Cornelia, Gone Chapter Two: Grades and Eating Disorders
Hello peoples! Sorry for not updating, but I almost forgot about this story. Oh well. Here is the new chapter. I hope you like it!
I would just like to say, yes, Gina is my creation, and Eric comes only in the 18th book. But other than that, you don't really need to know that, really.
A month had passed since Cornelia's first day. She considered that day probably the worst one in her whole entire life. She had never been that insulted in her life! She couldn't believe that Gina was back—that she was called fat, and that to find out that Hay Lin could only care about her precious little Eric. It was nice to see that Hay Lin started caring about boys, but Eric was just always on her mind. It was always, 'I talked to Eric today!' or 'Is Eric here?' It annoyed Cornelia to death, and she often thought of not even sitting with Hay Lin during lunch. But, she didn't want to seem so rude to her friends. Besides, she and Hay Lin barely got into fights—only Irma and Cornelia did.
It was a Tuesday. She dragged herself out of her bed and stared at herself in the mirror. 'I am a bit…well…heavy…' she thought to herself. 'Maybe I could lose a couple pounds. I am 122 pounds, and I think I'm not fitting properly in my clothes.' She dressed in comfortable clothes, brushed her hair and teeth, and then ran downstairs to find herself being greeted by fluffy waffles—made by scratch by her mother.
"Eat up, Cornelia!" Her mother replied. "Those waffles aren't going to disappear by themselves!" Lillian and her father were busy drenching the waffles in sugary syrup. The waffles were so tempting…so delicious…
"Um, no thanks, mom," she said, pushing her plate farther from her. "I'm not very hungry. That dinner you gave me last night made me really full!" she lied. Truth was, she loved her mother's made from scratch waffles, and she was desperately hungry, but she thought that possibly she could lose at least ten pounds. Then, she could possibly get Gina off her back.
"Well, ok…hmm…here is some lunch money for you. Are you sure you can pass without breakfast?" Her mother asked.
"Yeah, I can. I'll be fine, don't worry," Cornelia replied. She grabbed the money and ran out the door with a quick, "I love you" to her parents.
She saw Irma coming up near her as she neared the school. "Hey, Corny…you know that we are best friends and all…right?" she said in a sarcastic voice.
"What is it, Irma?" she asked, irritated by the way Irma sounded as if they had never even fought in their whole entire life of being best friends. She knew Irma was up to something, and was somehow bribing her to get it.
"Ok, ok…fine. Do you have a dollar?" Irma asked.
"Yes…but what do you want a dollar for?" Cornelia asked, sounding as if she wanted Irma to buzz off.
"Well, there is this dance that I really want to go to, and the entry is five dollars…and I only have four…" she said, her voice trailing off. "So, can I have it?" Irma snapped back to reality.
"Um…uh…sure…" Cornelia took out her lunch money and handed the dollar to her. Irma then put it back in Cornelia's hand.
"It's your lunch money, right? Don't worry, I'll ask Will," Irma said, turning back. Cornelia grabbed her shoulder.
"No, I had this extremely large breakfast, and I don't want my money to go to waste. Here, you can have the dollar. I'm not going to eat lunch today anyways," she lied half-heartedly. She knew that Irma would be suspicious, but she didn't care right now. She made her way into the high school.
"…so I was thinking of asking him out to this dance…" Hay Lin was saying as Cornelia entered the cafeteria. She neared her friend's table. It wasn't until she saw Gina with a tray of food. She sat down right next Will, who was saving the seat for Cornelia.
"Um," Will began, looking at Gina. "Why are you sitting here?"
"Well, can't I sit here?" Gina asked. "It's a free country. It's not like it says 'reserved' or anything on it, now doesn't it?"
Cornelia had already heard this and almost wanted to smack Gina in the face. She stood three tables away from the normal table she and friends' would sit at lunch, but how could Gina just take that seat, when she knew Cornelia sat there?
'To piss me off,' she thought.
"Well…yes…" Will began. But Cornelia came up to her, her face embedded in anger.
"You are trading me for Gina!" Cornelia asked, looking at the redhead. Will shook her head.
"She took it, Cornelia. Took it."
"Some friends you are." Cornelia said, turning her back to find an empty table for her to sit at. Obviously, her friends didn't think of her as Cornelia anymore.
Cornelia sat at lunch at the farthest table possible. She thought she would be the only one occupying the table, but she was wrong. Instead, she found herself swarmed in punks and grunge-people (A/N: Sorta like punks, not exactly). She felt uncomfortable sitting with all these people she didn't find very interesting—let alone even cool.
'How could they let Gina sit there? Do they hate me now?' she thought to herself. It wasn't until she heard a voice.
"So, what is a prep doing at the punk-and-grunge table?" asked a girl that just sat down. She had carrot-red hair and dark, slate gray eyes. She bit on her hamburger and looked at Cornelia.
"My friends aren't acting like friends no more," Cornelia began. "They've traded me for Gina."
