Topsy-Turvy

Being Popular

Caroline's POV:

Never in my life had I ever dreamed I'd be catching so many sideway glances in the hallways at Westmont High School. Well at least not ones that weren't laughing at me. These were "Wow! I wish I could be like her!" kind of looks. I felt like a celebrity as people passing by saying "hey Caroline", "what's up?", or high fiving me with a real genuine smile on their face.

In all honesty, I must have come across as kinda awkward... Okay, maybe a lot awkward! I just didn't know how to handle it! I'm not used to this whole "being popular" thing... But let me tell you I could get used to it!

"Hey Caroline!" Breanne Anderson sashayed over to my locker as I put my calculus books away. I froze for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Ah! What do I do!? Am I usually rude? Do I be myself? What am I talking about? I sound completely nuts! I thought for a second, before just letting out the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey." I said quietly, as Breanne opened her locker and applied lip gloss, inspecting herself closely in the sparkly famed mirror attached to the inside of her locker door.

That sounded wimpy..

"Uh, I mean... HEY!" I blurted, startling Breanne, and even myself a little. She pursed large, goopy lips in concern.

"You all right there?"

I looked away, embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. Just had something, you know, caught in my throat." I strained my voice like I had laryngitis and patted my throat.

Breanne shrugged and closed her locker.

"What's up, girls?" Josh Kenney, the captain of the football team, leaned against the locker next to Breanne's and gave us a flirty smile.

"Hi." Breanne fluffed her curls.

"Hi." I gave my best greeting, which still sounded pathetic no matter how much I tried to imagine myself sounding cool and confident like Jennifer.

"What's with her?" Josh asked, most likely noticing the vast difference between mine and Jennifer's personality.

"Her? I don't know." She whipped her head around and whisper-shouted to me. "Say something! He's hot!"

I leaned against my open locker door, trying to seem seductive. "So... You like... Football?"

Breanne looked at me like I was insane, her brown eyes almost popping out of her little head.

I did a mental face-palm.

That question was so mind-numbingly obvious and stupid that it was almost painful.

I looked at his WHS football t-shirt, letterman jacket, with the signature star patch that meant he was in the I guess you could say "the most popular guy group in school." Of course I didn't need to see the patch to know that.

I cringed when I realized just how much of a loser I sounded like.

Breanne continued to look at me like I had turned into a monster, so I figured I'd make things worse by opening my big mouth again. "And, uh... I mean you're good at it!" Josh looked at me with a blank expression.

I tried to laugh it off, when just being my clumsy self, my elbow that was leaning against my locker door, slipped and I fell into my locker, banging my head on it in the process.

At this point, they were both just staring at me with the same look on their face.

"I should go... Can't be late for uh... Biology." He made an excuse and hurried off.