I attend a small private school, and, like most others in the area, Saint Elizabeth�s School for Girls requires a uniform. Ours consists of a navy or forest green polo top, a navy, green, and yellow plaid skirt, and black dress shoes. I was rummaging through my closet, looking for a skirt, when my hand brushed a deep scarlet gown. I frowned, remembering the occasion I bought it for.
Last year, our town had a formal dance for all high school students in both Washington High, the local public school, and a few of the private schools in the area, including Saint Elizabeth�s. My mother, being on the dance committee, tried to convince me to go. I finally got so annoyed at the constant pleading that I promised her if someone asked me to go, I would. Of course, I knew no sane person would ask me out.
I was wrong.
Later that week, I received a phone call from Sean Clark, a boy that I barely knew.
�Hey, Jackie,� he said shyly.
�Jacqueline,� I corrected. I hated being called Jackie. �Who�s this?�
�Sean�Sean Clark. Hey, are you planning on going to the dance next week?� I could of sworn I heard a girl giggling in the background.
�I don�t really know,� I replied sourly, knowing what was coming next.
�Okay�well, I was just wondering if you would like to go with me.� My mom entered my bedroom, smiling. She�d been listening to my conversation with Sean on some other phone.
�I�d love to,� I answered unenthusiastically.
�Great,� Sean replied, more excited than I was. �I�ll call you later so we can get together and talk.�
�Sure. Bye.�
�Bye,� he said, hanging up.
My mother was ecstatic. �Jacqueline, honey, we have to buy a dress this instant!� I guess when it came to my social life, my mother found me worth her while. �Come on, we�ll go right now,� she said, exiting my room gracefully. �This is going to be very formal, so I was thinking of a dark gown, maybe with spaghetti straps,� my mother explained, looking at me thoughtfully. �You have lovely shoulders,� she added.
We bought my dress, and I had exactly one week until the dance. The week seemed to drag on, but the day finally came. My mother took a day off to supervise Marcie, my hair dresser, do my hair, nails, and makeup. After that was all done, I had around an hour to spare until Sean picked me up.
He never came.
I stepped away from the gown, locating a skirt and getting dressed. I went downstairs, finding my parents and thirteen-year-old brother, Caleb, finishing their breakfast. Caleb was taking excitedly about his homeroom assignment, my father was reading the newspaper, obviously uninterested, and my mother was listening to his mindless babble half-heartedly. I was ready to leave and avoid possible confrontation, but my father noticed me.
�Good morning, Jacqueline,� my father said from behind his paper. Caleb continued talking, ignoring my presence.
�Yeah,� I muttered, sitting down.
�Excited about school, Jackie?� my mother asked, sipping her tea. Seeing he lost his audience, Caleb shut his mouth�that had to be a first.
�Why should I be?� I mumbled. My father glared at me. I sighed, sitting up a little straighter and saying in an extremely superficial voice: �Why, yes, Mother, I am excited.� I smiled sardonically and added: �Only one more year in this damn place and I�m going to New York and never coming back.� I ended my mock-happiness with a near- scream of: �And don�t call me Jackie!�
My father put down his paper, apparently in an attempt to intimidate me or something. �Jacqueline, we don�t appreciate your attitude.� I stood up, taking a piece of toast, grabbed my car keys and left the house, wondering how I put up with these people all summer.
I drove slowly to school�I�d left the house fifteen minutes earlier than usual, and I really didn�t want to go to school yet. I saw Disillusioned, a small caf� I hung out at�yes, I, Jacqueline Hill, actually had a hang out. Not that I met friends there or anything�it was just a place I went when I wasn�t in school and couldn�t stand being in my house any more. It was open, so I pulled in the parking lot and went inside, throwing my toast in the trash. It was pretty dark inside�it was always dark inside. The caf� was nearly empty, except for a guy about my age in the corner. I stared at him, wondering who he was, then realizing I was the next in line.
