One thing Shelbs and I were talking about during studyhall was the whole Other-Shelby-and-Oscar-And-Preston-thing. Did I tell you that Shelby has a crush on this one guy, not Oscar, but this guy that I know, from working with him during the play, that is a creeper. I mean, 100%. He looks like, ttly gross, too. He was always making all sorts of perverted references, and him and McLoser and another one of those types would hang out by the door so that whenever on of the actresses went offstage, they would grab us. It was scary. Quite frankly. And I hate him. Completely.

And so, as I said to Shelbs, �The thing is, I can�t tell her not to like him, because that would be wrong of me, and it would only make her like him more. I just have to wait until he finds out she likes him, and then he �asks her out� and then he uses her and he rapes her. And then I have to pretend that I didn�t see this coming.�

�Uses her and rapes her? What?� Caleb, who�s been listening to us asks.

�Um, one of my friends has a crush on Preston.� I say.

�Eww�� he says. �who?�

�I�m not going to tell you.� I say.

�Could you give me a hint? Please?�

I roll my eyes.

�Well, does she go to this school?� he asks.

�Uh, yeah.� Shelby and I say at the same time.

�Then why wouldn�t I know her? Um, what does her name start with?�

�I�m not going to tell you!�

�Oh, okay.� He says, then is silent for a few moments. �Well, then, who�s Oscar?�

I tell him Oscar�s real name, and then he�s like �Oh, you�re talking about Shelby, aren�t you?� And he used Shelby�s last name, not Shelbs�s last name, so he got it right. �Eww� she likes Preston?�

�Uh� how did you figure that out?!� I ask, feeling my mouth hanging open. I see Shelby�s face filled with shock as well.

�Well, I heard you say that �Oscar� had a huge crush on her, and �Oscar� has a huge crush on Shelby.� He say, smiling sneakily.

I shake my head. How anyone could make that connection so quickly�anyways. �He�s mad for her. I mean, really.�

�He�s not that bad is he?�

�Well, he writes her these notes, right? And they�re all mushy. He�s talking about how he was in class and started thinking about her perfect hair and beautiful smile��

�That�s so sweet. Don�t you girls just love that kind of thing?�

�Well, yeah, but see, the thing is, she�s told him a billion times that she doesn�t like him that way, at all. She�s not interested in him that way. She just wants them to be friends, but he wants them to be �special friends.��

�Oh. Go on.�

�He calls her his �angel �. And he writes her these poems, and draws angels and stuff and gives that to her, and he says that he�s the only one that sees her as an angel� Mistake number one, and then he talks about how he wishes he could kiss her, and at a movie that he took her to, he did kiss her, and��

�Score one for Oscar!�

�No. Shush. He�s just, I don�t know. She doesn�t like him that way, and he doesn�t understand that, how or why.�

�All I know,� Shelbs adds, �Is that he�s better for her than Preston.�

�Ugh, I know! That�s the worst part!�
--------------------------

A little bit later, we were talking about borrowing clothes from our moms (Caleb SO was not a part of this conversation.) and I said �I wish my mom was my size. And also that she had good fashion sense. She doesn�t, though.�

�Yeah.� Shelby said.

And a few seconds later, I came right out and said it: �I hate my mom.�

�Really?� Shelby asks. �Why?�

Just so you know, which you probably do if you ever read this or know me, I never talk about my family. Ever. And it�s because I don�t want people to think I�m whining, or making a big deal out of nothing. Normally, I tip-toe around the issue, but here, I was flat-out.

�Well, for starters, I mean, she�s like, got this bad job, you know, and she works shift work, so that means to her that she can come home and yell and scream at us, and take out her frustration.

�You know she�s brainwashed my sister? I mean, Sophia thinks that she�s going to get married and divorced at least three times, and that�s because of what Mom�s been telling her for ages.�

�Are you serious? That�s awful.�

�I know. Mom keeps telling Sophia that she�s beautiful, and so she�s never going to find a good man, and she�s going to be having affairs, and when she gets married, it won�t be for long. Me, on the other hand, Mom�s been telling Sophia that I�m ugly. Or I�m pretty, but not enough for anyone to ever notice me��

At this, Caleb looked up at me.

��And so I will never have a man in my life until I�m well out of collage, and� Okay, did I ever tell you what she did when she picked me up from the dance, way back when? The Sweatpants dance?�

�No.�

�She picked me up, and I told her that I went with Cody, right? So then, she takes the long way home, and lectures me, she goes on this rant about how I shouldn�t expect anything out of my first relationship, and how we wouldn�t be together long, and how he would probably dump me within the next few weeks, and she�s telling me all these things, and then, when I told her that we weren�t together anymore? Guess what she said? She said �oh, I�m sorry to hear that, Anna. But I did tell you not to expect anything from your first relationship. I�m surprised you held onto him for that long. I�m surprised you didn�t screw it up sooner.��

�No, she did?! Oh my God��

�Yeah. And like, I don�t know. But people always look at my mom, and they�re like �Your mom is so cool.� Or �your mom is so nice and fun to be around.� And it makes me want to hit them, because like, it makes them sound so ignorant, you know? I mean, she didn�t exactly instill us all with good house-cleaning habits, but since my brother was born? When she gets mad, she�ll go through our rooms with a garbage bag and throw away everything on the floors. And the dressers, too, sometimes. Then she burns it all, unless the garbage man is coming the next day, in which case, she hides it until we leave, and then she puts it out for the g-man.�

�Wow.�

�Yeah. That�s not all of it, but I�ve complained enough. So��
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