Why ME?

“Ohmigod! Look at this!” Allie shoves the magazine into my face.

“What? I don’t see anything.” I peer confusedly at the magazine article that is much too near for my liking.

“This.” She jabs furiously at the article. “They say they’re making Dance on the Pavilion into a movie! How freakin’ awesome is that?” Oh My God. She’s practically jumping on her chair in excitement.

“Really?” Cass glances up wide-eyed from a liplock with her latest boyfriend Sam.

“Let me see!” She grabs the source of their excitement from Allie and shrieks in delight.

God. Now even Missy Perfection Cass is hopping on her thing I know they’ll be pissing themselves and they probably won’t even know it.
This is so embarrassing. Practically every single person in Starbucks is staring at us like we’re bonkers.

Maybe we are, considering the fact that my dear old friends are hopping all over the place, screaming out the news to any girl who has read that stupid book and “luvvvvvvvvvveed it”.

Soon every single girl that is in the café is huddled speculatively over that latest copy of Teen, which only Allie has so far, since her filthy rich parents are the ones in charge of the shipping of that magazine to our city.

I bet all the magazine stall owners are going to strike it rich very, very quickly.

I sink down my chair a little more, pretending I’m just an innocent victim that unfortunately just happened to be caught in this tragic situation and I don’t know them at all.

I should’ve scooted of first chance I got, like Mr oh-so-clever Sam. Now all those maniac girls are blocking the heavy glass door and I can’t get out.

This is just so great.

Simply perfect.

I groan and slide down my chair a bit more.

Don’t get me wrong.

It’s not like I have anything against my friends or anything.

I’ve know them since freshman year of high school, when we pretty much immediately hit it off when we three ended up seating on the bench during Gym, me because I was down with flu, Cass because she forgot her gym clothes and Allie simply because she didn’t want to run that day and the balding gym teacher didn’t want to pick a fight with her.

She has 6 older brothers.

All with big tough jock bodies and at least two lip piercings each. And let’s just say Allie Van Helske isn’t much better.

For as long as I can remember, even way back Allie was already the typical Goth girl. You know, the black hair, the extra-thick eyeliners, black clothes, leg nettings, black or blood red lipstick, heavy metal songs, the tough-y looks… you get the idea.

And to put it [really, really] nicely, let’s just say she’s pretty strong for her age. And for some weird reason she never lets anyone call her anything except her totally un-gothic name Allison.

Except me and Cass, we ’re a special exception.

And she has somehow managed to score a steady boyfriend. Like how she does it is entirely out of my league. Especially one that goes to Brown.

Not that I have anything against him or anything.

Tom is like the sweetest guy you would ever meet. If you can get used to the big bulging muscles and arm tattoos that is. 3 years down the road and 17-year-old me still can’t really get used to it. I don’t think Cass can either.

Oh yeah. And there’s Cass, or rather Cassendra Milton Jane, as she often introduces herself in her little prefectorial speeches on stage during assembly.

She’s pretty much the total opposite of Allie. Small, petite, blond, and who has smooched practically every single guy in the school.

Don’t get me wrong. She’s really smart and to say that every guy she kisses is more than willing would be an understatement. To put it nicely. Very nicely.

Even the teachers are drooling over her. And she’s always top on the honour roll. Like, top top. GPA 4.0. Every. single. year. she’s a brilliant dancer, and her fashion sense is great, she loves romance novels, and she has a voice of an angel and she plays the flute… need I go on?
Though I have to say. She’s fickle. No guy ever lasts more than a week with her. I won’t even bother counting the number of hearts she’s broken in a mere 17 years.

Only 6 years actually, if you don’t count the days before she hit puberty and stopped seeing all guys as irritating assholes. You get the idea.
Sometimes I wonder how she ever got on with Allie. Maybe it’s their love for romance novels.

Yeah I know.

Scary ain’t it? Allie reading romance books? Enough to freak out those wise little monks who spend their days living peacefully on a little mountain in China and somehow manage to stay perfectly calm even when there’s a nuclear bomb heading their way. Sadly it’s true. Especially Dance on the Pavilion.

Yeah.

The one that’s being turned into a movie. The one that they’re obsessing over now. I think that’s Allie’s only weakness.

But you get what I mean. They’re practically living on two totally different planets.

And then there’s me.

You know, in every cliche threesome there’s always the pretty, popular one that everyone wants to be around and the cool, mysterious one that everybody respects?Then there’s the plain boring one that no one really knows or want to know.

Ya. That’s me.

The plain one stuck in between. The one that’s valiantly ignoring Cass’s continuous reassurances about being prettier than her. Prettier that Cass? Ha.

As if.

How can a plain 165cm girl with dull brown hair and a simple life be prettier that her?

Basically I’m just a perfectly normal, average girl, to put it shortly. Let’s see how much crap I can squeeze out of me. Erm. Here goes.
I’m 17, my names is Jeanette Quinn, I’m not very tall, I have boring plain brown hair, I like reading historical fiction and fantasy books, I hate slutty bitchy people like Jessica Kingsley who think too highly of themselves, I have a pretty okay average GPA of 3.71, I, i play the guitar, I enjoy doodling, I’ve not had a crush in my entire life, I think romance novels are a waste of time and Dance on the Pavilion is a effing soppy book, I have a strong dislike for Brittany Winters the super-pretty-and-bitchy teen actress, I’m not that smart, I can’t speak French to save my life, I am the only girl in the school apart from Annie the bigger-than-normal tuba player that has never been on a date or kissed, not that I ever cared for that matter, I like green, and I’m definetedly am not prettier than Cass.

Ya. That’s about it. Told you I was bori––

“JEANNIE! YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS!” Cass shrieks furiously at me, waving the effing magazine at my blank face.

“Er okay. What?” I lower the magazine and look at her cautiously.

“BRITTANY WINTERS! She’s starring in the movie! How cool is that?” Brittany is Cass’s idol. Huh. Though I guess they’re somewhat alike. For starters they’re both really pretty. And popular. Only Cass is a 100 times less bitchy and a 1000 times smarter. What she sees in Ms Britty I never know.

“And that’s not even the best part!” She gushes.

“Huh.” When is Brittany Winters ever the ‘best part’ in anything to me? Cass never gets why I hate her. Though frankly I’m surprised. The biggest Brittany fan in the universe saying that’s not the best part? Next thing I know she’ll be speaking Norwegian.

“So then what?”

“THIS.” She jabs a finger at some actor’s name. “He’s playing the lead role. The hero. Him and Brittany. Like how romantic is that? I’m sooo jealous. He is such a hottie. And they're coming over here to shoot! OHMIGOD!” She is totally hyperventilating. I ignore the sudden cacophony of "ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod"s and screams and turn my attention to the name on the paper.

Joshua Dustfinch.

Holy.

Crap.