“Can you believe the way she was lying to me?!” Claudia exclaimed as she slammed down her lunch tray.

Natalie slid into the seat next to Claudia, while Eden took the seat across from them. Natalie knew Claudia didn’t expect an answer. Ever since seeing Jennifer that morning, Claudia had been ranting and raving between classes. And now she had the whole lunch period to do the same.

Usually when Claudia ranted, Natalie just listened. But she was tired of this conversation and dared to ask a question. “How do you know she was lying?”

Claudia looked up from the salad she was drizzling with honey mustard dressing. “Come on! Don’t tell me you bought her story? It was so obvious that she was making it up on the spot.”

“Why would she do that?” Eden asked as she opened a container of milk and popped a straw into it.

“She’s jealous,” Claudia said smugly. “She’s always been jealous of me. It goes all the way back to grade school.”

Natalie didn’t know what to say to that. She had always seen Jennifer as being nice. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would be jealous of someone else. But maybe Claudia was right. After all, she’d only been friends with Claudia since freshman year and Claudia had known Jennifer a lot longer than she had. And it really wasn’t like she knew Jennifer. Over the years they’d had some classes together and they sometimes crossed paths when they were outside school, but it wasn’t like they were friends the way she was with Claudia and Eden. They hung out with their group, and Jennifer hung out with hers.

Sometimes there were days when Natalie still couldn’t believe she was friends with Claudia and Eden. Natalie was considered one of the most popular girls at North Ridge High and it was all because Claudia and Eden had asked her to have lunch with them the first day of school freshman year.

Talk about luck!

Often Natalie wondered if Claudia and Eden would still have asked her to have lunch with them if she were the old Natalie and not the Natalie they had met three years ago.

Natalie hated thinking about her life before moving to North Ridge and starting classes at North Ridge High.

Inside, she had always been the same person.

But on the outside . . .

On the outside she had been fat.

And that was how her old classmates always saw her.

As the fat girl.

It hadn’t been so bad in grade school — junior high was where it had been the worst. Even after all these years, she could still remember the horrible things they used to say to her — not only behind her back but to her face. She could still remember the jokes they used to play on her.

All because she looked different.

Some days she would run home and lock herself in her bedroom, crying her eyes out.

As a little girl, she’d always been chubby. Her grandmother said she just had baby fat and said that she’d eventually outgrow it. But when she started junior high, the baby fat was still there. It seemed like all her other female classmates were tall and thin, like models, and she still looked like a blob. The girls started dressing differently, too, wearing tiny skirts, high heels, and cute tops, but Natalie wasn’t able to transform herself the way that they had. As a result, she looked even more different and everyone noticed, especially the guys, who started calling the other girls for dates.

No one called her.

But they did start calling her names.

She couldn’t remember when it started, but suddenly, they were calling her Fatalie. Miss Big Bones. Flabtastica.

One time they called the local pizzeria and had four pizzas delivered to her house. Minutes later, someone called and asked if she had enjoyed the “snack” they had sent over. Another time they sent her a year-long membership to the Pie of the Month Club. They mailed her gift certificates for all-you-can-eat buffets, as well as coupons for Slim-Fast and Lean Cuisine.

She had never done anything to any of them, but for some reason, they decided that she deserved to be laughed at and made fun of. The one thing she never did was let them know how much their mean words and jokes hurt. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. And it wasn’t like she didn’t have any friends. She did, but the girls she hung out with were also considered outcasts. So if Natalie wasn’t being teased because of her weight, she was being teased along with her friends. There was never any escape.

Until the end of eighth grade.

That was when Natalie’s parents told her they were moving to another town.

“I think you’re overreacting,” Eden said, cutting into Natalie’s thoughts.

Claudia shook her head. “Trust me, she was lying. And I’m going to expose her.”

“How?” Natalie asked as she tossed her long blonde hair over one shoulder.

“On Saturday night. At my party. I’m sure she’s going to come alone, with some sort of lame story as to why her so-called boyfriend couldn’t make it. All it’s going to take is a couple of questions from me to show everyone what a liar she is.”

“Is that all you’re eating for lunch?” Eden asked, pointing at Natalie’s strawberry yogurt, granola bar, and cup of fresh fruit.

“I had a big breakfast,” Natalie said, remembering the blueberry pancakes and bacon she’d had. Yum!

“I wish I had your willpower,” Eden said, opening a packet of ketchup and squeezing it over her cheeseburger and french fries.

“I don’t think you have to worry about the way you look,” Natalie said, and it was true. Tall and willowy, with chocolate-brown skin and straight black hair that reached down her back, Eden was gorgeous. Natalie thought she was just as beautiful as some of the girls who competed on Eden’s favorite TV show, America’s Next Top Model. Okay, okay, so every so often a clunker model slipped in, but Eden really was a knockout and most of the guys at North Ridge High thought so.

They thought the same thing about Natalie, too.

And it all started the summer she moved to North Ridge.

That summer, Natalie decided to do something about her weight. She wasn’t going to wait to “outgrow” her baby fat. If she wanted to lose those extra pounds, she needed to do something about it. So she started exercising, slowly at first, with long walks and bicycle rides. Then she progressed to jogging and swimming. After that, she joined a gym and began working with a physical trainer.

