Worth the Effort

Chapter 3 - Part I - ORIGINAL

** Above is a picture of Chris. Look at his eyes xD **

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Stella

"I'm doomed, Jamie, doomed! Can you believe it? I have to tutor Christopher Dalton, of all people! I might as well shoot myself now, before he does it for me."

I was laying in my bed, staring up at my ceiling. After my conversation with Chris in the morning I fell back asleep and woke up at a later, more acceptable time. When I woke up I thought the best way for me to vent about the situation was to phone a friend. Jamie's been my best friend since preschool, so naturally, like the good friend I am, I didn't hesitate to call her with all of my problems.

Jamie giggled a little breathlessly at the mention of Chris. Anytime he was around or even mentioned in conversation, Jamie got all glossy-eyed and flustered. It was quite obvious she had the hots for Mr. Bad Boy.

Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have called her with this particular problem.

She sighed dreamily on the other end. "But Stella, just think about it! You get to work with Chris Dalton. There are so many girls that would do anything," she paused for emphasis, making me assume she included herself in these girls, "just to spend an hour with him, and here you are, mad that you get two whole months!"

Ugh, I should've known she would be all for the arrangement. She sounded a little jealous, even. I forgot how smitten she was with his looks. Aside from that, she seemed to forget that he was a total ass.

"Jamie, have you forgotten that he's a total jerk? Don't you remember what he did to that poor kid in the lunch room? Or the one in the library? If he was a different, less attractive guy, would you still think his actions are acceptable?"

She was quiet for a moment. "No."

"Then why aren't you terrified for me? His hotness won't keep him from killing me!"

"Well..." She sighed dreamily again. "It's because he is cute. Just use it to your advantage."

"And how the hell am I supposed to do that? Just stare at him the entire tutor session?"

I could picture her shrugging. "Yeah, sure. You damn well know he's the best eye candy you've ever seen. Maybe he'll get the hint and start making out with you."

I made a fake gagging noise. "Gosh Jamie, gross!" I huffed in frustration. "Jeez, you're absolutely no help. I'm sitting here freaking out and you're fantasizing about a Stella-Chris make-out session."

We were both quiet for a moment.

When Jamie spoke, I could hear a growing smirk in her voice. "You know, maybe you could use this whole thing to your advantage." She sounded like she was forming a plan.

"Jamie, I don't know what you're-"

She started speaking quickly in her excitement. "I mean, maybe this is your way into the popular crowd! He's the most popular guy at our school. You should become friends with him and when people see you guys walking around school together you'll totally be the new gossip. Oh, and maybe you guys could get together or something. I mean, you're definitely pretty enough. Then instead of sitting at our lame lunch table we could sit at a table with—"

Though she couldn't see me, I put my hand out in front of me sharply in anger. "Jamie, enough."

"But Stella, you—"

"I'm not a charity case," I ground through my teeth in frustration. I hated more than anything when people felt sorry for me because I didn't have a lot of friends. I was happy with my life and it wasn't anybody's job to fix it. "I appreciate your worry for my well-being, but I don't need anyone's help in getting new friends. I'm perfectly happy with the friends I have, and I'd much rather I don't become the talk of the school. Besides, you're already the talk of the school. I can just hear all the juicy gossip from you."