Beauty (6 page)

“Sure,” Mr. G said easily, without a glimmer of the glower he usually reserved for question-repeaters. “Where did the Confederate forces fire, beginning the American Civil War?”

“Fort Sumter,” I answered immediately. Unlike some of the kids in my class, I actually did my history reading. Not that Mr. G usually noticed.

“That’s correct!” Mr. G beamed at me. “Five points for Molly.”
Five?
I think the most points Mr. G had ever given me was three—and that was because I was the only person in the entire class who could name every state capital. “Okay, onto the next question!” Mr. G strolled over to the back row, where Ashley and Blair sat. “Ashley, during the Civil War, the South became known as the Confederacy. What did the North become known as?”

Ashley scrunched up her forehead in the I’m-thinking-really-hard gesture she had perfected. “Let’s see,” she said slowly, drawing out each word. She looked up at Mr. G with wide, innocent eyes. “Team North? The Big N? Ooh, what about Northern Stars? Is that right, Mr. G?” she asked hopefully, smiling prettily up at him.

Mr. G gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder, chuckling a little under his breath. “No, but I’ll give you a point for creativity,” he decided.

A point for not knowing the answer. Only Ashley. I rolled my eyes at Kemper and she fake-gagged in response.

“Everything okay over there, Kemper?” Mr. G asked sharply, whirling around to face her desk. Kemper straightened up in her seat.

“Of course, Mr. G,” she gushed in a pitch-perfect imitation of Ashley.

“Good,” Mr. G said evenly. “Then why don’t you answer my next question for me.” He put his hands on his hips, making it clear he was revving up for a stumper. “What was the dispute between the Southern and Northern States that caused the start of the Civil War?” It was an unfair question—calling for an essay response, versus the one-word answers he usually solicited—but Kemper wasn’t fazed.

As she launched into a diatribe about slavery and the taxation of cotton exports, I stole a look at Hayley. She was watching me, a wide-eyed, eager expression on her face. It was the way she used to look at me, back when she actually cared what I had to say, and I couldn’t help but smile a little at her, just a little. I glanced back down at her note.
Did your mom finally talk you into a makeover!?

Something like that
, I mouthed at her.

What did you DO?
she mouthed back.

That, of course, was the one question I couldn’t answer. I turned back around without saying anything. But as Mr. G launched into today’s lecture and people kept glancing furtively in my direction, like they were sneaking peeks at a celebrity, I started to wonder the same thing. What, exactly, had happened to me? I hadn’t done anything. In fact, I’d done absolutely
nothing
this morning, not even put on makeup. Yet somehow I looked like I’d stepped straight off the page of a modeling shoot.

It reminded me of when I was younger, and my mom gave me this doll for my birthday. Transformalots, it was called. The doll came completely bare: no clothes, no hair, no face. Instead, all the extras came on the side, for you to put on yourself. You were supposed to put your doll in a frilly dress and give her flowing blonde hair and cherry-red lips and
voilà,
she would come alive before your very eyes. But when my mom first gave me the doll, I’d stared at it, confused. “It’s blank,” I’d said.

“Exactly,” my mom replied. “She’s a blank slate, and
you
get to be the one to help her transform. From nothing at all to something beautiful. It’s kind of magical, don’t you think?” At the time, I’d just shrugged. I was in the midst of a tomboy stage, and much to my mom’s dismay, dolls and dresses just didn’t interest me.

But finally, I got it. I reached up and touched my new face. My skin was downy soft under my finger. I felt just like that doll. Like some invisible hand had tweaked here and adjusted there until—
voilà
—I was transformed. And my mom was right; it felt magical.

“So,” Kemper said at the end of class, hopping onto my desk as I stuffed my textbook and notebook into my bag. “Are we in the twilight zone today or what?”

“More like the
hot
zone.” Hayley came around to the front of my desk. Instead of a backpack, she was carrying the biggest purse I’d ever seen. It was bedazzled front to back in pink crystals, every inch of it covered, and judging by the handiwork, I had a feeling she’d done it herself. “Seriously, Molly. What happened to you?”

Kemper narrowed her eyes. “More like what happened to
you
, Hayley? Last night? Laughing at Molly? Ring any bells?”

