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They stop talking and look at me, not smiling. I gesture to Shannon’s
hand. “I like your nail polish.”
Actually, I don’t. Yellow grosses me out, but my mom said
complimenting people is a good way to make friends, so…
Shannon lets out a little scoff, looking embarrassed that her friends see
me talking to her. She shoots a look to them.
I feel an invisible hand pushing me away from them. They want me
gone, don’t they?
But I force a smile and try harder. “Hey,” I tell another girl, seeing her
Mary Janes. “We have the same shoes.” And I look down at mine, showing
her.
She laughs, rolling her eyes. “Ew.”
“You guys,” another girl chides her friends, but they don’t stop
laughing.
“What’s that?” Shannon points to the bulge in the pocket of my skirt.
My heart sinks a little. No one else in my class has an inhaler, and now
it makes me even more different. “It’s just my inhaler,” I reply, speaking
low. “I have allergies and asthma and stuff. It’s no big deal.”
I keep my eyes down, because I don’t want to see the looks they give
each other. I twist my lips to the side, feeling tears creep up. Why can’t I be
cool?
“So do you think Cory Schultz is cute?” Shannon speaks up.
I blink, my guard going up. “No,” I answer quickly.
Cory Shultz is in our class, and he’s really cute, but I don’t want anyone
to know I think that.
“Well, I think he’s cute,” she says. “We all do. You got a problem with
him?”