Jenni James - Pride and Popularity

I was shocked. “So did I.”

“So did I,” Madison exclaimed. “Well, at least he’s popular, you know?”

“Kind of a pathetic consolation prize for losing your mother,” I said.

Madison nodded quietly for a moment before snapping back into interrogation mode. “Enough doom and gloom. Tell us what happened. You were about to say something else about his mom?”

“Oh, did you know his mom used to play the cello? Can you believe it? The cello. It’s like fate or something.”

“Now, that is cool,” I said.

“That’s not even the best part!” Alyssa leaned forward. “Zack’s mom must’ve been an incredible player, because right before she died, when he was like seven or eight, she performed in a breast cancer fundraising event where her cello solo raised over $33,000! That’s thirty-three thousand dollars! Can you believe it? The most I have ever raised for charity was $23.59. No wait. It was $23.58. My punk little brother took his penny back after hearing me play.”

Too funny. I love little Tanner. He’s such a hoot. I tried not to smile.

Madison smothered a grin too. “Stop stalling already, Alyssa. Get to the good stuff.”

“So there I was playing. This time, I guess Zack decided to stay and listen. I didn’t even know he was there. You know how I get into my own zone when I’m performing? Anyway, later, he said that seeing me up there reminded him of his mom. And I won’t go into how much of a compliment that was to me, because then Madison will get all testy again. So, before I knew it” —Alyssa went on, drowning out Maddi’s protests— “my little recital was over and I was bowing, because they always make me bow when they clap. I tell you, old people can be pretty demanding.” She looked to Madison. “Okay. I’m moving on.

“And as I bowed and bowed—they were especially moved that day, standing up and everything—I was starting to get embarrassed by all the attention. So, to stop my adoring fans, I did an extra dramatic swooshing curtsy thing. That should never be done in public and never will be done in public again, because as I was standing, my arm went way out and totally hit a stunned Zack right in the face! He was coming up to compliment me. The smack surprised him so much he lost his balance and fell backwards. He knocked over a whole cluster of fake trees, spilling rocks, foam, and fake moss everywhere. It was so humiliating.”

“What? Oh my gosh. You knocked over Zack Bradford? That’s how you met?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

Madison laughed too. “This is hilarious! What did you do? What did he do?”

“Hey, you promised not to laugh.” Alyssa leaned back. “Well, I was mortified, as you can imagine, and I think he was too. His face was all red, and he couldn’t even look at me for a while. But it was okay, because we were both so busy. We helped the workers clean up the mess. It was after we collected the moss stuff, vacuumed the floor, and redecorated, that we were finally able to really talk to each other.”

“So what did you say?” I asked.

Alyssa blushed. “Well, I told him he still had some moss in his hair. After laughing about it and getting what he could without a mirror, he let me remove the rest. It was as I was pulling the bits of pieces off the back of his head that he told me about his mom and why he wanted to come up and talk to me.”

“Wow, Alyssa,” I whispered. Madison was as still as I was.

“Yeah, it was a really nice moment for both of us,” Alyssa went on. “Then I told him how my grandma and grandpa migrated here from China with just their instruments and a few dollars, and how it was because of them and their love of music that I play now. After that, Zack and I just sat on the couches and talked. It was really cool getting to see him as a normal guy.”

I smiled. “Alyssa, he’s one of the most popular guys in our school. I can’t believe that was the Zack you’ve been talking about all the time.”

“I was afraid you’d be mad at me if you knew he was Taylor’s friend,” she said.

“What, why? No, I’m happy for you, really!”

Madison smirked. “Well, we’ve all heard your thoughts on Taylor. It’s no wonder she hesitated to bring up Zack.” She turned to Alyssa. “He sounds like a great guy, and I think you should go for him.”

“Go for him? I thought you were already going out with him,” I said. “At least that’s what it seemed like.”

“No, not really. We just hang out at the rest home on Sundays. Usually, we’ll play a mad game of Dominoes or Pinochle with our grandparents.”

“Pinochle? It’s gotta be love if you’re playing Pinochle together,” Madison teased.

“We’re just friends,” Alyssa said defensively. “Honest. Apart from quickly saying hi to me in the halls a couple of times, Zack never even spoke to me today, and we have two classes together.”

What is it with popular guys shutting out people in front of their friends? I thought. It’s what makes me so mad about the “in” crowd. Everyone is sosuperficial. I hate to even think it, but Zack has an awesome chance at having a real, compassionate girlfriend for probably the first time in his life, and yet he’s too scared to do anything about it. Guys like that are so fake. Of course, then there’s Taylor Anderson, who’s on a whole other level of shallow.

At least I had three days to prepare to keep my equilibrium from tipping and making me dizzy whenever he was around. If Zack’s example wasn’t enough of an inducement to keep my head afloat—and keep me from drowning in the same silliness as the other girls around me—then I didn’t know what was.

This seemed like an awesome little pep talk to give myself at the time. But I hadn’t counted on one thing: Taylor showing up earlier than anyone could have predicted. 

What guy comes home from a cross-country trip in the morning and attends school that day? Couldn’t he have waited one more day instead of waltzing into art class with a little yellow slip from the office? Of course, he would pick this class to show up to.

You could literally feel the room spark to life. One by one, students became aware of the “Great” Taylor Anderson’s presence. Collectively, clothes, hair, and work stations became tidy. I decided to leave mine a mess. That was until I looked down and noticed a large smear of green chalk down my arm and on the sleeve of my new white shirt. Frustrated, I stood up and headed for the sink. I was determined to not even glance Taylor’s way. This is perfect. He can sit somewhere, and I can pretend I never even knew he was here.

“Chloe,” Taylor exclaimed.

I panicked and began walking faster to the sink. “It’s nice to see the president of my fan club is finally in one of my classes.”

I could feel each and every eye as they stared at my back while I turned the faucet on and began to scrub. Why did I think ignoring him would work? Could the guy be any more conceited?

He must’ve realized he wouldn’t get a response from me, because the next thing I heard was, “Ms. Bailey, is that an empty chair at Chloe’s table?”

What? He wouldn’t dare! I jerked around and glared right at him. Too late. It was obvious from his grin that I had just given him the attention he’d been waiting for.

“I can sit there? Great, Ms. B. You’re the best!”

Is Ms. B. blushing? Is there not a female on the planet able to resist this guy?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Taylor saunter over to our table. Whispered words of admiration came from Alyssa and Madison. The traitors. In disgust, I tried to drown them out as I turned the water on full blast. It worked, except that after five minutes of unnecessary scrubbing and loads of excess spray from the tap, not only was my sleeve soaking wet, but the whole bottom half of my shirt, too.

“Come on, Chloe, stop hiding,” Taylor said. “Come over here and welcome me properly.”

Does he have to say everything so loudly? Furious, I grabbed some paper towels and headed back to the table.

“I’m not hiding. I’m cleaning my shirt, thank you.” Still not able to meet his eyes, I wiped my shirt as I walked. A couple of seconds later I wished I had looked up, because I literally tripped on a chair two feet from our table. Nothing like falling at his feet in a heap.