Gladys stood in the girl's bathroom after the last bell, brushing her hair. It had gotten messed up during her practice earlier. Her newfound pride in herself had extended to keeping her appearance neat, something she had given up on a bit before, due to lack of positive result. She had gotten teased either way.
She thought she heard a noise in one of the stalls, but decided it was her imagination. Then Sarah McMillan came in, ignoring Gladys, her primping much more involved than Gladys. Parts of her hair had gone fuzzy after the sweating she'd done at practice, and her hairspray couldn't seem to restore it to perfect.
"Hi, Sarah," Gladys said, her success earlier making her a bit bold. "Are you all right? I saw you nearly fainted at practice. You probably didn't hear. The Coach put me on the team."
What, attack of the blob Brewer was going to be a cheerleader? Had the world gone mad?
"I'm only the new girl...but she said I had a lot of natural talent," Gladys said, practically bubbling.
"With all you eat, how does it have room to fit?" Sarah said, irritably. "Look, being a cheerleader isn't just about talent. It's about an image," she said, walking around Gladys. "Look at you. I'm getting tired just walking around you. Your hair, you might as well wear the end of a mop on your head. It'd look better. And those glasses...haven't you ever heard of contacts? And if you haven't, they actually have designer frames now," she was starting to lose her temper, venting at the overweight girl.
Other people had teased Gladys. Sarah had ignored her most of the time if she stayed out of her way. But now Gladys had put herself on Sarah's radar. And today had stunk, partly because of Gladys's success at the same time as her sickness. "Then there is your fashion sense. Maybe if you stopped buying your clothes at secondhand shops. And maybe learned to put on makeup properly. If you were a building, and you are as big as one, you'd be condemned so they could start from scratch with the land."
She stormed out, so angry she left her purse behind.
