Black Velvet

I sat staring complacently at the plate of food in front of me. As it was a Tuesday, my dad had been working late so a greasy takeaway was dribbled messily over my plate. Earlier in the week we had moved to Jersey, which consequently meant me moving schools for my last two years of high school. I looked up to see my dad eyeing me up suspiciously.

"I thought you liked Indian?" he asked, his tone light.

"I do like it," I replied quickly, stabbing my fork into a piece of meat and chewing it to prove it, "Just tired." I finished, looking at him with a weak smile.

I was tired, tired of constant takeaway food. My dad worked for a music company called LiteHouse. they created commercial jingles, phone ringtones and once he even worked on a project in a film. In his spare time he was also in a band, mostly to sooth his ego and calm his constant fear that he'd sold out. He nodded and looked back down at his plate, tapping his foot under the table undoubtedly having some new idea stuck in his head. That's why we moved, he'd made enough money for Deb and I to live in a nice, normal house. Deb had been married to my dad since I was little and although she could never replace my mother, who still lived in Wisconsin, she was a close second.

"I may go to bed unless you-" dad cut me off by smiling and shaking his head.

"No you go, moving is tiring, especially getting everything into this great big house!" he chuckled, "plus first day tomorrow and you really should have a proper nights sleep." I nodded and pecked his stubbly cheek before wondering mindlessly upstairs.

Although when we moved I was determined to have the attic room, it ended becoming storage as soon as we moved in so my room was the farthest down the hall. It was relatively small and cream, with a white wood bed and wardrobe. Deb had the biggest bedroom to do her sculptures in as it had the best lighting, which is where she was now. I could see the light on from under the closed door and I could faintly hear her music playing.

Sitting on the edge of the double bed that was now mine I stared at myself in the mirror. I was lightly tanned with mousy brown hair and light eyes. My lips were little too big, my eyes placed slightly too far apart. I wondered what people would think of me tomorrow, I was liked in my old school but maybe that was because we had all known each other from so young. As much as being disliked didn't particularly phase me, it still worried me that I may have to spend the next two years friendless.

On the weekend I had wandered the closest shopping mall with Deb. We picked up notebooks and pens, a new bag and plastic lunchbox. She had even bought me a new oversized denim jacket that I had been eyeing since seeing them. She also bought one herself and it did annoy me a little that it looked so much better on her. Deb is pale and freckled and has a head of long, dark red hair that she wears down. Unlike myself she's curvy, with big hips and long legs. I can remembering envying her when I was thirteen. I'd watch her sing and dance about whilst doing the washing up or cleaning. I'd watch her hips move and wonder why I had yet to blossom like she had.

"Want me to drive you to school tomorrow?" Her sunny voice suddenly murmured as she opened my door a crack, "Or halfway?" she questioned, clay covered her hands.

"I think I might walk actually, try and get used to everything," I replied with a smile and she nodded, coming fully in and placing herself next to me, "Mom said she'd ring me afterwards so I could tell her how it went," I then said, raising my eyebrows. My mom was never a bad mom but since she had gotten her new husband and kids she had never been quite as attentive you'd think a conventional mother would me. Deb raised her eyebrows back at me, chuckling a little.

"Try her on her mobile, better chance," she winked, her hands in front of her so that clay didn't get everywhere, "Give me a shout in the morning if you need a lift, I'm only going to be in bed," she kissed my temple and stood up.

In the morning I still decided to walk to school, I left twenty minutes early in case I got lost or did need a lift. I had already been to the building the day before, to collect my timetable and get acquainted with the principle and a few of my teachers. They all seemed nice enough and I had been told to go to the reception on the Wednesday morning so that someone could take me to my first class.

The school itself was very modern, one section of it was completely glass and they had several ICT suites and libraries. I walked through the car park to get to the main entrance, feeling the early morning cold on my legs. We had to wear regulation school uniform. It consisted of a white shirt, black blazer and black skirt with long white socks. I wore black pumps and had stuffed the black and red tie into blazer pocket. Upon remembering this I quickly slung it round my neck and started fastening it, also tying my hair up in the process. Students weren't allowed any bag, everyone had to wear a rucksack and I grabbed one of Deb's old worn brown rucksacks she used to use for her art classes.

Through the glass door I could see students striding around confidently, most of them in small groups. I pushed the door open, the noise became clearer and eyes began to land on me. Some students smiled, some completely ignored me and others looked on curiously. I looked past them, taking in the murky grey of the linoleum flooring and the light yellow walls. The reception was to the left of the main door and I headed over to it, trying to stay calm and positive. I went up the desk and peered over. A slim woman sat behind it, young and pretty with light blonde hair. She looked up suddenly and smiled, her eyes lightly creasing in the corners.

"Can I help you? I'm so sorry I'm new, I'm trying to get everything together!" She started shaking her head before continuing, "So I will try and help you but-"

"-I'm new too so we're going to make this hard for each other," I smiled kindly and she laughed.
"Welcome! It's lovely here, you should like it, let me just try and find out what I'm going to do with you," she started to tap away on her computer and I lingered awkwardly, watching as students chatted among each other.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and I quickly spun round to face four girls. They were all smiling and the girl who had patted me was stepped forward away from them, a beautiful, engaging smile plastered on her face.

"You're the new girl, huh?" she asked, I nodded about to ask how she new, "You're in my homeroom," she said before I even had chance to ask how she knew me.

"Amelia!" The receptionist suddenly cried out, pleased with herself for finding me on her computer system.

"We've got this, Amelia is in our first class, we'll take her," the girl then said confidently, putting stress on my name, "So Amelia, I can call you Mia right? My names Alex," she smiled again glossily.

"Nice to meet you guys," I said nervously, looking at them all worriedly.

"This is Taylor," she pointed to the tallest of the girls who had dark hair and brightly painted lips, "Marnie," Alex then said pointing to the next girl, "And Georgina but we all call her Ginger because well," as she said this she rolled her eyes towards her friend. Georgina had bright natural red hair that was piled into a Grecian bun on top of her head. I just nodded, feeling intimidated all of a sudden by how confident and pretty all these girls were, "You can come with us now? Homeroom is only half an hour," she said raising her eyebrows before linking arms with me and giving me a little tug.

"Yeah, sure, thanks," I stuttered, "I probably would have gotten lost anyway, this school is massive," I commented, feeling slightly uncomfortable being linked to Alex as she marched down the corridor towards the classroom. She giggled at what I said, giving a little 'aw' sound as she did so.

"Bless you! You think this schools massive? Before I came here I was in a school twice this size, you'll get used to it in no time, Mia!" She beamed. I simply smiled, off guard and confused about her reaction. She was clearly a popular girl, the other three girls were dragging their heels behind us, talking among themselves. Alex suddenly stopped outside a classroom door, "You're going to love it here and seriously you seem like a total cutie, we can have some fun!" she said, ruffling my hair before entering the classroom.

Notes