C.H.A.R.M
First Meeting
Carrie, Holly and Annika arrived at school at ten to nine. On the front field a huge group of new comers had gathered and they all went to join them. None of the three noticed each other much. People were still starring and pointing at Annika, much to her annoyance.
Holly ran over to a group of her intermediate friends and immediately started chatting about her holidays. Carrie stood by herself, none of her old friends went to this school and she didn’t really know anyone. Annika was in the same boat as Carrie, but she was quickly beckoned over by some girls who had seen her little performance on the bus.
Magenta was there to. She’d been there for a while and had attracted some new friends, mostly guys. They all seemed rather interested in her, especially her ice-skating talents. She tried to steer the conversation away from ice-skating because she didn’t particularly want to talk about it, but they kept on asking her more.
A very important man strolled onto the field.
“Quiet, please!” he shouted. Everyone turned to look at him. “Now, I would like to welcome you all to Avonbrook High School. I’m your principal, Mr Norway. If you could all follow me please into the school auditorium to discus your first year and how everything works.”
They all filed into the big building behind the field. Just as the last few people walked in through the doors, Rosalind ran through the school gates.
“Wait, wait! Don’t close the doors yet!” she yelled.
She reached the auditorium doors where a snotty looking teacher glared at her with menacing eyes.
“Your late!” she snarled.
“Um, I’m sorry. My mum had car troubles.” Rosalind lied.
“Well, lets hope it doesn’t happen again.”
Rosalind entered the auditorium. It was a large room with a fairly big stage and hundreds of raised seats. Most people were already seated so Rosalind sat down near the doors. There was one girl behind her with long, dirty blond hair wearing a purple jacket. A guy that Rosalind supposed was the principal walked up to the mic.
Mr Norway delivered at very long and boring speech about the importance of their first year at High School. He droned on for what seemed like hours. The children in the auditorium started getting restless while all the teachers listened politely.
“And that is why your first year here is so important! Now the second topic I’d like to discus is about how this school runs…”
Everyone groaned, especially Rosalind. She really wished she was outside right now, doing ANYTHING else. The snotty teacher by the door heard her groan and told her off sharply.
“But it wasn’t just me,” Rosalind complained, “Everyone else here groaned as well!”
“Well I certainly didn’t and if you don’t want to get a detention on your first day I suggest you don’t do it again!”
Rosalind was about to reply but she realised that it was pointless. Carrie, who was the girl behind her, saw this and shook her head in disapproval. She was one of the very few people who hadn’t groaned and sat up striate and listened to more of Mr Norway’s monotone speech.
When the principal finally finished, he started to call out form classes and groups of names that were in those classes. This was greeted by another groan.
“Now the groups of names I’m about to call out are to be your form classes for the year. I call out a classroom and the names following are to go to that classroom, so you better keep your ears sharp! Now, the following people are to report to G5, Hannah Sharbolt, Jacob Finley, Kate Gardner…”
This went on for quite some time. Carrie, Holly, Annika, Rosalind and Magenta were all near the end.
“Going to D7 is Tony Hew, Jessica Kennedy, Annika Whitlow…”
Annika, who had almost fallen asleep, was quite surprised to hear her name called. She got out of her seat and hopped down the auditorium steps and out the opposite door from the one they had come in.
“…Greg Fallow, Roxy Jacobs, Holly Masterson…”
Holly also left her seat and went out the auditorium doors.
“…Sara Cliff, Sarah Wild, Nick Field, Erin Lockhart, Magenta De Mille…”
Magenta followed her new friends Nick and Erin out of the building.
“…Yasmine Hodge, Frances Nuki, Anya Seton, Nora Roberts, Steve Richie, Rosalind Connelly…”
Rosalind was happy and relived to leave at last, hoping that she would never see that creepy teacher again.
“…Anton Gretcher and Caroline Clarkson…”
Carrie got up promptly and left, eying her new classmate, Rosalind, in front of her.
Outside there was a teacher holding up a sign saying D7. The five girls all went over to her.
“Hello class,” the lady teacher said sweetly. “I’m Ms Smith, follow me to your new form classroom.”
