• The three girls stood in the bathroom. “Annie, do you have a light?” Jessica asked, pulling a cigarette to her pinkish lips. Her light blond hair in a tight pony tail at the back of her head.
    “Yeah,” Annie said, reaching into her black jeans to pull out a cheap purple lighter. Her nails were painted to match. Handing it to Jessica, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Nothing to be too excited about. She was thin, but not attractively thin, her breasts were small, and her black hair cut to her jaw line to stay out of her face. She was a dancer, and a pretty good one. Her almond eyes were a dull and plain brown.
    Jessica on the other hand was sexy. She had an amazing body, killer abs. She was wearing a tight blue shirt and a black mini skirt that showed off her long legs. She took a drag from the cigarette, and pushed the lighter back into Anne’s hand. “Thanks.” She said, leaning against the wall under the small dirty open window and crossing her booted legs.
    Maggie was at the sinks, leaning into a scratched mirror, putting her make-up on. Dark purple lipstick, dark blue eye shadow, the girl was a make-up disaster. She always looked like a cheap hooker, but for some reason that worked for her. Her coppery hair was done up in another cheap frizzy in-home perm, and it looked just like a rusty wad of steel cotton. Her skin was freckled but clear. A dark purple dress and dark purple flats were all she wore. Her legs were also long. Anne didn’t have long legs, but she managed to be a good dancer anyway.
    Jessica blew more smoke out the window throught the corner of her mouth. “Want some?” She asked, pointing the cigarette towards Anne, who shook her head. “Whatever, suit yourself... So, anyone know who they’re going to the dance with?” She asked, referring to the annual Halloween dance that was coming up.
    Anne shook her head, of course she was going, she just needed more time to find someone who wanted to go with her. Jessica shook her head, closing her blue eyes. “Anne, you need to loosen up, or you’ll never get to have any fun.” Anne rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I’m going to the dance with Justin.” She said, smiling that wickedly beautiful smile. “What about you Hags?”
    Maggie made a sharp inhaling noise, and slammed her lipstick into her bag. “I told you not to call me that Jessica.” She snapped, turning to face Jessica.
    Jessica laughed a soft laugh. “Whatever frizzy, just tell us if you tricked someone into going with you or not.”
    Maggie glared at Jessica. Anne knew another fight would come if she didn’t do something. “Jessica, will you just lay off her?” She pleaded. Jessica shot her a look.
    “Anne, who’s side are you on? This cheap s**t's side, or mine? It’s not my fault her family’s poor, or that she’s a loser, and that I only hang out with her because she tags along with you. She is nothing important, nobody cares about her.”
    Anne did what she always did, she cowered away from Jessica. So Jessica continued her verbal assault against Maggie. The poor girl also dealt with these kinds of situations at home. That’s why Anne tried to make them all friends, so Maggie could at least have a good time at school. Unfortunately, things don’t work out that way.
    Maggie gathered all the courage she had. “Why are you the one who is calling me a dirty s**t, weren’t you the one with Mr. Hawkins last Friday?”
    Jessica looked shocked, and pushed herself off the wall. “What?” She said, her voice barely over a whisper. “What are you talking about?”
    Anne was more then shocked, she was amazed. All she could do was stand there and stare with her mouth wide open.
    “Yeah, I know all about Friday, I work at the motel you two visited.” Jessica stood, not knowing what to do, it was obvious that she had never faced a situation like this before. Perhaps it was because everyone was too afraid to do it. “Not only that,” Maggie smiled, her voice malicious, “But I have pictures of you two together, and I’m going to hand them out to the people you know, first your parents, then Scott, your boyfriend of course, and the school... Gee, there are so many people, I might have to get some money up to blow up posters, and then we’d have some fun.” She was obviously enjoying this.
    Jessica was at a total loss for words, tears formed in her perfect eyes, she no longer looked strong, but she was still scary. She was always scary. She seemed to grow for a second, her eyes filling with hatred. “You won’t do anything.” She said, her words dripping with poison. “If you know what’s good for you.”
    “Excuse me?” Maggie asked, a little shocked and a little scared at what Jessica had just said. “Are you threatening me, Jessica?”
    “You bet your poor a** I’m threatening you.” She said, her fists clenched so hard the knuckles were white. “If you tell anyone, I will kill you. I will come to your house and I will slit your throat while you sleep.” She growled.
    Maggie just stood there, looking as Jessica had. Her grey eyes wider then Anne had ever seen them. The door opened, and the truancy officer walked in. Apparently, the tension in the room was visible, because the officer was a little uncomfortable. Anne was the only one who looked. Jessica and Maggie didn’t look away from each other.
    “Uh... Shouldn’t you three be in class?” The truancy officer asked. No duh, Anne thought to herself.