• tab Even after ditching her on the first day, Jenna still found herself waiting in the lobby for the three of them to join her. While Cassidy apologized for abandoning her, Nate and Theo remained silent. Over the next three days, the two of them continued to ditch her, leaving her behind for Cassidy to find and assist through Fantasia. As nice as it was to have a friend, Jenna didn’t know how to tell Cassidy that she had yet to see Fantasia. She had tried countless times to see this magical world that she had heard so much about and yet she never succeeded. Though Cassidy assured her that she’d see it eventually, Jenna doubted that she ever would. To make matters worse, Theo wasn’t helping. Whenever she asked him for help or an explanation, he’d simply look right past her and keep walking.
    tab By the fourth day, she had had enough. As she waited for them in the lobby, Jenna rehearsed what she was going to say.
    tab “Thanks for letting me hang with guys, but I think it’d be better if I just stayed out of the way.”
    tab Short and straight to the point.
    tab Cassidy might be upset, but at least Nate and Theo would be happy. Maybe then, they’d finally leave her alone and she could spend the summer the way she had originally wanted to, hiding in her room.
    tab Hearing the sounds of the elevator, Jenna stood up from her chair and walked over to the doors, ready to put an end to her short-lived friendship. But instead of Cassidy, it was the three blond girls from before who stepped out. All were dressed identically with the exception of different colors and all were talking at once. While the two blondest girls walked by without even noticing her, the third stopped mid-step and smiled before walking over to her.
    tab “Hey,” she said, her voice extremely bubbly, “I’ve never seen you before.”
    tab Jenna wished that she had brought her sunglasses. The girl’s hair was so bright it nearly blinded her, “Yeah, I’m just here for the summer,” she replied, thankful that the blond had forgotten about their first meeting.
    tab Tossing her hair off her shoulder, the girl smiled, “I’m Gina,” she held out her hand for Jenna to shake but before she could, Gina pulled it back, “oh my god, you know what would be totally fun?”
    tab Gina had spoken so fast, Jenna had hardly caught a word of what she had said.
    tab Seizing her hand, Gina pulled her over to the other blonds, “This girl’s new, she should hangout with us before any of the freaks try and freakatize her, right Lena?
    tab The one named Lena turned out to be the girl wearing the blue tube top and short shorts. Her hair was so blond that it almost looked white. While Gina continued to talk a mile a minute, Lena walked over to Jenna and looked her over before raising a hand signaling for Gina to be quiet.
    tab “So you’re new?” Her expression was flat so Jenna couldn’t even tell what she was thinking.
    tab “Yeah, I’m Jenna by the way.”
    tab “Where are you from?”
    tab If Jenna had known that there would be more questions following that one, she would have tried to escape. Instead however, she stood there for the next five minutes playing twenty questions with Lena, Gina, and Rena. Once she had answered their final question, which involved the latest fashions trends, Lena smiled a smile that Jenna didn’t trust.
    tab “So Jenna, we’re about to hit the mall,” she shot her a challenging look, “want to join us?”
    tab It was a trap. If she said yes, then she’d automatically be accepted into their world of popularity and instantly acquire more friends than she’d ever need. But if she said no, then she’d become another target for Lena and her crew’s ruthlessness.
    tab “Actually I’m waiting for someone,” she said, trying to sound confident, as if she was talking to her old friends before they ditched her.
    tab Raising a bleached eyebrow, Lena took a step closer, “Really? So spill, who’s the lucky guy?”
    tab Before she could stop herself, Jenna heard herself say his name, “Nate.”
    tab As if his name was a catalyst, a look of utter disapproval flashed upon Lena’s face.
    tab “Porter? You’re hanging with commander freak Nate Porter?”
    tab The way she said his name, Lena made it sound like it was some form of poison.
    tab “Um…yeah,” her replied lacked any confidence.
    tab Suddenly all three girls were closing in on her, “Take it from me,” Lena hissed sharply, “if you know what's good for you, than you’ll stay away from the freaky trio, especially Porter, unless you want to end up being a friendless loser like him.”
    tab “They think they’re so cool, always talking about that stupid game of theirs,” Rena added as she rolled her eyes.
    tab Gina agreed with what her blond twins said, “If you don’t want to suffer a social death, than I strongly suggest you come with us.”
    tab She knew that she’d be better off hanging with Lena and her friends; at least they had things in common. But how could she turn her back on Cassidy who had been so nice to her, even when no one else had. Even if these girls wanted to hangout with her, Jenna knew that they were only doing it because she met their standards. But after how her old friends had treated her, tossing her aside since she was no longer ‘worthy’ Jenna had had enough of hanging with the ‘in crowd’.
    tab Standing up straighter, Jenna matched the harsh look that Lena was giving her, “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll stay here with my friends, have fun at the mall though.” Then without another word, she slipped out of the circle that they had trapped her in and headed towards the sitting area of the lobby.
