The One I Loathe

Chapter 4

The Bennets left that morning so they could sell their house, pack up, and come back in three weeks. As for Trent, I’d lost all compassion for him and was glad to see him go. He was a jerk and I never wanted to see him again. Unfortunately I had to.

That Monday morning was also the start of a new school week. My parents dropped me off at school at 8:30. Lucky for me the Bennets left at 6:00 so I didn’t have to say goodbye to them.


When I got to school, I saw Hilary waiting for me by my locker. When she saw me, she gave me a huge hug.

“It’s good to see you too Hil.” I told her as she cut off all airways to my lungs. Even at only 5.2’ that girl could squeeze the living daylights out of anyone! She wasn’t a gorgeous girl, but she was cute with her short brown flipped-out hair.

“I heard about you and Jeremy! Are you totally upset? I can’t believe your parents made you come to school today after all you’ve been through!!” She gushed.

Hilary was the Drama queen in our relationship. Having had the leads in practically all the school plays since her freshman year, she tended to over dramatize everything!

Oh right. Jeremy. I’d almost forgotten.

“Hil! Calm down I’m fine! I’ll tell you the whole story in Chemistry,”

I’d just leave out the parts involving Trent.

After Chemistry, came English where we were reading Cyrano the Bergerac. Normally, I loved love stories like those. But today, I hated them. Did the romance I want only exist in stories? The thought plagued my mind throughout English.

When that class ended, me and Hilary met up and went to lunch together. I usually sat with Jeremy and his friends in the cafeteria, but I figured I wouldn’t be welcome there anymore. Instead, Hilary invited me to sit with her and her theatre friends.

When I sat down next to her though, they all were staring me funny. I laughed uncomfortably and glanced around hoping someone would explain to me why they were all looking at me like I was E.T! Finally, one of them spoke.

“Why are you sitting with us?”

Hilary however, didn’t look too confused.

“Why wouldn’t I sit with you?” I asked her.

She looked at me with a very shocked look and replied, “Because you’re one of them!” She said while pointing at my old lunch table.

At first I still had no idea what she was talking about, and then I saw it. It was a table full of clones. All the girls had long, perfectly straightened hair, and each had on nearly six inches of make-up.

That used to be me. How could I let myself become that shallow? I also noticed that my old spot next to Jeremy had already been filled by some empty headed cheerleader. She was hanging on every word he said, laughing at his jokes, believing his lies.

Yes, that was me once, but not anymore. I vowed right then and there to turn over a new leaf. No more was I going to change for a boy. He was going to have to love me for me and deal with it. I just hoped that that wasn’t a fairy tale dream too.

I suddenly remembered the girl’s comment and the gawking table.

“I was one of them.”



“You’re moving there?!” Audrey shrieked when I told her Tuesday morning at school.

I hated when she did that. It was so loud and shrill, like those whistles the P.E coaches blew at me all the time.

“Yeah, they offered my Dad a job, and he really needs to take it,” I said, trying to calm Audrey down.

I noticed people were starting to stare at our little scene by my locker.

“But what about us? When am I going to see you again?” She yelled, her face becoming as red as her dyed hair.

Fortunately, I already had that situation worked out!

“Don’t worry, Babe! My dad said that you could came down to Colorado during Winter Break”

Actually, I hadn’t asked him yet. But, he couldn’t say no now!

“Once a year?!” She shrieked again, “How are we supposed to keep out relationship alive by seeing each other ONCE A YEAR?”

I think a crowd was starting to form then.

“I’ll call you every day…” I pleaded.

“Make it twice a day and we have a deal,” She was playing with me, I knew it.

“Fine, twice a day,”

I was a spineless jellyfish.

“I knew you’d see things my way.” She said smugly, “Well, we’d better make the most out of these 3 weeks!”

“Yeah, of course”

The bell rang. The crowd watching our battle finally depleted.

“I’ve got to go,” I told her,” They usually frown upon being late for detention.”

“Ok,”

“Love you.” I tried again.

“I know”

Although somehow this time I didn’t find that so attractive.


While in detention, I saw Sam, and I went over to sit beside him. I’d already told him about the move.

“Hey, man! I’ve got good new for you!”
He grunted. He’d been about as happy as Audrey had about the move, only in a more quiet way.

“I’m inviting Audrey down to Colorado over Winter Break, and I was wondering if you might want to come along?”

That perked him up a little.

“Yeah, of course! You mean I’ll get to see…Sophie?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the sound of that name. I hadn’t talked to her or thought about her since Sunday night. The expectant look on Sam’s face pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Well, you know, we won’t be living with the Jameson’s, Sam. We will have our own houses!”

Sam persisted, “But you won’t be offended or anything if I called her and we went out during the week?”

“Oh yes! Because it worked out so well the last time you talked to her on the phone!” I said sarcastically.

“I wasn’t prepared!”

I rolled my eyes. Man, he was persistent!

He continued, “Just promise me that while you’re down there, you’ll put the idea of me and her in her pretty little head!”

“I think I’m going to hurl…”

“TRENT! Please?”

We both heard a loud shush from the front of the room.
“Fine” I whispered back to him.

Seriously, I had no backbone.