What's Behind Friendship?

Paradise Called School

Annie stepped out of her Dad’s car and he immediately drove off.

“Well… here I am,” she murmured, gazing up at the school building.

“Not bad at all, it’s huge and really beautiful” her eyes wandered around the students passing by in their neat uniforms. “Nice uniform,” she said with a nod. “Whoa these kids are way too early, I thought I was on time. Am I already late? she muttered to herself looking confused. She slips her hand into the pocket of her jeans to pull out her phone but before she could someone crashed into her from behind, sending the phone tumbling to the ground.

“Hey!” Annie shouted at the top of her voice, startled and annoyed. “Didn’t you see me standing here?!”She turned towards the person who had crashed into her and saw a guy with curly blond hair reaching his neck. He didn’t even stop running. Instead, he glanced back at her with a grin spread across his face.

“My bad, new girl!” he said with a laugh before running off to catch up with his friends.Annie picks up her phone, rolling her eyes.

“What a great way to start a school!” she said loud enough for others to stare at her weirdly. “Ugh! Dad totally made a mistake sending me here” she mutters, shoving her phone in her pocket and walking towards the school entrance.As she got to the hallway of the school she heard a voice from behind.

“Are you Anniebell Dawson? The voice asked, trying to get a full sight of Annie.

“OMG! Did someone just call my name? Wait, how would anyone even know my name already? I literally just got here; don’t tell me I’m already getting popular?!”. She muttered to herself, blushing then turned slowly to see who called her.

“Who is she? I was expecting a student” she thought, her eyes fixed on the young woman before her. The lady’s very fair skin and long, straight brown hair which rested neatly over both shoulders only added to her striking appearance. She was dressed in a sophisticated two-piece outfit that gave off a classy corporate- chic aura. A navy blue one- shoulder crop top hugged her figure perfectly, styled with a contrasting white long sleeve patterned with thin black strips. It was paired with high waisted navy- blue wide-leg trousers that flowed smoothly down to her ankles, adding elegance and confidence to her appearance. On her feet were polished black chunky-heeled Mary Jane shoes, complimenting the outfit with a subtle vintage flair that made her look both stylish and refined.

“You must be Anniebell Dawson, the scholarship student right?”. She moved closer to Annie trying to confirm who Annie was.

“Gosh, she’s pretty,” Annie murmured under her breath, not realizing she had said it out loud.

“Pardon?” the young lady asked, slightly tilting her head after failing to catch what Annie had said.

“Uh yeah! I’m Anniebell Dawson,” Annie replied quickly.“I knew it would be you,” she said with a smile.

“Hi, I’m Jessica Parker but you can call me Ms. Jess. It's nice meeting you. Welcome to Diamond High School.”

“Thank you Ms. Jess” Annie said with a smile.

“I’m your homeroom teacher,” she added. “Come, let me take you to your class” she turned and started walking ahead, motioning for Annie to follow.As they walked down the hallway, Annie couldn’t stop looking around, her mouth slightly open in amazement, taking in every detail. The shiny floors with glowing lights reflecting off the spotless floors, colorful lockers, soft pastel walls.

“Okay, this place is way too nice to be a school” she thought with a small grin.Ms. Jess stopped in front of a glass- paneled hallway on the right wing of the second floor.

“This is your classroom,” she said.

“You…. mean this is my class?!” Annie asked with her eyes wide open.

“Yes, is there a problem?” Ms. Jess asked, fixing her gaze at Annie.

“No! No! I mean it’s so beautiful. It's almost as large as my living room and too silent for a class. Are there students there?” Annie said, stretching to take a look inside.

Ms. Jess smiles. “Follow me”. She took out her ID card and tapped it against the access scanner beside the door. The door slid open with a soft beep.

“You’ll get your own ID soon, so you can access your classroom” she said stepping inside.

“Okay ma’am” Annie replied quickly.

“Good Morning, everyone” Ms. Jess said brightly.

“Good Morning, Ms.Jess” the students all chorused.

“So, we have a transfer student joining us” Ms. Jess announced as she glanced at Annie next to her. “Say hi”

“Hello… My name is Anniebell Dawson a new transfer student, It’s nice to meet you all. And I’m looking forward to making great friends with you guys” she added cheerfully and immediately a female student raised her hand up.

“You’ve got something to say Tony? Go on” Ms.Jess said, urging the student to talk.

“You say your name is Annie right?” she asked as she crossed her legs on each other.

“Yeah” Annie replied immediately, curious of what the girl was about to say.

“Mmm, so are you an LPF or something? I mean, since you got a scholarship” she said, and other kids burst into laughter, “And by the way, which school did you transfer from? She asked with a disgusted look.

