Chapter Three
Primadonna

SYDNEY THOUGH SHE would have a great night at the Halloween dance considering she was with her friends, but she underestimated how hot it would be in the gym and having a bunch of sweaty guys try to talk and dance with her was a quick way to ruin her night. "Syd, what are you supposed to be again?" Brucks shouted over the loud music.

She was dressed in a yellow, black, and grey crop top that tied around her back and black sweatpants. Her hair was brushed to be messy and she had fake braids clipped in. She sported fake face jewelry and her feet were clad in very tall black heels. "I'm 2000's Christina Aguilera, duh." She answered like it was obvious.

"Oh." Brucks said back and nodded.

As she danced with Sam, Sydney looked over and saw Aisha standing alone at the snack table, dressed in her sodium costume. She couldn't help but feel ashamed. She missed her sometimes. She missed when Aisha would have sleepovers with them. And she knew it was her fault. She grabbed Sam's hand and pushed through the crowd to walk her way. "Hey, Aisha love. I love your costume."

"Thanks, ditto," Aisha said with a small smile, "It doesn't really work without chloride or potassium."

"I don't know, sodium's pretty badass. It's the silent killer." Sam tried to boost her mood.

She laughed but it was a low laugh and they could see her feelings were still hurt. "It's okay, I'd rather go as sexy than funny too. If I had that option."

"Don't say that. You're beautiful." Sydney said sternly, the guilt increasing.

All she got was a small grateful smile and a shrug. Yasmine and Moon called their names to go live in Yasmine's Insta. "Can we make plans to hang out soon? It's been way too long." Sam asked.

"Yes! I need another sleepover." Sydney exclaimed.

Aisha nodded curtly. "I would love that."

"Stay salty my friend," Sam joked. "Syd, you coming?"

Sydney saw Yasmine and the others waiting for them. Gulping, she shook her head. "You go ahead. I'm gonna hang back."

Aisha looked shocked.

Sam ran over to their friends and Sydney smiled. "Are these snacks any good? I'm starving?" She asked and dug into the bowl of Cheetos. She looked at Aisha and smiled, making her smile back.

She went back to the dance floor with Sam and Moon. The heat increased and Sydney felt her hair stick to her skin. She felt completely out of breath. "I have to stop or I'll die. I'm going to get some punch!" She said to the girls and pushed through the crowd of dancing teenagers.

When she reached the punch bowl, Sydney took off her heels, dropping a foot, and she sighed with relief as her feet touched the cold floor. She poured punch into a cup and instantly brought it to her lips, feeling the liquid cool her throat. She eyed the very full gym, taking in all the costumes. She saw someone dressed in a head to toe skeleton costume with their face painted. It wasn't until she saw Eli and his friend that she realized it was Miguel.

Miguel saw her at the lunch bowl, his eyes widening at her costume, and she sent him a small finger wave, drinking from her cup of punch again.

Demetri watched the interaction and looked at Miguel in disbelief. "Dude,  what's with you and popular chicks? She will chew you up and spit you out." He declared.

"Oh, come on. She's not that bad. We have Spanish together."

Eli and Demetri gave him the same look.

"Okay, she called me Michael but that doesn't mean she's horrible." Miguel insisted.

Demetri shook his head. "Dude, this is Sydney Benoist you're talking about. The girl who drop kicked me and nearly broke my nose when we were seven during a game basketball because I wouldn't give her the ball.  Basketball! She doesn't even like basketball!"

"You guys were seven!" Miguel said back defensively and he rolled his eyes. "I honestly don't think she's a bad person. She's just a little. . ."

"Mean?"

"Scary?"

Again, he rolled his eyes. "No. Guarded." When Miguel looked back at the lunch table, he saw that she had walked away to talk to her friend.

Sydney stood by Aisha while eating a handful of chips from the bowl. "I'm sorry about Yasmine and them. And me, honestly."

Aisha only shrugged. "I'll get over it. I don't understand why you hang out with them though. You're nothing like them." She insisted, eating a handful of cheese puffs.

"I'm a bitch, A, I'm a bitch to everyone."

But that's just an act. I've known you my whole life, Syd. I know how you really are. You care about the people you love and you're a hard worker. That's more than any of those people have."

Sydney went quiet and her eyes flicking down to her bare feet. She knew that she was a bitch, that was clear, but she wasn't evil. She just spent the majority of her life alone, never feeling like she could show her real emotions. That's enough to make anyone act cold.

Her phone went off as well as everyone's in the gym. Sydney took out her phone and saw a video of Aisha at the snack table stuffing her face with chips. She had a pig nose covering her real nose and the words of the video read The buffet table is under attack. Immediately, she knew it was Yasmine. Sydney quickly looked at Aisha, seeing her looked embarrassed, then she looked at Yasmine, her standing there with a smug look on her face.

