My Life As A Teenage Girl - Part Three - New Friends And Enemies free porn video

It took a few minutes for the cheering and shouting to die down, and by the time Mrs Dunne had enough students silent for her to be heard, the bell rang for the beginning of the day. Mrs Dunne glared at us as Poppy, Lauren, myself and the rest of the new students rushed past her to retrieve our bags. Mrs Dunne's plan to humiliate the new students also failed in getting us introduced to the year group, as nobody was able to connect the six names to the right students. However, even without people knowing my name, I had several boys and girls coming up to me as we exited the hall and saying "That was really cool what you did up there" and "Nobody has ever stood up to the head like that" I didn't really see it as standing up to her, as we were doing what she had asked us to do by standing at the front, but the girls and boys were also saying that that was her way of scaring us into submission. Since we're new, Mrs Dunne wanted to make sure that we quickly feared her as much as the rest of the school did. We were the first new students to actually stand in front of everybody in the hall, whereas every new student before us had been scared into hiding amongst their tutor group until the assembly ended. It was some sort of annual tradition that took place whenever a new student joined the school. The head teacher would scare them into hiding, whilst their tutor group would protect them. Since we were the first to break the tradition, we had earned ourselves a bit of celebrity status among the students, but they still only knew us as "Those brave kids" or for just me: "Stage Girl" It was only my tutor group that actually knew my name, but unless I was totally ignored for the next few hours, I was most likely going to be pretty well known by the end of the day. Standing up to the Mrs Dunne was apparently a very big thing and we were getting a lot of attention because of it. Jenny gave us each a pat on the back and finally met Lauren, just before my sister had to rush off to her first lesson. Luckily, Jenny was teaching Poppy and I for our first lesson, so we knew if we went to class with Jenny we'd never be late. And if we were late, Jenny might just give us special treatment for being in her tutor group. With assembly finished, the hall was quickly evacuated and the cleaners had moved in to start stacking up the chairs. Mrs Dunne had disappeared by the time Jenny, Poppy and myself had gotten out of the hall, in the middle of a thick crowd of pupils and teachers. Poppy and I walked behind Jenny as our way of cutting through the crowd, since pushing and shoving close to a teacher was thought to be punishable by death. This allowed us to use Jenny as our own snow plough, or pupil plough, to get through the masses of black uniforms without being late. It would be a technique that Poppy and I would eventually perfect over the course of the year. Once we were into the main lobby, the crowd split up and faded as the other year groups passed by, with everyone heading down different corridors. Jenny continued on and out into the open courtyard, still unknowingly acting as our own personal bulldozer, but as she turned to look at us there was a smirk on her face that made Poppy and I freeze on the spot. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing, girls." Jenny said whilst shaking her head disappointedly. "We weren't doing anything Jenny," I lied. "Just heading to Drama class," Poppy added. "And you're just going to hide behind me until we get there?" Jenny smirked. Poppy and I remained silent and nodded. "You can't hide behind the teachers all the time girls. With your instant popularity you should be mingling with the other students and not hanging around with me." Jenny sighed. "What's so bad about hanging out with you?" I asked. "Well, I'm a teacher and you're a student. You two should be making friends with kids your own age. Now, let's get a move on before you're both late to your first class!" Jenny said as she stepped between us and turned around, then placed her hands on our backs and gave both Poppy and I a gentle nudge forward. Without our bulldozer, we had to make our way through the crowds ourselves, and without Jenny in sight, I felt smaller and more vulnerable than ever, like a little girl in an adult world. My dream of going to senior school had come true, but I was never a girl in a girl's uniform in my dreams. I always imagined myself in the boyish long black trousers and old black scruffy shoes, along with the black blazer, white shirt and tie. Never had I imagined myself in the girly version of the uniform with the long white socks, black ballet flats and the black pleated skirt. It was fair to say that my dream of senior school had been overshadowed by my sudden change of gender. Whether it was a change of gender, or just a realisation of what I really was, I would never really know, but as I stood in that courtyard I knew that the achievement of getting to senior school was right at the back of my mind. All I could think about at that moment was how I was going to get through the crowd, and the air flowing around my legs that was making me feel even more nervous and fragile was not helping. I would have been better off wearing the girl's black trousers instead of the skirt, but Mum had been unwavering in her quest to make me look and feel as girly as possible. The crowd was moving so slowly that to me and Poppy it looked like they weren't even moving at all, despite the fact that the bell had rung and people were supposed to be on their way to class. So at that moment my strong leadership streak (which began when I led Poppy and Lauren to the front of the hall) decided to continue when I had a sudden thought to go around the crowd instead. Forgetting that Jenny was right behind us and would have split the crowd as she walked towards it, I grabbed Poppy's hand and pulled her away towards the wall of the main building. We found a tight corridor that ran between the crowd and the wall, so I pulled Poppy's hand again until we found ourselves sneaking past girls and boys much taller than us, all talking in small groups and slowly moving to class. We didn't want to disturb