Kimberly's Story

The New Girl

The new girl is little taller than me, with extremely short hair that is a bit messy and dyed the color green. She has an amused look on her face as everyone starts to stare at her.

I continue to take her in. Her shirt is dangerously low and her skinny jeans have huge rips in them. Her eyes are almond-shaped and light green, a startling light green.

I didn’t realize my iPod was playing until Stephanie yanked on one ear bud. I whip my head around and plug the ear bud back in my ear. I didn’t want her to hear the screaming of my favorite band and the intense sound of the guitar and drums playing as one.

“What are you listenin’ to?” she asks with her perky voice.

I don’t hesitate, having answered this question millions of

times. “Lady Gaga,” I lie. I look down to my I-pod. I start to turn towards the new kid when my I-pod slips out of my fingers, clumsily. The sound causes a sharp slap against the linoleum floor. The new girl turns around at the sound and, seeing my I-pod, bends down to pick it up. A smirk forms on her lips when she sees what I was listening to. I stand up and walk to her, an arm outstretched.

“Is this yours?” she asks with a care-free voice, almost lazy.

She looks me up and down then back to the I-pod. Her eyebrows lift and I start to blush. I really hope she doesn't say the band out loud.

“Yeah, thanks.”

She slides the I-pod in my hand and starts to walk away when I stop her.

“I’m Kimberly. But you can call me Kim,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. I can feel the eyes of my friends on my back as she walks closer to me.

“I’m Christina. You can call me Chrissie.” She smiles, but it wasn’t exactly sweet. Yet not mean, either, it was in between. Like a question not yet answered. I didn’t understand.

“That’s a cool name, Chrissie. Hey, what class do you have next?” I ask. I can hear a group of girls whisper as I walk closer to her and farther away from them.

She looks very amused again and looks down at her schedule. “English,” she says with that different voice. It didn’t even seem like she was trying to make friends or make a good impression.

I sort of admire her for that.

Trying a smile, I say, “I do, too. I'll see you there.” I almost say it as a question, hoping she will say “yes”.

“Sure.”

I watch as she walks away with her Chuck Taylor high-tops. She walks right up to the punk group and they sweep her away. She had already found out where she belonged, while I’ve remained undecided for years.

“What are you doing?” Stephanie asks with disbelief, a sneer in her words.

“I was just being nice,” I say with a slightly shy voice.

“Nice? To her?” Stephanie practically shouts.

Anger sears through me as regretful words swarm in my head. “Yes, to her. Of course, you wouldn’t understand that because you don’t have a heart!” I blurt. I immediately cover my mouth with my hand, trying to stop myself from saying any more than that. I can’t believe I said that, to Stephanie. That wasn’t very smart. Somehow, as quickly as I felt guilty, I felt strong and courageous. To let that out it felt like having a ton of pounds lift from your shoulders. I let out my breath.

Stephanie has a shocked expression on her face. Her lips are pursed and her eyes are narrowed.

Lizzie is sitting behind Sally, going through her options.

The students around us stare as if we were a reality television show and I was the star.

I start to back up when Stephanie turns to Lizzie.

“Did you hear what she said to me?” Stephanie says to Lizzie.

Lizzie just sits there, staring between us. I watch as she stands and starts to walk towards me but is stopped when Stephanie gives her a glare, a warning glare. To remind her that she could make her life a living hell. But only if she didn’t listen to her. Lizzie's apologizing eyes meet mine and I nod, telling her I understand. She steps back and hides behind Stephanie, ashamed to meet my eyes. I don't blame her.

Stephanie takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and looking me straight in the eye.

"Kimberly. You're my best friend. You know what, I'll be the bigger person here and apologize. Alright? I apologize, Kimberly." She smiles, sweetly at me. "Let's just forget this happened. I'll even forget what you said to me. Even though it hurt," she says through slightly gritted teeth. "I don't want to lose you, Kimmy-Wimmy. We've been friends for far too long." She says the last part meaningfully and I try to figure out where this sudden gentleness came from. "What do you say?" she asks with her saccharine voice.

I stare at her, unsure of my next move. I'm not ready to stand up to her yet. I know that for a fact. Why would I even think about ruining the perfect life I have at school? What is making me doubt all of my hard work? I shake my head. "I don't want to lose you either, Steph. I'm sorry." Sort of a lie, but I bet she can’t tell.

A grin of victory forms on her lip gloss-coated lips. She squeals and then jumps to give me a big squeeze. "Thank, God! For a moment there I thought you were leaving us!" She waves Lizzie over and looks at us, appreciatively. "The inseparable three! We'll be friends forever, right girls!"

We both nod but I see the flicker of sadness cross over Lizzie's eyes across from me.

And then I get it. I refrain a snort. She doesn't really care about us, I was right. She just doesn't want to lose the two people who put up with her the most and who are the prettiest. Wait-...did I just call myself pretty? I shake my head.

Suddenly, Stephanie turns to our audience and smiles, brightly. Her movie-star smile. "Don't I just have the best friends, ever!"

The group of girls around her giggle and nod with tight lips and our audience quickly agrees and then blends into the swarm of other students, spreading out.

Stephanie whirls around and brushes her long blond hair away from her face. "They're just like paparazzi! It's horrible, like, can't we just get some privacy," she says, her eyes glinting.

Lizzie and I mumble our agreements and then we are off toward Stephanie's locker, as if nothing had even happened.

That's how fast everything must go back to normal in this school. Change is frowned upon. If you're different, you don't exist. It's as simple as that.