Popularity Rules

by Shamika Lindsay

  “Put that on,” I ordered, inching toward the door. “I don’t want you to freeze to death.”

  She still looked confused as she stared at the hoodie in her hands. “What are you—”

  “I’m doing this for your own good,” I declared while touching the doorknob. I could see the realization hit her and she started to stand. I hurried out of the room and shut the door behind me, sticking the key in the lock and turning it quickly. This could possibly be clarified as kidnapping, but I couldn’t figure out what to do. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I decided to turn it off. She’d be tired enough soon. I just hoped she wouldn’t do something crazy and hurt herself, because, unlike the movie clichés, my window was not close to any magical trees and any escape she would plan would result in some broken body parts.

  As soon as I stepped onto our property, I made my way to the far side of the house that my room overlooked to ensure that Avery hadn’t done anything rash. The window was tightly closed as I had left it and there was no sign of mishap. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the front door.

  It was already light out and I could hear indistinct voices inside the house. The foyer was chockfull of smoke and I could just barely hear my mother and Jade arguing over who burnt the bacon. To any outsider, it would appear that my family was already back to normal, every trace of disturbing information erased from their mind. I knew better. They would always act more peeved than normal whenever anything upsetting had happened and the shouts in the kitchen were indicative of how devastated they were about the newfound information. I sighed and wiped my forehead in my already wet shirt. It seemed as if we’d all be having cereal today.

  As soon as I entered the kitchen, the argument ceased and everyone, including Jade, looked apologetic as if a measly confrontation would have me suddenly solemn and emotional.

  “There’s milk in the fridge if you want cereal,” my mother offered. Bingo.

  I nodded, trying my hardest to ignore the sympathetic looks they were throwing my way. “Thanks,” I muttered, taking an apple from the table contrary to her offer. They were staring at me as if I was a ticking time bomb. It was especially irritating because I was living with the knowledge of this for almost my entire life.

  “Why’s your room door locked?” my mother asked thoughtfully, after taking a sip of her coffee.

  I choked on the piece of apple already in my mouth and tried to quickly decipher if she sounded suspicious; she probably didn’t, but the idea of Avery locked up made me jittery. “No reason.”

  She raised a brow at me but nodded all the same, probably forcing herself not to pry. Jade caught my attention. She was beside the counter, arms folded and brows scrunched. I could see her slowly piecing everything together. I hurriedly pushed the remainder of the apple into my mouth and made my escape quick.

  I had to admit; the extremity of my social awkwardness was not diminishing whatsoever. It almost seemed as if it was getting worse. I remembered when Jade told me the only thing that I had going for me were my looks. I chuckled to myself; she was always adept at being an ego-killer. Before I entered the room, I checked the door to ensure it wouldn’t budge. I sighed in relief, pulled my key from my pocket and opened it.

  The smile slipped off my face as soon as I notice Avery wasn’t on the bed. Once again, I hurried to the window, but it was locked. I expected to see her in deep sleep on the bed, not to have completely vanished. I checked the bed again to ensure I wasn’t completely delusional from the excessive physical activity. And that’s when I saw her, curled in a ball beside the closet, the hoodie I had given her basically swallowing her whole. I continued looking at her for a moment, taking in the disheveled hair and completely at peace facial expression. My bed was pretty clean. I’m not sure what paralytic thing she thought I had now, that would push her to avoid it at all costs.

  I checked the small clock on my desk and noticed it was just around the time I would normally start getting ready for school. To get a start on the day and brainstorm how to get her pass my parents, somehow, I knelt beside her to wake her when her eyes flew open and she kneed me in the groin reflexively. I doubled over in pain and groaned.

  “Shoot, sorry Jason!” she said quickly and almost incoherently, appearing in my field of vision, her bloodshot eyes looking concerned.

  I groaned again in response, in too much pain to formulate actual words. Who’s first response when they’re woken up was to be on the offensive? I exhaled deeply and laid flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Avery eventually sat up beside me and her brows pulled tightly over her eyes, looking concerned. “I hope I haven’t damaged you permanently,” she said quietly.