any of them, so we tried to be as quiet and hidden as possible. Apart from Lucy, the older year groups always seemed to find us younger students to be pests which they either bullied or ignored, which was why it was so daunting for us to pass through a crowd of them. The gap between the wall and the crowd got smaller and smaller as Poppy and I made our way through, to the point where we were rubbing our backs against the hard brick wall. That was where I made my first mistake of the day, and thankfully only one person noticed. Poppy tugged back on my hand as we passed by several windows, having to crouch beneath one which was open. I continued sneaking past the crowd and Poppy pulled back on my hand once again with enough strength to stop me in my tracks, our backs against the wall and the crowd slowly beginning to disperse. "What?" I asked. Poppy didn't say a word, but leaned towards me with her hands outstretched and grabbed the hem of my skirt. I briefly feared she was going to pull it down to my ankles, but she just gave it a gentle tug and freed an edge which had got stuck in one of the straps on my pink Roxy backpack. Thankfully it was only Poppy that had seen my white cotton panties, since everyone else was busy with their conversations. Poppy smoothed out my skirt herself and grinned when she asked "What happened to all your ladylike manners Elle?" "I was never really very ladylike Pops." I smirked back at her. "No, just clumsy then," Poppy said as we snuck past the last remnants of the crowd by sliding across the bonnet of a red Audi, somehow not setting off the alarm. The sight of Jenny calmly walking along just ahead of us, and the knowledge that she was able to easily carve a pathway through the crowd made me feel even more inferior than I already did. Knowing that Jenny and everyone else in the crowd was so much more mature than Poppy and I was just another reminder of our tiny status in the school, and that the only people we didn't have to fear were the Year Sevens. It was also a brief glimpse into the future and an exciting prospect in store for us when we finally reached Year 10 and 11, knowing that almost every student below us was as scared as Poppy and I were at that very moment. Jenny continued walking ahead of us as calm as ever, her arms crossed and her eyes scanning around, following students as they passed her. We walked slowly behind her and did our best to imitate her calm and cool movements, just as a way to try and fit in, but before we could get into any kind of rhythm we were both suddenly pushed and nudged together by a small group of girls. They were hurrying across the courtyard and were sticking together like glue, which meant Poppy and I were stuck amongst them as they grouped around us. "Hey, you're those two new girls from assembly aren't you?" asked one of the girls. "She's Ellie and I'm Poppy," Poppy said as we were hurried along by the group of girls, none of whom we knew but they knew us. "So that other girl that you pulled out of the crowd must have been Lauren Dawson, your sister?" another girl asked. "Yeah" I said as we all walked by Jenny, who smiled and gave Poppy and I one quick and approving nod. "That was really cool what you did," One girl said, whilst another added "You're really brave!" and finally another said "You're both really brave," There were all staring at us in fascination, making both of us feel quite uncomfortable. Poppy and I didn't really know what else to do except smile shyly and say thanks, after which the group of girls stayed silent as we re-entered the main school building and began walking down a long corridor back to the Drama building. Poppy and I tried our best to stay apart from the group of girls as we walked, but they continued walking behind us closely and were still watching us whenever I turned to look at them. At the end of the corridor we reached a crossroads, where we could exit the school by going right or enter the Quad by going left. The Quad was a large square shape in the center of the main school building, with a closed off garden inside it and English classrooms running along the edges outside of it. But today, Poppy and I were going straight on towards the Drama classes. That was until a small hand wrapped itself around my elbow and pulled me back, and I found myself standing in the center of the crossroads with the group of girls surrounding me. Two girls from my tutor group, Courtney and Ashleigh, were standing in front of us, whilst a brown haired girl a little shorter than me kept her hand around my elbow before eventually linking her arm with mine and locking me in with the girls. Poppy stood beside me and decided to link arms with me too, leaving me stuck between them with nowhere to go. "So I see you've all met Ellie and Poppy" Courtney said with a grin, her long golden hair gently swaying as students walked past in many different directions. "What? You already know them?" asked the brown haired girl whose arm was linked with mine, who sounded quite surprised. "Well yeah, they're in our tutor group," Ashleigh said proudly. "No wonder, your tutor group always gets the pretty people" said a tall red haired girl from the group, and I could tell she sounded a bit jealous. "Is that true?" Poppy asked. "Well we have a couple of ugly boys with us but we don't really talk to them anyway," Courtney said with a grin. "Do you have any idea how popular we'll all be with you two hanging with us?" A blonde haired girl asked with her eyes focussing on me. I slowly shook my head because I couldn't think of an answer. I really had no idea how popularity in school was supposed to work. "Like, a lot" the blonde girl quickly answered her own question. "Guys we have to get to class or we'll be late" Ashleigh announced loudly, and everyone turned to her and nodded, some sighing sadly as the group started to split up and head down different corridors. "So what do you guys have first?" Ashleigh asked. "Drama with Jenny" I said whilst Poppy nodded. "Nice! You're with us then" Courtney quickly linked her arm with mine without giving me a chance to get away, and then linked her other arm with Ashleigh's. Soon we were on our way again and also on our way to making our first new friends. "So I