A bus pulled up in the big carpark and a load of giggling teenage girls emerged. Another bus pulled up behind the first bus and dropped off a busload of raucous teenage boys. The morning stillness had been shattered. Busy uniformed people lined the sidewalk by the carpark while the teenagers mingled with palpable excitement.
Somehow the cold morning breeze didn't seem so frigid anymore.
The teenagers milled around, introducing themselves to each other. They seemed to be waiting for something or someone. The uniformed people were checking clipboards and talking on phones, giving the impression they were still getting organised.
Stacey drifted over for a closer look and to hear what people were saying. She could listen in and find out what was going on. See if she could blend in and pick up a free meal.
She wasn't a teenager anymore but she could still pass herself off as one. Customers at work used to always ask her if she was there on work experience or what year of high school she was in, so Stacey reckoned she'd be safe enough mingling with this group of kids. Maybe she'd get fed when they had lunch. She could handle one day without food, but two or three days - she was already at her limit. Borderline desperate. Drinking water from the public drinking fountains wasn't enough. Water wasn't satisfying when her tummy was grumbling to her spine about its lack of food with substance.
Since no one here seemed to really know anyone else, she ought to be able to blend in easily.
"Hi, I'm Lacey," a girl with a bright smile and a light sprinkling of freckles turned around to face Stacey, bouncing on her toes. Her green eyes glowed like emeralds and were all the more brilliant because of her obvious excitement. Her hands constantly waved in the air, indicating the girl was so nervous that she didn't know what to do with them. "I'm soooo excited to be here. Aren't you? I can't wait for the training to start and see what entertainment stream I can get into. I can't wait for the singing and dancing lessons. I'm not so interested in the fighting and stunts classes for actors but I won't have to take those anymore once I get into the idol stream. Some people can already dance, sing and act and I'm soooo jealous that they've got a head start. I hope I can join a new girl group and become famous. What's your name? What stream are you hoping to get into?"
"I'm Anastasia - Stacey for short," Stacey smiled back and wondered if she'd ever been so young and innocent when she was Lacey's age. Stacey's lack of energy prevented her from exuding even a tenth of Lacey's exuberance and so she spoke in what she hoped was a cool and calm manner. "I'm not entirely sure which stream I want to get into yet. I guess I'll see how things go. I think the fighting and stunt classes sound cool though."
"Eh. Are you a tomboy?" Lacey nudged Stacey with an elbow, looking her up and down with a little wrinkle of the nose. Her cheerful façade cracked a tiny bit as her enthusiasm and interest in talking to Stacey faded a notch. "You must be. Although you girls with oriental features usually look cuter than anyone else with the mainstream styles, Stacey, you totally rock the tomboy look with those baggy pants and all. That shirt is so... so boyish. So cool. I wish I had already gotten myself an individual look. You look the most original out of all the girls I've met so far," Lacey leaned back within the narrow space, given the crowd and nodded, looking Stacey up and down again with a contemplative air. "Our names rhyme too, you know. If we paired up, I could go the full on girly route while you take the tomboy look. We'd totally look good together - like Stacey and Lacey - how cool does that sound? Wait. No. Actually, on second thoughts, it sounds lame. Cheesy, don't you think?"
"Uh, yeah. A bit," Stacey agreed with a shrug.
It sounded awful. She really couldn't imagine getting along with this girl on a daily basis, but at least she knew what was going on now. Did she really want to take part in a talent variety, survival type competition?
"I'm gonna go introduce myself to more people. You should too. Don't hang on the edges and be a stranger. We're all gonna be living together for the next three months until the teachers have locked us into a stream they reckon suits us best. It'll be good for us all to get along. I'll see ya later!"
And then Lacey turned to join in a huddled group of girls who all had the same doll like appearance. She squealed about how cute the starry earrings on a girl wearing a dress full of ribbons and frills was. Stacey made a face. It was really not her style.
Wincing at the pitch of the exchange of squeals so close to her ear, Stacey edged away from the group of cute and glamorous girly girls who had makeup, glitter and curled bangs. She had never gotten along with those squealing, giggling types of girls before and didn't care to bother now.
What was so exciting about lip gloss flavours, sparkly hair pins and painted nails?
It was even worse here where she had never even heard of the brand names or even half the slang words they were using in their conversation. They were talking in a whole other language. At home, she'd at least be able to follow parts of the conversation. Here, she was pretty much lost.
Old. It made her feel old and out of place.
Was she really going to live with this bunch of look alike dolls for the next few months? The thought made her feel a bit like puking. So far, she hadn't seen any other more down-to-earth girls at all. There must be someone out there, but lost in this sea of squealing fakery, she really couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
As if recognising her slight disdain, other girls took one look and turned their backs on her, closing her out of their circles. She was jostled away by surreptitious elbows and body language.