Better Late Than Never

The three girls exchanged looks, and Amanda knew immediately that they'd been talking about her behind her back. This was bad.

Her mind began to race. Personally, she didn't think she'd been behaving any differently, but clearly they did, so she had to do something to provide an excuse for her attitude. She needed a problem, but it had to be a cool problem, something that would give her status.

'It's Ken,' she said suddenly

They all looked puzzled. 'Ken Preston?' Britney asked.

Amanda nodded. 'He likes me. I can tell. He's been coming on to me like crazy--flirting at school, calling me at home, sending me instant messages …'

Now her friends looked confused. 'What's wrong with that?' Sophie wanted to know. 'Ken is hot!'

'Oh, sure, I know that,' Amanda said carelessly. 'I'm just not sure how I feel about him. And I don't want to hurt his feelings.'

Uh-oh--wrong comment. The notorious Queen of Mean Amanda Beeson didn't care if she hurt someone's feelings. Was it her imagination or did all three of the girls just take a step backward, creating more of a distance between them? And ohmigod, was that Tracey Devon coming toward them? The old Tracey Devon would never have had the guts to approach Amanda Beeson. She'd created a monster!

'Amanda, hi. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in class today. But I really want you to know how grateful I am--'

Amanda grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the others. 'Shut up!' she hissed in Tracey's ear. 'My friends don't know about me!'

Tracey's eyebrows went up. 'Really? But I thought--'

'I have to get to class,' Amanda said frantically, turning her back on Tracey. But her friends were already halfway down the hall. She raced to catch up with them.

'Wait up,' she demanded.

'Sorry,' Nina said. 'We wanted to give you some privacy with your new best friend, Tracey.'

Britney started to giggle and then quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. Britney Teller, who worshiped Amanda! Could her life get any worse?

It could. Because here came Ken Preston, ambling down the hall.

'Hi, Ken!' Nina called out, and she stepped aside to reveal Amanda, practically pointing at her. Ken glanced in their direction.

'Hi, Nina.'

That was it. Not a word of greeting to Amanda.

'I don't think you're going to have to worry about breaking his heart, Amanda,' Nina said. 'He didn't even look at you. Oops! The bell's going to ring.' Everyone took off in different directions.

This wasn't good. Amanda wasn't just teetering on her pinnacle anymore--she was slipping off. This couldn't be happening to her.

But throughout the rest of the school day, she saw sign after sign of her diminishing popularity. She received no compliments, not even for her new shoes. When she went into her algebra class, she saw that her friends Emma and Katie had their heads together. And when they saw her, they immediately moved apart. She knew what that meant. They'd been talking about her, too.

The worst was yet to come. There was an assembly scheduled that day, during the next-to-last period-- another one of those dull programs on the environment. They'd been having them every week--on global warming, recycling, all kinds of boring topics. Amanda had no idea what this week's subject was, and she didn't care--she had bigger things to worry about than the future of the dumb planet.

But everyone liked assemblies, even boring ones. You got out of class, and assemblies were a good excuse to spend time with your friends. You could sit wherever you wanted, so it was like the cafeteria, where the cliques could gather. Best of all, assemblies were usually held in the gym and the students sat on the bleachers. The coolest kids commandeered the highest level, where they could ignore the speakers and talk to one another without being seen by the teachers.

Amanda's gang always sat on the top row of the left side, farthest from the stage. Automatically, she went down to that end of the gym and started up the stairs. She was more than halfway to the top when she was confronted with a sight more horrifying than--well, than any massacre in any horror movie that Amanda had ever seen.

There they were: Nina, Britney, Sophie, Emma, and Katie--and they hadn't saved a space for her. Instead, they'd allowed Cara Winters and Terri Boyd to join them. And now they were squeezing themselves together even more tightly to let in Heather Todd. Heather Todd! Who, just that very morning, had been thrilled to give Amanda a completely illegal photocopy of Ken's class schedule! How was this possible? This couldn't be happening to her. How could someone's reputation totally collapse in one crummy day?

Now Emma had seen her, and she was nudging the others. They were all looking at her, standing there all alone, with no place to sit. For what would have to be the one and only time in Amanda's life, she wished she were Tracey Devon and could just vanish.

But she was Amanda Beeson, ruler of all that was cool at Meadowbrook Middle School, and if nothing else, she could try to preserve some dignity. Refusing to meet anyone's eyes--but knowing full well that all eyes were on her--she turned and walked down the steps. Now she knew how Marie Antoinette must have felt on her way to the guillotine or how Anne Boleyn had felt when she faced her executioner. Fallen queens, all of them.

By the time she'd reached the bottom, the program was beginning and she had to take the first seat available, at the end of a row of nerdy brainiacs who probably actually cared about the environment. At least they weren't paying any attention to her. They didn't even notice her, and for once she was grateful for that.

And unlike Marie Antoinette or Anne Boleyn, she still had a head and she could use it. She would not fall apart. She would deal with this situation and she would overcome it. She would reclaim her throne.

But how? That was the big question. And so she went back to that conversation with Jenna in the restroom and began to consider Jenna's suggestion again.

From her bag, she pulled out the copy of Ken's class schedule. According to it, he had gym class after the assembly. Excellent. This meant that after the last bell, he'd need a few extra minutes to change his clothes. That would give her time to get to that end of the building and position herself somewhere unnoticeable but from where she could see him emerge. Her plan was to follow him home, and just before he arrived, she would corner him.

At that point, she had two options. She could flirt--but that hadn't worked so far. The second possibility was to discover something about him that would elicit her sympathy and, she hoped, give her the means to take over his body. She strongly suspected that this option was the better one. If she could control Ken, she could make him do what she wanted him to do: hang out with Amanda, date Amanda, make the whole school believe that he was madly in love with Amanda, and put her back up on the pedestal where she belonged. And even if it wasn't real, even if he didn't want her once she gave him back his body, so what? She'd already be back on top, and she could let everyone think she'd broken up with him, which would give her only more prestige.

Yes, the second option was definitely the one to go with. True, she'd never before tried to take over a body on purpose, but Amanda Beeson always got what she wanted. And if she wanted her life back, she'd figure out a way.

Somehow, she made it through her last class without having to pay too much attention. The second the bell rang, she was out the door, and in minutes she was at the other end of the school building. There was an exit just outside the gym from which Ken would undoubtedly emerge, and she stationed herself around the side of the building. She'd see him come out, he'd pass without seeing her, and she could follow him from a safe distance. Behind her and down a small slope was the playing field, and as she waited, she could hear the soccer team gathering out there for their after school practice.

She didn't have to wait long. And she was in luck--he was alone. She plastered herself against the wall to make sure he didn't see her when he passed.

Unfortunately, he didn't go in the direction that she'd anticipated. He turned and walked right past her. But