    tab Behind her, she could hear Lena whispering to Gina and Rena. Though she couldn’t hear her fully, Jenna caught the words ‘b***h’ and ‘skank’ as they passed by.
    tab They had barely walked through the main doors when suddenly Jenna heard a voice behind her.
    tab “What are doing?”
    tab Turning around, Jenna came face to face with a scowling Nate. All the confidence that had just used against Lena disappeared. She wondered if Nate had heard her refer to her as his ‘friend’ though she prayed he hadn’t. Upon hearing her say that, he’d probably hate her even more.
    tab “Nothing, just waiting for you guys.”
    tab Nate didn’t buy it. “What did Lena want?”
    tab Jenna bit down on her lower lip as she tried to think of a good lie. “She just…she just wanted to know who I was,” she said at last as Nate rolled his green eyes.
    tab “Not that it matters, but you should probably stay away from her and her cronies,” he started towards the ballroom. “It would really suck if you ended up as another blond airhead zombie.”
    tab Jenna wasn’t sure if Nate had heard what she and Lena had been talking about, but she relieved to know that Nate cared enough to warn her about Lena.
    “ tab One more thing,” he said before walking through the double doors, “Lena’s a b***h. Don’t let anything she says get to you, she’s just full of herself.”
    tab Before she could even respond, Nate pushed open the doors and walked into the ballroom.
    tab “There you are,” Cassidy voice called from inside the room.
    tab Following Nate inside, Jenna was greeted with a cheer from Cassidy.
    tab “Alright, now that’s everybody’s here, we can start,” Cassidy announced proudly as Nate and Jenna walked over to stand besides Theo. Catching Theo’s eyes, Jenna could see the bitterness and took a step away from him while Cassidy explained the rules of today’s adventure.
    tab “Race to the top of the castle.”
    tab From what Cassidy had told her, the ‘castle’ was really code for the apartment building. And the fifteenth floor was known as the ‘tower’.
    “ tab So the rules are, no one can use elevators, only stairs. If you buy a soda, then you’re able to ride the elevator only one level up. Well go in order of slowest to fastest.” Cassidy pointed at herself and Jenna, “We have a ten second lead, and Jenna, if your leg starts to hurt, then your allowed to use the elevator.” Next she pointed to Theo, “You have a five second lead after us, and you Nate, you’re the last to start.”
    tab Nate shrugged his shoulders and walked over towards the stairway entrance. Jenna looked down at her flip-flops. These were obviously not the best shoes for running up stairs in. Kicking them off, she gave them to Sara at the front desk, asking her to hold them for her.
    tab “What’s the prize if we win?” Jenna asked she took her starting position.
    tab “Not sure,” Cassidy admitted as looked over at the big clock hanging above the main desk. “Haven’t thought of it yet.” The big hand touched the twelve.
    tab “Go!”
    tab Then she was running, Thankful, she used to do track and stairs had been her couches favorite workout. Within seconds, she pulled a head of Cassidy who was already breathing heavily. Then Theo rushed by, counting the steps to himself as he ran past her. Pulling her hair into a ponytail, Jenna picked up her pace a little and watched Theo run towards the door leading out into to the fourth floor.
    tab Only ten to go, she thought as someone moved past her. Jenna nearly slipped as she watched Nate zoom up the stairs a head of her. By now Cassidy was still at on the third floor, dragging her body behind her.
    tab “Go Jenna,” she called, “it’d be nice if Nate actually lost this for once.”
    tab Focusing, she started skipping steps, two at a time. Soon enough she heard the sound of a door opening behind her, which was followed by Theo’s heavy breathing. Nate was getting closer and she could see that his shirt was sticking to his sides with sweat. Her feet hurt with each step she took and yet the pain didn’t bother her. As stupid as this race was, Jenna actually found it fun to be acting like a little kid again.
    tab By the ninth floor, the race was just between her and Nate. Somewhere around the seventh floor, Theo had vanished from behind her and had yet to reappear. She had caught up with Nate and both were fighting for space in the stairway.
    tab “Shouldn’t you...shouldn’t you be taking it easy?” Nate asked as he wiped his sweaty face with his shirt.
    tab Ignoring him, Jenna took advantage of the turn coming up and leaped over the next three steps. Now that she was a head of him, she felt like she could do anything. Was this feeling that Dahlia so desperately wanted to feel after beating Nate in the swim race?
    tab Three floors left she thought as she passed the sign indicating the twelfth floor. Nate had fallen behind her and the thought of actually winning made her smile. Suddenly, her foot missed a step and down she tumbled. Thankfully she didn’t have far to fall before hitting the landing with a thud.
    tab Nate appeared not long afterwards and watched her for a minute. He had taken his shirt off and had tied it around his waist. The lights in the stairwell made the sweat glisten on his chest. He said nothing before looking at the staircase and running off.
