With the shifting having happened yesterday, and the girls having moved from the building that they were living in to the new one near the main school building where the admin offices are, each one of them is excited about this evening because the most awaited event, which is the dance socials, will be happening at that time.
The girls are running around in the whole building to arrange for different things they would need to look spectacular for the event. It will be the first time ever that they will be dancing with the boys officially in school. Which is why all of them wanted to look as good as they could with their make-up, their hair, their dress, their footwear, and their accessories.
But before they went to the auditorium in the main building of the school for the event, they were asked to gather in the lobby before they started getting ready for the dance that was organized to give them a welcome to the senior high school which was starting the next day. This time the meeting was planned to introduce the students to their new roommates who will be allotted a room together right after their summer holidays.
They were expected to make up their minds to stay with new people when they returned from their holidays, and to stay in touch with them via emails during the vacation so that they understood the kind of people who they would be staying with and to be at least build some sort of friendship with them to get comfortable living with each other and figure out the way to keep misunderstandings at bay as it was going to be an important year for them.
Right after tea-time, as they were returning to the hostel building to get dressed for the beautiful evening that was planned by their school, the nannies were in the lobby to make sure that all of them assembled in the lobby and didn’t go back to their rooms yet without the warden assigning them the new rooms.
Ms. Mejia came down, and she didn’t take time to start announcing the names of students one after the other. She announced four names and took a little pause to make it obvious that the four of them would be sharing one room. As the kids were hearing her call them by their names, they would raise hands to make other roommates identify their new roommates.
After a couple of names were announced, and almost half of the people were through, the warden announced, “Marie, Sophia, Charlotte, Jean.”
Marie, Sophia, and Charlotte raised their hands, but the fourth hand was nowhere raised. So, Ms. Mejia announced for the second time the last girl’s name who was supposed to club with them. “Jean!” She called out, but again she didn’t see the fourth hand being raised among all the girls who were standing there.
She understood that Jean was missing from the crowd, but she wanted to give it one more try. With all the voice that she could use, she shouted, “Jean!”
The main door of the hostel opened almost at the same time when she was calling out that girl’s name. Someone in jeans and a striped shirt with boy-cut hair entered at that very moment making it seem very dramatic.
“Where were you?” Ms. Mejia asked and Marie wondered why the warden was letting a dude enter the girls’ hostel. It was only after a reply came from the person who entered the building and was walking into the crowd standing in the lobby, she realized who the person really was.
“I was having my snacks, Ms. Mejia. Sorry I am late.”
“You called my name?”
“Yes, Jean. These three girls with their stands raised will be your new roommates after you all come back from the holidays. Turn around and let them see you,” said the warden.
When Jean turned around instantly, facing all the other girls, some of them waved their hands at her as they knew her already. The rest of them who were mainly from the star performers section were not able to recognize her as she was from the other section which was for average performing students and too much into sports to be seen around in the class.
Jean was the head of the basketball team for girls, and she was the main reason that they won several interschool tournaments. She was extremely talented and knew how to take care of the little things in life. The time when the rest of the girls would ask others for help, she would do such stuff on her own in some or the other way as she was smart like that.
She was also very helpful to everyone despite the fact that she was looked at differently because of the way she dressed, and the way she chose to live. Her haircut used to be talked about the most where girls would mention that she didn’t know how to look like a girl and behave like one as her posture would confuse them.
Similarly, Marie was looking at her with doubts as she was unable to understand why such a beautiful girl with extra sharp features would look otherwise. In fact, even the way that her shirt was tucked in from one side and left hanging from the other looked as if it was a boy who dressed her up.
As Marie checked her out from top to bottom, she noticed her figure which increased her curiosity to know the reason why she was not flaunting it. The roommates which she had at present would purposely wear short clothes to maybe expose a little, maybe flaunt one part of their body which they thought would attract the boys or even if not that, then maybe to make other girls jealous. That is how spoilt the students of Liberal International School were.
Immediately after the warden was done taking all the names of every student and assigning them their roommates, she asked them to get ready for the dance that they had to go to which was planned by the school to celebrate their entry to senior high school.
Just in about thirty to forty minutes from that time, all the girls stepped down from the respective floors that they had their rooms on and were looking absolutely breath-taking. They were attired differently; some of them were in an elaborate evening gown, a number of them were wearing jeans with a cute top, a few of the group were also in shorts and a t-shirt, but almost everyone was dressed in striking colors.
Marie was dressed in a knee-length, dusty pink dress which had a small slit on one side. It was an A-line dress and had a boat neck at shoulder level. The fall of the dress was pretty natural, and she looked stunning the way that she was carrying her dress with the perfect hairstyle, and she was wearing just the right amount of make-up unlike a lot of others who had applied everything in excess on their faces that made them look a little scary.
While everybody was leaving the hostel building to go to the auditorium where the event was planned to take place, Marie got nervous and sat on one of the chairs in the lobby to feel a little better before she left for the dance. The thought of being around boys and well-dressed girls was also frightening. The worst would be to dance with a boy in front of all of them looking at her.
She had never been so close to any boy other than her cousin brothers who she would meet during the holidays when she would go home. Going out to meet random boys in a dress looking so fine, she was very worried if she was doing the right thing because her family was very strict about such matters.
In the time that she had her eyes closed and was lost thinking about the way that she must be because she ought to participate in the school event, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The time she opened her eyes to see who was holding her, she was surprised to see the same person she was shocked to see in the evening, Jean.
“Hello, Jean!” Marie greeted her with confusion as to why she was there.
“Come, let’s go and dance with them boys!” Jean said with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. She pulled her hand from Marie’s shoulder once she opened her eyes.