They all filed into the classroom labelled D7 and sat down as instructed. Today wasn’t really a proper school day, it was an orienteering day for the year 9s who were new to the school. Avonside was a huge school and the year 9s needed a whole day to be taken around the school, shown where everything was and to get introduced to their new classmates and form teacher.
In D7, the class was instructed to sit in a circle, introduce themselves one by one and say something interesting about themselves. A pretty blond girl went first:
“Hi,” she said smiling “I’m Lynda, I’m 13 (14 in three months) and I’m a dancer. I do ballet and tap, comtempory, ballroom, jazz, hip hop and a bit of Latin. I also act and I…”
“Thanks Lynda, that’s enough,” Ms Smith said in her sickly sweet manner.
A brown haired boy went next.
“I’m Steve but most people call me by my last name, Richie. I mountain bike every weekend with my mates, it’s totally awesome!”
“Hi,” Holly said timidly, she didn’t know anyone in this class. “I’m Holly and I play the piano and the cello and I like to act as well.”
The circle eventually got around to Annika. There was silence as she just sat there for a few seconds. Everyone stared at her. Then she opened her mouth:
“My name’s Annika and I’m not very interesting!”
Again, silence.
“Go on Annika, there must be something interesting that you’d like to share…?”
“Well…” she thought for a moment. “I was adopted,” she said blankly.
There was yet another silence, a rather awkward silence as everyone in the room frowned in confusion. Some of the girls in the class, whispered to their neighbours.
“Well,” the teacher said “on to the next person.”
The next person was Rosalind.
“Hey y’all! My name’s Rosalind but I’ve been called many things, Rosa, Rose, Rosie, you name it. Anyway, I’m an animal fan and I was in the Animal Rights group at my old school.”
“That’s very nice Rosalind. Next person please.”
Carrie sat up striate, beaming at everyone. She was desperate to make a good first impression. She opened her mouth to speak; she had planned to tell the class all about her trips around the world but nothing came out. Carrie froze. She tried to speak, but the words would not come!
“You all right, dear?” the teacher asked.
“Ah, er…”
“We’ll get back to you,” Ms Smith said awkwardly.
How embarrassing, Carrie thought. Her classmates must all think she was a stupid dolt, just sitting there dumbly, unable to say anything. Carrie hid her head in shame as a beautiful, black haired girl further down the circle began to talk about ice-skating.
Holly ran over to a group of her intermediate friends and immediately started chatting about her holidays. Carrie stood by herself, none of her old friends went to this school and she didn’t really know anyone. Annika was in the same boat as Carrie, but she was quickly beckoned over by some girls who had seen her little performance on the bus.
Magenta was there to. She’d been there for a while and had attracted some new friends, mostly guys. They all seemed rather interested in her, especially her ice-skating talents. She tried to steer the conversation away from ice-skating because she didn’t particularly want to talk about it, but they kept on asking her more.
A very important man strolled onto the field.
“Quiet, please!” he shouted. Everyone turned to look at him. “Now, I would like to welcome you all to Avonbrook High School. I’m your principal, Mr Norway. If you could all follow me please into the school auditorium to discus your first year and how everything works.”
They all filed into the big building behind the field. Just as the last few people walked in through the doors, Rosalind ran through the school gates.
“Wait, wait! Don’t close the doors yet!” she yelled.
She reached the auditorium doors where a snotty looking teacher glared at her with menacing eyes.
“Your late!” she snarled.
“Um, I’m sorry. My mum had car troubles.” Rosalind lied.
“Well, lets hope it doesn’t happen again.”
Rosalind entered the auditorium. It was a large room with a fairly big stage and hundreds of raised seats. Most people were already seated so Rosalind sat down near the doors. There was one girl behind her with long, dirty blond hair wearing a purple jacket. A guy that Rosalind supposed was the principal walked up to the mic.
Mr Norway delivered at very long and boring speech about the importance of their first year at High School. He droned on for what seemed like hours. The children in the auditorium started getting restless while all the teachers listened politely.
“And that is why your first year here is so important! Now the second topic I’d like to discus is about how this school runs…”
Everyone groaned, especially Rosalind. She really wished she was outside right now, doing ANYTHING else. The snotty teacher by the door heard her groan and told her off sharply.
“But it wasn’t just me,” Rosalind complained, “Everyone else here groaned as well!”
