Dr. August. [TMAD series.]

"....walk away."

As Christina sat down at the table with the girls, she definitely noticed that they were a prissy group. Their purses lay slumped on the table along with the scent of combined perfume smells. Christina glanced around, then looked back at the girls.

"So where are you from?" Brooke smiled. "You look like you're from Iraq or something."

"The Netherlands." Christina nodded. "But I was raised in Iraq. Haha."

"So do you like, speak a fluent language in your kind?" Abby asked as she gave her a shocked look.

"Yeah." Christina smiled.

"Say something, then." Maya grinned as she gave her a look.

Christina thought of something in her head, then spit it all out.

"Toi ten là Christina và toi từ Netherland." Christina smiled, rolling her R's just like her mother.

"What?" Abby said as she scrunched her eyebrows.

"It means "hello. I'm Christina and I'm from the Netherlands." Christina nodded. "I speak Vietnamese fluently."

"Hm. Alright." Brooke cheesed.

Abby looked over at James, then looked back at Christina.

"You know that boy James that you sit with?" Abby whispered, leaning closer to her from across the table.

"Yeah?" Christina said. "That's my friend."

"He wore that outfit twice this week." Abby giggled. "I heard that he doesn't take showers."

"In fact, he doesn't!" Maya laughed as she leaned back and smacked her knee. "Remember last year when he admitted that he didn't?"

"Yeah!" Brooke chuckled. "Just look at his shirt. They still have Tuesday's stains on them."

"That's why I feel sorry that you ate off of him." Abby said as she shook her head and folded her arms. "You'll probably catch some germs yourself."

"He's really self conscious about himself." Christina said in a slightly angry tone. "You guys should leave him alone."

"Hey hey, we're just warning you." Maya snapped back. "We don't want you hanging around the losers."

"Trust me, once you hang out with us, you'll grow tired of him." Abby smiled as she slid a piece of paper across the table.

As Christina glanced down at the paper, it was one of the burliest invitations she'd ever seen. It was hot pink all around with nothing but hearts, stars, etc.

"What's this?" Christina asked.

"A sleepover at my house next week. Almost everyone will be there." Abby nodded. "And you my friend, are definitely invited. Just bring a sleeping bag, okay?"

"Um....okay." Christina smiled. "I guess I'll ask my mom and dad."

Before she knew it, the bell to the school had rang. All three of the girls stood up and started walking with a whole bunch of guys that were ahead of them.

"Don't be late!" Abby winked as they walked off.

When they left, Christina immediately walked back to James. He was putting his sandwich in a bag, planning to sneak it back into class. James looked back at Christina as he finished munching on his food, smiling at her.

"James, I'm really really sorry-"

"It's okay, Christina. I'm not mad!" James said, spitting a little with his lisp. "I'm used to sitting by myself. It's not a big deal!"