POPULARITY AT BRANSON HIGH SCHOOL

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Grace and Cynthia both stood looking wide eyed at me with their mouths wide open, nearly hitting the floor.

I smiled a nervous smile as I slowly folded up the note.

"ASHLYN... NO FREAKING WAY!" Grace began to look around with her eyes as if to think to herself.

"Oh my gosh..." Cynthia whispered as she slowly took the note from my hands and unfolded it. She looked down reading it, clinging to it, almost hanging on to it because she knew that THIS would be the closest to one of THEM that she would ever get. She closed her eyes and slowly brought the note up to her face, taking a deep breath of air in through her nostrils, smelling the paper as if it were a piece of pizza. "...Oh my gosh..." She dragged out in a whisper. "... It smells JUST like her."

Grace looked at her. "And how would you know what SHE smells like?... You've never even gotten anywhere within ten feet of her."

Cynthia looked at her as she handed the note back to me and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it's how I always PICTURED her to smell."

"Right..." Grace dragged out as they both faced me again."... So what the heck Ashlyn?... Why would MISSY BALDWIN send YOU a note? What 'group meeting' was she talking about? And how come you didn't tell US about any of this?"

I put the note in my pocket. "I TRIED to but you guys wouldn't listen..." I leaned in closer to them as another group of students passed by. "... The thing about THEM wanting to make ME one of THEM." I whispered as I winked my eye.

A look of understanding, shock, and embarrassment came to their faces.

"You mean... You were telling the truth?" Cynthia said in a mellow tone as she raised her eyebrows.

Grace looked saddened for a moment, her eyes big and puppy dog like. "Is that why you were asking us that thing about you not being able to talk to us on school grounds anymore?"

I thought about what it was that I wanted to say for a moment. "Well... Sort of... But the thing is that it's not going to happen that way. I talked to Bradley, and he said that I could have you guys be my personal assistants so that I could still talk to you."

They looked at eachother with slight frowns then back to me as they straightened their faces.

"You mean you want us to be your PERSONAL ASSISTANTS?" Grace asked harshly.

I shrugged my shoulders nervously and spoke softly. "Well, yeah... But not like to be my MAIDS or anything, but so that I can still talk to you on school grounds."

"So wait, let me get this right..." Cynthia spoke as if she were highly offended. I could understand why she WOULD be. Now that I was listening to myself say it out loud, it sounded pretty shallow. "... You want US, your FRIENDS, to be your MAIDS?" She pushed her eyebrows together and shook her head in disbelief.

"We're friends Ashlyn, and friends don't do things like that to each other." Grace shook her head quickly as she spoke.

"I know, and I'm really REALLY..." I was about to say sorry before I was interrupted by Cynthia.

She looked at Grace. "Or maybe we're NOT friends..." She looked back to me. "... You always talk about how you're glad you aren't popular, and you always said that even if you ever WERE popular, you wouldn't change, and that we'd still be your friends."

"But you guys ARE my friends, and..."

She interrupted me again. "What's changed Ashlyn?... We're the only real friends you've ever had, and NOW you say the only way you'll talk to us on school grounds is if we become your PERSONAL ASSISTANTS?... I predict that when you become one of THEM you plan on dropping us, right?... I mean sure, why not? You'll have all the 'friends' you could ever POSSIBLY need then..." She looked at Grace. "... Let's go Grace... We MAY be level fours but atleast we aren't sell outs." She said as she and Grace walked off.