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 "So where are we celebrating?" I asked looking out of the window. Abandoned cars and empty fields of floral concrete blew by me as Heather went way over the speed limit. I kept my tight grip on the smooth leather seats as subtle as possible. I didn't want them to know how nervous I was.

All that time on the outside watching them live perfect lives, all that time pretending that I sat with them at lunch or practicing my sexy face in the mirror had finally happened. They were considering me one of them.

My first day at the new private school that my father sent me to was one of the hardest days of my life, second to the day that I lost my mother. They all stared at me, Brielle Lopez, like I was a slab of uncut meat and they wanted to tear me limb from limb. It wasn't the type of attention that I wanted. I didn't want to stand out because I was new, I wanted to stand out because I was popular. Their eyes watching me with hatred and envy. Unless they were hating that they wanted to be me.

I figured that my father's business finally taking off was our chance. We were always so poor and it got even worse when my mom died because we lost over half our income. Not to mention my dad was kind of a wreck for a while.

For a while he was just sad all the time, he went to work and came home because it was all he could give. When he finally came out of his funk, he started a small trucking business that seemed to grow overnight into a chain. Suddenly the stupid jingle played all over the tv. My dad would sing it happily but I would hear nothing but the sound of money jingling its way onto my shiny new credit card. I could hear the sound of expensive zippers bringing a silk dress to a close. I could hear the jealous whispers all around me deep in its melody.

And I wanted it. So badly I wanted it, but I had to put in the work.

I'll never forget the moment that Heather came walking up to me, floating on this cloud of prestige. She asked me what my name was and I swear I almost forgot it.

She smiles with beautiful white teeth, real teeth, not veneers or something fake like that. Like she was born with pearls in her mouth. Her raven hair was rife with tight curls that surrounded her hazel eyes and cream skin. I resisted the urge to reach out and feel how soft she was. She stood in front of me with a perfect outfit, white silk skirt that was dangerously short with a red top and matching white jacket.

From the second that she walked up to me I felt so plain with my wavy dark brown hair just flat against my head. I looked down at the jeans and pink shirt blouse that I wore and instantly hated them even though they were much better than the hand-me-downs or thrift clothes that I used to wear. Even my shoes, the little flats that I wore felt like they were screaming that I was lame to anyone that was within earshot.

Her hazel eyes watched my green ones curiously. It was like I was some new species of animal that she'd discovered for the first time. She wanted to know me just as bad as I wanted to know her. She didn't say much, she just told me that I was having lunch with them. Them. The rest of the popular kids in school. I nearly exploded.

There I sat, eager in the cafeteria for their approval. Heather chewed on their salad as the rest of them watched me, waiting for some sign that I didn't belong. I promised myself that I would never give them one.

"Look, You can hang with us if you want to. You have...potential. But you definitely gotta prove your worth to us." She pointed a fork with a fresh piece of spinach on it right at me. Suddenly a spotlight was on me and I realized that this was it. My moment, my chance, my shot. And I couldn't be stupid and blow it. So I followed them around, did their homework, got their coffee and sometimes I'd even steal booze for them every once in a while. Slowly but surely the looks in the rest of their eyes changed. I wasn't the new species anymore, I was finally starting to become one of them.