How to be Famous

Chapter Nine

Here you go, the much-awaited next chapter!

Chapter 9:

Turns out that I share a homeroom with Alex as well.  He came late, but guess what?  He didn’t get a tardy!  Well, he is probably the richest person at school, so he would be the one that arrives almost an hour late.  The whole class was sitting and doing their work when a knock came on the door.  Mr. Truman just turned into jelly when he realized that Alex, possibly the most famous and rich person in all of Hollywood had just entered the classroom.  

So Mr. Truman escorted the now-smirking Alex over to his desk to begin explaining to him our current project.  Though while Alex was over there, I was almost sure that I also saw Mr. Truman beg for an autograph for his niece that lived next door to him.  

After Mr. Truman had finally gotten his autograph, he realized that Alex was here to learn, so he assigned him a desk.  I watched in horror as Alex walked over to me with a smirk on his face.  I knew what was going to happen next.

The whole “ah, my boyfriend turned enemy has returned, and now he is going to wreak havoc on my life because he has the desk next to mine” story is cliche, and I knew that Alex was far from allowing himself to do anything cliche.  So I was not surprised when he threw an enexpected - yet kind of expected - spin at me.

“Well, Jacquelyn, it seems like we’re going to get to know each other better.  I just got assigned the desk next to yours.”  He explained, sticking his hand in my face while talking.  So he was going to be friendly, was he.  Well little did he know that two could play this game.

“Hey, Alex.  Nice to see you again!  But I go by JJ now, sorry.”  I trilled through my huge and incredibly fake smile.  However, this did not have the desired effect on Alex.  He must really be gullible, because he smiled back at me.  The girls in the class made death glares at me as they realized that Alex was smiling at me and not them.  Of course, his fan club was raging to each other already about how unfair this was, and I didn’t deserve his attention.  Especially since I was not even a member of the fan club worldwide!

I turned around in my chair to face forward, willing every muscle in my body not to turn my head and look at Alex.  In my head, I went over my plan.  It was: Operation Once He Has What He Wants He Won’t Want It.  I know it’s a long name, but this plan was a work in progress.  The universal rule about boys was my ally in this war, and I knew I would win.  

Of course, there was the small exception of him having to want me first, and then me even letting him touch me.  I had an issue with anyone touching me that I was not best friends with.  So if anyone even brushed shoulders with me, they would wake up in the hospital with three broken bones.  Trust me, it has happened to students numerous times.  By now the principal and my mother were great friends because of how many times they had talked together about my problems.  

In class, I couldn’t think straight.  Lyssa began passing me notes asking whether I secretly like the Ahlbrand boy or not.  I chose to ignore these, but she was persistant in passing them to me, and I knew that if I didn’t respond soon, the teacher would notice and give me a detention.  So, I replied with, “No!  How could u think this?  U know how much I hate him...”  I trailed off intentionally, trying to make her get the point while being vague.  If someone caught this note, I could get in a whole lot of trouble, not only with the students but with Mr. Truman who already seemed enamored with Alex the Wonderful.

Then, I turned around and began trying to work on the project that the whole class was supposed to be working on.  Only the geeks were the ones working, everyone else was either passing notes to each other, painting their nails, or staring outwardly at Alex.  However, I was here on scholarship, so I needed to keep my grades up, or I was back to public school.

I shuddered inwardly at the thought.  In middle school, I had gone to Brownward South-East Middle, which was not one of the most respectable districts to be in.  Most of the people there were either in gangs, took drugs, or swore with every breath they took.  Many of the children bullied me, and I was called some very terrible names because of my appearance.  Only one person dared to defend me, and they were soon isolated as well as me.  This angered the child, and soon my one and only friend refused to talk to me.  That friend was Alex Ahlbrand, after we had dated each other for more than two months.  

Back to real life now, I typed a few more words in the report that was to be more than fifteen pages typed.  No one else was worried about it, but I had been stressing over this assignment since it was given to us.  The teacher instructed us to write a paper on how the heart works.  The emotional heart, though, not the physical heart.  I could write five hundred pages about how the physical heart works, but all I knew about the emotional heart was pain.  

I pushed the paper to the back of my mind, as I knew that Alex’s presence would only hinder my writing.  So instead, I decided that if I was going to fill the shoes of a Barbie for Alex, I decided that it would be good to go full out.  I was ready for this challenge, but I needed an instructor.  I decided that Lyssa would be the best one to teach me the ‘Official Rules of being a Girl,’ so I sent her a note.  

“Teach me how 2 b a barbie!” was the note I sent to her.  I already dreaded how this was going to go down, knowing that Alyssa never tried to achieve something half-heartedly.  

“I been waiting 4 u 2 ask me!  Rule #1: Passing notes is the accepted thing.  Also, do not even think about looking at those clothes again.  We’re going shopping!  +, shopping is also never turned down.  LOL!”  With those words, I knew my life was over.  The tomboy part of me was quaking in fear, however un-tomboy-ish that may sound.  Girly-girls like Lyssa had always either annoyed or scared me in the past, and now I was going to be one of them!  

I sat in utter and complete fear until the class was over and that beloved bell once again saved my life.  However, I was not safe yet.  As I got up to leave while gathering all of my books together, Alex tapped on my shoulder.  I looked up in shock that he still wanted to talk to me after me accepting him so readily.

He was about to talk, and I had already mentally prepared myself for what he was about to say.  Think bubbly and cheery, JJ.  You want him to stop soon, so be obnoxious in a barbie kind of way!  I told myself, giving my mind a pep talk before he even opened his mouth.

“Hey, you forgot this,” Alex explained, passing me the folder that was still remaining on my desk.  I could see Alyssa watching us, probably to see how much she would need to work on me. 

“Thank you so much!  I don’t know what I would have done if I forgot to bring my notes home.  You saved me!”  I practically twittered in between wide-mouthed smiles.  In my mind, however, I was trying not to strangle myself; that’s how obnoxious I currently sounded.  

Alex seemed to like this ‘new’ me, because he leaned against my desk.  “Hey, you know what?  We should get together on Friday night for a little date.” He stated rather than asking.  My blood was boiling, but I knew better than to turn down his little offer.  I was getting chills with the thoughts of how many ways I could get my revenge now.  Whoever said that revenge couldn’t be the sweetest thing ever?  

Author's Note: Hope you like it!  I have been working on it, and now here it is!  I will begin working on the next chapter pronto!  Just to let you know, the picture on the side might appear again, and then it might be true of the story as well.........

So do you want JJ to be with Ashton or Alex?  The more feedback you give me will help me decided between three of the possible plot twists that I have come up with............  ;)

Those of you who are Team Alex (no, I don't want to compare with Twilight, not going to use it again!) might like the next chapter!

~loviedovy12