St. Philomena Girls was a very prestigious boarding school located up in the mountains of Banda. Back before I became one of its students, nobody even knew it existed. There were like ten famous schools in the country and every parent wanted to send their kids there. It was after they were denied that they resorted to St. Philomena because, well, it couldn't afford to refuse anybody. 

Most of the students were previously F-rated, failures back in their previous schools and their parents' shame. What they needed was just a certificate to show the world that they went to high school. Maybe then they might get a job to speed up their independence. Because of this, we spent our two years of high school like a big family. We knew that nobody was better than the other. We all joined St. Philomena because we missed a chance to join more capable schools down the mountains. 

In 2017, I joined St. Philomena a month after it opened, and already there were 8 names more popular than Monday. These were the girls who took the word 'family' to a whole new level. I was fortunate to be in the same class with 6 of them, an Arts class. One was in science class and the other was in Business class. The 8 of them were roommates, plus they had a table in the dining hall that only they sat on. Nobody dared to sit there, even when they were nowhere to be seen. They shared appetizers and spent almost all their free time together. I know it was a boarding school which means they were always together every day, but to some point, they were almost like a pack, a whole package kind of deal.

Most people envied their friendship, but not me. I believed when it came to friendship, 2 was perfect and 3 was a crowd. But they were eight. I was curious to know how they made it work. Little did I know, I became a fan, a stalker almost because I'm confident to say that I now know everything about them.

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Cora Saunders was the oldest of the group since her birthday was in January. She might've not been the friendliest, or skinniest, but she had the most perfect hair I've ever seen on a girl. She was kind of funny and seemed to know somebodies from somewhere. Because of that, many people wanted to just be noticed by her. 

Freya Thing was the IT girl. Perfect body, young money, promising social media account and a boys' dream girl, she almost had it all. She was sweet, I'll give her that, but she wasn't the most understanding. She always believed there was somebody else to blame when shit happened to her. She could've been my favorite in the group, but the blaming tendency kinda made me focus on somebody else. Cora and Freya were closer.

Helzeny was the annoying one. It must have been the way she laughed, or how she talked, but something about her annoyed so many. She was cutesy and loved to sing, not that she was great at it, but she tried. But one thing that was as clear as day was her love for her friends.

Zydal was pretty and neutral. You know those people who fake a smile just to make the other person feel better? Well, Zydal was not one of them. She stood on business. She wasn't a people pleaser and that's why I liked her more than all the others. 

Lessin was Godly. She loved to pray and cared less about worldly stuff. I still saw her applying makeup from time to time though, and she was really good at it. I sometimes thought she knew every word in the Bible. Talking about mean, she was one. Many people wondered how she became friends with the 7 and how they tolerated her. But then if you observed carefully, you'd see that she'd become a whole different person when they were all together. She'd speak and laugh and make others laugh. It made us wonder whether the real her was the one in the 8, or the one outside.

River Remington was a ball of sunshine. She was a people-person, not selfish in any kind of way. Yes, she loved her friends, but she also loved everybody else. Her arm was long enough to help anybody in need. She had a saying which went,

If it's in my power, I'll do it.

She grew up in an orphanage funded by one of the richest families in the country. She understood pain. She understood loss. She believed that only she could handle that hell and never wished it on anybody else. A real-life angel, but nothing is pure, and so was she.

Ylle Sky-blue, fakest bitch in the entire planet Earth. She's sweet and smart, and kind and everybody seems to like her, but deep down I know it's an act. Nobody can be that good, not even a saint. How do you laugh at everything? How do you forgive so easily? She's the type of person who could do the most fucked up shit and nobody would even believe it's her. She's quite the opposite to River, a whole 360.

The 8th was called Winslow. Sometimes I feel like she lived in a whole 'nother universe from all of us. People's feelings were none of her concerns. She only cared about her own. If she wanted something, she'd take it. Even if it's in somebody's hand, she'd just yank it. People, mostly younger, were scared of her. Her aura was dark. Was she an alien? Nobody knows.

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