Know Your Enemy...
"She's evil." Connie agreed.
As she crossed the football pitch, ignoring all crowds and the fact that an important match was on, the friends stared at her again. Though she was just a girl, an unpopular one at that, the boys stopped playing just to let her past. She had like an unwritten rule to her name. You didn't get in her way. Even the most tough-looking boys didn't want to know just what she did to those she crossed. To some 'evil' didn't start to describe her, according to the rumours.
The rumours circulated all through the school and even further. Neighbouring schools told stories about her weekends and what happened to those who were brave or stupid enough to face her. Some didn't even know her name yet they knew just what she was like. Her friends were very limited. They didn't go to her school. Instead she met up with them at a local pub filled with other people like her.
Black seemed to be her favourite colour. That and the silver jewellery that hung everywhere. She usually wore sunglasses and high-heeled boots. She never spoke, or took her earpiece out. Those who dared go near enough to her said the music was just as bad. She had died her hair black years ago. It now had purple streaks in it. Today she had worn an outfit almost like a funeral dress. Her bag had writing all over it, written in tip-exe. Weird drawings. Amazingly she had a mobile where she would spare a few minutes of (they suspected) satanic music to chat to her friends and laugh. At what nobody knew.
"She's a witch."
"I hear she's a vampire."
Sarah looked at her friends. She had only just heard about her as it was her first day, "You must be joking."
"It's the truth." Her new friend Connie argued.
"No, she dated a vampire last month." Kayleigh replied.
"What happened?"
"He refused to turn her into a vampire and so she dumped him."
"Or staked him." Sarah laughed.
"Probably. We don't know."
"How scary could she be?" Sarah asked.
Both of her friends looked at her like she was mad. Nobody asked that. They knew of the spells she had in her locker. Somebody had read her English book when it was handed in. There were weird poems covering the inside and outside of it. He said one was about kids taking cocaine and a boy disappearing. That and other things too mad to explain. That school was very Catholic and everybody wanted to know why she hadn't been thrown out years ago.
"You don't know half the stories we've heard. She sold her soul to the Devil when she was twelve. Then she sang songs to Satan in a field with all her friends around this huge bonfire." Kayleigh said.
"Yeah, but they're just stories." Sarah still couldn't see what was so evil about somebody. They must be exaggerating.
"They're not. We've seen so much weird stuff." Connie said. "She was in my science class last year and she was playing with the gas taps, with a lighter."
"You're kidding." Sarah said, half sarcastically. "Really?"
"Yep. Then when the teacher told her off she just turned her music on again and sat down, like nothing happened, mumbling to herself. Probably a spell on him."
"Is that the teacher that left for no reason?" Kayleigh asked.
Connie thought for a second. "Probably."
"Wow. So I should watch out for her?"
"If she makes eye-contact with you, the best thing to do is apologise and get away as fast as possible." Kayleigh advised.
The girl got up from her spot on the grass where she had vacated. The kids that saw her coming had already run away for her. She turned up her music as she threw away her very home-made cigarette, brushing away the ash from her so-called school uniform. Her necklaces and bracelets clanged together as she walked in her boots in heavy strides. Once again she crossed the football field, taking out a book along the way. She started to read at a certain part and didn't even look where she was going. She just read. Sarah saw a huge ring piercing through her lip and winced at the thought. The girl had about ten earrings as her hair was pinned back. Her nails her jet-black as were her lips. She didn't even notice she was walking straight for Sarah, Connie and Kayleigh. Sarah didn't move but the other two walked away as quickly as possible. They didn't want to get in the way of a girl like her. Nobody did.
Sarah stood her ground. No girl was that scary. She wouldn't put some spell on her, everybody knew they were rubbish. She would stay there.
The girl had stopped in front of her. She looked up at Sarah and waited for her to move. Sarah still didn't.
"Why do you dress like this? Is it a cry for attention? Or are you really a witch or vampire or whatever?"
The girl didn't answer. She pulled down her glasses slowly and looked Sarah up and down. She smiled.
And yet she didn't move. Out of the way or to hurt her.
"You really don't scare me." Sarah said proudly.
The girl raised an eyebrow then took out her earpiece. She handed it to Sarah and Sarah listened for a few seconds. She was taken aback by what she heard. It wasn't anything she had thought possible. Sarah handed it back and smiled.
The girl gave a half laugh and walked on to one side of Sarah. She turned back for a second and smiled at Sarah until she smiled back.
Kayleigh and Connie returned, seeing it was safe to confront the bravest of the brave.
"Oh my God!"
"What did she say?!"
"Could you hear her music??"
"Was it evil??"
The girl turned a corner and realised she was still smiling. She liked the surprise everyone had. Nobody prepares for it. She turned the music up even louder and walked along once again.
Sarah knew that was their secret. She had just made her first real friend.
Mmmbop, du ba da ba du bop, du ba da ba du bop, du ba da ba du, yeah yeah...