Nobody Likes Megan McGowen - Lunch with Tara Pickett

When the bell for lunch finally rang, Megan hurried into the cafeteria as fast as she could. If she was really quick, she could be near the front of the line and might even manage to get a table today. She didn’t really think she’d be able to keep it of course, but it was worth a try. And it’d be a good test of whether or not things had actually changed for her like he promised.

She sat down at the end of one of the long tables near the back of the room. She’d seen an empty round one, but she knew there was no way she’d be able to keep that – better just stick with the end of this one. Jen came up a few minutes later, tray in hand and sat down across from Megan.

“You actually got a table?” she sounded surprised.

“For now at least.” Megan told her, shrugging. “Let’s just see if it lasts.”

“I bet we lose it in five minutes.” Jen told her, grinning.

“Three.” Megan countered. Out of the corner of her eye, Megan saw a blonde ponytail bouncing towards them. “Actually, two.” she corrected.

“Hi, guys!” Tara said brightly.

Megan looked up. Tara Pickett, the most popular girl at school – a senior – was standing there with her lunch tray. What was she doing there? Didn’t she usually sit at one of the round tables at the front with all her friends? Or had they decided to take Megan’s table just because they could? And here Megan was thinking this day might actually be good for once.

Megan stared at her for a second and noticed that Tara wasn’t looking at them like they were in her way. Well, this was new. Megan couldn’t remember the last time someone had approached her and Jen in the cafeteria without a look of annoyance. Tara put her tray down at the empty seat next to Megan and pulled the chair out for herself.

“How come you’re sitting all the way back here today?” she asked.

“It was the first table I saw?” Megan said uncertainly. She was still trying to figure out why Tara was sitting next to them. Shouldn’t she be kicking them out of her way or something?

“I don’t think I’ve ever sat back here before.” Tara said, looking around.

“Me either.” Megan mumbled. It might be a step down for Tara, but Megan had never gotten so lucky.

“So how have you been anyway?” Tara asked casually. Then she laughed. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever!”

That’s ’cause you’ve never talked to me before, Megan thought. But she didn’t say that. Besides, hadn’t she always wanted Tara Pickett to talk to her? So instead, she just said, “I’m ok. You?”

She was more tentative than she’d meant to be. Fortunately, Tara didn’t seem to notice; she grinned at Megan like they’d been friends for years. Megan tried her best to return the look, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t managed to keep the confusion completely off her face.

“I’m great. We just finished tryouts for the school play yesterday afternoon – you should have come.”

“What?” was all Megan could think to say.

Her jaw dropped, and she did her best not to stare. Was Tara making fun of her? Or did she really not remember the disaster that had been Megan’s attempt?

When they’d announced tryouts, Megan had been secretly excited about the idea. She hadn’t told Jen of course, on the off-chance she’d fail. But she stayed late after school yesterday, mumbling lines as she walked onto the stage at the front of the cafeteria. But when it was time for her to actually say anything, she’d completely blown it. She forgot everything she’d rehearsed, and when the agonizing three-minute speech was finally over, she nearly tripped getting off the stage. It was so embarrassing! And the snickers she heard as she left the auditorium let her know she’d more than missed her chance. So why was Tara bringing that up now – and in front of Jen? Was that really why she’d sat down next to them?

Megan studied Tara’s face, but the statement seemed genuine. Fortunately, Tara didn’t seem to notice how red Megan was getting.

“I know, it’s not really your thing. But I still think you would’ve been really good. You should at least try out for the one in the spring, ok?”

“Ok.” Megan answered numbly, still trying to keep the shock off her face. Finally, she asked, “So where’s Stacey?”

Stacey was Tara’s best friend. And somehow Megan found it hard to believe that Tara would really be spending time with her if Stacey was around.

“She went out to the parking lot to talk to Heath.” Tara rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what she sees in him.”

“Heath?” Megan asked. “You mean the guy on the basketball team?”

“Yeah. How many other Heaths do you know?”

Tara stared at her critically for a second, and Megan found herself shrugging.

“So why don’t you like him?” she asked.

Heath was a year ahead of Megan in school, and he was one of the cutest guys around. She might not actually know him, but it seemed like a pretty good deal to her.

“He’s actually kind of a jerk.” Tara told her. “Remember what he said at Greg’s party last Friday? How she spent like two hours crying?”

Megan nodded. Of course, she hadn’t been invited to Greg’s party. But she had heard rumors about Stacey and Heath breaking up after. But they were always doing that; she and Jen actually laughed when they were back together the next week.

“Anyway, she’ll be here in a minute, don’t worry.” Tara said, shrugging.

“Ok.” Megan said vaguely.

It was weird to think Tara was really sitting here with her and Jen. And now Stacey would be joining them soon.

“What about Karen and Danielle?” Megan asked. Were they still part of Tara’s group? Or had Megan and Jen suddenly replaced them?

“Karen’s getting math help from Eric.” Tara told her. “And I’m not sure about Danielle.”

“She’s talking to her English teacher.” Jen said, sounding a little funny. It was the first thing she’d said since Tara sat down. Megan looked over at her. She had a strange look on her face – like she was trying to remember something. Megan caught herself wondering if Jen was trying to figure out why they were suddenly friends with the most popular girls in school.

