Bathroom on the First Floor

Bathroom on the First Floor

Juliet Rosewater: ‘I need a new best friend. You, maybe?’

Ava Underhill: ‘ME! =D’

Juliet passed this note to Ava during one of their first English classes of year nine. The two girls were expecting an exciting, full-on year.

Their current concern was the topic of boys: Ava had a thing for Tyler Chase, and Juliet was beginning to develop a thing for Daniel Silver. Juliet was in two of Tyler’s classes; Daniel was in the girls’ main class. The girls’ minds were preoccupied by these boys, and they intended to do something about it.

Juliet walked into her metal class, unsure of what she should be expecting. She wasn’t looking forward to this class; she was very academic, as opposed to being rather artsy. Not only that, but she didn’t really know anyone in her class, nor was she the type of girl that was great at making friends. She found herself sitting at the end table at the back of the room, which suit her just fine. The teacher, Mr Hadley, was at the front of the room, preparing the lesson as he waited for the rest of the class to arrive. Lily and Daisy, two girls that Juliet knew from previous art tech classes, walked in and sat at her table. She smiled and said hello. As more and more people entered the classroom, Mr Hadley began to take the roll. By paying attention to the names that people responded to when called out, Juliet figured out that the boys sitting at the table next to her were Tyler Chase, Will Johnson and Colin Grant. She turned away from them, not wanting to look like she was staring. She settled down into her seat as the teacher was beginning the lesson by introducing the subject and the course outline for the semester. Juliet leaned back into her chair, rather bored. She was thinking of possible ways to occupy herself when she noticed that the three boys over at the next table were having a very animated conversation about something, and so she decided that she would go and join them.

‘What the hell,’ she thought, ‘I might as well.’ She was about to get up, but she remained seated because she thought her idea was absurd.

‘They’re just boys! For god’s sake, this shouldn’t be so bloody hard. Just do it already!’ She took a breath, then got up and walked over to their table.

‘Hi guys.’ She was met with an awkward silence, and the boys just looked at her, seemingly questioning her reasoning for talking to them. She almost regretted going up to them. However, the boys piped up and introduced themselves, and the four of them managed to keep up a slightly uneasy conversation for the remainder of the lesson. When the bell went for the end of the lesson and everyone had left, Juliet had become determined to befriend them. Over the next few lessons, she continued talking to them and getting to know them before she worked up the courage to start sitting with them. Soon enough, she was a permanent member of their little group, and this led to Ava befriending them as well.