The Teenage Guide To Popularity [COMPLETE]

Chapter 12: You Make Me Wanna,

Step one, be overly confident. Step two, gain the trust of the popular crowd. Step three, screw up the entire dynamic between yourself and two of your closest friends. The first two steps hadn't been much to obsess over.

Carter had expected a challenge, something to keep her busy for at least several months, but instead she was met with underwhelming circumstance and an unexpected problem. That problem had been nesting in Carter's mind since Saturday night, and no matter what she did, no matter how many moments she spent staring at Aiden's beautiful face, she couldn't let Kiran go.

The roles had changed. Carter was now the one avoiding Kiran. She would backtrack and turn away whenever she saw him walking towards her in the hallways. She would sit as far away as possible from him in whatever class they had together. The usual, childish tactics. Everything Kiran had done last week.

"So you lied to me," Tala said. Carter had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed Tala approaching their table, looking as beautiful as ever, in her skinny jeans, knee-length high-heeled boots, and sheer black shirt that hinted at more but covered up just enough. The girl always managed to look impeccable, even against the boring backdrop of Newton High's student body.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and several of them had a study period just before their last class of the day. Elena was sitting at the table, a Chemistry book in front of her, her face a little sweaty and a little frantic-looking. Melody was close by, sitting still and looking like she didn't know what to do with herself. Ashton Rhodes wasn't there to order her around.

"What're you talking about?" Carter asked, having finally snapped out of her daze.

"You said Kiran has a girlfriend. He doesn't. I asked him."

"Sorry, I thought he did. Maybe they broke up."

"I think you like him. Which is fine, but own up to it." Tala didn't sound threatening or angry at all. She seemed, as always, very amused by all of it. She kept her voice down so the other two girls wouldn't hear.

"Well... that's just... stupid."

"Look, don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Good, because there's nothing to tell." Even as she said it, Carter knew she didn't sound at all convincing.

Tala didn't say anything about the matter after that. She had on a rather infuriating smirk for a moment, but in the end decided to drop it. Carter knew that Tala wasn't the type to spread gossip, so that part didn't worry her. What did worry her was the fact that someone had found her attraction to Kiran obvious enough to talk about. What if others had noticed a hint of something?

What if Ashton Rhodes realized it and decided to use it against Carter at some point? Then again, Tala was exceptionally perceptive, so maybe Carter had nothing to worry about at all.

***

The day progressed like any other day. Students went from class to class. Teachers carried on in their monotone voices, trying to infuse some knowledge into uncaring kids. For Leigh, the day seemed to be moving extra slowly. For some reason she hadn't seen much of Carter, and she was desperate to know the status of her best friend's little plan.

Several people had approached her, wanting to know where Carter was. While for the most part Leigh saw it as a triumphant step in the right direction, a tiny part of her couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

It was a good kind of jealous though, like the kind you feel when your best friend is getting married while you're still single, or when your sister gets accepted into an Ivy League school while you're attending community college. You're happy and sad at the same time. Of course, the sadness of Leigh's jealousy wasn't nearly as grand as that of someone being constantly compared to a genius sibling, but it did consume her at times.