guess you're wondering how you two hanging with us is going to make us all popular?" Ashleigh asked. "How?" Poppy asked. "The whole year group knows all about you two after that assembly. You're like celebrities, and everyone wants to be friends with a celebrity, right?" Ashleigh had a sly grin forming on her lips as she spoke. "Of course" Poppy said "Everyone will want to hang with us" "Why?" I asked, with all the popularity talk going over my head. "Ellie, even just standing near a celebrity like you will make someone feel almost as popular as you are," Courtney said with a smile. She made me think back to preparation day, at lunch time when all those Year Sevens were crowding around us. It was all going exactly as Miss Darcy said it would. "Maybe not as popular as Vicki, but still really popular," Courtney sighed. "Vicki isn't popular Court, she's just a big bully that everyone is afraid of," Ashleigh blurted out haughtily. "Who's Vicki?" I asked. "She's like the most popular girl in our year, and anyone who doesn't kiss up to her is against her," Courtney was eager to spew out any information. "You need friends in this school, because she'll destroy you if you're on your own and against her," Ashleigh said, and then grunted her displeasure. I could tell there was some bad blood between Ashleigh and Vicki, but listening to the descriptions of Vicki that we were getting, it was hard to imagine anyone who didn't have unfinished business with her. Ashleigh appeared to be the one and only rival to Vicki's domination of the year group, as everyone else either hid from her or devoted themselves to pleasing her. "So do you want to join us or Vicki?" Courtney asked. They thought that my friendship with Kirsty, the most popular girl in the year above, and our minor celebrity status would help turn the tables and lead to Vicki losing her crown as Queen of the year group. Courtney and Ashleigh's master plan relied on Poppy and I joining their little 'clique' and using our fame to increase the whole clique's notoriety in the school. The problem was that I'd be putting myself in the spotlight constantly, which I promised myself I wouldn't do. I just wanted to get through school unscathed, and that didn't seem possible if I was going to join a clique and start a war. "I don't know" I nervously said. "We'll get back to you!" Poppy said with a polite smile as we exited the main school building and took a couple more steps towards the Drama block. Each building located around the main school building was usually two floors high and very square, which led people to call them 'Blocks'. The Drama block was no different, with two levels, a completely square shape and Jenny's classroom on the bottom. Ashleigh and Courtney separated from us as we blended into a large group of students gathered outside Jenny's classroom, which still appeared to be locked. "Why didn't you say yes?" Poppy asked me. "I've never been in a clique before" "I just didn't know if I wanted to be at the center of a war on my first day, Pops" I shrugged at her, not entirely sure of my answer. Poppy calling it clique was also something that was distracting me, as it made them sound not just like a group of friends, but a very girly group of friends. I was still taking the whole girlification thing slowly. "Alright, alright, everyone quiet down" We heard Jenny shout as she suddenly appeared from behind us and started wading her way through the large group of students. She was fumbling with several keys as she reached the double doors to her classroom, and once she had the doors open it was the signal for every student to charge inside. There were no screams of pain as the classroom began to fill up, so we assumed Jenny had gotten out of the way of the students who were obviously quite happy to have a 'fun subject' as the first lesson on their first day back. Jenny was already gathering files and organising things in her little office space in the corner of the room, left of the doors that Poppy and I entered through. We were behind Ashleigh and Courtney and a few other students, who had a much larger level of calmness about them compared to the rest of the class. "Remember to take off your shoes and bags when you come in!" Jenny shouted over the chaotic noise being made by everyone. The class was as empty as it had been on Preparation Day, with some tables and chairs stacked behind a black curtain at the end of the room, and nothing else on the floor except for one red chair in the center of the classroom. The class had gathered along the wall on the right side of the classroom, which was only disturbed by one small door that led into a mystery room. Everyone had taken off their shoes and bags, and left them lying against the wall, with some hanging their blazers on hooks above them. "All of you gather around that chair in the middle and we'll get started" was Jenny's first command of the lesson. With our shoes and bags removed, we gathered around the small red chair and followed everyone else as they sat on the floor. I again had to be extremely cautious of my skirt as I sat down, but even more so this time since we weren't sitting on chairs. All the other girls seemed to sit down so easily, as if the small chance of showing their underwear didn't scare them. Maybe that was the secret, to not be scared and just sit down as you usually do, but the problem was that I would normally sit cross legged on the floor, which was of course impossible in a knee-length skirt. I watched as more and more girls and boys sat down, and quickly shot into action before I could be the last person standing. I copied another girl as she sat down and put one of my feet behind the other and knelt down as if I was curtsying. I continued to bend my knees and placed a hand on the rough carpet to support me, and then curved my legs to my side as my bottom rested on the floor. I was gladly able to sit down without incident, and made a mental note to practice sitting down like that more often, but already there were whispers of "I could see" and "panties" spreading among the girls and boys. The girls were particularly giggly and gossipy but none of them were looking at me, so I relaxed and wondered who else could be as unladylike as I was. Jenny