Chapter Nine
I was so shaken by what I had read that I forgot about the possibility that my clothing choice would make me a target. But Allison and the other girls made the blue whale connection pretty fast—I saw them look at me and giggle from across the classroom as we ate lunch—but since I saw it coming it kind of bounced right off. Must have been the blubber. Better yet, Liam was wearing a red-and-blue plaid shirt that made his eyes really pop. He even looked at me. Possibly behind me. But still.
Mia, Shal, and I spent the rest of lunch hiding out in the far corner of the yard gossiping about people I didn’t even know. Not bad gossip. More like, “I think Carl was talking to Ashley today” and “Did you see Carl’s hair?” and “Carl is such a flirt.” By the way, Shal did most of the gossiping. Mia and I were just the moral support.
I still wasn’t exactly sure why Shal was unpopular. Mia was very shy and ran away from popular girls, so that made sense. But Shal was pretty and wore nice clothes and gossiped, which as far as I could tell were the basic ingredients of popular girls.
I made a mental note to ask Mia.
“I don’t know what he sees in her,” Shal said, picking grass and watching Allison talking to Carl. “I mean, yes, she’s beautiful and popular. But she’s so…evil.”
Mia was sitting cross-legged beside me. Some of the blades of grass Shal was picking were flying into her hair, but I think she was too polite to mention anything. Shal certainly didn’t notice. “I think the beautiful and popular thing helps,” Mia said.
I snorted. “Just slightly. But Carl just hasn’t had a chance to talk to you yet.”
Shal glanced at me, running a hand through her long auburn hair. “You think?”
“Of course. If he talked to you, he’d forget all about Allison.”
Shal smiled. “So not true, but thank you. What about you and Kelp?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling my cheeks burning.
“Have you figured out a way to tell him you love him yet?” she asked coyly.
I sighed. “I was just going to yearn from afar for awhile. Like five to ten years. Or when I wake up and look like Allison Black instead of a beluga whale.”
Mia giggled. “Sorry,” she murmured.
“You’re gorgeous,” Shal said, waving a hand in dismissal. “Liam would be lucky to have you.”
“As his bodyguard,” I muttered. “I think I outweigh him by fifty pounds.”
“It’s not your fault he’s a twig,” Shal said.
I glanced at Liam, where he was playing his fantasy card game with Paul and Steve near a portable. Apparently, the three of them played the same game every single recess and lunch.
I thought about going up to talk to him and imagined Paul and Steve snickering that the huge new girl had a crush on their friend. Liam would get embarrassed and ignore me, and I would be reminded once again that I just wasn’t one of the pretty girls. I felt my stomach twist, and I turned away again, picking at the grass.
“Let’s talk about something else,” I muttered.
“Fine,” Shal said. “What would you name your kids—”
I laughed and threw a clump of grass at her.
—
And then came last recess. In my experience, it was often the worst one. I think kids get bored or something and decide to cause trouble. Who knows. But there I was sitting in the back corner of the yard with Shal and Mia when Allison Black and her flock of seagulls set off toward us. There were even a few boys trailing the pack. Never a good thing.
Mia Mouse was gone in a flash. She was like a ninja.
“We really need to work on that,” Shal muttered.
“What’s up, girls?” Allison said as she approached. She was wearing dark jeans and a white top that contrasted sharply with her long raven hair. Her eyelashes were plumped up with mascara, making her dark eyes seem big and mysterious. She really was unfairly beautiful. Her legs and arms were toned and muscular, and she didn’t seem to do any running or anything—not at school anyway. She seemed to just gossip and watch the boys play sports.
Carl was standing behind her, along with Tim and Mike. Oh, great. Shal was already red as a fire hydrant.
“Nothing,” Shal said quietly.
“Just hanging out with your new friend?” Allison asked, sitting down beside me. “Can I join? Unless you were making out or something.”
“Gross,” Tim said. Carl snickered.
Shal definitely noticed.
“So what are we talking about?” Allison asked, smiling cruelly at us. “Boys?”
“No,” Shal said immediately.
Too fast.
Allison turned to her. “You were, weren’t you? I thought I saw you looking over at us. You have a crush. Who is it?” She looked at the three boys with them. “One of these guys? Tim, maybe?”
“No thanks,” Tim muttered.
Allison looked taken aback. “You don’t think she’s cute?”
This was particularly cruel. Allison was like an evil genius bully.
“Yeah, don’t you?” one of the seagulls asked.
Her name was Ashley, and from what Shal told me she was second-in-command. She looked kind of like Portia Carson: blond hair, blue eyes, lots of jean skirts. She was almost pretty enough to challenge Allison, and Shal told me there was sometimes a little friction between the two.
“No,” Tim said curtly. “She’s an ugly ginger.”
Shal couldn’t hide it. Her big hazel eyes welled up with tears the second the words left his mouth. He might as well have punched her in the stomach.
“Now you made her cry,” Allison said with just the slightest knowing grin. She climbed to her feet. “Let’s leave them alone. Maybe the new girl can cheer her up. Better to be an ugly ginger than an ugly whale.”
Yep, I knew it. The group set off across the yard, laughing as they went. Other kids fled from their path.
“What
