Shot to the Hart - A Novella

Chapter 4: Salvation

Maya, Arianna and Chloe. How lucky was I to have them as my best friends?

They approached me in the cafeteria, invited me to sit with them. I was nervous at first but we quickly bonded over the Backstreet Boys — they saw the pin on my book bag. "Which one is your favourite?" Maya, the leader of the group, leaned towards me, all big curious eyes and long, fake lashes.

"AJ," I said, hoping it was the right answer. Arianna scoffed, folded her arms. "That's bullshit. Everyone knows Nick is the cutest." Chloe nodded.

"I agree with Beth," Maya said, putting her arm around my shoulders and I glowed with pride. "AJ's the hottest."

"The hottest, yeah, for sure," Chloe and Arianna chimed in and I felt gratified. I was so intimidated by these girls and now here I am having lunch with them. But it occurred to me that two of them don't even know their own minds; they were like little lap dogs agreeing with everything Maya said. That surprised me, especially because they were older - I was barely 13 and they were 15. Maya was even driving her own car, an Audi she got from her parents for her birthday, complete with a big red bow. Never mind she wasn't technically allowed to have her license yet. When you're that rich, you can do what you want. I wished my parents were as cool as hers.

"What's this, Nema?" Maya's eyes were puzzled as she felt the hard plastic of the back brace under my turtleneck. I felt my face grow hot. God, this stupid thing! For a minute, I almost felt normal but of course I could never forget about my twisted back for more than a few seconds at a time.

What to do? Should I lie? Think of something, quick!

But there was no time. Now all three were looking at me and the silence was starting to get weird. I sighed.

"It's a back brace. I have a slight curve in my spine and I need surgery to fix it. But first I have to wear this stupid thing," I said, glancing down at my unvarnished nails, bitten to the quick from the stress of starting yet another new school. I waited for the barrage of questions from the girls, some legit, some insulting, the braying laugh making fun of me. But none of that came.

"Oh," was all Maya said, flipping her hair back. "Who wants to go to the mall after school?"

"I do!" I really did. Like, a whole lot.

When we pushed open the doors of the mall later that day, I tried to play it cool while they gossiped and giggled, but inside, I was pure sunshine. It was shaping up to be the best day of my life.

They took me to the local makeup store and actually paid for me to have a makeover. My eyes watered as the gum-chewing sales associate pulled down my eyelids and lined the insides of them with charcoal black. The girls wandered around the store and shopped while I had long, false nails applied, hot pink like my jacket. They also put loads of mascara and eye shadow on me, and a thick foundation and blush.

I didn't know myself at first when they did the big reveal. I looked older, and more goth. My cheekbones were highlighted in peach and the blue in my hazel eyes popped. I took some time to gaze at myself, turning my face this way and that. For the first time in my life, I was pretty.

"Whoa, you look amazeballs!" The girls had returned with their shopping bags and let out low whistles of admiration. "Bitch, you're a star!," Maya said and the girls high fived. I thought that was strange at the time, like I know they were being kind to me and everything, but it was my makeover.

Why did they high five, as if they'd accomplished something. Maybe they did, bringing out my sassy inner kitten and banishing the frump that I was.

The first sign of trouble came when they decided to try on dresses for the fall dance. My newly made up face and I went with them, although it wasn't something I wanted to do.