started off the class by introducing herself to those who didn't know her, but it somehow seemed pointless because Jenny must have been the most liked teacher in school, but still there were some students that didn't know her. Half of the class hadn't been taught by Jenny last year, so she had to do a good job of moulding her veteran students with her new students to create a new class altogether. Any bored or blank faces were left smiling when Jenny went about correcting them, giving equal attention to everyone in the class until everyone knew her equally well. However none of them would know her as well as the students from her own tutor group until they spent more time with her, so Poppy and I knew we would always have slightly more of a rapport with Jenny than the other students. It was of course the same with Ashleigh and Courtney too, but I did not yet think of us as a group of friends just yet, so for now it was still myself and Poppy going it alone. The first task was an ice-breaker exercise to get everyone acquainted with each other and comfortable. Jenny handed out sheets of paper with a table of questions on them, which we had to take with us around the classroom and find the students with answers to those questions. Some were more eager than others, preferring to stand in one place and wait for people to come to them, and I was one of those who stood still, until Poppy called me a wimp, grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me across the class room. We were still being lazy with our answers, with half of our questions answered by our own names, but for questions such as "Been to Paris" we had to actually work to find someone who had been. We rushed all over the classroom, asking the questions on the sheet such as "Has a dog", "Plays football", "Reads Harry Potter", "Favourite colour is green", and ended up getting answers for every question and learning the names of most of the class. Some of the boys turned as red as a traffic light when Poppy and I approached them, and shot out any answers we needed as soon as we asked. It was as if they wanted to run away as soon as we started talking, which left us feeling more uncomfortable and wondering what was wrong instead of feeling more relaxed as Jenny planned. Not all the boys were like that though, some were eager to boast about what they'd done when we asked questions about sports, and they ended up talking endlessly about a competition they'd won, then another boy would boast about something even better until either I or Poppy decided we'd had enough. There was one occasion where we didn't get answers, but rather insults when we asked one of the final questions on the sheet. Poppy and I walked up to a dark brown haired girl with a large pointed nose, her boobs much bigger than mine and Poppy's, who had stood still throughout the exercise and leaned casually against the wall. She was waiting for everyone to come to her, and everyone so far had done so. I had kept an eye on her curiously throughout the exercise, and watched as everyone in the class at some point slowly trudged up to her with their eyes to the floor and all ask the same question. "Have you done any of these?" they all asked, and the girl snatched their piece of paper and wrote her name (at least I thought it was her name) in the empty space on the sheet. The only students I hadn't seen go up to her were Courtney and Ashleigh, and not knowing anyone else Ashleigh would ignore, I was quick to realise that this girl was probably the Vicki that everyone feared and Ashleigh loathed. Our early exchanges were fairly normal, she wasn't going red like some of the boys or boasting about her achievements, she was actually calm and friendly enough to make me wonder what Ashleigh and Courtney were on about when they said "she would destroy us" Our conversation eventually reached our antics in the assembly, which had been a popular topic in other conversations that Poppy and I had had around the room with various other people. "Jenny just sort of encouraged us to get up, and we did, then everyone else seemed to get up too" I said when Vicki asked about it. Poppy and I grinned at each other and Vicki giggled along with us, but her giggles just seemed to instantly stop and her smile faded away a few moments later. Her expression turned from happy to annoyed in a matter of seconds, and was followed by her saying "Don't do it again" in a demanding growl. "Don't do it again? What's that supposed to mean?" Poppy asked. "Look, the only reason these idiots are talking to you two is because of what you did in the assembly. You think that makes you the best around here?" Vicki leaned closer to me, her saliva spraying lightly against my face as she spoke. I felt like the confidence I had gained from my first assembly was slowly oozing out of me, and I stood there shaking. "No, we just..." I tried to say, but Vicki instantly overran me and said "Exactly. No, it doesn't make you the best. If you want to be popular around here come back when you've actually got some boobs," Vicki flicked the sheet of paper out of my hands and into my face before she turned dramatically and started walking away, only to be stopped by Ashleigh. "Ashleigh," Vicki simply acknowledged her blankly. "Victoria," Ashleigh did the same, but the use of her full name caused Vicki to scowl at her. My sheet of paper landed in front of my feet just as Ashleigh and Vicki exchanged furious glares, before Vicki continued walking. Ashleigh cheekily stuck a leg out and tripped Vicki, just enough for her to stumble and take a few steps before she could regain her balance. The majority of the class quietly snickered amongst themselves when Vicki wasn't looking, but when she turned back and shot lightning glares at each of them, everyone was quick to silence themselves and look away. I choked back a laugh when I almost saw the big breasted Vicki fall on her face, and felt the confidence coming right back as Ashleigh grinned at me. "What were you doing talking to her?" Ashleigh asked. "She seemed nice at first," Poppy said. "I did warn you, she is pure evil, always," Ashleigh said, briefly looking over her shoulder at Vicki who had now situated herself against the opposite wall of the