Becoming Somebody

Chapter 1 - "I can't promise I'll be good..."

Charlie was determined to control her destiny at this school. This was a new high school, a clean slate for her. Yes, she was moving back to Bridgeport, which was her hometown, but the only person she knew at this new school was her childhood best friend. Everyone else would be complete strangers to her, that's how long it had been since she lived there. Charlie was grateful for the fresh start, she had been bullied pretty badly for the last couple of years.  She had to develop a thick skin, but at the same time, she also learned a thing or two about how the popular kids worked. Now as she walked into Saint Peters High School, she was determined to be one of them.

Charlie's older sister Courtney, who had already graduated high school, was the reason why her family had moved back to Bridgeport. Their parents were hoping that it might give Courtney more stability - there were more resources for recovering alcoholics and addicts there. Courtney had already been through several rehabs where they used to live, but it was the staying sober part that was the problem. 

Charlie's whole family had issues, really, but everything always seemed to revolve around her sister, so much so that her parents had hardly had time to notice her own struggles for the last few years.

Ultimately, this didn't bother Charlie that much. She preferred that her parents hovered over Courtney instead of her. They did put Charlie in therapy for a while, which helped her deal with the bullying, and the anxiety and depression that came with it. 

Therapy had actually been extremely useful for her. After going through a dark period, she finally felt like she was emerging on the other side. She was seizing the day, making the best of this opportunity to put her past behind her. This year she was going to be a popular kid, so no other popular kid could ever bully her again. 

"Hi! I'm Charlie. Who are all of you?" she asked, walking up to a circle of interesting looking nearby students, interrupting their conversation. They looked slightly taken aback by her boldness, but gathered themselves enough to answer.

"Hi, I'm Alex," a pretty blonde girl answered.

"Chris!"

"John."

"Paul."

"I'm Jessica," the last girl said, looking at her suspiciously, but maintaining a friendly tone nonetheless.

Charlie started up a conversation about what everyone did over the summer, and what part of the city everyone was from. She avoided offering too much personal information about herself, but gave enough background to be conversational. She sensed footsteps running up behind her right before she heard her childhood best friend Taylor's voice.

"Charlie! You're here!" Taylor squealed, hugging her from behind. "Everyone, this is my best friend Charlie."

"We met," Jessica said flatly, but everyone else seemed perfectly excited that she was there.

Pretty soon more kids joined their circle, and every time they did Charlie introduced herself and asked for their name. Step one to becoming popular, meet as many people as possible. She was proud of herself for being so outgoing. Maybe it was all the therapy, but her social anxiety felt like it was finally becoming a thing of the past. 

By the time the warning bell rang, she had twenty new followers on social media. Charlie rushed to her locker that she had stashed her books in the week before, during a transfer student orientation. Unfortunately, all Sophomore transfer students were given bottom lockers, just like Freshman. Some unlucky Sophomores who weren't transfers had to deal with bottom lockers as well, but most of the them got upper lockers in another wing. She realized that unless she made it perfectly clear to people, she could easily be mistaken for a Freshman because of this damn locker. As she kneeled down trying to find her World History textbook, a pair of Adidas sneakers stopped right next to her.

"Hey," a deep voice said from above.

She looked up and saw the most handsome boy she had ever laid eyes on. Her heart seemed to skip several beats as she froze, almost forgetting she was holding books in her hands. Being outgoing and making new friends was one thing, speaking to cute boys was something else entirely.

"Hey," she said, for lack of any other ideas.

"Looks like we're gonna be locker buddies this year. Hope you'll be a good neighbor," he smirked, eyes twinkling mischievously.

She recovered her books and stood up from her kneeling position.

"Well, that depends on you I guess," she said, putting her book in her bag and tossing her hair over her shoulder. She decided she could handle this guy, as long as she didn't show him how nervous she was.

He checked her out shamelessly. "I can't promise I'll be good, Freshman."

"First of all, I'm not a Freshman," she countered. "And then well, neither can I."

She turned around and walked away, knowing he was watching her as she went. 

**Thank you for reading so far! I hope you are enjoying the story, and I hope you keep reading to find out if Charlie accomplishes her goal of becoming popular, and how she handles meeting a whole bunch of cute new boys who finally notice her! Xx