All That Glitters Read Online Free Page A

“We’re doing a team-building exercise first thing, so it’s perfect timing! You’re going to fit back in like a kitten in a straw basket full of other kittens . I can tell already.”
    Still blushing, I walk cautiously to the corner of the class and place my satchel on the floor. Then – trying not to notice the thirty-two eyes still following me – I take out my new folders: three colours with dividers for easier organisation.
    Followed by my new school diary and a set of biros.
    Five pencils, an eraser, three highlighters, glue, a hole punch, ruler and Post-its. A tape-dispenser and compass. A calculator and protractor.
    A full, rainbow-hued box of felt-tip pens. A traditional fountain-pen.
    With little ink-pot.
    Finally, I add a couple of shiny blank notepads with pictures of dinosaurs all over the front.
    What? I just really like being prepared, that’s all.
    When it’s all laid out neatly and at perfect right angles on my desk I feel much calmer again, so I fold my hands tightly on my lap and survey the slowly expanding class with a growing sense of excitement.
    I vaguely know some of them already.
    The two leads from the play last year are on opposite sides of the classroom: Christopher (Hamlet), sullen and still wearing a black polo-neck, and pretty Raya (Ophelia, obviously) with a glossy black ponytail, camel-like eyelashes and permanently pouted lips. I also recognise Eric, the school football captain, now slightly pirate-like with a shaved head and a gold hoop earring, and my old classmate Robert, who has apparently developed an interest in hair gel – the front of his hair looks like if he ran fast with his head down he could probably kill somebody with it.
    Two of Alexa’s key minions – Liv and Ananya – are seated together at the back: one with pale skin and a bleached white top-knot, the other with dark skin and a large, black high-bun. They’re wearing the same floral onesies in contrasting colours and are united by identical, intensely bored expressions.
    But much more excitingly, there are also at least a handful of faces I don’t recognise at all.
    Which one of these is going to be my new kindred spirit?
    The girl with pink glasses? She looks like she’s on first-name terms with her optometrist too. The girl with neon purple hair and a rainbow-coloured nose ring? I’m a big fan of bright colours too. How about the boy with freckles and a red bag? I, too, have freckles and a—
    OK, I think I might just be clutching at similarity straws now.
    Finally, almost every chair but the one next to me is taken.
    “Oh, shoot a hamster ,” Miss Hammond says, slapping her head lightly with her wrist. “What a twit I am! I left the register in the staffroom.” She stands up and jingles a few times. “Back in two ticks, peeps.”
    And – in a whirlwind of orange and pink – our form teacher disappears into the corridor.
    The room immediately starts bubbling with noise again, and I cautiously start staring hard at individuals and then giving them my brightest, friendliest smile. The kind that says I can’t wait to ask you questions and then remember the details!
    A few of them actually smile back.
    You know what? I like sixth form already. People are glancing at me, but it doesn’t feel hostile.
    It feels curious; quizzical and interested.
    I can feel my entire body starting to relax.
    I was so right: this was exactly what I needed. A fresh start. A new beginning. The closure of an old page, and the opening of a new one. The unfolding of a different story.
    Except it isn’t.
    Because, just as I’m congratulating myself on making such an excellent – albeit fruit-enthused – first impression, the classroom door opens again. And in walks the Captain Hook to my Peter Pan; the Voldemort to my Potter.
    The Cruella De Vil to my hundred spotted puppies.
    Alexa.

o.

o no no no no no .

O NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONO NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO NONO.

f you yelled for one year, seven