Miss Popularity
Chapter One
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! My alarm clock woke me up on my very first day of eleventh grade in a new school. Why am I starting in a new school in eleventh grade you ask? Because my mother had to go and get remarried. I don't know why. She was perfectly fine with just me and my sister Petunia. Samuel, my stepfather, marches into our lives and acts like he's my father. He can marry my mother and try to tell me what to do, but he will never be my father, no one can. He tries to be an authority figure to impress my mother, but that just makes my sister and I think he has a stick up his ass. I groaned and pressed the off button. I sat up and looked around my purple and white room groggily. I dragged myself out of bed and into my adjacent bathroom. I showered quickly and went back into my room to get dressed. I pulled out a blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans and slipped them on. I quickly pulled a brush through my wet red locks and threw it up into a ponytail. I examined my reflection in the mirror and sighed.
"As usual, this is as good as it's going to get," I grabbed my spiral notebook and went downstairs to breakfast. I sat down at my place and poured myself a bowl of cereal.
My mother looked up when I sat down.
"Good morning Lily," she said cheerfully.
"Morning," I replied. My stepfather came into the kitchen just then and sat down across from me.
"Good morning Lillian," He said to me. I mumbled a response.
"Don't be rude Lily," my mother scolded.
"Good Morning Samuel," I said icily. My mother sighed. She knew that I didn't like Samuel. I finished my cereal and bolted from the house. I started off down the street in the direction of my new school. I was lonely. I had no one to walk with. When I lived back in Holbrook, my best friends and I walked to school together every morning. Now I had no one. I finally arrived at the school, alone. I was slightly intimidated by some of the people standing outside of the school. I got some stares because no one knew who I was. At least that's what I hope they were for. I looked down at the ground and made my way to the front office.
"Um, hi. My name is Lillian Evans. I'm new," I said uncomfortably to the old lady behind the desk. She nodded and put on a pair of glasses that were much too big for her tiny face. She shuffled through some folders and came up with one that I assumed was my file. She looked through the numerous papers inside that folder and pulled out a small schedule that she handed to me. I took the paper and she scrambled to get herself back in order. I looked down at my schedule and looked at my homeroom. Room 104, Johnson. I left the office and found my way to room 104. I walked into the classroom and got stared at by almost everyone in the room. I blushed a deep red. I hated being the center of attention. I quickly made my way to the back of the room and sat down in an empty desk.
"Hey!" some one whispered loudly. I didn't know anyone so I didn't think it was directed towards me. "Hey!" This time I looked up. The voice came from the girl in front of me. She had short dyed black hair with blood red streaks and piercing blue eyes rimmed with dark eyeliner. Her pale skin contrasted significantly with her dark red lips. "Are you new?" She asked me. I nodded. "I'm Ava," she told me. "Who are you?" the question was so straightforward that it took me off guard.
"Lily," I told her after a moment.
"Cool," Ava said simply, and then she turned around in her seat. I was still slightly bewildered, but I had the feeling I had just made a friend. In my next period I met someone slightly different than Ava. Her name was Anya. She had long straight blonde hair with long bangs that fell into her piercing blue eyes that were strangely similar to Ava's. She had pale skin and just a sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of her nose. She wore pink eyeshadow and pink lip gloss, a pink tank top with pink and white capri's and pink flip-flops. I had a feeling she liked pink. She talked a lot. Through all of her talking she found out that we were in the same lunch period and invited me to sit at her table. I readily agreed to this. I knew no one in this school aside from her and Ava, and Ava was not in my lunch period. When lunch finally arrived, I was a little uncomfortable at Anya's table. For one thing it was right in the middle of the cafeteria, and another reason was because there was a really hot guy sitting across from me and he kept staring. Once everyone was sitting at the table, Anya took this time to introduce me to the people at the table.
