Looking around herself, Stacey realised that there was no one dressed like her. Most of the girls were dressed in similar styles belonging to the cute or elegant variety.
Perhaps this society was strict on the type of look that girls were allowed to have. There were no over the top glaring 'sexy' styles.
The boys seemed to have far more freedom in the way they dressed and looked. They too, were from a huge mix of ethnicities. There were all sorts of styles amongst them too. Leather, ripped jeans, frills and even high heels. The boys had a huge variety of individual looks compared to the girls, which made Stacey realise that this society was likely far stricter on females. That meant she would have to be more careful in her conduct and behaviour. She needed to watch and learn more in order to blend in.
In edging away from the growing group of excited girls who were jumping up and down while now discussing the pros and cons of a certain brand of makeup, Stacey accidentally bumped into a boy.
"Oh, sorry," Stacey apologised, rubbing her ears that were ringing from all the screaming going on. "I was just trying to get to a safe distance where my ears won't fall off from all the screaming."
"Sorry. Yeah. Me too," the boy agreed, wincing and covering his ears with the palms of his hands. "Come this way. It's safer."
He beckoned Stacey over into the middle of a bunch of mingling boys who were shouting to one another in order to be heard over the screaming.
"We should be able to hear ourselves talk better here," he released his ears and beamed. His handsome face was almost dazzling. Stacey could definitely see him as either the leader of a boy band or a heartthrob actor in a drama. "I was looking for my friend but I guess he's not there. I'm Ken," he stuck out a hand.
"Anastasia - Stacey for short," Stacey took his hand and gave him a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you."
"Hey, bro," a boy with a leather jacket draped a familiar arm over Ken's shoulder and raised a fist to Stacey. "Look at you growing up and bringing girls over already. Hey, I'm Endo. Stacey, yeah? I like your trousers. They've got a wild vibe to them. Where'd you get them?"
"From an op shop," Stacey fist bumped the proactive Endo and nodded.
Endo grinned at the greeting and gave a thumbs up when he glanced at Ken, making silent conversation.
"What's an op shop?"
"Uh, a thrift shop. No? You don't know what that is either? It's um, a second hand clothes store."
She didn't mean to, but Stacey could feel herself slipping into the informal way she spoke to her younger cousins who were always bopping and posing, trying to act cool. Endo reminded her of her younger cousins a lot.
"Oh," Ken nodded his understanding.
"Cool," Endo gave Stacey a light punch on the shoulder. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"
"I'm still getting used to talking with people outside - you know?" Stacey said, not sure how or what she should say. It was best to remain vague.
"You from the sticks, then?" Endo asked, pointing in a random direction.
"I suppose you could say that," Stacey agreed with a shrug. How was she supposed to tell them she wasn't from anywhere around here and didn't even know where they were?
"I see," Ken said, looking around her. "Where's your luggage? All the other girls have massive cases over there."
"Do I look like the other girls?" Stacey made a wry face and opened her arms wide. "This is all I've got."
The boys blinked at her and looked at their backpacks that had been stuffed full. Then they looked at each other.
"She's even more manly than us," Endo said to Ken. "Respect."
"You really took them at their word when they said they'd provide us with everything we'd need, didn't you?" Ken shook his head. "Tell me you at least brought your ID."
"ID?" Stacey dug around in her pockets. She hadn't brought her purse or even her mobile phone when she'd left home all those days ago to take a 'short' walk. She'd lost track of how many days it had been now. All she had was some loose change, a five dollar note and the house key. Oh. And three minty wrappers. Useless.
The boys gave her a pitying look when she showed them her minty wrappers.
"They said to bring your student card," Ken scratched his nose and looked up at the sky, mumbling almost to himself. "This is going to be bad isn't it…"
"Uh… I haven't been to school for years," Stacey shrugged.
The boys exchanged glances and blinked at her again.
"I like her," Endo said to Ken after a long moment, pointing his thumb at her. "She's wild. Real bold."
"Your parents didn't agree to you coming here and you ran away from home, didn't you?" Ken rolled his eyes at Endo and heaved a sigh at Stacey. "I met a few other kids who ran away like you and two of them forgot their IDs too, but at least they all brought a bag. You can't be so irresponsible in the future. You need to let your parents know where you are. At our age, you should know better. We need to get you sorted out before your parents go to the police and organise a big search for you like what happened to one of the other kids. I only came cos Endo was too scared to come on his own. I thought it'd be enough just looking after him but it's obvious you're gonna need some taking care of as well. You're definitely a one-of-a-kind girl. Come on. I'll bring you to one of the organiser staff."