Fixing You

chapter ten

 Ashling's POV

I stopped by the toilets before class started. I didn't really have anything to do since I knew a total of four people at the school: Adam and Shaun, who were off arguing somewhere, Daniel, who had left, and Jay, my cousin. I didn't know where Jay was and I didn't want to bother him, especially after he had done so much for me already. So I headed for the toilets to wait out the last ten minutes before class.

As I was fixing my hair in front of the mirror, two other girls entered. They walked towards the sinks and stood on either side of me, reapplying their make up. Instinctively I felt trapped, and I had to remind myself that everything was okay, that I was safe. My parents weren't here, and I wouldn't be harmed.

The girl on my right was tall with long, red, wavy hair. She was wearing an extremely skimpy shirt with four buttons undone, and a really short skirt. My immediate thought was that she was just a slut.

The girl on my left was even worse. She was also tall, but only because of the ridiculous stilettos she wore. She was wearing a red lacy dress and a cream blazer that looked entirely too dressy for school. Her blond hair fell to almost her waist. Her grey eyes were suddenly on me.

"Hi," she said, smiling politely. "I'm Caroline." She held out her hand and I shook it.

"Ashling," I replied. I let go of her hand as it tightened slightly. "I just moved here, today's my first day."

"Well, that explains why he's so preoccupied," Caroline's redheaded friend muttered.

Caroline glared at her. "Merissa, please learn to control your mouth, or just shut up."

Merissa bowed her head slightly, almost like a gesture of submission. How cliché was this school? I would have laughed if Caroline wasn't so intimidating. She had turned back to me, and was calm and smiling again.

"I saw you talking to Daniel earlier," Caroline's face was guarded as she spoke, but I didn't miss the quick flash of jealously in her eyes.

"Oh no, I don't even know him really. I know his friend Adam, that's all." I didn't know why I felt the need to hide whatever friendship Daniel and I had.

"That's funny," Caroline scoffed, losing her cool. "Because you two seemed so friendly for having just met."

"He's a really nice guy," I tried.

And Caroline snapped, just as I had seen her do a moment ago. "Yeah, he is. But I'm not. And he's mine." With her last sentence, she had actually shoved me backwards.

I stumbled awkwardly into a delighted Merissa. "Even though he's friends with my stupid fag brother, I have to admit that Daniel is hot."

Merissa and Caroline were pissing me off now. But if I yelled at them like I wanted to, and wished I had the guts to do, it would only draw attention to me. This was my chance at starting over, with a new identity at a new school where no one knew about my past, and I wasn't about to make people hate me already.

I gave Caroline what I hoped was a sincere, apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise. I won't talk to Daniel anymore," I promised.

Caroline looked surprised for a split second before smiling hugely at me. "Good. I'm glad. You know, you have really pretty hair," she murmured softly as she reached out to touch it. I forced myself not to flinch away. "I think we could be good friends, Ashling."

I had absolutely no intention of befriending Caroline or Merissa. But I wasn't going to tell her that, so I smiled sweetly before backing away from the two psychotic girls, claiming I would be late for my next class.