  Despite how serious and repentant she sounded, I snorted. “I don’t think so,” I commented with a small laugh. “You’re far too defensive though.”

  Avery pursed her lips at me. “I’m rightfully so!” she exclaimed, folding her arms, the sleeves of the hoodie hiding her hands. I smiled in brevity and she continued, “You locked me in your room. I’d call that more than a little demanding.”

  “I didn’t want you to leave,” I commented softly, neglecting to add, ‘knowing what I know’. I brushed a few strands of hair from her face and she smiled slightly. “Besides, you don’t look so close to death anymore.”

  She pushed my chest playfully and sighed. “People don’t like me, do they?”

  “I like you.” She gave me a flat look and I continued tersely, “Dylan likes you.”

  Avery winced and placed both hands, palms down on my chest and rested her chin on top of them. “Yeah, I’m not too sure how I feel about that.” A moment of strained silence floated past and she added, as an afterthought, “Your shirt is wet.”

  That lightened the mood. I grinned sheepishly. “I just came back from a jog actually.”

  Avery made a face but didn’t move. I was a bit surprised but said nothing. I then remembered something. “Why didn’t you sleep on the bed? The sheets were just changed—”

  “No, it smelt good, really good. But, I’m an outsider.”

  I frowned at her and responded gently, “Will you stop saying that? Please, just stop. I don’t even get the big deal, you slept on it before and you practically kicked me off that time.”

  Avery raised her head and exhaled deeply. “I know and that was mean, but I really don’t fit in with you, with this house, with your family. You’re all too… too perfect.”

  I flinched at the similarity between her words and Jade’s. Perfection was elusive yet everyone tried to gain it. I just couldn’t understand why it was thrust onto me.

  “I’m not perfect,” I whispered, not wanting to have a repeat of what had happened with Jade.

  Avery pursed her lips in disbelief and shook her head at me. She was about to speak when the door swung open. We barely had time to react. I was frozen because in the doorway stood my mother, a fierce dragon, whose words burnt and stung like fire, leaving charred remains in its wake. Her face was a barrage of emotion especially because she warned me about the ticking time bomb beside me.

  “Mrs. Forbes,” was all Avery managed to choke out.

  Chapter

  XXII

  The hallway was silent save for the rhythmic clack of high heeled shoes against the linoleum. The sound was a painful reminder of where we were and why the sound was so distinctive. I listened to the clack-clack, slight scuffle to ignore the building tension; it was a good distraction. Soon, we neared the glossy wooden door leading to the main office. The low hum of the air conditioner met my ears as we entered. The room was crisp, clean and all too quiet—almost stifling.

  “I’d like a late pass please,” my mother said coolly, making everyone disinterested in our entrance perk up instantaneously.

  The lady behind the desk gazed up at her with a friendly smile, which she didn’t return. “You’ll need to fill this out,” she said chirpily, ignoring the icy demeanor my mother held. My mother took the clipboard wordlessly from her hand, the paper stuck to
it, swinging defiantly in the wind.

  She headed to the far side of the room where the plastic chairs sat. I looked around at Avery and noted her desperate attempt not to meet my gaze. Despite how chilled the room was, I couldn’t help but feel nervous and sticky. I pulled my collar away from my neck to provide some relief when the lady behind the desk lifted her hand in a small wave. I smiled slightly but it felt like a grimace. Beside me, Avery sighed loudly and folded her arms, drumming her fingers on them.

  I turned to her and sighed. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  Instead of Avery answering, my mother approached us and said clipped, “No fraternizing.”

  Avery kept her head down and actually appeared to be hurt. Ever since my mother came into my room earlier, this had been Avery’s demeanor, sinking slowly but surely into a canopy of melancholy. I sighed and turned my attention to the conversation going on in front of me. My mother was using her influential tone to combat being told that the reason for our being late was not plausible. I mean, I definitely agreed with her, my mother was in no way justified for keeping us at home while school had begun.