When it came to food, she still ate what she wanted. She just monitored her portions and cut out a lot of junk food. Gone were the potato chips, candy bars, and ice-cream cones that she used to eat without thinking. When her mother baked, did she really need to eat four chocolate chip cookies when two were enough?

At the same time, she finally went through a major growth spurt and added four inches to her height.

As a result of everything, the pounds melted away, and by September she didn’t recognize the willowy, blonde, blue-eyed girl in her bedroom mirror. Finally, she was able to wear the same cute clothes and high heels as her ex-classmates. When classes started in September, the old Natalie was gone, replaced by a new one.

It was like she was being given a clean slate.

Even though she was now thin, Natalie still exercised and watched what she ate. Sure, there were some days when she didn’t go jogging or she skipped the gym. And there were days when she felt like being a couch potato and plopped herself in front of the TV with a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos or barbecue-flavored Lay’s. When too many of those days happened, all Natalie had to do was remember the way she used to be teased or look at old photos in her family photo album. It was usually the wake-up call she needed to get back on track.

After three years, Natalie still couldn’t believe she was thin and pretty. And that guys were interested in her!

When it came to guys, she was pretty much shy around them and hadn’t dated much. For the last month, she had been going out with Tom Marland, but only because he was Chase’s best friend and Claudia had constantly been pressuring her to go out with him. To get Claudia off her back, she finally agreed to go to a movie with Tom. It hadn’t been too hard to say yes to him when he’d called to ask her out. Tom was tall and buff, with white-blond hair and seagreen eyes — he looked exactly like a California beach boy. One date led to another and another and now it seemed like they were a couple. But it didn’t feel that way to Natalie. Tom was definitely a catch, but she didn’t feel like she really knew him. Or that he knew her. Whenever they went out on dates, it was always in a group, usually with Claudia and Chase and the rest of their clique. They never had any “alone” time and that’s what she felt was missing. When you were “into” someone, didn’t you want to spend time just with them? Natalie never got that sense from Tom, and she never saw him looking at her the way she saw other guys looking at their girlfriends. Those guys looked at their girlfriends with complete and total adoration.

She hated to admit it, but sometimes she felt the only reason Tom kept going out with her was because he thought she was hot. He liked the way she looked and he liked the other guys at North Ridge High to see that she was dating him. But she didn’t want to be some guy’s piece of arm candy!

Having never been in love before, Natalie wasn’t sure what she should be feeling. How did you know when a guy you’re going out with was the one?

Claudia speared a tomato with her fork and popped it into her mouth. “You and Tom are coming to my party, right?” Claudia asked Natalie.

Natalie shrugged. “I guess. Unless he has plans to go skiing.”

“Scrap the skiing!” Claudia exclaimed. “You’re coming to my party and you’re bringing your boyfriend. Natalie, you can’t let Tom walk all over you. You have to start calling the shots!”

Natalie knew there was no arguing with Claudia. When she told you to do something, you did it. But Tom was the same way. They were always doing what he wanted to do. He never asked her opinion or consulted with her when it came to their dates. He called all the shots and Natalie was starting to resent it. Didn’t her opinion matter?

“Jennifer is so going to regret coming to my party,” Claudia said.

It was on the tip of Natalie’s tongue to ask Claudia if she liked being so mean. But she didn’t. She didn’t want Claudia to turn that anger on her. Over the last couple of months, it seemed that Claudia was becoming meaner and meaner. Most of the girls at North Ridge High were afraid of Claudia. They didn’t want to cross her or get on her bad side. On more than one occasion, Claudia had been known to rip a girl to shreds with a catty comment or two. She was also notorious for getting people uninvited to parties and spreading untrue gossip. You never knew what Claudia was going to do.

A part of Natalie wanted to warn Jennifer not to come to Claudia’s party, but she couldn’t. If she did, Claudia would try to find out why Jennifer didn’t show up. And if she did find out, Claudia would forget all about her feud with Jennifer and Natalie would be next on her hit list.

She couldn’t take that chance.

She could only hope that Jennifer had been telling the truth and that she hadn’t lied to Claudia.

“What have I done?” Jennifer moaned, ignoring her lunch and wanting to smack her head on the cafeteria table. Maybe that would knock some sense into her. “What have I done?”

“You lied,” Violet said, beginning to count off on her fingers. “You told Claudia you had a boyfriend. You told her you and your boyfriend were going to be voted Most Romantic. And you told her you’d be going to her party on Saturday night. With your boyfriend!”

“It was a rhetorical question!” Jennifer exclaimed. “You don’t have to remind me of my mistakes.”

“If I don’t, who will?” Violet pushed away her own untouched lunch tray. “What are you going to do?”

Jennifer shrugged as she reached into her backpack for a pad of paper and a pen. “What else can I do? I really don’t have any other options.”

“Phew! I’m so glad you’re going to confess. I’m sure Claudia will make your life a living hell at first but eventually it will be over and she’ll move on to torturing someone else.”