The cashier was around twenty�she had a ton of piercings, but so did everyone else that worked here. All the people are really nice, though, but if my mom came in here, she�d probably die�too many nonconformists�she�d say they �just aren�t our kind of people,� and drag me away from this place.
So, anyway, I ordered a drink and sat down at the other end of the caf�, still wondering who that boy was. I knew he couldn�t be from Saint Elizabeth�s, or any other private school for that matter, because he wasn�t in a uniform. He had on jeans and a black tee shirt�I couldn�t read the tee, though, because he was leaning forward, reading a book intently.
�He�s the most intellectual public school guy I�ve ever seen�I mean, most of them don�t even know how to read,� I thought, laughing quietly to myself. I�d decided long ago that public school guys were mindless apes, and I swore to never date them�ever. I glanced at my watch, standing up suddenly. I had five minutes until classes started. I bolted out of Disillusioned, speeding to Saint Elizabeth�s.
Class dragged on�lunch came, and I sat at my usual seat�alone. I noticed a rather happy red head enter the cafeteria, look around, and smile at me. I returned the smile with a dark look. I knew that girl�her name was Gracie Foster, and, in her opinion, she was my �friend.� She thought that if she followed me around, even if we didn�t talk, we were the greatest friends in the world�yeah, she was that weird.
�Hi, Jackie! Oh my God, I haven�t seen you, like, all summer!�
�Do you think that was an accident?� I replied sarcastically, flinching at the mention of �Jackie.�
You have like, such a great sense of humor!� she said, giggling.
�And you, like, can�t take a hint,� I shot back mockingly. I ate my apple in peace, congratulating myself on actually achieving the impossible- getting Gracie Foster to shut up. I was wondering if thing�s would actually stay quiet when Gracie spoke again. My mind was on that boy at the caf�, so I didn�t hear her.
�What?�
�I asked whatcha did over the summer,� Gracie repeated, trying to act annoyed.
�Oh, miss you,� I said caustically. �What a stupid question.� Once again, the beautiful art of sarcasm won over Gracie�s mouth.
The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, mainly because I wasn�t in any classes with Gracie. At 3:00, I tried to leave that damn place without Gracie noticing me, but, sadly, that just didn�t happen. I only had a few more yards to my car�once I was in there, I was Gracie-free�
�Hey, Jackie, where ya goin�?� Gracie asked, cracking her gum. I winced.
�Oh, I�m going to the graveyard�see, I�ve dug a plot where I�m going to go lay down in, and the cemetery people have agreed to bury me alive! Sounds like fun, doesn�t it?� I asked. I was really planning on going back to Disillusioned�maybe that boy would be back. Not that I liked him or anything�I was just curious.
�Oh,� she replied, and for a second, I actually thought she believed me. I kept walking. �Okay, really, where are you going?� She asked, catching up to me. �Can I come?�
�No friggin� way! Do you seriously think I�m going to drag your preppy ass around?� I yelled, furious that she�d actually think she could be accepted at Disillusioned.
�You don�t control me, no matter what you may think, Jacqueline. I�ll see you at�wherever you�re going,� she replied.
�You know what, whatever. Seriously, you�ll see�I�ll give you five minutes in Disillusioned�no, I bet you wouldn�t even last that long.� I got into my car and sped away, leaving Gracie fuming on the sidewalk.
I groaned, seeing Gracie in her little yellow bug in my rearview mirror, some distance behind me. My groan quickly turned into a laugh when I realized that Gracie thought she�d be accepted at Disillusioned.
�This oughta be good,� I thought, pulling into the Disillusioned parking lot.
I didn�t wait for Gracie�I quickly walked in and ordered a drink, sitting in the darkest corner of the room. I saw Gracie come in�and, a few seconds later, leave. I laughed quietly to myself.
�Did I miss something?� asked a voice from behind me. I spun around and saw the pubic school boy from this morning.