Nobody Likes Megan McGowen

6. Something's Not Right

Megan tried to talk to Jen the next day at school, but she didn't get much of a chance. She sat down at a table in the front of the cafeteria, glad Jen was only a minute or so behind her.

"How's your day been so far?" Megan asked. She was trying to be subtle, but she didn't want to waste any time; their new friends could turn up any minute.

"Fine." Jen shrugged. "I mean, it's still school, so it's not that great."

"Classes ok? Teachers?" Megan pressed, stealing a quick glance at the cafeteria doors. So far, so good.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?" Jen chewed on her lip for a minute. "Honestly, the only thing weird lately's been lunch."

"I'm sorry." Megan said quickly.

She knew she shouldn't have brought it up. Things were going just fine before; Jen was happy. Now, all Megan had done was bring attention to the fact that Jen didn't really belong in this group. It was bad enough that Megan knew the truth, but did she really have to spoil it for her friend too? Why couldn't she have just kept her big mouth shut for once?

"Why are you sorry?" Jen asked, peering at Megan through narrowed eyes. "It's not like it's your fault or anything, you know?"

Megan knew it was just a rhetorical question, but she suddenly found herself trying to stifle a nervous laughter. Jen started looking at her a little too closely, and Megan felt like she had to rush to come up with some kind of excuse.

"I mean, maybe I've been acting a little weird the past couple days." she said hurriedly. It sounded like Jen might not have noticed what was going on until Megan started calling attention to it. Did that mean Megan had just walked into an admission when she didn't need to?

"No, it's not you." Jen told her, bringing Megan out of her mild panic attack. "I just meant that the whole thing's kind of weird."

"Weird how?" Megan asked slowly, not sure she really she wanted to know.

"I'm not sure. But every day I sit here with you guys and I just feel like something's not right. You know?"

"Yeah..."

Megan knew exactly what Jen was saying; she felt the same way every time someone mentioned some great vacation they'd apparently all spent together. The only difference was the fact that Megan actually knew why everything was so weird.

Megan realized she was going to have to explain what was really going on. After all, Jen had been her friend since third grade – if anyone deserved an explanation, it was the girl who'd stuck by loser Megan for all these years.

"Jen, actually–" Megan started. But she didn't get the chance to finish.

"Hey girls!" Tara exclaimed, sitting down beside Megan.

"Hey, Tara." Megan said absentmindedly.

It was amazing – Megan had been friends with Tara and her group for less than a week, but she was already getting used to it. Maybe it was due to the fact that pretty much the whole school had spent the last four days treating her like a queen, but Tara and her friends didn't intimidate Megan nearly as much as they had that first day. Actually, she caught herself wondering why she'd ever been nervous around these girls before.

Megan was sorry she didn't get a chance to finish her conversation with Jen, but she tried to tell herself it was for the best. And she would have really believed that too – except for random comments being made that caused Jen endless confusion.

Ever since the popular girls had suddenly started acting like they were all best friends, Jen had been a little off. At least twice a day, she'd get this weird look on her face and kind of stare off into space. She looked like maybe she was going to have a stroke or something. So Megan made a promise to herself; she would talk to Jen about it in last period, just to make sure. Then, if she really needed to, she'd figure out a way to tell Jen what she'd done.