classroom and was stood next to a taller but fatter girl with a constantly mean look in her eyes. "Does she think she's better than everyone because of her boobs?" I asked, feeling inferior for having smaller mounds on my chest compared Vicki. Every other girl, not that I had really been paying their chests much attention, seemed to have the same sized boobs as any other girl in the class, but Vicki's were the largest. They probably weren't fully grown, because I knew my sister Lucy had bigger boobs, as well as all the other girls in her year and the year above. But that didn't explain why Vicki had bigger boobs than anyone in the classroom (excluding Jenny) Also, I have to figure out where all this boob jealousy is suddenly coming from. "She was held back a year Ellie, and so she's a year older than any of us. She uses that to intimidate everyone and make us other girls feel really small," "She's not even pretty" Poppy grunted with her arms crossed, whilst glancing across the room at Vicki. "Maybe not, but I heard she's slept with a bunch of guys already!" Courtney said with a hint of jealousy in her voice as she joined us. I had no idea that girls almost as young as me were even thinking about sex, let alone doing it. "That's just a rumour. You don't really believe it do you Court?" Ashleigh giggled lightly. "It's not that hard to believe, have you seen how slutty her older sister is? I swear she wants people to see her panties on purpose!" Courtney said hysterically. "You two aren't sluts like Vicki are you?" Ashleigh turned to Poppy and I with a curious look on her face. "No way" Poppy instantly replied, whilst I shook my head and remained silent. The talk of sex was just as worrying and gut-wrenching as Mum's talk of 'bleeding' between my legs. The four of us stood as a group on one side of the classroom, silently staring across the room at Vicki and her large friend, whose name was Natalie and acted as Vicki's evil enforcer. She was obviously the muscle of their operation, whereas Vicki must have provided the brains and pure evil. Jenny eventually came back and split the four of us up again, making sure that we never stopped collecting signatures until we had met every individual in the class. It was like a merry-go-round, going round and round in never ending circles. This meant that I ended up meeting Ashleigh again, who pulled me away from the chaos and pushed my sheet of paper aside. "I've already signed yours silly" She said with a giggle. "I forgot to tell you that I saw Natalie looking in your bag when you were talking to Vicki." I looked at Ashleigh in a state of disbelief, but when she looked back at me and practically said "sorry" with her eyes, I knew she wasn't joking. I didn't want to believe that Vicki and her sidekick had already picked a fight with me, but there was also no reason for Ashleigh to lie to me. I turned and spied Vicki and Natalie talking to each other, occasionally peeking at me through the crowd of busy students, so I knew something was going on. They must have watched me with huge grins on the faces as I rushed across the class to where I'd left my bag, but I found nothing suspicious aside from my bag's pathetic size compared to one of the boy's large camping rucksacks. I picked up my bag and looked closer, noticing that the two zips were left slightly open whereas I'd left them closed before. Ashleigh stood beside me as I dug into my bag and rifled around inside, counting each and every book, paper and pen that I remembered putting inside it. Everything that I owned, including my student ID was in that bag, and I could feel the adrenaline pumping as I desperately searched for everything. That was exactly what I found, everything including a hard plastic card that must have been my ID, which was one thing I didn't want to lose. I breathed a sigh of relief and zipped my girly pink backpack up again, but the adrenaline rush of the incident had left me feeling totally exhausted. I realised that I'd never survive school if stuff like this was happening to me every other day, and it was obvious that Vicki had decided to target me, so I had no other choice but to move schools. Or join Ashleigh and her 'clique'. "Is it too late to accept your offer?" I asked Ashleigh with a little grin to hide my fear. She replied with an even bigger grin and said "Come meet the girls at break time, in the courtyard" before she pulled me back towards the center of the room, where Jenny had once again summoned all the students. Courtney and Poppy joined us and we sat together in a small group, which I imagined we would probably be doing a lot more in the future if any of the clique girls were in my other classes. Vicki and Natalie were on the other side of the classroom and were surrounded by other students, who weren't even talking to them. It was preparation day all over again, as everyone was trying to sit as close to the popular people as possible, only to look as if they were part of the popular group. Vicki didn't seem to have total control over the year group, as there were some boys and girls that had seated themselves close to our little circle, listening closely to whatever we said. I did notice that a lot of the boys were trying to get close to Vicki, more so than the girls, which Courtney explained was because of Vicki's 'very lethal' girl's football performances from last year. Ashleigh was more popular for her appearances in all of the school plays from last year, but Vicki had overshadowed her by winning some tournament the day before her play was shown to the public. Sitting with those girls was really the first time I'd been exposed to the world of school girls and had actually been a part of it. I'd never realised how competitive they were with each other, and the constant use of sneaky and unfair tactics was almost overwhelming. The last time I was in school I was one of the boys, and we just shouted or wrestled each other if there was ever a problem. The girls in school always appeared to be angels, hugging and kissing and smiling at each other, which is exactly what I thought they'd be like in Senior School. The girls were nowhere near my angelic expectations, and the thought that I was one of them and could very well be using underhanded