Girls Don't Know Jack

Opposite Day

♫ nothing else i could do - ella jane

Making my return back to Wilcrest, I march up the front stairs to the old brick building, my best friends on either side of me.

It feels nice to be back in the swing of things, some semblance of normal returning, until I step inside the heavy wooden door.

The air feels different—no fruity perfumes or a cloud of hairspray to greet me. The energy has shifted. The girls of Wilcrest are no longer posted up, waiting beside their lockers, twirling their hair as they wait for Jack Moody to past by them.

No, because Jack Moody isn't here.

Reality hits me like a wrecking ball to the chest. But I swallow the guilt, reminding myself I'm doing everything I can to right my wrongs.

Starting first with Emma McKinney.

"Any idea where I might find Emma," I ask my friends.

Naila shrugs her small shoulders. "She's probably hiding out somewhere until class."

Wrinkling my nose, I try to imagine the typically confident blonde cowering in the shadows of Wilcrest.

"What, why?" I inquire, shaking my head.

Jade and Naila exchange a nervous glance. "Emma's kind of been snubbed around here," she explains. Widening my eyes in confusion, Jade sighs. "Everyone thinks she's to blame for Jack Moody getting the boot. Her family causing that big stink and all."

Huh, Emma McKinney dethroned from top Wilcrest bitch. I thought I'd never live to see the day.

But unfortunately, the guilt of being the real cause of the infamous blowout dampens my fun. It's a bit hard to dance on her downfall when it's unwarranted.

Shaking my head, I frown. I'll have to wait until the exiled blonde emerges before I can commence plan A of Operation: Save Jack Moody.

And then the sea of heartbroken teen girls parts, allowing me a glimpse at a huddled body on the wooden bench across the hall.

Narrowing my eyes, I have to use every ounce of restraint to prevent myself from lurching towards the lump on the log—Tina Parker.

Seeming to lock onto my eyes as well, the eavesdropping girl sulks. Her busy eyes stop scanning the halls to catch onto words of misplaced gossip and drop to her lap instead. Like a deflated balloon, Tina Parker slouches against the beige wall behind her.

"She's lucky I'm holding onto my Wilcrest enrollment by a thread," I seethe. "If I wasn't already under so much heat, I'd rip her head off."

Naila jumps to my side. "I just don't understand why she would lie about all of that. It's deranged."

Shaking her wild hair, Jade nods. "And she wonders why she has no friends. No one likes a shit-stirrer."

The bell cuts through the air, breaking our stare off with Tina Parker. Lucky for her, because I was about to snap.

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

Taking my usual seat in first period, I frown looking at the empty desk beside me. The first place Jack Moody sat and looked me in the eyes—the moment I fell head over heels for him.

Sighing, I press my spine against the hard chair, sulking as Ms. Hailey shuffles at her desk in the front of the room.

And then, right before the late bell begins to sound, a barely recognizable Emma McKinney enters the room. For the first time, her exterior appears cracked.