Chapter 15: Popular
"Hey," Jag set his tray down next to Danni's.
"Oh, hi, I thought you'd be sitting with Jacen today."
"Do you not want me to sit here?"
"No – I mean, yes – I mean, I do want you to sit here; I just figured you wouldn't want to."
"Well, I do want to sit with you – if your friends don't mind that is."
"They don't mind at all," she quickly assured him.
"Good."
They ate silently; Jag was continually glancing at her, and he could tell she was glancing at him as well. Towards the end of lunch, he was about to ask if everything was okay after the rather strange fight with Jaina earlier, but she spoke first. "Jag, could I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Why did you want to sit with me?"
"What do you mean?" he stalled. Though Jag had planned to tell her that he was attracted to her, he hadn't meant for it to be so soon.
"Well, you're popular, and I'm… not."
"I'm not popular, trust me." Jag nearly laughed at the thought.
"You're friends with the Solos, or at least Jacen."
"So?"
"So, if you're friends with a Solo, you're popular. If you're not friends with a Solo, you're not popular."
"Danni, what are you talking about? It's just a clique; everyone belongs to a different group."
"You're right, everyone belongs to a different clique," she said, nodding with a smile on her face that confused Jag. "Take Malinza Thanas for example. She leads the biggest clique in school. She's also president of all seven clubs she's in, and everyone signs her petitions."
"See?"
"Malinza Thanas's godfather is Luke Skywalker. Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin actually consider her their cousin because their families are so close. The entire student body will sign any petition she shoves in her face because Jaina signs it first. That's how everything works here. Make friends with Jaina, Jacen, Anakin, or someone who sits at their table, and you're in. Unless of course, you're in social exile… like me," Danni concluded her speech without a hint of the bitterness Jag would expect. She said everything as though reciting facts.
"Listen, Danni, I don't care about being popular. You're nice and funny and smart and beautiful, and if no one else can see that because they're too busy caring about what Jaina thinks, when I think her taste is at the very least questionable and at the most absolutely insane, then that's their loss."
Danni stared at him silently for several minutes. Jag, too, remained silent as he watched the shock in her eyes slowly turn to happiness. Before he knew what was happening, her lips were on his and just as suddenly gone as she got up and walked away from the table with her tray. She put it up just as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. Jag looked around at the other students in the cafeteria. Everyone's eyes were darting between him and Danni's retreating form. Slowly, the room emptied, but one pair of cold, brown eyes never left Jag. Jaina sat in her seat across the cafeteria and stared at him. Ignoring her, Jag stood and put up his tray.
"Hey, Fel!" Jaina caught up with him as he exited. "I take it you and Quee are dating now."
"I really don't see how it's any of your business," he said trying to dodge her.
"You'd be surprised."
"This might come as a shock to you, Jaina, but not everything revolves around you," he walked away, but she caught up to him.
"I never said it did. Other people may say that I'm that important, and who am I to disappoint?" He shook his head at her egotistical remark and kept walking. "Aw, come on, Fel. Why are you so afraid to say whether or not you and Quee are dating? Can't believe that a social outcast like her would show affection publicly? I guess the rumors are true. You're just with her for an easy lay."
Jag came to a dead stop. "How dare you accuse me of that?"
"I know guys like you, Fel. I'm sure all the guys will be high-fiving you in the locker room before practice today for it."
"You know nothing about me, Solo."
"No, Fel, you know nothing about me. And you also, obviously, know nothing about your new girlfriend. I could tell you things about Danni Quee that would turn the rest of your hair white."
"Why can't you leave her alone? God, you're a bitch to a girl who has done nothing to deserve it. And since you are, after all, omniscient Goddess Jaina Solo, I'm guessing you even know what happened to her best friend last year."
"What? She actually told you about her best friend?"
"Yeah, she did. She said her best friend disappeared."
Jaina paused, seeming to actually contemplate her response, then answered in a low tone, "Huh, I never figured Danni would be in denial about it. After all, everyone else who knew her best friend knows she's dead." Her voice became hard again, "And those little turn-your-hair-white fun facts, one of them is how she died." Jaina turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him completely speechless.