Melissa fingered the stone, passing it from hand to hand, feeling its smoothness. The first thing she tried was wishing the branch back to light blue, with no success, trying different word combinations. She was just contemplating wishing for a new outfit when she was interrupted by a shrill voice.
They both turned, and looked across the yard to see Karyn Black, the Head Cheerleader. She and Melissa both shared red hair, but that was were the similarities ended.
Karyn was athletic, limber, and intensely competitive. There were girls who were more well-endowed, but Karyn had risen to the top of the school totem pole with a combination of intelligence, ambition, and a willingness to crush the competition.
The source of her anger was a freshman...her toady, a girl named Zoe Madison. Sarah didn't know Zoe very well, but she seemed the typical freshman wannabe. Karyn, from what she'd heard, liked to call being her 'assistant' an internship. It was quite possible that brown-haired and mousy little Zoe would be crowned Queen when Karyn graduated in two years. Or, more likely, humiliated, creating scars that would last a lifetime.
As they watched, Karyn upended the drink that Zoe had brought her(and probably paid for) and poured it on the ground, dropping the cup. "Now, get it right this time," she said.
Zoe looked at her for a long moment, like a wounded deer. Then she knelt down and picked up the cup to throw it out.
