Running with the Wolves

Would you believe Natalie is running with Meredith and Sasha now?

Not only does Natalie have her sleek new haircut, but it seems she has a new wardrobe as well. And the skirts have gotten much shorter since she's begun spending her time with Meredith.

I'm sure Natalie thinks Meredith is being her friend, but she has no idea that Meredith is just using her as her latest and greatest accessory.

You see, before Natalie came here, she was homeschooled.

It's crazy. They eat lunch together, they hang out in the hallway at recess, and since Natalie's parents are both psycologists, I think they live in Meredith's neighborhood too.

I was on IM with my cousin Nicki last night and she pointed something out to me. She said that Meredith may actually see Natalie as a legitimate threat to her and is 'keeping her close by' to keep an eye on her. When I think about it, she behaved this way with Antoinette too.

Which meant this latest meeting of the dance committee was quite the eye-opening experience. They looked, spoke, and behaved like a full clique. How I ended up the de facto chairperson of this committee, I'll never quite know. "Now that we have a name, let's go on a theme," I began.

"Well, Natalie suggested last time that the king and queen be called the Lord and Lady of the Fling," Sasha began. "Why don't we run with it and do a medieval type thing?"

"That's good, Sasha," I said, "but wouldn't the Spring Fling need another name if it's got a medieval theme?" Thing is, we need a name for the dance in order to start discussing decorations for it.

"Not really," Sasha shot back.

"But 'Spring Fling' doesn't sound terribly medieval. I mean, if we're calling the king and queen the Lord and Lady of the Fling, the name of the dance itself would have to sound more medieval."

"What about Ye Olde Merrye Spring Fling?" piped in Natalie. "We don't have to change the name, but we can make it sound more medieval."

I'd have to think about that one. Anyone up for suggestions?

"I've already bought my dress!" protested Meredith, stamping her foot. "And it's certainly NOT medieval! I spent a lot of my parents' money on it! Don't tell me I have to bring it back!" She shot glares at both Natalie and me.

The Pitfalls of Popularity

All of a sudden Natalie Spencer is the most popular girl in the grade. Is it just because of the hair? Or is there more to it?
Today in gym class Meredith and Sasha were all over her, playing in her hair and stuff. Meredith treated her like garbage when she arrived, now all of a sudden she wants to be buddy-buddy???

Entry for Rose's Spring Photo Contest and SPRING GIVEAWAY

To me, spring is a time of renewal and restoration. It's as if we're waking up from our winter slumber and coming back to life, as the flowers and trees do.

And now, for the giveaway item.... win Natalie's outfit! It'll come with everything you see here plus the headband. All you have to do is comment here to enter. The drawing is THIS FRIDAY, so enter quickly!

Dance Committee Part 2 and GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT!

Well, today I went to another meeting of the dance committee, and I got a surprise.

It was Natalie, and she looked different. Her hair was now shiny and bouncy, and cut in layers. I'm betting her new stylish 'do will be the envy of the grade. Meredith Hopkins, the reigning hair queen of the grade, has officially been supplanted. Natalie's hair is gorgeous.

"I didn't know you were on the committee?" I whispered to her.
"I wasn't until this morning," she laughed.

Sasha suggested the "Spring Fling" and Natalie thought the king and queen should be called the "Lord and Lady of the Fling."

Since I couldn't come up with any better suggestions, we went on to other business. With that in mind, Meredith has already begun her campaign for Lady of the Fling. She took out a campaign-style ad in the school newspaper asking people to vote for her. She doesn't get it. An eighth-grader ALWAYS wins that. ALWAYS.

Oh, and watch the next post. Yep, I'm jumping on the giveaway bandwagon and will announce a giveaway!

With a little help from your friends...

For those of you new to my blog (and there are quite a few of you, welcome!) this is one of my best friends, Lindsey Rebekah Bergman. And she is one of my best friends even though she is a grade behind me. We met last year at Girl Scouts. Linds is Jewish, though it hasn't mattered very much. Right now her current obsession is Rebecca Rubin and she thinks there actually might be a distant family connection between herself and Ms. Rubin because Rebecca's family and her mother's family came from the same area of eastern Europe.

Anyway, I told Linds what happened at the committee meeting, and yesterday she sent me an email that had me in stitches. She's good for that.

From: "Lindsey Bergman" (iluvdogz at agmail.com)
To: "Haley Hotchkiss" (1stwomanprez at agmail.com)

Hey Hales, picture this. Principal calls Night-Meredith's name as
the spring dance queen, right, and she gets there and starts making her
speech. Well, I got this weird image of her walking up there in her
nightclothes, and I also got an advance copy of her speech. She gets up
there, flips her hair, and starts talkin.' "You know, I gotta thank myself
for being so awesome and looking so darn good. Like, all you minions, I want
everybody to bow down to me and listen to everything I
say."

Linds had me dying laughing, I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

Vee's note: the addresses above are not real. LOL

Dance Committee Meeting

It still hasn't quite hit me that I'm actually in a magazine. And to think, I actually took that picture as a joke. Guess the joke's on me, huh?

Now that that's out of the way, I had to grit my teeth and bear the meeting of the spring dance committee. A couple weeks ago (I can't remember) I told you that my teacher put Meredith and I on the committee to help put together the dance. Well, today we met in one of the 'new' classrooms.

I didn't realize Sasha Moore was the third girl on the committee. Sasha, of course, is one of Meredith's minions. She loves to sing and says she dreams of dancing on stage with Beyonce. We're not friends by any stretch but we're cordial to each other. We have to be, we share 3 classes so we see each other quite a bit.

So when I walked in, I knew Meredith and Sasha were talking about me because all of a sudden they stopped. "What are YOU doing here?" Meredith asked.

"Don't act dumb," I replied. "You were in the office."

She tossed her blond hair -- which smelled like downy -- in my face. Sasha just stared.

As an aside, I borrowed Linds' laptop to record the ideas and I wore my first pair of Liberty Jane jeans. Actually Vee has had them since last year but this is my first time wearing them. The fit is a little snug but I like them.

Anyway, when I whipped out the laptop, Sasha was all, "Hey, nice gadget. Yours?"

"No, it's my friend Lindsey's."

"I knew it couldn't be hers," Meredith remarked snidely.

"Lindsey Bergman?" asked Sasha. "Hey, my brother is in her class. She has short curly hair. That's her?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

We couldn't even discuss ideas for the dance without going at each other. And the teacher was no help, she just stood by.

Anyway, Meredith is determined to win the title of queen, even though since the beginning of time that has gone to an eighth grader and she, of course, is in seventh. Last year Marisol Luna won it. Meredith boasts that she already has bought her gown and has written her acceptance speech.

"This isn't the Oscars," I reminded her, "and that was last week. What happens if you DON'T win queen?"

"Oh," she said, flashing a sugary smile, "that's not going to happen."

Her Majesty, Princess Haley

Apparently my picture is in a magazine!

My friend Robyn from NY emailed me this morning at school and told me that this photograph (taken Halloween 2008) is in this month's edition of Simply AG magazine!

I think Vee secretly submitted it. She had to, if it's in there.

Take THAT, Meredith Hopkins!