‘Well, sorr-ee,’ I say.
Alysha blushes. ‘Me too. Let’s forget I said that, ’kay?’
‘’kay,’ I say, biting my lip. Talking to Alysha these days is like walking through a minefield.
We reach the classroom and Alysha stands uncertainly in the doorway, not sure what to do. I head over to our usual seats near the window but she grabs my arm. ‘Look,’ she says, ‘there’s a couple of seats free next to Paige and Jayde. Let’s go sit over there.’
‘Are you sure?’ I whisper. But then I realise Paige is waving us over. Well, waving Alysha over anyway.
‘Come with me,’ Alysha whispers, so I tag along behind her. That seems to be my place these days. Jayde isn’t looking too happy about us crashing her space, but I guess she’ll get over it.
It seems weird sitting here in the back row with all the ‘cool’ people. Not to mention guys. Hot guys. Guys who would normally never sit next to me. Jack Moxham and Nick Giannis are sitting on the other side of me, and Louis Dingemans and Tris Tarrant are next to Jayde. Even the air back here smells slightly different. Must be all that expensive hair product the boys are wearing.
Jack leans across me to speak to Alysha. ‘Hey, Alysha.’
‘Hey, Jack,’ she answers him, sitting up a little straighter and tossing her (yep, it’s straight again) hair. ‘And … what’s your name again? Lizzie?’ he’s saying. I’m such a moron that it takes me a moment or two to realise he’s speaking to me.
‘Lexi,’ I tell him, doing the tomato face. ‘Short for Alexandra. But no-one ever calls me that except for my grandparents on my birthday. Or if I’ve done something really bad, and my mum …’ Jack’s eyes are starting to glaze over. Oh shut up Lexi, you idiot. Way too much information for someone who probably just wanted to say ‘hey’ to me. I hastily turn to Alysha for help, but all she does is make frantic signals with her eyes to pull my head in.
So I do. Jack turns back to Nick and I sit there, my heart thumping, willing my face to go back to its normal pale shade. Stupid stupid stupid.
Ms Gallo, our teacher, gives us a comprehension task to do, which means Alysha has plenty of time to schmooze with Paige and Jayde while we’re all answering the questions. I can only pick up bits and pieces, but most of their conversation seems to revolve around last week’s episodes of Bailey’s Beach, their favourite video clips, and which items of clothing or make-up were on sale at Eastfields on the weekend. I don’t really have much to contribute to any of those topics. Not that Paige or Jayde are probably that interested in my opinions anyway. So I just keep my mouth shut and get on with circling the ‘main idea’ in each paragraph of the article we’re working on.
As soon as the bell goes the four of us drift back to our lockers to stash our books for recess. This time, Alysha keeps up with the other two, rather than following behind them. I speed up a bit till I catch up with her.
As we walk along, girls from our year level call out to Jayde, asking if she’s feeling better. Jayde nods and smiles at them, like a queen. Stephie Allender, one of the shiny girls from our old primary school, sees me and Alysha walking along with Queen Jayde, and her mouth hangs open in disbelief.
‘Shut your mouth, Stephie,’ Alysha taunts her, ‘before the flies get in.’
Paige rewards her with a giggle and Alysha flushes with pride. She grins at me and I grin back. It feels really really good seeing Stephie react like that. Especially after all the times she put me down and made me feel like a loser last year for wearing no-brand shoes or clothes, or not having the right stickers on my folders or pencil case. It really hurt. She probably can’t believe it was me instead of her, walking past with two of the most popular girls in our year.
I wonder if they have downloads of last night’s Bailey’s Beach on YouTube? I’ll have to check it out.
Chapter 8
Mum and Dad are fighting again. I don’t know which is worse – the days when they’re yelling horrible things at each other, or the days when they ignore each other completely. Today’s one of the yelling days. Eventually Dad grabs his briefcase and storms off to work and Mum flounces into her bedroom and slams the door, leaving Jordan and me staring into our wheaties bowls. Great start to the day – not. I help Jordan get his things ready for school, then grab my own stuff and drag myself down to the bus stop.
So it’s just as well I have a friend like Mia. As soon as she sees my face, she works out something’s wrong. Typical Mia, though. She doesn’t stick her nose in by asking me awkward questions. Just tries to cheer me up. As soon as we’re settled into our favourite seats on the bus, off she goes.
