Disclaimer: I do not own any of the brands, products, or characters mentioned here. NOTHING IS MINE!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Oh, how true that is; I know it for a fact.

I'm the type of girl that's a hidden type of pretty. Definitely not the girl that all guys see walking around and nudge their friends and whisper about. I guess my features, on their own, are interesting, but put together, it's just a whole parade of dull. My blue eyes are my best feature, I would say.

After that, I really don't know what certain people see in me. I feel like I blend with my surroundings. Sadly, I'm that one girl that everyone is shocked to see in their class towards the end of the year. But once I'm out of the hell that is high school, with my real friends, I'm actually myself and no one can believe I'm the person I am for everyone else.

Some people call it being a hypocrite, I call it adjusting. One thing is for sure, though.

Being Claire Lyons is not easy at all.


"Umm, who are you?" Kristen Gregory, 'Queen Bee', of Westchester High School gave me the stare-down. With her curly blond hair, aqua eyes and athletic physique, she was voted the 'hottest' girl in school. Not very surprising at all considering she was already Ms. All-Around.

Her less than smart sidekick, Alicia Rivera, gave me a raised eyebrow as if daring me to retort. She was another obvious beauty. She was more exotic-looking and I would always hear the guys snickering and staring at her or more specifically her chest. She was what I would call… voluptuous. Although I've heard her say she rather be called bodacious. Her black hair ran to her waist and was stick straight and she had chocolate eyes.

"Wow, apparently she's retarded." Kristen smirked. Oh. Right. I hadn't answered…

"I'm Claire Lyons."

"You're new?" She continued to ask.

"Um, not really… I've been here all year…" I hate when people don't notice me. Was it really that hard? I'm a human being… I talk, breathe, sneeze, cough… It's seriously not that hard to look around the room for once.

"Really? Damn, you're invisible." Alicia giggled a very sugary giggle that almost gave me a cavity.

"No, you just have really bad eyesight. Must be all that mascara." With that, I shook my head and walked away towards the outside where a few picnic tables were. I could practically hear Alicia's jaw hit the ground once she realized that I insulted her. I smiled inwardly. Ah, I loved messing with popular people.

Once I passed the blue double doors leading outside, I smiled again as I saw my friends. They were the few people that I actually cared about and that actually cared about me. I don't know what school would be without them.

Massie Block, my best friend, was reading while chewing on a piece of lettuce. Quirky, intelligent, and caring Massie was my first friend in this place. She pushed up her glasses with her index finger and continued scrutinizing the text.

Derrick Harington was sitting across the table sneaking glances at her as he hurriedly tried to finish his math homework. This was a daily occurrence. Although Derrick was smart, he was extremely lazy and the king of procrastination. He also despised the popular population of the school. They were always trying to engulf him into their little group and Derrick hated it. He would go their parties just to criticize them in his blog 'The Word'. Surprisingly, everybody read it.

Layne Abeley with her pink highlights was texting someone on her Sidekick. She was the girly, appearance- obsessed one of the group. She was extremely pretty and it's a wonder that she hadn't been sucked into the popular group, yet. Mostly this was because it was currently in style to be friends with 'indie' kids. According to Layne, we fit that description. Although she was pretty shallow and just a tad bit ditzy, we all loved her to death. She had a warm heart, and she wouldn't let any of us get pushed around.

Cam Fisher was right next to her playing on his Gameboy Advance. From the sounds of it, it was Pokemon LeafGreen. He always had his head buried in a videogame of some sorts, but contrary to popular belief, Cam was not just a geek, but he had major soccer skills. He just never tried out for any sports because our group never got involved in any sort of school activities. It kept us under the radar which is what we wanted. Unfortunately, this is also made us, except for Derrick, the butt of all jokes.

"Hey guys." I slid my tray containing an apple, a slice of pizza, and a can of Sprite onto the table and sat next to Massie. They all looked up from their activities and acknowledged my presence.

"What's up? Something's on your mind," Massie stated (rather than asked) me as soon as she saw my face. And that was why we were best friends. Just one look and we knew something was going on.

