Word about the autumn territory transfer student spread like wildfire and by lunchtime Fenella Fall was the talk of the school. No one approached her directly, but students and teachers alike went out of their way to pass by her to get a look at her strange colored hair and autumn clothes. Everyone wanted to see her and everyone had something to say about her.

“I hate her.” Dahlia was the leader of The Other Girls. She and her friends, Staysee and KeightLynn were in the bathroom putting on more makeup over their already done faces. Dahlia was decked out head to toe in jewelry that spelled her name like “Dawleeuh”. It was a dark secret of hers that her name was spelled normally and she hoped beyond hope that no one would ever find out her name wasn’t unique.

“I hate her because she’s new,” Staysee said, applying an extra layer of lipstick. “New people are the worst.”

“I hate her because she’s new and different,” KeightLynn said. “Different is the worst kind of new person.”

Dahlia scoffed. “I hate her because she’s new, different, and I saw her talking to Winston!”

Staysee and KeightLynn gasped in unison.

“Talking?” Staysee demanded. “That’s like kissing! And kissing is like being married! How dare she marry your future husband?”

“I know, right? The nerve!” Dahlia rummaged through her baby blue makeup bag, looking for something to fill the hole in her heart left by her bad childhood. She found a tube of foundation instead and decided that was close enough. “If she thinks she can get away with talking to my man, she has another thing coming!”

Staysee wiped some of her lipstick off to make room for more lipstick. “Hey, by the way, when are you going to talk to him? I don’t think you guys will get married if he doesn’t know who you are.”

“Oh shut up, Staysee. He doesn’t need to know who I am as long as everyone else knows for him. Reputations precede people.”

“What does that mean?” Staysee whispered.

KeightLynn shrugged. “Maybe more mascara will help us understand.”

Dahlia took a makeup sponge out of her bag and started applying a thick layer of foundation on. “She probably thinks she’s so cool because she’s a foreigner. She probably thinks Winston will wait on her hand and foot. She probably doesn’t even wear makeup!” Staysee and KeightLynn gasped in unison again. Dahlia put her sponge down and scowled at her reflection in the mirror. “Well, I'm not going to sit around and do nothing while she takes away my happily ever after. When we're done with her, she’ll never show her face around school again!”

----------------------------------------

On the opposite end of the school, Fenella, Polar, and Nitro were spending their lunch watching Winston through the snow-covered bushes. He was eating with two of his close friends and ignoring not only Fenella's group, but multiple other groups of girls who were also watching him through various snowy foliage and behind a couple of snowmen. Some of the girls had even built tiny igloos to watch him in comfort.

Nitro grinned. “Look at those poor girls who think they have a chance. Winston Winter is as good as yours!”

“I don’t know,” Fenella said. “They’re a lot prettier than me. I’m plain.”

“Everyone knows plain girls are actually secretly super pretty! If anything, that makes you more likely to win him over! Remember, romantic comedy logic?”

“What do I do? Go up, say hi, then ask to hang out sometime?”

“No way!” Nitro said. “That’s what normal people do!”

“Ew, normal!” Polar said.

“We need a grand gesture that will make Winston Winter fall in love with you! It has to be big, public, and covered in shiny stones!”

Polar nodded. “The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. There’s a coffee shop down the road that all the cool kids go to after school every day. There’s a secret drink on the menu that’s only available to employees and it comes in a cup decked out in real diamonds. You bring that to him, and he'll be yours forever.”

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“But it won’t be easy,” Nitro said. “It’s only reserved for employees who have been working there longer than five years. Also, the employee has to drink it in an off-limits room that has so many security systems in it that the king gives his speeches there because that’s where he’s most safe from assassins!”

“But I can’t leave school grounds,” Fenella said. “Principal Principal SnowHills said the school is responsible for me.”

“Which means it's their fault if you disobey! Not yours!” Nitro said.

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“It does in the winter territory! Anyway, no one will even know you left the school.”

“No one except the countless number of students and staff who frequent the coffee shop,” Polar added. “Which won’t be a big deal.”

“Right! If they’re getting coffee, it’s because they’re tired. And if they’re tired, they won’t recognize you!”

