My Guide to Popularity: The Story
Chapter One: Watching You Walk Away
"No, your not breaking up with me are you?" She asked. She looked angry and sad all at once. Like she was going to break down and cry then rip someone’s head off. To be honest, it was laughable. She’s finally getting what’s coming to her, she’s a total narcissist. She's always tearing people down to claw her way to the top. I guess that’s what models do; they destroy everything in their path until they get what they want. Although, I can’t lie… she does have the body for a model. But, it’s annoying how that seems to be the first thing she says when she meets someone, “I'm a model.” Like yeah, we get it.
"Yeah, I am. I can’t be with someone so narcissistic and manipulative. In fact . . . I never want to see you again." He may sound harsh and heartless, but he’s nothing but that. He’s the sweetest guy on earth. OK, that was a little over the top, but he really is the perfect guy. She deserved that after what she did to him. I honestly don’t even think she knows what a relationship is. It’s for two, not three . . . well, in her case four. Yeah, she cheated on him twice with two different guys. Apparently, its been going on for a while now, probably since they started dating so you can see why he’s so heartbroken.
"You can't leave me, Liam! You’ll never find someone who loves you more than me! Don’t do this!" She yelled after him, but he shrugged it off and kept walking, his head down. I noticed his eyes were red and he had bags under his eyes. His hair was messy and shaggy like he was continuously running his fingers through his hair... he looked so hurt and broken. I wanted to run over to him and hug him, he doesn’t deserve this heartache. He’s a better person than me though, id go back there and say words to her she’ll never forget. What makes it worse is that they’ve been dating for over a year now; everyone knew he was deeply in love with her. Maybe that was the problem… he loved her too much and she didn’t love him enough.
He slowed his steps to a sudden halt, he turned to face her. "You can't take back what you did. You already tore the fabric apart; you can’t just glue them back together with words. But, please, answer this . . ." He sniffled and didn’t bother to wipe away the tears that were falling down his face, "Why? I thought everything was perfect, I thought you would be the girl I could settle down with, have kids with and have a future with. I thought you’d be the girl id marry someday. Actually . . ." He pulled out something from his pocket and opened it up and stared down at it. I couldn’t really tell what it was from behind but I had an eerie feeling. I gasped and backed up a few steps, shocked. He was going to propose to her!
She couldn’t contain herself now; she began to cry furiously, realizing she missed out on a great opportunity. He was such a great guy that any girl would be lucky to have him. He shoved it back in his pocket and backed away, "Looks like it just wasn’t meant to be..." He finally turned and walked away, never looking back again. God… he must be going through a lot. I slowly came from behind the school wall and watched as she stood there crying, then she walked away, head down in despair.
I picked up my bag and walk towards the front of the school, trying to find where Liam ran off too. His truck is in the shop so I know he hadn’t driven home yet, he’s probably waiting on a ride in the front of the school. I walked towards the front doors and noticed Liam sitting at a table, going through his phone. I heard him sniffling as I got closer. I was going to sit down next to him and offer him a ride home but stopped when I noticed Brittany Hamilton walking towards him, with a slight smile on her face. She sat down next to him and rubbed his back, comforting him the way I wanted to…
Liam looked up and she smiled slightly, noticing his appearance. "Hey, I heard what happened back there. I'm so sorry. But, till be OK, really. She does not deserve you." She said. He rubbed his eyes and smiled, trying to act like everything was OK. He picked up his bag and put his phone back into his back pocket. She stood up as well, adjusting her cheerleading uniform and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I’m always here to talk, OK?" She asked. She was so sweet; I know some people may say cheerleaders are stuck up and snobby but not Brittany, she’s different from all the stereotypes. Sometimes I wish I was her. She had a great life ahead of her.
She was captain of the cheerleading squad, she was accepted into Harvard, she’s a gorgeous girl and she’s kind and popular. It’s the life I secretly always wanted, I despised her for it. And not only that, she has confidence. I would never in a million years be able to go up to a guy and talk to him like she is right now. Where does she get her confidence? Because if they bottle it up at stores and sell them, then give me a case full. Plus, she’s so thoughtful; I sometimes wish I could be more like her in a way. "Yeah, uh, thanks. Ill be OK though, really. Thank you, though." She nodded and smiled, stroking his shoulder. “And don’t tell the guys about this.” He chuckled.
