Loser Lessons

Loser Buddies And Pizza

"There Is Nothing On This Earth More To Be Prized Than True Friendship"

... And A Good Pizza

I made my way through the crowd and hopped onto the stage, picking up Ashley's mic. "Uh.. Test, test!" I spoke into it. "Can someone... uh, if somebody could..." A kid hit the pause button on the music and I smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks," I cleared my throat, getting used to hearing my voice bounce around the room. "Hi there," I said awkwardly as everyone turned and stared at me expectantly. "I'm Annie, has most of you probably know..."

Someone shouted, "YEAH ANNIE!" and a couple hoots followed.

"Thanks," I laughed. "Um, anyway, as many of you know... I sort of hung out with the popular crowd for a while."

"BOO!" the crowd shouted.

"I know, I know... the people there were so lame," I nodded, and then added quickly, "Especially Alex."

"Hey!" I heard him across the room.

I snickered before continuing, "Nah, he's fine." I maneuvered myself so I was standing center stage, "You kids, are honestly the coolest people in the school. Did you know that? I know, people in the past have tried to make you feel as though your lame, and that nobody will ever like you...I probably did that to you, too," I muttered the last part as a thought entered my mind. "Wait...I probably WAS mean to you guys. Why did you say yes when I asked for help?"

I looked around the crowd at all the faces, realizing that while I thought I was 'cool' I probably shoved them in the hallway, or told them to shut up... okay, I definitely remember kicking that kids' books...

"I always wanted to be a cheerleader," a small girl with pigtails answered breaking the silence. "Thanks to this, I finally got the chance..."

"I had nothing better to do," shrugged Mikey, the nerf gun kid. I sent him a look, "And you said you'd tell my Mom I was throwing out the crusts on my sandwiches if I didn't help," he grumbled. The crowd laughed and a small smile etched its way onto his face.

"Hey man, I hate the crust, too," Alex grinned, patting Mikey on the shoulder.

"I just thought it'd be fun," a guy named John, one of the Star Wars guys in the front row, shrugged.

I nodded, "You're right. You're all right. Why do we have to focus on being 'popular'? Is that really the best part of your teenage years? Why can't we focus on having fun? I think that's what high school should be about." I heard the librarian clear her throat, "...and uh, learning, of course." I sent her an awkward grin before continuing. "People will put you down and say you're not awesome... but do you know how wrong they are? I mean how many of the popular kids would have dressed up in Star Wars gear and gladly attacked Carson, their only reward being free pizza?"

"NONE OF THEM!" A guy in a Chewbacca costume hollered.

I laughed and pointed to him, "That's right! And how many of the 'cool' kids would ditch class to plan one of the greatest events that ever happened in this school, and would be so sneaky that none of the teachers even found out?"

"NONE!" someone shouted again, "BECAUSE THEY'RE LAME!"

"You're right!" I cheered, "Because they aren't as cool as they think they are. They have no power over you; you're the best freaking kids this school has. So what if you don't like to party every weekend... watching Star Wars IS a party!"