"Especially when they hear or see where you live and who you're living with. Whenever I ride the school bus, they jeer and howl when it stops at the gate. A few times, they saw your great-aunt out walking, wearing one of her silly hats or walking with an umbrella when it wasn't raining,"
"She didn't want the sun on her. I know people, my grandmother's friends, who do that."
"Pal I'm saying is they make fun of her and they will of you, so be ready for it. They don't dare make fun of me," she added, already looking furious enough to get into a fight.
What she was telling me made me even more nervous about attending a new school.
By the time we went from one end of the mall to the other. Nikki and Raspberry rejoined us. Raspberry handed me a bag with notebooks, pens and pencils and a ruler in it. I saw what looked like a little calculator. too. and plucked it out. "What's this?'
"We thought you might need it." Nikki said.
"It was free today if you bought ten dollars' worth." Raspberry added.
"Thank you." I said.
"Jordan and I decided to have a party tonight in Miss Pig-- I mean, her great-aunt's basement."
"Great, who we inviting?" Raspberry asked.
"Just us. It's a planning party. Well plan who we are going to be friends with and who we ain't and what boys are worth our time and what ain't."
"Good idea," Nikki said.
"What do we have to drink? Any alcopops?" Raspberry asked.
"No. You guys bring them. You got money, I suppose," Alanis said. "Right?"
"Right," Nikki said. smiling.
"What's an alcopop?" I asked.
"You never heard of it?" Raspberry asked me. I shook my head.
'Don't forget she lived in a castle,' Alanis told them.
"It wasn't really a castle. It's just a big house."
"And she's only seven."
"So? I drank vodka and orange juice when I was seven," Nikki bragged. They all laughed.
"Alcopops is just fruit-flavored rum and stuff." Alanis said quickly. "Don't worry about it. We got something more important to think about," she told the other two.
"What's that?" Nikki asked.
"I'd like us to think of someone for Jordan for later."
"She's only in the third grade!" Raspberry said.
"That's why we have to think of him. stupid." Alanis responded.
"Yeah, well, you tell me a boy who's gonna wanna be with a girl in the third grade," Raspberry countered.
I looked from one to the other, not sure what I should say but sure I should be saving something. After all, they were talking about me.
"Look at her. She's pretty cute," Alanis said, but not with as much confidence.
The three of them turned their gazes on me, making me feel very uncomfortable.