Meet Some Of The Crowd...

The seven girls sat at a table in their upstairs common area, their clothes the only thing similar between them. The horrible black cardigans with the red emblem of their school. Cheap and tacky. It was all they were worth to their school. Their bright red tie rested against the bright white of the shirt. Long black trousers or mid-length black skirts covered their legs and silly little black pumps encased their feet, pretty but impractical for the stormy days. There was a moments silence as they analysed their last conversation about the summer holidays. They'd discussed everything from the traitors going on holiday without them to the amazing night out they'd all had at the karaoke bar.


What you need to realise about these seven girls is that they aren't really friends. They all hate each other. The knifes are always pristinely polished and stored at the bottom of their bags waiting to be violently thrusted in the back, right between the wings of their shoulders. A day without them bitching about one another was a miracle and deeply desired by the timid one of the group. You'd think that with a group of people who'd act like this they'd cut all ties with each other. But not this crowd. They realised it was to hang with them or to move on and being a lone ranger. Not a good idea in their school which was all about cliques and social status.

Each girl was socially different. Some were expected whereas others weren't. That's probably why they stuck together as if glue binded them. The most socially adept was Hayley, the ginger. She was one of the youngest but yet the most streetwise. She lived in a rough area and was proud of this. She didn't hang out at home, her parents wouldn't allow it. Fearing that their overweight ginger would get attacked. Especially as if she had a loudmouth and always knew how to get herself into trouble. The worse thing about Hayley was that she was overly happy and would trust anyone. Her parents would always joke how she'd be the one to offer a job to an axe murderer as she'd believe the man was different to her. She liked people to be different. She hated clones. Hayley was easy to get on with due to her positive way in life and her pollyanna attitude. She had a friend in most social circles and used them to make sure she always had a partner in class, never one to be alone.

The worst social one was Carrie. Carrie had only been at the school a couple of years and had immediatly made friends with Hayley. Hayley's attitude brushed off on Carrie and they managed to beat the old Science bullies. Now they leaved with each other technically, their happiness was amazing. Carrie had once been a little gothic princess, black being the only colour in her wardrobe. This making her the prime victim of many bullies. The other reason was due to the fact they apparently believed that she was a lesbian. Even though she'd been one of the seven to have a string of loose boyfriends.

The silence between them was awkward as Hayley tapped her fingertips on the cheap wood of the table. Everyone knew that the holiday conversation had annoyed Hayley, Ellie and Lily but they still seemed to determined to wind them up about it. She gently rose from her chair and smiled at them before turning around to leave.

The door opened and Hayley looked over at the door as it opened revealing Jessica. Jessica was the one Hayley didn't really meet eye to eye. They had one lesson together and Hayley always had to smile through it. She did love Jessica and had a great time with her but there was that fear that Jessica looked down on her. Jessica was thin and attractive. The worst thing about this was that she knew it. She knew that all she had to do was shake her beautifully toned arse and boys would come running. Her hair was never a natural colour. So far they'd experienced chocolate brown, black, purple, blue. It was a multi-coloured swapshop! She always had a confident strike about her when she wrote and when she was with the crowd she could sing like mad but outside the cirlce, she sucked. And that's why she probably hadn't left yet.

"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Didn't want you to be alone." Jessica excused her following her before moving and sitting in a chair. Her blue eyes scanned the ginger who was scanning the playing field. Her eyes resting on her sister who was climbing out of her older boyfriends car. "We're sorry about leaving you out." Hayley snorted before turning to look at her, walking over to pull a seat and sit opposite her.
"I'd love to believe you. But I don't." She laughed as she rested her chin on her hand, her blue eyes looking anywhere but at Jessica. "I mean, your reasoning is stupid and besides I had fun here. Who'd have thought that our small hometown could be as fun."

The three girls laughed as they sat in the large field, a small blanket rested between their arses and the untamed grass. They'd decided to have a picnic and laughed as they drank their bottles of alcohol. Hayley and Lily both had an ice cold beer whereas Ellie had her alcopop. The cold relief of the alcohol made them smile as they looked out over the quarry, their eyes scanning the gorgeous orange and red swirls of the sunset decorated the blue of the sky. "Why are you planning on leaving us early tomorrow?" Ellie asked Hayley lying on her stomach as she picked up one of the jelly rings, her tongue poking through the hole.
"I have to go check out this guy." She teased lying back on the bed, looking up at the sky now. The other two girls laughed as they shook their head.
"Casey would kill you. And besides you have your online relationship with Harry." Hayley smiled as she looked over at them.
"That's not going to last forever." She said as she finished her beer, the temptation to throw it over the side of the quarry and watch it smash into loads of green glitter but she didn't like littering. "Hey, why don't we go out to that old house again some time?" The two girls looked over at her, knowing what had happened last time they went there.
"Hayley..." She just laughed before stealing the jelly ring of the end of Ellie's tongue.

There was a small silence between the two girls as Jessica explored Hayleys face for any kind of emotion apart from the glimmer of happiness that was always there. She didn't see any. And Hayley was glad that she couldn't. If she did, she'd see the anger and the hatred Hayley was boiling up right now inside at the mere thought Jessica thought she could excuse their neglectfulness with a simple apology. She sighed as she looked over at her friend. "Hey, we've all moved on now. That was during the holidays." Hayley whispered standing up and smiling at Jessica, who also rose and opened her arms wanting a hug. Hayley stepped into the open arms, her own arms wrapping around Jessica.

You'll pay. You'll pay for every time you've made me feel like a piece of shit on the bottom of your shoe. I can promise you that now.

The voice in Hayley's head shocked her. She knew her inner child was nasty and was all up for making people's life a misery, but this was a new one. Her arms stiffened as she pulled away, her eyes looking like glass as she looked over at Jessica. "Are you okay?" The ginger nodded.
"When am I not?"