Holly Black by Geektastic (v5)

your…your
home
.”
    “Ah,” Ellen paused, obviously torn between a sarcastic response and a grown-up one. “Yes,” she decided.
    There was a moment’s silence as the cheerleader wiped her nose, reveling in her revelation.
    “Wait, ‘you’” Ellen suddenly asked. “‘
You
’ just really love it? Not ‘we’”
    “What?” Montgomery asked, confused. “Oh. Right. Yes. Not we. I mean, me. I mean, I don’t love it, the elves and stuff, no.”
    “Even after all this time? We didn’t convince you at all?”
    Montgomery sighed. “I…
appreciate
your passion. Now. And I think I can even appreciate some of the more…easily accessible…aspects of science fiction and fantasy. But I don’t love it the way you guys do. I just don’t hate it anymore.”
    “Oh,” Ellen said, thinking about it.
    “But I like
you
guys,” the cheerleader pointed out. “Just not the stuff you like.”
    “Well, I guess that’s something,” Ellen decided. She paused. “Um. I heard about Ryan…and, uh, David and what happened in the hallway, and you finding out, and…um, everything that was sucky. Um, sorry.”
    “Thanks. It
was
. Sucky.” Montgomery sniffed. She was quiet for a moment, sad. And then she thought of something. “Hey. The girls are going to come over tonight and, you know, just hang with me for a while. Support circle. I’d…I’d really like it if you came, too.”
    “You want me to come over and hang out with a bunch of cheerleaders?” Ellen asked carefully, making sure she heard right.
    “With my
friends
,” the cheerleader corrected. “My
other
friends.”
    Ellen paused, letting the significance of the statement sink in.
    “I don’t know,” she finally said. “I appreciate the offer, but your
other friends
might not.”
    Montgomery thought about it. Ellen was right; it was a little early for such a sudden culture clash. At least half her “other friends” had tormented Ellen and
her
friends at some point in their twelve long years of going to school together.
    “But, um, if you want to go to the mall or something, maybe, Saturday, I could let you pick out some makeup for me,” Ellen offered. It obviously took a lot out of her.
    “Okay, it’s a date,” Montgomery paused. “Hey, do you think you could invite Mica along?”
    “
What?
Oh, no,” the other girl groaned. “No. No, no, no, no…”
    “Jealous much?” the cheerleader quipped.
    “Horrified, more. On a level I can’t even put into words. Like—cosmic horror. I don’t suppose you’ve read
The Call of Cthulhu
, have you?”
    “Yes,” Montgomery answered proudly. “Yes, I have.”

 
    Tracy Lynn is the pseudonym for Elizabeth J. Braswell. Elizabeth was born in the United Kingdom, to her great surprise. When her parents returned to the United States, she stowed away in their baggage (mega geek points if you know who I stole this from). She is the author of
Snow
and
Rx
, and
The Nine Lives of Chloe King
as Celia Thomson, as well as numerous Disney Pirates of the Caribbean books.
    Geek creds, in no particular order:
    Favorite SF: old school. Favorite authors: Sturgeon, Bradbury, Clarke, Moore, Ian McDonald. Favorite movie:
Blade Runner
. Favorite Doctor: Fifth. Growing to love the Tenth. Favorite quote: “Where are we going? Planet 10!”
    Knows pi to 12 digits. Majored in Egyptology. Met husband at Star Trek convention. They were there as professionals: he published the Star Trek books, she produced Star Trek video games. Produced video games for ten years. Was on the math team, debate team, and in the Latin club…first story ever published was in
Amazing Stories
magazine. Can recite most of the
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by heart.
    You can find the rest of the Five Rules of Girls at www.themessydesk.com and write her at [email protected] .

    Text by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci. Illustrations by Hope Larson.

DEFINITIONAL CHAOS
    by scott westerfeld
    I wanted a mission, and for my sins the ConCom gave me