[IC] What You Learn at School

[GracefulFox]

Emily fiddled with the hem of her brand new uniform skirt. Her mum had been chattering about how great the classes and teachers were the whole car trip, it was driving her crazy. Northside Girls College was one of the oldest schools in the area, and Emily's mum had gone there when she was a girl, so there was no end to the stories her mum could tell.

At least this uniform looks okay. Emily speculated, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She had spent all morning fussing over the white blouse and navy blue blazer and skirt, it hadn't changed it much. The blazer was second hand, and itchy, and the skirt had previously belonged to a much shorter girl, it sat a few inches higher than what Emily would have liked. She tugged at it, already embarrassed about how much leg was showing. Its not like there are any boys here to impress!

Emily stared in awe as her Mum pulled over in front of the school. The school was huge and stone, Emily felt a nervous lump rise in her throat, she had always had the same friends all through school. Everyone had always known who she was, and now she would know no one, and no one would know her. She gave her mum one final glare as she silently grabbed her bag and jumped out of the car. Her mum called out after her, "Be GOOD!" and then pulled back out into the typical morning traffic.

With one last awkward tug on her skirt, Emily turned away from her mum and headed towards the main entrance.

Its the middle of term, everyone will already have friends.. I'm going to be that awkward new girl with no friends like in the movies.. I'll probably sit alone at lunch and everyone will laugh at m-"OOPH!!" she yelped, tripping on a ledge in the cracked and uneven pavement. She stumbled to her knees, her backpack slid up her back and hit her in the head. Humiliated at the snickers of a few students around her, she picked herself up, ignoring the scrapes on her hands and knees, and stormed off towards the information office. Oh my god, I hate this. I hate this school.

[Ayesha]

Bonnie grabbed her backpack off her canopy bed, dug around inside until she found her school issued sweater. She was still not used to having to wear only the clothes her new school deemed proper. The uniform, in her opinion was a little too trendy. Bonnie was used to wearing clothes that hid herself from the world. At least she could wear the sweater. She had purposely got it two sizes too big, so it hung down past her hips and made her feel a lot more comfortable.

At least I found a loophole in the crazy school uniform. Who wants to wear skirts all the time? Not to mention the itchy pantyhose... The pantyhose were optional, but to a girl like Bonnie, who was not on the up and up with fashion, she wore them because she was usually too lazy to shave her legs.

She called out a quiet farewell to her mother, but her mother was passed out cold on the living room couch, a bottle of vodka dangling from her fingers. Bonnie sighed. Figures. Her mother kept promising she would go to the AA meetings and quit drinking, but she always backed out of her word.

---

Several large books tucked under her arms, Bonnie casually strolled from her car toward the school courtyard. As usual, she was not really paying attention to the other girls. Everyone was in their own little groups, gossiping away, and just being... well annoying. She spared a glance when she heard some snickering, figuring that one of the girls were laughing at her. She was used to it, and was really taken aback when she realized the laughter was directed toward another girl. That was new. Could this girl be new too? From what another student told her, they did not get new students that often. It had been rare that Bonnie had been allowed in, but her good grades had apparently made her an ideal student.

Normally, Bonnie avoided talking to people she did not know, but she couldn't help the pang of guilt that was starting to eat up her stomach as she debated if she would go check on the newest new girl.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked, taking off after the girl as she watched her run into the school. She bit down on her lower lip, feeling a blush creep up onto her cheeks. Social interactions were always a little awkward for her. She hugged her books to her chest and looked at the girl for a minute, before her blush grew. "O-oh, sorry... I just... Welcome to Hellside Girl's College... I mean Northside. " Bonnie smiled. Hellside was something she called the school in her head.

[GracefulFox]

Emily was surprised to hear someone ask about how she was. Although usually at her old school people would have swarmed over her asking if she was ok, and a senior from the football team would have probably carried her off, she hadn't expected anyone to care. To be honestly, she probably wouldn't care about any of these girls either. Emily looked at the girl, she was short and was practically drowning in her sweater, it hung loose and gaping over her hips like a tent. Emily looked away, and continued walking, falling into step with the girl as they walked together towards the information office.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine. Haha, Hellside, I like it." The silence was awkward and they both walked, "I'm Emily by the way, are all the girls here so... Bitchy?" She gestured to the small groups of preppy girls that had laughed at her.

