The Top, and the Bottom Dwellers

It's what's right. Why wouldn't you want it?

The sun lazed about on her back, forcing her to peel open her eyes, still groggy from her nap.  The waves echoed in her ears, sand clumping on her cheek.
FLASH.
"You have a pimple on your nose," Lizzy informed her, clicking her camera again. She blinked from the flash, hand immediately snapping up to her nose, feeling around for the dreaded acne spot. Lizzy cackled with laughter. "Got you, big sis."
"Why, exactly, did I bring you to this spring break trip?" Lauren asked, sitting up from her spot in the sand.
"Because I'm thirteen and more mature than you," she said, placing her hands on her hips in a defiant stance, fingers twiddling with the strings on her polka dot bikini.  "And because you didn't want to put up with your boring a*s friends."
"They are not boring," Lauren said, growling at the bright sun in her eyes and flipping on a pair of trendy shades. "You're just too young to understand what we're talking about."
"Oh, I understand alright. I simply don't care about what makeup is hot right now and how big Ashley's boyfriend's dick is."
"Which is why you have no friends," she muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing." she stared up at her sister. Lizzy's hair was sticking up in odd places out of her little girl pigtails, she wore a bulky black t-shirt over her bathing suit, and the scars on her wrists was the evidence of years and years of bullying. It embarrassed Lauren to no end. Why couldn't her sister be more like her? When her mother announced she was going to be a big sister,  she was excited, thinking that they would talk about boys and fashion and music all night. But they never had the sister bond that sisters in movies had. Lizzy was awkward, angst ridden, and not pretty like her.
Those thoughts made Lauren feel guilty as hell, so she agreed to take her sister away from her tormentors for a week for her spring break. After all, Ashley and the other girls took their unbearable siblings too, so maybe Lizzy was in some way helping her fit in more with the A-list clique.
"It's really pretty," Lizzy said, staring out at the ocean.
"The water?" It looked like plain water to Lauren.
"The way the light reflects off of it, and it moves in a fluid motion, almost rhythmically." She pulled out her sketchbook out of her ugly burlap bag, and began scribbling. Her obsession with drawing everything confused Lauren. Why draw when you can just absorb it with your eyes?
Riiing. Riiiiing.
"Hello?" Lauren asked, answering her new smartphone.
"Hey girly!" Callie gushed. What a b***h. She acts all nice, then sleeps with your guy behind your back. "Are you coming to the all-girls bonfire tonight?"
"Of course!" The bonfire could possibly decide if Lauren was 'in' enough to be Ashley's number two. The number two was the coveted prize of their group; it came with all of the prizes that a girl would ever want. And, once Ashley turned 25, the old barrier, the number two would take over as leader. Oh, to be the leader.
"Cooolio! Oh, and bring your sister too, kay?"
Lauren gulped, eyes shifting over to her sister. "Alright. Bye." she hung up. "Hey Lizzy, you're coming with me to a bonfire tonight."
Lizzy started groaning, then abruptly stopped. "Wait? Bonfire? Awesome! I can draw some more."
Lauren sighed, staring up at the cloudless sky.
Why did she even bring her sister?
----
LIZZY'S PERSPECTIVE
The night sky was painted with scattered stars, illuminated by the glow of the bonfire. There's a certain air about, of snobbery and arrogance, but that's coming off of Lauren's pompous friends. Sure, their siblings were around Lizzy's age, but she had nothing in common with them. They all raved about the newest pop star, and all Lizzy wanted to do was play video games.
Lauren's friend Ashley, the one with a huge a*s and even bigger b***s, tousled her sun bleached hair and called everyone to circle around the fire. Lauren pushed her along, a flicker of fear in her eyes.
"We are here today to begin our annual spring ritual of accepting new members," Ashley began. "And promoting veterans." Lizzy glanced at Lauren, who was biting her lip nervously.
She wasn't going to have to join Lauren's freaky deaky group of friends, right?
"And in the process of accepting new members, we must perform the age old tradition of....eliminating the weaker. A symbol of the strength our members have, the beauty we contain, and ultimately being the ones that everyone strives to be. The Top."
What the hell is this chick talking about?
"Because to be the Top, you must get rid of some of the Bottom. And this night's Bottom Dweller," Ashley paused, her gaze slowly passing over everyone in their circle.
Lauren took a huge breath to the right of Lizzy.
"Lizzy Pomand."
What?
Lauren gasped, turning towards her, looking at Lizzy with mixed emotions. Everyone else was watching her casually.
"And as the sister of Lizzy, Lauren would be promoted to Second, showing that she is above the bottom."
Lauren's face switched from horror to delight. "Really?" she asked breathlessly, turning back to Ashley.
"Yup. And you get to do the honors." Ashley nodded at another member, who produced a bejeweled blade from her Coach purse. Ashley took it with glee, and handed it over to  Lauren.  Lauren's breath hitched, staring at the blade. She brought it up, and it gleamed above Lizzy's head. She was about to bring it down, when Ashley stopped her mid-air. "Not yet, honey! Speech, first, about why Lizzy's a bottom dweller. This shows why you're better than her."
Lauren froze, then gulped again. "Lizzy Pomand, you have no use. You do not care about what you look like, and do not strive to be at the Top, when that is what any girl should only care about. You do not belong on this Earth when you are not at the Top. The Top is the glorious arena of women. Your mother....our mother, was one of the Top. It is not natural to dislike being beautiful, or liked, or the qualities of the Top. You are scum, Lizzy.."
"Lauren...don't do this," Lizzy begged. "You're my sister."
"And as your sister, I have to," Lauren whispered, a tear squeezing from her eye. "For one to rise, another must fall."
Then the blade came down, and Lizzy fell from the living.
-----
LAUREN'S PERSPECTIVE
Applause roared in her ears, and Lauren dropped the knife, that was dripping with blood. The body was quickly disposed of in the bonfire.
Ashley patted her shoulder. "Welcome to the Top, number two," Ashley murmured in her ear.
Lauren nodded, blinking back tears of joy.
"Thank you. I'm honored."

Author's Note

It's ridiculous because the notion of popularity is ridiculous.
Didn't expect THAT ending, huh?

Reviews

[Truth_About_Rain]

Wow, very inspiring! Makes me want to write a poem about this...