What Every Girl (except me) Knows Read Online Free Page A

know, you shouldn’t wear a skirt like that, anyway. It just accentuates your hips.”
    Never before had I given any thought to my hips at all.
    I wasn’t even sure what “accentuates” meant, or even where my hips were, exactly. But I knew that from that day on I would forever be aware of that particular part of my body.
    My fists were clenched. I imagined twisting Amber’s arm around her back and locking her in a half nelson until she begged for mercy, which I’ve only experienced as done to me by my brother.
    Instead I said, “Amber, do you have to be a complete asshole? You know, every time you open that mouth of yours it just accentuates your assholeness.”
    The dissing ended right there, and that was a long time ago, already. Amber and I actually talk to each other now. We did a social studies project together last month when the teacher assigned the groups. We got an A , mostly because of me. Amber Whitman definitely has respect for me.
    Anyway, Amber always had another fish to fry, and now it was going to be the new girl.
    I watched Taylor up on the hill alone. I saw Amber and her cronies fast approaching. I knew what they had in mind. They already had their arms folded across their chests as they marched.
    I also knew Taylor would be crying again by the time they finished telling her off.

Chapter 6
    I’m not the heroic type. In fact, I’m not particularly brave at all. I’m afraid of most things; of new things, new places, strangers, of raising my hand with the answer because I’m scared I’ll say something stupid. I always forget to think before I talk, and usually I do say something stupid. But in this case I’m glad I didn’t think, because I might never have met Taylor.
    I got there just as Kelly Noonan was doing the preliminaries.
    “What kind of outfit is that?” Kelly asked.
    Kelly Noonan always wore one color exclusively. She was in her purple phase. Last year she had gone a full five months in a blue phase.
    Today she was wearing faded, purple overalls and a shaggy, purple turtleneck. Since it was unusually warm for November, she wore only a maroon sweater (maroon and white are our school colors) with the varsity letters, NP (for New Paltz), on the back.
    “Who do you think you are, dressing up like this is some kind of fashion show?” Kelly continued her interrogation.
    Taylor’s chin was betraying her with signs of trembling. I had gotten there just in time.
    “She thinks she’s a girl coming to school and wearing clothing, same as you, Kelly Noonan,” I said, stepping into a direct line of fire.
    “Figures she’d be your friend,” Kelly said. She backed off immediately.
    Amber looked right at me. Something in her eyes told me that she wasn’t all that bad. She even looked a little scared herself. I realized that if this were all suddenly switched around, Amber Whitman could just as easily be surrounded by some other angry, popular Ones. They could be picking on what she was wearing or what her mother’s new last name was or the size of her hips or her breasts or the color of her shoes. Possibly, Amber was realizing this very same thing.
    Kelly must have decided telling off Taylor Such wasn’t worth this much trouble. She turned and started off down the hill, followed by Melanie and Sophie. Amber stared at the ground, waited a beat, and then abruptly turned and left after her friends.
    It was just Taylor and me.
    “Thanks,” Taylor said, her voice still shaking. She was breathing fast.
    “Don’t worry about them. They’ll all have on your exact outfit by the end of next week,” I told her. “And they’ll all want to be your best friend.”
    It wasn’t until I said that out loud that I realized how much I didn’t want it to happen.
    I was beginning to like Taylor.
    “Really?” Taylor smiled.
    “Well, maybe.” I shrugged.
    We started down the hill together. The first bell was ringing.
    “So where’d you move from?” I asked.
    “NewYork City,” Taylor said.