The Popularity Project » l.h.

4. We Hate Stella Club

S T E L L A

"So you saw it?"

"Saw what?"

"Luke Hemmings's dick."

I choke on the cereal in my mouth, nearly spitting out milk. Ashton held a tight grin on his face as he retained his laugh, raising his eyebrow up and down at me from across the breakfast bar.

"Look, whatever Gracie told you, she's just making it worse than it seems." I shake my head as I set my spoon down. "It was totally an accident and now she wants to prove it to me that I have a thing for him."

"Because you do." Ashton chuckled, smearing cream cheese on his bagel. "You saw the dick and it was like a closed deal. You're in love with him."

I sighed in frustration. "Look, I just met the guy and all the things I've heard about him doesn't make him very attractive. Seeing his dick didn't help, I'm being honest."

"It's just rumors, Stel! Don't get ahead of yourself!" Ashton and I look to the source of the yelling as Michael marches in with half of his sweater on, his head not visible.

We watch him struggle, his head popping out from the top. Michael gasps for breath, looking down at one dangling sweater sleeve as he curses quietly to himself. He wiggles around before sticking his arm through. Poor boy has to fight to get into his clothes every morning.

"Seriously, Stella. Luke's actually a normal person." Michael continues his point, sitting himself on top of the kitchen counter. "His friends are just assholes."

"No one normal dates Heather Brooks." Ashton objects, waving his butterknife around at Michael with every word he says. "We all know that by now."

Let's just say Heather was the girl who made me put her picture on every page of our junior yearbook and double checked that she looked good in every picture. Demanding, sure. Normal, not really.

"Alright, enough with that." I attempt to discontinue the discussion I hated the most. "We have a soccer game to watch."

"Why such a rush? So you can see your bad boy play?" Ashton leans over to counter to nudge my shoulder.

I wanted to punch myself in the face. "No, because I have to take yearbook pictures, Gracie is waiting, and we were supposed to leave ten minutes ago. " I shoo the boys out of the kitchen.

Maybe I forgot to mention that Luke is a star varsity soccer idol. I love watching soccer but now it feels wrong to even attend a game, only because Calum and the rest of the nuisances play as well. Not to mention the fact that they are out to get me, that doesn't help much at all.

I nearly forgot my camera on the counter as I made sure the boys were getting into the car. I was worried about many things at the moment and just hoped that maybe today didn't have to add onto the disaster.

I didn't hope hard enough.

It only took an hour or so to get through the junior varsity match, our team taking the win by a landslide. We sat on the lowest bleacher as I was taking pictures of our varsity boys warming up. Gracie was gossiping to me about the latest affairs in her astronomy class while Ashton and Michael were buying churros from a street vender parked outside the field. It was the most normal Saturday I've had in the past month and it was relieving to know that I could still have normal days.

"How about you zoom in a little closer, Stel? Maybe you could finally take the damn picture." Gracie interrupts my thoughts. It didn't help that the camera was focused on Luke as he was wiping sweat off his forehead with the bottom of his jersey, exposing his flexed abdomen.