kent

clark kent

heads up: if the chapter title is an alias, the chapter takes place in the past. if the chapter title is the name of a superhero, the chapter takes place in the present. the scenes should alternate between chapters. enjoy! :)

Everybody is obsessed with Taylor Evans. Her lunch table is packed with her followers. She never has to worry about finding a partner in class, and many a heart has started beating faster when she sweeps her blue eyes across one's face.

Carly Caine just doesn't know why. She hasn't been brainwashed by Taylor's light pink cheeks or seemingly effortless blonde hair. And she certainly hasn't paid attention to her seashell-shaped finger nails painted in floral colors or the way she has already aced that eyelash flutter at the age of thirteen. But everybody else is completely infatuated. Carly is pretty sure that Taylor's name is the only one not scrawled on the back of the bathroom doors.

Carly wishes that Taylor was daft. She wishes that Taylor was a proper idiot, with that stupid face and figure that should scream dumb blonde. Shouldn't there be some sort of negative correlation between attractiveness and intelligence? It certainly isn't fair for some people to have it all. And Carly certainly doesn't think it fair for little perfects to sit right in front of her in math class. She knows that Taylor isn't stupid. Taylor doesn't even pretend to be stupid. Carly knows this because she looks over Taylor's shoulder from time to time and resists the urge to wring her daintily poised neck. Taylor's Algebra test scores are nearly identical to Carly's. Sometimes Taylor even scores better, and the hatred grows.

Carly hates Taylor in the same way everyone loves Taylor: without reason. Despite the opposite polarity of her feelings, the emotions are spurned from the same roots, of some incomprehensible, instinctive stew of heart and soul. Such unwarranted feelings are difficult to overcome, but not impossible if the right amount of effort is put into the change. However, the hours are short and people are lazy and first impressions stain all interactions.

Carly makes no attempt to calm the envy surging in her veins, and her distaste festers. She will not be a follower of the Evans religion, and so she is alone.

But Carly doesn't dare say anything about her true feelings. She does not tell people to snap out of their adulation nor does she conjure up rumors that would doom Taylor for social ruin. It would be easy to do so in middle school, where the community is built upon the grounds of gossip.

There are many reasons why Carly holds her tongue. It is in part because what power does she have in the vicious seventh grade food chain? She isn't funny enough or loud enough or pretty enough or enough in general to gain any sort of pull despite her most valiant attempts. It is also partly due to the fact that she doesn't particularly want to speak up and be heard. She is quiet, and the thought of controversial conversation is enough to make her hands shake. But the ultimate reason for Carly's silence is because deep down, she can't point a finger to any specific flaw in Taylor's being.

Harboring this heavy unconventional opinion is hard and lonely work. Though Taylor isn't the subject of every conversation, she is bound to be brought up eventually, and then Carly is forced to cover up the ugly sneer her face wants to morph into. However, she is no actress, and such intense emotions are hard to hide. Rebecca has seen through the facade several times, catching the chinks in the act, as best friends often do. But though the two are best friends, an unspoken promise of sworn loyalty, the two stand divided over Taylor. Rebecca likes everybody, as if she has extrasensory perception able to see the most important aspect of humanity: potential.

Friendships are not mutually exclusive, and Rebecca finds herself straddling a timeline of opposite loyalties.

"Taylor's really not that bad," Rebecca says whenever she catches her friend's eye-roll. "Just give her a chance."