“What if the principal goes to my shack and sees that I’m not there? What if he looks for me, can’t find me, and realizes I’m gone?”

“That’s where things get a little tricky,” Nitro admitted. “But don’t worry your little autumn leaf about it! We're going to summon a janitor! A janitor will be able to help us."

Fenella gasped. “A janitor? We can’t! It’s too risky!”

Polar took a breath. “We know. We still hear stories about the one kid they found living in a bag of baking soda after his janitor experience, but for you we're willing to take that risk.”

“We can't-”

“Yes we can!” Nitro said. “And we do it today after school!”

Suddenly the group was doused in water. They shouted in surprised and looked up to see The Other Girls standing over them with their now empty buckets.

“Haha, you're covered in water,” Staysee said. “Which means you’re all uncool and losers.”

“Which also means Winston will never love you,” Dahlia said.

“And also it means we're literally going to freeze to death if we don’t dry off immediately!” Polar said.

“This is why everyone hates swim practice!” Nitro cried.

Nitro and Polar took off running towards the school building, but Fenella was caught by The Other Girls before she could chase after them.

“You're not going anywhere, red leaf,” Dahlia hissed as she latched on to Fenella's arm.

KeightLynn grabbed Fenella's other arm. “That’s our derogatory term for people from the autumn territory, even though neither of those words are in and of themselves offensive.”

Fenella cried, “that’s the worst kind of derogatory term!”

“That’s right! And twelve years from now people will use it as a term of endearment for their really close friends!”

“No! How can you be so cruel?”

Dahlia, Staysee, and KeightLynn began dragging Fenella further away from the school. Fenella kicked and fought, but was no use against all three of them.

“Consider this your first warning,” Dahlia said. “You are never to see Winston or speak to him ever again! If you go anywhere near him, we'll make your life a living nightmare!”

“We'll spread rumors about you!” Staysee said. “That’s pretty much all we can do without getting expelled.”

“That and this,” Dahlia said.

“And what?” Fenella whimpered.

“We’re going to throw you in the dumpster at the front of the school.”

“How is that not going to get you expelled?”

“Because this is teen drama logic.”

“I thought we were in a romantic comedy!”

“Not if you want to get through school in one, rumor-free piece.”

“What’s going on?” The concerned voice behind them made The Other Girls stop cold. They dropped Fenella and whirled around with fake, innocent smiles on their faces.

“Oh, Winston, hi!” KeightLynn said. “We were just showing the new girl around.”

“She was looking a little lost,” Dahlia agreed, “and wet. We didn't want her to freeze out here.”

"I love you,” Staysee said. Dahlia kicked her.

“I think she’s not the only one who’s lost,” Winston said. “The school building is in the other direction.”

“Oh. Oops!"

“Silly us!”

“Please marry me.”

Winston walked forward and took Fenella's hand. The Other Girls gaped silently at them, shocked. “How about I bring her back to school and you find a map you can give her? That would be easier than guessing.”

“Uh, I mean…Sure! Of course! We're always happy to help you, I mean, new people, right girls?” Dahlia stammered.

“Yes! Always! We are kind people!” KeightLynn agreed.

“Love me!” Staysee shrieked. “Love me or face the consequences!”

Winston gave the three girls a smile and they started uncontrollably giggling girlishly before racing off.

“I’m really sorry about them.” Winston started leading Fenella back. “I've heard they’re really mean, but they’ve also had bad childhoods, so I can’t hold it against them because I’m caring and compassionate.”

“Wow, caring and compassionate,” Fenella whispered. “Those traits go really well with sweet and relatable.”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t yet met a girl who was sweet and relatable. Every single girl in this school has some sort of major flaw in their personality. Literally every single one of them. It would take someone super special to have a good personality. I say personality because that’s the only thing that matters to me, even though I’m probably going to end up with someone that’s secretly very pretty underneath her plainness.”

Fenella grinned. “I'm plain! And my family says I’m special, too!”

“What was that?”

“Oh, no, it was an aside. But hey, have you met Nitro? What’s her major personality flaw?”

“She’s a pyro.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”