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Chapter 1

‘E teacher, Mr Greer, startling ht doze into which I’d driftedWell, whatever Do they really expect us to be alert at eight fifteen in thethe side of uess I didn’t do it surreptitiously enough, since Whitney Robertson, seated with her long, tanned legs crossed beneath a desk a few feet away from mine, snickered, and hissed, ‘Loser ’I threw her a dirty look andher heavily ly, You wish‘Euess he’d been up pretty late last night too Only I’ his ho roll It’s tiive the class your two- in reverse alphabetical order, rerined, I slid out from behind my desk and made my way to the front of the room while the rest of the class tittered All except Whitney, I saw That’s because she had dug her co at her own reflection Lindsey Jacobs, seated in the row beside hers, stared at Whitney adloss is so you ’‘I know,’ Whitney e to gag – because I was about to speak in public, not because of their exchangealthough I guess that could have had so to do with it – and turned round to face the room Twenty-four sleepy faces blinked back at otten the speech I’d been up half the night writing‘All right, Eot twoThe second he said that, my mind went even more blank All I could think washow did she know? Lindsey, I ht on Whitney? I have been alive nearly seventeen years and I still have no idea what shade of lipgloss looks good on meor anybody else, for that ave oing to be one – despite what the ultrasound had shown – because I kickedet when your father teaches university-level English literature I guess , because she totally let hiht So Emerson Watts is what it says on my birth certificateI knoas a victiirls can clai on his oven timerAnd just like that, all the research I’d done onbackPhew‘Fean, ‘make up thirty-nine per cent of people who play interactive coames created by the esti industry is geared towards feuess I couldn’t really bla, after allEven Christopher, who lives inattention He was in his norhtBut his eyes were closed‘A study,’ I went on, ‘by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA showed that the percentage of coranted to women has now dropped to an all time low of less than thirty per cent Computer science is the only field in which wo over ti ake now but me Even Mr Greer’s eyes had drifted shutTerrific Way to be part of the problem, Mr Greer, and not the solution‘Many researchers believe this is due to our educational systeirls in the sciences – particularly co thedirectly at Mr Greer Not that he noticed He was now gently snoringGreat Just great I otten aairls interested in ga,’ I went on desperately, ‘which studies show increases probleic abilities, and also helps develop social interaction skills and cooperative play?’There was no point, I realized Really‘Well,’ I said, ‘I could strip off my clothes and reveal to you that undera tank top and short shorts, much like Lara Croft from Tolow-in-the-dark dinosaur stickers ’No one stirred Not even Christopher, who actually has a thing for Lara Croft‘I knohat you’re thinking,’ I went on ‘Glow-in-the-dark dinosaur stickers are so last year But I think they add a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole ensemble It’s true short shorts are uncoet off in the ladies’ rooh holsters in which I hold et to’The oven ti ‘That was very persuasive ’‘No, Mr Greer,’ I said with a big sfor my tuition – I’m on a full academic scholarship at Tribeca Alternative – because I have true reservations about the quality of the education I a hereI went back to uess – ‘Noho do we have next? Oh, yes Whitney Robertson?’ Mr Greer smiled Because everyone smiles when they say Whitney’s naone for a quick nose-powdering after the oven timer went off – closed her cos I kneasn’t the only one in the roo as she did so Suddenly, everyone see,’ Whitney said with a laugh, and she unfolded her long, lean frame out froh she earing four-inch platforirls do that? If I tried to saunter in four-inch heels (even in two-inch heels) I’d trip and fall flat on my face – down the aisle to the front of the roo behind her When she turned to face us, there wasn’t an eye in room that wasn’t on WhitneyExcept Christopher’s, I noticed, when I turned around to check He was still soundly asleep‘Andgo,’ said Mr Greer, adjusting the oven ti sweet voice co me to bite her, ‘don’t believe in the fallacy that Western civilization’s standards for feh Lots of women co the self-esteeirls and older women alike They want these industries to ee-sized women, unquote I say this is ridiculous!’Whitney tossed so to s like that – hair and asked, her blue eyes glittering with indignation, ‘How is it an attack on any woht – which scientists have determined as a body mass index of beloenty-four point nine – as beautiful? If soyames, well, that’s their problem But they can’t then turn around and bla sexist or holding them to impossible standards of beautyespecially when soproof that those standards aren’t impossible at all ’My jaw dropped I looked around to see if anyone else was as stunned as I was This was Whitney’s interpretation of the topic

Mr Greer had assigned her for her two-minute persuasive piece? That nor stick-thin models and actresses as the beauty ideal?Apparently I was the only one in the class who thought she’d gotten it wrong At least if the rapt way everyone else (theat Whitney’s – admittedly extre to look as beautiful as someone like Nikki Howard, for instance,’ Whitney went on, nairl in the beauty-and-fashion scene, ‘was really so wrong, would wo an estiht loss, another seven billion on cosery? Of course not! People aren’t stupid! They know that, with a little effort and maybe a little more money, they can be as attractive as – well,hair behind one shoulder, then went on, ‘Some people –’ insert the name Emerson Watts here, the look she sent in ht think it’s stuck-up of me to call myself attractive But the truth is, beauty isn’t just about being five foot ten and a size zero The irl can have is confidenceand I guess I just have plenty of that!’Whitney lifted her shoulders in an innocent shrug, and alhed as they gazed longingly at her I whipped around in my seat and was relieved to notice that Christopher’s head had lolled forward in sleep One guy – out of fourteen – was safe, anywayI turned back around in my seat just in time to hear Whitney say, ‘And the truth is, contrary to what critics tell us about the ideal being unachievable and wo women in this country is obesity, which is at epidereement, as if all this made perfect sense Which it so didn’t At least, not to me‘Well,’ Whitney said, ‘that’s about it Was that two ed He beamed and said, ‘Exactly two ain and started back to her seat Since I saw that no one else was going to say anything – as usual – I stuck my hand in the air ‘Mr Greer ’He looked atht the purpose of the two-minute persuasive oral piece was to persuade our audience of so facts and statistics ’‘Which I totally did,’ Whitney said as she slid into her seat‘All you did,’ I shot back, ‘was make everyone in this class who isn’t as skinny and perfect as Nikki Howard feel totally bad about the the fact thatto look like her, no matter how hard we try or how uess I’d been asleep longer than I thought, because that period see froot up and said toher hands over her slender thighs ‘And you got one thing right, E to look this good ’Cackling with laughter at her oitticis Lindsey in tow, leavingup those points next week if you want, Em,’ Mr Greer volunteered helpfully, ‘e do rebuttal persuasive pieces ’I just glared at hied and looked sheepish I looked at Christopher, as sloaking up, and said, ‘Thanks to you too You were a big help back there ’Christopher, blinking groggily rubbed his eyes ‘Dude, I heard every word you said,’ he said‘Oh, really?’ I raised an eyebrow ‘What was ain?’‘Uhtly crooked ‘But I know it had solow-in-the-dark dinosaur stickers ’Slowly I shooksociety puts teenagers through as a sort of test to see if we’ve got the stamina to handle the real worldIt’s a test I’