Cassidy Whitburn reached into her purse and pulled out a compact. "I think you'd better take a look at yourself there, girlfriend," she said, handing it to Gilda.
In confusion, Gilda opened the compact and stared into the mirror. "Holy, shit!" she shouted at her reflection.
In the mirror was a scarecrow with her face. Her features appeared to be painted on a burlap sack, and her beautiful blonde hair had the appearance of straw. Suddenly, she noticed her hand holding the compact. More straw appeared at the cuff of her school blazer. Raising the other hand, she saw the same thing there. Looking down at herself, she realized that straw was peeking out of the top of her skirt, as well as her shoes. Cautiously, she placed her free hand on her chest and pressed, producing a noise that sounded like someone walking on dried leaves.
"What the hell happened to me?" she shouted.
"How should we know?" Melanie Webster shot back.
Gilda tried to think it through. She knew that she had been fine when she'd checked her make-up in her mirror just a few minutes before. What could have happened in the short amount of time it had taken her to get to their secret hideout. The only other person she had run into was Meg, and...
She suddenly stopped, remembering what she had said to the unpopular girl. She had called her a scarecrow, and now she herself had become one. She didn't know how she had done it, but Meg had to be responsible for this somehow.
"It was Meg!" she told her friends. "That stiff! She...uh!"
The other girls watched as Gilda suddenly stopped moving. The girl's arms dropped to her side and she appeared to be standing at attention, staring straight ahead. Cassidy called her name a couple of times, but got no response. She walked over for a closer look. Waving her hands in front of Gilda's face, but the other girl didn't even blink. Finally, Cassidy place a finger on Gilda's chest, giving her a quick push. Gilda fell over back onto the ground, making no move to catch herself.
