"Are you alright?" a girl asked Sarah, helping her up. But this time, the person helping her to her feet wasn't trying to be mean. She didn't recognize the voice, but she figured it must have been a friend. She felt relieved. It was all a joke, after all. Although not a very funny one.
Sarah turned towards the girl once she got to her feet and suddenly her relief turned into disgust. It was Gladys Brewer, the fattest girl in school. "Get your hands off of me, you cow!" Sarah yelled, shrugging her off.
Gladys looked perplexed and maybe a little ticked off. "Sarah, I'm only trying to help. Jeez. If you want to get mad at someone, get mad at them," she said, gesturing towards the jocks and cheerleaders. "Not at your friend."
"Friend?" Sarah asked, as if it were an insult.
"Yes. Friend. What else have we been for the last five years?"
"What?" Now Sarah was confused. This cow actually thought they were friends for five years? After how Sarah constantly belittled her, mostly because of her weight? What was going on? First her friends treated her like a loser and now a loser treated her like a friend. It was like her whole life was being turned upside down.
"Come on. You can eat the rest of my meal. I know I usually eat both trays, but seeing that yours is all over that jerk Biff, I think that just for today I can go without part of my meal," Gladys said, as she led Sarah towards one of the other tables. This one was populated by nerds and geeks. People like Jay Duncan, Leonard Drullers, Carl James, Walter Smukmeyer, Kevin Jones, Arthur Pendleton, Dorothy Miller, Sophie Stewart, and others. Sarah would never ever sit at a table with so many losers. But if she went back to her friends' table, she'd constantly be ridiculed. Plus, she wouldn't get anything to eat.
Gladys sat her down right next to her at the table and Sarah expected to get the same treatment as she got from her friends, but nothing happened. In fact, it was like Sarah was normally part of their "group". What was happening? It was like everyone (not just her friends) were treating her as though she was supposed to be a nerd. But Sarah knew she wasn't. Sure, she looked like one, but she wasn't interested in any of their little hobbies. She was still interested in fashion and cheerleading and relationship gossip. But ... it was nice to finally not be teased and insulted. Wait, what was she saying? These losers weren't her friends and they never would be. She needed to prove to her real friends that she was still one of them. But she couldn't do anything right now. She'd have to wait until school was over to go home and get something more normal, then she'd come back and show the cheerleaders at their practice that she was normal and not one of these dorks.
So it was a plan. She quickly ate the cheeseburger and fries, then the cupcake for dessert, not even really paying attention to the fact that she rarely ate anything more than a salad. She'd never eat something so greasy, but that's what she was doing. Without even realizing it, she was slowly accepting her new role as a nerd, even though she was clearly trying to fight it.