“When did she tell you that?” Megan asked, trying to get her to think about something else for a minute. She didn’t really mind if her best friend knew what happened, but she figured it probably wasn’t a good idea for Tara to know. If she did, Megan probably wouldn’t even be popular despite making that wish!

“Just before lunch – I passed her in the hallway.” Jen said, starting to sound even more confused. Megan was pretty sure she heard Jen mumble, “Don’t know why she told me.”

“Are you ok?” Tara asked, a look of concern on her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jen said slowly. Megan breathed a sigh of relief. “I just have this weird feeling, you know?”

“Like what?” Tara asked before Megan had time to change the subject.

“I don’t know. It’s like I’m forgetting something really important.”

“Homework?” Megan asked hopefully.

“No, I don’t think so.” Jen shook her head, still thinking.

“Well, we did have a pop quiz in history today.” Megan grumbled, half to herself.

“We do?” Tara asked, eyes wide. “I haven’t done any of the homework this week!”

“Is it hard?” Jen asked. And Megan was glad to see she wasn’t looking confused anymore.

“Well, I didn’t pass.” Megan told her honestly. But that didn’t mean Jen would fail; Jen was a lot better at school than Megan was.

“Oh, I’m sure you did fine.” Tara told her, waving away all of Megan’s concerns. “You always sell yourself short.”

“Really?” Megan asked skeptically.

Now how would Tara know something like that? Especially since Megan knew full well it wasn’t true.

“Of course.” Tara said. “It’s like I always tell you – you just need to trust yourself a little more.”

“I guess.” Megan mumbled. To be honest, Tara was starting to weird Megan out – and it wasn’t just the fact that she was saying things that weren’t true. It was more the way she was apparently remembering whole conversations that they’d never even had.

It wasn’t long before the rest of Tara’s group came and joined them. Stacey was first. She sat down with a faraway look in her eye.

“Heath’s taking me out to La Province this weekend.” she announced to the table.

“That’s great!” Megan told her, glad to talk about something other than the made-up pep-talks she’d apparently been having. La Province was one of the nicest restaurants in town. And here Tara thought he was a jerk!

“Why’s he taking you there?” Tara asked suspiciously.

“Why not?” Stacey sniffed. “Can’t my boyfriend take me out somewhere nice every once in a while?”

“Of course he can – he should, actually. But it doesn’t have anything to do with last weekend?”

“I already told you – he felt really bad about that.” Stacey informed her matter-of-factly. “Besides, this is part of how he’s going to make it up to me.”

“I guess.” Tara mumbled. She sat there looking annoyed until Karen and Danielle sat down.

“Hey guys!” Danielle grinned.

“Hey.” Jen mumbled absentmindedly. Megan saw that weird look was back on her face.

“How are you?” Megan asked. She tried not to sound nervous, but sitting with the four most popular girls in school was a little intimidating.

“Great – I don’t have to take Mrs. Boyd’s make-up test until Monday!”

“It’s so not fair that you get an extra week for that.” Stacey told her. “If I’d gotten extra study time, I’m sure I would have done a lot better.”

“You know you wouldn’t have studied for it anyway.” Karen told her.

“I might have.” Stacey insisted.

“Don’t lie – you would have been over Heath’s house every night. Just like you were anyway.”

Stacey thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, probably.” she admitted.

“So what happened to you studying with Eric?” Tara asked Karen, obviously not wanting to discuss Heath anymore.

“Well, apparently I’m kind of a lost cause for math.” Karen shrugged. Then, she grinned. “So we’re going to work on it together after school.”

“Lucky!” Danielle pouted. “I wish I had a cute guy to help me with my homework.”

Megan listened to their conversation for the rest of the period, almost in a state of shock; she couldn’t believe she was really sitting here. And sure, she might not have contributed much – or at all, really – but that didn’t matter. She was actually hanging out with the popular girls. And even better was the fact that they thought she belonged. She would have thought it was a joke, except she was pretty sure none of them knew what she’d done last night.

Overall, Megan was sorry lunch was over so fast, but a little part of her was glad. She’d been so nervous – she kept worrying she was going to say something stupid. Maybe she’d accidentally reveal how nerdy she really was and her whole wish would be ruined.

“Do you think Mrs. Boyd’ll actually collect the homework today?” Megan asked Karen absentmindedly, falling into step beside her.

Mrs. Boyd never seemed to remember when she’d assigned homework. Usually, that meant Megan only did her English if she had enough time after everything else was done. Of course, it also meant running the risk that she wouldn’t have anything to turn in on those few days when it was collected. But it was a gamble that usually paid off for Megan.

“Do you have Mrs. Boyd too?” Karen asked, trying to remember.

“Yeah, next period. With you.” Megan mumbled, suddenly embarrassed. She’d actually begun to think of these girls as friends. What was she thinking?

“Oh – that’s right!” Karen laughed sheepishly. “I always forget that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.” Megan tried to say it like she actually meant it, but it still kind of hurt her feelings. She might not have been friends with Karen up until about an hour ago, but she still would have liked to believe Karen at least knew they were in the same class! Maybe she really was getting ahead of herself with this whole hang-out-with-the-popular-kids thing.

“You must sit in the back, don’t you?” Karen asked.

“Yeah.” If by back Karen meant two rows behind her.

“That’s why I didn’t remember.” Karen grinned knowingly.

Megan nodded again, but somehow that didn’t make her feel any better.

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