Khushi entered her new school silently, avoiding eye contact with anyone around her. The stark contrast to her previous school was shocking to say the least. Seeing the hoards of girls with their tight miniskirts, Khushi looked down at her own loose knee-length one, feeling self-conscious.
"Remember what you promised yourself, Khushi. No drama, just get on with your work. It's 2 years - don't try to make friends; just put your head down and spend all your free time working in the library." She took a deep breath as she entered the unfamiliar place she would study in for the next 2 years. She was met by a woman with what looked like an incredibly fake smile plastered on her face.
"Year 12 externals? No need to be nervous; by the end of today you won't even realise you weren't here for the last 5 years. Follow me." She led a group of them to a crowded room packed with tables and chairs. Khushi apprehensively approached the emptiest table she could find and sat down.
After sitting through an hour of silence among a table of strangers who all seemed to know each other, Khushi was taken on a tour of the school with yet another group of unfamiliar people. She was led to her form room after this, where she found an isolated table at the front of the room and sat alone. A middle-aged woman began to speak, who Khushi recognised as her new form tutor. She introduced herself to the class & made everyone rearrange the tables in a horseshoe shape. She then began looking through her list of ice breakers to get the class familiar with one another.
"Right guys, we're going to play a game of 'speed dating'. Girls, I want all of you to stay in your seats; I want the boys to rotate around the room. Boys, you have a minute to speak to each girl." She handed out a list of A5 sheets. "Here's a list of possible questions you can ask each other." Khushi cringed as she saw the list, the idea of speaking to a range of new people worrying her. She also hadn't had a proper conversation with any member of the opposite sex for 5 years. Except for... she was shaken out of her reverie by a boy who had suddenly appeared opposite her.
"I'm Mike." He smiled.
"Khushi," came her reply. He attempted to mask his confusion at her name but failed.
"Koo-see?" She politely shook her head and tried to correct him.
"No, it's Khushi. Kuh-she."
"Koo-shi?" She shook her head and waved her hand dismissively.
"It's fine, don't worry. Everyone gets my name wrong to start with." Just as he was about to ask her a question, their minute was up and Khushi was greeted by a new boy who immediately asked her if she had a nickname after she told him her name.
"Well, I don't know how I can abbreviate my name, but you can call me K if you want!" came her response.
The torture continued for Khushi until her form tutor led them downstairs for their first assembly of the year. Khushi sat in the first row alone, until her tutor prompted a girl to sit next to her. Khushi knew her type, she had faced many of them before, and she wasn't looking forward to making small talk with her. Rather than greeting her in the usual way, Khushi felt as if she was being interrogated when she was asked which school she came from. At her response, the girl laughed maliciously, making Khushi feel even more inferior and insignificant.
After an incredibly long assembly where it seemed as if the teachers did nothing except repeatedly go on about what a great school theirs was, Khushi went to find the head of sixth form to discuss a timetabling issue when she bumped into someone. She looked up to find the first Asian girl she had seen since she first set foot in the school.
"Hi! I'm Sarita." Khushi smiled genuinely at her. "Are you from East London?"
"Yes! How did you know?"
She laughed when she said "Because you look as confused as I am!"
Khushi laughed along with her - she had finally found someone who had something in common with her! It turned out that they both came from rival schools, but that didn't matter to Khushi. She had found a friend that she could actually connect with, a friend that was as bewildered by this new environment as she was.
"I've managed to count 6 Asians so far, how about you?"
"None." Khushi replied truthfully. As Sarita began counting off the various people she had bumped into, a guy who was standing in a crowd of friends caught her eye. He looked up at her and she was quick to look away. Sarita followed her gaze.
"That is Arnav Singh Raizada." Khushi looked over once again. "I've already heard so much about him. He's just like all these people; rich, snobby and a generally unpleasant person." Khushi looked at Sarita, disappointed at the fact that she had believed hearsay so easily.
"You don't know that. Have you spoken to him?"
"Nope, and I don't intend to. He's one of the popular guys and I'd rather not embarrass myself, thank you very much." Khushi gazed at Arnav once again before following Sarita, lost in thought.
The next day, Khushi hurried into her first chemistry lesson as she was getting late. Red-faced and breathless she made her way into the science block and bumped face-first into someone's chest. Looking up to apologise, she found herself staring right into the eyes of Arnav Singh Raizada.
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