Fake It 'Til You Make It

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I thought I would be rid of Tala after English, but I was dead wrong. Despite the glances and glares I received from her group of friends, she clung tightly to my arm.

Tala held a conversation with her best friend, yet tried her best to engage me in it as well. I provided the perkiness answers I could, gazing off into the distance when no one was addressing me. 'The distance' was made of quite obnoxious teenagers and blue lockers.

Asher walked on my other side, but quite distanced. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. So, trying to feign being an extrovert, I began to talk to him.

"Hey, Asher!" I smiled.

He cut me a side glance. He then shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed. "Hello, Ada."

I had no idea why everyone seemed to dislike me except Tala. However, I wasn't going to let this bother me. That's what I told myself, anyways.

"So, how long have you been at this school?"

"Since freshmen year. Most people are born here and attend the same schools with the same people."

I bobbed my head up and down, choosing to ignore the hostility tossed in my direction. "Well, I'm really glad to have moved here! The people seem to be really cool, and I'm so excited to get to know them!"

He looked me up and down, barely keeping the look of scorn off his face. "Well, I'm not sure why you're starting with our group. People like me have to build their way up to this level."

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to comprehend what he meant. By now, Tala had released my arm to walk to her own locker and I was standing in front of mine. People kept staring in my direction and it made me incredibly uncomfortable.

"You don't get it, do you?" He sounded as though he was trying to explain addition to a second grader. "I'm not sure if you're a nerd who likes to read, or if you've ever seen movies. I don't know where the heck you came from and what things were like there." He took in a deep breath, annoyance written across his face plain as day. "We're the populars."

I had to hurry to conceal my blatant shock. I never guessed Tala would be someone labeled a 'popular.' I guess it added up if I looked at her friend count and her personality. Although, she seemed too nice to be one of those cliche popular girls you read about in books. Maybe looks were deceiving, or she was genuinely nice.

"Oh," was what I breathed out. I knew I had to maintain my whole 'fake it 'til you make it' front, but I was truly at a loss for words that weren't snarky and rude.

"I'm terribly sorry I'm not up to your standards," I spat, my tongue refusing to listen to my brain. "But, let me break it down for you. Tala wants me to be in your group. She wants to be my friend for some unknown reason."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "I bet she just wants to use you for something. Tell me, are you some smarty pants nerd?"

I gulped in a deep breath and let it out slowly. This front was so difficult to maintain when people were so infuriating! Instead of retaliating in a negative way and spiraling down the wrong path on the first day, I responded in an overly cheery voice, "I have no idea, but I hope we can all become friends."

With that, I walked away and towards Tala, having no need to visit my locker anyways. Tala immediately tried to interrogate me. She nudged me in the arm as though I was her best friend and we were gossiping about our crushes.

"So, you got a thing for Asher or what? Sorry, but he's taken," she laughs.

Cara rolls her eyes. "Bye, Tal, I'm off to class." With that, she turned her back towards us and disappeared into the throng of students around us. Whatever, I didn't particularly enjoy her company anyways.

"No. We were just chatting."

Tala shook her head with a smile on her face. "Well, it doesn't matter. Can I see your schedule?"

I reluctantly handed it to her. I felt an immense sense of pride that I immediately got into the popular group. However, that pride plummeted as I recalled that most of them disliked me.

"Oh, looks like we have most of our classes together."

With that, she once again hooked her arm through mine and dragged me through the crowded hallway. People parted for her like the Red Sea, the rest of the gang trailing behind us.

I could hear two other girls Tala knew whispering away. My ears picked up traces of my name and I felt my heart plummet to my feet as they giggled. Despite this new start not being of my choice, it was a new chance nonetheless. I wished it would have kicked off to a better start.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?"

I turned to Tala and immediately tried to pick up my cheery façade. "Nope. But hey, maybe there are some cute guys here, you know?" I then added a wink that I hoped didn't look like a muscle spasm.

She laughted, the sound drowning out the agglomeration of voices around me. "Of course there are, silly. Stick with me and I'll get you hooked up in no time. The guys here know how to have a good time, if you know what I mean."

I felt something twist in the pit of my stomach. If she planned to set me up with her type of guys, I'd rather stay single for the rest of my high school experience.

I was once again pulled into a classroom and dragged towards the back of the class. I mentally groaned as I realized I'd have to keep up my front until the end of the day, and even more so until the end of the school year.