Trying To Be Popular

1. Tip Of The Iceberg

The day after I dumped Jaxon was probably the worst day of my life. I'm not just talking about those days that feeling like everything is going wrong and you just want to cry.

No. This was one of those days that seemed to never end. Everything in my life came crashing down and didn't think I was ever going to get through it, but here I am. Talking to you now.

I'm going to take you through probably the toughest time of my life. There will be many ups and downs. Lots of crying and screaming. And of course lots of drama, because what normal high school doesn't have any?

Anyway, welcome to the life of Ashley Morris, the most popular girl in school.

Walking through the school hallways before class isn't normally very daunting for me, since there is no one I'm afraid of. I'm the top dog, and what I say goes.

But today was different. Today I felt vulnerable and anxious to get to class.

Everyone was staring at me. I guess that was normal, but this time it wasn't in awe. It was in pity and disgust.

My friends crowded around me, almost protecting me from the stares I was getting from some of my class mates.

I was so relieved when I finally reached my locker. I opened it and got bombarded with letters and hearts and balloons falling all over the place.

After a few minutes of cleaning up, I opened an envelope.

I quickly closed it and threw it into the closest bin.

"What was that?" A voiced asked from behind me.

I jumped in surprise, and turned around to see my best friend Laila. Her auburn hair was in a loose braid today, giving her a natural beauty. Her white dress made her tan look amazing and her bright blue eyes pop.

I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"Oh, that was a love letter from one of the football players," I told her, feeling a little bit awkward talking about all of my 'secret' admirers around her, even though she was my best friend and I would trust her with my life.

Laila rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Already? You only broke it off with Jaxon yesterday and you already have guys lining up around the block of you."

I sighed. "I didn't ask for this. Can't I just have a few days of privacy, at the very least?" I asked her.

I picked up all of the envelopes, hearts and balloons and threw them all into the closest bin. I turned around to face Laila again and smiled.

We both burst out laughing and I could see passing students sending us envious looks out of the corner of my eye.

During that moment everything was perfect. But was about to go all downhill from there.

I walked into my first class, English, and sat down at my usual table at the back of the classroom. I had an unusual feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

I wasn't sure if I was just being paranoid but I thought everyone kept turning around and looking at me.

All through the lesson, people were whispering to each other. I could feel the excited vibe in the air and knew instantly that there was something going on.

There was some gossip going around and I needed to know what it was.

After class it was lunch. I sat down at my table with Laila and the rest of my friends.

I knew that at least one of them would know what's going on, since they all love to know the latest gossip.

"Guys, is there something going on that I don't know about?" I asked them.

Some looks were thrown around the table and I could tell that they did not want to tell me.

"It's nothing important Ash," Julie replies hastily.

Julie is one of those people who are always trying to be liked by everyone. She sonetimes cares too much about what other people think and not enough about how she feels about herself.

"Guys, if people are gossiping about me, I have a right to know."

"Okay fine," Laila gave in, heaving out a extremely long breath. Trying to delay as much as posdible.

"Everyone is saying that you only dumped Jaxon because you wanted all the attention of the school to be on you."

I felt my face go red with rage. How dare they say that about me. No one has any idea how hard breaking up with Jaxon was for me.

I stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria leaving my friends sitting at the table all with absolutely confused and shocked faces.

I could feel everyone's eyes watch me as I left, but I didn't care. I didn't want this anymore.

Little did I know, this was only the tip of the iceberg.

A/N - Hey guys! Sorry it's taken so long to post this chapter. Life has gotten pretty hectic these past few weeks. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please vote and comment what you thought of this chapter.

~ Abbie ❤️