Chapter 3:
That’s Jenna Brown
I feel my body go numb as I hear people start to whisper things around me: “Is that her?”, “Who’s Jenna Brown?”, “That’s a funny name,”, “I think she is in my English class!”, “Shh! I think that’s her right there,” and “What a slut.”.
I turn around feeling the tears sting my eyes and the burning glares pierce through me. So that’s what
Hayden and Lance were talking about. I push back through the crowd and find Daisy. She can tell something is wrong.
“Who
’s the Last Girl?”
I shake my head, “Daisy we need to go to my locker.”
“Why-?” she sees the tears actually start to fall as another group of girls walking by cough “slut” at me.
“Now,”
I say before I run out of the courtyard and into the hallway.
I lean my head against my locker taking a second to breathe. How did this happen?
“What the hell happened?” Daisy asks panting.
“I got the Last Girl,” I say through my tears.
“You- what?”
“I got the Last Girl! I’m the Last Girl!” I feel bad for shouting at her but I am just so upset.
“You didn’t tell me you signed up!”
“I didn’t! Someone must have signed me up as a joke! And now
Jessica probably hates me because she thinks I betrayed her!”
“Well let’s go find her so you can explain. She probably went to the bathroom
.”
So we check out every bathroom at the school. We found groups of girls crying and complaining
in each one. As soon as they saw me walk in they would all stop whatever they were doing to glare at me. They must know who I am. At the last bathroom we check we only hear one girl crying. It was the crying of a girl we had known since the second grade.
“Jessica?” I ask.
She bangs open the bathroom stall, causing the gross blue door to hit the tiled wall. “I can’t believe this happened!”
“I’m sorry Jessica, it wasn’t me! Someone must have put my name in as a joke!” I feel myself tear up again.
“No one put your name in as a joke. I put your name in! I knew you wouldn’t do it with me and I really wanted you to! I didn’t want to do it alone. But I didn’t think that you would beat me and get Last Girl! I didn’t even send in that good of a picture of you,” Jessica explains.
“
Great, thanks!”
“Oh you still looked hot! I
t was that one of us on the beach.”
“You mean that one where the sun is
in my eyes making me squint and my face looks all greasy?” I ask.
“Well, yeah, that one,” Jessica admits looking at her hands.
“You sent in that terrible picture? I’m in a bikini!”
“Yes and you looked really good! My picture was me in my dress at the eighth grade dance. Did I look fat in my dress?”
“No you looked gorgeous!” Daisy yells at her.
“Well something was terribly wrong with it because she beat me!” Jessica yells back, pointing at me.
“Why didn’t you sign Daisy up?”
“Because I’m more afraid of Daisy. Unlike you, she can actually pummel me.”
“I can pummel you too!” I yell angrily. Out of the corner of my eye I see Daisy smiling. I snap my head to the side to glare at her and her smirk fades.
“I’ll drop out.”
“What?” Jessica asks looking hopeful.
“I will drop out so you can be Last Girl. They can’t make me do it if I don’t want to.” I say shrugging.
“You can’t do that. You earned it.” She sniffed sitting on the floor up against the wall. Daisy and I sit on either side of her.
“I earned nothing. I don’t even want to do it, you do.”
“Thank you,” Jessica says, “For being a good friend even when I am a terrible one.”
“Oh please,” I say sarcastically, “Now I just have to talk to Courtney.”
“She’s probably on the football field, “With all the other cheerleaders, for practice. And knowing my brother and his friends, they will probably be there too.”
Chapter 4:
No Choice
The football field was crowded with sweaty guys in football jerseys and gorgeous skinny girls in tight, short cheerleading uniforms. The cheerleaders were in a triangle formation with Courtney as the tip. Daisy, Jessica and I stood watching until they were done with their cheer and dispersed into small clumps and started whispering to each other. We walked up to Courtney and her little group. You could tell why Courtney was head cheerleader. She had shiny, long, light brown hair and crystal blue eyes. She was tall and skinny and the bright blue uniform made her skin glow.
“Courtney?” I ask.
