She'll Never Dance Alone

I stumbled out of the bathroom, sick to my stomach before my feet could even pass over the threshold. I spun around and threw myself down to vomit again. My parents thought I had a stomach virus. Everyone else thought that nothing had changed. Nobody had a clue… and I was going to keep it that way.
~*~
It had been about two months since the party. Being ignored is weird for a girl like me, but I was getting used to it.
Coach kicked me off the cheerleading squad the day I found the pictures. She didn’t even talk to me; she just left me a note in my homeroom desk. She was just as disgusted as everyone else. However, I still had dance. Ms. Morgan didn’t have the internet, so she wouldn’t care, at least not for now. Nobody knew the real secret; the one that really mattered.
~*~
I opened my locker to find a little post it stuck through the slot. I unfolded it, reading the message inside.
“Nobody likes you, slut.”
I jammed the paper into a box I had stuck in my locker for such situations, fighting back tears. It wasn’t easy being the biggest joke in school.
Just as I was about to explode into sobs for the third time today, I suddenly felt someone cover my eyes from behind. I giggled and turned around, poking Robby in the tummy, causing him to jump up and squeal.
“Why do you even try?” I laughed, throwing my arms around him.
“I just want to make you smile! It’s working isn’t it?” he grinned, flipping his mop of hair off his eyes. I grinned into his smiling eyes, when suddenly his expression went serious. He tilted his head and looked at me with sad eyes, then said “Have you been crying again Meggy?”
I nodded sadly, suddenly feeling as if my guard had been let down. Robby took a piece of my hair and played with it, simply looking at me with sad, pleading eyes. I felt bad, leaving him at a loss for words like this. He tried so hard to keep me happy while the rest of the world was putting me down, but it’s hard to be happy when everyone hates you.
Robby silently picked up my books and carried them to my next class for me, leaving me to tag along, silently and awkwardly. When I reached class, I waved goodbye as he headed off to his homeroom, and suddenly I felt incredibly alone again. I chose a seat in the back, spending most of the class carving designs into the desktop. I never looked up during class, because at least one person was always staring.
~*~
The class ended after what felt like hours, and I walked out of the room slowly, trying to avoid much attention. Suddenly, my eyes were caught by Robby’s friendly grin. He threw his arm over my shoulder, guiding me down the hallway. I giggled the whole way. It was nice having a friend; I thought I might go the rest of my life without one.
~*~
After school had ended, I was about to leave when Robby grasped my arm.
“I think it’s time you made a few more friends! Come over my place after school and meet mine? I’m having some other girls over!” he grinned.
I nodded in excitement. If Robby was so nice, then his friends should be too.
We arrived at Robby’s house in a few minutes, and he dragged me into the kitchen where a group of rowdy kids laughed around the living room. Robby goofily cleared his throat at a request for attention. The group of kids turned their head toward him, eyeing me curiously.
“For anyone who was unaware, this is Meghan.” He smiled.
The whole room was silent at first. Everyone just studied me for a moment. I sniffled awkwardly fighting back another round of tears. However, the silence broke when a girl bopped up from the group and extended her hand.
“Hi!” she said giddily, “I’m Maddy!”
The others followed suit, introducing themselves with friendly smiles.
Maddy was medium height and thin, with brown hair and eyes. She had a strange, yet exciting sense of style, sporting a black and white vintage looking headband, a black and white striped dress with some flats. The next to introduce herself was a shorter girl named Dana. She had bouncy, curled hair and smiling blue eyes. She wasn’t quite as loud as the rest, but she was funny and quite nice. Sitting next to her was another curly haired girl, this one with black hair and brown eyes. Her name was Izzy. She sat near two other girls, Amanda, who was tall with long brown hair, and Taylor, who was thin with vibrantly colored hair accenting her brown natural color. A tall lanky girl sat on a couch behind them, sporting a startling blue head of hair. Her name was Carrie. A girl named Jess sat with them too; she had a classy sense of style and a dark, hilarious sense of humor. They were all really cool girls, girls who the old me would have glanced right past. I sat down next to Carrie, who didn’t pay much attention to me. Robby told me about her though, she does that to everyone the first time she meets them. I dove into the conversation between the other girls, listening mostly, yet contributing when I knew the subject matter. I was surprisingly comfortable, which seemed to please Robby even more than it pleased me. As the conversation and laughter went on, things were seeming fairly normal... that is until I heard an incredible *BOOM* rattle out of the kitchen.
“FUCK!” yelled a voice I had not yet heard.
Robby ran into the kitchen, muttering something angrily under his breath.
He returned, followed by a girl, taller than him, with blue eyes, long hair, and butter all over her hands. Without even looking up, Maddy muttered “What the hell did you do this time Currie?”
“I FUCKING HEARD THAT” Currie yelled, licking butter off of her fingers.
“She tried to make popcorn.” Robby said, in a facepalm sort of way.
The whole room burst into laughter, as Currie shamelessly licked some more butter off of her arm.
Something suddenly clicked in that moment.
They weren’t laughing AT her… they were laughing WITH her. They were all laughing together.
I realized that I was going to like these girls.
~*~