Yep, it's been about nine months since I've posted anything. But I still have my notes and here's a Wendy POV for you.

Chapter 6

Once upon a time, two basically invisible freshmen girls walked to the bus because they weren't cool enough to have rides. They are about the same height, but that's really it. The brunette seems to want to disappear, but the blonde is clearly trying to make a statement. The statement is "I read fashion blogs and try too hard."

And that is how my walk to the bus after the first day of school went.

I had three classes with Eilonwy, which was totally amazing. If Peter and I had been friends forever, Eilonwy Llyr and I had been friends forever minus a few years. She moved down the street from me in fourth grade and instead of us bringing her a housewarming present, she brought my family a plate of cookies.

"Hi, I'm Eilonwy Llyr and I'm your best friend," she had chirped with a smile. Even at that age, she had a sort of infectious charm that made people listen to her. But Eilonwy didn't want to be any cooler than I was, which was why she was so ticked that I had eaten lunch with a group of upperclassmen.

"Darling, you'd better tell me why you were with Esmerelda," Eilonwy demanded. She kept fanning her face to keep from sweating. It was almost eighty-five degrees outside, but she'd insisted on wearing a leather jacket and patterned leggings to school.

"There isn't much to tell. She invited me to have lunch with her. We sat with the British exchange student and Pocahontas Pohawtan, and they brought Merida DunBroch." I shrugged. I really didn't want Eilonwy to be jealous of me. After all, I'd been supportive of her eating lunch with the other JV cheerleaders today.

Eilonwy sighed and finally took her jacket off. Her white tank dress had a huge pit stain on the right side, but if she didn't lift her arms it wouldn't really matter. "Well, the JV girls are soooo boring. All they wanted to talk about was homecoming attendants and escorts. Like seriously, I couldn't give two shits about who gets to walk down the football field together. My heels would totally sink in the grass anyways." I could tell she hadn't been mentioned as a candidate. Eilonwy wouldn't want to win, but who wouldn't at least want to be considered? I followed her galaxy-print butt up the steps to the bus. We plunked down in a seat near the back.

Esmerelda sat a few seats behind us. I considered saying something to her but she seemed pretty into listening to her iPod and writing all over her arms. She had seemed pretty cool at lunch today. She and Mary had talked about bands with Merida and discussed gossip about people I didn't even know yet. Even girls who strive to be different are still as obsessed with each other as the girls who thrive off of attention, I'd realized.

"Have you seen Peter at all today?" Eilonwy asked. She was the only person (well, except for my diary) that knew about Peter. And she was nothing but supportive. She said she'd spy on Tina during cheerleading and everything.

I bit my lip and shook my head. I glanced outside the window to see Peter walking Tina to her bus. She stood up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. My blood boiled at how cute she was. I wasn't that much bigger than her, I just wasn't as pixie-like. Why couldn't I be that damnably cute?

Peter sat in one of the only available seats near the front. Eilonwy pulled her phone from her new backpack ("It's Vera Bradley," she had told me) and opened her favorite blog. "I totes tried to copy this outfit from Cindy Payton but I think it was a major fail," she whined. Cindy Payton was a sophomore at our school, but more importantly she was a super stylish fashion blogger. She was basically everything wrapped into a small bundle of I-try-really-hard. It worked for her, but she didn't have that effortlessly cool thing going for her. That meant she'd never be the coolest girl in school.

"I don't think I'm built like her at all," Eilonwy babbled, "Like I think my legs are too long and my waist isn't as defined as hers is. Does this dress make me look fat?" I tried to listen, but my mind was sitting near the front of the bus.

Eilonwy followed my gaze and sighed. "Tina might get to be one of the freshmen attendants," she told me quietly. "Not that it really matters. It's either going to be her or Andrea Dresbach."

"You know, I really don't care," I retorted. I knew I'd been a bit harsh, but it was true. I couldn't care less if Tina Bell was going to be one of the freshmen homecoming attendants. I just wanted her to ditch Peter. But not hurt him. Even in the darkest, meanest parts of my heart, I never wanted Peter to hurt.

"Yeah, okay. This is my stop, so I'll text you later," Eilonwy said with a crooked smile. Eilonwy tried to understand. And she sort of did. She'd been mooning over Devon LeFou since she'd heard last year that he was going to be in her drama class. So having a major crush wasn't new to Eilonwy. I just wish she'd understand that I didn't like to dwell.

Two stops later and it was my turn to get off the bus. I stood up and awkwardly waved at Esmerelda. She didn't look up because she was still busy scribbling on her arms. I walked off the bus and started down my long driveway.

About five seconds later I heard the bus stop again to let someone off. "Wen! You forgot your bag!" I heard someone yell behind me. I turned around to see Peter smiling his huge smile at me and waving my new bag.

I wanted to sulk over him not talking to me at all today, but his thoughtfulness had melted me. "I can't believe I forgot it! Thanks for grabbing it for me." I smiled in return and gratefully took it from his hands. I took a quick glance at his dimples. They were still there.

And there still weren't mine.

I spun on my heel quickly and started to walk away. I felt like a cold glass of water had been dumped down my back. What was wrong with me? Peter had a girlfriend. A pretty, blonde girlfriend. A girlfriend who would probably be freshmen homecoming attendant. A girlfriend who could do a triple pirouette without having to fix her hair. A girlfriend who wasn't me.

"Hey, Wendy," Peter called after me. Being the punishment-loving idiot I was, I turned back to him. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans. They were the holey ones Tina hated. Naturally, I loved them. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you, like, at all today. I was a little overwhelmed," he continued. But he perked up right away. "Do you want to come over and play soccer later? Tina has dance all night."

If I was smarter, I'd say no. I'd swallow the butterflies that threatened to bust out of my stomach and give him a cold shoulder. Instead, I agreed and invited him to come and get a snack at my house.

After all, he was my best friend.