One Of The Girls

Chapter 4: Beatrix

​The bell rings, and I step into the classroom full of peers I have never really bothered to talk to. It feels weird now, to start a conversation with them. I know their faces and some names, and it seems too late now. I get a panicky feeling and miss Josh and Drew and Noah. I feel alone. I'm never in a class without at least one of them.

The task of socializing with anybody in the room is too daunting, so I chicken out. I decide to just find a desk and sit down. That's a good first step.

I hope that someone might try and talk to me, and someone actually does. ​Right after I sit down, a cute boy sits in the chair in front of my desk, facing me.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around before. I'm Ron." That's not true. He has seen me around before. His name is Ronald Kennedy, and his locker was above mine two years ago. He's been a starter on the football team since sophomore year. Even though I know this, I don't blame him for not remembering me. Our school has 400 students in the senior class, and I wasn't exactly memorable before now. "What's your name?"

If I really want to reinvent myself, I could take it a step further. This guy doesn't know my name; it's the perfect opportunity. In the heat of the moment, I make a rash decision. Heart racing, I say, "My name is Trixy."

​He has the IQ of a stick. "Do you spell it with an X?"

"Uh-Huh." I don't even bother letting myself wonder how else you would possibly spell it.
​
Ron's girlfriend Amanda walks up and sits on the desk beside mine, folding her bright blue jean covered legs criss-cross like we did during story time in kindergarten. She fits perfectly on the desk, as if the designer had her in mind when he was deciding dimensions. Amanda looks at me and smiles, but it feels more like she's attempting to neutralize a threat than make a new friend, "Hey, it's 'Bee' right?"

​"I actually prefer it when people call me 'Trixy'."

​"Oh, wow. Super cute," she looks at me in a way that makes me feel like an art exhibit, "I almost didn't recognize you! Crazy! You look so hot!" she says it all like a compliment, but it could go either way on paper.

​"Thanks!" I say anyway.

​"Christina!" she calls to her friend who just arrived in the classroom, "Come see!" The gorgeous girl walks over to join us. "It's Trixy. Remember her? The basketball boys call her 'Bee'."

​"Oh. My. God!" she exclaims. Christina's black, shoulder length hair and bright pink lips are something I've only seen from afar. I've always admired them, but now she's admiring me. "You look so hot! Where did you get those boots?"

​"Macy's, I think."

​"So adorbs." Do people really say that in real life?

​I'm starting to feel just a bit nervous. Both of these girls are super popular. People have traded friends just to get closer to hanging out with them. Amanda was Prom Queen last year, and Christina took Homecoming Queen. God, it's literally like being surrounded by high school royalty. I've never talked to them much before, besides from group projects when they have to talk to me.

More than anything else, the situation is nerve wracking because these two girls are both close friends of Jenna. They make sure everyone knows this by posting pictures together on every social media platform in the world. Whether it's buying matching bikinis for the Fourth of July, making brownies together for sleepovers, or all going on a "friend date" together to the movies, they make sure everyone knows they've done it. All of their Instagram feeds look like something from Pacsun or American Apparel. They even do this really annoying thing where they all switch last names on Twitter. Yes. That's how highkey they are about it.