This week was great so far. For the first time, I actually have friends. There are three people I can actually talk to and share everything with.

On Saturday morning, we were at my house.

"You know what I don't get," Trish brought up. "How come when genies grant you a wish they always add something bad to it."

"What do you mean, Trish?" asked Austin.

"Like…they always add something bad to it."

"You mean like…you wish you were utterly attractive and everybody in the whole world ends up falling in love with you," I said.

"Guys, to be honest, I really don't know y'all that well," Dez mentioned.

"Uhh?" asked Austin.

"I don't know y'all that well. How could we be friends if we don't know each other that well?"

We exchanged looks and looked back at Dez. I said, "Yeah. We don't know each other that well."

"Well, what do you wanna do about it?" asked Trish.

"Here's an idea." suggested Austin. "Why don't we spend the day doing each other's favorite thing?"

"That's a great idea." said Dez. "Who are we doing first?"

"Since Dez brought it up," I said, "I think he should go first."

"Okay. My painting class starts in a few minutes."

"Painting?" Trish gave the redhead a look. "Dez, you take a painting class?"

"I don't take a painting class. I teach a painting class. Come on."

Dez led us to his art class at the Community Hall. We walked into a classroom filled with adults and easels.

"Hello, class," Dez said aloud. He leaned over towards us. "Y'all can go to an easel and grab a brush."

Austin, Trish, and I sat next to each other. Dez said to the class to painting something that comes to your mind.

A vision of stars and Oreos came to my mind. I guess I should paint that.

I started making yellow stars and making little, ugly Oreo cookies. Then, I covered them in a background of dark blue.

Dez came up behind me and asked, "Ally, what is this?"

"Oreos and cookies?" I wrinkled up my nose.

"Mm…I like it. It's more interesting than Austin."

I turned to Austin to find his painting of a brown circle.

"Austin, what is that?" I asked.

"It's a meatball." He answered. "I got hungry."

Soon we realized that this was a class was for disabled people. It was nice talking to these people, although one of them kept checking me out.

Next thing we did was Trish's favorite activity, which was shopping. I hate shopping. I'm perfectly fine with the clothes I have even though I dress weird.

We walked into a store in the mall and looked around.

"How does shopping look so far?" asked Trish.

"Boring," yawned Austin. "What's so fun about shopping? It's like buying a gift for someone."

"Austin, buying a gift is different. Buying a gift should be something fun and something the other person wouldn't but for themselves."

"You mean like a sweater?"

"Hey, sweaters are not just for warmth. They have…a geometric shape in it."

"So the fun in a sweater is the geometry?" I asked.

"Let's just shop." Trish scoffed.

Trish just ran around the store grabbing clothes for us to try on. Some of these clothes weren't even our style.

"Austin, try these jeans on," Trish commanded. "Dez, you try this shirt on. Ally, what shoe size are you?"

"Trish, I don't need a pair of shoes," I assured her.

"Oh, come on. Shoes are as good as the outfit. You always wear those sneakers you have on."

"They're my only pair."

"You have one pair of shoes?"

"Yeah. How many do you have?"

"I don't remember. I stopped counting after twenty-nine."

Dez came out in a fancy-looking shirt. "I don't know, Trish. This shirt isn't really me."

"Are you kidding me? That's Versace." She told him.

"Fo-satchy? You can't even spell Fo-Satchy."

"Fo-Satchy. F-O…Satchy!"

Austin came out in an outfit that looked tight on him. He was hunched over and taking baby steps toward us.

"Austin, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah…I'm fine," his voice cracked.

"I don't know." mumbled Trish. "Can you straighten up, Austin?"

"If I could…I would. These clothes are too tight! Trish, what size did you get me?"

"The sizes you told me. Sometimes the clothes are little."

"No wonder!"

"Okay, Austin. Just go change."

"Thanks." He took baby steps back into the dressing room.

I looked at Trish. "How can you wear these kinds of clothes, Trish?"

"Easy. I stretch them out as good as I can."

