Chapter 04
This morning as I walked into school, I ran into Natalie Wilkinson.
My girlfriends crowded around, asking where we should hang out tonight.
“Hey Emily, a hot new bar just opened on Main Street. I heard it’s packed with cute. guys wanna check it out?”
Natalie breezed past, casting a sidelong glance our way. Without a word, without
even a change in expression, I could feel the thick disdain radiating from that look. Contempt. As if she had just laid eyes on something filthy.
To her, we were nothing but trash, the dregs of society utterly beneath her station. And the truth is, that’s probably exactly how it was.
Wherever she went, Natalie was showered with praise from classmates and
teachers alike.
As for my type, any mention would inevitably be along the lines of:
“That good–for–nothing…”
“Emily, say something! I’m buying tonight. How come you’re not wearing makeup?
Go touch up your face!”
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked over my posse of girls in their skintight.
jeans and heavy makeup.
Only then did it hit me – I had been so preoccupied with studying this morning that I completely forgot to put on my face.
But for some reason, as I stared at their meticulously made–up faces, a strange
uneasiness crept over me.
“Count me out… got plans tonight.”
I was too embarrassed to admit I needed to go home and study. They’d never let
me live it down.
“Tsk, what plans? Lame.”
Seeing I couldn’t be persuaded, they clicked their tongues in annoyance and spun
on their heels.
I watched Natalie’s retreating back as she waved to Jason Brooks not far off, quickening her steps to link arms with him.
1/2
04
Jason smiled and reached over to pat her head affectionately.
They looked like the perfect couple, a match made in heaven.
I stood there in a daze.
When they started dating, the teacher didn’t even call their parents.
Word is, Natalie laid down the law with our homeroom teacher, swearing her
grades wouldn’t slip..
So even though dating was strictly forbidden, they could flaunt it openly without a
care.
Well of course, when the top two students in our grade get together, academics are hardly a concern, right?
It’s like they were destined for each other, something everyone just took for granted.
Natalie said something to Jason, and he turned to glance at me, the smile instantly vanishing from his face.
His eyes held the same scorn as Natalie’s.
I wanted so badly to march over and slap him, but I knew the consequences.
So I just stood there boring holes into their backs until they disappeared from
view.
