Starseed Read Free Page B

copied Melissa and ordered just a smoothie and chips. She felt like stabbing a boy in the eye who carried a tray with baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate milk. Kaila made a mental note: full breakfast before school.
    “C’mon,” Melissa called. “As promised, the Bush Freak Tour.”
    Relieved she had someone to hang with, Kaila trailed Melissa through the cafeteria, noting her trim figure in her black gauze shirt, tight jeans, and short black boots. Melissa headed outside.
    When she spied all the other students holding a bag or smoothie, Kaila was thankful she hadn’t gotten a meal. It was impossible to socialize outside and hold a tray.
    Outside, humid air surrounded them like hot breath.
    “Unless it’s raining, most everyone eats lunch here,” Melissa explained. They paused in a crowded, covered walkway and sipped their strawberry smoothies.
    “Each group has a tree,” Melissa whispered. “Over there,” she pointed, “are the preps. There you will find some of the most stuck-up, back-stabbing assholes in the world, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Here, you are defined by what you wear: Abercrombie, Hollister, Aeropostale, Pac Sun, DC shoes and hats, American Eagle, Billabong, Diesel, Juicy Couture, et cetera, et cetera.”
    Kaila, in her t-shirt and jeans from Wal-Mart, felt even more inadequate. She hadn’t realized clothes were so important. Everyone probably thought she was a hick. A know-nothing from a farm. She might as well start chewing tobacco and spitting.
    “Brandy Powell, the one in our English class giving you the evil eye, is the worst. She has gone out with Derek Mendoza, the guy throwing the paper footballs. She was pissed when he threw one at you.
    “Watch out: Brandy will smile at you and then chop your head off behind your back. Tara Melancon next to her, with the straight brown hair, prep skirt, and pearls, is the snottiest. When she looks at you, she looks like she smells something rank.”
    “Oh, the prep review,” said a girl joining them. She had short auburn hair and doe-like eyes with a smattering of freckles and a delicate pointed nose. She wore a form-fitting olive green t-shirt with a colorful beaded necklace and bracelets. “Hey,” she said to Kaila. “I’m Pia. You new here?”
    “Yeah. I’m Kaila.”
    “Well, hey. But I’ll give the shorter review: the girls are super bitches and the guys are all assholes.” She grinned as she pulled a brownie from a paper bag.
    “Pia’s cool,” Melissa said, brushing against Pia.
    “Get off me, ho.”
    “Pia makes her own jewelry. Isn’t this cool?” Melissa said touching Pia’s maroon and green beaded necklace. “Plus she’s a great skater and plays the fiddle.”
    A loud crash interrupted them. The two jocks from English who had thrown the paper football at Kaila had this scrawny guy in their arms. They had picked him up and thrown him in the dumpster.
    “Another douche hits the trash!” they shouted, slapping a high-five.
    “Not again,” Pia sighed. “The jock with the black hair is Derek Mendoza, the quarterback. Yeah, he’s hot but don’t think his shit don’t stink. And the hulk with the buzz cut is Wade Stoops. He is asshole numero uno . He’s on the football team too, but the reason his face is so red and pudgy like a pervert is ’cause he looks at nasty stuff constantly online. Put a permanent sneer on his face. He is gross, trust me.”
    Kaila watched the trashed boy pulling himself out of the dumpster, hitching his legs over the side. He had curly dark hair and adjusted thick glasses over reddened cheeks.
    “Hey dork dick, you stink!” Derek and Wade laughed as they sauntered away from the dumpster, their wide shoulders swaying.
    The dumped boy furiously wiped his baggy pants to remove pieces of trash.
    “That’s Douglas Lafarge,” Melissa whispered.
    Douglas balled his fist and shouted, “Eat me!”
    Several students in the area mimicked, “Eat me!”
    Douglas glared back at