“Look, there she is!”
“Her? They picked her?”
“Toby Klein? Who’s Toby Klein?”
“I hear she’s related to Calvin.”
“Well, I heard that at her last school, she was like megapopular, but then her boyfriend died, and she swore off popularity forever, but the God Squad, they know these things, and …”
It was almost more than I could take. How anyone could think I was related to Calvin Klein was completely beyond me.
“I have died and gone to heaven.”
This voice I recognized, and I turned my mutinous glare on Noah. “Don’t start,” I said, turning to face him and inadvertently giving him a good look at my oh-so-prissy ensemble.
Noah’s mouth dropped open. “My sister’s a girl,” he whispered with faux shock.
“Noah …”
He recovered quickly. “And not only a girl, but a popular girl.” The smile was back with a vengeance.
“I swear, Noah, one more word, and I’ll …”
I cut off my threat when I overheard someone else I’d never met inviting me to sit at their lunch table.
A loopy expression spread across Noah’s face. “All hail Toby, queen of the cafeteria!”
I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.
“You do not want to mess with me right now,” I said in a low voice.
“Point taken,” he replied with a grimace, and then, despite the hold I had him in, he grinned again. “You’re a cheerleader,” he said, deliriously happy. “You can have cheerleader slumber parties. You guys can have naked pillow fights in our living room, and …”
The rest of the school might have done an instant one-eighty in their opinions of me, but Noah never changed. Ididn’t know whether to be comforted or pissed. I let go of his arm. “Get lost,” I told him, pushing down the urge to ruffle his hair. Once an older sister, always an older sister.
“She told me to get lost,” Noah said, letting his eyes get big. “Toby Klein told me to get lost! She spoke to me! She …”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him away. Once a little brother, always a little brother. He ambled over to his own table, a god among hopeless freshman boys. I watched him, and when Hayley Hoffman sauntered up to me, I devoutly wished I could change places with Noah. Goofy freshman boys versus evil junior-varsity cheerleaders? I’d take the boys any day.
“You may have everyone else fooled with your little act, but you can’t fool me,” Hayley hissed, dispelling any fear I might have had that she, like everyone else, would be wowed by my newly awesome status. “You aren’t from Europe!”
I rolled my eyes so far back in my head that I could practically see my own brain cells and didn’t bother to answer Hayley, whose you-are-beneath-me tone hadn’t undergone any alterations in the past twenty-four hours.
“In fact,” she continued, “you haven’t changed at all. Different clothes, same skanky little reject who likes to pretend she’s better than the rest of us.”
I forced myself to unroll my eyes and look back at Hayley. “But Iambetter than you,” I said evenly. “Or didn’t you get that memo?”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and I elaborated in terms she would understand. “Me God Squad, you lame.”
I’m ashamed to admit it, but I enjoyed flinging it in her face. It was almost even worth admitting the fact that I was (technically) a cheerleader.
“I don’t know what’s going on with the varsity squad,” Hayley said, “but believe me when I say I’m going to find out, and when I do, everyone will realize that you’re still exactly what you’ve always been: nothing.”
“Toby!” Lucy appeared out of nowhere and bounded over to where I stood. “We’ve been looking all over for you. Our table’s over there. I just know you’ll love it.” She flung an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t you just adore Toby?” she asked my evil companion.
Hayley forced a smile onto her face. “Who doesn’t?” she said. I for one knew the answer to that question. In fact, it was probably a pretty long list, but Hayley, Mr. Corkin, and a linebacker I’d kicked in the crotch last semester were probably all up there at the top.
“Come on, Toby,” Lucy said again. “This is going to be so much fun!” And then she shrieked, high-pitched, girly shrieking that made me want to gore out my eardrums with a dull cafeteria knife.
