Free Gemini Falling by Eleanor Wood

Chapter One: Amie
    First of all, let’s get something straight. This is not going to be one of those stories where the school bitch turns out to have a heart of gold, or you learn all about the tragic, shocking reasons why she’s the way she is. My mum is not an alcoholic. My dad doesn’t beat me. I’m blonde, I’m a size ten with decent boobs, and I do just fine across the board at school. I may not be the smartest girl in the class – but, seriously, who would want to be?
    I know some people think I’m a bitch, but I’m not – not really. I’m just making the most of things. It’s not my fault that I look OK and boys like me, and girls seem to listen to what I say. I’m just doing my thing – which happens to involve hanging out with my equally cool girlfriends, attracting boys and occasionally laughing at the misfortune of others.
    That last one isn’t as bad as it sounds; we all do it. It’s just that I usually happen to be on the winning team. Are you honestly trying to tell me that the class music geek Emily Waldron wouldn’t do the same given half a chance? Even that drip Nathalie Al-Omar – the biggest loser in the whole year, with her frizzy hair, pathetic persona and various random phobias – would. Anyway, I refuse to feel sorry for her no matter what, because her parents are, like, Arab billionaires or something.
    Hey, I know most of my friends would turn on me if they could. Even Lexy. In fact – especially Lexy. Everyone assumes she must be nicer than me, just because I’m the one in charge, and she works hard at school and has this ‘cute’ little crush on Josh Green. I suspect that Lexy’s the real bitch. I’m always careful to keep her onside, mostly just because I dread to think what would happen if she did ever turn on me.
    I focus my attention back on her, taking a sip of my coffee and adjusting my position next to her on the common-room sofa – trying to look like I was listening all along.
    ‘I
know
,’ I reply, making my eyes big. ‘That’s just…ridiculous.’
    ‘Exactly! It’s not even so much Josh going round to another girl’s house that pisses me off… It’s just that it was
her
.’
    Lexy lowers her voice and casts an oh-so-subtle evil over at Sorana Salem. Sorana’s just sitting there, reading her book like she does every morning, but even that seems somehow inflammatory. She’s the most annoying girl in the class, possibly the universe – like, she’s so mousy and bookish on the surface, but you can just
tell
that she secretly thinks she’s awesome. It’s as if she goes out of her way to be a freak, just to spite people. I have no idea what point she is trying to prove, but for some reason it really irritates me. Would it really be so hard for her to wear normal clothes and brush her hair once in a while? No. So it’s just blatant awkwardness. I’m secretly convinced she’s so sure she’s going to be this big success one day that she’s determined to be able to say she was bullied at school.
    That would be practically impossible, anyway – because we go to this small, strict girls’ school where nothing ever happens. We all have our little gangs and mostly we keep to ourselves. It’s not exactly drama central around here. I have to hang out with boys and go out with my girlfriends every chance I get, or else I’d probably die of boredom. As far as it goes, though, school is pretty relaxing – at least you know where you stand.
    ‘She’s
so
annoying,’ I mutter under my breath.
    ‘Not only annoying,’ Lexy replies, not quite quietly enough. ‘She’s also ugly, freakish and has permanently greasy hair. Oh, and don’t forget no tits.’
    Lexy counts these points off on her fingers, looking smugger with each one. She’s right, which must make it all the more gutting that Josh Green has some weird lifelong friendship thing going on with her. Sorana would never be invited to all the parties and nights out with our crowd, but she and Josh