Miss Popular

7

That Saturday, I went to Ev's house to drop off his keys and I hung out at his place for an hour or two. Then I went home only to spend the rest of my weekend watching YouTube videos of people singing, for a moment I thought about putting up my own but I decided against it.

Then I stumbled upon a guy who remained faceless in his videos, which I thought was an amazing idea.

On Monday, I decided to do something I'd never done before.

I decided not to sit with my usual, bitch lunch group, especially after what happened on Friday.

I walked straight past them and sat with Everett, Chris, Finley, Jude, Aria, Paisley, and Amaya.

"It's about time." Aria grinned

I agreed, "You have no idea."

"Hey stranger, missed you. Where were you?" Ev started

"The eye doctor, I told you on Saturday." I reminded him

Jude raised his eyebrows, "Saturday? Last I remember when we were all together was Friday night."

"I had to drop his keys off." I justified as I ate my sandwich

"Sure you did." Jude smirked

Paisley cleared her throat, "Everyone ready for the beach?"

"Hell yeah, water might be a little cold but that won't stop us." Chris put in

Finley groaned, "Must be nice to have parents who let you do this type of stuff. My parents are convinced that I'm gonna smoke weed or do ecstasy."

"Sucks to be you." Jude teased

I went on the rest of my day with glares from my old 'friends', but I didn't really care because my new friends were pretty damn amazing.

"Can't wait to hear your song, Gray." Ev greeted me as I walked to Mr. Pala's classroom

"You've already heard most of it." I reminded him

He nodded, "True, but not all of it."

"Then there's your secretive ass that only let me read, what? The first verse of the lyrics?" I joked around

"That's because I really didn't finish it until last night, so." Everett said as we approached the door

I shrugged, "Not surprised."

"Hello my star pupils, are we ready to listen and critique the first assignment?" Mr. Pala asked as we walked in

"So ready." I said, somewhat sarcastically

Everett and I sat down as we watched him pull up the files on the projector.

"Grier, let's do you first." Mr. Pala decided

I watched Mr. Pala as he listened to the song. It was weird having people listen to my real raw voice, even though I wasn't singing live.

"I love the play on words, I liked hearing you play the guitar, everything was amazing." Mr. Pala grinned as it was over

"What do you think, Everett?" Mr. Pala asked him

I turned my head towards him.

"Well, I heard most of the song because we're friends outside of this class now. I think it's really good considering how new she is to songwriting and producing." He spoke

I smiled, "Thanks."

"I agree, A plus Miss. Johnson." Mr. Pala said, flashing me a smile

I gave him a big smile in return, I felt so proud of myself. My parents were right, why was I so scared to show my true talent? I was ok at dancing, but singing - oh singing was like my second husband that made me regret my first.

"Ok Ev, let's play your's." Mr. Pala announced as he clicked on some files

Everett's song was called 'In My Blood'. It was a strong, powerful song that talked about his battle with anxiety, pressure, and insecurity. I was absolutely in love with it and I'd be lying if I said it didn't stick with me.

"What do you think, Miss. Johnson?" Mr. Pala asked me as I broke out of my thoughts

"I think that Everett is a musical genius and this song was absolutely amazing so amazing that words couldn't describe how I feel." I answered

"Thanks, stranger." Ev gushed

Mr. Pala clapped, "Looks like we have two A's, now let's talk about our next assignment. You've heard each other's songs, now we're going to respond to them but in song format. I will give you both printed lyrics of this song and the music, so you can see and hear it. You will then write a song of what you would want to say. Now I have rules for this one. You will not go to each other for advice, you will not see or hear anything until it is due which is the Monday after homecoming. Got it?"

We both nodded.

"Good, now separate and get to brain storming. You will have Tuesday to work on this in class, then Wednesday will be some activity, I haven't decided yet." Mr. Pala ordered

I moved to the bean bag chairs in the corner of the class and began to write down ideas.

How did I want to respond to that?

I wanted to tell him that even though he felt insecure at times, I did too, but he was the one who was helping me through that hurdle. His song made me feel like I wasn't alone and I had someone.

We walked out of Mr. Pala's class with this known secret between us.

"You know it's taking everything in me not to ask." I said breaking the silence

"Oh gosh, me too. No practice today?" He asked since he noticed I was walking with him and not towards them gym

I shook my head, "Nope, I'm going straight home to take the biggest nap."

"Sounds nice, I have work but at least I get off at six today." Ev informed me as we reached the student parking lot

"You're so optimistic." I thought out loud

He nodded, "I try to be."

"Have fun at work, don't ask me about the song." I told him as I reached my car

"Will do, bye Gray." He waved

"Bye, Ev." I ended

Of course, I had to wait for ten minutes because Holland forgot that there was no practice today.

As soon as I got home I did my homework, showered, washed my hair, put on a face mask, turned on a good movie, and snuggled up in my bed while I multitasked with studying.

As my phone rang I looked at the caller's ID.

I rolled my eyes, "You do realize we're no longer friends anymore, right?"

"Listen, I just wanted to give you a warning. I know you're hanging around Everest Griffin, am I wrong?" Scarlett began

"Sorry, I only know an Everett." I corrected her

I could hear her scoff.

"Hear me out, I know he comes off as a good guy who only loves his mama, his job, and his music. Remember the guy who was my summer fling? Yeah, that was Everett. Know why I really couldn't walk? He abused me when I didn't want to sleep with him or just because he was so mad that our friend group made fun of him for so long. Yeah, I know it's hard to believe, the ex-nerd beating on the prettiest girl in school, but you see how buff he got. You see the glares he gave our friend group, he's just using you, Grier. It's all one big bet to see which loser can get the most popular girl. He's hanging out with you, Jude somehow snatched up Aria, Watson is messing around with Julie, and I could go on." Scarlett explained

I remained silent because some things did make sense, maybe I was just sleep deprived.

"What other evidence do you have?" I asked quietly

"First of all, did you even know that Everett was my summer boy? No. He didn't even tell you that he did things with your friend, need I say any more about that? He ripped you away from your friend group. Trust me when I say this, he's not good for you. For anyone really. You just ask him before he fucks you over too. You're a smart girl Grier you know what to do." She finished as the line went dead

I couldn't freakin' believe it.