The Teenage Guide To Popularity [COMPLETE]

Chapter 20: Vulnerable,

A glowing, wonderful feeling had taken over Carter. It was like she had been brought into light after living centuries under a dark shadow. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Leigh until they had spoken again. Not just spoken, but dived right into best friend-mode, as if they had never fought in the first place. It had only been a little more than a week, but to Carter, it may as well have been a lifetime.

The last thing she wanted to do was push Leigh away again, so when Leigh began questioning her about Kiran, she felt it wouldn't be very dignified to express what Kiran meant to her. It would be like rubbing acid onto a wound. Like showing Leigh exactly what she couldn't have.

Truth be told, Carter wasn't sure how she felt about Kiran. Maybe she really was in love with him. Maybe she had always been in love with him, but hadn't let herself feel it until now. She promised herself that when she figured it all out, Leigh would be the first to know, after Kiran of course.

As she let herself become immersed in their friendship again, something occurred to her. Did Leigh know anything about Tala? Probably not, or she would've told me about it by now.

"I'm going to stop this popularity thing, by the way," she said to Leigh.

"What? Why?"

"Because I don't even care about it anymore. I proved my point, so what else is there to do?"

"But you have to keep up with it. I still haven't gone to any of the parties," Leigh said, pouting like a child. It was amazing how she was able to sink herself right into an old conversation. Just like that.

"Fine. One more party, and then I'm done." Carter figured it was the least she could do for Leigh.

"Awesome. Is it completely lame that I've been working on an outfit?"

"Kind of," Carter responded with a smile. Leigh's outfit preparation meant that she had always believed they would reconcile.

"And I've been really careful not to get sick again. Is Elena Trace having one this weekend?"

"I think so." Carter had been somewhat avoiding that entire crowd recently, even before she had learned of Tala's behaviour. She did vaguely remember Elena mentioning something about a party at lunch three days ago, but she couldn't be sure what day it was set for.

"Well if she is, I need to get home and put the finishing touches on my outfit. Do you want to come over?"

"I can't. I'm meeting...someone," Carter hesitated. She glanced at Leigh and thought about what she was going to say.

"Kiran?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Is that okay?"

"It's totally fine. Carter, I'll be okay with it. I'll get over it," Leigh said, a reassuring smile on her face. She stood up and picked up her bag. "Anyway, call me later. You've gotta tell me everything that's happened in the last week."

Carter didn't say anything. She stood up as well, walked to Leigh, and hugged her tight. What was the point of being popular if there was no one to share it all with? Leigh was always there to humble her, to make her realize that life was good and there was no point in dwelling on stupid, minor things. Screw all the gossip. Screw the crazy, social hierarchy that existed in high school.

"I'm really, really sorry," she said quietly.

Leigh broke the hug, held Carter by the shoulders firmly, and smiled again. "Seriously, it's fine. We're both sorry. Let's forget it and move on, okay?"

***

Tala Ansari wasn't your average beautiful smart-yet-extremely-popular girl. She had fast-tracked through her classes the last six semesters, which meant that she would be graduating a year earlier than all of her friends. She had already received several scholarships to the country's top schools, held the highest GPA of all junior and senior students, and received numerous school awards. She was an alarming combination of brains and beauty, and she knew exactly what to do with it.