Perfect Revenge by K. L. Denman Page A

just laughs. And then he throws her hat onto the street. A car drives right over it.
    Stella’s face crumples. “That was Baba’s favorite hat!”
    Tears well up in my eyes, and I put my arm around her. “You poor dear.”
    I can’t believe I said that, but I did. And then I say, “Here. You take the purple one.” So much for doing my hat trick later. Doesn’t matter. For some reason, it’s lost its appeal. Stella says, “Thanks, Lizzie. But you keep it. It looks really cute on you.”
    I can’t tell her that’s not comforting. I mean, considering she said her baba wascute and her taste in clothes...Oh, so what if she wears goofy clothes? Doesn’t hurt anybody, does it?
    I feel like I’ve entered an alternate universe. My mind is warped. I don’t understand half the things I’m thinking. Okay, I do understand them, but they’re not me.
    It gets worse.
    We arrive at school, and out of habit I go by way of the covered area. All my friends are there again. They take one look at me and Stella and crack up. They don’t even have the decency to hide their laughter. Poor things. They’re only doing it because it makes them feel superior. I know.
    I stop and say, “Hi. How’s it going?”
    Their laughter cuts out and they start looking at each other. They’re searching for clues on how to react. I wasn’t supposed to stop. I was supposed to ignore them and pretend I wasn’t hurt by their laughter. Key word,
pretend
. Talk about stupid games.
    Finally, Haley says, “Some hat, Lizzie. Any special reason you’re wearing it?”
    I glance at Stella and grin. “Stella says it looks cute on me.” All right! I can still have fun!
    â€œThat’s not what I heard,” Haley says. She smirks at the other girls and they smirk back.
    â€œReally? Hmmm. Maybe we shouldn’t believe everything we hear.” I take off the hat and say, “Then again, sometimes people are telling the truth. And even their friends don’t believe them.”
    Their seeking eyes don’t bother me. I know they’re trying to work it out, the rumored zits and the lack of evidence. Nothing is adding up for them.
    â€œLizzie,” one of the girls says, “do you happen to know where I can get something for my, um, skin?” Poor thing. She’s prone to breaking out.
    â€œActually,” I say, “I don’t. But I’ll check on that for you.”
    She smiles. “Really? You’d do that for me, after...?” She stops.
    â€œNo problem,” I say. “Catch you later. Come on, Stella. We don’t want to be late. It upsets the teachers.”
    Stella and I meet up again at lunchtime and she says, “It’s kind of strange. I’ve noticed about five other girls are wearing hats today.”
    I grin at her. “That’s because they saw me wearing a hat yesterday. Lizzie Lane is a trendsetter—the one to watch.”
    It’s a relief to know that some things haven’t changed. We decide to go searching for Rachel. We find her in the same washroom Stella saw her in yesterday. She’s gathered with her little group, and they’re all looking bored.
    At least, they look bored until Stella and I walk in. Then their eyes gleam and they turn eagerly to Rachel.
    Rachel says, “Oh. Hi, Lizzie. And whoever you are.”
    â€œThis is Stella,” I say.
    â€œHi, Stella,” Rachel says. “Nice to meet you.”
    The other girls’ heads swivel back and forth. They’re waiting for Rachel to skewer me or go after Stella’s clothes. There’s an easy mark. But Rachel disappoints them.In fact, she can barely look at me. The silence in the room is thick.
    I can’t stand it. I decide to help her out. “So, Rachel. No hard feelings, eh?”
    Her eyes widen and she slaps a hand over her mouth.
    â€œNo, seriously. I mean it.” And I do