Hayley flung her bag onto her other shoulder and smirked. “It was just a joke, Kemper. Relax. Molly knows that, right?” She looked over at me expectantly.

“Um, I guess,” I said. I didn’t really, but after everything that had happened this morning, my brain seemed to be working on fumes. And before I could think of anything else to say, Hayley cut in.

“Oh my God. That’s what this ridiculous outfit is all about, isn’t it, Kemp?” Hayley snickered. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I looked over at Kemper’s outfit. She was wearing brown ankle boots, a fringed jean skirt with a vintage-looking leather belt, and the tucked-in T-shirt and cardigan. In spite of the JUST SAY NO screaming out from her shirt, she looked cute in a very Kemper way.

Kemper shrugged, sliding off the table. “I’m in protest.”

“Well, you’re not in style, that’s for sure.”

Kemper reached out to touch Hayley’s cotton-candy-pink crystal-encrusted purse. “And this
is
?”

Hayley hugged her purse protectively. “It’s called bedazzling, Kemper,” she sniffed. “It’s like
the
thing to do right now.” Rolling her eyes, Hayley turned to me, grabbing my wrist. “You’ve got to tell me what you did, Molly! You look … I mean, well, it’s kind of unbelievable.” I frowned, not sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.

But even Kemper nodded in agreement. “I told you that you looked different this morning, Mol. What
did
you do?”

“I, well, nothing. I just … woke up like this.”

“Wow, that’s incredible,” Kemper said.

At the same time, Hayley said, “Yeah, right! You don’t just
wake up
the, like, most beautiful girl in Miracle, Mol.”

The most beautiful girl in Miracle …
The memory of Dharma, the strange portrait artist from last night, suddenly came rushing back.
I wish I could be the most beautiful girl in Miracle
, I’d told her. What was it she’d said right before I’d left?
Things will look different in the morning, Molly. They always do.
I felt the color drain from my face as I stood there. Things will look different in the morning. What if by things, she’d meant
me
?

“You okay, Mol?” Kemper touched my arm, pulling me back to the present.

I coughed, clearing my throat. Of course she hadn’t. It wasn’t like she was a
magician
. She was just some long-haired, patchwork-wearing hippie artist who’d gotten stuck listening to my sob story. “I’m fine,” I said. We headed into the hallway and several senior guys walked by, eying me hungrily. I looked quickly away, turning my attention back to Kemper and Hayley. “I just …” I shrugged helplessly. “I honestly have no idea what happened. Beauty sleep, maybe? Some new kind of growth spurt? Or who knows,” I joked weakly. “Maybe my mom let a makeup artist have a go at me while I slept.”

“Well, sign me up next,” Hayley said.

We walked by Josh at his locker and I signaled for Kemper and Hayley to hold on. “Hey, Josh,” I said, pausing next to him. “I just wanted to say sorry. About last night. You were being nice and I just … well, you caught me at a really bad time.”

“What?” Josh asked, looking confused. Then he did a double take. “Oh, Molly. I didn’t recognize you for a second.” He looked flustered as he stared at me, but he quickly cleared his throat, waving his hand dismissively through the air. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” He lowered his voice teasingly. “There was a herd of buffalo chasing you—of course you were upset.”

“Yeah.” I smiled, looking down at my feet. “I really am sorry, though.”

“It’s forgotten,” Josh promised. “Really. Oh, but by the way,” he added lightly, “I drove by you on the way to school this morning and there really
was
a herd chasing you. Of kids, though, not buffalo.” He smiled, his eyes flickering over to Kemper, who was waiting with Hayley one locker down. She took a step closer, like she wanted to hear what he had to say. Hayley stayed behind, picking at her nails and looking bored. “What was that about? Do you lead some kid’s bike tour in the morning or something?”

“No,” I said weakly. “I guess they just … liked my bike.” I thought of my old beat-up red bike, the one I’d had since the seventh grade. Now
that
was a joke.

Josh laughed. “Well, if you want to avoid the parade route on the way home, football practice was canceled today, and my car can easily fit a bike.” He glanced at Kemper. “Or two.”

“Sure,” Kemper jumped in. “That would be great.” I gave her a strange look. Wasn’t Kemper the one who was always going on about the health benefits of riding our bikes to school?

“The kids
were
kind of creepy, Mol,” she explained quickly.

“Okay,” I shrugged. “Thanks.”