"There's no animal fur here, right?" asked Dez.

"I'm pretty sure not." answered Trish.

"Uhh…guys?" Austin peeped his head out of the dressing room. "I got a problem."

"What is it?" I asked.

"The pants—they won't come off."

"Come again?"

"These pants won't come off. Help me!"

Dez, Trish, and I walked in. Austin had his regular shirt and the pants high on his thighs.

"How do we do this?" asked Dez.

"I got it." Trish snapped his fingers. "Dez, you pull Austin and Ally and I will pull the pants.

Dez wrapped his arms under Austin's underarms. Trish and I grabbed both of Austin's legs and gripped the jeans.

"Go!" I yelled. I began to yank on the jeans while Trish did too.

Dez pulled on Austin and yelled, "Austin, why do you have to have such thick thighs?!"

"Hey, I get these from my mom!" yelled Austin.

For the weak moment, I let go and sighed, "What now?"

"There's something I just realized," said Austin. "I forgot to unbutton it."

Trish and I gave him a look and walked out of the dressing room along with Dez.

After trying on clothes, we headed to my club for poetry. I led my friends in here and we sat at a table.

"What is this?" asked Trish.

"Poetry Slash." I explained to them. "It's a place where you do poetry. I like it here. Ooh, watch this guy."

A guy walked up onto the stage.

"Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet snd slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

"I shall go shod in silk,
And you in wool,
White as white cow's milk,
More beautiful
Than the breast of a gull.

"We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

"We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow."

The three of them looked at me. I said, "How was that?"

"He mentioned a seagull's boob," said Trish. "Like it was nice."

Another man came up on the stage and said, "Would anyone else like to fill our souls with passionate words? How about you?" He pointed to Austin.

"Me?" Austin asked. "Oh, no. I don't do poetry."

The guy yanked Austin onto the stage and Austin gripped the microphone nervously.

"Uhh…hello," Austin stuttered. "I will say a poem that I am now making up in my head called…Stinky Feet.

"Most of my life I could walk around
With sandals or no shoes on
But as soon as I had to enter
The work force
The world of stinky feet
Had just begun.
I had to wear work shoes
From 7am to 3pm, from breakfast
To dinnertime it had to be.
For hours my feet would boil and swell
At the end of the day
My feet didn't feel so well.
When I was through and finally home
I kicked off my shoes
To let my feet breath,
But oh what a smell!
I guess from now on my feet will stink
But it's not about me
It's about what others think."

We just looked at him like he was an idiot. It was something Austin made up. That wasn't bad at all.

After that, Austin escorted us to the bowling alley. As we got our shoes, there were a few recognizable people.

It was the Preps: the group of popular girls and cocky athletes. The five were Frankie Pinciotti, Renata Levya, Jay Mitchell, Daniel Maccabee, and Jocelyn Cooper. They were Trish's former friends. The three guys were tall and looked like serious weightlifters. Both girls were thin and pretty.

Frankie walked up to Austin. "Hey, Dipshit."

Austin rolled his eyes and sighed, "What now, Frankie? I mean Shit For Brains."

"If I were you, Dipshit, I would stop talking," warned Jocelyn.

"Jocelyn, leave him alone," said Trish. "Or else your high heel is gonna be stabbed into your cheek."

"Oh, isn't it Fat Amy? Looks like all the food ran away once you walked in."

"Hey!" yelled Dez. "Nobody insults Trish except for me."

"Ooh, if it is the gaywadd," laughed Jay. "I heard how you always eye all the guys in the locker room."

My friends were all sad and weakened. I bit my lip and blurted out, "Go away."

The five of them gave me a look. I said, "We are not bothering you. Just leave us alone. Come on, guys."

We walked away from them before anything else could happen. Finally, I stopped. "Are y'all alright?"

"Thanks for that, Ally," said Austin. "I was that close to break their spines."

"They shouldn't do that to us. We need do something."

"Just ignore it, Ally." scoffed Trish.

"No, they get us and we get them back harder. The only way to crack a bully…is their kryptonite."