Carly sat in her desk, her head resting on her hand, staring out the window. She was early, as usual. Talking girls entered the room, but she didn�t bother to see who it was. The second bell rang and the door was closed by the teacher. If you�re not here on time, he always said, it�s your own damn fault; you�re not getting in. She forced herself to turn to the front of the class, without using too much energy of course, her head now resting on both hands. Her friends had failed yet again to acknowledge the fact that she was even in the same room. They sat around her talking about their plans for the weekend. She knew she wasn�t to be included again. Sure, they�d say she was invited, but when it came time for one of them to call with the plans nothing would be done and she�d be left home alone, waiting. She didn�t bother with getting upset anymore; she�d gotten used to the negligence. She sighed silently and opened her notebook to take notes. The teacher began droning on about something dealing with force and inertia. She�d learned to drown him out, however, and taught herself since he could never do it. She flipped through the pages in her textbook and began reading about what they were supposed to be doing. She heard her name from her friends and a spark of hope and excitement ran through her. Soon she realized they were talking about the one other Carly in the school. A piercing pain echoed through her heart and her eyes began to water. She always was too sensitive. She sucked it in and began reading again. Three years of this hell and nothing�s gotten better.
At lunch she sat down at the same seat at the same table that she�d been at since the first day of freshman year. She rummaged through her purse to find her bottle of water. She found it and slouched down into her seat hoping that no one would notice her. That never seemed to be a problem though. She unscrewed the top and took little sips of the cold tap water. Janice came and sat down at the opposite end of the table. She was a picture of perfect beauty. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and the perfect curves every boy wanted. That had always been a problem. All of Carly�s friends were so much prettier than her in her eyes. She looked down and twirled the bottle in her hands. It was always the same thing at lunch; conversation between everyone except Carly, and waiting in agony for the bell to ring. Soon everyone else sat down and began talking. Every now and then there would be a moment of silence when Carly would become even more uncomfortable. She fidgeted nervously and drank more quickly. Soon her water was gone and she was left to play with the bottle again. Her eyes darted up quickly when she heard her name spoken. Everyone at the table was looking at her with smiles across their faces. She furrowed her brow. Something must be wrong.
�What?� she asked quietly.
�What are you doing this weekend?� Candace asked.
�Nothing. Why?�
�Well, we�re going to go to Janice�s house and we might go see a movie and stuff, and we were wanted you to come too.�
�Me?� She laughed.
�Of course! We�re your friends. So, do you want to come?�
�Uh, sure.�
Carly drove through the backstreets at night in the middle of a snow storm trying to find Janice�s house. Her cell phone rang and she grabbed it as quickly and carefully as she could without swerving into a ditch.
�Hello?�
�Hey girl! Where are you? I called your house and your mom said you went out,� her friend, Harley, said.
�Well duh. I�m going to Janice�s house. We�re going to go to the movies. Of course this is all assuming I get there in one piece.�
�What do you mean?�
�It�s snowing so bad I can hardly see ten feet in front of me.�
�Maybe you should pull over.�
�Nah, I�m almost there. I think. Anyway, I have to go before I really do get into a wreck.�
�Alright, but call me when you get there so I know you made it ok.�
�I will. Bye.�
Carly stepped out of her car ten minutes later and reached into the backseat to grab her bag. She locked her door and began walking carefully to Janice�s front door. She pulled the hood of her grey sweater over her head to avoid her hair getting wet from the snow. She fixed it special for tonight. It was curled at the bottom and pulled into a pony tail which fell to her buttocks. She never was one for make-up so she was pulling a natural look tonight. She wore a pair of tight, hip-hugger blue jeans with a white turtle-neck sweater. In the back of her mind she hoped they would finally like her. After a light knock on the door Janice greeted her with her normal radiant smile.
�I was beginning to think you weren�t coming!� she said opening the door for Carly to come in.
�No, I just got a little lost.�
�Who gave you directions?�
�Uh, I got them off the internet.� Because no one called with them like they were supposed to.
�Well I guess it was ok. Come on, you can put your stuff in my room,� she said walking up the stairs expecting Carly to follow. She did and after putting her stuff down on her bed they went down into the basement where all of the other girls had already been for quite some time. Maybe they had given her the wrong time as well. They all gave her polite smiles and continued with the conversations they were already in the middle of. She walked across the room with her light walk and sat down on a separate recliner. The other couch and the floor in front of it were filled with the girls of her lunch table. Amanda was braiding her hair and half-way listening to everyone. Denise began laughing and her bouncy black hair came into her face without covering her equally beautiful smile. Candace rolled her eyes at the lame joke that was just told that everyone else seemed to find hilarious. Carly smiled shyly but didn�t make a sound with fear that it would draw attention to her. She looked down at the floor and saw Janice�s little Pomeranian looking up at her. She smiled and picked it up. Maybe tonight wouldn�t be a total bomb.
There was another knock on the door and this time Candace jumped up to answer it. Carly looked up curiously and waited for three people to walk back down instead of the one that went up. Candace had her arm linked with a boy not much taller than her with light blonde hair; obviously her boyfriend Michael. Another boy stood to the side with a smile on his face. He was at least six feet tall with muscles to match his height. He had black hair and made Carly sigh silently. Maybe someone here would notice her. They all walked to the other side of the room with the couch. Candace pushed everyone off to make room for her and Michael. They sat down and began whispering into each others ears and playing with their hands. Their fingers intertwined and rubbed together gently. The boy looked over at Carly and then to Janice.
