The It Girl: Superstar Geek. Katy Birchall

Thanks for that.’

      ‘I hope she doesn’t kill you.’

      ‘You’re a good friend.’

      Jess gave me a cheerful wave and walked off into the direction of her lesson.

      I stood there wishing I could be more like Jess. She’s beautiful, super cool and confident and never seems to worry about anything. She has long, blonde dip-dyed hair and always paints her nails loads of different colours. She’s good at every sport she plays and captain of the netball team, which made Sophie Parker really mad.

      Sophie expected to be captain since she is pretty much in charge of everything else that goes on, being the most popular girl in our year. Apparently her sister was the most popular girl in this school when she was here and was captain of all the sports teams. When Sophie wasn’t appointed captain of the netball team, her parents were very upset about it and came in especially to speak to our sports teacher, while Sophie cried behind them.

      Dad has never had this sort of problem with me. I peaked in physical education when I was eight and was forced to join in with a football activity at school. I was distracted by a pigeon, the ball came my way, deflected off my bottom and bounced into the goal. My sporting career has gone downhill ever since.

      Anyway, Sophie dragging in her parents didn’t faze our sports teacher who stuck to her guns and told them Jess was captain, fair and square. Upsetting the most popular girl in the year didn’t exactly do much for Jess’s popularity stakes but Jess got over that pretty quickly.

      Our friendship was actually born that day, right after Sophie and her parents stormed out of the sports hall having not got their way. Jess was waiting for her best friend, Danny, and I was waiting for Dad to come to get me to pick up Mum from the airport (who came to stay for a week to see the new house and ask me unending questions about my first week at the new school).

      We were standing in silence about a metre apart and I noticed she looked pretty down. I guess because Sophie and her sidekick, Josie, had made it clear what they thought about Jess being made captain. I offered her a cookie but she just shook her head in a ‘stop bugging me’ way. I nodded and we stood in silence again.

      ‘You had a bad day?’ I asked after a few minutes.

      ‘Yeah,’ she sighed, folding her arms. ‘Pretty bad.’

      I was thoughtful for a moment. ‘Want me to do a tap dance for you?’

      She blinked at me. ‘What?’

      ‘To cheer you up. Here.’ I put my bag down and launched into what was not really a tap dance because I’ve never done tap dancing and I wasn’t wearing tap shoes. But it always made my dad laugh when I attempted it in our sitting room so I thought it might go down well.

      Jess watched me, baffled. And when Danny came along to walk home with her, I stopped. She didn’t say anything but threw me a big smile over her shoulder as they left. The next day when I arrived at school, preparing for yet another terrifying morning of being the new girl no one was interested in, they both came over to me and asked if I needed showing around the place.

      Ever since then Jess and Danny have really taken care of me at school. They showed me the ropes, like where to stand in assembly so you don’t get spat on by over-enthusiastic teachers during the hymns, and how to get the dinner ladies to give you second helpings.

      Jess even picks me to be on her team in PE despite knowing I’m completely useless. I did tell her last term that she didn’t have to do that, and I wouldn’t be insulted as I know I’m one of the worst.

      ‘Whatever, Anna,’ she’d replied breezily. ‘It’s not a pity thing. I like having you on my team. It’s more of a challenge to win that way. And you know I love a challenge. Plus you provide excellent comic relief.’

      She can say what she likes, I know she picks me because she doesn’t want me to be last.

      Yep, it definitely would have been good right now to be Jess but I wasn’t. I was me. It sucked. I walked into the lesson apprehensively, noticed that the room hushed, and went to sit down in my chair. Immediately a shadow fell over my desk and I blinked up to see Sophie Parker staring down at me with her arms folded, her light grey eyes narrowing at me and her glossy highlighted hair falling neatly around her shoulders.

      ‘Hannah, isn’t it?’ she said.

      ‘Um. Anna.’

      ‘Right. Jess Delby’s best friend.’

      Uh oh.

      ‘So I heard about what happened yesterday, obviously. What you tried to do to my best friend. What is wrong with you? You could have really hurt her.’

      ‘Don’t exaggerate, Sophie. Josie had her hair singed and that was it,’ a voice piped up from the corner.

      Sophie spun round to see who had dared defy her and Connor Lawrence, leaning back in his chair looking very pleased with himself, stared right back at her mischievously through his dark fringe.

      Brilliant. I groaned inwardly. Of all people to come to my defence, it had to be someone like Connor Lawrence. He has fewer friends than me. And I only have two. (Three if you count Dog, but Jess and Danny say that I can’t, which personally I find unreasonable.)

      ‘Er, who even are you?’ My heart sunk as Connor ignored Sophie entirely and carried on. ‘If Josie had any brains, she would have just turned on the tap of the sink right next to where she was sitting and shoved her big head under it.’

      There was a nervous titter around the classroom and I felt the tension rising rapidly as Sophie inhaled sharply at the insult to her sidekick. I sat awkwardly, wishing that Connor would just leave it alone.

      ‘Ugh. Don’t even bother speaking to me. No one asked you your opinion, weirdo!’ Sophie spat angrily before turning to round on me again. ‘Did you set fires at your last school? Is that why you don’t have any friends?’

      ‘No, no, of course not. It was –’

      ‘Sit down, Sophie. It was an accident.’

      I turned in shock because this time it wasn’t just anyone speaking up. Too cool to even look up from his phone while speaking, it was Brendan Dakers. Brendan Dakers. The most popular and best-looking boy in my class, possibly in the entire school. And captain of the football and rugby teams. He is also really clever and always gets the best grades. Basically, he’s the perfect male specimen. Every time I look at him, my feet go tingly.

      I’ve never really spoken to him. He’s way too popular. Of course, Sophie Parker and Josie Graham are always hanging round with him. In fact Sophie and Brendan are sort of an unofficial couple. They aren’t actually together but they should be. Everyone knows it’s going to happen one day. Probably at the dance.

      They’re both really beautiful. If they ever reproduced (ew), their children would be another level of human – super-human. Jess disagrees with me on this and says that if they ever had children, they might get Brendan’s looks and Sophie’s personality, which would make them vampires.

      I’m not sure of the logic in this but I’m not sure that Jess’s brain works in a logical way.

      I don’t know how either Jess or Sophie manage to remain collected in his presence. If Brendan Dakers ever spoke to me I would be so ecstatic I would probably die. Which would be an excellent way to go.

      Sadly the chances of Brendan speaking to me are nil for the following reasons:

      1. When I first saw him I choked on my own spit.

      2. When he once walked past our netball lesson and waved to Sophie, I had a moment of complete deliriousness and thought he was waving at me. When I waved back he looked puzzled. Probably because we had never spoken before and I don’t think he even knew I was in his year at that point. I’m not even sure he realises that now.

      3. When I mistakenly waved back at Brendan Dakers in netball, Josie