The Café

Briarwood Octavian Country Day

Wednesday, September 1

11:25 a.m.

Kaitlin Martinez had seen the whole scene unfold with her honey chocolate brown eyes from the very beginning as she sat at a table with Faye Parker. Faye was a sweet girl with blonde beach waves and greenish grey eyes. She had been sort-of friends with Faye since their elementary school days. But Faye was more like someone Kaitlin could find if she needed someone to sit next to or partner up with for a project instead of an actual best friend. When school was out, they both went their separate way.

But it was okay. Kaitlin didn't need a best friend. Because she was BOCD's B wing's famed Gossip Queen.

From Kaitlin's point of view, the girl with uneven skin tones and deep fried blonde hair who approached the cheerleader's table earlier was full of confidence, but she had lacked cool. If the girl had a little cool, then she wouldn't have cried in front of the whole school or let the other girls get the best of her with trash talking.

Kaitlin envied how brave that girl had been to walk up to those cheerleaders who think they own the school. Kaitlin would never do something that daring, even if she is the source of all juicy gossip. Instead, Kaitlin was more of the insult-me-now,-backstab-you-later type.

The painful truth was that the cheerleaders did look like they own the school, and they probably did. No one else in the cafeteria looked as pretty or attractive as them. Except for two girls who sat by the door.

Kaitlin recognized one of them immediately because she had spent her earlier years in the same wing as her. BOCD was divided into an A wing and a B wing before combining in seventh grade. Kaitlin and that girl both went to the B wing. The girl was a super smart Asian kid who dissed the teachers and never had any friends except for a boy older than her. Strange thing was that they weren't dating or anything. And the boy was hawt enough to find himself a girlfriend. But Kaitlin didn't remember the boy ever having any romantic history before, except being asked out by a few pretty girls and rejecting them all.

If he did have a girlfriend, even in secret, then she would know. Because gossip was her specialty. That was why everyone from the B wing knew her as the Gossip Queen.

Kaitlin guessed that the other girl who had auburn curls probably came from the A wing because this was the first time Kaitlin had seen her. The girl who ran out earlier and the two cheerleaders were also probably from the A wing too, for she had not seen them around before either.

Sighing, Kaitlin stood up from her seat.

"Where are you going?" asked Faye, eyeing Kaitlin's unfinished salad. With another sigh, Kaitlin answered, "Outside."

Luckily, Faye didn't ask more questions. She just nodded and continued eating her veggie burger. Good thing Faye wasn't the gossip-y type like her or else she might lose her popularity status when people hear that she was going outside to comfort the crying girl.

Kaitlin walked over to the door and dropped off her unfinished salad at the trash can along the way.

On the way out, the Asian girl caught her eyes and raised her eyebrows, as in saying, "You're serious-leh going outside to comfort that loser?"Kaitlin slowed down her pace and stared back steadily but strongly, giving off the message, "Yes. Got a problem with that?" The Asian girl smiled slyly, clearly amused, but then turned her attention back to her auburn haired friend who was picking at her salad with a troubled expression.

What ran through Kaitlin's mind first was, "That girl definitely has a lot more cool than the girl earlier." Then a second thought popped in and Kaitlin scowled in her head. "What does she have against everyone anyway?" Why does she even care? The girl sure never showed any care for anything or anyone before. Unless… she is going to use it for gossip?

If that girl ever tattled to the public, then Kaitlin's popularity would definitely plummet. Everyone knows that you don't hang around losers unless you are one. And Kaitlin was not going to be labeled as one. Especially by some friendless teacher disser.

To show that she didn't care, although she totally did, Kaitlin tossed her hair in front of the girl and strode confidently out the door, hoping that her reaction would make the girl change her mind about spreading the gossip.

She could have sworn the girl snickered under her breath.