Jessica Reed

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

            “Jessica, hold on a minute,” said Mr. Burnett as the class began to exit the room.

            “Yes, Mr. B?” I turned on my ankle bootie heels and headed back to his desk. Hopefully he wasn’t going to pound me for my slipping grades like all my other teachers.

            He waited until everyone else had left the classroom before he started, “I’ve noticed your performance in class has been deteriorating as of late.”

            “You and every other teacher in school,” I mumbled and rolled my eyes, as he looked something up on his Mac.

            “Young lady, I am going to have to alert your parents,” he watched me steadily over his thick glasses, “junior year-“

            “-is very important if I want to attend an elite college yeah I know,” I sighed loudly, “Mr. Burnett I’ve already heard this speech from each of my professors.”

            “As your homeroom teacher and counselor, I need you to tell me what’s wrong. Ms. Reed, we are only a month away from the end of the semester!” he lectured me.

            “Well, I’ve been pretty busy I guess. I started modeling at the beginning of the year and things have only picked up,” I replied.

            “Would you say that modeling for you has been prioritized before schoolwork?”

            Thinking to myself I realized that modeling had become the single most important thing to me, “Yes, I would say that.”

            “Do you see the problem here? I’m sure modeling is fun and a great break from ordinary life and everything else but school needs to be number one,” he put a hand on my shoulder, “hopefully you can fix your grades in the time remaining.”

            “I’ll do my best Mr. Burnett, what do you suggest I do first?” I asked, hoping for a different answer than the one all of my teachers recommended.

            “I say you quit the modeling who-ha and go back to being a straight A student, and sooner than later,” he stood up from his desk and led me out the door.

            I frowned at him, “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

            “Because it’s a good idea, now go to lunch,” he nodded goodbye and I left.

            Before heading to lunch I stopped in the ladies restroom on the side of the quad. Perhaps I went to cry or to scream or to just be alone but whatever it was it was fate that led me there. Immediately after I locked my stall I heard a group of girls come in. I froze when I heard Victoria’s voice.

            “That little slut is still trying to take Lance from me,” she said, “he’s so confused. I heard he was going to ask her out a couple days ago, but  luckily he came to his senses soon enough.”

            Quickly I lifted my feet so that if they were smart enough to check the stalls, which they probably weren’t anyways, they wouldn’t recognize me by my expensive shoes.

            Her posse started insulting me to please her: “She’s not even pretty.” “I don’t know what he sees in her!” “V you are so much cooler.” “I heard Jessica buys her clothes from Walmart than sows designer tags on them, how pathetic!”

            I almost jumped from my hiding space and attacked them all, but when she began talking again I forced myself to listen, “Ladies, ladies! I know. But on top of Lance, she also has Xander brainwashed somehow into liking her.”