Emily smiled and tried to look friendly, but as she walked towards the office she watched the other girls sizing her up and then looking away, apparently bored. She felt her smile slip a bit. Being new was foreign to her, and in a school of all girls her short skirt wasn't going to get her anywhere.

[Ayesha]

"Yes they are, well most of them are. I haven't had the chance to really get to know anyone." She looked away from Emily. "I haven't really wanted to. I just started a few weeks before you. My mom made me apply." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "During her one sober moment... Oh well, sorry, I didn't mean to ramble." Bonnie blushed, holding her books close and tugging at her sweater with her other hand.

"I'm Bonnie. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have a bunch of friends in no time, unlike me." She tried to look like she was telling a joke, but really it was the truth. Emily was pretty. She looked like she wore trendy clothing when she wore her own things. She looked like she had been popular. Probably dated the football star.

"Just give them time, okay?" Bonnie stopped walking when they came to the office. "Have you decided if you were going to commute or live in the dorms?" Bonnie had put her name on the waiting list. She did not live that far from the school, but thought it would be nice to get away from home, especially her drunk of a mother. Since they were both new, maybe they could be roommates. Bonnie hoped she would get a single room, but if not, it would be better to share with another new girl instead one of the preppy girls who already had an established social group in the school.

[GracefulFox]

Emily smiled, thankful she wasn't the only new girl, and maybe she would at least have someone to sit with at lunch today. Emily ran her fingers through her hair, twisting the strands around her fingers and she walked. She was glad Bonnie seemed talkative, it was better than walking in silence. Emily tried to look happier at the thought of making new friends, but in reality she just felt mad. Mad at her mum, mad at the school, mad at herself for getting caught with Jason in the family living room. Taking a deep breath, Emily decided that if she was going to be spending everyday here she might as well make one friend. Even if this girl did seem a little bit nerdy.

"Bonnie - thats a really pretty name!" Emily smiled again, flashing her perfectly straight teeth, the benefit of having braces all through junior high. "Well, actually my mum sent me to this school as punishment for kissing a boy from my school, she thinks sending me to this school will "straighten me out". So yeah, I am moving into a dorm room as soon as they have one free.." Emily said casually, she had visited the dorm room last week, and the communal kitchens and lounges had made her feel sick. At least only 4 girls shared a bathroom. Emily had begged and fought with her mum about getting a single room, but her mum had refused, saying that sharing was all a part of growing up. Grimacing at the memory Emily turned towards the office doors, "Anyway, I need to pickup my timetable from the office.. I'll see you later though?"

[Ayesha]

'Maybe we will be roomies,' Bonnie thought. The chances were good since they were both new students and having new students in the middle of the year was rare and apparently students did not drop out as often either, though surely they had at least one open room.

"Thanks. I guess it's better than some names, but it comes with some silly nick names." Bonnie brushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled at Emily. She did seem nice enough, which was a plus. Bonnie did not talk to most people, but it was kind of nice having a halfway decent conversation, even if it was a little awkward. "Punishment for kissing a boy? Wow, so your mom must be really religious? I really doubt this school will straighten you out. You'll either join a group of girls and become brainwashed," she said with a joking twinkle in her eyes, "or rebel and turn into a goth or whatever."

Bonnie waved and turned to leave. "Good luck with the office lady. She's a little snooty. See you later."

[GracefulFox]

Emily smiled and waved as Bonnie turned away. Ohmygosh I suck at making friends. And I have a whole month of dealing with this. She sucked in a deep breath, and opened to door to the office. The office lady immediately turned to her and scowled, as if having a lowly student come into her office was some kind of nightmare.

"Um, hi! I'm Emily Botes, I'm new today..."

Fifteen minutes later Emily was rushing to her first class. Why on earth did I select in advanced biology!? She panicked, she'd done ok in general science last year, but advanced biology seemed extreme. The receptionist had painstakingly described to her that because she was joining in the middle of the term, most of the classes were full, and she'd have to select five subjects out of a list of seven. PE, English, Statistics, Greek History, and Advanced Biology were her selections.