"Got stopped by the Gag Girls again. They asked me if I was new," I sighed as I picked up my pizza and took a bite. Massie shook her head and put down her book.

"That just goes to show how much brain cells they are lacking. Didn't they ask you the same thing last week? I mean, sure, you cut your bangs and layered your hair, but that's no excuse. By the way, your hair looks fantastic." Massie smiled at me showcasing her purple braces.

"Thanks; new color for the braces?"

"Yup." She smiled, pleased that I had noticed.

Cam looked up from his game to look at me. He gave me a small smile and I knew that was his way of complimenting my hair. I blushed and smiled back at him.

I guess this would be a nice time to say I have a crush on Cam. I know, what am I thinking? Liking the guy who probably hasn't discovered girls because half of his life has consisted of video games? I'm odd, I know, but Cam and I go far back. We live right next to each other and have for the past five years. Too bad he seems too into technology to acknowledge a teen girl. Except for Layne, she was the only one I had ever seen that could make Cam blush with just one look. What a lucky girl…

Speaking of Layne…

"EARTH TO CLAIRE! HELLO!"

"Whoa, I'm sorry, I spaced for a second," I said and took another bite of my pizza so I wouldn't have to explain.

"Yeah, we noticed. That was totally more than a second. Anyways, I was saying that your hair really compliments your face. Where'd you get it cut? I'm going to have to go there." Layne tapped away at her Sidekick as she spoke to me. Some might find this rude, but that was just typical Layne behavior. She was always multi-tasking.

"Um, I cut it myself. I was bored," I responded, knowing this would shock Layne.

Layne gasped and her eyes widened like pancakes. She started fanning her face in the way she does when she gets overly excited, waving her phone around.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure that reaction isn't because of my hair…" I gave my friends a skeptical look as we waited for Layne to calm down.

"And done! Hell yeah, record time! Only five minutes for twenty problems! Can I get a woot woot?" Derrick grinned and stuffed his homework in his messenger bag then noticed Layne. "What's wrong with the freak over here?"

"I don't know, she got excited all of the sudden," Massie replied.

"Oh my gosh, you guys! You have to see this! I was looking on the school website and elections are coming up!" Layne said excitedly.

"Um, cool, Layne. You want to run? I didn't know you were into politics," I said to her, sipping on my Sprite.

"No, no, no! I don't want to run! You do!" she exclaimed as if this was obvious.

"Uh, what?"

"Layne, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but Claire has never shown any enthusiasm towards school activities. Why would she suddenly want to run for a spot on the Student Council?" Massie asked, scrunching her eyebrows. Even she couldn't believe Layne was propositioning this.

"Because, you guys! This is what happens in every high school movie! The outcasts rise up and take the elections by a stride and become popular! Come on! Napolean Dynamite, Sydney White and the Seven Dorks, all those Disney movies!" She stood up from the table and started pacing.

"But why Claire? If anything it should be you. You're the one that wants to do it." Derrick asked the question I was about to ask.

"Because if I ran, I would definitely make it and there'd be no challenge!" she responded, throwing her hands up dramatically.

"She's got a point," Cam said, showing the first sign that he had been listening.

"I think you should do it, just for the experience," Massie agreed, looking at me. "If you win, it'll look good on your transcript, too."

I glared at her for being on the other side.

"I say you go for it, Lyons. Any chance to kick some popular butt is backed up by me." Derrick put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

Oh man, that was another one on Layne's side. Well, it didn't matter because either way I was not-

Cam smiled at me and gave me thumbs up.

"Fine… I'll do it," I grumbled.

"Yes!" The cry of victory rang in my ears as I drank a little more from my Sprite, trying to drown out the voice in my head that scolded me for actually agreeing to attempt something that would most likely cause me humiliation.

Layne began tapping away with purpose on her Sidekick and began assigning different duties to each of us. With a few other taps, she had already entered my name into the Qualifying Office where they checked each student's grades, conduct, and teacher comments before they got put on the ballot.

"So it's official, Claire Lyons is in the running for school president!" Layne announced proudly.

Ah hell…

A/N: So this is my try at a chapter story. I'll try to update as much as i can. Please read and review!