Popularity Rules

by Shamika Lindsay

  Avery entered, chewing her thumb nail nervously and cradling a phone between her shoulder and her ear. She actually looked surprised to see me. In fact, she jumped so fiercely that the phone fell and the contents spilled out onto the floor. I didn’t get a chance to offer my help because she already was on her hands and knees, clambering to take up the pieces.

  I wasn’t sure about her anymore and I hesitated for a moment before kneeling beside her. “It was a long-distance call,” she wailed, miserably.

  My heart sank, was she getting reinforcements to take me out? “It just takes a minute to boot up, don’t worry.”

  Avery looked up at me and her brows smashed together. “The pleasantries are annoying me.”

  If I wasn’t sure of anything, I was sure she always surprised me.

  Chapter

  X

  “Elbows off the table,” my mother ordered, placing a steaming dish of pasta on the table.

  I silently complied, feeling too drained to argue. After staying with Avery, practically spending the entire remainder of the school day with her, I was physically and mentally drained. Avery had spent almost the entire time doing something I’d classify as crazy. And since it seemed that I convinced her that I was a friend, it was too soon to be afraid of her obvious insanity.

  There was something people didn’t know. There were two types of crazy; one was not having the mental capacity to grasp certain normal human tendencies and the other was feeling the need to hurt someone for your own selfish gratification, in other words, Avery.

  Jade sat beside me and played with stud in her ear. “How was school today, big bro?” she asked mischievously.

  I shrugged. “Why do you care?”

  “I’m just interested is all,” she replied with a condescending grin. “After all, you’re the perfect son.”

  My mother looked up at us and frowned. “Is there something you’d like to tell me, Jason?”

  I looked over at Jade and noticed she was smiling happily, clearly excited about this. I knew if I lied, she’d rat me out, so I said, “I took some time off school today.”

  My mother stared at her food in concentration. “Okay, were you feeling ill or something?”

  I looked up at her to see if she was actually serious. “No, I’m just tired of school.”

  I expected her to cough on her food or heavily reprimand me but she didn’t. Instead, she just sighed as if she was disappointed. The truth was my mother wasn’t a disciplinarian; that was all left up to my father. Since he was working late, I could get away with almost anything. None of that was as pathetic as sitting home on a Friday night, eating pasta.

  We’re such bad-asses, honestly.

  “Remember that girl that was here a few days ago?” I asked, meeting my mother’s gaze.

  She stabbed the fork so forcefully down on the pasta that the plate made an audible clink. “What about her?”

  I watched her movements as she stirred the pasta around roughly. “It just seemed as if you knew her.”

  The look she gave me was so belligerent that I forced myself to look down on my plate. “I wish you wouldn’t be so stubborn.”

  “I was just wondering if she knew me, mother,” I said, rolling my eyes. “No need to have a meltdown.”

  There was strained silence as she processed just how disrespectful I was being. I knew my mother was always a nut-case but her reactions were sometimes way too unnecessary.

  “Did she say something to you?” she asked, looking into her glass filled with colorless liquid.

  I shook my head no then averted my gaze to Jade and took a tentative sip of my drink. “Are you coming to the swim meet tomorrow?”

  “Are you going to be there?” she asked, finally looking up.

  I resisted the urge to say ‘obviously’. Instead, I nodded. “Yup.”

  She pushed her chair back from the table. “Then no, I’m not coming.”

  Jade left the table without another word and I stared at her in bewilderment. I faintly wondered if every female in this town was going crazy. With Gina in the hospital, I had almost no doubt this was true.

  I stood too, no longer having much appetite and gave my mother a parting glance before heading up the stairs. If I knew anything, I knew that I had to be well-rested for tomorrow.

  The cheers were deafening, even from the locker room. All the other guys were joking and pulling pranks on each other. I couldn’t even crack a smile. Normally, I wouldn’t be nervous; I’d just go out there and give my best. But today, I felt uneasy for some reason. I assumed that whatever Avery had planned for me was going to be fulfilled today, at one of the biggest swim meets of the year. Different schools were situated here, wanting to see what team would come out on top. Although many people acted as if it didn’t matter, it did. It basically showed the prestige of whatever school won.

