The Popular Plan

Chapter 17

song of the chapter: drag me down// one direction

Day 1- Get a haircut

I woke up with a smile on my face. It was something so stupid to be happy over, but I was just ecstatic.

Today, I would be getting a haircut. I have had haircuts in the past, so this is nothing special to me, but the meaning behind it was. Today was the first day of my Popular Plan. It involved me getting a haircut and rocking it.

I got dressed in an adorable outfit, so when I walked out of that hair salon, I would feel confident. I threw on a white tee and regular jeans. I added a necklace with an Aztec print and a bracelet with the same pattern.

Details, details. I'm all about the details. Today, when the lady asked me what I wanted to do with my hair, I'm going to give her a full list of details.

After quickly getting dressed, running a comb through my hair, and putting on some concealer under my eyes, I was ready. My hair appointment was at 10:30 and it was already 9:45. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled at my reflection.

"Step 1, you're about to be complete."

I walked out of my bedroom and into my quaint little kitchen, where my mom was cooking breakfast.

"Morning, Mommy!" I said, throwing my arms over her shoulders. "What are you making today?" I peered over her shoulder and saw eggs on the stove.

"Eggs, if you can't tell. You seem very excited today, McKenna. You're just getting a haircut." My mom chuckled and stirred the eggs around a little bit.

"But this haircut determines my entire future," I told her. "If I don't start changing the way I look, I won't ever become popular."

My mom almost dropped the spatula on the ground. She looked at me in the eyes, confused.

"Did I just hear my daughter say that she wants to popular? I know you've wanted to change the way you look, but popular? Honey, are you feeling okay?"

My mom rushed over and put a hand on my forehead. I swatted it away and laughed at her. Later she would understand.

"It's okay, mom. I'm doing this because I feel like my body needs a change. I need a change. I need to start being fat shamed. It's time to put on my big girl pants and grow up."

My mom nodded, giving me a weird look. I rolled my eyes and sat down at the kitchen table, scrolling through my phone.

I decided to go on Twitter to my grade's school account. Someone made it for our grade so we could interact with each other on there and get dirty dish on people. The account's name was "thetenth."

I read some of the new things people posted on the account. I was surprised that after the party, nobody posted anything about me. Well, it's pretty understandable when the whole grade was at the stupid party.

One post in particular caught my eye. It was a picture. I opened it up to see it a little more and read the Tweet that went along with it. My eyes practically bulged out of my head.

thetenth: Thank you to this anonymous insert on our web page. This one is going to buzz around the grade real soon. #friendscloserenemiescloser

I was in shock.

Annika was making out in the picture with Stuart! The one who hosted the party! It was in the boy's bathroom. The outfit was the same outfit she wore yesterday. And this was posted today! Someone saw them and took a picture.