“Yes?” she turns around and recognizes me, “Oh! You’re Jenna, the girl I picked as the Last Girl.”
“That’s actually what I needed to talk to you about. I can’t do it.”
“What do you mean you can’t do it?” She asks, her eyebrows raising causing wrinkles to form on her forehead.
“I didn’t sign up. My friend signed up for me
, she didn’t know I didn’t want to do it.” I lie.
Courtney pulls us away from the bunch and leads us to the other side of the bleachers. “I am sorry you feel that way, I am, but you have to do it.”
“What do you mean she has to do it?” Daisy questions, “She doesn’t have to do anything.”
“Well you are right, but the auction needs you. You are the hottest freshman in the school.”
Daisy and Jessica mutter thanks under their breath and Courtney gives them an ‘I’m-sorry but-I’m-not-really-sorry’ look, “No offense.”
“Oh none taken.” Jessica says sarcastically.
Courtney turns her whole attention to her, “And you are Jessica, the second to Last Girl,” Jessica blushes and nods, “You are the one who signed Jenna up and now that she got Last Girl instead of you, you want her to quit, am I right?”
“She said she would quit on her own,” Jessica argues and I nod.
“Well you should try to stop her from quitting.” Courtney says through her smile.
“Why?”
“Because if she quits, I will be forced to tell the school that you signed her up against her will and you will be given an Academic Dishonor stamp on your file. Not a very good thing to get your freshman year.”
Jessica loses color in her cheeks, “They wouldn’t do that.” I can hear the shakiness in her voice.
“Oh yes they would. They take the Slave Auction pretty seriously.”
“You can’t quit,” Jessica says turning to me, “You have to do it.”
“But-.”
“Well, now that that is settled, I have to get back to practice. I will see you two this weekend at rehearsals. Nice to meet you Daisy, and tell
Lance I said hi.” Courtney says. She flicks her hair as she turns on her heel and rejoins the other girls in bright blue.
“Are you crazy? You can’t do it!” Daisy yells at me.
“I’m not!”
“Yes you are,” Jessica whispers.
Without realizing it, I bring my voice to a whisper like she had, “What are you talking about? You wanted me to quit!”
“I did. But you heard what she said! I cannot get an Academic Dishonor stamp or whatever,” She crosses her arms, “I’m sorry I did this to you, I really am. Not because you got
Last Girl, but because I know how much you hate the idea. But please, do it for me.”
I stare into space thinking. Daisy whispers into my ear, “You have to do it,”
I look over at Lance, Luke, Hayden, Zac, and Nolan sitting in the bleachers, staring at the cheerleaders. I look back into Jessica’s eyes and see how scared she is, “Okay,” I nod, “I’ll do it.”
Chapter 5:
Causing Trouble
The rest of the week went by in a dark haze.
Wednesday
: Every senior guy and every girl who signed up for the auction knew who I was. They would watch me as I passed by. I hated their eyes on me. I knew every little movement I made was being judged. I could sense the hate on the girls’ faces as they watched me. They were upset because I beat them and got to be the Last Girl. A feat I wish I had never accomplished.
Thursday
: Everyone in the whole school pretty much knew who I was. People were also getting braver and actually would say things about me as I walked by. Guys would whistle and girls would say things along the lines of “What a whore. Look at what she is wearing!” Then I would glance down at my long-sleeved baggy shirt and old ripped jeans, and wonder how they could still call me a slut while wearing something as hideous as this. At lunch I opened my locker and found a love note from some senior guy named Todd. I’m not going to lie, Todd was really attractive. But, it was so creepy how this guy, who I had never talked to, was leaving me a love letter saying, “Your eyes sparkle in the sunlight.” How would he know if my eyes sparkled in the sunlight? Then, one girl ran up to me and screamed about how her boyfriend was going to bid on me at the auction and that I should do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t win or else. Yeah, like I can control that.
