“Aww, Miss Rachel, it’s not like Tameka doesn’t know us. She’s been here before,” Jasmine protested. Tameka had come to our first meeting, but at the time, she chose not to participate. I don’t know what had brought her back this time.
“It’s not like she even wants to know us,” I mumbled.
Rachel must’ve heard me because she cut her eyes at me. “Yes, but Jordan doesn’t know everyone,” Rachel said, referring to the brown-skinned girl sitting in the front row. “And why must you give me a hard time on everything?” Rachel asked Jasmine.
“Fine,” Jasmine said. “I’m Jasmine Jones.” She turned to Rachel with a huge smile. “How’s that?”
Me, Alexis, and Angel cracked up laughing. Jasmine was our girl. She’d been like Tameka when we first started, a mean tomboy who didn’t want to be here. But we’d broken down her guard and now she was totally cool. We are all tight. The only other person who’d been in our group was Alexis’s friend, Trina. She joined for a little while, but got arrested for shoplifting and sent to jail. (That’s another long story.) So I think none of us were too keen on anyone else joining our little circle, especially somebody with a funky attitude like Tameka.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “You all are working my nerves.”
Alexis raised her hand. “I’ll go, Miss Rachel. My name is Alexis Lansing,” she said, standing up, tossing her long golden brown hair over her shoulder. “I’m a junior at St. Pius Catholic School.”
“But she definitely ain’t no Catholic schoolgirl,” I playfully muttered, referring to her part in the little shoplifting spree she and Trina went on a few months ago. Angel high-fived me as Alexis, who was standing in front of me, shot me the finger behind her back.
“Big mouth over here is Camille Harris,” Alexis continued, pointing to me. “And that is Angel Lopez,” she said, pointing at Angel. “All of them are juniors at Madison High School.”
Jordan gave us a smile. She was a weird-looking girl with long black hair that looked like it was in need of a good washing. She wore a long black skirt and long-sleeved black T-shirt, even though it was the middle of August.
“Now, Jordan, do you want to tell us a little about yourself?” Rachel asked.
Jordan shrugged. “Not much to tell. I go to Lamar High School and I had to come here because my friends do drugs. I don’t, but my parents think I do because I hang around them. They think by my coming here, it’ll cure me.”
We all stared at her. That girl was a druggie if I ever seen one.
“Well, even though you don’t think you need to be here, maybe you’ll get something out of our group,” Rachel said.
Jordan didn’t look convinced. But Rachel didn’t seem to notice as she began talking about all the community service projects we would be working on, including the one we had scheduled for Saturday.
By the time we wrapped up, I think all of us were worn out. Alexis, Angel, and Jasmine immediately gravitated toward each other, so I decided to personally welcome Jordan and Tameka, who were sitting off by themselves.
“Hey, are you guys going to be at the community service project Saturday?” I asked.
Tameka folded her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. “I guess, since it seems like we don’t really have a choice.”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Not if I can help it.”
The three of us stood there, looking around awkwardly. I noticed Angel, Alexis, and Jasmine cracking up about something. Finally, when I saw neither Jordan or Tameka were in a talkative mood, I shrugged. “Oh, well. See you guys later.” I went back to my friends, telling myself I’d tried. I’d just stick to the original Good Girlz, the ones I knew were my true friends. I guess we just had no room for outsiders.
Blessings in Disguise Page 15