Tara Kelly - Harmonic Feedback

“Hey, Drea,” she said with a half smile. Her dark eyes focused on the box swinging in my hand.

I muttered hi under my breath. A flutter of laughter followed me down the hallway.

“She looks like Raggedy Ann,” one of the girls hissed. Another voice shushed her, and they went silent. I pictured their eyes on my back, analyzing everything from the way I walked to the size of my butt. Mom always did that. Compared herself to other women or criticized their outfits. When I’d hide in a bathroom stall, girls would stand in front of the mirror complimenting each other and insulting their absent friends. Always with lowered voices and soft giggles. Hatred and friendship seemed to go hand in hand.

The bell signifying the end of lunch break rang about five minutes later. My shoulders sagged as soon as I glanced at my schedule—PE. I’d purposely forgotten to bring a T-shirt and a pair of sweats, hoping this school wouldn’t have a uniform. It wasn’t like they could make me run around a field in a skirt.

I scanned the crowd for Naomi as I neared the brick gym building but found Kari instead. She had her hand on Justin’s arm, and he was leaning toward her and laughing. I’d once read some lame magazine in a doctor’s office that said casual touches and leaning toward each other were signs of romantic interest.

Kari’s voice rose as she backed away from him. “See you in the parking lot, then?”

Justin gave her another dimpled smile. “You got Mrs. Baker for sixth period, right?”

She nodded, looking over at me. I realized I was gaping at them like an idiot.

“I’ll meet you there after class.” Justin turned and glanced at me. I opened my mouth to say hi, but he’d looked away and brushed past me before a sound escaped my lips. Nice.

“How’s it going, Drea?” Kari asked, still staring at me from the entrance of the gym.

“Fine,” I muttered to the ground.

“What?”

“It’s fine,” I said as I walked toward her. Where the hell was Naomi?

“Come on. I’ll show you where the locker room is,” she said, opening the graffiti-covered door.

Great—just what I needed. A guided tour of the locker room by a girl who hated my only friend here. “Thanks.”

She led me down a hallway with a shiny wood floor and walls lined with trophy cases. “Did Naomi tell you we used to be best friends?” she asked.

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

The smell of sweat and cheap perfume emanated from a blue set of double doors ahead, making me queasy.

“You’ll have to see Mrs. Kessler to get your uniform first.” She yanked open the heavy door.

Perfect, I thought.

The locker room was like every other I’d endured. Stained cement floors with matching walls, long skinny benches, and girls in various stages of undress. Some were hunched over, quickly yanking shirts over their heads. Others paraded around in nothing but fancy bras and underwear. The muggy air and high-pitched chatter made me dizzy.

Kari brought me to an office where a brunette woman sat. She looked nearly as small as I was—definitely not the norm for PE teachers.

“Newbie here, Mrs. Kessler.” She jabbed her thumb at me.

“Thanks, Kari.”

Kari shot me a quick grin and left me alone. Mrs. Kessler handed me a uniform, went over the usual rules, and sent me on my way. She didn’t even ask if I had questions.

Naomi stood outside the office, biting her lower lip. Her eyes looked glazed and sleepy. “Let’s go find lockers.” She grabbed my elbow and led me toward the back row. We scanned for a pair without locks and found a couple at the very top.

Naomi ripped off her black T-shirt and nodded at me. “Kessler is loads of fun, isn’t she?”

“Sure…” I folded my arms over my stomach. I’d changed in the bathroom stalls at every other school. The other girls would smirk when I’d come out clutching my clothes. But it was better than standing around a bunch of half-naked strangers.

Naomi crinkled her brow at me. “Better get changed. Kessler is a real hard-ass about tardiness.”

“Right.” I stood up and backed away, pressing the clothing against my chest.

“Where you going?”

“Bathroom.”

She unzipped her baggy jeans and let them fall to the floor. “Are you changing in the stall?” Her half smile told me she found that amusing. After all, she thought I’d had my share of boyfriends—surely it wasn’t the first time anyone saw me undressed.

“I have to pee. But I guess I can change first.”

“Whatever.” She grinned and folded her jeans.

I glanced at the blue underwear riding low across her hips. The material was silky and thin. Nothing like the white pair that went up to my waist.

A couple girls walked into the aisle across from us—the same ones standing in the hallway with Kari at lunch. The blonde gave me a fleeting glance, but focused on Naomi. She was tall and big-boned with jowly cheeks and thin lips. She slid out of her tight jeans, showing off a satin thong. Her skinny friend wore one of those lace bras I saw in my mom’s Victoria Secret catalogs.

I wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Roger tried to make a move on me at lunch,” Naomi said, slamming her locker shut. “You’re definitely coming with me next time.”

I pulled the gray sweats underneath my skirt. The scratchy material made my legs itch. “Why do we have to hang out with him at all?”

“Because he’s got a car and he’ll smoke us out.” She wrinkled her nose at me as I slipped the T-shirt over my tank top. “Kessler usually makes us run a mile the first day.”

“That’s okay.” I stuffed my skirt inside the locker and reluctantly put my lunch box inside. I never had much luck convincing PE teachers that I could run and play sports while carrying it.

“Someone should put biohazard tape over her locker,” the blond girl across the aisle said loudly. She elbowed her friend and giggled at Naomi.

Naomi rolled her eyes at me. “Bitches.”

The big-boned girl straightened and walked toward Naomi. God, she was at least six feet tall. “Did you say something?”

Naomi’s shoulders tensed. “Nope.”

The girl leaned within inches of her face. “You sure?”

Naomi pressed her back into the lockers, her hands curling into fists. “I didn’t know, Casey. And I already apologized to her. What else do you want from me?”

Casey glanced down at Naomi’s shaking hands and smirked. She slammed her large fist into the lockers, missing Naomi’s head by a couple inches. The thud echoed around the room like a firecracker, making me cover my ears. “Call me bitch again and I’ll aim for your face next time.”

“You got one minute!” Mrs. Kessler called from the front. “Let’s go, ladies!”

Casey backed away and disappeared around the corner with her friend.

Naomi squeezed her eyes shut and let out a deep breath. “I totally forgot she’d be in regular PE this year.”

“She looks like a football player,” I said.

“No shit. She got kicked off the soccer team last year for sending a chick to the hospital.”

“Why is she so mad at you?” I asked as we headed out of the locker room.

“Shhh.” Naomi’s eyes darted around the seemingly empty rows around us. She moved closer to me and leaned into my ear. “Because Kari will never be done getting back at me. Casey is, like, her personal fucking bodyguard.”

“But that guy isn’t even her boyfriend anymore, right?”

“It’s not about that. I broke the girl code, you know?”

I nodded, but I didn’t really know . Too bad there wasn’t a dictionary for sixteen-year-old girl talk.

I nearly bumped into Justin when I found my sixth-period film class. He opened the door for me, but he didn’t make eye contact.