Proud to be Grass

I tend to think of high school as a food chain. There are three main levels in a high school food chain: cheetah, zebra, and grass. The cheetahs eat the zebras, the zebras eat the grass, and the grass is just kind of…there. Hi, I’m Zoey and I am in the ninth grade at West Torrance High School. I am grass.1

“How long have you been here?” Mrs. Blackard asks, as if she doesn’t already know. I’m in her class every morning doing extra work that I requested. 2

“Oh, not long, since about 6:30.” It was 7:30 and school starts at 8:00. She quickly puts her things away and goes down to the teachers’ lounge, as she does every morning at 7:35. Students start to pour into the classroom at 7:45. As they walk in, I mentally categorize them into their levels: Emily – Zebra, Nikki – Cheetah, Andrew – in between zebra and grass, Taylor – grass (but still higher than me), and so on. Then Catherine (but I call her Cat) walks in. Cat has been my best friend since the 3rd grade. She could have been much higher on the food chain, but she settled for me instead. She is beautiful, smart, funny, and nice. She has blue eyes and honey-mist-auburn colored hair that any girl would kill for. 3

“Were you here at 6:30, again?” She asks as she sits down. 4

“Maybe…why?” 5

“I don’t know. You just look tired.”6

“News flash! I am tired. I stay up every night doing extra credit work.” I say jokingly. Class starts a few minutes later, and like always, I am the only one raising my hand to answer questions. 7

Lunch rolls around and I meet up with Cat as we sit at our table. Yes, I said OUR table. Tables aren’t assigned, but they kind of are, once again, according to the food chain. Cheetahs sit with cheetahs, zebras sit with zebras, and grass sits with grass. We, of course, sit at the grass table.8

As Cat buys her lunch, I begin thinking about the food chain again. I wonder what it’s like being a cheetah. I bet it’s great!9

“Oh my gosh! That lunch line takes forever!” Cat interrupts as she drops her tray on the table. 10

Later that night, as I sit staring out my bedroom window, I’m still wondering what it would be like to be a cheetah. I see a star, not just any star, but a shooting star! I’ve never seen a shooting star before, besides in a movie. This may be my chance to be popular, to be a cheetah. “I wish I was popular…” After making my wish, I drift off to sleep. 11

When I wake up feeling the same as I did yesterday. It didn’t work. I look in my closet to see what I should wear today. Maybe something green, for grass? 12

“MOM! Mom! Mom!”13

My mom runs into the room with a panic stricken face. “What, honey?”14

“What happened to my clothes?”15

“What about them?”16

“They are all…pink! I hate pink! You know that!”17

“Well, you bought them.” She points out as she leaves the room. 18

My clothes are pink…freaky, and I bought them…freakier. I guess I better hurry or I’ll be late for school. I run downstairs to grab my phone…wait…where is my phone? “Hey, Mom? Where’s my phone?”19

“It’s on the table!” She yelled from her room as she was getting dressed. 20

“Mom, I don’t have a Sidekick. I have a Nokia.” Ok…weird…21

It’s 6:30, and I’m at school, like always…but this time, I’m in pink. Did I mention I hate pink? Mrs. Blackard comes in at 7:30 as usual. When she sees me, she looks surprised. “Zoey? What are you doing here? Did you need help with your homework?” 22

“I’m here everyday at 6:30, and I’m a straight A student. Why would I need help?” Did my wish come true? Am I a cheetah? Am I popular? What’s going on?23

“Are you feeling ok?” She asks coming over to my desk. 24

“Yes ma’am. Why?” 25

“Zoey, you’re barely passing the ninth grade and you NEVER get to school before 7:59.” 26

Wow, didn’t see that one coming! “Oh…well, I wanted to try to bring my grades up, so I came early today.” I say trying to play along. The day hasn’t even started yet, and I’m already wondering if I should have made that wish. 27

Students start to come in about ten minutes later. “Hey, Zoe! You comin’ to my party on Friday? I texted you but you didn’t answer.” It’s Alicia Stewart, cheetah.28

“Uhmm…yeah, sure. What time? Sorry, I forgot about it.” 29

“That’s okay. It starts at 7:00 and ends whenever people feel like leaving.” Awesome! This is going to be my first party! My wish did come true!30

“I’ll see you then.” 31

A few minutes later, someone else enters the classroom. A guy to be specific. His name…Edward Reed. I’ve had a crush on him since the fifth grade. Wait, where is he going? Why is he coming over to me? What’s going on?32

“Hey, babe. We still going to the movies Saturday?” Is he talking to me? 33

“Yeah! Yeah, sure.” Oh my gosh! I’m dating Edward Reed! The hottest guy in school! 34

“Cool, see you later.” Forget what I said earlier. I LOVE THIS WISH! 35

The rest of the day continues with people asking me to do things after school and the next few weekends. So far my social schedule is booked for the next two months, no wonder I’m failing school. Anyway, I’m supposed to eat lunch at the cheetah table, but I want to keep a few nights open in my already busy schedule to study for exams. Since no body will leave me alone…I’m going to eat lunch in the bathroom. 36

FLUSH! “Urg! I hate populars!” I hear someone yell as they wash their hands. 37

“You’re telling me! I hate them too!” I reply, although I know she thinks she’s alone. 38

“Zoey Greene?” She says in disbelief as I come out of the stall. It’s Cat.39

“Cat! I missed you! No one would leave me alone, so I couldn’t sit with you at lunch…or during class…or anywhere else for that matter. But I---” She cuts me off before I can say anything else.40

“Zoey, you never talk to me, much less sit with me. You’re the one I hate.” Ouch. “You’re the worst of the populars! Yesterday you threw apple sauce in my hair.” End of conversation, she stomps out of the bathroom. I can’t believe it! Being a cheetah isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. People won’t leave me alone, my old friends hate me because of stuff I don’t even know I’ve done, and I’m failing school.41

I head home to do my homework. Although, what’s the point? My new life is already as bad as it can get. “ZOEY GREEN GET DOWN HERE!!!” My mom yells from downstairs.42

“Yes, mom.”43

“You’re grounded! You went $247 over on text messages!” 44

Great! I’m not even going to argue. “Fine.” I go back up to my room, once again, and plop down by the window. “I wish everything were back to normal. I wish I never made the first wish. I want to be me again.” Just as I say that a shooting star flies by. It’s not a normal shooting star, though; it is falling in reverse. So I guess it’s a rising star?45

The next day, I get to school at 6:30 again. And guess what? Nobody talks to me! I am so excited! I know that must sound weird, but after being a cheetah, I’m glad to be myself again. The point is, I’ve learned my lesson. I am proud to be grass. Just goes to show the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, it must be that artificial stuff. 46