by Meg Cabot
“Wow,” I said. And even though I already knew Becca was right, and that it HAD been me Jason was talking about, I felt a little thrill of pleasure, just hearing it all over again. That’s how far gone I was. “Thanks for telling me. I will definitely think about asking him out.”
“You should,” Becca said. “Because, you know, I asked John, and he said it’s possible—just possible—that the person Jason is secretly in love with is you. And if it is, then we could double date! Me and John, and you and Jason! Wouldn’t that be fun?”
I said I couldn’t think of anything more fun.
After all the toasts, the bride and groom danced their first dance—to “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” Grandpa’s favorite Frank Sinatra tune—then danced with their children, and finally their grandchildren. That was when I finally got the chance to ask Grandpa how he’d gotten Mom to forgive him for the Super Sav-Mart and come to his wedding.
“Well,” he said as he moved me around the dance floor in time to “Embraceable You,” “I’m sorry to say I took advantage of the fact that she was a woman in a vulnerable state—eight months pregnant, deathly worried over the whereabouts of her eldest child, and convinced she’s in severe financial trouble—and put my foot down. I told her I’ve bought the Hoosier Sweet Shoppe, and am putting a café in there, and knocking the wall between her place and mine down, and she can either let go and like it, or learn to live with it. Your dad did a pretty good job of convincing her to let go and like it.”
“Grandpa!” I beamed up at him. “That’s so great!”
“We’ve still got a ways to go toward patching things up,” Grandpa said, nodding in the direction of Mom and Kitty, who were still chatting away. “But it’s a good start.”
“Between the new café,” I said, “and the ads we’re going to run, featuring Mark Finley, I bet the bookstore will be outselling Super Sav-Mart in no time.”
“That’s the plan,” Grandpa said. “Now why don’t you tell me what you and Jason were really doing at the observatory last night. And don’t say stargazing, young lady, since—though your mother doesn’t seem to remember, I do—it was pouring rain all night. You couldn’t have seen a thing through that telescope.”
Oops.
So I told Grandpa. Not about the rager. But about me and Jason. I figured everybody was going to figure it out sooner or later anyway. Especially since Jason had already asked me for the next dance, and neither of us was a very good dancer, so it was going to be sort of obvious we were just standing there next to each other in order to be standing there next to each other.
Grandpa heard it all with raised eyebrows. He likes Jason, so it wasn’t like I was worried he was going to disapprove. But I did want him to be happy for me—as happy for me as I was for him.
“Well, well, well,” was all he said, when I was through. “And what’s he planning on studying in college?”
“I don’t know, Gramps,” I said with a laugh. “We have a ways to go before college.”
“Just make sure it’s astronomy,” Grandpa said. “I don’t want to have spent all that money on that building for nothing.”
I assured Grandpa I’d do what I could.
Then later, when I went to the ladies’ room, I ran into Kitty, who was reapplying her eyeliner, which was smudged on account of all the crying she’d done with my mother. I knew she knew—about me and Jason—the minute she saw my reflection in the mirror and spun around to take my hand.
“Stephanie,” she said excitedly, “I’m so happy for you both. I always wondered…but I thought you’d been friends for too long for it to ever work.”
“Oh, it’s working,” I assured her. And then, because she was my new grandma—well, step-grandma—I felt like I could add, “And, you know, a lot of it’s really because of your book.”
“My book?” Kitty looked blank.
“You know, that book you let me have,” I reminded her. “The one in that box I found in your attic, when we were cleaning up for Jason to move his stuff up there? That book on how to be popular? I, um. I sort of took its advice. I figured if it worked for you, it could work for me. Things didn’t turn out quite the way I’d planned—but now I’m glad. And it’s all because of you. Well, your book.”
“A book on how to be popular?” Kitty looked perplexed for a moment. Then her face brightened. “Oh my goodness. That old thing? Someone gave that to me as a joke. I never actually read it.”
I didn’t know quite what to say to that. So I said the only thing I could think of. Which was, “Oh.”
“Well.” Kitty adjusted her short, chic veil. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful,” I said truthfully.
“Thank you, my dear,” Kitty said. “I was just thinking the same thing about you. Well, I have to get back out there. Your mother and I are finally getting properly acquainted, and I don’t want to keep her waiting.” She patted me on the cheek before she left, beaming.
Jason was waiting for me when I got back to the dance floor.
“Hey,” he said. “Looks like things are winding down here. I could use a cup of coffee. How about you?”
“Nice idea,” I said. “But I’m grounded, remember?”
“I don’t think your mom’s going to remember.” I looked in the direction he was pointing. Mom and Kitty were chatting animatedly, while my dad sat there with a sleeping Sara in his arms, looking bored.
And when I went up to them and said, “Um, hey. Is it okay if I go for a coffee with Jason? I swear I’ll come right home afterward,” Mom just said, “Call if you’re going to be out after ten,” and went right back to chatting.