    tab Sitting up, Jenna touched the leg that she fallen on, praying that she hadn’t broken it. To her relief, it was fine, just a little sore from all the exercise. Pulling herself to her feet, she carefully dragged her aching legs up the remaining steps, wondering if Nate had reached the top by now. Then she heard the sounds of door swinging closed and a moment later Nate appeared.
    tab “Cass told me if I didn’t bring you back with me, then I won’t get the ‘super cool’ prize she had planned,” he said sarcastically. Walking over to her, he draped one of his sweaty arms around her neck and slowly led Jenna up the rest of the way.
    tab Jenna felt strange being so close to Nate like this. Casting him a side way glance, she took in the sharpness of his features. Like always he was scowling, though with his hair plastered to the side of his face with sweat, she found him to be actually kind of cute. And if he actually smiled, then she was positive that he would look twenty times better. Thinking back to her dream she realized why he had looked so handsome, he had been smiling.
    tab When they finally reached the top, they were greeted with a loud cheer. “The brave knight always rescue the princess,” Cassidy giggled as she pointed to Nate who was out of breath.
    tab Shoving Jenna away, Nate sat down on the carpeted floor, “This prize better be worth it Cass, cause I’m never doing this again.”
    tab Cassidy replied with more laughter. “The prize is,” she paused for dramatic effect, “ you get to take the elevator back down.”
    tab Scowling, Nate pulled his shirt off his waist and threw it at Cassidy who shrieked with joy. Theo tossed it back to him and Nate hurriedly pulled it back on. Glancing at Jenna, he stood up, “Come on, I’m not holding the elevator for you.”
    tab Looking at Cassidy, Jenna watched her nod in approval before getting to her feet. Just like Nate had said, he hadn’t held the door for her and she had to run to catch it. As the elevator went down, groups of people got on and off of it. At one point the elevator was so crowded, that Jenna found herself being pressed against Nate’s sweaty chest. Like before, she felt awkward to be so close to him, thankfully, Nate kept his eyes focused on anything but her. Then the doors open and Lena and her crew, obviously back from shopping, walked on. They had changed their outfits and were now all wearing bikini tops with skirts. Suddenly Rena turned noticed Jenna and Nate and stared to laugh.
    tab “Look guys, super loser finally found a girlfriend.”
    tab Her friends joined in on the laugher as they started calling Nate all sorts of hurtful names.
    tab “Tell us Sweatzilla, where’d you find the girl? Standing on a corner holding out her thumb?” Lena added as she shot Jenna an intense glare.
    tab Jenna felt herself blush with embarrassment as she looked away while they kept laughing.
    tab “Hey, remember what I said,” Nate whispered as he touched her arm gently, making Jenna tremble, “just ignore them.”
    tab Biting her lower lip, Jenna tried to block out the sounds of the three girls laughter but all she could think about was how similar it sounded to the way her friends had laughed at her. These were the girls that she had met way back in kindergarten and had been inseparable since. But when they found out what had happened, they turned on her, joining the other students who taunted her. Even her best friend Rachel joined in; being the one who thought it would be funny to throw water balloons at her on the last day of classes.
    tab Closing her eyes, she tried to erase the image of the whole school laughing at her after she had slipped on the wet stairs and fell down, resulting in breaking her leg. No one had helped her; they just stood there pointing and laughing.
    tab Finally the doors opened and the blond triplets climbed out of the elevator with the rest of the people and walked into the lobby. Once they were alone, Jenna moved away from Nate and stormed out onto the marble floor, Nate talking behind her.
    “…forget what they said. Lena’s a whore and her friends are no better.”
    tab Taking her shoes from Sara, she slipped them back on her feet and stomped out of lobby. She had to get out of the building. The air-condition air felt thick and Jenna couldn’t stand to be there any longer. Once outside, she closed her eyes. The fresh air felt good on her skin as she took a deep breath, inhaling it.
    tab Besides her was Nate, whose eyes she could feel burning a whole into her back, how she wished he’d leave her alone.
    tab “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked as a group of people walked inside.
    tab Shaking her head, she forced a smile, “Nope, I’m fine, just need fresh air is all,” she lied though Nate didn’t look convinced. But Nate was the last person she wanted to talk to. Why would he understand what so many others hadn’t?
    tab “What are you two doing out here?” Both of them turned to see Cassidy and Theo walk outside.
    tab Before Jenna could come up with an excuse, Nate stepped in, “We’re hungry and were just about to get lunch.”
    tab While the trio debated where to eat, Jenna watched Nate glance her way and mouthed, ‘are you ok’ to her. She nodded and smiled again though he only responded by narrowing his eyes. Then Cassidy joined her and informed her that they we’re going Chuck’s, the so-called ‘best pizza place around.’ As they walked onto the boardwalk, Jenna stared out at the ocean. It had been forever since she had gone swimming but suddenly she felt like she had to be in the water. By the time they sat down at the pizzeria, Jenna had already decided on her plans for that evening.