The Writers' Circle

Checking my phone for the third time, I noticed two things. One, Jess was 3 minutes late already. Two, I had a message from Paige. Warily, I opened the message. '2 tired. Cant cum 2 upbeat x'. Great. Paige had let me down. For the past two weeks I had been pestering her to come to Upbeat, the school dance group, with me. I had made her promise over and over again not to let me down. And what had she done?
I checked the time again. 16:49. Jess was 4 minutes late. Normally I wasnt this time consious, but I was dead nervous about the whole Upbeat thing. I had been fine about it up until about a week ago, when I had realised that Bronwyn, Nakita and Adele's crowd were going too. They were the cool girls, the ones that had reason to look down at us lesser mortals and act like total divas. But they didn't. They were really nice to us all the time - but I still got the feeling that I wasn't wanted by them, that I was like an annoying little sister, someone to laugh at behind their back. Of course, that was just me; The most paranoid person on earth! But that didn't stop me thinking it...
Where was Jess? I sent her a message: 'R u coming to upbeat? Paige has ditched us! Please come or I wont go! x', and settled down on the wall to wait. I wouldn't even be doing this stupid Upbeat thing if Mum hadn't made me. She was always going on about how amazing she was at school, (Set 1 for everything!) and I was painfully aware of the fact that she thought I was a bit of a loner, and a shy loner at that. It was always "Right Francesca, you need to join an after school club this term. No, I don't care if you don't want to go. You need to meet new people. Do you want me to talk to your teachers about this?". Being an idiot, I happened to mention that there was a dance group on Tuesday evenings, and BAM! I was suddenly a member!
Time check - 16:54 - 9 minutes late. The dancing started at 17:00, and there was still no sign of Jess!  I whizzed up another message in a blur of fingers: 'R u coming or not? txt bk soon plz x'. Why wasn't she here? I vaguely remembered her saying something about her older brother, Micheal, having a dentist appointment. But she had said she would text me if she couldn't make it! I really didn't want to go if I didn't know that there would be anyone else that I was at least on speaking terms with! Robyn said she might go, but I hadn't seen her go past, and I had been at the top of the road for ages. It wasnt likely that anyone else would be going, as Jo could't be bothered, Abi and Alice hated dancing, Emily wasnt really into that sort of thing. Hannah was too shy, Georgia-mae had drama, and Kate was at football training. That just left me, Paige and Jess. And now me and Jess. Maybe just me.
16:58. Time to give up. There was no way I had the guts to show up on my own, and I would just act like a loner at the back of the room, while everyone else chatted, about Archie giving Nakita a lovebite, about who played out on Friday, about cinema trips and shopping sprees I wouldnt be a part of. I already got this sort of thing at my Friday dance class in Aston, where I was the only year eight, the youngest one there. I had been moved up because Mum seemed to think I was the best dancer in the class. Which I was, but that was because I practiced the moves over and over at home all week, and the year nines, tens and elevens in the older class were so soooo much better! Every week I learned how to time step, and every week I forgot and re-learned. The moves were harder, I was trying several grades above what I was used to. And I looked like an idiot when I attempted, so I got sympethetic looks from the secretary, who got one of the helpers to teach me the basics.
17:02. What should I tell Mum? She would shout at me, tell me that I needed to make new friends, tell me how much better she was at this sort of thing and generally make me feel worthless. But I had to tell her something. I could just walk around the estate for a bit and then tell her I went to Upbeat. But I hated lying to Mum. It made me feel guilty, which was pathetic. This made me a pathetic, shy, paranoid loner. You could tell I was an optimist! I whipped up an excuse on predictive text: 'Im not going 2 upbeat. Paige and jess arnt coming and i dont want 2 go on my own. i will be a loner at the back of the room. i will go 4 a run on the estate instead. don't be mad. x'. And now for my run...
17:20 - nearly home. I could hear my laboured heavy breathing, out of time with the rhythm of my sore trainer-clad feet pounding the pavement. One corner to go. A couple of year sevens on BMX's sprinted past, yelling at eachother. Another red car navigated the corner of the road, a blackbird took off from a nearby garden. I kept pounding the pavement, listening to my heart beating at super speed. I was coming up to my house, and I could see Mums black vauxhall parked in front of the garage. As I came up to the front door, I put my hand on the handle. I could see my little sister walking down the stairs through the stained glass window, and hear my brother arguing with my littlest sister. Opening the door with a creak, the house fell silent. Then from the depths of the dining room, Mum yelled "Francesca? I can't beleive you didn't go to Upbeat! You promised me you would! I am going to have to talk to your teachers about this!..."