Project Popularity

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Jamie Vandeviere

With an intake of breath, I took in every inch of the room, incredulous and amazed by the scene unfolding before me. Loud, thumping music was blasting through the stereo. People were drinking, dancing, laughing all around me in clusters; some were already drunk even though the party had barely begun. The place was packed. Honestly, I didn’t even remember inviting so many people. And to think that I was the host of this party- as far as everyone was concerned, this was my family’s vacation lake house- made everything even more surreal.

I invited everyone. And when I say everyone, I meant everyone, regardless of your position on the Roseville High Social Hierarchy Ladder. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the popular girls, the class clowns, even the "nerds and geeks"...

Everyone but Summer.  

This lake house actually belonged to Luke’s uncle; it was secluded and huge, making it the perfect party location. Luke was behind all the work for this party. My only job, according to him, was to invite people and pretend that I owned the place. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. I’d been having butterflies in my stomach since last night. It was my first party, as dorky as that sounds. I didn’t want to mess it up by doing something stupid.

“Thanks for inviting me, Jamie,” Eric Norton, a guy from the Math Club with the thickest pair of glasses that I had ever seen, shyly smiled at me as he approached. He was one of the kids that the jocks labeled as nerds and I will never forget the stunned look on his faces when I randomly walked into a Math Club meeting, handed him and the other members a flyer and said, “I’m throwing a party this Saturday. Hope you guys can make it!” The Math Club gawked at me like I was mental, which is why the fact that a couple of them came tonight really surprised me, though they mostly just huddled to a tight circle in the corner of the room and watched everyone with cautious eyes.

"Jamie!" Bubbling with excitement, Lucy threw her arms around me-almost spilling her punch over my dress in the process- after scurrying over to where I was standing. "Oh my gosh. This place is awesome."

"My first high school party," Clara gaped at the room in awe. "I can't believe we're invited!"

"Of course you are," I told her, enveloping them into a hug. "You guys are my best friends. You have to be here."

"I love your dress," said Lucy, enviously appraising the white sundress that I had on. "Let me guess- another contribution of Sienna Archer?"

I grinned at her. "Of course."

I'd been wearing Sienna's clothes to school for the past week to keep up my cover. She would have Luke drop off my outfit for the next day the night before and not wanting to raise any suspicion from my parents, Luke usually came around late at night- when my parents were sound asleep. Then I'd sneak out, very much like the first time he called and told me to meet him outside,   and the two of us would sit in his car and go over our plans to take down Summer. And like the first time, Luke never appeared to be in a hurry to leave. We always ended up talking about other things, like our families, stuff going on at school, or just stupid stuff that we'd heard in general. Even though I knew I shouldn't enjoy his company too much, after all it was bound to end when Operation-Take-Down-Summer was over, I couldn't help but look forward to these visits.

Carla sighed. "I would die for a Sienna Archer makeover. Why couldn't I have been the one to almost run Luke over?"

Lucy and I playfully gave her a shove. At the mention of Luke, I glanced quickly to where he was standing- by the pool table with Roger and Bryce- and my heart thudded when I saw how good he looked in a simple black shirt and dark jeans. That’s one thing I envied about Luke; he didn’t really need to put any effort into his appearance. Anything he wore, he pulled it off.