Agnes in JackieLand

Chapter 7

Jackie's dad dropped me off at the school, and I felt a moment of panic. What if I couldn't pull this off? What if Jackie had done something horrific to my body? I shuddered at the thought because hadn't I considered doing that, too? I shook my head; this barely made sense; I wasn't mean. Hopefully, my dad doesn't realize that Jackie isn't me.

The first warning bell rang inside the school, and kids hurried to their designated home rooms for announcements. Darn it; I had yet to learn where Jackie's homeroom was. I made a habit of steering clear of the green-eyed monster. Now, I was the monster. Deep down, I knew there was no way I could one hundred percent pull this off. I didn't have it in me to be that mean to people.

Just as I was about to turn tail and run away, a cold hand clamped down on my hand. Surprised, I jerked away.

"Spaz," Cindy said, giving me an amused look.

"Sorry, weird morning," I replied truthfully.

"I'd say," Cindy said, looking me over from head to toe. "The last time you wore your hair like that was in elementary school."

I frowned; I didn't know what was so wrong with a French braid. I hadn't learned how to work most of Jackie's hair tools, so I had done the quickest thing possible. Quickly, I undid the tie and finger-combed my hair out.

Cindy watched me while shaking her head as if scolding me for my faux pas. When I was done, Cindy grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the hall. "Come on; we're going to be late for homeroom. I don't want another detention. I have a hot date tonight."

My stomach dropped. Mason. Cindy had a hot date with Mason. Payment for taking me to the bonfire last night.

"What's your deal? You look like someone burned your favorite pair of jeans," Leeann said as she linked arms with Cindy.

"Jackie's jealous because I have a hot date with Colin, the college guy," Cindy gloated.

College guy? What about Mason, I thought.

"Why would she be jealous when she has her own gorgeous eye candy?" Leeann sided with Jackie.

Cindy glared at her Barbie twin and stomped away, obviously furious that Leeann sided with Jackie/me.

Leeann saddled up next to me. "Don't worry, Jackie, you know that Q is way better than any guy Cindy could get."

I had forgotten about Jackie's quarterback boyfriend, Quincy Harris. Crap, I'd witnessed several of their sucking-face episodes in the hall. I would have to avoid him until I got back into my own body.

In homeroom, first and second, I kept to myself, trying not to attract attention to Jackie, which was more challenging than separating an egg yolk from the clear, gooey stuff. Trying to separate Jackie from popularity was not going to happen either.

Every person I passed either ogled me, said hi, or smiled. I didn't know who Jackie liked or who she was after, so I kept a permanent smile plastered on my face. Leeann commented on it, saying Quincy must have shown me a really good time after the bonfire since I had been smiling all morning.

Two things about it made me sick to my stomach. One being ew, I did not want to know what Jackie and Quincy did at night, and two, how could Jackie go home and frolic around with her jock boyfriend after what she had done to me. Jackie was truly the evilest person I knew.

By lunchtime, I was exhausted from pretending to be Jackie. I needed to find myself. The Barbie twins wouldn't let me stray away from them. I was ushered through a lunch line and shuffled to the popular table.