Emily rushed down an almost empty hallway, only those who were also rushing like her, or the lazy latecomers who meandered down the hall were left. She burst in the door, and then immediately regretted it. Advanced biology seemed to be one of those classes were you arrive early and start revising, the class was almost full, with a few people quietly chatting. All eyes turned to her.

The teacher was a young male who looked frazzled, probably due to his job surrounded by hormonal teenage girls. He quietly introduced Emily and asked her to find a seat.

A girl with a nasal noise spoke up, after looking Emily up and down a couple of times. "You can us with us." The girl said, gesturing to the empty space between her and another girl. As soon as Emily's bottom touched the seat the questions began.

"Where are you from?", "What school did you go too?", "Are there boys there? Do you have a boyfriend?", "Does your boyfriend have friends?"

They went on and on, and in the next class Emily went to another girl asked all of those questions again, and again. After what seemed like years, the bell rang for lunch. And Emily walked out into the crowded mess hall, she hadn't brought any lunch today, so she weaved her way to the lunch line, trying to pick out the girls she'd met today somewhere in the crowd.

[Ayesha]

After making it through her first couple classes without any incident, Bonnie started to let her guard down. She made eye contact with people a little more often, though it was very painful to do so. She knew that each time she did so that her face was as red as her hair. Her bonfire hair as her brother called it. Her guard was so down that she walked into the cafeteria, head higher than usual and not really paying attention to what the other girls were doing. It was her biggest downfall. Because at that very moment, one of the head bimbos decided it would be oh-so-funny to push her long, slender leg out and trip Bonnie, making her face-plant. Her books and school bag scattered all around her.

Students started to giggle, and whisper under their breath, careful not to gather the attention of the lunch room aide. How did they always manage to get away with things like this? Bonnie didn't understand it. She wondered more than once if the teachers just ignored when the more popular kids misbehaved. Those students probably had rich parents who gave the school a lot of money.

She hated being the victim. She knew she was a little different and, okay, she was shy, but was that really any reason to make her their prime target? When she went to a co-ed school, things like this did not happen as often as they now happened. Was that just the nature of females?


I won't make a scene, at least anymore than the one I've already made. I won't show them weakness, I won't.


Bonnie started to gather her books and put them in her bag. Getting up from the floor, she brushed herself off and then walked over to the food line, completely ignoring the blonde and her giggling friends.


This is progress at the very least... Ignore the bimbos, just get through these last couple years. No big deal, right?


Yeah right, it was a big deal. Would it kill the people upstairs to give her one decent friend? Perhaps someone who was a little crazy and would kick the blonde bimbo's ass. Bonnie found she liked that idea a little too much.

[GracefulFox]

Emily shuffled forwards in line slowly, none of the girls she'd met today seemed to be waiting in line for food, but she'd spotted a few of them in larger groups of girls. Urg, If I have to describe the boys from the football team again I'll stab someone... Emily sighed, she grinned slightly at the thought of how obsessed these girls were. It was like removing them from boys only made them even more insane. Some of them seemed to be a bit more switched on, they'd asked her about her hobbies or interest, which Emily had found a breath of fresh air.

As she grabbed a premade chicken wrap from the buffet style lunch line, Emily's attention was caught by a group of sniggering girls, they sounded almost like a hoard of monkeys. Then suddenly Bonnie popped up from in between the groups of girls, her unmissable red hair like a beacon in the crowd. Bonnie actually didn't seem to care about their giggles, and she just stood up and joined the lunch line.

"Oh! Bonnie! Hey.." Emily gestured for Bonnie to join her, at least Bonnie wouldn't have to wait in line for so long after taking a spill.

[Ayesha]

Oh, thank God, Bonnie thought when she heard Emily saying her name. It was a small relief having someone treat her like a normal person. She wasn't even that different from other average girls, maybe a little more plump, but why was that such a big deal? Really why? She inwardly sighed.

Because I make it a big deal by wearing clothes big enough to fit a house.

Bonnie walked in front a some girls in the line; some glared at her for cutting, but others didn't seem to really notice. Another thing she was used to. She was either noticed "too" much or just ignored all together.