Friday
: Everywhere I went Daisy and Jessica would form a barricade in front of me, trying to block me from any more threats. They were being really helpful through all of this. We had to stop sitting at our normal lunch table and eat in the library with all the nerds. We could barely talk to each other because we were always getting quieted by the librarian. But at least no one in there was calling me a whore. My locker was full of love notes that day and I kept finding flower petals taped to it. Pretty soon, it smelled so strongly that I avoided it at all costs. Hayden, Lance, and Zac would wave at me whenever they saw me and would try to walk up to me but I would run in the other direction. I saw Luke around and wanted him to wave to me, but he and Nolan never did. I wore a grey tank top that had a layer of black lace over it that day, with black skinny jeans. They were calling me names anyway, might as well look good while they do. And hey, maybe I will get more bids at the auction and get more money for the school. Maybe they can use the money to actually sell decent food for lunch.
I was beginning not to hate the Slave Auction as much. I was just looking forward to getting it over with. And I hate to admit it but I am kind of excited. I keep hoping
Luke will bid on me, even though it’s a ridiculous thought. He wouldn’t bid on me. Jessica keeps telling me that I will be staying with Hayden because he has the most money to spend. Daisy says that at home she can hear Lance talking on the phone through her bedroom wall. He does a group call with Hayden, Zac, Nolan, and Luke and all they talk about is the Slave Auction. They argue about who will win me. It’s weird knowing that they talk about me. She says that Lance saved all his summer lawn mowing money for the auction. I wonder what Luke says about me on the other line, but Daisy doesn’t know. Maybe Lance will have the highest bid, then at least that way I can have Daisy there with me the whole week.
Finally
, it’s Saturday morning, and I am waiting for Jessica at the front of the school. Rehearsal starts in five minutes. I see her mom’s car pull up and she gets out.
“Thanks mom,” she calls. Her mom waves to me and drives away.
“Are you ready for the best four hours of our lives?”
“I hope that’s sarcasm,” I say blankly.
“It wasn’t.”
“What I can’t believe is that it’s four hours! And four hours tomorrow too! What are
we doing that could possibly take that long?” I complain.
“Oh stop pretending like you wish you weren’t here.
I know you are getting excited about this,” Jessica says as she opens the theater doors.
Damn it,
I have to hide my feelings better.
Courtney is standing center stage and is telling people to sit down in the first five rows of seats. She is wearing her perfectly ironed cheer leading uniform and her hair is tied up in a high ponytail with a gold bow. Jessica grabs two red velvet chairs in the front row. We wait about ten more minutes and Courtney ‘takes roll’. She calls out names in
the order they are on the list so of course she calls my name last. After everyone says ‘here’ when she calls their name, she crumples the list up and throws it behind her.
“Can you guys come out now?” she calls. Two girls come from the sides of the stage. They are wearing palm length, blue shorts that were ripped and had fringe at the bottom. They were wearing
tight white v-neck shirts with- you guessed it- the signature red bras underneath. The shirts had the school logo on it, a paw print- our mascot was a grey wolf. The girls were also wearing high top black and white converse.
“These are what you are required to wear for the auction. We will provide the shirts and shorts, so that’s why we need you to fill out these papers
so we can get your sizes.” Papers started being passed down each row. “But you need to get these shoes and the bras yourselves. They must be exactly the same as you see up here. Everyone needs to be the same, no trying to stand out. We will have the full dress rehearsal tomorrow so you need to get these today. You don’t have to buy the shoes, I’m sure you can find someone who will let you borrow a pair if you need them,” Courtney explains as if she is so over it. “You can use one of your own bras if it’s red and this style.”
“Yeah, like we all have bright red push-up bras that are two sizes too small in our drawers,” I whisper to Jessica and she smacks my arm.
“Okay, let’s get started,” Courtney claps her hands.
The rest of the rehearsal was a waste of time. First, we walk out together and stand in a line while Courtney does her introduction. Then, we all go back stage and come out one by one when it is time for people to bid on us. Each of our shirts will have a number on the back. I will be number 20. We did the same things over and over again. Courtney would coach girls on how to walk properly. Blah blah blah.
