"The End of the Girls" A Story by Isabel F.

Bianca thought of herself as sweet. Well, wasn’t she? Bianca was the kind of girl who would tutor a friend in math or compliment someone on an accomplishment. But standing behind Joyce and Mallory, watching Colbert cower in front of them, she didn’t feel sweet. Not at all.

Bianca, Joyce, and Mallory had always been “the girls”. They were a set, a threesome, a package. Not one of them could ever imagine life without the other two. But this year, Bianca started to notice an unwelcome change in her friends. In addition to now spending hours on clothes and hair, they were simply becoming… well, mean. Mallory giggled when Joyce openly sneered at another girl’s haircut; Joyce echoed Mallory’s words of hatred for an innocent boy who blushed whenever a girl looked at him.

Bianca started to become more and more uncomfortable around her old friends. She felt compelled to break away from Joyce and Mallory, but after all, they had never said a mean word to her. And besides, if “the girls” were gone, who would Bianca have left?

At lunchtime today in the cafeteria, Bianca, Joyce, and Mallory stood in the lunchroom line, up to their usual tricks. A geeky but pleasant boy named Colbert stood behind the three girls. He and Mallory simultaneously reached for the last Caesar salad. Almost instantly, Colbert let go. He would never dare to challenge Mallory. She was developing quite a reputation among the other students as somebody not to cross. But that split-second of tugging proved to be all Mallory needed. “Colbert! How rude!” she exclaimed with an air of distaste. “A guy should always let a girl have the last salad. Don’t be such a pig.”

Colbert’s cheeks went scarlet, and he pushed his glasses up nervously. “Oh, look, Mal! See, he’s turning pink! Just like a pig!” Joyce cried, finding the disdainful comment hilarious. Colbert’s two attackers erupted loudly with laughter. Bianca slunk away from the scene in horror. As soon as she sat down at a table, she regretfully wished she had stood up for Colbert. Why couldn’t she be brave? As soon as Mallory and Joyce started their evil torments, all of Bianca’s courage popped like a balloon.

Emerging out of the lunchroom, Mallory and Joyce joined their friend in the cafeteria. They were still snickering about Colbert. “Oh, Bibi, was that funny or what?” Joyce asked lightly. Summoning all the guts she had, Bianca replied,

“Not really, actually.” She immediately ducked her head. Joyce frowned, looking over at Mallory, who spoke next.

“What did you say, Bianca?”

“I said that wasn’t that funny. It was mean.” Bianca repeated. Mallory raised her eyebrows, a scowl creeping on to her otherwise pretty face.

“Get a life, Bibi. We were kidding.”

“Yeah, seriously. Can’t you like, take a joke?” Joyce said nastily. Bianca shrugged.

“Whatever, guys. Just for me, can you find something else to joke about?”

“Sure, I guess,” said Joyce.

“Fine, Bianca. We won’t diss Colbert anymore. In fact, we won’t pay any attention at all to Colbert. We’ll just act like he’s just not there,” Mallory agreed, with sugar in her voice.

“Thanks so much,” said Bianca, relaxing back into her chair.

By lunch the next day, Bianca realized something was up. Nobody was meeting Colbert’s eyes when he gave his usually awkward half-smile or replying when he addressed them. In fact, nobody was paying any attention at all to Colbert. They were acting like he just wasn’t there. Mallory had kept her word.

Bianca made a point of smiling at Colbert in English class, and greeting him in the halls. It wasn’t much help, but at least she wasn’t overlooking him like everyone else. How did Mallory and Joyce manage to get the whole grade under their manicured thumbs?

At lunch, Bianca questioned her friends. “How did you get everyone to ignore Colbert like this?”

“Simple. We just told all the girls we would let them into Club Runway,” Joyce explained smugly. Club Runway was a fashion design club Bianca, Joyce, and Mallory had founded back in September. Bianca had never wanted it to become so exclusive, but the wiles of Joyce and Mallory proved otherwise. Only the best and the brightest were admitted into “the girls’” private association, and so far, that was just a very select few.

“And what about the boys?” Bianca inquired in wonder. Her friends showed their cunning side with this. Mean but clever, that’s what Joyce and Mallory had become.

“We separately promised them we would go with them to the spring formal. As if!” Mallory laughed out loud at this one. Bianca frowned. If the girls knew Club Runway was remaining as exclusive as ever, and the guys realized Joyce and Mallory would never consider them as spring formal dates, maybe they would warm up to Colbert.

Bianca enlisted somebody to help spread the word. Kate, a graceful, intelligent girl, was Bianca’s closest friend beside Joyce and Mallory. They had attended the same ballet class since age seven, and had grown into advanced dancers together. Kate and Bianca went to separate elementary schools, but were happy to now see each other every day in middle school. Kate had her own set of friends, but she and Bianca still socialized, even though ‘the girls’ didn’t like her much.

Since Joyce and Mallory were becoming so snobby, Bianca had found Kate to be even more giving and friendly. They started to have sleepovers after ballet class, and instant messaged regularly. Bianca frequently considered dropping Joyce and Mallory for Kate. And, Bianca thought sadly, this Colbert incident was the last straw.

After school, Kate and Bianca got to work emailing and calling the other kids with the news. They were all appreciative, but obviously disappointed. It seemed pretty sweet to be a member of Club Runway, or go with Joyce or Mallory to the spring formal. But Bianca felt like she was betraying her long-time friends. Kate helped to convince her otherwise.


“Come on, Bianca. You’re doing a good thing for everyone, not to mention Colbert. And really, are girls who would torture somebody like that really such good friends? You never know, tomorrow they could turn on you.” Kate put an arm around Bianca, who sniffled.

“Thanks, Kate.” Bianca said gratefully. Really, Kate was the truly sweet one. Bianca now knew what to do. She would gradually slip away from under Joyce and Mallory’s grasp, in favor of the pleasant company of Kate and her friends. Maybe being admired (and feared) by the other students was good enough reason for Joyce and Mallory to be bullies, but Bianca knew she was better than that.