Mean Girl

Regina George

The first morning of classes was not as awful as Gretchen had feared, but lunchtime presented a whole new challenge for her.

The school cafeteria.

She knew her table back at home. She was in a small group of girls who'd known each other since kindergarten, led by Valerie. Valerie told Gretchen all of her secrets and they were best gal pals. 

Gretchen didn't have a table at North Shore. She grabbed a tray and got her lunch and stood to the side of the cafeteria, looking for an empty table. 

The girl from her homeroom passed by her, more than deliberately brushing her shoulder. Gretchen almost dropped her tray.

"Hey, Gretchen."

"Hey." Gretchen smiled.

"Do you want to sit with us?"

"Erm... yeah, sure!"

"Follow me."

Gretchen followed the girl, and noticed that everybody was looking at them, but this time in awe. Crowds of students parted as the girl walked to a table at the back of the cafeteria. There were two other girls at the table and a fourth seat free.

"My name is Regina George." The girl spoke. "Sit down opposite me."

The brunette-haired girl sitting opposite Regina's tray looked up, her mouth full.

"Regina, I'm in the middle of-"

"Gretchen needs to sit down opposite me." Regina cut across her. 

The girl sighed in resignation, but moved across. 

"Thank you." Gretchen set her tray down and sat on the bench. "I'm Gretchen."

"Saw you this morning in homeroom. I'm Janis." 

"Nice to meet you."

Regina retakes her seat. "So, Gretchen-"

She was interrupted by the other girl nudging her.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" the other girl asked.

Regina smiled in a way that Gretchen could sense was fake. She'd seen Valerie smile like that hundreds of times before.

"Gretchen, this is Karen."

"Where are you from?" Karen asked.

"Springfield." 

"If you're from Springfield... why aren't you yellow?"

"Karen, honey." Janis tapped the table lightly to get her attention. "There are loads of places in America called Springfield. The Simpsons isn't the only one."

"Oh."

Karen returned to picking at her food. Regina seemed impatient and started talking, almost breathlessly.

"So, welcome to North Shore. How do you like it here?"

"It's OK, I guess." Gretchen shrugged. "But I'd quite like to make friends. I had a big friendship group back home, and I miss it."

"Well, we could be your friends, couldn't we, girls?"

"Yeah, sure." Janis smiled briefly.

"Yeah, we'd really love that." Karen grinned.

"Do you think you're pretty?" Regina sharply asked, with a smile plastered on her face.

"I-I'm sorry?" Gretchen spluttered.

"Do you think you're pretty?"

"I wouldn't say I'm the prettiest girl in the world, but yeah."

"So you think you're pretty?"

"Yeah."

Regina took a moment to piercingly stare at Gretchen. Then, she said, "I really like your sweater, it's so... chic."

Gretchen glanced down at her sweater. "Oh, this old thing? It's nothing, really."

"Where's it from?" 

"JC Penney."

"It looks expensive." 

"Thank you. Can I just ask," Gretchen hesitantly started, "why did you embarrass me in homeroom this morning?"

"Just a prank. I like to play it on everyone I look the like of. I'm sorry if you were upset by it."

"That's OK." 

Gretchen started eating, although her food was almost cold. 

"We only have one rule." Regina continued. "On Wednesdays, we wear pink. As I am such a good friend, I allow Janis an exception, but that means I cannot allow an exception for you. If you don't wear pink, you can't sit with us."

"It's very kind of Regina to do that for you." Gretchen said to Janis.

"It's only because wearing pink makes me look like a cutesy Wednesday Addams and Regina decided she couldn't be seen with such a horror." Janis replied. Her tone of voice was such that Gretchen couldn't tell whether she was joking or not.

Gretchen carried on eating, listening to Regina and Karen gossip about the girls in their year. It almost felt like being back at home. 

She noticed that Janis didn't really join in, occasionally correcting Regina and making sure that the girls being talked about weren't nearby. 

The bell rang. 

"You must sit with us tomorrow." Regina said. She was smiling, but her body language indicated that she would throw Gretchen to the bottom of the food chain if Gretchen didn't obey.

"I'd love to." Gretchen responded.

"Oh, and you can't wear hoop earrings. Ever. They're my thing."