The girl didn't reply. She traded with another punk a candy bar, then said in a monotone voice, "Gina, huh? Yeah, I remember her. Always tried fighting in third grade for the Miss Popularity title with some blonde like you…Corela or something like that…"
Cornelia felt a little insulted. "It's Cornelia, and you're talking to her," she replied. The girl looked a little taken aback, but then replied, "Sorry. I'm Agatha," she said, given Cornelia a handshake. "And don't worry about your friends. They always try to be friends with the most popular. I learned that the hard way. That's where we all came to this table today," Agatha added.
"Well, do you have anything to make me better?" Cornelia asked. "I mean…besides becoming one of you."
"Well, there is something. Adults call it The Way to Death, we call it The Essence of Life," Agatha handed a small bottle to Cornelia. It was unmarked, and Agatha had obviously drank out of it.
"Buy this brand. It's called Jennari's. It's only three dollars for a small bottle like this. To buy an entire pack, it'll cost you only ten dollars. But, it's really good." Agatha took a sip of it and then placed the bottle—closed—in her pocket.
"Why do adults call it 'The Way to Death?'" Cornelia asked. Agatha rolled her eyes.
"Because there are rumors that when you drink it, you could die. It's a bunch of crap, really. I've been drinking the stuff since I was ten years old, and I'm still healthy. Hey, aren't you in my social studies class?" Agatha began.
"Um…I guess…" Cornelia darted her eyes around. She felt uncomfortable just looking at all these people just staring at her, seeing if she would move away from them.
"Well…congratulations, you're a new friend and addition to our table. By the way, I suggest you cut your hair and choose a more 'grungier' outfit than what you are wearing. It'll make our image look bad if you don't. Oh, and by the way, you got a 'D' on your Social Studies test," Agatha said, getting up to throw away her trash.
A week had past, and Cornelia found out that after all her dieting, she had lost only five pounds. 'Only five more to go,' she thought to herself. She was already at 115 pounds, which was good for her, but then again, she thought of also dropping to 100 pounds. But, Cornelia let the thought out of her mind.
She had not bought Jennari's yet, and Agatha always bugging her. She had also not cut her hair or changed into clothes—mainly because she didn't want her parents to see what she was wearing to school.
Cornelia's grades were dropping fast. In the past week, all her grades were 'D's,' except for PE, which was a 'C'. Cornelia wasn't really caring much. She spent most of her time with Agatha and her new friends at the punk-and-grunge table—Derek, Yvonne, Robert, Cynthia and Cyril, and Spencer.
She also hadn't thought of Caleb in such a long time. It was like he had just slipped out of her mind. Even thoughts of Gina and her old friends just went away. Cornelia spent most of her time with the punks and grunge-ers, as they were called.
On a brand new Monday, Cornelia got up to find herself alone in the house, except for her little sister, who was being watched by a twenty-year-old babysitter. Cornelia weighed herself to see she was finally at 100 pounds. 'Good,' she thought. 'Only…now…I look like my skirts and jeans still look tight on my legs…' she saw herself in the mirror. 'Maybe…90 pounds is good for me.' She dressed in her usual outfits and headed out of the door, without saying goodbye to Lillian or her babysitter.
"Cornelia Hale, please come to the Principal's Office, please. Cornelia Hale to the Principal's Office," the voice of the secretary came on the loudspeaker in Cornelia's homeroom. A bunch of 'Ooooh' s came from her classmates, except for Will. She gradually walked out of the doorway, looking to see if Will would feel some compassion. Only, Will turned her head away, to talk to one of her new friends.
"Alright, Mrs. Harlix, what do you want?" Cornelia sat down in one of the chairs in the principal's office. Mrs. Harlix was a stout woman that often wore what looked like business outfits, and kept her hair in a tight bun.
"Cornelia, do you know about your grades?" Mrs. Harlix asked the changed girl.
"Don't know, don't care," Cornelia said rudely, chewing on a fingernail. Normally, Cornelia wouldn't do this, but under the influence of the punks and grunge-ers, she was completely changed.
"Don't answer me like that, young lady," Mrs. Harlix replied angrily, her temples throbbing, as if she had been smacked in the face. "You are here because your grades are terrible. You've got five 'F's and only one 'D'. If you don't make any improvement, I'm afraid you're going to be suspended. Who are you friends with now? You used to be friends with those four girls at that one table by the window at lunch. What happened?"
"They traded me for a little slut," Cornelia crossed her arms across her chest.
"Watch your language young lady. Who are you friends with now?" Mrs. Harlix asked again, trying not to lose her temper.
"Agatha… Derek, Yvonne, Robert, Cynthia and Cyril, and Spencer. Yeah…basically that's it."
Mrs. Harlix looked as if she was about to explode. "Just…please…please leave, Miss Hale."
Ok, how did you like this part? I liked this one a little better than the first chapter. It puts in more details. But, that is only in my eyes, so please tell me what you think by reviewing!
-Teenaged Assassin
Chapter 3: 'The Essence' of 'Death'Cornelia begins to take alcohol and becomes more violent than usual.