"Excuse me. Hi!"

I jumped at the sudden sound of a voice coming from above me, snapping me out of my deep thoughts. I looked up to see a chubby face looking down at me from over the garden fence that divided our house from the one next door. I quickly stood up, feeling the colour rising to my cheeks. I must have looked so strange just squatting there and staring at flowers. I stepped a few paces back, making sure to keep my distance from the stranger."H...Hello".

The girl pointed a thick pink finger over at a piece of paper that had blown into a flower bed not too far away from me. "Sorry, could you just pick that piece of paper up for me? It blew there by accident". She asked. I went over to the paper and picked it up. I noticed some messy handwriting scrawled in purple ink, but decided not to read it.

I handed it to her and she added it to the bunch of other creased up papers in her hand. "Thanks! Things like this always happen to my stuff. If it's not getting lost, it's getting broken, and if it's not getting broken, it's...well, blown away. It's like nothing wants to belong to me". She pouted, "It's pretty cold out here today. Spring's a liar. Supposed to have the sun coming out now".

I nodded and wondered why she had been out in the cold. Though I wasn't really one to talk.

"It's just quieter out here, you know? A girl needs some space, living with a bunch of boys", she looked at me, "Look at me babbling... you don't even know who I am," she raised her eyebrows at me, "Oh wait! Are you Mr Lewis' daughter"?

I nodded again. So there were formalities in this country after all. Just not everyone used them.

"I'm Beatrice. It's nice to meet you. Mr Lewis told me you were coming from Ghana, so I've been really excited to meet you".

"Really"? I asked.

"Yeah! I don't have many girl friends, and I know few people who come from different countries like me, so it would be nice to meet someone new".

"What about Katie"? I asked quietly, shifting my feet against the grass, "she lives here too. Aren't you guys friends"?

"Oh, uh," Beatrice averted her gaze from me for a moment, before looking back at me, a slightly uncomfortable look in her green eyes, "I guess some people don't really click. It's nice to finally meet you, though".

"I see. It's nice to meet you too," I replied, shyly. She had a welcoming smile, and her expression was friendly and cheerful.

"You should come around some time. I'd love the fellow female company".

"I will ask my Dad," I said to her, but I knew I'd probably never muster the courage to visit. I was awkward enough with Katie and I lived with her. I looked over at the papers in Beatrice's hand, "Um...Can I ask what you were writing"?

"Um..." She glanced at the papers, and her large cheeks became bright red.

"There you are." Katie came out into the garden, tying her orange scarf around her neck. She looked over at Beatrice and scrunched up her nose before regaining her normal expression. " Amber can't wait to meet you. She's at the end of the neighbourhood, so you'll get a good look around on the way".

"Hi, Katie. How's the holidays"? Beatrice waved at her.

"Um, yeah". Katie replied, and then hooked her arm in mine. "We're off, so bye".

I looked at her curiously. Was there some kind of drama between these two? I gave Beatrice a small smile before following Katie, and she gave me a thumbs up in reply.

As I walked with Katie down the street, I rubbed my cold hands together, even though they were in gloves, and wondered what was up with her. "Amber's really nice, you're gonna love her. It's hard not to, really, she's the best. And she knows everyone, so she can also help to introduce you to some nice people at school". Katie babbled, as I looked around at the identical houses, still in thought.

"Um...Did you have an argument with Beatrice"?

"Ugh, no. Remember when I said I know the people you can and can't hang out with? She's the one who you can't hang out with. Nobody likes her". She still had a disgusted look on her face, "Good thing she's not at our school. We don't want people like her around".

"Why? Did she do something bad"? I asked.

Katie sighed. "Jemimah. I know the kind of people you can hang out with, OK? They're super nice, know the best gossip and can help you fit in really quickly. I have a lot of good friends, so I know from experience. I know what I'm talking about, so take my word for it. Beatrice is just...weird okay"?

I cocked my head and looked at her, my curiosity growing. "Something's wrong with her"?