"Guys, this is Lily. She'll be sitting with us for the rest of the year. Lily, this is Jessica, Corrine, Mark, Lindsay, Joey, James, and Billy," Each mumbled a hello and the mention of their name. During lunch, I examined each of the aforementioned. Jessica was really pretty. She had long, braided, black hair and smooth brown skin. Her dark, almost black eyes were rimmed in black eyeliner and mascara. She had small pouty lips that wore sparkly lip gloss. She seemed friendly. Corrine had shoulder-length brown hair with blonde highlights. Her hazel eyes were large and expressive, and her mouth was slightly too big for her face. Mark was the hot guy sitting in front of me. He had brown hair that fell into his crystal blue eyes. His cheeks dimpled when he smiled and showed his perfect straight white teeth. Lindsay seemed slightly stuck up. She had long blonde hair that she had tossed over her shoulder about six times in the past ten minutes. I had yet to see her smile. Her blue eyes seemed dull and empty. She seemed like an overall bitch. Joey had long curly black hair and brown eyes. James was the strong silent type. His dark features made him mysteriously handsome. He had dark hair and eyes and olive skin. Billy however was definitely the class clown. He spent the period making stupid and yet funny jokes. He had curly blonde hair and laughing brown eyes. He was the only guy not wearing a black shirt. All of the guys at the table were hot, but Mark definitely took the cake. Anya seemed like the dumb blonde of the group but she still seemed to be the leader. She laughed at all of Billy's jokes but spent the period focused on James. It was obvious that she liked him. It was also obvious that Billy liked Anya. But Anya, being as 'blonde' as she was, was completely oblivious. Mark was focused on me. I glanced up at him every so often to find him staring at me. I tried not to blush under his gaze but to no avail. I blushed too easily.
"Lily," I tore my eyes away from Mark at the sound of my name. "We're all going to the mall after school. Do you want to come?" I smiled and nodded. "Great! So we'll meet you in the front lobby," Anya said as the bell sounded. Every one stood up from their seats and left the cafeteria. I was excited. My first day in a new school and I already had friends and plans! I went to my next class and daydreamed the entire period away. Mostly with thoughts of Mark. I barely noticed when the bell rang. I left the classroom, and almost as soon as I was over the threshold, I crashed into someone, knocking the books out of the person's hands. I stooped down to help gather up the books, blushing furiously.
"I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and..." I trailed off as I looked up into the beautiful blue eyes of Mark. He smiled at me and I smiled back sheepishly.
"It's okay," he said softly. It was the first time I had heard him speak and it was as amazing as I could have imagined it to be. His voice was a perfect match to his exterior. It was low and masculine but still sort of sensitive. I handed him his books and apologized again.
"Really, it's alright," He insisted. "So where are you going next?" he asked. I told him what my next class was and we found out that we were going to the same place. "Can I walk you?" He asked me innocently. I smiled and nodded. I followed him to the other side of the building and into our classroom just as the bell rang. We took seats next to each other as the class began. During the whole period, I was sneaking glances at Mark, secretly drinking him in. Finally the period, along with the day was over. Mark walked me to the lobby where we met Anya and Billy.
"Aww what a cute couple!" Billy exclaimed. Mark and I blushed simultaneously. Anya giggled. We were soon joined by Jessica, Corrine and James.
"Joey can't make it," James said shortly. His voice was deep and gravelly. Kind of sexy. I could see why Anya liked him. But Mark was definitely more my type. We headed down to the student parking lot and stopped in front of a Volkswagen Beetle convertible. Anya got into the drivers seat and she must have seen my eyes practically bug out of my head.
"My daddy gave it to me for my birthday," she explained. I got into the back seat and Mark squished in next to me, followed by Jessica and Corrine. James sat in the front next to Anya. Anya started up the car and pulled out of the lot and down the street to the mall. I had been to this mall before. It wasn't too far from my old house. Anya parked in the parking lot and we all piled out of the car.
"We'll see you boys later!" Jessica called, as she and the other girls giggled as they dragged me away. I was utterly confused. What were they doing? I soon had my answer.
"We're giving you a makeover!" Anya exclaimed. I was a little skeptical about that and it must've shown on my face.
"Don't look so scared," Corrine laughed. I smiled even though I knew that no amount of new clothes or make up would ever make me pretty. The girls dragged me into about a million designer stores that I would never be able to afford and they bought me new stuff.
"I will never be able to pay you back!" I cried.
"Don't worry about it! Its on us," Anya told me. This made me feel a little better but I still felt bad about taking such expensive gifts from people I barely knew. By the end of the shopping spree, I had about ten bags, nine of them filled with clothes and the other one with make up. They pushed me into the bathroom to change into one of my new outfits and when I was dressed, they put on some of the new make up. I looked into the mirror and went into shock. I was actually...pretty.
"Wow, I knew she'd look better but wow," Jessica gasped. I looked at the girl indignantly, although I knew it was true.
"Come on, we were supposed to meet the guys ten minutes ago," Corrine said, looking at her cell phone clock. The girls helped me gather my bags and we trudged back down to the first floor where the guys were waiting. Both Mark and James' jaws dropped when they saw me. I blushed under their gaze and looked at the floor.
"Guys, you're drooling," Jessica said snidely. Mark blushed and looked away, James just looked away. I guess he just wasn't prone to blushing. Lucky. I looked up and saw Mark staring at me again. This time when I blushed, I didn't look away, I smiled and he smiled back. It was a great feeling.