I ignored her. “Marci, eat whatever you want.”

“Trust me, Marci, this is for your own good,” Chelsea said as she started removing my items. “Fat is so not fabulous.”

Tell her off, I could hear Kori saying.

“Leave her alone, Chelsea.”

Chelsea spun on her Prada sport boot. “I’m sorry, are you talking to me?”

A hush filled the lunchroom with the speed of a tsunami wave making landfall. It was one thing for someone like me to steal a round table from the drill-me team, but to actually stand up to Chelsea Westad—mayor’s daughter, head cheerleader, and all-around golden girl—it just didn’t happen.

“She’s not going to get fat.”

“Look it, Serena!” She looked me up and down in challenge. “I think I know more about what it takes to stay healthy and beautiful than you.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, and when I opened my mouth it was as if Kori had possessed me. “The only reason you’re not fat is because you pop uppers like they’re Tic Tacs and take so many laxatives you crap yourself when you sneeze.”

Chelsea turned as red as the one remaining apple on my old tray as the lunchroom erupted in laughter. Her claws dug into it. Then, without warning, she pulled back and chucked it right at my face.

At the last second, I caught it. “That the best you got?”

But Chelsea wasn’t dealing with me anymore; she’d turned her fury on Marci. “Don’t even think of eating at our table! You can eat at the rectangles with all the other fat losers.”

With a swing of her blond hair, Chelsea wheeled around and headed for the safety of her people.

“Sorry, Marci,” I said, putting the food back on my tray.

She looked a little shell-shocked as she said, “It would’ve happened eventually.”

I could see the worry seeping into her. Everything at school would be different, even things like being able to sit at the BBs’ table. “Eat at our table; it’s round. At least she won’t get the satisfaction.”

At our table no one said a word. Josh was back at his rectangular table, on Lexi’s orders. Apparently I’d just screwed up the heart-to-heart they’d planned for me. Oops.

It waited until after lunch. As Cole and I headed toward Doc’s class, she said, “You need to see something.” One look at her face and I knew it was bad. “I don’t want you to be alone when you do.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling a funny flutter in my gut as I trailed behind her, watching her golden highlights swing with the quick pace.

“Wait for me,” Lexi called.