บท 4: Chapter 4
Ouch, a guy said with a hiss when he passed by me, waving his hand in the air as if hed been burned. Keep down the coldness, babe. His other friends smirked and smacked hands with him in manly approval.
See? Pure love.
Baboons, Linda muttered, glaring at them.
I glanced at her with a frown. Baboons? Is that an insult?
Baboons are vile.
I rolled my eyes. So much for having a saint-cursing friend. Dont waste your anger on themwhich is obviously limited. Keep it for Brad instead.
How can you put up with this? she asked. Youre not an ice queen, Dafne. Maybe you can be a little cold-blooded sometimes, but youre not heartless like everybody thinks. I know you and
Linda, I stopped her, holding up my hand. I dont care about what they think of me. They can call me whatever they want. And I dont mind being an ice queen. Its way better than being a tramp or a dumb cheerleader with two pompoms as a brain.
Thanks a lot.
What? I hadnt mentioned her name, and then, no, I shook my head, realizing the major slip up Id done. I didnt mean you, Linda. You ended with that cheering business a long time agothank God. I added with a sigh, and then came back to my original train of thought. Anyway, youre not that type of girl. Youre light years away from dumbland.
Still, she didnt seem convinced.
Come on, Linda. You know I wasnt talking about you.
Well theres only one way to know.
Tell me, then. I said, hooking my right thumb on the belt loop of my low jeans.
She crossed her arms over her chest and said, If you tell me which mascara you normally use, Ill believe you.
Not again, I said annoyed, snagging my shoulders in a gesture of absolute weariness. I already told you I dont use any of that stuff. And what does it have to do with any of this?
Nothing, I'm just using this weak moment of yours to convince you to share with your best friend your beauty secretsbecause I dont believe you. You cant have those big, feathery eyelashes just like that. Its not normal.
I sighed. Okay, you found me. I'm an alien from the fourth district of Venus.
Stop it. She tilted her head, looking at me with exasperation. Youre so selfish.
I didnt understand why it was so hard to believe I didnt use makeup to come to school. My eyelashes were big enough and curled already. The only thing I allowed myself to pick up in the morning was a dusting of pink blush to spread across my high cheekbones and chinmy skin was almost two shades below ghostly white, and the long dark hair on top didnt help. The contrast only deepened the pallor, thus a little help was always welcome. But beyond that, everything on me was honest-to-God natural-born. All made in Moms belly.
My throat clogged. It was the second time in the day Id thought about my parents. Normally, the piercing memories were only acknowledged at night, when I was on my own and not in the public eye. Thinking about them during the day put me in a black hole, blocking my way to a free and easy road. And lets just say that the road during the day was a lot longer than during the night, so doing this for a second time today meant sinking myself deeper into that shady hole while I still had a big piece of road ahead. I was breaking the rules. My rules to survive the day.
Its not selfishness, I said, trying to ignore the thorn in the back of my throat while putting up a poised stance. Its being beautiful as hell.
Arrogant much?
Hey, I'm just telling the truth. Is being straightforward a crime?
Not for an alien from the fourth district of Venus, I guess.
We laughed and moved on to our next class.
The school here wasnt that different from the one I used to attend back in Chicago. There were the same rows of blue lockers bracing the hallways, the polished floor scratched by students frantic soles, the classroom doors with lab-like windows, the long lights trailing after one another on the ceilingmaybe there was a slight difference on the sizeokay, maybe it wasnt slight. The one in Chicago was at least two times bigger. But this was a very small city after all.
Actually, I could hardly call it a city, but together with West Berryford, on the other side of the Wabash River (where Ians preppy university was), this town-like place spurted to life, giving it a somewhat city vibe. A lame one, at that.
The atmosphere in this school, though, felt entirely different. And it wasnt because Id changed from the time I used to wander hallways with more than one friend at my side, cheery and careless, with no care in the world but parties and hookups. It was because almost half of the people here could only think about reading or writing, which was kind of odd. There were always those who favored the library or some small spot under a tree shadow outside, but the cafeteria? The bathrooms? The hallways? The stairs? They were everywhere with a book sprawled open in their hands, or with an open notebook lying in their laps as if somehow they couldnt unlock their eyes from the pages.
It hadnt been always like this, of course. But I couldnt tell when itd begin. It was, in fact, a wonder Id noticed any of this. Usually, I was in my own world, surfing in the waves of my thoughts. Every now and then I stepped out onto the shore of reality to make small talk with Linda, but a few seconds later my mind was back on the surfboard, far away from those who surrounded me.
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