The rest of the final week of the summer goes much quicker than I expected. I don't get to see Jessi though, she doesn't show up at the mall for lunch and when I go over to her house late that afternoon to see if everything's ok, her sister Becca tells me she's out shopping with their mother.
I was really shocked she stood me up today, I haven't seen her in over a week, since her family returned home from their trip to their old town in New Jersey.
The morning of the first day of school I am awoken by Vanessa shrieking at me to get out of bed. I look at the clock, it's 8.10. I can't believe I've overslept on the first day back! Quickly, I throw on my new pair of black jeans and a white thick sleeved singlet. I look in the mirror. I look so much better than I used to already, but I'm still a long way from satisfied. My hair is still so thick and unruly. I pull it back off my face into a high pony tail and decide to try and forget about it.
By the time my triplet brothers Jordan, Byron and Adam and I walk out the door, we're officially running late. Mom orders us into her station wagon and she appears frustrated. "I didn't want you boys to be late for your first day of high school". She scolds them, really it wasn't there fault I made the others late waiting for my turn in the bathroom.
We finally pull into SHS and bolt off in separate directions. I approach my locker and take out the books to my first class, I have English. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around. It's Jessi. She's looking a fair bit thinner than the last time I saw her, her shoulder blades stick out of her spaghetti strapped tank top. As I turn to face her I don't know if I'm more shocked to see her or to see how different she looks. "Mallory, your glasses! They really are.. gone!" She shrieks pointing to my face. I forgot I'm not the only one who looks different. I want to ask her why she stood me up and didn't try to contact me, but I decide to let it slip. We spend a few minutes discussing which classes we have, it turns out we only have one class together this whole semester, and that's math. We're both really disappointed, last year we had most of our classes together.
The bell rings and we're on our way to separate classes. I arrive at the room for my English class and on the way in, I stop to consider my seating choices. There's only 2 empty seats left, one next to Craig Avazian, I've had a bit of a crush on him for a while, and I'm too nervous to sit next to him. The other is next to Liz Cohen, one of the attractive girls I mentioned earlier that I feel a bit intimidated by. I guess out of all of her group, she's the least intimidating, so I slip into the seat beside her.
She looks over at me with a forced smile "You look great Mallory!" I can't tell if she's mocking me or just buttering me up. Liz isn't the smartest girl and I wouldn't put it past her that she's being nice to me so she can copy my work or partner up with someone on assignments that will do all the work for her. "Thankyou" I reply quickly, without making eye contact with her. "I'm serious! You actually have really pretty eyes under those glasses." Suddenly she seems less forced and kind of sweet.
The class goes by well enough, Liz doesn't try to copy work from me or anything else of the sort. She makes friendly chit chat as we walk to our lockers. Walking towards me is Jessi, she's laughing loudly with Sanjita Batts. Sanjita wears her long jet black hair in thin braids, she also always wears brightly coloured eye make up that stands out on her dark, Puerto Rican skin. She's a loud, obnoxious girl who's always had a soft spot for Jessi, even though Jessi always said she thought Sanjita was a bit eccentric for her liking.
They stop laughing as soon as they catch a glimpse of me, "Hi Mal!" Jessi calls out, waving to me. I smile and wave back. They stop beside me. "Wow Mallory, you look so different now, shame really.. Those glasses suited you!" Sanjita tells me sarcastically, and looks as though she's about to burst out laughing again. Jessi actually does start laughing again, and that's when I just turn away and walk off in disbelief. Jessi and I used to be such good friends. Why has she suddenly started standing me up, and now she's laughing at me with someone she never used to even like?
At lunch time, Jessi isn't sitting at our usual table, she's sitting with Sanjita and her friends Sandra Black, Bobby Gustavson, Lauren Aronsen and Randy Rodemacher. There's no more room left on that table for me. I feel awful and my previous fears are growing. What have I done to Jessi to make her ditch me?
I've been caught in my stunned expression, it's Liz Cohen and her gang. "Mallory! Why are you just standing there? Come and sit with us!" She pleads tapping me on the shoulder as she walks past. Mara Semple and Maria Fazio share a puzzled look and Jamie Sperling looks totally disinterested. I look over at Jessi, laughing her head off again at Sanjita who's screaming across the cafeteria. What choice do I have here?
"Thanks Liz, um.. Hi girls." I greet the rest of the group nervously. "Hi!" replies Mara in the same almost fake tone that Liz had used earlier this morning. "What's to eat today? I'm starved!" shouts Jamie as if she hasn't even realised I'm here. I sit silently eating my salad roll, I feel nervous and out of place with these girls, they're all so pretty and popular. Why on earth was Liz Cohen being nice to me? The rest of the group isn't quite as rotten as I imagined either.
After School I walk home about a ahead of my brothers, they might not be in a rush but I always like to get home as soon as possible. Being the oldest, I seem to have the most chores every afternoon as well as the most homework to complete. When I get home I have a snack, then begin my chores, then homework. I keep myself busy right up until dinner time. After that, there's nothing for me to do but think about what's up with Jessi. I consider calling her then quickly change my mind about 10 times before deciding to catch up with her tomorrow in math and trying to speak to her.