The Gossip Web Read Online Free PDF Page B

the same embarrassment from the day before. Sighing as I glanced back at him, I growled, “Why can’t they pick on someone else? Why does it always have to be me?”
    “Maybe because you don’t stand up for yourself,” Trace said.
    I narrowed my eyes at that statement. “How can I, when I have Gloria breathing fire down my neck every chance she gets?”
    “Don’t let it get to you.” He was so nonchalant about it, and it made me feel even worse.
    “Are you kidding me? Yesterday, she told everyone that I---” My voice switched off and I closed my mouth, not wanting to rehash yesterday’s terrible experience. Especially in front of him.
    He frowned when it dawned on him. “I know, Jade, but it’s no big deal. You and I both know it isn’t true. It’s just gossip.”
    Looking towards the floor, pained and amazed that he could act so inconsiderate about what she had done to me, I murmured, “Right. It’s all in my head.”
    I knew he could detect the grief in my voice, which is why he asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
    Giving him a long, cold stare before shoving past him, I tried to forget about what had just happened between us as I walked down the hall. My face heated in anger, and I realized I couldn’t get over what he had said. It was no big deal? How the hell would he know? Did he have Gloria devising new ways to make his life a living hell? No! He was popular, I wasn’t. He had absolutely no idea what I had to go through every day!
    “Jade, wait!” Trace called out as he ran up behind me. I quickened my pace, hoping to avoid what ever else he planned on saying, but I had no such luck. He grabbed hold of my arm and I froze from the touch of his hand. I was so angry at him that I had to resist the urge to smack his head.
                  Gazing steadily at my face, confusion swimming inside his blue eyes, he asked, “Will you stop trying to run away from me, Jade, and just tell me what‘s wrong?”
                  “No,” I replied sharply. “Let go of my arm.”
                  He shook his head. “Not until you tell me why you’re so upset.”
                  “It doesn’t matter. You won’t understand.”
                  “Try me,” he replied softly.
                  I sighed, irritated by persistence. “You just don’t get it, do you?” Then, I felt my anger bubble up, and I couldn’t hold back what I was feeling. Narrowing my eyes, my temper caught him off guard as I spat, “You obviously have no idea what it’s like to be me. You, with your popularity and thousands of friends! You haven’t got a clue as to what I have to go through each and every day. I’m not like you, Trace! I’m the girl everyone makes fun of and judges. How can you think it’d be so easy to just ignore the people who laugh and humiliate me, when you’ve never had anyone bring you down for being you?”
    Raising his eyebrows at me, he replied, “A thousand friends? Don’t you think that’s a little exaggerated?”
    Growing even more frustrated with him, I shouted, “It’s not funny, Trace! All I’ve ever wanted was to be accepted, to know that it’s okay to just be myself. I’ll never have that. People treat me like dirt just because I’m not a clone of Gloria Malone!”
    Without a word, Trace gently placed a hand upon my shoulder. My face burned from his touch, and tiny butterflies fluttered around inside my stomach nervously. I stared shyly at him, and my eyes grew wide with shock when he pulled me into his arms. I simply stood there, dumfounded by Trace’s warm embrace. Being held by him this way was like a dream come true, and I didn’t want the moment to end.
    Trace’s voice tickled my ear as he said, “You should be proud of yourself for not wanting to be like Gloria.”
    My heart beat rapidly at his remark; I was surprised that he had said such a thing.               “Why?” I whispered. “No