“Well I certainly didn’t and if you don’t want to get a detention on your first day I suggest you don’t do it again!”
Rosalind was about to reply but she realised that it was pointless. Carrie, who was the girl behind her, saw this and shook her head in disapproval. She was one of the very few people who hadn’t groaned and sat up striate and listened to more of Mr Norway’s monotone speech.
When the principal finally finished, he started to call out form classes and groups of names that were in those classes. This was greeted by another groan.
“Now the groups of names I’m about to call out are to be your form classes for the year. I call out a classroom and the names following are to go to that classroom, so you better keep your ears sharp! Now, the following people are to report to G5, Hannah Sharbolt, Jacob Finley, Kate Gardner…”
This went on for quite some time. Carrie, Holly, Annika, Rosalind and Magenta were all near the end.
“Going to D7 is Tony Hew, Jessica Kennedy, Annika Whitlow…”
Annika, who had almost fallen asleep, was quite surprised to hear her name called. She got out of her seat and hopped down the auditorium steps and out the opposite door from the one they had come in.
“…Greg Fallow, Roxy Jacobs, Holly Masterson…”
Holly also left her seat and went out the auditorium doors.
“…Sara Cliff, Sarah Wild, Nick Field, Erin Lockhart, Magenta De Mille…”
Magenta followed her new friends Nick and Erin out of the building.
“…Yasmine Hodge, Frances Nuki, Anya Seton, Nora Roberts, Steve Richie, Rosalind Connelly…”
Rosalind was happy and relived to leave at last, hoping that she would never see that creepy teacher again.
“…Anton Gretcher and Caroline Clarkson…”
Carrie got up promptly and left, eying her new classmate, Rosalind, in front of her.
Outside there was a teacher holding up a sign saying D7. The five girls all went over to her.
“Hello class,” the lady teacher said sweetly. “I’m Ms Smith, follow me to your new form classroom.”
They all filed into the classroom labelled D7 and sat down as instructed. Today wasn’t really a proper school day, it was an orienteering day for the year 9s who were new to the school. Avonside was a huge school and the year 9s needed a whole day to be taken around the school, shown where everything was and to get introduced to their new classmates and form teacher.
In D7, the class was instructed to sit in a circle, introduce themselves one by one and say something interesting about themselves. A pretty blond girl went first:
“Hi,” she said smiling “I’m Lynda, I’m 13 (14 in three months) and I’m a dancer. I do ballet and tap, comtempory, ballroom, jazz, hip hop and a bit of Latin. I also act and I…”
“Thanks Lynda, that’s enough,” Ms Smith said in her sickly sweet manner.
A brown haired boy went next.
“I’m Steve but most people call me by my last name, Richie. I mountain bike every weekend with my mates, it’s totally awesome!”
“Hi,” Holly said timidly, she didn’t know anyone in this class. “I’m Holly and I play the piano and the cello and I like to act as well.”
The circle eventually got around to Annika. There was silence as she just sat there for a few seconds. Everyone stared at her. Then she opened her mouth:
“My name’s Annika and I’m not very interesting!”
Again, silence.
“Go on Annika, there must be something interesting that you’d like to share…?”
“Well…” she thought for a moment. “I was adopted,” she said blankly.
There was yet another silence, a rather awkward silence as everyone in the room frowned in confusion. Some of the girls in the class, whispered to their neighbours.
“Well,” the teacher said “on to the next person.”
The next person was Rosalind.
“Hey y’all! My name’s Rosalind but I’ve been called many things, Rosa, Rose, Rosie, you name it. Anyway, I’m an animal fan and I was in the Animal Rights group at my old school.”
“That’s very nice Rosalind. Next person please.”
Carrie sat up striate, beaming at everyone. She was desperate to make a good first impression. She opened her mouth to speak; she had planned to tell the class all about her trips around the world but nothing came out. Carrie froze. She tried to speak, but the words would not come!
“You all right, dear?” the teacher asked.
“Ah, er…”
“We’ll get back to you,” Ms Smith said awkwardly.
How embarrassing, Carrie thought. Her classmates must all think she was a stupid dolt, just sitting there dumbly, unable to say anything. Carrie hid her head in shame as a beautiful, black haired girl further down the circle began to talk about ice-skating.