“Hey Tony!! Don’t you have any better questions to ask? That’s not very welcoming” Ms.Jess said on top of her voice.Tony rolled her eyes

“Who says we want to welcome her?”

“Tony, if you have nothing good to say, can you just shut it?” Ms. Jess snapped at her.Annie smiles awkwardly

“What does LPF mean?” she asked, turning to face Ms. Jess.

“Never mind that” Ms.Jess said quickly, her eyes scanning the room for an empty seat, “Let’s find you a place to sit……..” she pointed to a seat at the back next to a girl who was engrossed reading a novel. “Go sit there, during lunch break come to my office to get your things, or you could use the elevator to get to the ninth floor, alright?"

“Alright, thanks” Annie replied with a gentle smile, walking towards the seat at the back.Ms.Jess spotted one of the students recording a video in the class

“Mike! Put that phone away right now. I said no phones in class, I thought I’ve made that clear!” she said in a warning tone and walked out of the class.

Annie, already seated on her seat, she placed her backpack on her desk, her eyes scanning the whole class in amazement. Then she began staring at the girl seated next to her and the novel she was reading.

“Hi” she said, trying to get her attention, but didn’t get any response back. “She probably didn’t hear me” she thought to herself and leaned forward, trying to see the title of the novel she was reading.

“Wow!” Annie exclaims, “You’re reading Williams Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, it’s such a nice novel” she said facing the girl next to her, “You have a unique taste for novel’s, just like me” she said smiling, but still didn’t get any response. “You know, this novel is such a plot twist, crazy how those boys started off civilized and ended up savage……

Han-na slammed the novel on her desk, cutting Annie off “Will you stop being nosy?! You’re disturbing me, please! And I didn’t ask for your comments.

“I’m being nosy?” Annie scoffs.“Yes, you are!” she said, fixing her gaze on Annie with a mean look.

“And keep your comments to yourself!” Han-na added, and picked up her novel again and continued reading, ignoring Annie, who was shocked by her sudden outburst. Not long after, a young man walked into the classroom holding a textbook.

“Hello students” he said as he entered the class and looked at Annie.

“You must be the new transfer student?”Annie stood up immediately, all eyes on her

“Yes, sir.”

“No, no don’t stand up. You can have your seat. I just wanted to wish you good luck in your stay here” he said with a weird smile. “And by the way, I’m Zach Wellson “he added and continued what he was doing.

“Okay sir” Annie said as she sat down slowly.

“As you all know, the sports competition against 12th grade is just three weeks away, so I wish you guys good luck” Mr. Zach said looking at the students as he was speaking.

“I thought we’d be competing against Grade 11 section B… but now we’re competing with our seniors? Mike said in surprise.

“Guess you guys were not aware of it? Yeah, you’re competing with your seniors and training starts next week” Mr. Zach said bluntly

“Why not this week?” Bella asked curiously.

“Cos that when your seniors are ready to train” Mr. Zach replied.

Mike smirks, “So they’re the ones to decide when to start training, Bullsh**t!” he said, clearly not worried about Mr. Zach watching.

“Bullsh**t?! Did you just cuss?” Mr. Zach snapped angrily, looking straight at Mike, who didn’t care. He simply looked away and crossed his legs, giving off an “I don’t care” vibe.

“You just did too” Jethro replied as he chuckles.

“What” Mr. Zach said, turning to face Jethro, who was seated in the front row.

“You said “Bullsh**t? Did you just cuss?” Jethro said, micking Mr. Zach, making other kids burst into laughter. Oh! My God, our P.E teacher just cussed” he added dramatically.

Mr. Zach, looking furious, said, “Of course! That’s why you guys are no match for the 12th graders. Let me get my job done and get the hell out of here” he muttered to himself as the students continued laughing at what Jethro had said.

“Isn’t that the guy who bumped into me earlier” Annie muttered to herself, her eyes fixed on Jethro as he laughed with the other kids.

“I’m sure he’s such a pain in the ass” she added loudly, causing Han-na to glance at her as though she were some kind of weirdo. Annie turned back and gave her a sarcastic smile, making Han-na smirk before looking away.Annie’s eyes drifted to the name tag pinned to her chest,

“Ji Han-na, so that’s the nasty girl’s name” she thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

“So for today, we’II be discussing about Cardiovascular Endurance” Mr. Zach said, as he started lecturing them for about thirty minutes before the electronic bell rang and he left immediately.

Annie was rummaging through her backpack for her notebook and noticed three girls stood in front of her desk, one of them even sitting casually on top of it.