Sagas

{4} The test ~ P

I woke up to the sound of voices and looked around the unfamiliar room, wondering where I was for a second before I remembered that I wasn't at home anymore and this wasn't the room I grew up in.

"Phoebe, are you awake?" Peculiar asked. "You have to wake up now. It's time for dinner."

I sat up. "What time is it?"

"It's six-thirty," She was seated on her bed, reading a book.

The voices grew louder.

"Why is it so noisy?" I asked, yawning.

She looked up at me from the book. "Everyone is going downstairs for dinner, and we should go too. You were so tired that you slept with your wig on?" She asked, staring at my hair.

I stood up and wore my slippers. "It's my hair."

"Stop playing." She scoffed. "You're joking, right?"

"I'm not. It's my natural hair."

"No way! How is this even possible?" She asked, bewildered. "How long have you been growing it?"

"My whole life."

Her reaction was one I get from people all the time. At some point, I had considered cutting my hair short because of how much attention it drew to me, but Mom had adamantly refused. But again, I knew that cutting my hair would not help matters. I was a magnet that attracted attention effortlessly. Everything about me made heads turn, and there was nothing I could do about that.

She kept the book aside. "God, I'm jealous. Can I touch it?"

"No," I answered.

Her face fell in disappointment, like a child deprived of a toy. "Why? I just want to feel it."

"I thought you wanted to have dinner. Let's go. I'm hungry," I said, changing the topic.

She pouted. "Common, I have to confirm for myself."

I drank some water from the bottle I kept by my bedside earlier and walked to the door, leaving her in the room. She stood up and followed me.

I opened the door and stepped out, but right in front of our room were about five girls, all of them waiting in the corridor. They weren't going downstairs to the dining room for dinner. They were gathered around my room, waiting for us to come out. Their eyes fell on me at once.

"What's going on?" Peculiar asked from behind.

I moved aside, and Peculiar came forward, closing the door behind her.

I recognized one face in the crowd. The face of the girl I saw at the reception office, Beck. Glued to Beck's side and chewing gum loudly, was a light-skinned girl. The light-skinned girl was also pretty. Her hair was cut low and tinted blond, and she also had a nose ring on. The first three buttons of her white shirt were undone, and huge tits popped out, her tie hanging between them. She wore heels with her knee-length socks and might only be a few inches taller than Beck if she took off the heels.

"She isn't ugly." The light-skinned girl said, examining me like some goods on display.

"Laura, behave," Beck said quietly.

Laura rolled her eyes and looked away, chewing even louder.

Beck walked closer to me. "Sorry about that," she said, looking embarrassed. "I believe you are Phiona, right?"

"Phoebe." I corrected. 

"Oh right, Phoebe." She smiled, but I didn't miss the way her eyes swiftly went over me. She stretched out her hand for a handshake. "Welcome to the dorm. I am Becky Anderson, the head girl of Excel High."

I stared at her hand and then back at her face.

"Nice to meet you, Becky," I said, smiling back and ignoring her outstretched hand.

Everywhere went silent as everyone waited for me to shake hands with Becky. But as the seconds ticked by, it soon became clear that I wasn't going to shake hands with her.

Becky withdrew her hands awkwardly, trying to keep the smile on. But I vividly remembered the look I got from her earlier. This girl never had any intention of being my friend.

"Very well, then. I'll see you around." She said, with the smile still plastered on her face.

"Sure," I replied.

As she walked away, the rest of the girls followed, looking at me curiously, but none of them tried to introduce themselves again.

"Bitch," Laura said, loud enough for me to hear.

One girl stayed behind. She stood watching me. "Welcome to Excel High, Phoebe. I was supposed to give you the tour earlier, but Peculiar insisted she wanted to do it. I am Cherry, the social prefect."

She didn't try to shake me or come closer to me, but when she smiled, I knew it was genuine.

"It's nice to meet you too, Cherry," I replied.

"You seem fun. I'm beginning to regret not agreeing to pair with you." She said, leaving the dorm.

"What was that?" Peculiar asked when it was just the two of us.

"I should be asking you," I answered. A lot had happened in that little interaction, and one thing I was sure of was that Becky wasn't happy.

"You have no idea what you just did." She laughed. "I can't believe it. Becky wouldn't like this one bit."

I didn't care about what Becky liked or didn't like. I didn't want to make enemies, but I didn't want fake friends either, and I had been in a tight spot earlier. If I could, I would have shook hands with her, but I couldn't do it, and if it upset her, there was nothing I could do about it.

"It's all on me. I should have warned you about Becky, but she doesn't really deal with her classmates as long as you pass the test."

"What test?" 

"As long as you stay clear from Drake, which, mind you, is extremely difficult." Peculiar said.

That wasn't an issue for me. "So she and Drake are a couple?" I experienced their little drama earlier, but that could have been a lover's quarrel.

"Yes, as much as we know. But the point is, as long as you take your eyes off Drake, she would be too busy bullying junior students to pay attention to you, but you seem to have dragged her eyes your way without even taking the test first."

She laughed again. "That was interesting to watch. It's not every day we see things like this here."

"Why is she the head girl if she's a bully?" I was more concerned about that than Becky's jealousy.

"You may not believe this, but she has her charms," she sighed. "We better hurry. It's almost seven."