Finally, when we were allowed to leave, after being told “Don’t forget same time tomorrow! Bring your bras and shoes!” a billion times, Jessica and I walked back to the front of the school.
“Want me to call my mom and ask if she can drop us off at the mall so we can get our shoes and bras?” she asks me. I roll my eyes and nod. She unlocks her phone and is about to click on her mom’s contact when a blinding red convertible Porsche pulls up in front of us. My heart nearly pops out of my chest. Hayden, with his curls blown back from the wind, is in the driver’s seat with Lance is in the passenger seat. I hear a little gasp from Jessica as her thumb stops moving over her phone.
“Hey,”
Hayden says, “You girls need a lift?”’
I know
where this is headed, so I speak up before Jessica could, “No, thanks, we have a ride.”
“Actually,” Jessica locks her phone, “I just remembered that my mom is at work. Could you give us a ride?”
“Your mom has to work on a Saturday?” I ask under my breath. She nudges me.
“Anything for my sister’s best friends,”
Lance says as he reaches over and opens the back door.
Jessica gets in and I have no choice but to do the same.
I slide in behind Lance.
“So where are you two off to?”
Hayden asks.
“The mall.”
“Oh, what for?” Lance asks.
That'll be an awkward answer
.
“Nothing in particular,” I speak up eyeing Jessica. I look at the rearview mirror and see
Hayden glance at Lance. Then his eyes flash up and we make eye contact through the mirror.
He does
have pretty eyes.
“So, how was rehearsal? Was Courtney mean and grumpy as usual?”
Lance asks, turning around in his chair.
“She’s always like that?” Jessica laughs.
“Oh yeah.”
“Well, it was long and boring
,” Jessica answers instantly. “She just yelled at us the whole time.”
I smile to myself. Jessica wasn’t bored, she loved every second of it. I was the bored one.
“Are you excited for the auction?” Hayden asks.
“Not
as excited as you probably are,” I mutter.
I feel another nudge from Jessica and I glace back up to the mirror.
Hayden’s lips are turned upward and I can tell he is smiling. Why is he smiling? I need him to hate me so he doesn’t bid on me.
We spent about 15 more minutes in the car making small talk
with me trying to act more and more like a bitch to the two of them to no avail. All I got was more nudges from my best friend and more smiles from Hayden in the mirror.
We pull up to the mall and Jessica and I get out.
“Thanks for the lift,” Jessica says with a smile.
“Anytime,”
Hayden smirks. “What’s your number?”
Jessica gives both of them her number and then
Hayden asks me for mine.
“I don’t have a phone,” I say.
“Isn’t that your phone in your pocket right there?” Lance asks glancing down.
“Yeah well, I a
m not allowed to give my number to strangers. Thanks for the ride though,” I see Hayden laugh and that makes me feel like a little kid. I turn around to walk into the mall not waiting for Jessica. I hear her say something else to them, and then she catches up to me.
“Why are you so mean to them? They are so nice!”
“They are trying to manipulate you.”
“What’s wrong with that?” she asks.
“You are ridiculous. Let’s drop the subject and buy these stupid clothes,” I say as we walk into Victoria’s Secret. Jessica goes straight to the bright colors and finds a lace red push up. I find a green bra with neon green lace trim that isn’t a push up.
“What are you doing?” Jessica asks me.
“Buying this bra, what does it look like I am doing?”
“It has to be red.”
“What are they gonna do? Kick me out of the auction?” I ask sarcastically.
“Maybe!”
“Oh, what a shame.”
“Jenna, stop. Re
member what she said about the Academic Dishonor stamp?”
“They can’t punish you when I am the one doing this. Trust me, you will be fine. Besides, it’s a public school; they can’t force me to buy anything. If it’s that big of a deal, I can say this was the only bra I could afford.”
She checks the price tag, “It’s the same price as the one I am buying!”
“They don’t know that.”
“Why do you go out of your way to cause trouble?” she asks, moving up in line.
I shrug, “Why did you go out of your way to sign me up for something I didn’t want to do?”
She sighs and drops the subject.