When everyone started laughing, Aisha ran off.

"Aisha, wait!" Sydney called out but she was already gone. Huffing, she grabbed her heels and went up to Sam and the girls. "Sam, I'm going to head home, okay?"

Sam frowned. "What? Why?"

She looked at her in disbelief. "Because the girl we've been friends with since childhood was just humiliated. I don't want any part of it." She said in anger.

Yasmine scoffed a laugh. "Oh, look at this. Sydney the Savior." She mocked and stepped closer to her. "You think you're some kind of hero because you're friends with that loser? Do you not realize who you are?  Sydney Benoist, the girl who's bullied everyone since, like, ninth grade. Now all of a sudden you're better than us? You're exactly like us. You're a spoiled rich bitch who walks through life acting like she's superior to everyone when really she's so deeply insecure she feels the need to bring others down to make herself feel better."

The two girls gave each other icy glares, Sam and Moon stepping back in fear. Sydney stood there frozen, her gaze dark and cold. "Va te faire foutre, salope blonde." Fuck off, blonde bitch

She stormed out of the gym, smoke practically coming out of her ears.

Yasmine turned to Sam and Moon. "What does that mean?" She asked distressfully.

When Sydney walked down the hallway to leave, she saw Kyler and his friends walk out of the boy's bathroom, laughing. "Kyler?" She voiced, getting their attention.

All of them widened their eyes when they saw her. Kyler quickly urged them to run. Then, she saw a blonde man standing in front of the trophy case. He looked at her. "You know those guys?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not by choice."

He walked into the boy's bathroom. Sydney, now feeling curious, looked around to make sure nobody was looking before she followed him in. When she saw someone withering on the floor, she gasped, and then she realized it was Miguel. "Oh my god."

"Shit." The blonde guy cursed. He watched her drop to her knees by his side, checking his injuries. "Do you know him?"

"Sort of." Sydney answered quickly, starting to panic. She leaned over Miguel. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Sydney had been checking her makeup in the mirror she had in her locker when she heard pig noises. Aisha came walking down the stairs and the people around them snorted at her. Sydney slammed her locker shut. "Back the hell off!" She snapped at them all.

They immediately ran off. "Thanks, Syd." Aisha said sadly.

"Of course." She said softly and rubbed her arm. "Listen, I'm so sorry about what happened at the dance. I promise I didn't know that Yasmine was going to do that."

"I believe you." Her friend said and nodded.

Sam walked over to them. "Hey," she said cautiously, both of them looking her way, "how are you feeling?"

"I've gone viral," Aisha responded bitterly, "how do you think I am?"

"Cheeto pig!" A girl laughed while walking by.

Sydney threw two middle fingers in the air.

"Look, they're mean but they have short memories. They'll forget." Sam declared insensitivity.

"Yeah, well I'm not going to forget," Aisha sneered, "you know Sydney's the only one who's apologized for what happened? All you're doing is defending them."

She slammed her locker and stormed off, leaving the two brunettes standing where they were. Sydney took a deep breath and just looked at Sam. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kyler walking up to them. "Your boy toy's coming. I'll see you at lunch, Sam."

"Syd—" Sam started to say, her voice sad, but Sydney was already gone. 

Sydney had Spanish work to catch up on and she knew she'd never get it done unless she was somewhere quiet. She went to the library and she saw Miguel sitting with his friends, his face bruised and a bandaid on his forehead. She suddenly felt nervous, like her heart was in her throat. Her feet moved before her brain could think. "Looking a little beaten up there,  Diaz."

The three boys looked up and her and their eyes widened.

"I just wanted to ask if you were okay, you know, after the other night?" She asked awkwardly, tightening her grip on the books she had in her arms.

When he still wasn't able to answer, Demetri slapped Miguel on the back of the head, snapping him out of it. "Yes." He said a little too loud, "uh, yes. Yes, I'm okay. T-Thanks for finding me." He stuttered nervously.

She gave him the quickest of smiles. Sydney went to walk away but then she paused, squeezing her eyes very tightly. She sucked in a breath and faced him again. "Would you mind if I studied with you?" Again, his eyes went wide. "It's just I have a lot of Spanish work and you're the only person I've talked to in that class. I was hoping you'd help me."

Miguel almost choked on air. "Yes, yes, of course you can." He answered and motioned to the seat in front of him.

She silently slid into the chair and put her bag by her feet. She put her books on the table and saw Demetri eyeing her like she was some kind of alien. "Do I know you?" She questioned, giving him the same look back.

