Chapter Ten: Uglybeth

"Annie!" Jess called out cheerfully. She waved her pink lipstick in the air. Annabeth groaned inwardly.

"Hey Jessie."

"It's just Jess."

"Ooooh, my mistake. I thought we were doing a bit. You know, like you call me Annie and I call you Jessie." Annabeth laughed cheekily.

"Oh, it's just Anne? Ok, then."

"Annabeth. Say the whole thing." Annabeth bit back a sarcastic reply, like if that's even processable by your brain but she kept her mouth shut.

"Ok."

Annabeth closed her locker. "So, I'm going to class-"

"Of course I'll go with you!"

"Oh, I actually meant-"

"I'll even put up with your friends, Ugly and Uglier."

"Seriously? Kevin's not ugly and neither is Kenzie."

Jess laughed. "I get it, You have to be nice, even when you aren't around them. That's why I want to be your friend. You wouldn't care if I called you Ugly."

"Yeah, because no one cares what you think."

"Ex-cuh-YOOS me?" Jess stopped walking and turned to glare at Annabeth.

"Just staying the truth," Annabeth shrugged. Screw being nice. It already slipped out. "I mean, you're obviously not going to since you're so jealous, but-"

"I'm sorry," Jess said angrily. "But it's kind of unclear why you think I would be jealous of you."

"Because you so obviously suck. And you're so desperate and pathetic. And you just like to make fun of other people because you hope they'll spend more time worrying about themselves than about how fake and stupid you are."

"I- you- I don't-" Jess sputtered. "I'm not fake!"

"Uh huh," Annabeth said. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, ok darling?"

"What would make me sleep better at night is if you left!"

"Well, what would make me sleep better at night would be you leaving us alone!" A short girl with uneven, choppy, red hair snapped. "You didn't even know my dad!"

"Yeah," another kid said. "And everyone knows your nails are fake."

"Acrylics aren't fake!" Jess said, stomping her foot.

"Well, your hair is fake."

"Gah!" Jess screamed.

"See, honey?" Annabeth smiled. "Honestly, get over yourself. Make yourself a real future. Not one, oh, I don't know, living in your parent's basement? Oh darn, too bad you have a younger sister. She's in my step-brothers' grade! Their twins, you see? Since I know how to count, I can tell you that's 2. 2 step-brothers who have a class with your younger sister and tell me that that's 2 kids that are gonna need a basement to live in. Darn it, your parents only have one! Oh! Wait, wait, wait, wait, do you have an attic? That might help."

"I assume you want to stay in there? I'm going places. Perhaps my sister won't, though." Jess flipped her hair. "But we don't house peasants. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not."

"You don't house peasants, but you live there?" Annabeth said, feigning confusion.

"But-I-" Jess faltered. "You-"

Annabeth waved. The school bell rang and she grabbed her backpack and sauntered off to class.

"Our favorite new girl!" Kenzie grinned.

"Shut up."

"Ha!" Kenzie laughed and punched Annabeth in the shoulder. "Never."

And the next day, Annabeth went to her locker only to find it swarmed by Jess's friends.

"Hello, Jess," Annabeth said cooly. "Get out of my way." She pushed past her mean-girl friends.

"Hey Uglybeth." The mean girls laughed.

"Yeah, you know what? I'm thinking you can just call me A, since my name isn't processable by your teeny tiny brain."

"Well, I- I-"

"Oh, also, you might want to get a checkup. Your bleach is leaking into your brain."

"I'm perfectly healthy."

"If you say so, but I find that your lack of brain cells may be a strong interference with your physical health."
"My what? What?"

"See?"

"Yeah, I have eyes! What are we looking at, Uglybeth?"

"Forget it. Nothing." Annabeth rolled her eyes and walked over to Kenzie. "Idiot," she muttered under her breath.

"Well I'm offended," Kenzie laughed. "Oh, Annabeth, I have some bad news."

"What?"
"Kevin and I have been relocated, so to speak."
"What do you mean?"
"There's a monster or something at a school. We gotta take care of it."
"I thought satyrs did that."

"Yeah, well, we have to." Kenzie looked at the ground. "We're leaving tomorrow."

"Ok. Can I still stay in your apartment? Are you getting a new one?"

"No, we're staying. You can stay in our apartment. The other school isn't far, but I hear Thalia has been called to help with it too."

Annabeth's heart sank. Hylla was great, but they didn't know each other well. Besides, she was in a higher grade level. And they weren't exactly on the best of terms. Annabeth had destroyed her home, Circe's spa, of course. And refused to join them. So, not exactly the ideal girl to be the only person Annabeth knew at a school.

Yay.

Sorry I couldn't post; my computer kind of broke ish. Haha. Anyway, I will not post this next week but the week after. Sorry I make you wait so long. Please understand and send me ideas for my other story because have an uncurable case of Writer's block. Help!