The Girls (10 page)

O
N STIFF LEGS, LIKE Frankenstein's monster, I clumped toward the cafeteria, but I couldn't go in. I knew this was my punishment. I deserved it but I couldn't face it. I ducked into the bathroom, feeling like a ninny. Anyone could come in and find me hiding here, I thought, and then I'd look even more squirrelly and pathetic. I counted to ten, then twenty. At fifty I made myself open the door, leave, walk down the hall, turn right, go into the cafeteria.

There in line were Renée and Maya—together! Amen! Renée must have done all the apologizing about the party and Darcy's phone calls, and I could just slip in with it all taken care of. Good old Renée. Thank God she didn't believe I'd called her an elephant to be mean!

So I went up and joined them as if everything were normal, normal, normal. We pushed our lunch trays down the row, each taking an apple. I didn't think I'd be able to eat it, though. Maya took a glob of egg salad on lettuce, so I did too, then Renée.

“We'll be twins on the inside,” I said, and the girls smiled. We all took Jell-O. I hate Jell-O, but it was the principle of the thing.

We got out of line and stood there. We'd been eating at the table under the window forever. None of us said anything, we just moved to the closest table that had room for the three of us and sat down.

We had to talk about
something
, so I told Maya that Candace and Darcy were mad at me too.

“Why?” Maya asked.

Renée answered, “They think they're sticking up for um, sticking up for me! They
say
it's, um, because Brianna called me an, um . . .”

“Elephant,” I said, finishing her sentence.

Then Renée started to laugh. “Darcy and Candace are such loyal friends!” she sputtered.

That
was
funny. I laughed too.

“Are they mad at you, Renée?” Maya asked.

So Maya was wondering why Renée was sitting with us and not with Darcy and Candace. I'd wondered too. As far as I knew, she didn't
have
to sit with us.

Renée shrugged. “They're probably, um. They're probably mad at me by now!”

I sneaked a peek at our old table. Who was that with Candace and Darcy? Was it Nicole? I couldn't see her face, but there was no mistaking that red braid. Nicole was in one of my classes, but I didn't really know her.

That's when I realized I wasn't sorry that I wasn't over there at the table by the window. I wouldn't have to worry all the time anymore about getting it right, about fitting in, about keeping my cool through Candace's prickly games or Darcy's cruel comments. No more trying to be who Candace and Darcy wanted me to be.

Just then Darcy stalked toward us. I don't know what Renée did, but Maya hunched up her shoulders, looked down at her plate, and began biting her nails. I tried to look the other way, but my eyes were glued to Darcy, like those soon-to-be victims in scary movies who freeze, watching some horrid creature come right at them. Within seconds Darcy was standing over us.

“Sorry for not inviting you to my sleep-over, Maya,” Darcy said, but she sure didn't
look
sorry. She looked crazy! She was sort of sneering off into space, but her hands and face were shaking, as if she were scared to death. “And I apologize for calling you that night. Tell your mom I apologized,” she added flatly. Then she turned around and marched back to the table by the window, march, march, march.

“What was
that
?” Renée asked.

“Tell my
mom
?” Maya asked back, totally confused.

We all looked at one another. Then I started to giggle, and once I started, I couldn't stop. I tried to catch my breath. Renée and Maya were grinning at me, wanting to know the joke, waiting to laugh too. Finally I sputtered out, “The spell is broken!”

My friends wrinkled their foreheads, still wondering what I meant.

“We're frogs kissed by a princess!” I laughed. “No, we're sleeping beauties kissed by the prince! Dingdong, the witch is dead! We're free!”

B
RIANNA WAS LAUGHING at Darcy, not at me. And she was right! We were free now! Then Renée and I caught Brianna's giggles. I was so glad that we were laughing together that I practically jumped up and hugged them. Instead, when we'd all calmed down, I took a roll of breath mints out of my pocket, popped one in my mouth, and offered them to the girls.

They looked a little embarrassed, but they each took one.

“No hard feelings,” I said.

From the way they smiled, I knew everything was going to be all right.

When we got up to leave the lunchroom, my legs were wobbly, exactly like the sensation I'd had Saturday, stepping off of the roller coasters at Magic Mountain. But those rides had been nothing compared with this one. I hoped I'd
never
, ever have to take another ride like this again in my life. But I decided to worry about that some other time. For now, I was safe.

YA-HOO!

E
VERYONE IN THE CAFETERIA could see me sitting with Candace Newman. I could feel all their eyes on me, and it felt fantastic! But I kept cool. At least I tried to.

And it turned out that Candace was easy to talk to! I'd always wanted to get to know her. And if I'd known how really friendly and sweet she was, I would have talked to her long ago. Funny how I'd always thought that really popular girls were snobs. I'd been totally and completely wrong.

Anyway, Candace and I were sharing our lunches when Candace's sidekick, Darcy, said something about having to apologize to Maya and being grounded or something. And right in the middle of lunch, she got up and went over to those other girls' table.

As soon as she was gone, Candace whispered, “Darcy is really a dear, and I'd hate to hurt her feelings, but she's like a piece of toilet paper stuck to my shoe.” Candace shook her leg. I leaned over and pretended to peel an icky bit of toilet paper off her foot. We both wrinkled up our noses and laughed. I really liked Candace. She was so funny!

It was easy to see how Darcy would drive her nuts. The way she looked at Candace was like Sniffo, my dog, when he begged at the table. Ears back, eyes all hopeful. When Sniffo did that, it was cute. When Darcy did that, it creeped me out.

And the way Darcy so
obviously
worshiped Candace! I mean, it was embarrassing to watch. I'd always admired Candace myself. And it was nice, very, very nice, that we were finally getting together, but I'd never in a million years fawn all over her the way Darcy did.

“I feel bad for her, though,” Candace said, nodding toward Darcy. “She's kind of delicate emotionally. This is an absolute secret, so promise you won't tell a soul, but Darcy wore Pull-ups, you know, those diaper things for bed wetters? Until she was, like, nine or something!”

Candace's forehead was creased with sympathy. I guess it was sweet of her to be concerned about Darcy's problem. But it didn't seem fair that Candace was being punished just for being too nice. You're supposed to be friends with someone because you
like
them, not because you
pity
them.

Well, I told myself, I was going to change all that. I'd help Candace flick that Darcy off her shoe and show her what
real
friendship is like. Candace, of all people, deserved it.