowed me to join them.
"They're weird. Not right," Em spoke up, her sweet voice was twisted with the hatred of the unknown.
"I don't think they're, well, human." Felix's voice was only a whisper in my ear as he dropped that heavy statement. The silence rose again, forming a wall between myself and the trio. Not human? That's ridiculous, just the theories of a small town kid who doesn't go out much. Everyone's human, there's no alternative. I was probably dwelling on this for too long, it was a harmless comment. But something in the statement resonated with me. Em and Clover were shooting me furtive glances ever so often, deep in conversation. I turned to start a conversation with Felix, I realised I was probably being rude. He was staring at me, deep in thought. There was something about his face that made me self conscious, the faint frustration in his eyes, the almost serious set to his mouth with the corners turned up in amusement. He caught me looking and grinned broadly, flashing a set of sharp teeth.
"So, are you coming tonight?" His voice was hopeful, it was so nice to feel wanted that I knew I'd say yes to whatever.
"Tonight?"
"Oh, yes. We're all going to Clover's room, coming?"
"Yeah, sure!" I blurted out, really desperate May. But instead of cringing at my eagerness, as I knew Aurel or Cal would do, Felix gave me another warm grin.
"Great! See you there!"
The bell rang, signalling the end of lesson. I stood, unsure of my next move.
"What have you got now?" Felix was at my side, he was so friendly.
"Social studies, but I have no idea where it is," I was so embarrassed to admit that, asking for help isn't something I liked to do.
"I have plant studies, I'll take you to your class on the way if you like?" Plant studies? I didn't even know gardening was a subject. He laughed at my expression, what I assumed to be blank.
"Okay yes it sounds boring but I just really love plants. I love watching them grow and knowing I was a part of it," his voice was full of passion. I loved hearing people talk about their hobbies, his eyes lit up and nobody could stop that smile growing on his face. Well, nobody but the clique. His smile quickly fell as Daisy came over. It was strange, they were both friendly, passionate people. How could they hate their exact match?
"You have social studies next, I asked Aurel to wait for you outside psychology so you could walk together!" I felt instant guilt, I couldn't go back on Felix's offer but Daisy was trying her hardest for me.
"I'm walking her, it's on the way to my lesson." Felix was cold, smooth. Daisy's smile fell.
"Oh! That's okay, I'm sure Aurel will be okay with that." She'll be more than okay. Daisy smiled and waved before walking off with Skye.
"We better take you to lesson then, not that the teachers will mind you being late, today." He was probably right, many kids weren't even turning up to lessons. We walked out of the class, he was so close to me that our shoulders brushed.
"So, are you uh, interested in Aurel Laurence? I mean, I heard she's into girls." He scratched his neck awkwardly, clearly trying to broach the subject carefully. I wondered why he cared.
"Uh, nothing's going on with us, if that's what you're asking," I kept my tone casual, unsure of where this was leading. I wasn't ashamed of being who I was, I just didn't want to associate myself with Aurel if she didn't want a known connection.
"Oh uh, sorry I didn't want to assume. I didn't mean that I think you're ga-"
"I am." I cut in. He coughed slightly, despite his obvious awkwardness I knew he didn't think badly of it, he just didn't want to offend me.
"Well, I'm not gay, but I'm in the community," I tried to make my voice softer, to ease the uncomfortable tension.
"I'm probably bisexual," I tacked on as an afterthought. The thing is, I had never put much thought into a label. I liked girls and I liked boys. That was it, no need to complicate it.
"Ah, well if it helps, there isn't anybody who would judge you here," he wrung his hands nervously and smiled.
"Hey, this is social studies!" Instead of going in, I stopped by the door to ask him one last question.
"So, why do you care whether or not I'm involved with Aurel?" I tried to keep my voice casual, but I don't think I quite managed it. His cheeks turned bright pink and he chuckled again.
"I, uh, guess it was a not so subtle way of finding out if you're available." With that, he ducked his head down and walked off, hands in pockets. Did that mean he liked me? I couldn't help but grin at the thought, he was so relaxed. It was so easy to get along with Felix. I heard a delicate cough, pulling me out of my happy thoughts. I turned my head to the left to face Aurel. Her face was sullen, as usual, but even more so. I had a suspicion she had heard all of that. Or maybe she was still angry at me for breakfast?
"Are you going to go in or are you going to make me wait for you even longer?" Her voice was laced with venom.
"I didn't think you'd want to walk with me," my voice was an embarrassing mixture of anger and hurt. She raised her eyebrows at me and scoffed softly. She stalked past me swiftly, as if she couldn't stand looking at me for any longer.
"Absurd," she muttered.