tactics like rumour spreading and backstabbing, was immensely terrifying. Already I was hearing countless rumours about Vicki that sounded too extreme to be true. One that Courtney told me was that Mrs Dunne and Vicki are related, and the head teacher bribed an opposing school to forfeit a football match and let Vicki's team win. It was so hard to tell whether the rumours were true or whether they were just made up out of some other girl's jealousy. It was actually a relief when Jenny interrupted our little group conversation, and the girls had to keep silent whilst Jenny went about describing our next task. Jenny split the class into groups of four, allowing Poppy, Courtney, Ashleigh and I to stay as a group, whilst making Vicki abandon her lackey and group up with three boys. I didn't think there was any degree of favouritism in her decision, not one bit. Our task was to come up with a Mime routine which we would show the rest of the class during next week's lesson. We were provided with four items to share amongst our group, which we would use to help create a routine. We received a fake beard, a black eye-patch, a pink tutu and a horned plastic helmet with fake braids hanging down over the ears. The items were dumped in front of us and my first instinct was to go for the eye patch, but Poppy snatched that away from me instantly. Before I could decide what my second choice was, Ashleigh and Courtney had already made their choices. All that was left for me was the incredibly girlish pink tutu, which coincidently matched the colour of my backpack. The girls were quick to put on what they'd chosen, with Courtney wearing the fake grey beard and Ashleigh proudly wearing her horned helmet. She could hardly stop herself from grinning whenever she swung the long ginger coloured braids, but I could hardly stop myself from blushing as I limply held the constantly-rustling pink tutu between my fingers. The girls encouraged me to wear it properly, whilst I tried to come up with other uses for it that would avoid actually wearing it in public. None of the girls were impressed by my slingshot idea, and none of them wanted to trade with me, so all I could do was desperately wait until the bell rang and the lesson ended. But Jenny, who was once again doing her rounds and visiting each group, was the one to end my hopes of avoiding embarrassment and kick us into gear. She only had to say a few sentences to get us moving, and started by sneaking up behind me and casually pulling my blazer off. She distracted the girls by asking in a fairly normal tone "Have you come up with anything yet girls?" We had just been spending our time chatting and arguing about the tutu, so we hadn't made much progress on our ideas just yet. We all just shook our heads as Jenny placed my blazer on a hook and sighed loudly for all of us to hear. She snatched the rustling pink tutu from my fingers and before I could do anything, she was lowering it down over my head and then tugging it past my small breasts. The rustling of the lace material settling around my hips and the pink nylon waistband tightening around my waist brought the boiling heat to my cheeks once again. "Ellie will play the ballerina, Pops is the Pirate, Ash is the Viking and Court is the old man," Jenny declared, and without waiting for our reactions she continued on to the next group. The four of us stood silently for a few moments before we actually started to work, and from there we found it much easier to get into a rhythm and get some sort of a sequence together. I don't think Jenny was expecting a masterpiece from any of us, and we knew we weren't really working towards something serious, but as we struggled to create something to join all of our characters together in mime we did end up having quite a bit of fun. It took me a while to forget about the tutu, but eventually the rustling of the lacy material blended in with the laughter and chatter of everyone in the class. My only source of embarrassment came from my role as the Ballerina, which meant I had to dance like one constantly. Ashleigh, who had also taken a lead role in the group, kept on making me do twirls and little girlish jumps whilst the rest of the group mimed their own characters until we all joined together at the end of the sequence. It wasn't anywhere near professional, but we all had a good laugh throughout, as did everyone else. I could see Jenny had a proud little smirk on her lips as the bell ringing was hardly heard over the laughter of the students at the end of the lesson. I realised now why she was such a popular teacher among the students, because her lessons were always fun. I was still relieved to get out of the tutu and to see my black pleated skirt once again, which was probably the first time I was glad to see it there and tightly encasing my legs. The girls were quick to compliment me on my dancing during the class, causing me to blush again and again. I had never really danced before, but I had always thought of myself as being quite limber and flexible, so the jumping and twirling was pretty easy as well as being something that I never planned to do again. "We could do with some good dancers in the Drama club, Ellie" Jenny whispered in my ear as I was putting my blazer back on. "She'll be there" Ashleigh replied for me. "Good, I look forward to seeing you all there" Jenny smiled at each of us as she left to say good bye to some other students. "I can answer for myself you know" I said to Ashleigh, a little irritated. "You would have joined Drama club anyway, every girl in our group has" She grinned at me. As the four of us left the class room, I found myself thinking about how much I actually enjoyed Drama. I don't think it was the dancing, but it was the acting and performing with a bunch of friends that was actually quite fun, and probably something I wanted to do again. I wasn't certain of that, but I was certain that I'd found some new friends already and was well on my way to surviving my first day of school. The last time I was in school, it was a struggle to get through every day, and I spent the whole time wishing I was back at the cul-de- sac playing with my only friends. Of course, now things are totally different, with the school