"She's just weird," She said, her tone sounding annoying now, "I know a shady person when I see one. Can we not talk about it anymore"?

I sighed and nodded, though I did want to know more about this Beatrice girl.

"Oh! Speaking of shady people there's some gang activity around, but I guess that goes for every area. They don't harass you though if you don't interact with them. Another reason to stay by my side". 

"Gang activity"? I parroted, and she nodded. 

"But that isn't important right now," she quickly changed the subject, " I should tell you about some of my other friends who live around. You'll meet them when we start school..." Katie spoke cheerfully now, and babbled on about some of her other friends and the different people she knew at school. I only half-listened, and greeted people when we walked past them, but they gave me strange looks and walked ahead, as if they couldn't hear me.

"Why do you say good morning to everyone"? Katie asked me, creasing her eyebrows.

"Um...because they're older than me"?

Katie snorted. "We don't do that here. People are going to think you're a weirdo if you do that. Just walk past them".

I looked at the ground. I had no idea I had seemed weird for just greeting someone. The awkwardness followed me like a dark cloud over my head, as Katie continued to talk on and on about her friends.

                                                                     ********************

Amber was a slim, petite girl with strawberry blonde pigtails and green eyes. They weren't the warm, summery green like Beatrice's though; more pale and rather cold. We sat in her room which was full of posters and objects of boy bands, and shared a bowl of tortillas and a carton of orange juice.

"So what kind of boys are your type"? Amber asked.

"I don't really think about them that much". I replied, quietly. Amber's eyebrows shot up, and Katie gave me a look of disbelief.

"You don't think about, like, normal teenage romantic things"? Amber asked. I never knew enough people to think about that, but I didn't say this to Amber and told her a lie instead.

"None of the boys in my area were good looking, so I've never gotten to know my type". I mumbled.

"That makes sense," Katie shrugged, "Oh, but there's SO many in our school, you'll find boyfriend material in no time".

"Isn't that Tunde guy an African too"? Amber asked Katie, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah! Tunde's in our maths' class. You'll like him since you're from the same country". Katie said to me.

"I'm pretty sure Tunde is a Nigerian name", I pointed out.

"So"?

"I'm not from Nigeria".

"But you're both Africans, so," Amber shrugged, "Besides. He's nice enough. I'm sure you guys could be friends...Maybe even more than that".

I felt my cheeks heat up at her words. "Actually, that's not really my main priority right now. I kind of just want to experience how school teaches you about the world..."Amber and Katie both gave me bored looks before starting off on a conversation among themselves.

After that, Amber became quite disinterested by my existence and started ranting to Katie about her plan for when it was time to go back to school. Apparently, she was going to try making a move on some of the quiet nerdy types in their year, as she hadn't used them before, and the loud athletes got boring after a while.

I decided to focus on the bright pink and red designs on her carpet instead of listening to their objectifying conversation.

"By the way, Jemimah, Amber does pool parties for her birthday every year, it's like one of the most popular things at our school". Katie said, now seeming to remember that I was sitting with them. "It's in July, and we're always planning new stuff to add to it to make it different from last year". I decided not to ask them why they were planning a party in July when it was the beginning of April.

"So, do you have any ideas"? Amber asked.

"Not really...I don't really go to parties, so I don't know how to plan one". I replied, glumly.

Amber was probably really annoyed, because she didn't say anything else to me for the rest of the time.

When it was time to leave, I was the first to get to the front door and put my shoes on. While I did that, I overheard the other two on the staircase giggling. "I don't really go to parties," I heard Amber say in a poor attempt to do my accent.

"Oh my god, Ammie, stop being racist," Katie giggled. They fell silent when they got to the bottom of the staircase, and Amber gave me a small smile.

"Thanks for coming, Jemimah".

"I'm used to being alone, but hate feeling left out". -Author Unknown

What are your first impressions of Beatrice and Amber, and how they interact with Jemimah? I'd love to know your thoughts!