“Cool,” Josh said. “I’ll meet you guys out front after last period?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but someone called out my name before I could. “Molly! What’s up?” It was Zach Martin, walking by with several other junior guys. Including Hudson Taylor.

“What’s up, Molly?” they all echoed.

“Um, nothing,” I managed to get out. For a second, I met Hudson’s eyes. They widened slightly, his eyebrows arching in surprise. He stepped away from the group, moving a little closer to me.

“Hey, Molly. You going to gym today?” he asked.

“Um, yeah,” I stuttered. I was too shocked to come up with anything else to say. I’d been thrilled when I found out I had gym class with Hudson, one of the only classes other than lunch that sophomores could have with juniors. But until now, I wasn’t sure he’d even known I was in the class.

“Cool,” he said. “See you then?”

I nodded as he started back down the hall with Zach and the rest of the group, calling out, “See you later, Molly,” over their shoulders.

Hayley gave me an incredulous look as Josh slammed his locker shut, spinning its lock. “What the …” she sputtered. Even Kemper was looking confused.

I was about to explain about my run-in with Zach earlier, when Ashley and Blair stopped next to my locker. “Hey, Molly!” Ashley said cheerfully.

“Hey, Mol,” Blair chimed in.

“Uh, hey guys,” I said hesitantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hayley’s eyes growing so wide they looked like they might pop right out of her head.

“So we were wondering,” Ashley said. She took a step closer to me, leaning in conspiringly, as if there was nothing at all out of the ordinary about any of this. As if last night had never happened and she and I chatted in the halls every day of our lives. “
Where
did you get your shoes?” I glanced down at the blue Keds I wore pretty much every day. “They look totally cute on you.”

I looked from Ashley to Blair and back again. This had to be some kind of joke. But they just kept standing there and smiling at me expectantly. “Uh, the Shoe Hut?” I said finally, just as the warning bell rang.

“Cool,” Blair said.

“Thanks,” Ashley added. She gave me another shiny lip-glossed smile, and it struck me again just how pretty she was. I wanted to hate her, I really did. But no matter how much I hated what she did to me yesterday, I couldn’t help but like having her attention on me.

“Sure,” I said, smiling tentatively back.

“See you later.” Ashley hooked arms with Blair and they took off down the hall, leaving Hayley and Kemper standing there staring at me like I’d just sprouted another head.

“Ready for precalc, Kemper?” Josh interrupted, clearly oblivious to whatever it was that had just happened.

Kemper shook her head a little as she tore her eyes away from me and turned toward Josh. “Oh yeah,” she said dryly. “I’ve been counting down the minutes all day.”

“You’re taking precalc too, Josh?” I asked, eagerly grabbing onto the change of topic. “I thought Kemper was the only person in our grade that smart.”

“Oh, she is,” Josh assured me. “Believe me. I’ve barely been at this school two months, and already I would have failed out if it weren’t for her.”

“Lies.” Kemper smacked him playfully on the arm. She glanced at the clock across the hallway wall. “Crap. We’ve got to go. If we’re late, Mrs. Pearl is going to make us do proof races again.” She waved to me as they hurried off down the hall.

“I’ve got to ask,” I heard Josh say to her as they turned into the stairwell. “Say no to
what
?”

Hayley turned to me the second they were gone, her eyes accusatory. “Since when are you friends with Ashley?” she demanded. “And since when does Blair call you
Mol
?”

“I …” I threw my hands in the air. The last thing I needed to be doing right now was answering to Hayley. “I have to go,” I said. “See you at lunch, Hayley.”

I glanced back at her as I took off down the hallway. I expected to see her glaring after me—Hayley hated not being the first to end a conversation—but instead, she was pulling a small book out of her purse. I paused, watching as she thumbed frantically through it. “I have got to talk to you, Molly.” Brittany Crawford appeared at my side, pulling my attention away from Hayley. “Your skin looks amazing! You’ve got to tell me where you go for facials.” I swallowed back a laugh as she fell into step next to me. I couldn’t remember the last time Brittany had said two words to me. Maybe sixth grade. And I was pretty sure, even then, they weren’t very nice.

“And where you got that blush you’re wearing,” her best friend, Sarah Jacobs, said, joining us. “It’s seriously the perfect color.”