The Teenage Guide To Popularity [COMPLETE]

Chapter 6: Miss Independent,

Being Ashton Rhodes didn't seem impossible. All a girl had to do was be a tremendous bitch for no apparent reason and people would bow their heads in emotional defeat. So much was clear to Carter during the most important lunch of her Junior year; be demanding, be rude, be a little elusive. There were some random barriers here and there, like the fact that Tala seemed less of a follower and more of an equal to Ashton, but nothing that Carter couldn't handle. 

When Tuesday rolled around, Carter's spirits were a little higher and a little more hopeful. She had been officially invited to Elena's party. It was a small yet tremendous victory, one that placed another brick in her path to popularity. 

"Promise you'll let me dress you for the party," Leigh said, forever stuck in an inspired state. 

The two girls had a spare right after their first class, so they took the opportunity to relax in the school's courtyard. It was a chilled area, full of stunning greenery and welcomed freshness. Living in the South West had its advantages; one of many being the cool summer-like atmosphere nearly all year round. Newton High was famous for its landscape architecture, especially the surrounding fields filled with nice little nooks for reading, adorable old-fashioned benches and large stretches of just grass.

Carter was lying on the grass and looking up at the sky, trying to imagine shapes in the puffy clouds. The atmosphere of the field was making her lethargic, so Leigh's excitement was a little jarring at the moment.

"As long as you don't pick out a pink tutu for me, I'm game," Carter said right after a yawn.

"Fine, no pink tutus. How about a leopard-print bra with a leather pencil skirt?"

Carter turned to face Leigh, who looked very serious with her crazy suggestion. "Leigh, you know we're not in the Eighties, right?"

"So? Who says I can't bring back the glam of that era?"

"Glam?" Carter said, letting out a short sigh of a laugh. "More like crap."

"You have got to keep an open mind."

"Okay, okay, but just tone it down a little. I want to be high-school popular, not on-the-cover-of-a-fashion-magazine popular."

Leigh smiled an enthusiastic smile. "Deal," she said, then thought for a moment, "Speaking of glam, what's going on between you and Kiran? You haven't spoken in days."

"Nothing's going on," Carter said, hoping she was right.

"Are you sure? I struck up all the nerve I had yesterday to congratulate him for booking Elena's party, and when I told him she had personally invited you, he got all weird and just walked away. Did you have a fight?"

"No. I'm sure it had nothing to do with me. He's probably just nervous about the gig."

"Kiran? Nervous? I don't remember him being nervous about anything. Ever. Not even when he went sky-diving last year."

"I'll ask him next time I see him," Carter assured Leigh, though how exactly she would go about it, she didn't know.

She hadn't seen him much since that night at her house. Whenever she caught a glimpse of him in the hallways, he would disappear just as quickly. Whenever they had a class together, he would be the first one out when the class was over. She was beginning to think she had actually offended him somehow. Then again, maybe he was having personal problems, like with his family or something. 

"Good, because I think he could really help you with this popularity thing. I know he doesn't care about that stuff, but he's in a band, and now that Ashton Rhodes knows who he is, and you told me the other girls think he's hot, he could totally up your status," Leigh said. She was right, like always.