"Hi," she said to Emily a little breathlessly, her face still a little flushed because of her embarrassing fall. "Thanks. You wouldn't happen to have a black belt by any chance?" She smiled shyly and then shrugged. "I had this sudden image of karate chopping that girl. Slow motion style."

"Thanks for not laughing."

[GracefulFox]

Emily laughed, actually genuinely laughed, for what seemed like the first time since she'd been told she was coming here. "Nope, no karate skills here! I actually did take taekwondo for awhile, but I quit to do swimming." Emily smiled at herself, she loved sports, but she could never find one that stuck, it seemed like she'd tried everything.

"Of course I wouldn't laugh, those girls are just idiotic, here I was thinking we're in senior college and the girls still act like twelve year olds." Emily smiled at Bonnie, then frowned at the selection of desserts at the lunch bar. "So.. it that chocolate mousse or black pudding? It kinda looks like its moving by itself.." She said jokingly, the pudding dessert really did look pretty terrible. Instead Emily opted for a blueberry muffin, hoping that even a school lunch bar couldn't ruin that too much.

[Ayesha]

"I could tell you must do something like swimming," Bonnie said. She had the slim body for it. It kind of made her feel jealous. People bent over backwards for girls who had the "look." Shrugging the thought off, she smiled at Emily. "I am more of a bookworm, as is probably obvious."

She looked over at the lunch bar and made a gagging sound. "Ugh, if you really want something sweet, I do not recommend getting anything from this selection. I learned that the hard way. It not only looks gross, it is very, very disgusting."

"You're better off with the vending machine if you have a sweet tooth." She pointed toward the the cafeteria doors. Next to them were four vending machines on either side of them. Two were for beverages and two had a variety of candy bars, health bars, and lunch meat sandwiches. "As for this food bar," she looked around at the lunch options. Sandwiches...

"Mm, stick with the sandwiches if you want to live to see another day." With that said, she made her selection and turned to face Emily while she made hers.

[GracefulFox]

Emily stuck with her chicken wrap, it looked manageable. She gave the blueberry muffin another glance over before plonking it on her tray. Oh what the hell, I'm hungry. She thought, ignoring the advice from the sports nutritionist at her swim team. Walking over to the cash register, Emily looked over her shoulder at Bonnie. "Bookworm? I have a hard time staying focused on books, I never make it to the end." She giggled a bit, she hadn't actually attempted to read a book since English last year, where she had given up and borrowed the note from some of her more nerdy friends. "So aside from books, what else do you do? ... I mean, what hobbies do you have?" Emily smiled.

[Ayesha]

As they sit down at the only empty table, Bonnie thought about Emily's question What did she do for fun? Not much since she spent most of her time babysitting her mother. She was only going to the dorms, as bad as it sounded, to get away from her. Now that her brother had graduated high school, he was taking over the "babysitting" job. He never helped out before because he was always doing sports, pretty much being a selfish teenager. She knew it was a form of mental illness, but it was like her mother did not even want to try and get better. Promises were always broken.

"I haven't had the chance to partake in many hobbies, to be honest." She took a small bite from her ham and cheese sandwich and then shrugged slightly. "It's a long story, but now I'm basically free as soon as I can move into the dorms and I hope to get out there more, you know?"

"I like to dance, but only in the privacy of my bedroom. If you haven't been able to tell, I'm a little shy." She lowered her head. "Kind of nice that it's so easy to talk to you."

[GracefulFox]

Emily frowned, maybe Bonnie had protective parents too, and didn't let her do much. After all, It had taken awhile to convince Emily's mother to let her join the swimming team, she'd been all protective about "swimsuits" and "being too provocative", so Emily wore one of the more covered suits when her mum was around, but slipped on her bikini when she had the chance to sneak it past her mum. Emily took a big bite of her chicken wrap, and chewed thoughtfully, amused by Bonnies comment. "Really? You know, I thought I'd be terrible at making friends! I don't want to sound stuck up, but at my old school I was a bit more popular, and so I didn't have to worry about it. I never end thought about it to be honest. Now that I've come here I feel totally out of place..."