feeling a bit more like a second home. I really hoped that Lucy and Lauren were doing as well as I was on the first day. "Meet up at break time in the usual spot" Ash shouted behind us as Court turned and went down a different corridor. Our next lesson was Music, and Ash was in our class once again. She was glad to be with us for another period, as she was quite eager to be the one to get Poppy and I really settled in to our new school. "Being part of the Drama club is like a requirement for us, not only because we're in Jenny's tutor group but also because it's the only way we can stay close to Vicki," Ash said. "But we still enjoy it, and so will you two," "I don't see why we have to join as well" Poppy said as we walked through a long courtyard towards the Music block. "Well, it's the rules that the group follow" Ash said, "And if we're not all in this together then we'll never take down Vicki. Performing in school productions, playing the lead roles, it keeps the spotlight on us," I was slowly starting to understand the tactics of this war, but I knew I still had a lot to learn. The one important thing to remember was that if we didn't stay close to Vicki in terms of year-group-wide popularity, we wouldn't have a chance against her. At the other end of the courtyard, we reached a set of concrete steps which many of the older students had sat down on. Ash led us away from them and towards a small sheltered corridor that joined the Quad with the Music block, where some of the students with dark makeup and black hair were hanging around. "This is where the Emo people hang out, but don't worry. The girls never stay around here too long," Ash said. Poppy and I nodded and were both uncomfortably aware of the stares we were getting from the Emo kids, who seemed to get creepier every time you looked at them. Ash led us through a set of doors and up a ramp, where we immediately saw signs for the Music block. We had to walk in single file, as many of the older students enjoyed standing on either side of corridor and making everyone walk between them. It was like a man-made Valley of Death that they had created, with some of them deliberately tripping the smaller kids when they walked by, but thankfully they seemed to ignore us as we passed through. Whether it was because of Ashleigh's popularity, or because we were just little girls in their eyes, I would never know. But I was glad to get through unharmed whilst some of the boys my age were being pushed around and blocked at every turn. When we finally reached the Music block, it felt like we had been travelling for hours, but really it was only a few feet from the ramp we had just climbed up. Our journey was just made much longer because of the amount of feet and big people that we had to get around. As the door closed behind us, it shut out all sounds of shouting and screaming coming from the corridor. The Music block was almost in another world closed off from the rest of the school, and all we could hear was someone playing the piano and the faint chatter of students as they waited outside classroom doors. There were two classrooms in the Music block, with two other small rooms that were used for playing instruments in private. There was nobody else in sight except for a large group of students that must have been the rest of my class, which thankfully did not include the dreaded Vicki. The class proceeded quite slowly without the gossipy chatter from Court, and it was somewhat more boring compared to Drama. Our teacher, Ms Bruce, didn't really seem to care much about the younger students, and spent most of the lesson doing what she called "Planning for the upper year groups" There was no ice breaker activity for us to do, and for the first few minutes of the lesson we were just allowed to sit and talk as we liked. Ash and Pops continued talking about the clique whilst I silently listened, hardly understanding much of what was being said. The incredibly slow pace of the lesson was enough to almost make me fall asleep, only to be woken up almost half way through the lesson by Ms Bruce asking "So do any of you play instruments?" She sounded quite desperate to get a good response, as if nobody played an instrument, she would be stuck with a useless group of students for a whole year. Only a few girls and boys put their hands up, including Ash and Pops, who had never said anything about playing an instrument before. My hand obviously remained down, as I had never really been motivated enough to play an instrument, ever. Ash glanced at me, and then quickly nudged me with her pretty sharp elbow. It felt like a blunt dagger had just poked my side, and I glared back at Ash wondering why she would punish me so, but she grabbed my hand before I could use it to massage the wound, and then held my hand high above my head. Ms Bruce smiled proudly as her gaze floated across the three of us, all with our hands up to say that played an instrument, but she seemed to ignore the slightly pained look on my face as she went on to look for more hands. "When she asks you, say you play the guitar," Ash whispered to me when Ms Bruce wasn't looking. "But I don't!" I scream-whispered back at her. "Trust me, you'll love it. I'll even teach you a bit!" she replied with a confident grin. Later in the class, after Ms Bruce had allowed each of us the play on the keyboards for the rest of the lesson, she came to our table and quite joyfully said "So you three girls all play instruments?" Pops and Ash happily explained that both were learning to play the piano, whilst Ash was also learning to play guitar. When Ms Bruce turned to me, I had to lie and say I was also trying out the guitar. It was either that or risk my new found friendship with Ash, who grinned at me when the teacher left and said "Trust me Elle, you wont regret this in the future." Even though I had never played the guitar, Ashleigh's confidence in me was enough to make me feel good about the prospect. I was soon imagining myself as some sort of famous rock star when I got older, or at least a really good guitar player. And then there was Drama, which was something I was already pretty good at. The future was looking pretty good at this point. The rest of the day was probably going