Middle School

Chapter 5

On Monday, Mary loaded onto the bus. Wren and Spencer were laughing about something on Wren's phone. Suddenly, "Mary! Come look at this!" Wren called. Mary hurried over, excitedly running. Wren showed her some music video of a girl Mary recognized as Annie LeBlanc.

"What's this?" Mary asked, annoyed that Wren had taken her time to show her a stupid music video.

"It's the beginning to Hannie! Like, oh, my gosh! This is so exciting!" Wren screeched.

"Hannie? Is that a ship name or something?" Mary asked. Wren raised her eyebrows and laughed.

"Of course it is! Like it's the beginning of a relationship between Annie LeBlanc and Hayden Summerall! Duh!" Wren replied, a little over the top.

Mary couldn't stop herself. "It's kind of stupid," she blurted. Spencer gasped."Oops, haha." Mary laughed, but cupped a hand over her mouth. Wren furrowed her brows.

"I don't think so," she said. She tightened her arms. Mary shrugged.

"Well, you're wrong, because it is," Mary replied.

"But here is something you will like! It's called Chicken Girls! I know the name sounds so stupid, but Annie and Hayden are forced to kiss! Two twelve year olds! In Episode Six!" Wren exclaimed.

"Why'd you ruin it for me? Now I can't watch it. Anyways, two preteens kissing isn't that big of a deal," Mary whined.

"Kid, sit down," the bus driver said. Mary rolled her eyes and plopped down next to Melody. Luke was sitting there too.

"Hey, Melodious," she said, wrapping her arm around Melody. Melody smiled and slipped a bookmark into a thick book. "What are you reading?" Mary asked. Melody showed her the title. It was the third Harry Potter. Surprise, surprise.

"Are you ever going to read any new books? It's always Harry Potter! He's kind of weird, don't you think? And dorky? It's like, cool, you have magic, get on with your life."

"Well, um. . .no. I, uh, think I'll stick with good old Harry, thank you!" and with that Melody got up and walked to the front of the bus. A girl Mary had never seen before with stringy auburn hair and scraped knees sat down. Her backpack was worn and covered with unicorns. She wore a brown sweatshirt, leggings, and Sketchers. Mary almost burst out laughing at the outdated shoes.

"Hi, I'm Angie!" the girl said excitedly. She had a southern accent.

"Hi, I'm cooler than you," Mary said, then laughed at her own joke. Angie's smiled faded for a millisecond but quickly reappeared.

"Cool! Who do you have for homeroom?"

"Ew, are you some sort of stalker? Why do you want to know my classes?" Mary said, scooting away.

"No! Of course not! I just want to know if we can be great boon fellows!"

Boonfellows? Mary thought. "Uh, listen, nerd, I'm moving seats and don't follow me, okay? Find somebody else to be your. . .boonfellow."

After school, Mary rode the bus home. Angie was hopefully tormenting someone else now. Another girl came and sat down. She looked very similar to Angie, with the tannish skin and green eyes, but long, luscious deep red waterfall curls hanging at her hips. She wore a short T-shirt, revealing a thin line of tan stomach, and acid washed shorts. On her feet, she wore checkered Vans.

"Sup," the girl said. She plopped her leather backpack onto the middle seat. "I'm Lynn." Lynn's voice was low, calm, and serious, yet confident. Mary scooted closer.

"Hey, it's Mary. You know, you look a lot like this kid. . .Angie, I think." Mary said. She wished she had Lynn's clothes. She looked down at her own clothes: yellow shoulderless long-sleeve shirt, white jeans with a rip on the left knee, and her old Converse. Yeah, her outfit was cute, but not like Lynn's.