Dork Diaries: Next Generation

Fix Yourself First

So my being friends with Terra and her friends was a big bust. They all think I overreacted a little at the sleep over. Of course I disagreed, and they asked me why. I told them that although I'd done plenty of things for them that night, we weren't close enough friends for me to tell them why.

ViVi lashed out on me and said we shouldn't be friends at all. The rest of the girls agreed and complained about it too, and soon enough Terra was the only girl left who wasn't completely mad at me.

She tried apologizing, but I honestly didn't want to hear it. She left soon after.

At this moment, I'm angrily stabbing my tater tots and shoving it into my mouth. Taylor and Rick still have yet to question my behavior. Don't they care why I'm murdering my food?

"So- uh- how was the slumber party?" Taylor asks, staring at me and slowly lifting his fork of food to his mouth.

I just shove another tot in my mouth.

"I'm guessing it didn't go that well. Am I right?" he asks again.

Mm... Tater tots. You'll never ditch me because I don't like it when people say such mean things, will you?

"Brandy, c'mon, say something."

"I hate girls with a passion. They're all the same," I mumble with the crispy goodness nearly falling from my mouth.

The next thing I know, Rick is hunched over laughing so hard that chunks of potato fly across the table and hit me in my face. I scowl at him.

"You're next on my hate list."

Rick sobers up just a little bit. "I knew it wasn't going to last long! You owe me thirty bucks, Man!" he yells at Taylor.

My scowl is replaced by disgust. "You guys bet on my friendship!? That is absolutely sick!"

"If it helps me in any way, I had genuine confidence that you would have great success in making friends with Terra."

Sure, what he said was nice, but I roll my eyes anyway. My mom says I get it from my Aunt Violet.

"I'm sorry, Brandy. I really, honestly had hope for you," Rick says, this time with a wide grin. He's still struggling not to laugh though, and I still don't see what's so comical about the loss of friends.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not being sincere?" I grumble.

"Because he's not," Taylor mutters under his breath, earning an elbow in the arm.

"I am being sincere. But telling yourself not to laugh and attempting it are two different things. And sometimes telling yourself not to laugh triggers laughter, so here I am," Rick explains and shrugs at his antics.

I purse my lips and narrow my eyes. There's a small smirk left on his face, but I guess he really just can't help it. So I say, "Whatever."

I decide that I need to finish my tater tots, and I begin to devour them just as I was before. But a girl who seemed too tall for her own good was walking to my table. I couldn't tell who it was, but I saw her hair bouncing and could tell where she is heading.

As she gets closer, her face begins to materialize, and it's Vanessa. No good is going to come from this. She takes her food tray and sits right beside me. A large gasp is heard from the entire cafeteria, in which I yell, "Oh my God, calm down! The girl wants to sit down! Jesus Christ!" Everyone goes back to pretending to minding their own business.

"Hi, Brandy, my new celeb best friend. Can I call you that, 'Celeb Besty?' Yeah, I think it sounds good. What do you think, Taylor?"

His eyebrows shoot up in shock that he's even mentioned in this conversation. "I- uh- it's not my decision to make," he replies, and his eyes come to rest on me as if asking if I like the name.