Gretchen Page ran the brush through her straight blonde hair while holding the phone to her ear with her free hand. She tried parting her hair in the middle and let it fall over her shoulders. Then she brought some strands forward to see how she would look with bangs. Every time she looked in the mirror, she knew her best feature was her hair. She really wished her deep green eyes weren’t so close to her nose, which she considered small, overly cute, and not at all stylish. Not to mention that tragic little dimple on her chin. She considered herself a seven, good enough to be the most beautiful cheerleader at Savannah Mills. But now that she was going to attend Saindyside High, ten times bigger than her old school, how would she cope with the competition? There wasn’t even a Sephora in Savannah Mills!

"I miss you too, Polly," she said as she tried to secure the phone to her ear. She put down the brush, sighed, turned her back to the mirror, crossed the room, and sat on the edge of her bed. "It’s awful to start at a new school in your penultimate year." Gretchen leaned against the large, soft Hello Kitty pillow that her Grandma Hannah had given her when she was eight. Half the stuffing was gone, but she couldn’t bear to part with it. Grandma Hannah was the only relative she liked.