The Wall Girls


When I found my friends we headed for the back garden and took our place by the wall.
Only three of us were wearing make up.


‘Mom stopped me at the door and made me scrub it off.’ Terri told us as she polished her glasses.


‘I had some on.’ Carla sighed mournfully. ‘but it made my skin burn and itch. Now I have a really bad rash on my face. I didn’t want to go to school looking like this, but Mother said it served me right for getting into her things.’
The rest of us gathered closer to look at the angry red bumps on Carla’s face.
It figured Carla would be allergic to make up. She was already allergic to nuts, eggs, dairy products, bee stings, pollen, dust mites, pet dander, chalk dust, and crayons.
We all reassured her that the rash wasn’t that bad.


‘Look at you.’ Wendy the unofficial leader of our group smiled at me. ‘You look so nice. How come Emily and I look like a couple of clowns?’
I think we all looked up to Wendy because she was a bit more mature and worldly wise than the rest of us.
Her mother was an actress and had been married seven times. There wasn’t much Wendy didn’t learn before we did, but she was always generous about filling us in.
That was how I learned about the mysterious act of Woohoo, before ever taking Miss FinchMeyer’s class.
I quickly passed along some of Trent’s make up tips and advice.


‘Your so lucky, Lanie. Every girl needs a gay uncle around to keep her from going out and committing all sorts of fashion faux pas.’
I giggled, Uncle Remington had teased Trent by making almost the very same statement.
However; I agreed with Trent that it was because fashion and make up were part of his profession that made him knowledgeable on the subject.
‘Did your mother ever notice that some of her make up was missing?’
‘Nah, I told you she wouldn’t. She always forgets what she has and buys more. She has five make up kits like the one I gave you. Two of them have never had the plastic band popped off.’
I felt a little better. Deep down I felt guilty that my new make up was stolen.


‘How were you and Emily able to get past your mothers.’ Terri wanted to know.
‘There was a big party in Studio Town Hills last night.’ Wendy told us cheerfully. ‘Mom wasn’t able to open her eyes, let alone notice what I look like. I doubt she would have minded anyway, as long as I didn’t talk to her. She hates to be spoken to before noon.’
‘My parents are vacationing on Twikki Island.’ Emily explained. ‘Our governess Miss Burns is half blind and mostly deaf. As long as we leave her to her books and knitting, we can do as we please while the folks are away.’


‘Look out.’ Carla warned the rest of us. ‘It’s the attack of the killer mushrooms!’
There were only nine girls in our class. Four of them had formed an exclusive little group that became known as ‘The Swingers’ since they used to hog the swings to themselves. The rest of us started hanging out by the wall and became known as ‘The Wall Girls’.
While the Swingers looked down on everyone and embraced uniformity, we Walls Girls tended to be a more diverse lot. We enjoyed the fact that we were all unique. Though we did things together, we were still four separate individuals.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when the Swingers took their accustomed place by the swings, each with the same identical bowl haircut. I could tell by the proud way they had marched past us, they were quite pleased with themselves.
Wendy, Emily, and Carla cracked up laughing.
Terri gasped in mock horror and tore her glasses off to polish them again.


I snickered too when Tiffany VanSwearigen’s eyes narrowed on our group.


Knowing she and her faithful followers were being laughed at, she signaled to the others to follow her lead.
Stomping single file they came to confront us.
This might be fun!


P.S. You do see a rash on Carla's face...I couldn't find a spotty face for kids and my photo shop one looked horrible...so just humor me, pwease.

Coming Next: A nasty exchange between The Wall Girls and The Swingers.