Mia: See that guy over there?
Me: The one with the curly hair?
Mia: Nooo, dummy. He’s weird. The one sitting next to him.
Me [taking a closer look]: Not bad. [Not as good as Jack though, I think.]
Mia: Would you pash him?
Me: Huh?
Mia: Would you pash him? Come on. On a pashability scale of one to ten, how many points would you give him?
I consider this carefully. He has nice eyes. Always a big scorer. And definitely kissable lips. Something that always scores highly in the quizzes in Crave magazine. But his nose is a bit on the big side. It might get in the way during the pash. Well, according to Crave, that is. It’s not like I’m an expert or anything.
Me: I give him six.
Mia [looking puzzled]: Only six? Look at those luscious lips, girl.
Me: Yeah, but check out the size of his nose.
Mia cranes forward for a closer look.
Mia: I see what you mean. It’s like one of the pyramids. You’d get lost in its shadow.
Me: You’re shocking, Mia.
We move on to the two guys sitting further down the bus.
Mia: The guy on the left. Seven?
Me: More like a six. Loser hair. What about his friend? Five?
Mia [shaking her head]: Two.
Me: Two?
Mia: Two point five at the most. Look more closely. You could play dot-to-dot with his zits. Definite pashion killer.
She’s joking. His skin is as clear as her own, lucky girl. But she’s definitely made me laugh. So by the time we arrive at school I’m feeling a bit less weepy. Not much, but a bit.
We spot Alysha as soon as we enter the school grounds. She’s standing with a group of shiny people over near the herb garden. Paige and Jayde are there of course. All the girls look the same, especially their hair. Paige’s hair straightener must have been getting a good workout over the weekend.
And Nick is there and – OMG – Jack, looking gorgeous as usual. Definitely a ten on Mia’s pashability scale. My heart gives a little flutter, like it does every time I see him. Has he noticed me too, I wonder? I tug at my hair, wishing I’d spent more time on it this morning instead of getting Jordan ready for school. I must look a mess.
Alysha waves to let me know she’s seen us, then beckons me over.
It’s funny how things can change so quickly. One week I’m plain old Lexi, a nothing, a no-one, and the next, I’m hanging out with the shiny people. Well, actually, that’s not exactly the truth. It’s only because Alysha is so tight with Paige, and I’m Alysha’s friend. And now that Jayde’s back, she’s the one Paige sits next to and pairs up with in class, so Alysha sits with me again. It’s like a big game of musical chairs. But believe me, it’s way better than being Lexi the Loser, sitting all by myself.
‘You go,’ says Mia. ‘I need to talk to Michi about something, ’kay?’
‘Okay,’ I say, giving her a hug. My eyes well up. ‘Catch you at recess.’
‘You going to be all right, Lex? You sure?’
‘One hundred per cent,’ I say, giving her a little shove. ‘Go on, Michi’ll be waiting.’
I stand there, watching her run off to her locker area. I’m dying to go over to Alysha and the others, but I don’t want to scare Jack Moxham away with my red-rimmed eyes. If only I had a mirror to check them. It probably doesn’t
mean anything, but he asked to borrow my calculator the other day in maths. I mean, he could have asked any of the other girls, but he asked me. And then, this one other time, in music class, he said really complimentary things about the guitar solo Mr C, our music teacher, made me play. I was going to ask him if he played guitar too, but then Alysha interrupted and started going on about something else, so I missed my chance.
Alysha waves again. But I stand my ground and she comes over to me instead.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asks when she sees my face. So it is still a mess.
I shrug. ‘The usual. I don’t really want to talk about it.’
‘Okay,’ says Alysha. ‘Because I have something I do want to talk about.’
‘Uh-huh,’ I say, kicking at a stone with the toe of my shoe. ‘What?’
‘We-ell,’ begins Alysha. ‘Paige and Jayde are going to Eastfields on Friday night after school, with some of their other friends.’
‘And?’ I say grumpily. ‘Paige and Jayde are always going to Eastfields. I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually lived there.’
‘Not just the shopping centre, dummy. The movies. And guess what? They’ve invited me to go with them.’