  The thing I hated the most about these swim-meets was the fact that we had to wear the skimpiest speedos and at every meet, some creepy photograph of your back would make its way into the newspaper. I pulled my goggles and swim cap out of the huge bag I’d brought and noted with regret that only a few of the extras were still inside the locker room.

  I built up every drip of confidence in my body and exited the room. The crowd erupted and I did my best to give them a modest smile. I couldn’t allow another awful picture in the newspaper of me. Trying to ignore the building chaos, I pulled the swim cap and the goggles on. Everyone was already lined up, so I simply filed in according to category. My race was going to be fifth and I needed time to warm up.

  As soon as I pulled my hand across my chest to stretch it, my eyes scanned the crowd to see if Jade felt guilty and decided to support me. I couldn’t find her familiar face anywhere, so I assumed she was actually serious. I stretched my arm to the limit when I spotted Avery giving a tentative wave. My arm throbbed painfully as I gave her a small smile in return.

  I wondered briefly if she had planted an explosive in the pool or something. I glanced at the clear pool and then back at Avery. I jumped as I saw Gina beside her, frowning. I blinked a couple of times to see if I was hallucinating. Avery mouthed ‘what’ to me, but the image of Gina had stood with her hands on her hips and a somewhat bigger frown. I thought she was supposed to be in the hospital. I blinked profusely and she vanished as if she was never there.

  The first race had started, and I watched distractedly as another team inched closely in front of ours. The cheers were getting frantic as the guys twisted and turned, trying to get the trophy. Instead of shouting encouragingly at them like the rest of the team, I just stared distractedly at the pool and then the stands. The adrenaline was coursing through my veins as the second race started and the crowd was getting louder if it was even humanly possible.

  Pretty soon, I was standing at the edge of the pool, waiting for my race to start. I gave the stands one last glance and the signal went off. I jumped in a little too late, not hitting the water exactly how I wanted. I came up for a breath of air and noticed that I was in the fifth position, it was pretty interesting that I noticed that considering the circumstances and that according to the coach, was not acceptable.

  I hit the wall a little behind everyone and exerted myself way more than I did in practice. I could feel my muscles protest. The second lap, near the end, I noted with regret that I couldn’t possibly win. By the time I had gotten out of the pool, the winner had already gotten out and was grinning at the camera. I pulled my goggles off and flung them on the ground angrily.

  If I hadn’t been up half the night or had been focused, I could’ve probably come third or something. A short lady, with terrible acne and her hair pulled back severely, came in front of me and gave me a small smile and had her hand poised to catch anything I said.

  “Jason Forbes,” she said, saying my first name as if it was French. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “How does the reigning champion feel about coming fourth in the qualifiers?”

  I pulled my swim cap off and gave it a
harsh glare as if it was to blame. “How am I supposed to feel? Happy?”

  She looked bewildered. “Um, you can still win the finals.”

  I sighed and stepped away from her. I knew she was right; I could win the finals but I didn’t feel as if I wanted to. I vaguely remembered all the times I had won and all the trophies I had to show for it.

  As I neared the stands, I noticed Avery approaching me with a slightly disappointed smile. “Hey, champ.”

  I groaned. “Don’t mock me.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up…champ,” she replied, her eyes glistening mischievously. “We all know you can still win. You have twenty minutes to believe that.”

  I reached down into a cooler for a drink and grabbed a bottle of water. “Hey, who was sitting next to you earlier?”

  Avery looked up at the stands and shrugged. “There was no one there. Why? Did you see someone?”

  I scanned the stands to see if I could spot a brunette bombshell. There was no one I readily recognized. I nervously placed the water bottle against my lips and took a long gulp.

  “Anyway,” she sang, looking at me suspiciously. “I bet you’re surprised that I’m not wooed by your chest, huh?”

