Problems With Popular

Chapter Two

The thumping loud music is the first thing I notice.

Shawn Hoover lives in a huge house on the east side of town. I'm see people splashing in his pool through the floor to ceiling windows at the back of his living room. To the left, the large kitchen is overflowing with people retrieving snacks and soda. I can only hope that alcohol won't make an appearance at this party.

I'm dressed in aqua high waisted shorts with a loose, chevron print tank top. Brown sandals with little gold studs adorn my feet. This is one of the few outfits I own that isn't a t-shirt and jeans.

There are already plenty of people here, although no sign of the Populars. That surprises me, considering Shawn is close buddies with Lucas Hartman- the most popular guy in our school.

Lucas and Ashley are am item. I personally think they're perfect for each other- both stuck up, rich Populars.

Sure, I've never had encounters with Lucas, but he bullies some of the "nerds" in our school.

I'm lost in my thoughts when Taylor grabs my arm and tugs me towards the door.

Lucas saunters in, closely followed by his posse. It's only a few minutes later that Ashley Davis struts in with one of her wannabes on each side.

Tessa Greene and Catherine Foreman. They're Ashley's two best friends who obviously wish they were as popular as she is.

Everybody makes a path for them. I hate it. They're no different than any of us, so how come they get a path cleared and the rest of us have to struggle through the dancing people?

I have a good time. Up until the time when the whole party takes a sour twist.

Lucas' POV

Someone needs to remind me again why I'm putting up with Ashley Davis. I'm so done with her.

I've wanted to break up with her, but this is not the time nor the place to do so.

I need to get away from this party. Shawn's house is familiar to me, having been here dozens, probably hundreds, actually, of times. I go up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and make my way down to Shawn's bedroom. I'll just sit in there and pretend to charge my phone while the party continues downstairs.

I lazily turn the doorknob to his room, but I stop dead in my tracks as soon as I see what's happening inside.

Ashley. With Jackson Harbor.

Jacey's POV

The party is on full force, but there's always time for drama. And that's exactly what we get when Lucas Hartman bounds down the stairs looking angry as ever. Ashley is right on his heels.

"Lucas, it's not what you think." She says, her voice calm.

"It's exactly what I think!" Lucas' face is red with anger when he shouts. "You were about to fool around with Jackson!"

A collective gasp comes from everyone watching the scene unfold. It's dead silent as Lucas swings his fist in the direction of Jackson Harbor, who just followed the pair down the stairs. He narrowly misses the punch. Jackson stands there looking sheepish and scared, not even daring to try to fight Lucas.

Lucas turns to walk away but Ashley grabs his arm with her perfectly manicured nails.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, Lucas. This is just as much your fault as it is mine."

Even I know that Ashley is full of crap. I can't help but feel bad for the guy. I mean, he just caught his girlfriend cheating.

"Excuse me? Excuse me?" Luke is obviously very angry with the situation. "Just because I don't give in to your every need doesn't mean you can go behind my back with other guys! Guys that were my friend!" Lucas stresses the word 'were' and shoots daggers at Jackson as he says it.

This time, when Lucas walks away, Ashley doesn't stop him. The only thing he does is stop and look over his shoulder to say a few words.

"If it isn't obvious to you, which is probably isn't, given how dumb you've proved you are, we're over." His face is red when he says the words.

He mutters a few words under his breath, which I can barely make out- "finally."

With that, he strides toward the door, slamming it shut behind him. It's so silent that we can all hear his engine roar down the street and turn the corner.

It's still silent when Ashley speaks.

"What are you all looking at?" She shoots daggers around the room before turning to Jackson. "Let's finish what we started, Jackson." This earns snickers of disgust. Only someone like Ashley would do that.

The party is pretty much dead by then. It's obvious that everyone feels awkward. I grab Taylor and Marie by the hands and we walk toward the car. They don't protest. They're probably as glad to get out of there as I am, even if we were only there for an hour and a half.

The ride home is silent. We all head to Marie's house.

By the time we're in our pajamas, we're not even thinking about the party incident. We've never been the type to gossip. We just pop "The Notebook" into Marie's TV. It's our go-to sleepover movie.

I still cry every time I watch this movie. All three of us are bawling by the end.

"It's just," Taylor sniffles, "so sad, but happy at the same time."

"It's sappy," I clarify.

We spend the rest of the night doing the usual sleepover things- painting our nails, reading magazines, and watching chick flicks. We never once say a word about what happened at the party.

Even though it will be all over school on Monday.