"Lizzie!" It was Kate, her all-too-short skirt barely touching her knees as she stood at the top of the hallway searching for Lizzie. Her golden blonde hair was neatly curled and tied back in a lilac scrunchie which sat on the top of her head. She was a golden tan colour following her week long family holiday in Mexico, which Lizzie was sure had included a few nights out complete with underage drinking. Still, Kate was the most popular girl at school. And if the most popular girl at school screams your name down the hallway, you come running to her.
"Kate! I'm so sorry! I was just trying to get some textbooks out of my locker and I couldn't find what I was looking for!" She looked down at Kate's outfit then back up to meet her glare. "You look great by the way," she stuttered, falling over her words. "That's a really cute outfit."
Kate smiled, though the genuity in her expression was questionable. "You know I don't have time to run around school everyday screaming your name, Lizzie. I'm busy and I don't have time for your nonsense. Quit fooling around, you're one of us now."
In blatant contrast to the tall, long-legged girl she'd recently become friends with, Lizzie was short and stumpy. Her hair fell just below her shoulders and, opposed to Kate's neat curls, was knotted and pinned back with several bobby pins to keep it off of her face.
"Ugh," Kate sighed, "we really need to do something with your hair." She picked up a strand between her fingers and dropped it in disgust. "Seriously Lizzie, would it kill you to spend a little more time on this in the morning?" She used her finger to draw an imaginary circle around Lizzie's face. "I mean, even a little concealer here and there could work some magic."
Lizzie's cheeks glowed a faint shade of red.
"Anyway," Kate continued, "I need to tell you about a new website the girls and I have set up. It's totally fabulous. You're gonna love it." She grabbed Lizzie's arm and tugged her away as she sprinted down the hall and towards the library.
As the pair walked through the doors, heads turned to look at them. Lizzie wasn't so used to all of the attention, but it was clear that Kate had grown quite accustomed to it.
"I mean, I know we don't usually use the library, but I promise the shame of being around all of these nerds will be totally worth it when you see our new invention." She settled down at one of the computers, forcing Lizzie to pull up a chair beside her. Her red fingernails darted across the keyboard as she logged on to the school system and typed in the web address."
.com
"Isn't it neat?" She smiled, looking at Lizzie and expecting total amazement.
"Yeah," Lizzie replied, returning the smile and doing her best to look excited, aware of her hesitation.
Kate rolled her eyes. "You don't seem too excited about it Lizzie. What's wrong with you? Don't you know what we can do with this thing?"
"Um," Lizzie started, "not really." Her reddened glow returned.
"We just have to get people to start signing up, and before you know it, we'll have a powerful machine on our hands. You see, everybody has to fill out a questionnaire before they can register on the site. They have to give us all of their personal information - like their name and age and where they were born - and they have to tell us about their interests - like what music they like to listen to and what books they like to read. Then we can match them with somebody else on the site. Only we won't be matching them with somebody they might actually get along with. We're not that nice! No, we'll be making more dangeros matches." She turned around the find Gordo and Miranda sat at a computer across the room. "Like those loser friends of yours. When Miranda signs up, I'll match her with Larry Tudgeman. And here's the twist: the site tells you when you have a match, and gives you a meeting point for your date. Only you don't get to find out who it really is until you get there!" There was a light in Kate's eyes, symbolic of her delight in the plan.
"Sounds great," Lizzie lied. She looked over her shoulder once more, catching a glimpse of Gordo and Miranda staring at the computer screen in front of them. Miranda was wearing a black crop top and black cut-off jeans and had acquired several new piercings over the summer. Her mom had told Lizzie's mom that Miranda was going through the 'goth phase'.
Lizzie turned back to the computer screen to find Kate sending a document to the printer. "These are the flyers," she instructed. "We're going to hang them up around school so we can start finding our first visitors to the site." She handed a wad of paper to Lizzie. "Can you stick these up this afternoon during your free period?"
"Sure," Lizzie agreed. She furrowed her brows. "Wait, don't we have the same free period?"
Kate looked back at her in disbelief. "Hello? It's Friday. Claire does my nails every Friday and I do not want to ruin them, especially with the party coming up this weekend. Besides, everybody will know I'm trying to trick them if I hand out the flyers. People trust you, Lizzie. Work with me. "
"Oh, right. Sure, I can find time to put them up."
"And make sure you drop some in the science lab. All of the nerds meet there after school on Fridays, and we need as many nerds as possible to join up. And make sure Larry gets one."
"Of course," Lizzie agreed.
Kate shut off her computer and Lizzie moved back her chair.
"I'm trusting you, Lizzie. Don't let me down." She flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and strode out of the library.
Lizzie looked around, noticing Miranda's hand in Gordo's. Had they gotten closer over the summer? She wished she knew. Walking out of the library, shadowing Kate's path, she threw a weak smile in Miranda's direction before walking through the door.