  I stared at her, confused for a moment. I finally glanced down at my chest, momentarily forgetting I was shirtless. “Where’d that come from?”

  Avery gave me a pointed look and gestured to the group of girls staring at me and giggling. I could see how annoyed Avery was getting. On their faces, clear as day, they were wondering why I was even talking to her. I looked down at Avery’s clothing and smiled in relief that she was wearing a paint-splattered white tee and blue jeans. She definitely stood out from all those other girls in skimpy clothing.

  “Better you than them,” I muttered under my breath.

  Avery squinted at me. “What was that?”

  I shook my head slowly. “Nothing.” I looked around and noticed that almost all of my teammates had already gone back to the locker room. “Listen, I’ve got to get going.”

  She nodded and as soon as I was beginning to walk away, she grabbed my hand and reached up on her toes to kiss my cheek.

  “Good luck,” she whispered fleetingly, meeting my eyes levelly. It took all the self-control I had—which wasn’t much—to not pull her closer and plant my lips on hers. I nodded slightly and she pulled her hand back not quite looking at anyone.

  If I’d been paying attention to my surroundings, I’d have noticed that:

  a) Everyone in a 50-meter perimeter was staring at us

  b) A blinding camera light went off

  c) I was officially in too deep

  I felt as if I had some weird, paralytic thing that disabled all mental coherence. It turned out my diagnosis may have been right because I almost face-planted in the boy’s locker-room wall. All the guys surrounded our coach who was shouting instructions at everyone. As soon as he saw me his face got redder if that was even possible.

  “Forbes, what the hell were you doing out there?” he snarled, jabbing a meaty finger at me.

  I ran a hand over my face. “I’m just a little tired.”

  The coach rolled his eyes at my excuse. “You should be a little thankful that Stuart here picked up your slack.”

  My eyes snapped to Stuart and he grinned cockily. If I had an arch-nemesis, it would be him. He was my competition in everything, but for some reason, he could never win. I thought I owed him at least the satisfaction that he won this time.

  “Good job,” I called to him.

  He looked startled and a little flustered. “T-Thanks,” he replied, still looking surprised.

  I turned my attention back to the coach. I wasn’t captain for nothing. “Are you going to come up with a plan or argue with me all morning?”

  He sighed and shook his head slowly. “There’s no plan, you guys just go out there and do your best.”

  Everyone groaned and gave their fair share of pessimistic comments. It was almost impossible for us to win as a team even if I won the final race.

  “More bad news guys,” a new voice offered. “The girls are being murdered out there.”

  Before I could stop it, my mouth took over from my suddenly unresponsive brain and said, “I have a plan.” I pulled a towel from a hanger and draped it around my neck. “Buy me some time before the next female race begins.”

  As soon as I exited the room, I saw Alison, the captain of the girls’ team, pacing nervously, biting her nail.

  “Hey Ali,” I called, joining her to see how much progress we were making.

  Alison smiled shakily at me and returned her fierce gaze to the pool. “We’re being massacred out there.”

  “Well, that’s a new way to put it,” I said lightly, chuckling a bit. When she didn’t even crack a smile I covered it up with a cough. “Uh, anyway, do we have a chance?”

  “We’ll need a miracle,” she deadpanned.

  I gave the stands a quick glance. “I’ll try to help.”

  Ellen, another girl on the team, was in shambles, sobbing her eyes out because she lost her race. I gave her a consoling pat on the back and headed over to where I’d probably make a fool of myself. Avery spotted me as I made my way over.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, as soon as I was in hearing range.

  I tugged a bit harder on the towel and tried for an innocent look. “I need a little favor.”

  Avery folded her arms over her chest suspiciously. “No. Whatever it is, no way.”

  As usual, people were already beginning to stare, and I didn’t really want to put up a front of begging her. There had to be some way to get her to listen without embarrassing myself.

  “You know you owe your school some patronage,” I said lightly, aiming for a different angle.

