Proceed With Caution

Chapter 1

I observed my reflection disdainfully. My face looked simply awful; mostly olive skin and the occasional zit. I squeezed the extra prominent one above my upper lip. Nothing happened, except the spot now hurt like a bitch. Clever me.

With tears welling up in my eyes from the pain, I ran to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face to soothe the burning sensation which I had ingeniously inflicted upon myself. I stared at my reflection once again. My red eyes complemented my red upper lip, and I snorted at my attempt to look fabulous for the first day of junior year tomorrow.

Leaving the bathroom, I started packing my bag. I had a feeling that junior year was going to be somewhat manageable, if not awesome. I had Carrie, the best friend I could ever ask for, and I had Connor, my boyfriend. Or "bae", as the kids call their partners these days. Their company had gotten me through freshman and sophomore year, yet I felt that wasn't good enough for me.

I wanted something more. You see, for the past two years in high school, I had been Angelina, the sometimes-helpful sarcastic bitch. I wanted to be Angelina, the popular sometimes-helpful sarcastic bitch. Yes, I wanted popularity. I figured it would be nice to have everyone like you, want to be your friend, buy food for you or maybe have many guys crushing on you (don't get me wrong; I'm not a cheater). I wanted all of that secretly, especially the free food. I mean, imagine random people giving you bars of chocolate and/or fries. Popularity sounded delicious.

I decided that if I wanted to be popular in junior year, I had to do something outrageous so people will notice me. I made a mental list of possible options.

Maybe I should flirt with every boy in my school and then break their hearts. But that was on the proviso that Connor did not mind his girlfriend having a part-time job as a serial heartbreaker. Maybe not.

Sassing teachers was also an option. It was plausible. Then again, the only person I would probably end up being popular with is the teacher-in-charge of detention.

Giving up on generating ridiculous ideas to become popular, I put on my uniform to humour myself. I knew that all the popular girls in my school hitched up their skirts so high that it barely covered their butts, and they left the first two buttons of their blouses unbuttoned. I experimented with the look, and realised that I actually loved it. My thick, wobbly thighs were on display. So was a hint of my $6.50 bra. It was rather freeing. Together with my messy, voluminous hair (not the sexy kind, but rather the kind that houses birds), I looked somewhat like a ratchet and popular girl who had just engaged in some scandalous activity and had to scurry to tidy up. Perfect.

I yawned like a whale and realized it was already around 7.30 p.m., and I needed to sleep. It may seem early to the regular person, but during the summer vacation I slept at 4 a.m. every night because I was busy doing random things like making pancakes, practising twerking in front of the mirror, trying out new makeup looks. Not the most productive activities, I admit.

I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, washed my face and then smothered it in astringent pimple cream to reduce the possibility of looking like a pepperoni pizza the next morning.

I climbed into bed and grabbed my teddy bear which I named Cat. Connor gave me the teddy bear for Valentine's Day. He also made it quite obvious that he was not too keen that I gave my stuffed companion an identity crisis. I think he expected me to name it Snuggles or some corny alternative. Hugging Cat, my thoughts drifted to Connor and tears materialised in my eyes when I remembered his romantic gesture. Then I laughed for getting emotional. Cursed pre-menstrual tension.

I slept glamorously, probably with my legs wide open and saliva cascading out of my mouth. C'est la vie.

A/N: Hey there :) How's life? Hope you are intrigued by the first chapter. More coming soon, stay tuned ;)