just laughs. And then he throws her hat onto the street. A car drives right over it.
Stellaâs face crumples. âThat was Babaâs favorite hat!â
Tears well up in my eyes, and I put my arm around her. âYou poor dear.â
I canât believe I said that, but I did. And then I say, âHere. You take the purple one.â So much for doing my hat trick later. Doesnât matter. For some reason, itâs lost its appeal. Stella says, âThanks, Lizzie. But you keep it. It looks really cute on you.â
I canât tell her thatâs not comforting. I mean, considering she said her baba wascute and her taste in clothes...Oh, so what if she wears goofy clothes? Doesnât hurt anybody, does it?
I feel like Iâve entered an alternate universe. My mind is warped. I donât understand half the things Iâm thinking. Okay, I do understand them, but theyâre 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 donât even have the decency to hide their laughter. Poor things. Theyâre only doing it because it makes them feel superior. I know.
I stop and say, âHi. Howâs it going?â
Their laughter cuts out and they start looking at each other. Theyâre searching for clues on how to react. I wasnât supposed to stop. I was supposed to ignore them and pretend I wasnât hurt by their laughter. Key word,
pretend
. Talk about stupid games.
Finally, Haley says, âSome hat, Lizzie. Any special reason youâre wearing it?â
I glance at Stella and grin. âStella says it looks cute on me.â All right! I can still have fun!
âThatâs not what I heard,â Haley says. She smirks at the other girls and they smirk back.
âReally? Hmmm. Maybe we shouldnât believe everything we hear.â I take off the hat and say, âThen again, sometimes people are telling the truth. And even their friends donât believe them.â
Their seeking eyes donât bother me. I know theyâre trying to work it out, the rumored zits and the lack of evidence. Nothing is adding up for them.
âLizzie,â one of the girls says, âdo you happen to know where I can get something for my, um, skin?â Poor thing. Sheâs prone to breaking out.
âActually,â I say, âI donât. But Iâll check on that for you.â
She smiles. âReally? Youâd do that for me, after...?â She stops.
âNo problem,â I say. âCatch you later. Come on, Stella. We donât want to be late. It upsets the teachers.â
Stella and I meet up again at lunchtime and she says, âItâs kind of strange. Iâve noticed about five other girls are wearing hats today.â
I grin at her. âThatâs because they saw me wearing a hat yesterday. Lizzie Lane is a trendsetterâthe one to watch.â
Itâs a relief to know that some things havenât changed. We decide to go searching for Rachel. We find her in the same washroom Stella saw her in yesterday. Sheâs gathered with her little group, and theyâre 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, âOh. Hi, Lizzie. And whoever you are.â
âThis is Stella,â I say.
âHi, Stella,â Rachel says. âNice to meet you.â
The other girlsâ heads swivel back and forth. Theyâre waiting for Rachel to skewer me or go after Stellaâs clothes. Thereâs an easy mark. But Rachel disappoints them.In fact, she can barely look at me. The silence in the room is thick.
I canât stand it. I decide to help her out. âSo, Rachel. No hard feelings, eh?â
Her eyes widen and she slaps a hand over her mouth.
âNo, seriously. I mean it.â And I do
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