Jenni James - Pride and Popularity

Madison laughed again. “You do realize you’re probably the first girl in history to argue with him.”

“If that’s true, then he deserves it,” I muttered.

“Besides,” Alyssa continued, “he wanted to know why you hadn’t invited him, not why we hadn’t invited him. So it’s only fair that you do it.”

“Come on. This is way harsh. I can’t beg Taylor to come to our party.”

Madison grinned. “What’s the big deal, Chloe?”

“I’m totally afraid he’ll get the wrong idea.”

“I’ve got it,” Alyssa exclaimed dramatically as she smiled at us both. “Ask Blake too. Then Taylor can’t think you like him, because you’ll be around Blake all the time.”

“That’s perfect,” I replied. “Why didn’t I think of it?”

“Then we could actually meet this hunk in the flesh,” Madison said.

“All right.” I smiled at Alyssa. Now it was my turn to feel smug. “You’re on. I’ll invite Taylor. Just remember you have to ask your mom and dad to give you some privacy. I wanna hear about Zack’s kiss.” 

“Here,” I said as dropped the party invite in front of Taylor. Then I removed my backpack and sat it next to my chair. It was still a few minutes before the bell.

“What’s this?” he asked as he looked up at me. He picked up the invite and flipped it over in his hand.

As if he doesn’t know. “Your invite. You said you wanted one. There it is.” I walked away to get my art supplies. When I came back he was waiting for me.

“So, I, uh, actually got a coveted invite?”

“It appears so, doesn’t it?” I grinned so my words wouldn’t sting as I plopped into my seat. “Zack got one, too.”

“Why the sudden change of heart, Chloe Hart?” He grinned back at me.

“Oh, I thought it would be good for you.”

He frowned slightly. “Good for me? What do you mean?”

“I thought you’d like to meet Blake.” I stood up to sharpen my already-sharp pencil. For some reason I wanted to be as far away from Taylor as possible. “Be sure to bring Kylie,” I called back as I walked across the room to the pencil sharpener.

As I began to sharpen my pencil to make my ploy look good, I was surprised to hear Taylor’s voice behind me.

“Why are you sharpening something that’s already sharp?”

Dang! “One can never be too prepared.” I cranked the wheel of the sharpener. “What are you doing here?” I tossed over my shoulder.

“Oh, just sharpening my pencil. Same as you.” He stepped forward and stood right behind me. His arm reached around mine to show his pencil.

I paused to compose my senses. Taylor was so close I could smell his aftershave. He smells so good. The tingling warmth of his arm as it touched mine nearly undid me. I turned my head slightly to look at his pencil, but I couldn’t focus enough to comprehend what I was seeing. He breathed on my neck, sending a multitude of sparks racing down my back. What is wrong with me?

“Your hair smells good, Chloe,” he whispered near my ear.

“Uh!” Instantly, I became a flurry of motion again as I realized I had nearly gone dizzy over the guy. Taylor dropped his arm and chuckled as he stepped back.

“You’re not going to have much pencil left if you keep that up,” he pointed out.

I pulled my sharp pencil out and saw it was couple inches shorter than when I’d started. In my haste to move away, I accidentally broke the pencil point against the sharpener. Taylor laughed.

I resigned myself to stay there long enough to sharpen the pencil again.

“Who is Blake?” Taylor asked, still a little too close for my comfort.

“The guy I’m seeing,” I answered. “He’s really great. You’ll love him.”

“I hope not,” he stated. “That would be awkward.”

I rolled my eyes and focused on the pencil sharpener again.

“Blake? What’s his last name?”

“Winter.” I sighed, trying to annoy him.

“Blake Winter,” Taylor repeated. “You sure about that?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Winter. Why does that name sound so familiar?”

I thought of how Blake worked for Taylor’s dad. For some reason I didn’t want to remind Taylor of that fact. “You’re a smart guy, figure it out,” I said as I miraculously managed to move myself and my pencil away from him. I could hear his laughter behind me as I walked away. I looked down and saw my pencil was half the size it had been when I’d started. Why is it he always gets the last laugh? 

It was two weeks later and the Halloween party was in full swing. Almost forty vintage TV characters had arrived. Everyone looked so cool. I had dressed up like Lucille Ball from the I Love Lucy show. I thought with my red hair it would be the best bet.

Alyssa dressed up as Catwoman. Her costume looked really good, and Zack couldn’t stop staring at her. I was so happy he had come. His costume was probably one of the coolest. He came as Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, with a brown frizzy wig and all. He did a mean impression of Kramer, too. We were all impressed.

Madison went all Scooby Doo on us and dressed as Daphne. She had found this funky purple dress from the thrift store. It looked so cute. With her red wig and lime green scarf, I almost didn’t recognize her.

I couldn’t wait to see Blake. He was supposed to come as Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard. As soon as I’d told him about the vintage TV show theme, he’d announced his character. With his blond hair and those dimples, I knew he would make a killer Bo. I just hoped he showed up before Taylor did. As of today, Taylor had insisted he would bring Kylie to the party. I kind of thought he would change his mind at the last moment. He still could. Now, that would be a relief.

The doorbell rang and I ran to answer it. Please let this be Blake.

“Hello. Come on in.” I smiled to hide my disappointment as I let Knight Rider and Batman in. They were both guys I knew from four-wheeling. Just like a proper hostess, I exclaimed over their costumes and pointed them to the back room. Before I shut the door I searched again for Blake’s truck. Where is he?

“Chloe!”

I turned to see Alyssa hurry through the crowd. “What’s up?”

She stopped in front of me and looked around, then pulled me down the side hall and into my bedroom.

I frowned. “What?”

She gulped dramatically. “Ethan just told me that Blake’s not coming.”

“What? Why? Did something happen? Is he okay?”

“Apparently—” I had to lean over to catch her words “—Blake isn’t coming because of Taylor.”

“Taylor? What? Why? That’s crazy. What has Taylor got to do with anything?”

“Ethan said that Taylor stormed up to the front desk of the hotel where Blake was working and demanded that he tell him his name. As soon as Blake said, ‘Blake Winter,’ Taylor turned and stomped into his father’s office and told him to fire Blake.”