Brand New Girl - Book 1

Chapter 1 - The Fall

Preethi felt the stares of her classmates burn holes into her skin as she walked down the hall. She had tried to wear something understated to make her blend in, but it clearly wasn't working. Her tanned skin, big hazel eyes and long black hair were a dead giveaway that she was not from Westchester.

To her surprise, everyone here at Octavian Country Day (OCD for short) girl's academy was gorgeous. Glossy hair with perfectly placed highlights, lightly (fake) tanned skin, stylish, cropped clothes even though it was practically winter break, and most notably- they were all so thin.

The chubbiest girl she saw looked to be no bigger than a size 6. Back at her old school in Florida, the fat girls were at least fat enough to make her think she wasn't. Here in New York however, she felt gross and huge, even in her supposedly slimming black size 10 sweater. She finally spots the Art hall and finds her classroom: 207A.

Preethi was an art prodigy back home, winning a few big awards at the County Fair each year. Maybe this class will be fun, she thought to herself. Maybe the art girls will be nice and I can make some friends.

Those thoughts cheered her up, and Preethi confidently strutted into the classroom - only to trip on the door jam and fall on her face. There was a loud thud as Preethi's large body made contact with the floor. For a moment it was completely silent.

Then the small class erupted in laughter. Even the teacher started to chuckle. Preethi tried her hardest to hold back the burning tears welling up inside. This is the worst possible thing that could happen today, She thought.

After the laughter quieted down a little, a pretty blond girl in stylish athletic clothes helped her off the floor and picked up her binder. She smiled awkwardly at Preethi and went back to her seat with the Clique of obviously popular girls. A gorgeous brunette girl looked at her funny and then made a disgusted face at the Blonde girl, as if to say: "Why would you help her?"

She was humiliated. She trudged to a seat in the very back to wallow in her shame, and hopefully this time blend into the background.

No such luck. She heard the popular girls talking about her throughout the entire class, and in Spanish class, she was even more disheartened to find the same group there; bursting with giggles as soon as she walked through the door.

"Way to make an impression!" one of them jeered.

Preethi had not even stepped two feet into the swanky OCD Cafeteria before she noticed those girls sitting at the center table. Even as an "outsider", she knew what the Center Table meant. It meant they weren't "those girls." They were the girls. She suddenly realized that almost every surrounding table was imitating them. Their hairstyles, clothes, makeup - all of it was copied. These were the girls everyone wanted to be. The girls that weren't gossiping about her were probably gossiping about them.

She quickly scurried out of the room and scarfed down her junk-filled lunch in an empty hall, then went to the bathroom to sulk, away from the eyes of her new peers. No one can make fun of me here, she thought.

As soon as she locked the stall, she heard four girls stroll into the bathroom. She glimpsed down at 3 pairs of designer boots and 1 pair of designer sneakers. It was the Clique girls. Again. Why do I keep running into them! Preethi internally screamed. The girls' feet stopped at the sinks, probably reapplying lip-gloss or something.

"Ehmagawd Massie, what flavor is that?" Alicia chirped.

"Um, Caramel Apple. Here, you try it Alicia."

"Thanks."

"You know, that new girl had like, caramel skin. She must be from the tropics to have a tan like that." Kristen said.

"Yeah, The Tropics tanning booth." The rest of them laugh. "Why are you still talking about that fat chick, Kristen?"

"Cause her great big fall was totally hilarious, Duh." She replied.

Their words cut deep into Preethi's self esteem. Kristen hadn't helped her to be nice, she'd just done it to boost her reputation. She wanted to cry.

"Not to mention she could be totally gorgeous." Dylan added. What? Preethi wondered if she had heard them right.

"Yeah, she's got like, an exotic look. if she was a size 4 she'd be hot. Maybe even a threat."

Were they serious? They really think I could be pretty enough to rival them? No way.

"Well I don't know about a threat," Massie snipped. "But she could definitely be one of us."

At that moment, She knew what she had to do to make it here in Westchester. She had to join the Clique, and to do that she'd have to look like she belonged with them. Preethi made a promise to herself to lose the weight. To stop eating junk. To totally transform. Winter break was next week, which provided the perfect opportunity.

Come January, she would be a Brand New Girl.