Read Faelorehn for Free Online

pressure.  But the determined look on his face never faltered.  Deep down inside, I gave a little cheer.  I was proud of him.  Eventually I concluded that perhaps Adam’s public insult the other day was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.  Thomas was tired of being a doormat; to his peers and to his family.  He was beginning to stand up to everyone and even though this was a small step that only we would witness, it was a giant leap for his self-confidence.
    After I finished my lunch, I crumpled the paper sack into a ball and aimed for the closest recycling bin, and then I leaned back against the sycamore tree, glancing up into the few leaves that remained on its branches.  We had bypassed the usual tables today, choosing to eat out on the field behind the school with the few other outcasts.  Normally we could spend the lunch period in relative peace, but that wasn’t always the case and today was no exception.
    We were minding our own business on the far side of the track when Michaela West, dressed in her cheerleading outfit, left the lunch tables and came sauntering over.  I ignored her at first, thinking she was just headed towards the garbage can to throw something away, but when she didn’t veer to the left I started to worry.
    Michaela was short and petite, with a perpetual scowl and fake eyebrows.  She wore her auburn hair pulled back in a tight pony tail and had way too much makeup on.  None of us were impressed with her costume.  She just used Halloween as an excuse to hike up her skirt and add extra padding to her bra.  Some pale foundation and two red dots drawn on her neck suggested she was trying to be some peppy version of a vampire’s victim.  She closed the last few feet between us and crossed her arms.
    “What do you want?” Robyn asked with sarcasm.
    “Just thought you girls would like to know about this list,” she said, completely disregarding Thomas and Will.
    She pulled out a piece of lined paper from a pocket and flipped it in front of us.
    “It’s been circulated around the entire school.”
    I gritted my teeth.  I didn’t want to know what was written on it.  It could only be something demoralizing.
    Unfortunately, Tully spoke before thinking it through.  “What is it?”
    “Oh, a list of the girls Adam and Josh would never date even if they underwent plastic surgery.”
    Robyn made a sound of outrage and Tully took a small step back.  I merely glared at the awful girl.
    “Oh, it gets better,” Michaela piped, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder.  “People voted on who would be most likely never to have a boyfriend, too.”  She paused and looked up at me, her eyes bright with malice. “Do you want to know who got the most votes?”
    Before she could continue, Robyn pressed forward and told Michaela she could shove her list somewhere where the sun didn’t shine and grabbed my arm to pull me away.  I had no objections to this method of escape.  Insults weren’t my forte, which was surprising since I’d had them thrown at me for much of my life.  Apparently, I was the catch and release type; I never bothered to dwell too much on what was said to me.  Now I wished I’d tucked some of them away to use in situations like this.  Luckily, we had Robyn.  She produced insults the way a rabbit produced offspring.
    Michaela shouted something nasty at us but I didn’t hear her.  I was trying to forget about that note she held in her hands.  I know it was stupid to be upset about it but I couldn’t help it.  I knew exactly who had been voted as the least likely ever to have a boyfriend, and I knew why.  It was me, and the reason was because I was so very strange.  No matter how hard I tried to blend in, some part of my weirdness always seemed to seep out.
    “Forget them Meg!” Robyn hissed. “They are a bunch of girls with no self-esteem and no brain cells.  What do they know?”
    I nodded.  Robyn was right, and today was Halloween.  It