Dumped by Meredith Costain

Author:Meredith Costain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Published: 2009-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

UR UGLY

it says in thick black marker pen. I grab a fistful and begin flicking through them, my heart racing. The messages are the same, over and over.

UR UGLY

UR A LOSER WITH

NO FRIENDS

I HATE U UR A COW

FAT UGLY COW U SUCK

I screw up the paper scraps and hurl them at my locker. People are staring at me but I don’t care. I just want to get out of here. I slam my locker door to drown out the sniggers coming from behind me. I can’t see them, but it sounds like Jane and Jess. And Amira of course. Who else?

Mia grabs my arm. ‘Come on, let’s just go,’ she whispers.

‘And leave all the evidence behind?’ I hiss. ‘For everyone to see?’

I bend down again and start picking up the paper, piece by piece. The bell rings, sending the last of the gawpers scurrying off to class. Mia helps me.

‘You go,’ I tell her. ‘You’ll be late.’

‘And leave you here, all by yourself?’ says Mia. ‘No way!’

We gather up the last of the messages and shove them into a bin halfway along the corridor.

‘Come on,’ says Mia, when she sees me hesitating at my locker. ‘Get your books. I’ll make up some excuse for Hazy for why we’re late. It’s no big deal.’

‘She’ll probably give us detention,’ I say.

‘For being five minutes late?’ says Mia. ‘I don’t think so. Especially if she knew the reason.’

I stare at her, panic-stricken. ‘You’re not going to tell her! They’ll come after me even harder if they think I’m a snitch!’

‘As if I’d tell! Come on, let’s just go.’

Ms Hayes gives us a cool look when we arrive but doesn’t say anything, just asks us to hurry up and find our seats. It’s not as though we’re often late.

I keep my head down and blindly follow Mia as she walks towards a spare couple of seats near the back of the room. That way I don’t have to meet anyone’s eyes I don’t want to. As I slide into my seat I’m almost sure I can hear a faint mooing sound, then dismiss it as my paranoia working overtime. They’re not going to try anything in here, are they, in front of a teacher? They wouldn’t dare.

I shake my head to clear it and try to focus on what Ms Hayes is saying.

‘Okay, by now, you should all be well on the way to choosing your topics for your oral reports. Anyone want to tell me the ideas they’ve come up with so far?’

A few hands go up, including Amira’s and Jess’s.

‘How about you, Amira?’ Ms Hayes says, pen in hand ready to record her answer.

‘Obesity, miss,’ says Amira clearly. ‘There’s far too much of it about. Especially at this school.’

Jess giggles and I feel my face flushing. Is she talking about me?

‘Very good, Amira,’ Ms Hayes tells her. ‘There was an article about youth obesity just last week, in the Daily News. You might like to look it up in the library. Get some facts and figures from it.

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