�Oh! Nick, this is Carly. She wasn�t at the dance so you didn�t meet her,� Janice said politely when she yet again forgot to notice Carly was in the same hemisphere. She smiled more boldly than she had done in a long time. He smiled back.
�It�s nice to meet you,� he said with the smile still on his face.
�Nice to meet you too.� Everyone once again turned away from Carly and began talking furiously. She looked down and resumed petting the dog. She felt someone move close to her and was surprised to see Nick when she looked up. He sat down next to the chair and looked up at her.
�So why weren�t you at the dance?�
�I�m not a big dance person. Sorry. Were you there?�
�Yeah, I went with Janice. They didn�t want Michael there alone with a bunch of girls and guys that he didn�t know.�
�So you�re his friend?�
�Yeah. So Candace has told me about you.�
�She has?�
�Yeah. Does that surprise you?�
�Well� Yeah.� He smiled and quickly turned his head when Janice called his name. He got up and flashed Carly a smile as he walked away. She smiled. Feelings roared through her fragile body that she hadn�t felt in years. She felt like a little girl again. The little dog jumped off her lap and ran to Janice. Of course it�s too good to last. She slumped down slightly and closed her eyes. The night would never end in her eyes.
An hour later they were all sitting around the tv watching a movie that was drowned out by the constant talking of everyone else in the room. Denise jumped up quickly and ran to the window. She threw back the curtains and a smile spread across her face. She turned back around and faced them all.
�I have an idea.�
�Oh God. Be afraid!� Candace said. Denise stuck her tongue out and shook her hips.
�Let�s go sledding!�
Candace, Carly, and Michael all sat in the back of Nick�s truck while Janice, Nick, and Amanda sat in the cab. They were on their way to the hill at the end of Janice�s street to go sledding. The car sped up as they turned and everyone in the back flew to the opposite side of the bed. Laughter came from inside the car. At long last they were at the hill. Nick parked the car and they all unloaded. Carly looked around and she sighed.
�Did anyone bring the sleds?� she asked. After a few moments of no answer Nick walked back to the truck to go back to the house and get the sleds.
�I�m going with you!� Janice said jumping into the car. They pulled away and the rest walked up the hill. Candace and Michael walked a few feet ahead, holding hands and whispering softly into each other�s ears. He unzipped his coat and pulled Candace into it with him. She cuddled closed and nuzzled her head into his chest. Carly, Amanda, and Denise followed behind with cheesy smiles across their faces. Carly crossed her arms in an attempt to get warm and looked down at the ground to avoid slipping on ice and making a fool of herself. Denise and Amanda began talking to each other just quiet enough so Carly couldn�t hear. She didn�t mind though; if she was included in the conversation that would mean that she had to talk in response, and that was something she didn�t want to do. She pulled up the hood of her sweater when her ears began to lose feeling. The snow crunched beneath her feet while a light snow and harsh wind blew against her face, taking her breath away. When they got to the top of the hill Candace and Michael kept walking into the woods. The other three girls turned around and tried not to think about what was going on. After a few minutes the truck pulled back up to the bottom of the hill. Nick and Janice both trudged up the hill with a sled in hand. Carly smiled when she saw that he was carrying the heavier of the two and thought of what he must look like under his clothes. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Don�t think that. When they reached the top they dropped the sleds and everyone just stared at them.
�Who�s going first?� Denise asked. No one answered and Carly looked down at the sled wanting desperately to go. She had never been sledding before, but she didn�t want to say anything and be the first to go. Janice saw the longing in her eyes and took her arm.
�Come on! Let�s go!� she said pulling her to the sled. Carly blushed and tried to pull back.
�Oh, I don�t think so,� she said shyly.
�I know you want to. Come one!�
She gave up resisting and let Janice push her onto the sled. After she got situated she tried to push herself down the hill, but with no luck. Two hands pushed hard on her back and she and Janice went flying down the hill. Her sled began veering off to the left where Janice�s had stopped just seconds before. She put her foot down to try to stop the sled, but it was going too fast. Her shoe flew off and she screamed for Janice to move. She looked up and jumped to the side. A few yards later Carly�s sled came to a stop and she lay on the ground laughing until her sides hurt. A laughing Janice approached her and pulled her up.
�I lost my shoe,� Carly said through her giggles. Janice looked behind her and found her shoe. She picked it up and gave it to Carly. �Thanks.� They picked up their sleds and walked back up the hill still giggling. Carly couldn�t remember the last time she�d been this happy with them, or anyone for that matter.
The tv cast an eerie glow throughout the basement and onto the lying bodies of the girls and two boys. The weather took a toll for the worse, giving the boys no other choice but to stay the night. Janice�s mom didn�t mind and no one else did; certainly not Carly. After they came in from sledding they were all soaking wet. The girls were the only ones who had extra clothes, leaving the boys to sleep in their wife beaters and boxers. Now Carly lay on the love seat with Nick lying on the floor beside her. They all watched a movie to fall asleep to. Carly had seen the movie many times so she stared at the ceiling thinking about Nick until she fell into a deep slumber.