Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (20 page)

Olivia
Wingfield
sat in the seat in front of them and turned around to watch the game
.
With
violet
eyes
,
and silky yellow hair
down to her waist
,
Glory
thought s
he was the prettiest girl in
school, maybe in all of Cloverdale
.
If Glory could choose to look like anyone in the world, Olivia would be
at
top
of the list, but
her
snooty
personality left something to be desired
.

However,
the Queen of Snooty was M
andy
Filmore
, an upper c
l
assman who
sat
a couple of seats behind them
.
Worse than
being snooty was the fact
that
Ted
Filmore
was her uncle
.
Normally Mandy
didn’t ride the bus
.
Rumor had it this was punishment for driving
her
father’s car without permission
.

Both
Olivia and Mandy
were c
ruel and probably heartless
. That didn’t stop the
boys
from
fall
ing
all
over themselves in their presence
.
Even Clash got tongue-tied on occasion.

Other
girls wanted to be
like
Olivia
and Mandy
, or at least be in their inner circle, hoping their popularity would
somehow
rub off on them
.
Glory
wonder
ed
how life
might
be different if
she
and Olivia’s
elementary school friendship
had
blossomed
.
When they were little they did play dates, and up
until Mom died
,
the
two of them
were
best friends
.

No
w
they barely knew each other
.
A twinge of regret passed th
r
ough her,
but oh well. She
pretend
ed
to be unaware
of
Olivia’s
attention
while her own
trusty fingers pressed the
Sliver’s
buttons
.

“Version four is out and you’re playing with version
two
?”
Oliv
i
a
said with her nose in the air
.
“That’s sad.”

The smile on
Clash
’s
face faded.
Glory
knew he had spent last summer pulling weeds from the field, toiling under the hot afternoon
sun
day after day, earning money to buy a Sliver. Kids like
Olivia
and Mandy
who lived in the fancy homes on the hillside
never had to earn anything
.
Everything was simply handed to them
.
Glory resented that very much.

“I’ve played version four,”
Glory
said
.
“But I don’t care what everybody else says
,
version
two
is
better.”

“Really?
”
Clash
seemed pleased.

“Yep,”
Glory
lied.

“Version four
has extra levels and it’s a lot
harder,”
Olivia
said to
Glory
.
“I bet I can beat you.”

“
I doubt that.
”

“Well, come over to my house this Saturday and we’ll see.”

“Hey,
Glory
,”
stuck-up
Mandy
interrupted from two seats back
.
“Is it true your famil
y doesn’t
o
wn a computer, not even a government-issued one?
”

Yes, it was true, but Glory wasn’t about to admit it
.
Dad’s whacked-out conspiracy theories
kept the Alleys in the dark ages
and inconvenienced the entire family.
A lot of assignments required use of a
computer
, which meant
she often had to stay after
school
or go to the library in order to use
one there.
Glory made a mental note to buy
a top of the line
computer, a
RECS
,
when she found the mother lode.

“Is it true or not?
”
Mandy persisted.

“They have
a RECS
,”
Clash
lied for her
.
“I’ve seen it myself.”

“Who asked you, Clash?
”

“If
you have
a RECS
,” a boy asked
.
“Then
why
do I see you at the computer lab so often?”

“
She has
five brothers and sisters
.”
Clash rolled h
is
eyes. “
Think about it.
”

“I know why
immigrant
boy
and
h
is
frumpy
girl
friend
are such good friends,”
Mandy said
.

“Why
is that
?
”
Olivia asked.

“
Because s
mells of a feather flock together.”

“
Shut-up!
”
Clash
said, shaking a fist
.

“
Like I’m scared of a skinny little runt like you and your fatso
sidekick
.
You both stink
.
Yep, I said it.
Like
manure
.
”

“
Oink
,
oink,”
a boy added
.

“
And what’s with that sweater?
”
Mandy inquired.
Glory
unconsciously touched the course gray material near her neck
.
“
Looks like rat
hair
.
”

“
Looks
like mule hair to me
.
”
A boy
made a neighing sound
and
then nibbled on his lower lip with his front teeth.
“Probably borrowed it
from
Bucktooth
.
”

Clash
s
hrank
in the bus seat,
knowing they were referring to his large front teeth. L
aughter
and hee haw noises
from the other kids in the area
foll
o
wed
.

Clash
’s
eyes well
ed as
he leaned h
is
head against the window staring at the stubbly fields whizzing by.
Glory
was normally quiet at school,
as
she and
Clash
preferred to keep to themselves
, but this morning
,
anger erupted from
the core of her being
and had nowhere to go
except up.

Fists clenched,
Glory
stood then marched a couple of paces down the center aisle
.
She
stood
square in front of
Ma
ndy
, who
instantly stood
at
her approach.
The girl
was a head taller than
Glory
and
wore a superior sneer
.
S
he
adjust
ed
the collar on h
er
pink
leather jacket,
which donned
the
coveted
brand name,
Ross & Wesson
,
across the left breast pocket
.