Natara's changed and awful lot.
She spent the whole summer in Europe.
And she cut her hair.
And started wearing outfits like the ones she saw in Europe
and berets.
Mal still hasn't even hit his growth spurt yet.
He's still invisible.
He's still same old Mal,
but she's not Natara anymore.
She's hanging out with a group
of new friends.
Ones with $20 allowances
and nannies and butlers.
But he notices as she give her old lip balm ring a twist
and he thinks that maybe the old Natara is still somewhere in there.
~24~
They're all boring her.
All they talk about is clothes and stores
and shoes and people.
But they're cool
and she wants to hang out with them.
She glances over at her old friends
and catches Blaise staring.
They both look away quickly.