The Teenage Guide To Popularity [COMPLETE]

Chapter 17: Steal My Sunshine,

The bonfire was burning bright, lighting up the nighttime beach with its mesmerizing flames, and creating a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. There were at least thirty people from Carter's junior class sitting around it, and a few outsiders, all joking and chilling, talking and laughing, not a single care in the world. It was the perfect high school get-together.

Carter was sure she saw a couple rolling around by the shore, making out like they were re-enacting a scene from an old Hollywood film. She imagined it would be really uncomfortable, what with all the sand going everywhere. Not very romantic.

She sat still, leaning into Aiden while he had his arm lazily draped around her. Once in a while she would talk to Sterling, or Elena, but for the most part she kept quiet. At one point she could've sworn she saw Leigh's red hair in between the sea of brown and blonde, but the vision disappeared almost as quickly as it came, and Carter felt it was only wishful thinking.

She took a moment to consider her situation. She was sitting around a giant fire, interacting with people who wouldn't have looked twice at her months ago, and every single one of them seemed genuinely interested. The only problem was that she didn't care.

It was a little sickening, like she had an addiction to something she didn't even like. Aiden would turn and kiss her every once in a while, and she would let him, though there was nothing in it for her but a superior social status. She didn't want him to kiss her. She didn't want him to hold her. It was now obvious that Leigh had made up the bit about him being a fan of all the shows Carter liked, probably to get her to keep going with the plan. At the end of it all, she had zero connection with him, and somehow she felt that he knew this. Maybe he was only with her because she happened to be popular now.

"Carter, hey Carter!" someone called.

Carter snapped out of her irritating thoughts and looked around. Georgie was sitting close by, with Seth right there next to her. He was holding onto her as if she was some prize he had won. A little pathetic, but Georgie seemed to be loving every moment of it.

"Are you two together now?" Carter asked with a half-smile.

"We'll see," Georgie said, giving Seth a sly look. She then faced Carter again, "So how does it feel to be one of us now?"

One of you? Like you're a cult? "It's fun."

"Keep it up and you might even beat Ashton for Junior Prom Queen."

Carter let the idea of it sink in for a moment. Junior Prom Queen had been a persona she couldn't even imagine before. It was only a thing in movies, a crowning of the untouchable girl. She had never been one to picture herself up there, with that crown, wearing a beautiful dress and smiling stupidly at those who voted for her. She couldn't deny that it made her feel good. "I thought you'd want Ashton to win."

"Are you for real? Why would anyone want her to win? Don't tell her this but... I'd much rather have you or Tala win, or really anyone who isn't such a massive bitch."

"Damn, what happened between you two?"

"Nothing. We're still friends, but that doesn't mean I can't hate her."

Such a concept made zero sense to Carter. Why be friends with someone who makes your life miserable? Who orders you around? Everyone's free to choose their friends, so why not choose someone amazing? Someone like Leigh? "Where is she anyway? Isn't this her scene?" she asked Georgie, trying not to think of her own failed friendship.

"Her and her boyfriend broke up, so she's lying in her bed crying."

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend, and I seriously can't imagine her crying." Robots can't cry, can they?