Wow. It’s amazing what a little wedding can do to improve everyone’s spirits.
* * *
“Popularity is the easiest thing in the world to gain, and the hardest thing to hold.”
—Will Rogers
* * *
Thirty-five
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 11 P.M.
I sort of forgot about the whole rager thing until Jason and I were getting ready to head into the Coffee Pot—feeling nice and happy from the wedding and being so in love with each other and all of that—and we bumped right into Mark Finley and Lauren Moffat, heading toward the ATM.
Alyssa Krueger was with them. So was Sean de Marco, Todd Rubin, and Darlene Staggs.
The whole gang, together again.
Only nobody seemed very happy about it. At least, not about seeing me.
“Well, well, well,” Lauren said with a sneer. “If it isn’t Steph Landry, world’s biggest party wrecker.”
And the happiness I’d been feeling all day, on account of Jason loving me, sort of dimmed. Just a little.
That’s how big a damper Lauren Moffat can be on a girl. Even a girl newly in love.
“Come on, Lauren,” Jason said. “Lay off her. You guys would have trashed the place, and you know it.”
“Um, was I talking to you, Big Nose?” Lauren asked.
Which was when something inside of me snapped. Just like that. It was like suddenly I was transported back to Bloomville Middle School and the very first time Lauren ever accused me of Pulling a Steph.
Only instead of being a meek little twelve-year-old who just stood there and took it, I was a strong, independent sixteen-year-old who didn’t have time for Lauren and her drama.
“You know what, Lauren?” I said, taking a step toward her.
And I guess she must have sensed that something in me had snapped, because she took a hasty step back, like she thought I was going to hit her, or something. As if she was even worth the lawsuit her dad would’ve slapped on me.
“I’m sick of you,” I went on, my face right up in hers. “You and all your phony B.S.” Only I didn’t just say the initials. “I made one mistake—I spilled a drink on you—for which I apologized profusely AND got you a new skirt, and you still had to hold it against me. For FIVE years. Not just hold it against me, but made sure everybody else in school did, too. And now you want to thr
ow down with me again? Fine. But I’m warning you, that this time? You better bring it. Because there are a lot more Steph Landrys in the world—people who’ve made fools of themselves in public, people who don’t have every hair perfectly in place all the time, people who don’t have rich parents who’ll buy them a new car every year—than there are stuck-up beauty queens like you. And if you don’t learn to get along with us, eventually you’re going to find yourself leading a very, very lonely existence.”
I was staring right up into Lauren’s eyes. And so I saw it. It was only there for an instant. But it was definitely there.
A flicker of fear.
Then she tossed her long golden hair and said, “God, get off me, beeyotch. If I’m such a terrible person, how come I’m the one here with so many friends, while you’re here with”—her gaze raked Jason up and down—“that?”
Okay, now I was going to hit her. For what she’d said about Jason.
But before I could leap at her throat, Darlene stepped between us, saying, “Actually, Steph, I’m glad we ran into each other. There’s a new Brittany Murphy in town, and I was wondering if you wanted to see it with me tomorrow.”
I stared at Darlene. So did Lauren. So did Alyssa and Mark and Sean and Todd. But then Todd always stares at Darlene, so this wasn’t particularly unusual.
“Um,” I said, totally confused about what was going on. “Yeah. Sure. I’d be happy to.”
“Darlene,” Lauren said in an icy voice. “What are you doing?”
“Making plans to go see a movie with a friend,” Darlene replied. There was nothing ditzy in her tone at all. “Do you mind?”
Lauren’s heavily mascara-ed eyes narrowed.
But before Lauren could say anything, Alyssa took a step away from her, until she was standing next to me.
“Hey,” Alyssa said. “Is it okay if I come with you guys, too?”
Darlene looked at me. I looked back at Darlene.
And realized this wasn’t about going to the movies.
Well, it was. But it sort of wasn’t, at the same time.
“Sure,” I said to Alyssa. “You can come.” Then, remembering the advice from The Book, added, “The more the merrier.”
“Great,” Alyssa said. And smiled at me. It was the first smile I’d seen on her face in days.
“Okay,” Lauren said, sounding impatient. “What’s going on here? Have you all been sniffing glue?”
Darlene ignored her. “What are you guys doing now?” she asked me and Jason.
“Um,” Jason said, pointing at the door to the Coffee Pot. “We were going to get coffee….”
“Oh, yum,” Darlene said. “I could totally use some coffee. How about you, Alyssa?”
“I love coffee,” Alyssa said. “Mind if we join you?”
Jason looked at me with his eyebrows raised. I shrugged.
“Um,” Jason said. “Sure?”
“Great!” Alyssa pushed open the door to the Coffee Pot—an establishment she’d surely never set foot inside before in her life—and went in, Darlene following close behind….
Although Darlene turned on the threshold to look back at Sean and Todd.