  “I’m not really into politics.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked, suddenly confused. “Um, the thing is, we need your help.”

  I saw her brows raise. “‘We’, as in the team? Did you tell them about that morning I was here?” she demanded, stepping down from where she was and closer to me. “Because so help me God if you did.”

  “Calm down,” I muttered, willing her to speak softer. “I’m just asking you, we’re dying out there, just one race.”

  Avery folded her arms across her chest once again. “No.”

  Whatever I’d been expecting, it wasn’t that. “Please?”

  “No.”

  “Please?”

  “No.”

  “Please?”

  “N-okay, fine, but you owe me.”

  I smiled gratefully at her and gestured to the girl’s changing room. “Don’t worry, they keep new swim-suits in there. You don’t have to worry about who may have worn it before or something like that.”

  Avery turned and looked at me with a brow raised. “It’d be better if you shut up just so you know.”

  “I feel so exposed,” Avery exclaimed, craning her neck to get a better view of her back.

  I tried to stifle my laugh but I could tell she heard. I had to agree though, for Avery it was skimpy. For everyone else it was modest. The dark blue, almost denim look, was lined with red stripes and it fell down into her back with a swoop.

  Alison approached us with a frown implanted in her face. She gave Avery quite a sizing up and turned to me. “Are you sure about this?”

  No. “Yes, I’m positive.”

  Avery raised her eyes to the high ceiling and shook her head. “I swear, if I hear one more jibe, I’m ripping this thing off and walking out of here.”

  Dylan, a guy who was standing just behind us, snorted. He was the type of brainy guy the girls liked for some reason. They’d pounce on him whenever they took my rejection. I wasn’t being narcissistic; it was the truth.

  He fixed his square-framed glasses and smiled, showing off his ‘couldn’t possibly be real’ white teeth. “I’d love to see that,” he murmured in an irritatingly laid-back way.

  Avery turned around with a livid expression on her f
ace. I watched in awe as her chilling look melted off into an easy smile. I thought she was only bipolar with me. “Don’t get your hopes up,” she responded, apparently fighting a smile.

  “Can we all focus already?” I snapped, looking out to the pool.

  “Ants in your pants boss?” Avery asked, once again emotionless, making me clench my firsts. “Or in your case should I say speedos?”

  A few snickers erupted from the small group and I frowned a whole lot more when Dylan hi-fived Avery.

  “Ali, I was thinking you should let her anchor.”

  Alison shot Avery a dubious look. “No way! I always anchor.”

  “She’s fast. C’mon, we need this.”

  Alison grumbled for a moment before turning her back to us. I took that as a ‘yeah but if we lose, I’ll blow your head off’ kind of thing. Someone took the team changes to the announcer. I assumed that the crowd would’ve cheered as they heard someone’s name but as he called Avery’s name there was a deafening silence. The crowd that was supporting us knew exactly why they weren’t, cheering and it made me feel horrible.

  Avery, unaffected as usual, adjusted her swim cap and avoided eye contact with anyone looking her way. I sighed and stepped back as the final race ended. It would be hard to take the crazy stigma away from Avery and I’m sure you can guess the reason for that—she was crazy, there was no denying it.

  Dylan inched closer to us and held Avery by the elbow and leaned in much too close for my liking and whispered something to her. I saw her face crumple in confusion and before I could intervene, it smoothed out in a completely relaxed way.

  I felt strangely irritated and I had no idea why. I’d seen Gina and Dylan talking numerous times, but it never bothered me. Now, however, I felt this weird tick in my jaw, and it was increasing with every look at Dylan.

  A bright camera light snapped by my right, bringing me back into focus I reminded myself of where I was and why it’d be beneficial to keep my cool. Even with the cold air blasting to combat the smoldering heat I couldn't control my rising temper. I turned my back to the newly friendly duo and made my way back to the locker room. My race was important and I wasn't going to let some stupid girl and ‘far too brainy for high school’ guy ruin it.