Author's note: CNJ: I'm glad you're enjoying all the drama between Cokie and Jessica! Thank you for your feedback in my story. And as for Sharon, she's taking a little time off from her job, yes. Thanks for all your helpful reviews. :)
Chapter 7
At lunchtime, I felt so lost. Back at my old school, I felt like a princess sitting at the Unicorner with the rest of the Unicorns at our table. Here at SMS, I felt like a fish out of water; I didn't belong anywhere.
I needed somewhere to sit so I spotted Elizabeth sitting with Dawn, Mary Anne and a bunch of other girls I didn't know.
The table was kinda crowded because at this particular table, sat Elizabeth, Dawn and Mary Anne sitting with four girls I didn't know but I was desperate to sit with anybody just so I wouldn't look like a loser new kid.
"Jess, come sit!" Elizabeth exclaimed, waving over to me.
"Are you sure there's room for me?" I asked hesitantly.
"Of course! Dawn and Mary Anne were just introducing me to their friends. Have a seat!"
I shrugged, sitting down.
It was then that I recognized the other girls as some of the girls I saw in the photos in Mary Anne's room.
"Jessica and Elizabeth, these are our friends," Dawn introduced, pointing to each girl. "Kristy Thomas, Abby Stevenson, Stacey McGill and Claudia Kishi. Our other two friends are sixth graders that have a different lunch period than we do."
"Um, hi," I said, suddenly shy. "I'm Jessica."
"I saw you in my English class," the girl named Abby replied. "I have a twin sister, too! – Her name is Anna."
I nodded, suddenly realizing the secretary had mentioned another set of twins here earlier.
"I love your outfit but who is Johnny Buck?" the girl called Stacey asked.
I wanted so desperately to roll my eyes. These Stoneybrook people are soooooooo musically ignorant, I thought.
"He's one of the most talented, most beautiful, most cutest rock stars on the face of the Earth," I said.
"From how he looks on your shirt, he definitely looks hot so I think I agree on the beautiful part," Stacey replied, smiling.
"Don't mind Stacey. She's always boy crazy," the girl named Kristy replied, rolling her eyes jokingly. "Dawn just told us you guys had a run in with Cokie Mason. What was that like?"
"Why is she so mean?" I asked. "All I did was bump into her and she tried to bite my head off!"
"She's a bully. She's just jealous of us," the girl named Claudia said, waving her hand dismissively. "All Cokie has done since we've known her is try to make our lives miserable. If I were you, I'd ignore her."
Elizabeth chuckled. "Well, you don't have to tell me twice. I've dealt with my fair share of mean girls before and I don't want to deal with them again."
I narrowed my eyes a little at Elizabeth's 'mean girls' comment because I knew she was referring to the Unicorns but I let it slide.
"Must be great being from such a cool place like California," Abby mused. "I'd love to live there but I think the redwood would make me sneeze."
"Abby, the world would make you sneeze," Kristy said, giggling.
Abby burst out laughing. "Tis true," she replied.
So far, the girls I was sitting and talking to seemed really nice but something was eating at me about them.
The more I sat and hung around them, the more I realized I had absolutely nothing in common with them. Stacey and Claudia seemed the most cool out of the bunch but even with them, I didn't feel like I belonged with any of them.
I really missed my Unicorn friends. With them, I'd be gossiping about boys, making plans for sleepovers or shopping trips, talking about celebrities and our favorite TV shows.
The Baby-Sitters Club seemed like something Elizabeth's Angel Club would probably do.
I remembered when Elizabeth first joined the Unicorns, she couldn't take it because she realized she had nothing in common with us. Then when she rejoined it, her and her friends made changes and had us do nice things for our community, which was actually kind of cool. We volunteered working at a daycare center.
I was secretly glad when Kimberly Haver came back from Georgia and switched things back because I couldn't take another minute working in that daycare center.
Lizzie would be a perfect fit for these girls, I thought. Not me. This isn't my world. I liked Dawn and Mary Anne but I couldn't see myself as their best friend or anything.
The lunch bell rang, signaling it was time to depart.
"Jess, the girls in the BSC invited us to a meeting of their club. Kristy says it's OK to hang out," Elizabeth said. "Today is one of the days they're going to be meeting. I know kids and baby-sitting isn't really your thing but do you still want to come?"
I shook my head. "Nah. I think I'll pass. You go on without me. I think I'll just go back to the Spiers' house."
Elizabeth frowned. "Oh…OK. Well, just tell Mom where I'll be at after school."
I only nodded.
"Nice meeting you, Jessica!" Stacey replied, giving me a friendly smile as she walked away.
"Um, thanks," I said.
The cafeteria was nearly empty at this point. I spotted a trash can and went to throw my trash away.
But before I could, Cokie Mason blocked my path. She was standing in the middle with at least three other girls and she had her hands on her hips, giving me a smug grin.
"Well, so we meet again," she drawled, crossing her arms. "What were you and your loser friends talking about? Changing stinky diapers?"
Her friends all laughed.
"Can you just leave me alone?" I asked pleadingly. "I don't even know you."
Cokie then put on a baby voice, mocking me. Her cronies laughed again. Then she glared at me, continuing to talk. "You started it when you bumped into me, Wakefield."
"It was an accident. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm not in the mood."
I turned to walk away from her and her clique. This girl clearly has issues, I thought.
"Anyone who hangs with those baby sitting freaks are losers. I swear, those girls think they're better than everyone else."
I felt my blood start to boil. "First off, those girls aren't freaks. Second, two of them are my cousins and third, I'm not in the club so back off!"
And before I knew what I was doing, I had shoved Cokie into a wall, grabbed her hair and began hitting her as hard as I could.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Someone yelled. I heard shrieks from kids in the cafeteria.
Next thing I knew, I was being pulled off Cokie by a man in a suit and tie.
"Enough! Stop it! I will not have fighting! Enough!"
"But, Mr. Taylor, she started it!" Cokie yelled.
"You provoked me!" I yelled back angrily.
"I don't care who started it! Both of you in my office! Now!"
The two of us dutifully followed Mr. Taylor to his office.
My first day at a new school and I was already in trouble.
