Finally, the bell rings and I drag myself from the toilet seat I've been sitting on for 40 minutes and make my way to the lunchroom. I console myself with the fact that I'll have a great story to share with my friends, Zoey, Ethan, Camila. I love them, we're a group of four that have been hanging out since kindergarten. We have our ups and downs but I can always count on them to share a laugh or be there with me. I go to our regular table, back left, and sit down with a smile, the words "You'll never believe what happened in 3rd period today, guys!" brimming on my lips when I realize they're all looking at me. They're looking at me like I'm a stranger who's invaded their table. I lower my eyes and shift uncomfortably, and the three go back to their conversation. Not even a hello to me. What did I do wrong? I know that Zoey was mad on Wednesday because I didn't want to hang out at her house, but I thought she was over that. Maybe Ethan is mad because I told him his hair looked stupid on Thursday, but he knew it was a joke. Right? Then why is everyone mad at me? I sit there, letting the uncomfortable energy rise until I finally burst out, "What is wrong with you guys? What did I do?"

They all turn to look at me, exchanging glances.

"Um, I'm sorry," Camila begins, "I don't understand".

"Understand what?" I snap back.

"Camila's being nice" Zoey replies, "We don't have a clue who you are, and you could try not being rude if you're going to drop in on our table like that."

I open my mouth and close it. This is beyond mean. It would almost be better if they yelled at me, or flat out ignored me. The fact that they're actively pretending they don't know me is too much. Hot tears spring to my eyes and I stand up.

Ethan, seeing the tears offers, "You can still sit here if you want..."

"No! If that's how you're going to be, fine. But I've never treated any of you like this, and I don't know what I did to deserve it", I shout angrily and turn and walk away without a second look. I head straight to where my sister is sitting and lightly tap her on the back. She looks up from her friends, sees the emotion written all over my face, and without another word waves goodbye to her friends, stands up, and leads me to the hallway. Once we sit down against the wall, she asks me what's wrong. I break down, telling her about the awful morning, what happened in history, and how Camila, Zoey, and Ethan are ignoring me. When I'm finished she pulls my head to her lap and twists my hair.

"I'm so sorry Ainsley, that's horrible", she says.

"Yeah", I agree in tears, "I don't even know why everyone's being so awful to me today. Why does everyone hate me?"

Alexis doesn't say anything, but she pats my head. 

"That crazy old bat Ms. Schorr. Probably half blind and couldn't see me or the attendance sheet. Probably has memory loss as well," I say, conveniently ignoring that my name wasn't on the attendance list, but everyone else's was. "I know she hates me. And the piece-de-resistance is that Mr. Sato didn't know who I was! What was up with that?"

"Was it the ha-" Alexis begins, but I cut her off.

"It wasn't the hat, he just hates me too", I state.

"I'm so sorry Ains, I don't know why this is happening to you, but I'm sure there's an explanation. Everything will be ok".

"Thanks, Ally," I reply, and sit up and hug her.

We sit there until the bell rings.