"Yes actually," he said almost immediately, "you almost broke my nose when we were seven and then tripping me down the slide at recess when we were nine."

"Ohhh, Demetri." She finally remembered his name. "In my defense, you wouldn't give me the ball."

"It was my turn!"

"Okay, moving on," Miguel butted in after they were shushed by the librarian.

"So that's it? No more karate?" Demetri asked him.

Sydney's eyes flickered up from her homework.

"I guess so," Miguel said with a sigh.

"It's probably for the best. It was starting to boost your confidence."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No." Demetri replied loudly. "What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack thrown in the trash?"

"I don't know, it gets me to the front to the line in any shopping mall." Sydney stated, marking down her Spanish notes.

"That's because you're girl and you're popular."

"No, it's because I'm assertive."

"Well, I thought it was kind of cool how you stood up to Kyler," Eli spoke up in a soft voice.

"Are you insane?" His friend objected. "Let me ask you,  what is the best superpower anyone could have?"

"Super strength,"  Miguel answered.

"Wrong! Invisibility. A distant second would be super speed to run away fast."

Sydney gave him a weird look. "Your inferiority complex is quite justified, isn't it?"

Before he could say anything back, Kyler and Brucks appeared behind Eli. "Run away from who?"

Miguel let out a groan.

Sydney scoffed. "I can never get away from either of you, can I?"

"Whom," Brucks corrected. "It's the object of a preparation. Remember English class?"

"It's a good thing you're not letting your education get in the way of your ignorance." Sydney sneered.

If he wasn't so eager to get away from Kyler, Miguel would have laughed. "We were just leaving." He said and the boys started gathering their stuff.

When they stood up, Kyler grabbed Eli by the back of the neck and held his face. "Hey, where are you going? Look at this freak. What kind of girl would ever kiss this shit?"

Sydney stood from the table. "God, can you not be a wanker for like five seconds and just leave us the hell alone?" She raised her voice.

"Why are you even here, Syd? Taking pity on Diaz cause of his ass wooping?" Brucks said Kyler laughed.

She glared at him. "I was hoping for some peace and quiet but once again, you dipshits have to ruin it."

"Leave him alone, Kyler." Miguel demanded.

Kyler glared at him and let go of Eli, causing him to stumble. "What'd you say? You haven't had enough, 'Rhea?"

He pushed Miguel back by the shoulders and then he shoved his head to the side. They boys quickly left the library.

Sydney went up to Kyler and shoved him. "You're such an asshole, Kyler," she seethed through her teeth, "if you think I'm going to let my best friend date then you're out of your mind. You have another thing coming." She threatened and stormed out of the library, oblivious to the fact that Sam was standing by and listening.

When Miguel walked out of school, he was stopped by a voice. "What was that thing you were saying about karate?" Female and British. He turned around and faced her, pointing at himself just in case.

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Yes, you with the incredibly ugly shirt. I'm sure that outfit would look better on someone else."

Miguel looked down at his clothes. "But my Yaya picked this out,"

"What's a Yaya?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes for a brief second. "Nothing, never mind. . . Um, I was taking karate lessons from someone." He answered her question.

"The blonde dude from the Halloween dance?"

"Yeah, him. But my mom doesn't want me to do it anymore." He said somberly.

"That sucks," she replied, her long hair swinging behind her as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Guys like Kyler are complete gits. Completely gormless."

Miguel chuckled. "Git? Gormless? You're so British,"

She crossed her arms and furrowed her brows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, no, it's not a bad thing!" He assured. "I've never met anyone British before. Or who can speak French."

Slowly, she dropped her arms. "It comes in handy when you need to curse at someone. They don't understand a word I'm saying." She told him with a slight smile.

Miguel chuckled, his braces shining in the sunlight.

Suddenly, they both heard a loud car horn. "Miggy! Miggy!" Yelled a woman's voice.

He closed his eyes. "Oh my god." He mumbled.

She raised both of her eyebrows. "Sorry, it's my mom." He told her and looked over his shoulder, seeing his mom wave at him. "Uhh, I'll see you around?"

"Sure. Don't miss me too much." She teased slightly and walked away, her long hair moving with her.

Miguel was in complete shock all the way to his mom's car. He got inside and closed the door, seeing the look she was giving him. "She was cute. What's her name?"

"Her name's Sydney, she's just a—" he paused. Were they friends? She was talking to him more and calling him by the correct name. But he didn't know if he would qualify her as a friend just yet. "She's in my Spanish class."

"Do you like her?" Carmen teased.

Miguel groaned loudly. "No mom. Stop!"