“Are you coming?” she asked him. “Or not?”
Todd looked from Darlene to Mark, and then back again. Then he said to Mark, with a shrug, “Sorry, man.”
Then he and Sean followed Darlene inside.
Jason and I looked at each other. Then he opened the door for me and said, “After you.”
I went in. Darlene and Alyssa and Sean and Todd had found a table over by the window. They waved at us—like we wouldn’t have been able to find them, given that they were the only people in the whole place, besides Kirsten, who said, “Oh, hello! The usual?” to us.
“The usual,” Jason said. And then added, “And we’re with them,” and pointed at the table Darlene had seized.
Kirsten raised her eyebrows. “New friends?” she asked, looking impressed. “And you tried to tell me you are not popular!”
Then she went over to take their order. Just like that.
Just like that, she assumed we were just being modest about not being popular.
Which is when I said to Jason, “Hang on a minute.” And ran back outside.
“Hey,” I said to Lauren and Mark, who were walking slowly away.
Lauren spun around. And I saw something I’d never expected to see in my life.
She was crying.
“What?” she demanded.
“I was just—” I swallowed. “I just wanted to know if you guys wanted to join us.”
“Are you completely retar—”
But before Lauren could finish, Mark put an arm around her shoulders and said, “Thanks, Steph. We’d love to.”
“But—” Lauren yelped.
But I guess Mark had given her a really good squeeze, since all she said was, “Whatever.”
And they followed me into the Pot.
Which just goes to show, no matter what anybody else says—the advice in The Book?
It really does work.
Thirty-six
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 12 A.M.
Later that night, I went into the bathroom and looked out the window—entirely out of force of habit. I was NOT spying on him—to see what Jason was doing.
He had covered his windows with giant strips of butcher paper.
But it was okay. Because on them, he’d written in glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars:
Good night, Crazytop.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Beth Ader, Jennifer Brown,
Barb Cabot, Michele Jaffe, Laura Langlie, Abigail
McAden, and especially Benjamin Egnatz
About the Author
MEG CABOT is the author of the bestselling, critically acclaimed Princess Diaries books, which were made into the wildly popular Disney movies of the same name. Her other books for teens include the Mediator series, the 1-800-Where-R-You books, ALL-AMERICAN GIRL, READY OR NOT, TEEN IDOL, AVALON HIGH, and HOW TO BE POPULAR, as well as NICOLA AND THE VISCOUNT and VICTORIA AND THE ROGUE. She also writes books for adults, including THE BOY NEXT DOOR, BOY MEETS GIRL, EVERY BOY’S GOT ONE, SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT, and QUEEN OF BABBLE. She is still waiting for her real parents, the king and queen, to restore her to her rightful throne. She currently lives in Key West and New York City with her husband and a primary one-eyed cat named Henrietta, and assorted backup cats.
Visit Meg’s website at: www.megcabot.com
For exclusive information on your favorite authors and artists, visit www.authortracker.com.
Books by
MEG CABOT
ALL-AMERICAN GIRL
READY OR NOT: AN ALL-AMERICAN GIRL NOVEL
TEEN IDOL
AVALON HIGH
HOW TO BE POPULAR
NICOLA AND THE VISCOUNT
VICTORIA AND THE ROGUE
THE BOY NEXT DOOR
BOY MEETS GIRL
EVERY BOY’S GOT ONE
SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT
QUEEN OF BABBLE
The Mediator Books:
THE MEDIATOR 1: SHADOWLAND
THE MEDIATOR 2: NINTH KEY
THE MEDIATOR 3: REUNION
THE MEDIATOR 4: DARKEST HOUR
THE MEDIATOR 5: HAUNTED
THE MEDIATOR 6: TWILIGHT
The 1-800- Where -R- You Books:
WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES
CODE NAME CASSANDRA
SAFE HOUSE
SANCTUARY
THE PRINCESS DIARIES
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME II:
PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME III:
PRINCESS IN LOVE
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV:
PRINCESS IN WAITING
VALENTINE PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
(VOLUME IV AND A QUARTER)
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV AND A HALF:
PROJECT PRINCESS
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME V:
>
PRINCESS IN PINK
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VI:
PRINCESS IN TRAINING
THE PRINCESS PRESENT: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
(VOLUME VI AND A HALF)
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VII:
PARTY PRINCESS
SWEET SIXTEEN PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
(VOLUME VII AND A HALF)
Illustrated by Chesley McLaren:
PRINCESS LESSONS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
PERFECT PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
HOLIDAY PRINCESS: A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK
Credits
Jacket design by Sasha Illingworth
Copyright
How to Be Popular
Copyright © 2006 by Meg Cabot LLC.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Microsoft Reader April 2006 ISBN 0-06-123785-X
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cabot, Meg.
How to be popular / Meg Cabot.—1st ed.