Abercrombie Models

*Six's POV*

My first three periods pass by rather slowly as they’re all just the teachers running over the syllabus. I make my way to the cafeteria which is a large round room with windows all around and many circular tables with little bench seats connected to them.

I find an empty table near a window to sit at. Just as I’m about to take a bite from my sandwich, a girl with blue hair wearing a leather jacket plops herself down beside me, straddling the bench so she’s facing me. 

“So you must be the new girl.”

“Uh, yeah I guess so.”

“I’m Cleo,” she says, sticking her hand out.

“Six,” I say and take it.

“So, rumour is you went to WestSide.”

Before I can answer, a girl with platinum blonde hair and several layers of makeup walks up to the table with another blonde and a brunette, both with just as much makeup on and says, “Hi, you must be new here.” I don’t reply. “Well, I’ll let it slide for today, but you’re in our spot.”

I make a dramatic show of looking around and say, “Huh, weird. I don’t see a sign here.”

“We always sit here though. Ask anybody.”

“Nah, I don’t think I will,” I say with a smile. I don’t actually care about this table, but it’s the principal of the whole thing.

“You don’t want to get on my bad side, new girl. You have no idea who you’re messing with.”

I let out a chuckle. This girl couldn’t survive a day at WestSide. “Oh, look at you coming in hot with the thinly veiled threats. You do not intimidate me, so unless you want to physically remove me from this table, move along.”

“This isn’t over,” she huffs and then twitches away on her heels to another table. I look over to Cleo and say, “I’m surprised she can even breathe with her tits pushed up into her throat like that.”

Cleo bursts out laughing and I can’t help but crack a smile. “You and I are going to be great friends,” she informs me. Something over by the entrance catches her attention and she waves.

I see a group of 2 girls and 2 guys walking over to us. The tall skinny guy with the hipster glasses and man-bun raises an eyebrow and says, “So, how did this happen?” while gesturing vaguely at the table. 

“Courtesy of our new friend here,” Cleo says and pats me on the shoulder. They all sit down and she introduces everyone. She points to the tall guy and says, “That’s Drew,” then to the shorter guy with green hair and a boyish face and says, “That’s Nate,” then to a petite Asian girl, “That’s Luna,” and then to a girl with jet black hair and many piercings on her face, “and this is my girlfriend Lexi. Everyone, this is Six.”

“Is that your real name?” Lexi asks me.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Huh, that’s cool. So where did you transfer from?”

“WestSide High.” All of their eyes snap to me, and Luna looks a little scared. I can see the questions that they all want to know but don’t want to ask.

I sigh and say, “Go ahead, ask your questions. I don’t bite.”

Drew starts with “How did you get in here? Wait-no, sorry, that sounded rude. That’s not what i meant-”

I cut him off, “It’s fine, I understand your question. I’m here on scholarship.”

Nate asks, “Have you ever been to jail?”

I give him a look and say, “If I had a record, do you think I would have gotten a scholarship here?” 

“That’s a fair point,” Nate says. 

“You ever been in a fight?” Cleo asks. 

“Yeah, of course, I mean I won’t start a fight, but I won’t back down from one either. It’s been a while though. Nobody wanted to even look at me crooked and risk having to deal with Jordan, my ex-boyfriend.”

“Did you break up because you were switching schools?”

“No, we broke up because he got my ex-best friend pregnant.”

“Oh shit. Yep, that would do it.” Nate says.

Suddenly, chatter quiets down to a whisper and I look up to see what’s caused the disturbance. I find a group of 4 guys walking in and at the front is a very tall, very jacked dude with arms covered in tattoos. His brown hair is shorter on the sides, and longer and intentionally messy on top. The other three guys are not quite as tall but are all very athletic. One has the same brown hair colour and looks like he could be related to the first guy and then there’s one with jet black hair and one with lighter brown hair.

“Someone wanna fill me in on what exactly the big deal is with these dudes?”

“The tall one at the front is Axle Decker, he’s back for his third try at senior year. The one that looks like him is his younger brother Jameson, who is actually in senior year. The other two are their friends: the blonde is Cameron Wright and the dark haired one is Ethan Stone,” Cleo explains.

“They’re the school’s resident bad boys,” Luna adds in.

I snort and say, “Maybe to you guys. They look like abercrombie models posing as bad boys in a school play compared to the guys at WestSide.”

This causes them to laugh and Drew says, “That’s hilarious, but maybe don’t tell them that to their faces.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m not into starting fights, remember? So, wait, let’s back this up a bit. Three tries at senior year? How?”

“He thinks he’s too cool to go to class and spends his days smoking, or fucking girls in supply closets and whatever other truant behaviour he enjoys doing.”

“And his parents are still paying for him to come here every year?” I ask, incredulously.

“Yeah, they don’t care. The money isn’t really an issue for them.”

“Well isn’t that nice for him,” I say, not trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. I haven’t even met the guy and I already don’t like him. He’s just wasting opportunities so many kids I grew up with would kill to have. By this point, the group has made its way to a table not too far from ours and I make it a point to not give them any attention. They’ve got enough of it from everyone else.