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It made me mad because I don’t think I’m like her. Not anymore.
    I showed her. I got a part. Not a starring role, but not a walk-on either. I got to play the best friend of the female lead. That’s how I got to know Jen and Kayla and Shayna. Kayla landed the female lead. She was good. She was nice too. At least, I thought she was. And I wasn’t the only one. John felt the same way. That’s John Branksome, the cutest guy in school. The most athletic. The boy who was always picked for whatever production was put on. Everyone likes John. Teachers adore him. Kayla fell for him. They hung together for a while. Then it was over—at least, it was over as far as John was concerned. To tell the truth, I don’t know whether John was really into a relationship or if it was all Kayla. All I know is what happened next.

Chapter Nine
    â€œYour little friend is staring at you again.” That’s Kayla. She’s talking about Addie, who she insists on calling my “little friend.” It bugs me, but I don’t know how to make her stop without also causing her to freeze me out.
    We’re sitting in the cafeteria. “We” are Kayla, Jen, Shayna and me. The three of them went to different elementary schools, but they knew each other because they were in the same gymnastics club. They’re all pretty and all skinny, like you’d expect gymnasts to be. They’re the most popular girls in grade ten, and you just know that when the time comes, one of them is going to be prom queen.
    For some reason I don’t understand, Kayla has a real hate on for Addie. She makes snide remarks about her all the time, about how big her nose is (it’s not that big), how she slouches all the time (that’s true—Addie always seems to be collapsing in on herself, as if all she wants is to disappear), how tacky her clothes are (Addie doesn’t make much of an effort to keep up to date) and how she’s so quiet all the time. Jen says Addie reminds her of Boo Radley, the character from To Kill a Mockingbird who you never see and who everyone regards as some kind of ghost.
    â€œShe’s nothing like Boo Radley,” I say. I glance at Addie and see right away that I am wrong. She’s exactly like him—pale, invisible to most people and happiest when she’s in the shadows, unseen. And Kayla’s right—she is staring at me.
    I shake my head at her and don’t even try to hide my annoyance. Confession—I wish Addie would leave me alone. I’m not like her anymore. I’ve moved on.
    â€œShe is too,” Jen says. “She’s a female Boo Radley—quiet and creepy.” She nudges Kayla, and they look at Addie again, only now Addie isn’t alone. John Branksome is standing beside her, handing her something and smiling at her.
    â€œWhat the—” Kayla splutters.
    I know what’s going on because Addie told me. John borrowed her history notes to copy. John lives across the street from her. His mom and Addie’s mom are friends. John and Addie have known each other practically since the day she was born. But I don’t tell Kayla that, not when she’s being such a bitch.
    Instead I say, “Yeah, he’s been over at her house a lot lately.”
    â€œLately?”
    â€œYou know, since the play.”
    After the play was over, just about the time Kayla was crowing to everyone about her “new boyfriend,” John dumped her. That’s assuming he was ever with her. It still isn’t clear to me. Kayla acted like they were a couple. John, not so much. Sometimes it seemed to me that they were just in a play together.
    â€œHe hangs out with her?” Kayla says, still with plenty of splutter.
    â€œForget it,” Shayna says. “Forget him. If he’s interested in her, he’s a loser.”
    This earns her evil eyes from both Kayla and Jen. Maybe I’m wrong, but just the thought that she might