  The argument was getting pretty heated when the door leading to another office further inside swung open and the vice-principal entered the room. She met my mother’s gaze and then mine. We were getting out of this just because of who my mother was, I could tell—an irritating realization. The lady behind the desk recoiled as the VP smiled widely at my mother. This was all too familiar.

  Wordlessly, the VP took the two slips and began signing them, her eyes snapping to both Avery and I simultaneously after reading our names. I could see the lingering look she gave Avery. I didn’t dare utter a word, noticing how miffed my mother was. The VP finished signing the slips and handed them to my mother, giving her a smile. My mother expressed her gratitude and led us out of the room.

  “Don’t you think you’re being irrational?” I asked in a clipped tone as we exited the office.

  My mother stopped suddenly and turned in her tracks. I half-expected her to breathe fire in my face. But unlike my overactive imagination, she narrowed her eyes at me, approximately at eye level because of her heels. “I’m irrational? Me? All I’ve done is slave to make your life comfortable and you repay me by bringing a…a…a criminal into my house?” her voice rose a few octaves as she all but screamed at me.

  Instead of seeming as impervious as before, Avery shook her head slowly and muttered, “I’m not a criminal.”

  “What?” my mother spat, turning to look at her.

  “I’m not a criminal,” Avery replied, level-headed, her hair hiding her facial expression.

  My mother gave a short laugh of disbelief and stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown two heads. “What do you call a person who regularly engages in criminal activity then? Enlighten me, please. Tell me why your parents were so eager to send you away as soon as they saw an opportunity? And maybe while you think about that maybe you can explain the fact that you threatened me, my husband and my children! How are you not a criminal?”

  Avery raised her head and looked at my mother with sorrowful eyes. Her words permeated every bone in her body, I could tell. Her lips quivered in response; no words needed. I was numb, too shocked to give a comment. After a long, almost pitying look at Avery, she turned to me; the disappointment imprinted on her face as clear as day.

  “Car keys,” she demanded, outstretching her palm in front of my face.

  I frowned at her and shook my head defiantly. “Why? I’m being punished for making friends?”

  “No, you’re being punished for blatant disobedience,” she said simply, opening and closing her hand. “Now, car keys,” she continued slowly, enunciating each word as if I was mentally deficit.

  I noticed how sternly she was eyeing me, she wanted me to challenge her, I could tell. But I also knew that she really wanted to hit me, and I didn’t doubt that she would. With a sigh, I fished my keys from my pockets and released the cold metal into her hand. In return, she gave us both our late passes, ensuring she was emotionless enough when she turned to Avery. She slipped the keys into her bag and stalked off in the direction of the exit.

  It was becoming increasingly clear that my family, apart from my father of course, reveled in brow-beating Avery. I took a long look at her, taking in her flamboyance in Jade’s less eccentric outfit choices. All I really wanted to do was take her into my head and erase from her memory all of the negative things my family had said to her. The chances of that happening diminished because I quickly noted that the bell would’ve rung soon and the hallways would soon be filled with persons looking for the latest scope to spread through the grapevine.

  I didn’t miss how close to hyperventilation she looked, but I stood there wordlessly, my popularity like a puppet master, pulling the strings and making me dance.

  I wasn’t prepared for how she sounded when she spoke to me—voice raw with emotion. “I’ll return your sister’s clothes tomorrow.”

  Under normal (as normal as it was with us) circumstances, I would have been amused enough to probably tease her about it, based on the reaction she had earlier when it was brought up. She refused to even consider touching the clothes. But with a little persuasion from me, she had reluctantly complied. The finality in her words stung, because every time we made three steps forward, we took six steps back.

