Run Between

Thunderstruck

                                                          Clapping.

That's the first thing I hear when I walk through the high school doors the day after the interview. Clapping, like a wave splashing on the beach, like a crack of thunder that never seems to end. It surprises me, because its rare when everyone in our school agrees on something, and even rarer when its something worth applauding. Not knowing what its for, I sneak up behind Kat and tap her on the shoulder. She's clapping quickly and loudly, a large smile on her face, but when I tap her lightly on the shoulder, she doesn't turn around instantly. Instead, I see a frown cross her face-something I've never seen on it-and she says, "Listen, will you guys stop bombarding me? Just because I'm-Lucy!" she exclaims when she finally turns around, then claps a hand over her mouth.

"What're they applauding?" I ask, still pushing my hands toward each other rapidly.

"You!" Kat whispers. "Apparently, the It-Crowd all listened to Aidan Moore and looked the movie up, and now they're all trying to get you to take them to the premiere."

The world seems to slow around me. The clapping doesn't seem so loud. All I know is that, whatever I expected once I got the part-it wasn't this.

                                                                  Fear.

This is all I can register when Popular Lucy turns around, points at me, and shouts, "There she is!" In a stampede of wild animals, the school rushes up to Kat and I. Popular Lucy starts off with, "I can't believe you got the part! The little nerd playing the biggest romantic part of the year, can you believe it?" There are some laughs emitted, most loudly from Popular Lucy's chrones Sophia and Chloe, but in the crowd are a few shaking heads.

"Leave me alone!" I say; attempting a confident comment but achieving only a whisper. Part of me, however, is a little relieved, for the first time in my life. I may hate the It-Crowd that surrounds me, but at least something gives the vibe of normalicy.

                                                           Thunderstruck.

I am shocked as if a lightnigbolt has cracked into me when Popular Lucy's boyfriend, Jake, pushes his way to the front and says, "Don't listen. You'll be great, Lucy." I can do nothing but gape, until a smile forms as Popular Lucy snaps at him. 

"You're siding with that...that freak?" she exclaims at a disgruntled but smug Jake.

"After all that flirting with Aidan Moore? Hell yeah I am."

I can't help but be a little annoyed at the memory. After all, who did she think she was to be able to flirt with my friend without knowing him at all?

And with the thought of Aidan brings back the idea that I might just be famous; not just a girl running between what she thinks she must do and what she loves. The world seems to slow yet again, becoming a blur of faces until Kat's blue eyes break in. "Come here," she whispers, pulling me away while the rest of the school is preoccupied with the first fight the It-Crowd has ever seen. Entering an empty classroom (the teachers must be frantically figuring out a way to get the students back in class), I throw myself onto a desk and allow my fears to come out. 

"This is too much," I tell Kat. "It's not you-it's just-I didn't actually mean to get the part. I didn't mean to be famous like this. And, I mean, Aidan and Steve and everyone else on set is really nice, it's just so much to handle. All of them have done it before. I haven't."

I'm breaking down, but the one person I would do that in front of is Kat. Mom and Dad are good enough, but Kat really knows me best, considering how much time I spend with her at school or just hanging out, doing homework. She sits down in the seat next to me, and says, "Hey. Just know that we're all here for you. Okay, maybe not the other Lucy and Sophia and Chloe and their group, but really. You can do it. Just avoid them, and if they follow you, show them what you're made of." She smiles, and I have to, too. Kat knows how to make anyone feel better. Not that she has any friends but me.

"Listen, I'm not going to press, but I have this one question that's really been bothering me." I'm not really in the mood to explain every tiny detail of the interview, but Kat's the one who convinced me to go anyway-and besides, it takes a lot to bother Kat.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Muck?" I can't help but burst out laughing.

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A/N: Sorry this chapter isn't very long!!! I hope you like it anyway. more exciting things are coming up. Please comment and vote (as always). I'll try to update as soon as possible! :D