“I don’t know; I am scared,” mentioned Marie, to which Jean replied, “Don’t be scared, Marie. I will be there for you. Come!”
That made Marie feel a little comfortable, so she took a step forward to go with her. Both of them left for the auditorium holding each other’s hands for the dance socials to follow.
The students graduated from junior high school were all decked up looking their best. Even the boys looked dashing in their finest attire. All the guys looked different for a change. Some of them who were made fun of and always laughed at also looked extremely admirable to everyone else. As the boys were getting impatient to see the way that the girls looked, they started talking out loud with their friends.As the girls started to enter the auditorium dressed as they were not dressed before. They were comfortable wearing either jeans or shorts normally in their everyday life. Sometimes they also wore dresses but the very simple kind made with either cotton or hosiery fabric which was easy to carry unlike the ones that they were wearing today. The whole vibe of the auditorium changed all of a sudden when the girls stepped in one after the other in a line to sit on the opposite side of where the boys were seated.It was because they were to b
Baffled as to why Jean was standing behind her and not dancing with her partner in the auditorium, she stood up and asked, “Why are you not inside?”“I could ask you the same question, my dear,” replied Jean.“I don’t know, it felt weird dancing with someone who was not only just a boy but also a stranger to me. So, I stepped out to get some fresh air.”“But sweetheart, you are wonderfully dressed to sit here all alone and be by yourself while everyone else is having such a good time inside.” “Come, we will go back,” said Jean.“No, Jean. I don’t want to go back.”“Then we will sit over here and play with the grass together, okay?”“No-no, please, you go back there and have a great time just like others are having.”“What if I said I was not enjoying it at all?” Jean asked.
All the students were very excited about the first day of senior high school. They were not just students, but they were seniors for the rest of the school now. The juniors were going to look up at them, and they had the power to set trends in the school for juniors now.Anything that the seniors had been doing, the whole school followed it. So if the senior boys made spikes with their hair, the juniors would also be looking forward to copying them. If the senior girls left their hair open or for a change braided their hair, that would be followed by the girls in junior classes.It was one of the best feelings to be in senior school for everybody at Liberal International School because they would get to show off and people actually noticed it. Also, being able to talk to the boys and study with them in the same class was another plus point for them as everyone would study together during their senior high school years.T
On hearing Jean’s instruction, Marie felt butterflies in her stomach. She realized that both of them were on the same page as they wanted the same thing. Once she got comfortable in her seat after removing her book and pen from the bag, she put her legs under her seat and moved a little forward for her legs to be able to go at the back even more.Now, she wasn’t concentrating on resting herself on the backrest of the chair; instead, she wanted her legs to be able to go at the back as much as possible. More so because Jean asked her to do that, and she wanted to have any of Jean’s body parts to touch any of hers as that was enough for her to feel secure. That was something which she was missing in her life big time.She started to worry after it had been a couple of minutes that her legs were under her seat, but she did not feel Jean’s legs getting any closer to hers. Was Jean trying to make fun of her or was she just
“Marie, where did you go missing yesterday?” Jacob asked after he blocked her way as she was going to the cafeteria with Jean, and before she could answer his question, Jean pitched in to show him the actual place that he belonged to, according to her. She cross-questioned, “How does it matter to you?”“I am talking to Marie, and you are not Marie,” came the reply from him.“Don’t make me angry,” warned Jean, and she added on, “Marie is my best friend, and I can answer for her.”Then she turned to Marie and asked, “Right, bestie?”The moment that she was put on the spot and had to answer the question that was thrown at her by Jean, she blanked out completely. All of a sudden, she forgot the friendship that she was in the process of building with Jean. She also forgot what Jacob was trying to do to her at the dance socials. She lost memory of anything
All the days of the week that the students were having an introduction to the first year of senior high school to help them choose a stream they would be comfortable devoting their lives to had been interesting with everyone involved in deciding which stream they were willing to build their careers in.For Marie it had also been extraordinarily interesting with so many things that had been happening in her life all at the same time, especially with Jacob having shown extra interest in her. The first day of the new academic year he had asked if he could join Jean and her for lunch at the cafeteria as senior high students had the liberty to eat with the boys on the few tables that were assigned to them specifically for this purpose.The whole of the week similar things happened. Whenever anyone would try to get close to Marie, Jean would be the barrier they would first have to clear. And that seemed too much of a task to all the youngsters as
Marie’s dad was coming to pick her up from school. She was fondly anticipating meeting her dad and was hoping that he would come alone. Eager to meet her step-mom as well, but the hope of being alone with her dad at least for some time was a dream for her every time she went home.Her step-mom had issues with Marie being alone with her own dad. The possibility may have been that she was guilty of the way she treated Marie and didn’t want to land up in trouble had Marie spoken to her father about all that. Little did she know that Marie was such a good daughter that she controlled herself every time from letting her dad know what happened at home with her only because she believed that her father loved her step-mother.Such misunderstandings prevailed for quite some time without giving anyone rest. Instead of talking to one another about the way everyone at home assumed things, they kept stuff to themselves only because no one wan
The first day at home, Marie did not think about anything to do with school. She did not even do anything much at all except for lying on the bed and playing with Shadow. Her bags were still kept on one side of the room, and that was pissing off her step-mom because they were still unpacked.Marie had some clothes in the cupboard at home, and she was changing into those because it had been months that she had been wearing the selected ones which she had taken to the hostel. She wanted to be in different clothes now that she had holidays from school, and there was nothing wrong with that.Everyone needs options and gets bored with monotony. Be it clothes or books or routine or even people these days. For Marie, it was her life; the struggle that she had to go through every time she changed her locations from the hostel to home only because she was not comfortable with any kind of changes. She wanted things to remain the way they were and not