Chapter 7: "Period 4"
Period four was a study hall, so I went to the library and signed in. Students had the option to go to the library during study halls, and I took advantage of every opportunity to go. The library was quiet. Study halls were almost always zoos, and it was impossible to get anything done in them. Only the geeks and grinds went to the library, it seemed. I thought I would be left alone in the library, but I was wrong. While I was signing in, a football player cornered me.
Townsend, a wide receiver on the varsity football team. One of the golden boys in the school. Big, muscular, tall. He was trying to flirt with me. I was a full foot shorter than him. He also had a girlfriend. Big Boobs Barbara. Medium height. Perfect hourglass figure. Boobs the size of footballs. Face like a funhouse nightmare. Why was he trying to flirt with me?
"Hey little Red! I've never seen you around here before. Are you a new student?"
"No, I've been here since tenth grade."
"I've seen you before?"
"Yes, you have. Many times."
"I'm stumped. Who are you?"
"Nichole."
"I don't recognize the name."
"Of course not. You never asked."
"I'm sure I would have remembered you."
"This is the first time I've worn a dress and applied makeup. The hairdo is completely new, too."
"Never worn a dress before? Never worn makeup before?"
"Nope." I could see the gears grinding in his head. Slow realization washed over his face. He backed up from me with panic starting to appear in his eyes.
"No. It couldn't be. You couldn't be that flat-chested tomboy with the wild lion-like hair. You couldn't be."
I pulled my dress tight over my chest showing the complete lack of a bustline. I lifted my hair out showing the slight curls that were still there. The slight, fluffed curls that gave my hair the appearance of a lion's mane.
Mr. Wide Receiver, the glamour boy, fled. Didn't say a word. Just backed away and then fled. Oh, the shame! The everlasting shame! He had hit on a flatsie. I walked to an empty table way in the back among the stacks of books in the direction opposite to which Mr. Wide Receiver had fled. I pulled out my English class folder and started working on a composition that was almost finished and due on Friday. For the remainder of the period, out of sight back there in the stacks, I had blessed peace. Lunch, which took place in the middle of period 4, however, was a different story.
