Chapter One

When I was five, three of my classmates promised me we would remain best friends forever. I believed them. However, everything changed when we finished eighth grade and my father lost his job. We could no longer afford the required cheerleading uniforms or the two-week-long cheer camp, which meant I lost my spot on the high school squad. That summer, instead of cheering with my friends, I spent my days babysitting and mowing lawns to help my dad make ends meet.

Although my friends and I continued reacting to each other’s social media posts as usual, they stopped responding to my texts after the first week. My dad assured me that everything would return to normal once they got back from camp, but when it didn’t, he called their parents. Molly and Rachel’s families promised to talk to their daughters, but Chance’s parents refused to interfere with any aspect of their son’s social life. Instead, they suggested that my dad ask me if I had done something to push them away, especially since Chance remained close friends with the other girls.

I did everything possible to talk to them, including showing up at their houses. Each time I tried, their parents told me they were at practice, on a day trip with friends, or needed to rest. By the beginning of August, I stopped trying.

When our first year of high school began, they only made eye contact with me during pep rallies. They had dozens of new friends, and most of them ignored me too. I sought out other friendships and quickly became close with two sophomores, Jeffrey and Anne. Although I had little interest in their anime obsession, I enjoyed their company, and they kept me from being too lonely.

At the end of my junior year, the school held an all-class carnival on campus with rides, games, waterslides, and four different food trucks. Unfortunately for me, Jeffrey and Anne had flown to Japan with their parents that morning as a graduation gift. Still, I decided to go anyway. There was only one ride that required us to ride in pairs. I didn't have anyone to ride with, so I prepared to exit.

To my surprise, Molly raised her hand and offered. She tucked her shiny red bob behind her ears, climbed into the giant teacup, and sat across from me. “How have you been?”

I raised my brows and shrugged.

She grinned. “I haven't seen you around. It's been like forever. What have you been up to?”

The ride began, and I gripped the central wheel and twisted it.

Molly sighed and grabbed it too. “You're just going to ignore me? I've known you since we were five.”

“What do you want?”

“I just wanted to see how you are. I thought maybe we could hang out sometime.”

“Why now?”

“School's over. Everyone's going off in different directions for vacation, but I’m staying in town until cheer camp starts.”

“So, all your friends are leaving, and I'm what's left?”

“Your friends left, too.”

I made the teacup spin faster.

“You're still mad at me, aren't you?”

I did not respond.

“Lacey, you don't know what it was like for us. It's not like we wanted to stop talking to you. We had to.”

I frowned. “Why? What happened? I've been asking myself that for three years. What did I do to make my best friends treat me like I'm invisible? Did I do something that I don't know about? I texted you all a hundred times and even tried to ask your parents if they knew what I could've done.”

The ride slowed, and one of Molly's friends called her name from outside the hip-high metal fence. We climbed out of the teacup.

I stopped in front of her and crossed my arms. “Are you going to tell me?”

“Fine.” Molly let out a heavy sigh. “It's not that we stopped liking you. It's just. You’re different.”

I scowled. “What do you mean by that?”

“You're not like Rachel or Chance or me, Lacey.”

Everyone stopped to listen.

“Go on,” I said.

Her green eyes narrowed. “I was trying to help you.”

“Help me? How was ending our friendship helping me?”

“We didn't want to embarrass you.”

“What?”

“You know, being seen with us and all.”

“Why would that have embarrassed me?”

“Your dad did you a favor by losing his job when he did. It would've been awful for you if you stayed on the squad. You've always been good at gymnastics and dance, but that's the only reason they picked you.”

“Uh, those were good reasons.”

“But can you imagine how awful it would've been for you cheering at games? Everyone was always watching us, even outside of the games. They would've been watching you too if we stayed friends with you. We knew we had to let you go for your own good.”

I stared at her. “I don't understand what you're saying, Molly. Nothing you just told me explains why my best friends cut me out of their lives.”

“You're not attractive, Lacey,” she blurted.

Almost everyone laughed.

Molly scolded them. “It wasn't a joke. Stop it.”

Tears welled in my eyes. “You stopped being my friend because I wasn't pretty enough?”

“You're not ugly. You're just sort of plain, and you have way too many freckles. It's not your fault. You just don't have the good genes that we do.”

People chuckled.

Molly screamed, “Stop laughing!”

Rachel and Chance approached, both sporting teal highlights in their blond hair.

I turned to them, blinking back tears. “You stopped being friends with me because you think I'm ugly?”

“No.” Molly shook her head. “I didn't say ugly. I would never call a person that.”

Rachel walked toward me. “Do you remember Tricia Tilton? She was a senior when we were freshman.”

I nodded. “She was the cheer captain who picked me at tryouts.”

“Yeah. Well, she was really sad you had to lose your spot. She liked you. She even suggested doing a car wash to raise money for your uniform and camp fees.”

“She did?”

“Yeah. And Tricia planned to ask her older sister to stop by the camp and give you a makeover. She said she could teach you how to make your face look less spotted and accentuate your pretty brown eyes and full lips. She even offered to buy the makeup. She was going to take you to her salon and have your long dark hair styled.”

“Wow. That’s really nice of her. What happened? I never heard about any of that.”

Chance folded his arms across his chest. “We told her it would be best not to. It might not have worked, and your dad could never afford to keep buying everything you'd need to fit in with us. Cheer is a four-year commitment. And with only a couple people wanting to do the car wash, it just didn’t happen.”

I sniffled. “But we could’ve tried. Five people would’ve been enough, and my dad got a new job a few months after he was laid off. I wish you would’ve told me.”

Chance shrugged. “The mascot spot is open. Marky graduated. You should try out for that.”

“That costume is way too hot, and the head piece is heavy.”

He snickered. “At least you wouldn’t need to worry about how you look.”

I sprinted to my car with tears streaming down my cheeks. A surge of anger overtook my sorrow when I heard my classmates' cruel laughter.

I hate them. I hate them all!