[Ayesha]

"Yes really." Bonnie finished her sandwich, took a drink and then glanced over at Emily. "I'm usually a loner. I spent too much time at home taking care of..." She shook her head. No. she did not want to go there yet. Not with someone she just met and could possibly become her friend. "Let's just say my social skills always got the backseat."

"So you were popular? Is it as nice as it sounds?" She wondered, but how many "real" friends did all these popular girls have? They all seemed so fake at this school. At least Emily seemed like a real person. "The out of place-ness might come with it being a private school. Most of the students are from rich stuck up families. I'm sure it will get better for you."

[GracefulFox]

Emily got the feeling Bonnie was uncomfortable about her question, so she didn't pry. "Well... Being popular is.." Emily thought about it, what was being popular like? It was like everyone wanted to be your friend, and you could choose anyone and everyone that you wanted to hang out with. You constantly had invitations to parties, boys wanted to talk to you, and girls gossiped about you. If you had a bad day everyone asked about it, and she was expected by her friends to always be happy and pretty. "Actually.. Its kind of lame. Everyone is always in your face and watching what you do. There is much less privacy. It can be fun, I suppose, I always hang out with a lot of people.

As they ate their lunch Emily pulled out her timetable from her satchel, wondering what class she would have next. "Oh cool, I have Greek History next. Do you know where classroom C7 is?"

[Ayesha]

She knew it was lame, but part of her did wish that she could see what it was like, even for only a day. Bonnie shook the idea out of her head. It was stupid to think about and pointless. She was the last person on Earth who would suddenly become popular. Things like that only happened in day-dreams. At least she could put herself out there a little and make one good friend. It would be nice to have someone she could talk to about anything and everything under the moon. She smiled wistfully.

"Greek History?" Bonnie picked up her lunch tray and walked the few steps to one of the trash cans. "Sure, just follow me," she told Emily over her shoulder. They still had fifteen minutes left for lunch, but neither of them had got much to eat. "Is there anywhere else you want me to show you since we still have fifteen minutes until the bell rings?" After the bell rang, the students had five minutes to get to their next class.

[GracefulFox]

Emily swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and followed Bonnies lead, chucking her rubbish into a trashcan and staking up her tray. Bonnie lead Emily to her Greek history classroom, "Thanks for this Bonnie! I know it probably wasn't what you had planned for lunch today. Giving the new girl a tour." Emily was glad someone at this school seemed to be nice enough to care. Emily grabbed a handful of her hair, twisting it around her fingers as she always did when she had nothing to do with her hands.

"Um, yeah actually there is one more place. I have PE last period, where abouts is the gym?" Emily frowned, "Is the PE teacher nice? I didn't know I have PE today so I don't have any sports gear. Just this stupid skirt." She said, tugging the skimpy skirt lower. The embarrassment of this morning quickly returned, and she stopped tugging, hoping to avoid drawing attention to the amount of leg she was showing. "Ah.. Second hand uniform. Its the worst."

[Ayesha]

"PE? Ew, don't you mean "Social Hangout Spot?" Bonnie said with a laugh. "I swear they never do anything really PE related. There are of course sports and things, but most of the girls have excuses that get them out of them, so they just hang around and text on their phones." She threw up her arms in disgust. "It's so pathetic. I mean, I'm not the most sporty... I obviously need to lose a few pounds, but I've never seen so many wimpy girls in my life."

"I actually have two set of PM uniforms. They are elastic shorts, so you could tighten them. Of course they'd be too big on you." She eyed Emily's legs as the girl nervously tugged on her skirt. "I wouldn't worry too much. You look great and there are no perverted boys here. One or two perverted teachers, but they won't mess with you."

"Do you want a bigger skirt? I could mend one of my extras so it fits you? I've got several pairs and I've got the kind that go beneath your knee." The school uniform had three versions of the skirt you could wear. The typical one that went just above your knees, one that went one inch below your knees and one that went to your ankles. Hardly anyone got the ankle length skirt because it would automatically cause you to fall into the loser category.

"Anyways... PE is in the building next door. Heaven forbid it was held in the same building as everything else." She pointed out the window at the place next door. "Yeah, that's all it's used for. There is also a swimming pool."