September 3rd.

Another year at this hellhole called a school begins. One more year, and then I can escape this place for good. It seems like a prison sentence, and I’m counting down the days; crossing them off on my calendar.

Perhaps, this year, I’ll be lucky enough to be ignored. Surely there must be someone else, apart from Melina and me, that the rest of the girls can insult? It’s too much to hope that they’ve developed some maturity over the summer and found something more productive to do with their time. Just because I’ve never had any interest in sports or dating does not mean I’m insensitive to their taunts. I pretend it doesn’t bother me, though – it’s good acting practice, and that’s always useful. I’m hoping to go to drama school next year, after all.

…………………

The first rule of the school was that if you weren’t on a sports team and didn’t have a popular boyfriend, you were nobody. Caitlin Tyler and Melina Ashford had never complied with the requirements, so they’d been quickly labelled as outcasts. That hadn’t bothered them in the slightest, but it did explain how they’d become such firm friends, even though they weren’t in the same year. Caitlin clearly remembered the day they’d first met – it had been lunchtime, during her second year, and as usual she was sitting alone, reading a playscript. The raucous laughter had caused her to look up, just as a first year tripped and went flying, her lunch landing on the floor. It had been deliberate – she’d almost been a victim of it herself a few times. Defying every unspoken rule in the book, she’d stood up, hauled the girl to her feet and led her back to the table.

“Next time someone tries to do that, just kick them. They soon get the message.” Pushing her own, untouched, lunch across the table, she smiled. “I’m Caitlin.”

“Melina.” The voice was shaky, and the smile weak, but it was a start.

Unsurprisingly, Caitlin was completely ostracised for even deigning to speak to a younger student. In her typical manner, she just didn’t care. Melina turned out to be far more interesting than the kids who were endlessly chasing popularity, and they became close friends. Five years later, they were still as close as ever.

“Hey, Tyler, where’s the little girlfriend today?”

She sighed, then looked up from her book reluctantly. Jessica Reynard, who had hated her since their very first day at the school, was standing over her desk.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

This particular line of insults had started several months ago, when somebody commented that the girls were so inseparable that they must be a couple. It was beginning to get very tiring.

“Of course you do.”

“In that case, Jessica, I could ask you where the rest of the harem is. After all, you all seem to be hanging around the same guy all of the time.”

This was the first time Caitlin had actually bothered to respond properly, and it left the other girl speechless for a moment.

“Well, at least we’re attractive to the guys, unlike you.”

Caitlin rolled her eyes as Jessica walked away. The last six years had shown her that the boys (they might be men now, but she refused to call them that) were immature and only interested in one thing – sex. She, on the other hand, wanted to concentrate on her acting, and preparing for the all-important auditions that were coming up. She still needed to choose her speeches, and turned her attention back to the script on her desk. Shakespeare was a risky option, but would be very impressive if she could pull it off. The trick was selecting the right character.

“Morning.” A cheerful voice greeted her as someone dropped into a chair nearby.

“Morning, Mel. Don’t know how you can be so happy to be back here.” Their eyes met, and they shared a grimace.

“I’m not, but there’s no point being miserable about it. We don’t exactly have a choice about being here.”

“Reynard referred to you as my girlfriend again. Doesn’t she ever get sick of using the same old comments?”

“Obviously not. Wish we could catch her doing something embarrassing, then we could blackmail her with it.”

“But we know that Little Miss Perfect wouldn’t dream of doing anything that put her in a compromising position. I think we’re just going to have to put up with it.”

“But, Caitlin…”

Caitlin looked at Melina, nervously. That tone of voice never boded well for them – last time, they’d practically destroyed Melina’s entire kitchen trying to make fireworks. They’d had to spend a week cleaning and repainting the ceiling, and you could still (faintly) see the scorch marks they’d made.

“Yes, Melina?”

There was a glint in her eyes, and a wicked smile on her face. She clearly had a plan. “Why don’t we give them something to really talk about?”

“If this is going where I think it’s going, the answer is no.”

“You don’t know what it is yet.”

“You can tell me at break – you need to get to your own classroom before the bell rings.”

“You’re just scared of what I might say.”

Caitlin nodded as Melina picked up her bag and sashayed out of the room. If she wanted to add to the rumours already flying around the school, she was certainly going about it the right way.