Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah

out laughing.
    “Don’t knock our talent, Jamilah. We’ll get there one day. We’ve just got to persevere, that’s all. But this band we have going here has real potential.”
    “My dad will never let me.” I’m not embarrassed to talk about my family life to my friends at madrasa. They’ve never ridiculed me or made stereotypical assumptions about me.
    “How about you leave your dad to me?” Miss Sajda says.
    “Are you serious?”
    “I’ll do my best.”
    I make a silent prayer to God to lend Miss Sajda a helping hand.
    “Your serve,” I tell Amy. It’s gym and the two of us are playing squash. We paired up after Liz and Sam ran straight to a court together, Liz flashing Amy an apologetic smile.
    “What do you think about Liz and Sam?” Amy asks me as she bounces the ball with her racket.
    “I still think Sam is intimidating.”
    “In what way?”
    “In the same way Peter is: cool, popular, confident. You feel like you have to come up with something brilliant and witty whenever you talk to them.”
    “Peter and Sam are good friends, you know.” She looks at me slyly.
    “Yeah, I know. What’s with the look?”
    “What look?”
    “The one you just gave me.”
    She gives a short hoot of laughter. “Don’t be so paranoid.”
    “Don’t be such a tease.”
    Amy raises her racket to serve and then lowers it and laughs. “You’re right. I did give you a look. Peter’s paying a lot of attention to you lately, isn’t he?”
    “Yeah…and it’s weird and totally unexpected.”
    “He has power in the classroom. The computer geeks hang on his every word, even when he’s making fun of them. Ahmed and Danielle’s gang say they hate him but I think they secretly crave his approval. He can even make his enemies care.”
    I think for a moment. “Not Timothy.”
    “Huh?”
    “Timothy couldn’t care less.”
    “Yeah, well, not all of us have the luxury of being so totally unaffected by other people’s opinions.”
    Suddenly the door slams open and Liz falls into the court. Sam is close behind her, grabbing her and kissing her neck. Liz squeals at him to stop, but she’s laughing and he continues.
    “Get your own court, will you?” Amy cries. “Or maybe a room.”
    Liz looks at us and grins. “Sorry, guys. We just came to see if you wanted to skip the rest of gym. Sam, Peter, Chris, and Iare going to the parking lot for a smoke. We’ll be back before the bus comes to pick us up.”
    “Since when do you smoke?” I ask.
    “It’s not a habit,” she says defensively. “But I don’t mind one here and there.”
    “News to us,” Amy says, pursing her lips as she stares at Liz.
    For a moment Liz looks uncomfortable, but then Sam throws an arm around her shoulders and draws her close to him.
    “She hated it at first but now she’s a pro. So are you two coming or are we going to waste the rest of the hour between four walls?”
    “Thanks for the offer,” Amy says, “but I’ll take the four walls.”
    I glance at Liz. She’s avoiding eye contact with Amy, whose face is etched with disappointment.
    “What about you, Jamie? Peter will be there.” Liz gives me a knowing look and I feel myself blushing.
    “Um…no, thanks. We’ve got a good game happening here.”
    Liz has become part of the cool crowd and half of me wants to throw down my racket and join her. I want Peter to admire my courage for skipping class. I want him to flirt with me. I was so close to saying yes, but I didn’t. Not because I knew it was wrong. Not because I was trying to take a stance. But because I didn’t want to leave Amy alone. If the circumstanceshad been different, I think I might have said yes. And that’s not because I like Peter. No amount of good looks can override the fact that he’s as good-natured as a crocodile with a toothache. Nah, it’s pretty simple. I might have said yes because sometimes wanting to be cool can come at any cost.
    Liz, Sam, Chris, and Peter make it back to the squash courts