Queen Bs

•The New-B•

I'm not in any of the same classes with the Queen Bs on Monday mornings. I don't get to see them again until lunch.

When that finally rolls around, I'm bombarded with questions... from everybody.

Teens, popular and unpopular alike, start talking to me. When the unpopular kids approach me, Bianca steps in front of them and scares them away. "We can't have you talking to nobodies like them, Blair."

My head is spinning. Everything is moving so quickly and it's making me so confused.

"Everyone, leave!" Becky screeches. Immediately, the crowd around me disappears. I sigh, relieved. My head hurts.

"You okay, Blair?" Becky sits down next to me. We're sitting in the heart of the round tables in the courtyard, at the Queen B table. This is where I found them during my free period the other day.

I nod. "Yeah. Thanks for that."

Britney giggles. "Don't worry, it's completely normal to feel overwhelmed!"

"It is?!" I exclaim. The Queen Bs feel overwhelmed with the amount of attention they receive on a daily basis?!

"Um, no. We're used to all of this. You'll learn," Bianca replied. I bite my lip and Britney giggles again.

"Girls, we need to get our lunch!" Becky exclaimed.

Bianca looked at her fancy, evidently expensive golden watch. "Oh! We do!"

"We won't have enough time to eat!" I say as we get up and start speed-sashaying into the cafeteria building. That's right, speed-sashaying. All these girls do is sashay. No walking. Just sashaying. I need to get the hang of this.

"Blair, do you want to know a secret?" Becky whispers in my ear. I look at her and nod.

"Well, only the three of us know this, but... my uncle is the principal!"

I gasp. Principal Charleston is her uncle?!

"Really?!"

Becky nods, her curls bouncing up and down. "For reals. We like to keep it quiet. Don't want any rumors spreading!"

"Yeah. Becky can totally get us more lunch time! It's one of the perks," Britney adds. She's speed texting on her phone and chewing a large wad of watermelon gum.

"Um, okay! Oh, but I'll have to tell my teacher that I'll be—"

"Don't bother, Blair." Bianca opens the cafeteria door, just to let herself in first. "Becky's uncle will tell them. We're the Queen Bs. We have privileges."

"I wonder what Pierre has made for us today!" Becky exclaims. As usual, the cafeteria falls silent as we sashay our way to the kitchen door. The lunch lady sees as and immediately runs to the back. We don't want a repeat of Friday.

"Who's Pierre?" I ask.

"My personal chef, duh." Bianca taps her foot impatiently as the lunch lady wheels a cart towards us. Four fancy china plates, a vase of flowers, a bread basket, and a pitcher of iced tea with lemon slices shaped like flowers decorate the cart. "Would you girls like some help setting all of this up outside?"

Becky gives the lunch lady one of the fakest smiles I've ever seen. I twiddle my thumbs and shy away from the situation. "Yes, please!"

"Okie-dokie! Let's go!" The lunch lady starts rolling the fancy cart out to the Queen B table.

Britney looks up from her phone. I see her eyes widen. "Dang. Pierre outdid himself today."

"Yeah." Becky snaps her fingers and we start sashaying out of the cafeteria. I feel all eyes on me.

The newbie. Actually, more like the new-B.

A fancy lunch served on china plates? Anyone would want that instead of the junky cheeseburgers they had for lunch today.

I pulled myself together and held my head high as we made our way back to our table.

The lunch lady was setting our meal on the table. I take a deep breath. "Wow. You guys eat like this every day?"

Becky laughs. "Not every day. We don't usually have the flowers and the bread basket."

"Or the iced tea," Britney giggles.

"But Pierre personally makes us a lunch in the school's kitchen every day. We usually get it on really fancy lunch trays. But he went the extra mile today." Bianca sits down and places a cloth napkin embroidered with flowers in her lap. I follow suit.

When I lift the silver cover off of my plate, I gasp. A bowl of mac and cheese sits on my plate, with a small 6 ounce steak next to it. There's some sort of creamy Parmesan crust on the steak, and bits of white meat sit on the mac and cheese.

"Lobster mac and cheese?!" Becky exclaims. "This is too much!"

"Only the best for us," Bianca replies smugly. "Dig in, ladies!"

I try the macaroni first. It's creamy, and the lobster adds a really fancy, expensive taste. I sigh in delight and cut a piece of steak. It's juicy, and the cheese crust adds a delicious, creamy texture. "This is amazing," I sigh.

Britney gasps and drops her fork. "Blair! We forgot to ask if you have any allergies!"

Becky turns to me, worry in her eyes. "She's right!"

"For once," Bianca mumbles.

"You're not allergic to shellfish or anything? We don't want our newest Queen B dying on our watch!" Becky exclaims.

I swallow my food. "No. I'm not allergic to anything. I would've told you before I ate the mac and cheese."

All three Queen Bs sigh in relief, smiles spreading over their faces. "Thank our Lord Jesus Christ! I was so scared for a second!" Britney picks her fork back up and devours her steak.

I take a roll from the basket and spread butter over it. Warm and fluffy. This is what dreams taste like.