Chapter Six: Popular?

Emily makes an unexpected choice. THIS CHAPTER IS SHORTER THAN USUAL... :(

Until lunch, everything was perfectly fine. The classes weren’t boring, because even though I was supposed to be ‘hot’ now, I still had my love for learning. I still was a nerd, a grammar Nazi, a learner. I just didn’t show it as much. Everything interested me. Everything. I loved the rhythm and melody in Music, I loved the interesting countries and country sides in Geography, I loved learning about kings and days of old in History, I even loved the logic and brain-cracking of Math. I didn’t excel in everything, but it was all interesting and incredible to me.

The drama all started when we walked into the cafeteria. People had been staring at us all day. Dakota said it was because of our ‘altered’ looks, which I could actually believe. I did look a little more taken care of. I had always been reasonably neat and I always tried to dress stylishly, but I had gotten tips from FM (Ford Models) how to apply as little make-up as possible and still look nice. I had also gotten tips as to how to keep my hair neat, and how to wash and style it in a way so that it almost looked done by a hairdresser. Also, I had gotten clothes tips. Like which clothes to wear when and how to add the coolest accessories and how to match stuff and choose clothes that suited my complexion and body.

But back to the topic. The people staring wasn’t the problem. As I had already thought of in the car, Ashley was. We hadn’t even gotten halfway across the cafeteria when she came up to us.

‘’Look who we have here. Really Emily? I still can’t believe you choose them over me. Look at them! Truth to be told, they look a little better than last year, but in a way how an ugly shoe looks better if you choose a different colour,’’ she sneered, then throwing me a genuine smile. I still couldn’t believe she was nice to me. She was so mean to others.

‘’Excuse me?’’ Dakota asked, stepping forward. I should have known she wouldn’t take this. She had already fought Ashley once last year. I heard people ‘’oohing’ but chose to ignore it.

Before any fights or stuff could start, I stepped between the two and glared at both of them. ‘’Don’t you dare try anything. Dakota, you know better than to listen to Ashley’s words, she’s just waiting for a reaction.’’

Dakota looked down, a little ashamed, but still angry.

‘’As for you,’’ I went on, turning to Ashley. ‘’You should just shut up and go back to your popular lunch table, that’s where you belong, right?’’

Ashley raised an eyebrow, still smiling. ‘’My dear Emily, when will you accept it’s where you belong, too?’’

‘’I don’t belong anywhere but with my friends, Ashley. Last time I checked, you were not one of them,’’ I said. I heard people in the cafeteria gasp. Ashley kept smiling, but I saw the same hurt from earlier flash in her eyes.

‘’You’ll realise I’m right soon enough, Emily. It was nice talking to you,’’ she smirked, turned on her heel and walked away, her minions following her.

I sighed and we walked to an empty lunch table. The two guys from earlier slipped next to us and this time, Dakota told them to go away.

‘’Why? You said you’d hang out with us earlier. But you said you’d have to wait until your friend wasn’t there, because she was too controlling.’’

My heart stopped for a second and I dropped my fork onto the plate, with a loud clatter. My teeth clenched.

‘’What?’’ I asked, in a carefully controlled voice.

‘’Did I… say something wrong?’’ the guy asked.

Dakota glared at him. ‘’Emily, please don’t be mad okay. We had to get rid of them somehow and… Emily!’’

I shook my head, got up and grabbed my lunch tray. ‘’You know what, Dakota? Don’t even bother. Maybe Ashley was right. I don’t belong here.’’

Before I could regret anything, I made my way over to Ashley’s table. She looked up in surprise, then her eyes widened.

I smiled painfully. ‘’Hi Ashley. Do you mind if I sit here?’’

‘’Emily! No, of course not, sit down! Welcome to the clan,’’ she smiled.

I smiled at the others sitting at the table, they were all smiling at me. To my surprise they were all warm, friendly smiles, not fake, plastic ones.

Ashley got up and gave me a hug. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dakota looking at me, an expression of hurt and betrayal on her face. Ness probably had the same look, but she was looking down, so I couldn’t see it properly. I hugged Ashley back and sat down.

‘’Hi, I’m Emily,’’ I smiled, pricking a tomato on my fork.

‘’Hello Emily!’’ greetings rung out from the table, and I blushed a little.

‘’Aww, she’s blushing,’’ one of the guys awed. I blushed even more and hid my face.

‘’Come on guys, cut her some slack,’’ Ashley said, amusement in her voice.

‘’Emily, this is James, Connor, Tyler and Sean. They’re… well, very tiring after a while. Anyway, these two are Shannon and Rhiannon, and these two and Clara and Layla. That’s basically all of us. My boyfriend, Ryan, isn’t coming today, he’s not feeling too well. I think I’m going to skip the last two periods to see him.’’

The bell rang and we got up, bringing our trays to the rack.

‘’Come on, Emily. We have our next class together, don’t we?’’ Rhiannon asked. Ashley smiled at me and whispered. ‘’I’m glad you decided to join us. I won’t ask why as it is probably painful for you to speak of. I just wanted to say, we’re not all that bad.’’

I smiled. ‘’I realised that. Thanks, Ashley.’’

I couldn’t believe I was doing this, that I actually was joining Ashley’s group. She actually had been a very nice girl once. She was friendly and sweet and always doing things for others. I remember having lots of fun painting my room together. She was the girl you went to if you had problems. Then, in Freshman year, everything changed. She grew snobby, and stuck-up and… popular, making her the girl she was now.

Author's Note

Sorry for the short chapter. It's one I wrote a while ago, and I don't know how to make it longer... when I've finished the book I'll start editing anyway, so then the chapters will be longer and better, so please bear with me for a while longer :D

Reviews

[Lavorther]

That was quite a twist, but I can see why Emily would act like that. Curious about what will happen to Dakota and Ness, and how this new group turns out to be.

There was one thing I noticed:
"I don’t belong anywhere but with my friends Ashley."
I think you need a comma before "Ashley". To me, this sounds like she was going to name her friends, but then Ashley's name followed. The comma helps separate the two.

[Cass Morgan]

I was looking out for your review! Love them and really appreciate that you take time to help me perfect my story :D Thank you so much!
Oops, will fix that error immediately, thanks for pointing it out!

[Lavorther]

I'm glad you appreciate my reviews so much :)