to be as boring as Music was, as I had lessons like History, Maths and Art. Only P.E at the end of the day seemed exciting, with all the running around and sports. I had never really tried any sports, but anything sporty would be so much better than sitting at desk for fifty minutes. So the rest of the day would be boring, and if I didn't come across Vicki again, the only terrifying thing left would be my first time in the girl's changing rooms, that was coming at the end of the day. But before all of that, I had to get through morning break time, a twenty minute break between period 2 and 3, which was where Ash planned to introduce Poppy and I to the rest of the group. When the bell rang, we gathered our things and were straight out the door, all of us eager to find a more fun setting. Ash led us back down the ramp and past the sheltered corridor where the Emo kids were hiding, then into the wide open courtyard which we had passed through earlier on our way to Music. There were students all around us playing, talking, eating, and it was a struggle for us to make our way through them. We eventually arrived at a small section of the courtyard which was pretty close to the school perimeter fence, and had four large picnic tables arranged with several students sitting down on and around them. It became clear that this little area was the clique's territory, as everyone was saying hello and hugging Ash as we walked into the center with the four tables around us. Court was sitting with most of the girls from the group we had met before Drama, and we still didn't know the names of each of them. "Girls, let's welcome Ellie and Poppy, they're with us now," Ash said, and almost instantly the girls all around us were coming up to Poppy and I and hugging us gently. There were so many of them around us, so for now I'll just name those girls who were part of the 'inner circle' of the group, which had claimed one picnic table to themselves. The rest of the girls and a few boys had seated themselves around that one table, either sitting on the floor, or the other tables, or standing. There was Ash, the apparent leader of the group, Court was the second in command, and then there was Carly, Sarah, Megan, Rebecca and Katie. They were really just a group of girlfriends, all as popular as each other, but Ash was the one leading the way, whilst refusing to actually call herself the leader. It also turned out that Rebecca and Katie were both in our tutor group along with Ashleigh and Courtney, but they were towards the end of the register so I hadn't got much of a look at their faces before now. Sarah was just a very common name, as the Sarah in our tutor group was actually in Vicki's clique, and was ignored as much as possible by the girls, unlike the Sarah in our clique who was almost as gossipy as Courtney. "Carly? Do you still have some spare bracelets?" Ash asked as she sat down with the other girls of the inner circle. Poppy and I remained standing beside the picnic table, both of us feeling like we had to have permission to sit down. Carly was about my height, with long hair a lighter shade of brown compared to Ashleigh's and bright blue eyes. She was seated right in front of us on the opposite side of the table, and had an excited grin on her face as she pulled open the zips of her bag and shoved her hand inside. Poppy and I were told to sit down at the table, and waited whilst Carly's hand made all the noise. "This is one of our traditions that we started at our last school," Court said, pulling back the sleeve of her blazer to show a small silver chain around her wrist. There were pink and silver hearts attached to the chain, as well as other tiny jewels. Carly withdrew her hand from her bag and then reached across the table towards me, which also pulled her sleeve back to reveal the same bracelet Court had. Carly unfurled her hand, picked up the silver charm bracelet in her palm and attached it around my own left wrist, complete with several of its own pink and silver hearts. The girls at the table all shared a smile directed at me as Carly connected the two ends of the bracelet together, whilst I also caught some envious stares from outside of the inner circle. "We all wear these bracelets as a promise to each other to remain friends forever, and for as long as we wear these bracelets we will never betray each other," Carly said as she then went about attaching another bracelet to Poppy's wrist, to go with her other chain bracelet. "And whenever we share a moment together, we add a little jewel to our bracelets to remember it," Carly grinned. After Carly spoke of remembering past times, the group erupted into giggles and chatter as they took turns in describing what each jewel on their bracelets was associated with. There were all pretty big events, like being there for when somebody's brother or sister was born, attending a wedding together, going on holiday together and moving next door to each other. Poppy and I felt slightly left out because we didn't have any of these memorable moments to share with the other girls, but I think we both silently agreed to get one new jewel for when we both met, and another jewel for when we joined the clique. Ash eventually calmed down the rest of the group, and when every one at the table was listening, she spoke as quietly as possible whilst the girls at the tables around us were all talking amongst themselves. "So tonight is our annual sleepover at my house, are you two coming?" Ash looked at Poppy and I. Poppy was quick to say yes, but there were much more hesitation from me. The last sleepover I was invited to was with Kirsty and her friend Emma, which had apparently been delayed by a few weeks. But when I first thought about a sleepover with a bunch of girls, I imagined girly TV shows and makeovers, something that I feared more than most things. Now I wasn't sure whether to fear it or embrace it, but I knew I'd never get anywhere by avoiding it. I looked down at the bracelet and its multiple girlish hearts that adorned my wrist, and then I glanced at each of the girls around me that were all expecting an answer. I really couldn't say anything other than yes to them, and hope that I would eventually get over my fear of girlishness.