Little Miss Popular

~4~

•TESLA•

"Yes, spaghetti sauce and chocolate milk!"  I spat at the dry cleaners through the phone as I sat on my bed in a bath robe and a towel on my head.  "Can you fix it or not?" 

"We'll see what we can do."  The man stated monotone, obviously not as upset about the dress as I was.  "Bring it in." 

I let out a huff before exchanging goodbyes with the man and tossing my phone onto my pillow.

Today was never ending and I just wanted it to be over. After the whole ordeal with Benji, I went straight home. My parents might be a little upset at me for it, but they'd probably be more upset if they knew I stayed at school looking like a slob.

I began to rub my temples out of frustration as I leaned back into a laying position.

Finally, I got up and changed into a pair of loose fitting boyfriend jeans and a purple tank top that showed off my tanned shoulders. 

After grabbing my purse and the destroyed dress, I headed out the door and to my car.  I could only pray that this stain came out.  Lord knows it'd take a miracle. 

The dry cleaners was only about a 15 minute drive, but it felt like forever.  All I could think about was how angry I was at that jerk for not even apologizing for ruining my favorite dress. 

After dropping the dress off, I went back home and ran for a while on the treadmill to blow off some steam and to warm up for practicing for cheer tryouts. 

I was nervous for them, to say the least.  For Betti, it all came naturally;  the forced smile, the peppiness, the coordination, everything.  I still couldn't even master the smile.  Sure, it was easy when I was just clapping my hands and standing there, but I can barely kick my leg in the air, let alone while smiling.  It was hard. 

I let out a loud huff as I watched myself in the mirror in our home gym. 

"Hey - lets - go." I said the words to one of the cheers as I robotically moved through the actions.  No way was I going to be able to do this correctly by Monday. 

"Hey princess, how's it going?"  I heard my dad question as he entered the large room.  "Practicing your routine for tryouts?" 

"Yeah."  I stated as I stopped what I was doing to talk to him. 

I wanted to tell him I didn't think I was going to make it.  It's not like I care that much about cheer at all, it honestly wasn't my thing.  He, however, seemed to think it was something I had to do. 

"Well what'd you stop for?  I want to see."  He smiled as he hopped onto the treadmill. 

"Oh, uhm, I just have some homework to do."  I lied. 

He couldn't see how terrible it was going.  He'd be pissed. 

"Okay, well you better get that done."  Was all I heard him say before I left the room and went upstairs to my own. 

I honestly just didn't feel like dealing with my family today. 

Picking up my phone, I decided to give Sebastian a call.  The line rung a few times before he finally answered. 

"Hey,"  He answered calmly. 

"Hey, how are things going over there?"  I questioned him.

"Meh, things are alright."  He acted bored.  "I just have a lot of homework to do, I'll call you tomorrow around 10, alright?" 

"Oh, uh, yeah."  I shook off any feelings of disappointment that he didn't want to talk right now that I had.  "Goodnight." 

"See ya."  And with that, he hung up.

I lightly tossed my phone onto my night stand and decided tonight would be a 'sit in my room alone and pity myself' kind of night.  Reaching under my pillow, I pulled out a pink notebook with 'Princess' printed on the front.  My diary. 

I know, it was kiddish.  However, I don't like sharing my feelings and this resulted in them being bottled up, which never felt good.  So instead, I wrote them down.  I've written them down since I very young and threw all of the diary's in a small box I had under my bed. 

Opening the diary, I read the the first page, which said nothing but 'chin up, or the crown slips.'  I wrote this phrase often.  Its something my father likes to tell me time and time again.

Letting out a sigh, I picked up a pink pen from my night stand and began to write.  I wrote about anything and everything, from the Peres family buying the Hayes' car shop, to spaghetti ruining my dress, to my hatred for Benji Hayes, and all the way to how nervous I was for tryouts.

By the time I finished writing it was getting a little late, and I finally was called to dinner.

"It's time for dinner, Tesla." The fragile voice called to me.

It was Martha, our maid. She wasn't around much anymore, other than to cook dinner. However, she was always around when I was little, and probably put more effort into raising me than my own mother and father.

"I'll be down in a second!" I called down to her as I put my diary back under my pillow and skipped down the stairs.

As I descended the stairs, I heard my parents talking harshly to Martha, making me walk slower to hear better.

"I don't care about your situation, I care about mine, end of discussion." My fathers voice echoed throughout the house.

"I don't want to hear about this again. I better get a quiet week out of you." This time my mother chimed in, however she stopped talking when she looked up and saw me, making her change the subject. "Go make Tesla a plate, and make sure she loads up on the spinach, she needs it."

"What were you guys talking about?" I inquired as I seated myself at the table.

"Nothing, princess." My father threw on a fake smile and fake voice. "Just eat."

Whatever it was they were talking about, it sounded serious.

~~

AUTHORS NOTE

Hey everyone, I appreciate every single read, thank you so much❤️

So far what do you think about Telsa's friends and family??

If you could on vacation anywhere right now, where would it be to? I think I'd go anywhere tropical, but the Bermuda sounds awesome right now!