She clasped both her thumb and index finger together and ran them over her lips, saying her lips were sealed, then chuckled and gave him a dazzling smile. She looked at him thoughtfully, head tilted as if she was thinking about something. “Hey, why don’t we hang out for a bit? It’s not good to be alone while you’re this depressed. I have hot chocolate and a warm fireplace at home if you want to talk some more. “She asked, sweetly. Wow, that was amazing. She basically just asked him out on a date but made it sound like it was nothing. How jealous am I right now? Big time jealous…
He chuckled and thought about it for a second, then smiled. "Yeah, sure… I’d like that.” He said. She smiled, obviously happy he toke her up on her offer and grabbed his hand. He looked down at their entangled hands and gave a slight smile that only we could see. He looked her in her eyes and smiled, that smile… was so familiar. My heart shattered ever so slightly, that was the way he gave his ex-girlfriend when they first met… he was already falling in love again and he doesn’t even realize it yet. I pictured them talking and cuddling by the warm fireplace, lights dimmed, parents not home and couldn’t help but feel like that should be me…
I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised though… he’s never been single for long so I don’t know why I just can’t tell him how crazy I am about him… I’m one of his friends too! One of his best friends, actually… I guess he just doesn’t see me they way I see him. Maybe he just sees me as another one of the boys… maybe that is what I am and what I always will be. I will be stuck in the friend-zone forever… living in a house with forty cats, yelling at little kids to stay off my lawn. And on every holiday ill have to resort to cleaning toilet paper off my house after the little kids TP’ed it. They’ll call me, “Crazy Old’ Mrs. Jenkins” even though that isn’t my last name…
Then again... why would he like me? I’ve never been one of the "pretty girls" of our school. He’s into the cheerleader/sexy/flirty kind of girls, not the nerdy/shy kind of girls, like me! I’m just playing myself, really. I should just give up; maybe we aren’t meant to be together. Were from two different cliques, two different worlds and two different realities, I have my head in the clouds while he has his head in the game, eh, I don’t know. I toke one last look at were Liam was previously sitting and walked away with my head down. I grabbed my keys out of my pocket and headed out to my truck and headed home... slightly heartbroken. I threw my keys down on the table in front of the front door. I saw my mother peek her head out from in the living room. "Hey, what’s up?" She asked, probably noticing my sad appeal. I shrugged my shoulders and walked upstairs, not wanting to talk to my mother about my problems, how dorky is that… wait a minute…
I have a crazy yet interesting idea in mind now… I know that some people may say that you shouldn’t change yourself or do crazy things to get noticed by someone but this idea has nothing to do with that. This is really for me and I want to do it. I want to finally get noticed, I so badly want to have confidence and to break out of my shell, and I don’t want to be shy anymore! So… I think I'm going to start working on “Project Popularity”. I run to my bedroom closet and dig out an old, dusty box from the back; I start digging through it for something my older cousin gave to me a few months back. Booyah!
I take a moment to admire the amazing craftsmanship, the adorable pink fur on the front and back, with pink and white letters on front, surrounding those letters were girly looking stickers and sparkles. It read “My Guide to Popularity, Vol. 1.” I laughed as how a few months ago, I thought this book was idiotic and stupid but now I see that it’s pure genius. If it’s gotten my cousin where she is now, popularity and fame, then sign me up. Inside this book, has everything!
Rules, guides, tips, stories, everything you need to need to become popular in high school, its amazing! How come I never gave it a chance before now? Opening up to page one I read the title of the first chapter, “Emotional + Social = Physical.” Not sure what that’s supposed to mean but something tells me its just going to be the beginning of crazy things to come. After all, my crazy cousin did create this “only one in the world” kind of book. So who knows what she wrote about…
©2012 trueloveneverdies Anna Bella
1856 Words total