Raelynn

Does stupid multiplied by ignorant to the third power of airhead always have to equal cheerleader, or was the school just stuck in a temporal loop of ditz?

Raelynn rolled her eyes at the mass of solidified hair gel and department store cosmetics coming her way.

It was giggling through a haze of jasmine body spray that invaded her nose long before the bodies wearing it would arrive. She hoped it would veer off toward the soft serve station, but hope apparently was not on the lunch menu. The floral cloud kept coming.

There must be a test today.

Raelynn grimaced.

A test would be the only reason the cream of the cheerleader crop would deign to acknowledge her existence. She’d known every one of those girls since elementary school, and they would go out of their way to step on a dead cockroach in a deserted hallway rather than make eye contact with her. Unless they needed something from her. And the only thing anyone ever needed from her was nestled between two ears under a bush of frizzy brown hair.

She yanked irritably at the crinkly strands gathering in wisps around her cheeks.

She’d spent a month’s allowance and all Saturday morning at the salon getting a silk press, and one humid day had wiped all that money and work away. Not that anyone had even noticed the few minutes her hair had actually looked nice, so she didn’t know why she cared.

All anyone could talk about was the huge party some rich girl had thrown over the weekend while her parents were out of town. People couldn’t shut up about it, and it was freaking Tuesday, already. Everyone had been there. Not just anyone who was anyone—literally everyone had been at that stupid party.

Everyone except you.

She glared at her lunch tray, noting the rapid approach of the Flawless Five in her peripheral vision. Maybe if she flashed a calculus book at them, it would repel them like a cross to vampires. Or she could chant a holy litany of quadratic equations at them until their ears bled. Even better, she could just ask them what two plus two equaled and watch their perfect heads spin off their perfect bodies and careen into Lunch Lady Johnston’s chili surprise. Surprise!

It was too late. The line of girls had arrived at her table, positioning themselves along its length in almost identical formation—their coordinated pastel outfits and bubblegum pink acrylic nails making them look like an elaborate welcome bouquet.

Plastering what she hoped didn’t look like a skull grin onto her face, Raelynn looked up.

“Hey, Rae-lynn,” the head blossom in charge said with a smile, flashing a mouth of dazzling white teeth at her.

“My name is Raelynn.”

“That’s what I said.”

“No, you said Raelynn. My name is Raelynn. Emphasis on the Rae.”

“Does it matter?” a bleach blonde tulip with cherry-stained lips asked.

“You mean does adherence to the official naming conventions established by society to designate one human being from another so that we’re not all one homogenous bulk of indistinguishable identities inhabiting the same existence matter?” Raelynn retorted. “I don’t know, Marigold. You tell me.”

The tulip frowned. “My name is Mitzi.”

Raelynn gave the girl a withering look. “So that’s a yes, then.” She cut her eyes back to the lead mouthpiece. “Do you guys want something? I’m trying to finish my tater tots before they get cold.”

The leader cast a glance at the other girls and revved her smile up to near-blinding magnitude. “We just wanted to say hi,” she said. “Were you at the party on Saturday? We didn’t see you.”

The girl’s reply caught Raelynn off guard. Her mouth stumbled over the prepared retort that had been about to escape. She recalibrated. “Oh…um, no. I was studying.”

The group cooed in sympathy and eased into the empty chairs surrounding the lunch table.

“That’s too bad,” the leader said. “It was too much fun. You would’ve had a good time.”

“Yeah,” a freckle-spattered begonia echoed.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure I would have,” Raelynn said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “It’s just that—”

“Well, you should come out with us this weekend to make up for it,” the leader cut in.

Raelynn carefully examined the faces around her, her mind racing. She replayed the girl’s sentence in her head to make sure the right words had made it into her ears and nothing had been lost in translation along the way. She considered her response. “Why?”

A trill of laughter rippled around the table.

“Why not?” the leader replied. “We haven’t hung out in forever.”

“Since the third grade,” Raelynn said.

The girl tossed her head. “And that’s way too long. Dena was just saying how we need to reconnect.” She gestured to the begonia, who nodded enthusiastically. “You want to come with us to Cherry Lake? There’s a volleyball tournament, and it’d be too fun.”

Something flared inside Raelynn. If she had to put a word to it, maybe it was…hope? Who knows; maybe it’s just indigestion.

The sloppy joes had been sloppier than usual, and the grease was having a death match in her stomach with the round potato-like things that had served as a side dish. Whatever the feeling was, it made her uncomfortable. She preferred indigestion.

Squashing the feeling down, she nodded.

“Awesome!” the leader burbled. “We can stop at Sheckie’s on the way and then—” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Mitzi asked.

“We have that calculus test on Friday. And it counts for 35% of our grade, but I’ve been studying forever and still don’t think I’ll pass it. If I fail, there’s no way mother is going to let me go to the lake this weekend!” Her manicured fist thumped the table.

As if motion-activated, Dena’s head bobbed up and down in response. “You’re right” she said. “I’m having a hard time with the material too. And I know I’ll be on punishment if I don’t pass.”

A murmur of agreement passed along the table.

The leader’s face twisted in displeasure. “But if we all can’t go, how will we hang out with Raelynn?”

Five perfectly coifed heads swiveled to face Raelynn.

She stared back, bewildered.

Dena’s hand shot into the air. “I know!” she sang. “Raelynn can help us pass the test, so we’ll be able to hang out this weekend.”

“But how?” the leader asked, her brow furrowed.

“She can let us copy off her test.”

Raelynn dropped her gaze to the table. Here it goes. She swallowed, attempting to dislodge the strange lump that had formed in her throat. Moisture magically appeared from the atmosphere to gather in the corner of her eyes.

“That’s so smart, Mitzi!” the leader gushed. Her hand snaked out and cupped Raelynn’s. “Will you do it?”

Staring at the hand, Raelynn shrugged and slowly nodded.

The leader squeezed her fingers and exclaimed, “You’re the best!” Letting go of Raelynn’s hand, she stood up.

As if pulled by an invisible puppet string, the rest of the girls simultaneously pushed their chairs away from the table and stood.

Raelynn looked up at them and gave a weak smile. “So I’ll see you this—”

“Sure, yeah,” Mitzi cut in. “Yeah, we’ll call you.”

The group turned their backs in unison and strolled away, giggling.

“Bye,” Raelynn called out.

They didn’t look back.

Feeling uncertain, Raelynn sighed and brushed at her eyes.

Maybe she should’ve told them she would be taking the final a day early and would be on the other side of town for a Mathletics tournament on the day of the exam. Maybe she should’ve let them know they’d be copying off an empty desk. They would most likely fail the semester and have to take the class over next year.

She smirked, popping a tater tot into her mouth.

Sucks for them.

Stay tuned to read more about Raelynn and where this turn in life takes her in Misfits Rising…