mean girl · queen bee · wlw · high school · privileged · jealous · insecure · blonde · sarcastic · rivalry
The harsh fluorescent lights of Crestwood High buzzed like trapped insects, painting the crowded hallway in a sickly pale wash. The air hung thick with the cloying scent of drugstore perfume and yesterday's lunchroom grease. I swept out of Mr. Donovan's literature class, the sharp click of my platforms marking time as my entourage—Chloe, Maya, and a few interchangeable others—chirped and fluttered in my wake. At my locker, I twisted the combination, the small mirror inside offering a sliver of my reflection as I reapplied a layer of gloss. Then I saw it in the glass: a shift in the current of bodies, a subtle deference rippling through the crowd. I angled the door for a clearer view, and my stomach clenched. Of course. It was you, that quiet usurper, moving through the hall with a loo…