Wonderland Read Online Free PDF

noncivilization — as possible. From the toilets where they’ve flushed my head in the cracked and stained bowl; from the lockers where they’ve slammed my fingers in the door; from the cafeteria, where they’ve tripped me and spilled Coke on my uniform. But they still find me. I watch them walking toward me, like some slo-mo Gap commercial. All blond ponytails, tanned legs, and bleached white teeth. I feel my stomach turn and a wave of dizziness wash over me. They stop, photo-shoot perfect, in front of me.
    Emily speaks first. That’s how it works. “Nice lunch.”
    “That’s gross.” Dawce looks in disgust as a piece of chicken falls out of my mouth, the grease staining my white shirt.
    I wipe it away quickly. “Shut up.”
    Emily smiles. “Wow. Clever put-down. How long did it take you to think that one up?”
    The Plastics snigger.
    “Why do you care what I eat, anyway?” I say.
    “Oh, I don’t. Just confirms your fruitcake status, though.”
    “Whatever.” Out loud I’m above it. But inside I’m begging them,
Just leave me alone. Please.
    “Again, genius.”
    “Just go away, will you?” I plead.
    “Or what?”
    Or nothing. That’s the problem. I can’t run to Mummy. And for all the blah in the school rulebook about bullying, the teachers don’t do anything. “If you give off signals that you don’t want to belong, people will make sure you don’t.” Beautiful. All you can do is keep your head down and hope they’ll find some Year Seven with a lisp to pick on instead.
    But then there’s a noise behind me. The smell of lighter fluid and Doublemint. And Stella is there. Out of nowhere. My fairy godmother. Wearing an Alice-in-Wonderland headband in her backcombed hair and some vintage dress, all pink puffball skirt and tight top.
    “What’s your damage, Applegate?”
    Emily stares. “My damage? How retro.”
    “Seriously, Emily . . . Emily —” Stella stops like she’s pondering the word. “That’s a fat girl’s name, really.”
    “I’m not fat.”
    “Not yet,” Stella concedes. “Give it five years, though. You’ll be shopping in menswear like your mum.”
    “Bitch,” Emily snaps, searching for a comeback. She finds one. “At least my mum’s alive. Not some dead mental case.”
    But Stella can do better. “Truly Shakespearian. Now who’s shit at put-downs?”
    Emily snorts. “Whatever.”
    Holly Harker tugs at her arm. “Come on, Em.”
    Emily snatches her arm back. “Get off me.”
    Holly drops her hand. Emily stares at me and then laughs. Short and catty. Then she walks away. Half the school watching her stride across the field. The Plastics flanking her like My Little Bodyguards.
    “Advantage, me.”
    Stella. I turn to her. “What was that all about?”
    Stella pops her gum. “Gee, thanks, Stella. Oh, that’s OK, Jude. Anytime.”
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean . . .” I feel a stab of fear again. That I’ve upset her. That she’ll turn on me like they did. “It’s just that . . . they don’t like me already.”
    “They don’t even like each other. Oh, hang on. What? So you want them to like you? Christ. Why do you want to hang out with a load of Psycho Barbies and Diet Coke–heads, anyway?”
    “I don’t. I just don’t want it to get worse.” I look down. Waiting for her to trash me. To write me off as a loser. A weakling. But she doesn’t. Instead she smiles and holds out her dress like the angel on top of the Christmas tree.
    “It’s all right. I’m here now. I’m your knight in shining armor. Your fairy bloody godmother.”
    “Ha, ha.”
    “Seriously. With me around, she’ll back off eventually.” Stella takes the gum out and sticks it to the tree.
    “Maybe.” But I don’t believe it. “What are you doing here, anyway? If the teachers see you —”
    “What? They’ll ask me nicely to leave? Give you detention? Big deal.” She pulls a packet of cigarettes out of her bag.
    “Stella!”
    “We’re outside. Jesus. Chill, would you?”