War in Broadway High

2. Want a Queen Bee, There's Half a Dozen

Chapter 2: Want a Queen Bee, There's Half a Dozen

Veronica.

Dear Diary,

Here we are! First day of senior year! We made it! But you know, I'm looking around at these kids that I've known all my life, and can't help but ask myself...what happened?

We used be so...shiny, and kind, we all got along. But then I guess some kids got more praise than others. Some were achievers and some...just got lost, and lost their chances. Became 'losers'.

But I heard from someone in the hallway once that guys like us, the unseen, the losers, are actually cool in college. So I'm looking forward to that. If that's true, college will be paradise.

I can't wait that long though, that's why I've joined the Heathers. Royal bitches, I know, but it's a necessary evil. You have to get through the store if you want the candy.

I just want to survive this Thunderdome, and hopefully still be in one piece by June. Is that too much to

"Ow!"

Someone roughly shoved the girl before she could finish writing. Jake and Rich, two of the most popular kids, were roughhousing, throwing around a ball, and maybe they hadn't noticed her, or maybe they had, and done it precisely because she was with the Heathers and they were with The Plastics. In any case, they were already far away before she could even think of something to say.
Veronica just sighed, found a quiet corner by the stairs, and continued writing.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I picked a great freaking time to join the Lip Gloss Gestapo, in the middle of a war with the rival Barbie mafia. So trying to get some targets off my back, I may have just made more enemies. Which is why I need the Heathers' protection now more than ever...better get to work.

Heeding her own words, she closed the journal and got up. As she made her way through the hallway, she noticed a girl she'd never seen before, who had a big innocent smile and was acting really friendly to people, which immediately stood out.

"Hey, excuse me, could you tell me where the AP Calculus classroom is?" she asked a boy who was on his phone.

"I could," the guy replied, and kept walking.

The girl looked so lost and out of place, too good for the concrete jungle they lived in, that in a way, it reminded Veronica of her friend, Martha. And, maybe because of the guilt that she hadn't been the best friend to Martha lately, she approached this girl.

"Hey," she said with a friendly smile. "Are you new here?"

The stranger seemed incredibly relieved.

"Hi! Yeah, pretty obvious, isn't it? I'm Cady."

"Veronica. Don't mind the people here too much, we got a 100 to 1 jerk ratio."

"Oh, it's okay, I get it. It's like baboons! They'll be aggressive at first, it's only natural, but I have to fight my way in to break into the pack."

That resonated with Veronica more than she expected it to. It was pretty much what she was doing with the Heathers. And Chandler could certainly scream like a rabid baboon when she wanted to.

"Yeah, only aggressive at first..." she murmured. "Anyway, you said calc classroom right? I'm on my way there now, are you in 12th grade too?"

"Oh, well, no, I'm a...junior, I believe you call it? But I'm taking advanced calculus."

"Oooo, smart girl, how very. Well, this way."

She led the way through the crowded corridor, until after a few turns they couldn't get past a group of people standing around in a circle. Veronica immediately had a bad feeling, it was never a good thing when teens were gathered like that, and she felt her blood run cold when she heard Kurt's provocative voice.