The It Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the classroom that I realized it was time for the next class and started to pack up my things in a hurry.
    Brendan finding Josie being set on fire funny still didn’t mean that Sophie had decided to let it go with me. As I got up, I accidentally nudged Sophie, who had been walking toward the door.
    â€œUrgh!” she exhaled in exasperation, probably at the idea of me touching her, and looked at me in disgust as I hurriedly got out of her way.
    Then she shook her head, swished back her perfect hair, and practically skipped toward Brendan, who, unlike me, clearly had been forgiven for the classroom standoff and was waiting for her by the door.
    I finished packing up my stuff and began to make my way out too.
    â€œChin up, Ms. Huntley,” Mr. Avery said cheerily as he took time out from wiping the board to look at me with sympathy. “You’ll make friends here eventually. Sometimes it takes a while to find your feet. I remember having no friendswhatsoever for a good few semesters at my middle school.”
    â€œOh, well”—I stopped by the door—“thanks but I do have some friends here.”
    â€œDo you?” he said, looking surprised. “Splendid!”
    Then he got back to wiping the board.
    Sometimes I really wish I was a hermit. Not only do they not have to deal with people in general, but they’re also usually very wise. I can only aspire to that state of being.

5.
    THE SCHOOL DANCE STRESSES ME out. and it’s NOT because I won’t have a date.
    It is actually because school dances highlight the dictation of a dominating society on a youthful generation to locate a suitable partner of similar social standing with whom to spend the evening, not based on intellectual or personality compatibility, but on visual attraction alone. School dances are a staple of the dominant ideology in which we live, serving only the interest of a certain elite platform of students to exert their superiority and their peer influence, thus maintaining the existing state of the school’s social context.
    OKAY, FINE, it’s because I’ll never find a date.
    Ever since the semester started, everyone has been talking about this Beatus dance, which takes place at the end of the spring semester. It’s for grades six to eight and apparently is kind of like a smaller version of the prom.
    â€œWhat on earth is the Betty dance?” I’d asked Jess one afternoon when I overheard for the third time that day someone in the bathroom talking about who was going to be elected for the committee.
    â€œIt’s the Beatus dance, you mongoose.” Jess laughed.
    â€œIt means ‘blessed’ or ‘fortunate’ in Medieval Latin, Anna,” Danny explained gently, giving Jess a shove. This was typical Danny behavior, always on hand to remind Jess when to be a little more patient.
    I once told him that I thought he was probably one of the nicest people I had ever met. “And your hair complements that.” I smiled.
    â€œHuh?” He automatically ran a hand through his thick blond curls that really are spectacular.
    â€œI think when it comes to you, Danny,” I’d said matter-of-factly, “your hair reflects your kindness and comforting nature.”
    That didn’t actually go down too well. It turns out boys don’t really strive to be kind and comforting. Danny, Jess had informed me after he’d left grumpily, gets tired of always being “the nice one” who girls want to be friends with.
    The very next day after the curls comment I made sure to say, immediately as he walked in, “Danny! You look veryrugged today. I think it’s the way you’re carrying your backpack on one shoulder.” I ignored the muffled snigger of Jess next to me and continued with the confidence boost. “Seriously, something very manly going on there.”
    He looked surprised—but I’ve noticed he’s carried his backpack on one