‘Great,’ I say flatly. Big deal, banana peel.
‘It’s more than great,’ Alysha tells me with a dreamy expression on her face. ‘It’s awesome. We’re going to the food court and everything. After we’ve done our hair and make-up at Paige’s place, of course. And then her mum is going to drop us all off.’
‘And you’re telling me this because …’
Alysha grins at me. ‘Because I think you should come, too.’
Me? Go to a shopping/movies/make-over session with Paige and Jayde? I think back to all the times I’ve been to the food court at Eastfields with my mum and little brother, and seen all the older kids hanging out with their friends. They always look like they’re having so much fun, leaning back on their chairs, the tables groaning with hamburgers and shakes. Mum always makes us have ‘healthy choices’ like salad sandwiches or frozen yoghurt. Alysha’s plan all sounds too good to be true. And probably is.
I eye her suspiciously. ‘So why do you need me there?’
Alysha gives me her sunniest smile. ‘Because you’re my number one, absolutely bestest best friend,’ she tells me. ‘C’mon, Lexigirl, you have to come with me.’
Is she for real? Alysha wouldn’t exactly have won any prizes in the best friend department in the past couple of weeks, so why is she laying it on so thick now? But then again … I think back to the look on Stephie Allender’s face the day I walked past in line with the cool girls. That felt good. Really good. Like I was finally becoming someone. Getting my own back.
‘We-ell …’ I say. I glance over to the group of shinies, laughing and joking. Jack is sticking something down the back of Paige’s collar, making her squeal. Alysha clues on to where I’m looking. Her eyes glitter.
‘Jack will probably be there,’ she says slyly.
So she’s noticed my crush then. Normally I’d have discussed every last detail about Jack with Alysha, but this time … I don’t know. Am I just dreaming to think he’ll ever like me? Alysha might say something to him about it and I’d never live it down.
‘Yeah?’ I say casually, like it’s of no importance. ‘Well, I guess I could …’ And then I remember. Friday is our weekly sleepover night at Pink HQ. And Michi’s coming over for the first time. We’re going to write some songs together and record them on Mia’s computer. And Mia’s dad is going to make special snacks – pepperoni pizzas with extra cheese – in honour of our new ‘pink’ person.
I’m just about to remind Alysha about the sleepover when Jack looks over in our direction and smiles. At me. Not Alysha, with her long straight hair and pretty face, but me! OMG. My heart’s doing a full gymnastic routine now.
If I go to the shopping centre with Alysha, I might get more of a chance to talk to him. It will be different away from school, with all his stupid mates clowning around all the time. We’ll be able to chat together quietly. And I can find out more about whether he plays guitar. Maybe we could even do a duet together or something. That would be awesome. And we can always do the song writing and stuff at next week’s sleepover. I’ve been going to Mia’s for sleepovers on Friday nights for longer than I can remember. Missing out this one week is no big deal.
Besides, it might be kind of fun being seen with girls with as much status as Paige and Jayde. Hopefully, Stephie Allender will be there shopping with her mum or something. That will really make her fat mouth hang open.
The memory of the excited look in Mia’s eyes when she was planning our sleepover surfaces, but I push it back down and turn to Alysha.
‘So what time do you want to meet up?’ I ask her.
Chapter 9
Morning classes flit past in a kind of dream. Alysha and I have the seats behind Jack and Nick, which gives me plenty of opportunity to study the back of Jack’s head. He has the best hair. It’s just like Ryan D’Ario’s from Bailey’s Beach. It must take him ages to style it in the mornings. And the back of his neck is really smooth and tanned. He has long, wellshaped fingers, too. I bet he does play the guitar. I can’t wait till Friday night.
At lunchtime, I stash my books in my locker and am just about to head over to our usual area near the peppercorn tree when Alysha grabs my arm. ‘Aren’t you sick of sitting in the same old place every day?’ she asks me. ‘With the same old people? Let’s go round the back of the science block instead.’
Round the back of the science block is where Paige and Jayde hang out, with girls from other classes. Some of them are even in older year levels. It’s really sunny there, and they sit with their uniforms hiked up to the tops of their thighs, tanning their long, hairless legs. I glance down at my own legs. Hairy, from top to bottom. I’ve got fair hair, so they’re not gross or anything. But they’re hairy just the same.
