Girls Don't Know Jack

Call Me Barf-Bag

♫ Cold - Boy In Space, unheard

Well, I managed to get a couple of days off from school, but now, I'm back in the raging hormone infested halls of Wilcrest.

Walking to first period, I'm hunched so low trying to disappear into the deep maroon tiled floor beneath me, I think I may be causing permanent damage to my spinal cord.

And I almost make it to the safe walls of the classroom before Emma McKinney steps in front of me with her gaggle of girls.

"Morning Barf-Bag," she beams at me with a wide, sparkling smile.

Her smug look prompts me to perfect my thousand-yard-stare. My life couldn't get any worse. This is utterly tragic.

Emma's blonde hair sways in front of me as she turns to whisper into Sarah Johnson's ear. The red-headed girl presses a hand against her lips, trying to silence the roaring laugh escaping her.

Rolling my eyes, I stare ahead, my tired eyes meeting those of my friends, leaned against the dingy silver lockers down the hall.

Parting the red sea, I charge through the hoard as snickers echo around me.

"I can't believe Jack told them about it," I groan as I approach my friends, slamming my body against the metal locker.

"Hey, at least he's talking about you?" Jade offers in an attempt to make me feel better.

Next to me, Naila sulks. "Well, actually...he may not have told them."

Her face is full of guilt and my eyes grow wide at her. Stiffening, I grab onto her puny arm, peering down at the small girl shaking in her Mary Janes.

"Naila," I threaten. "You didn't. I told you that in sworn secrecy."

Referring to one of our many phone calls over the past few days, where I cried to my friends, wallowing in the end of my life as I've known it.

Naila shrugs out of my grasp and throws her arms up. "Well, I didn't mean to, but Ms Hailey was asking where you were, so it just kind of slipped out."

"You couldn't just say I was sick?" I squeak in an octave too high.

The small girl shrugs and offers me her best puppy dog eyes—which to be fair, on her baby face are quite convincing.

Rolling my eyes, I mumble, "Well for future reference, nobody needs that many details."

"That's funny coming from you, Rambling McGee," Jade teases and I shoot her a threatening glare of her own.

.........................

My tired frail body collapses into the hard chair in my history class. Successfully, I've been able to dodge any awkward conversations with Jack Moody.

Although, to be fair, he wasn't exactly storming over to come speak to me, so it wasn't really a difficult task.

The rest of the Wilcrest girls haven't miss a single opportunity to humiliate me, however. The entire day Emma McKinney, Sarah Johnson, and even smug little Tina Parker have dogged me, snickering as they make gagging motions over and over.

Like it's not even original or witty. If you're going to insist on making fun of me, can we at least make it entertaining?

Rolling my eyes, I sink further into the seat in the back row as Mrs. Yates begins our lecture.

"Alright class, our projects on influential women throughout history are due today. Please hand them forward."

A thick sweaty panic comes over me—I had completely forgotten why I was even in that Burger Shack to begin with. My grade seriously can't take this hit.