Gossip Galore

School is Tempting

I slung my purse over my right shoulder, then applied a fresh layer of my dark red Daring Darling lip gloss. I smacked my lips together. Today was the day I would hold back from all of the gossip I needed to spread. Today was going to be free of all lies.

I put a strand of my hair behind my ear. This is it, I thought. I stepped out of the bathroom, my heels clicking with each step, and walked into the world of darkness that awaited me.

"Hey Lauren." Lissette's cheerful voice greeted me.
 "Hey," I weakly answered.

"What's wrong with you? Nevermind. Anyways, guess what? Matt asked me out!" Her smile extended and her eyes sparkled. "Isn't that great? I mean I always thought he would pop the question sometime, but not so soon! It feels so great to have a boyfriend again. Like there's a reason you're alive, you know? Lauren, are you listening?"

"What? Yes, yes I'm listening. I was... I'm sorry. Matt asked you out! That is great. I'm so happy for you."

I felt like such a bad friend, for not being happy for her and for lying to her face like that. But I was on a low-gossip diet, and I tend to get grouchy when I'm deprived. I half-listened to Lauren's endless rambling as I got my books out of my locker.

"I have to get to class," I told Lissette, grateful to have an excuse to get out. She raised an eyebrow at me, then mumbled "Yeah, bye. "

I couldn't remember the last time I had gone to class without Lissette, but I really needed some time to think. I bumped into someone, knocking down the few notebooks he was holding. "Sorry," I blurted, rushing out of there. I sat down at my seat, relieved to be somewhere safe. I took out a strand of my strawberry gum and popped it into my mouth. Class started, and Mr. Brenton walked in with a smile on his face, as always. "Good morning my wonderful class," he greeted us, as always.

"I have some exciting news today. As you all know, there are 32 people in this class. In a few minutes, there will be 33!" He clapped his hands together and smiled a cheesy smile. "Well, isn't this exciting! I just love new students!" We heard a knock on the door, and Mr. Brenton danced his way to it. "That must be her," he exclaimed as he turned the doorknob. He stepped out into the hallway. The classroom full silent except for a few shushes coming from people who were trying to over hear the conversation coming from the hallway. I rolled my eyes at them.

A minute later, Mr. Brenton stepped into the classroom. He had a huge grin on his face. "Class, this is Jade." He gestured towards Jade. My eyes popped out of my skull at the sight of her. She was beautiful. Her sharp, icy, cold blue eyes complimented her black hair. She was what most people would tag as 'emo'. She was definitely going to stand out here. There weren't many goths in this school, and some of these kids were definitely going to give her a hard time.

Mr. Brenton looked around the classroom for an empty desk. Shit. I thought. The only empty seat in the room was right next to me. As expected, Mr. Brenton pointed to the seat beside me. "You can sit there for now. Welcome to our classroom." Jade walked over to the empty seat and sat down, throwing her book bag under her desk. I watched her bore her eyes at Mr. Brenton as if she could look right through him.

Mr. Brenton gave the class an assignment. "Today, you will be working in your table groups. Make a poster for any book we have read as a class so far. You must include the plot, characters, setting, and something else you and your group can come with. Be creative, colorful, and well-detailed. The posterboard is in the back. You will only get one, so try not to mess it up."

Dylan, got up from his desk. "I'll get the posterboard," he said, heading towards the back. What a perfect setting, I thought. New girl next to me, Matt, my best friend's new boyfriend across from me, and Dylan right next to him. The square of horror. I decided to meet this mysterious girl.

"Hi," I grinned. She flashed me a menacing look. "My name's Lauren." She continued to stare at me. This was the first time I had ever felt intimadated by someone. I didn't like it. I looked down at my desk to avoid her stare. Dylan came back with the posterboard. "So, what story are we doing?" he asked.

"I was thinking we should do A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens," Matt volunteered. It's my favorite one so far."

"I agree with Matt," I added.

"Alright then," Dylan sat down. "Who's doing characters?
"Leave that to me," Matt said.
"I'll do the setting," I volunteered.
"I guess that leaves me with the plot," Dylan said. "As for the fourth thing, I thought we should do a theme. It goes with the rest. Jade, do you want to do the theme?"

Jade stared back at him. "Yes," she answered, never breaking her stare." The sound of her voice ran a chill through my back. It was icy and stunning. Just like her.

We worked silently for the next ten minutes. Jade finished earlier than anyone else. "I've already done this," She explained. "At my old school." Her voice had a sad ring to it. She must have liked her old school way more than this, I thought.

Class ended, and Lissette caught up to me at my locker during passing period. "Have you seen the new girl?" She asked. "She is so weird. She looks at me like she wants me dead."

I shrugged. "Some people are just different." A brilliant idea popped into my head. "Hey, I gotta go. I have to catch up to Margaret."
"Alright. Bye."
I walked over to where Margaret was.

"Hey," I said.
"Hey," she greeted me back.

Margaret was my other friend, who always seemed to smother her face with pink lip gloss and wear hoop earrings.

"What's up?" she asked, flipping her curly brown hair over her shoulder.

"Not much. Hey, you know the new girl?"
She nodded her head. "Yeah. The emo one?"
"That's the one," I smiled to myself. This was going to work perfectly. I mean, who's better a target than the new girl?

"She's been spreading stuff about you. She's telling everyone that you're a lesbian, and you won't stop staring at her."

"She said what? That little bit-. I haven't even done anything to her!" Margaret was angry. So far, so good.
"Yeah, and she said she saw you making out with Veronica in the girls' bathroom.

"I can't believe this!" Margaret exclaimed. She stormed off. Perfect, I thought, as I headed to Algebra II.

By lunch time, everyone had known about the whole Margaret's-a-les thing.

"I can't believe the new girl would say that." Lissette said, as she sat down next to me. "And to someone as sweet as Margaret, too! It's just so... weird. And Veronica, she has a boyfriend. She would never kiss a girl," She shook her head sadly. "I'm going to go get some fries. I'll be right back."

I didn't see her coming. But when I looked up, there she was, an angry look on her face. "Hi," I tried. "Would you like to sit with us?" She leaned in right next to me.

"I know what you told Margaret," Her eyes threw me hate. "I don't know what your problem is, but you  better stop this. Or else you'll be sorry," She backed out, leaving me breathless.

"I'll be sorry?" I laughed. "Yeah, sure. Why don't you try me? I'd like to see you make a fool out of yourself. Too bad I already did,"

She turned around and looked me in the eye. "You're going to wish you hadn't said that."