“Confess?” Jennifer stared at Violet like she was crazy. “Who said anything about confessing?”

“Huh?”

“I need to start working on my essay,” Jennifer said as she began writing on the pad. “That’ll be the easy part. Once my essay is done, then we can concentrate on finding a boyfriend.”

Violet gulped. “You mean you’re still going to go through with it?”

Jennifer glanced up from the pad. “Of course I am! You didn’t really think I was going to confess to Claudia, did you?”

Violet squirmed in her seat. “Well . . .”

Jennifer’s brown eyes widened with shock. “And give her the satisfaction of being right? Never!” She started writing again.

“We could ask one of my cousins to pretend to be your boyfriend,” Violet suggested. “I’m sure Shermy would do it. He likes you.”

Jennifer gave Violet a grateful smile as she looked up from her pad again and tossed her long red hair over one shoulder. “Thanks for the offer, but that isn’t going to work.”

“Why not?”

“Not only do I need a boyfriend, but I need a hot boyfriend.”

“A hot boyfriend,” Violet repeated.

Jennifer nodded. “He’s got to be a guy who’s going to make Claudia super jealous. I want her to wish that he was going out with her.”

“Why do you always have to make things super complicated?” Violet moaned. “Why? Why? Why? First we needed to find you a boyfriend. Now we need to find you a hot boyfriend. What next? He owns a Mercedes and his father is a millionaire?”

“That would be great, but let’s get realistic,” Jennifer said as she kept writing on her pad.

“You’re the one who needs the reality check, Jen!” Violet snapped, losing her patience with her best friend. “With Valentine’s Day only a week away, every girl at North Ridge High who has a boyfriend is going to be clinging to him.”

Jennifer shrugged. “And that’s a problem? Relax, Vi. You’re stressing out for no reason. It’s all going to work out. Trust me.”

“I do trust you,” Violet said, pushing her sliding glasses back up her nose. “Sorry I lost my temper. I guess I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“Well, stop worrying,” Jennifer insisted. “There are plenty of other hotties at North Ridge High. All we have to do is find one.”

“But which one?” Violet asked as they stared around the cafeteria.

If Eden heard Claudia say another word about Jennifer, she was going to scream!

All morning long Claudia had been going on and on and on about Jennifer and her fake boyfriend. Enough already! If Jennifer was lying about having a boyfriend, then she probably had a reason. Right now, though, she wasn’t concerned with Claudia’s so-called problems. She had problems of her own and they were real.

She hadn’t heard from her boyfriend, Keith, since Sunday afternoon. Two days had gone by without a word from him and that wasn’t like him. Usually, he was calling and text messaging her like crazy.

She had been trying to connect with him since Monday night, but he hadn’t returned any of her calls or answered any of her texts. And she hadn’t seen him around school.

It was almost like he was avoiding her.

Something was up.

She just didn’t know what.

But she planned on finding out.

Eden’s brown eyes scanned the cafeteria, looking for Keith. He wouldn’t be hard to miss. He was over six feet tall and super muscular, with a smooth, shaved head and a tiny diamond earring in one ear.

Eden had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was a feeling she usually got when she sensed a guy was getting ready to break up with her. But why would Keith want to break up with her? They had just started dating a month ago, and the way they had hooked up was so sweet. Like something out of a movie! She was on the cheerleading squad and she’d caught his eye right before a basketball home game had started. When he came over to say hi, they started chatting, and when it was time for the game to begin, she told him that if he got six baskets, she’d go out with him. That night he got twelve. At the end of the game, after North Ridge High had won, he came over to Eden and told her that she owed him two dates. And a kiss. Eden happily agreed and asked him when he wanted his kiss. He collected the kiss that night in his car when he drove her home.

What could be wrong? She thought everything was great between them. True, it sometimes seemed like they didn’t have a lot in common, but opposites attracted, right?

Eden chewed on her lower lip. She hated to admit it, but Claudia might know something. After all, Chase and Keith were both on the basketball team and they were friends. Maybe Keith had said something to Chase and Chase had said something to Claudia. But if he had, why hadn’t Claudia mentioned it? Was she trying to spare her feelings?

Before Eden could say anything to Claudia, she spotted Keith across the crowded cafeteria. She smiled at the sight of him and the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach disappeared.

Seconds later, though, it returned when she saw a pretty black girl with long braids come by his side and wrap her arm around his waist.

Eden couldn’t believe what she was seeing. That was her boyfriend, and another girl had her hands on him like he was hers. That was so wrong. Even though Eden wanted to run across the cafeteria and shove that girl away from Keith, she didn’t. Instead, she found her cell phone and calmly sent Keith a text message, inviting him over to her house after school. She watched as he reached into the pocket of his letterman jacket and pulled out his cell phone, checking the screen.

What Keith did next horrified Eden.

Instead of texting her back, Keith closed his phone, returned it to his pocket, and walked out of the cafeteria with the girl. Not only was her arm still wrapped around his waist, but Keith had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. The girl smiled up at Keith and snuggled up against him as they walked away.

Staring at the two of them, Eden blinked back tears. She hated to admit it, but it looked like her boyfriend had found himself a new girlfriend.