  I ran a hand over my face and looked around. The hallway was still empty and would be for another five minutes more. I reached out to touch her shoulder but recoiled as she ducked away from my grasp. I winced but tried to mask the emotion. “Avery—”

  She swiped at her face and stormed off, her dark hair swishing from side to side. My family was inevitably pushing her away from me and, from my vantage point, there was nothing I could do to stop them, even if I ever did gain the courage to try. After a moment of pondering, I headed to the direction she had gone in and came upon a staircase leading to the level beneath. I expected her to vanish, as was the norm. Instead, she was there, on the landing bawling her eyes out to Dylan. My heart sank as I watched how she gripped his shirt and shook violently in his arms. He murmured in her ear occasionally and rubbed her back.

  Thankfully, they didn’t look up to where I stood, because I could tell I looked like a deranged stalker. I cringed every time Dylan stroked her hair and again when he’d whisper to her and again when she’d grip his shirt harder and again as her sobs grew louder. I shut my eyes tightly and counted to ten—once, twice and then three times. And even after that, I still didn’t feel mended. I headed in the direction of my second class as the bell sounded. There was nothing I could do, it was hopeless.

  I could just hope, wish that the puppeteer would loosen its grips on me—before it was too late.

  The week passed, though long, uneventful, with me trying my hardest to get back on Avery’s good side but understandably, she’d avoid me every opportunity she got. Even in Chemistry class, sitting beside me but pretending no one was there. The swim meet/science fair I promised Dylan I’d help him with fast approached and I made many attempts to back out but whenever I tried to talk to him, he had an arm around Avery protectively. I probably would’ve told him regardless but the smug look he constantly had on his face made me mad, as if he was trying to make me jealous.

  My mind was constantly on Avery throughout the entire week. I couldn’t find anything remotely intriguing about the other girls around. Unfortunately for them, I quite enjoyed the chase but they would practically throw themselves at my feet, which perturbed me for some reason. The more unattainable something was, the more you tried to get it—by all means necessary. And to top it off, I couldn’t figure out what the point of this event was. I really didn’t want to socialize with anyone.

  When I finally dragged myself out of bed at about twelve in the afternoon, I noted the ten unread messages on my phone and ignored them; I wasn’t the least bit interested in any of them. I’d begun locking the door to my room to keep out intruders, namely Jade and m
y mother, who accomplished their plan in the grand scheme of things a few mornings ago. I cringed at the thought and allowed my mind to drift back to Avery’s aesthetically pleasing sleeping form. The peaceful look on her face was such a rarity to me. Tried as I did, I couldn’t figure out why my thoughts were so hung up on this. She was just an ordinary girl. And trust me, there were enough ordinary girls pining over me already.

  Most persons would’ve assumed that my popularity would’ve waned due to the swimming season being done, but the anonymity I longed for wouldn’t come, annoyingly so. The rest of the persons in the ‘clique’ were also subjects of whatever rumor was spurned by the rest of the student body. Apparently, once you were well known, even the most unbelievable stories made their way around the grapevine. I think we all had become tolerant of everything that made us uncomfortable, anything unbearable.

  The community pool wasn’t my favorite place to visit, making it worst to drag myself to it. In the distance, I could see the old tattered sign, hugged by green vines leafing their way up the top of the building. Frankly, there was nothing attractive about this place and I expected the parking lot to be empty, not jam-packed with anarchistic-looking students. Heads turned in recognition as I pulled into the parking lot. I was suddenly uncomfortable in the vehicle I’d just gotten back earlier that day.

  I heaved a sigh as I stepped out onto the scalding hot pavement that burned small holes through the soles of my shoes and grabbed my swim bag. I would have really preferred staying in today, enjoying reruns of my favorite classical sitcoms.

  “Hey Jason,” a tiny girl called, waving me over to where she was standing with her voluptuous looking friends. I scratched the back of my neck uncertainly but made my way over anyway. What would a few minutes do?

  I noted something about the girls at my school. Whenever the opportunity arose, they jumped at it to wear the most revealing outfits they could find. I smiled at them and tried to ignore everyone else watching my every move.