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@runicrascal

Hello, newbie! Fancy seeing you here

@runicrascal

Glad you accepted the invite!

@runicrascal

And, yeah, start with the TV show

@mythicwitch

I’m getting that vibe, haha! And also, nobody thought to mention these books have maps in them? What? Literally, what world have I entered? (They are kinda pretty, though. Like, why do I sort of want to get a poster of it for my wall?)

@runicrascal

Oof, the maps are what got you? DEFINITELY start with the TV show in that case

@runicrascal

We don’t want you bolting before you’ve left the gate, huh?

@mythicwitch

Almost! I’m here for the long haul though ;)

@runicrascal

Welcome to the fandom, Cerys!

CHAPTER 3

Despite the fact that this is my third week of college already, that first-day dread hasn’t budged even a little bit. My heart hammers and my palms are slick with sweat at the idea of walking into a space where I know almost nobody, have a more flexible timetable and am suddenly treated more like an adult than a child, when I really don’t feel very grown-up at all. It all feels too intense, toofree, and I miss my smaller, more contained world of secondary school, where the dynamics were fixed and I didn’t have to stumble blindly into a whole new, unknown environment.

I thought, after the first couple of days, I’d get used to it and the dust would settle. I thought I’d have new friends, but all I’ve managed to do is make small talk with some people I sit by in classes, and busy myself with some coursework or notes in my breaks.

There are a couple of sixth-form colleges in the area, so our group from school inevitably split up a little bit, but I stayed signed up for St David’s even after Jake moved. I told myself that I liked the idea of a fresh start, even if it meant not being with my old group from school day to day, but deep down, I know it’s because St David’s has a better reputation for arts.

Art was always my favourite subject when I was younger, but I’m not naive enough to want to pursue it further – it’s just an easy ‘A’ to go alongside my other A levels of English, history and media. A career in art hardly worked out for my dad, and I’ve seen the kind of fights and resentment such an unstable choice can cause first-hand.

I am starting to regret giving in to the pull of the impressive student art shows and great facilities, though, because the reality is that aside from a few people I didn’t know very well at school, I’m stuck attending a college where I don’t have any friends at all.

In my head, I know I’m not the only one in this situation. Everyone in my classes has come from different schools, and we’ve obviously got similar interests if we’re studying the same things, but it’s likeI missed some vital memo on that first day. Cliques began to form, groups banded together, and I’m left on the outskirts, trying to fit in.

I stand in front of my bed now, debating between a pastel yellow top or a lilac shirt, like my life depends on it.

It sort of does.

At school, I never had to worry too much about fitting in. Our friend group was established very quickly in Year 7, bonds forged by trivial things like sharing the same bus stop or being in the same form group, and it never really changed much.

And I always had Jake.

So I never really felt like I was missing out on something better when I’d see the cool girls at school. But everything is different now – and I’d be lying if I said I’d never been at least alittlebit in awe of them.

Girls like Evie Price. Pretty and smiley and polished, not the kind of Regina George ‘cool’ that involves snide put-downs and catty smirks.

Evie was never really my friend at school, but I’ve seen her around college and she’s in my art class. She’s got in with a group of girls that are always giggling and gossiping together, linking arms in the corridors and swapping sticks of cream blush and coursework notes.