‘Ummm …’ I stall. If I go, everyone will see my mohair stockings. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Mia coming out of the door near her locker area with Michi, sharing a joke. Then Michi breaks away, and Mia heads over to the tree on her own. If I don’t go and sit with her, she’ll be all by herself. ‘Another time, maybe,’ I tell Alysha.
Alysha pouts at me. ‘But you have to come,’ she whines. ‘Come on, Lex. Don’t make me go round there by myself.’
‘What do you need me to hold your hand for?’ I ask her. ‘I thought you and Paige were best buds these days.’
‘Pleeease?’ begs Alysha. ‘Pretty please? With sugar and honey and almonds on top? It’s the first time they’ve invited me, and I don’t want to look like a Nellie No-Mates if Paige is busy talking to someone else or something.’
Funny, I think. That didn’t worry you when I was left sitting on my own when Jayde was away and you cosied up with Paige. But I don’t say it. Instead, I say, ‘Okay. But only if I can go and get Mia. Otherwise she’ll be the one left sitting like a Nellie No-Mates.’
‘Fine,’ says Alysha, her eyes darting over to the science block. ‘But hurry up, ’kay? I don’t want to miss out on anything.’
‘Hi, Lex,’ Mia says, when I arrive at the tree. She’s busy peeling an orange. ‘Where’s Leesh?’
‘Over there,’ I say, pointing vaguely. ‘Want to come too?’
Mia frowns. ‘What’s wrong with here?’
‘Nothing,’ I say. ‘She just wants to sit somewhere else for a change.’
Mia shoves the half-peeled orange into a brown paper bag and stands up. ‘Okay. Can’t hurt, I guess.’
‘Where’s Michi gone?’ I ask her as we walk along.
‘Music room,’ chirrups Mia. ‘They’ve got some extra orchestra practice or something. Michi’s playing first violin. She’s sooo good.’
‘It’s good you’re friends with her,’ I say, though something jars as I say it, like I don’t really mean it. Mia already has two good friends. I guess it must be hard for her though, being stuck al
l on her own in another class.
Mia stops walking and looks closely at my face. ‘Everything’s okay, isn’t it, Lexi? You sound a little … I don’t know. Weird.’
‘I’m fine,’ I tell her quickly. ‘It’s … there’s just a lot of stuff going on at the moment. With my mum and dad and everything.’ And wondering whether or not Jack really likes me, I think, but I don’t tell her that. I’m not quite ready to discuss Jack with Mia yet either. I don’t want to jinx things. ‘Sure,’ says Mia, giving my arm a sympathetic squeeze. ‘It must be really hard for you.’ She breaks off when she realises we’re heading towards the back of the science block. ‘Is this where we’re going?’ she asks me, surprised. ‘Freaky. I thought you had to pass some kind of popularity test to hang out here.’
I grin. ‘You do. But we’ve just scored ourselves a free pass. Come on, let’s go and sit down.’
Alysha, who’s waiting on the corner for us, rolls her eyes impatiently. ‘You two took your time,’ she hisses. ‘All the best spots will be gone. And just remember, don’t say anything stupid, ’kay?’
‘Like what?’ Mia giggles, but Alysha shuts her down with a killer face.
Following Alysha’s lead, we stroll over to the edge of the group and arrange ourselves on the grass. Paige acknowledges our arrival with a nod, then goes back to her in-depth analysis of Ryan D’Ario’s abs.
‘So now what happens?’ Mia whispers to Alysha. ‘Are we all just going to sit here in silence and make daisy chains, or what?’
Alysha glares at her, then makes a tiny sideways jutting movement over her left shoulder with her chin. Jack and Nick have just arrived. The backs of their shirts are all sweaty from running around the oval kicking a soccer ball. I pull the skirt of my uniform down over my knees so Jack doesn’t cop an eyeful of my hairy legs – how embarrassing would that be – then gesture to Mia to do the same.
‘What?’ she mouths at me. I roll my eyes at her. It will take too long to explain. Jayde’s noticed though. She raises her eyebrows at Paige, then turns to Alysha.
A Year in Girl Hell Page 4
