Popularity Ch. 4

*Pic is of Rachel*

"Hi, Rach." said Kayla happily, which was weird because she wasn't usually happy, especially since Mason gave me that Gucci bag.

"Hey." I said, shrugging off the fact that she was giving me this creepy grin.

"Hola, everybody." said Aaliyah and Mandy in unison. Aaliyah and Elijah were a couple, and they were great together. Elijah absolutely adored Aaliyah, they were inseparable.

"So, how was your weekend, Rachel?" asked Mandy. I was pretty much queen bee. I couldn't be completely sure until the fall ball, which was almost as big as prom. If I was crowned fall ball princess, then I'd probably win prom queen.

"It was great. Mason, thank you so much for taking me on that boat trip with your family." I said, for Kayla's benefit.

"You're welcome." said Mason, planting a kiss on my lips. Mason was the best kisser EVER! Kayla was throwing us a death glare, which she did every time Mason and I kissed. It was pretty hilarious.

"Class is starting, people!" said our loser teacher Mrs. Tillman. I always wonder how she got married. Her class was lame but it was the only one everyone in our group had together.

~Lunch~

As I was walking to the cafeteria, something was definitely up. Everyone was pointing and laughing at me. I had no idea what was going on, but I thought it might have something to do with Kayla being so happy and up-beat.

When I walked into the cafeteria, I got the shock of a life time. I saw a picture of me from 2 years ago. Now remember, 2 years ago, I really wasn't pretty. I had a serious acne problem, I had these glasses that weighed more than my head, and I really didn't take care of my hair, at all. Guess who I saw standing proudly by the side of that picture? That's right, you guessed it. Kayla.

"Why would you do this?" I asked stomping up to Kayla. Mandy and Aaliyah were staring up at the photo in shock; they couldn't believe that the geeky girl in that picture was person standing in front of them.

"I don't know what talking about." she said with a fake innocence, which really pissed me off.

"Yes, you do! Now tell me! Why would you do this!?!" I screamed. What would you do, if your most embarrassing secret had been exposed to your entire school?

"You had it coming." she said simply, then walked off. That girl was insane, what was wrong with her? Who would do something like that?

"That's not you, is it?" asked Mandy, pointing to the picture.

"It is." I admitted, reluctantly.

"Umm.... bye." she said, following Kayla. I was seriously stunned when Mandy, of all people, just dumped me because of something that was dead and gone.

"Mandy!" yelled Aaliyah. "What are you doing?" I was even more shocked to find Aaliyah sticking up for me. It was known, by the whole school, that Aaliyah did whatever Mandy told her to do. It was a huge surprise to see Aaliyah sticking up for me and her.

"Aaliyah, she used to be a dork, a geek, a dweeb, a-" I cut her off.

"Okay, you know, I'm standing right here?" I was seeing a part of Mandy that I never knew existed. I mean, I'd over heard other people saying that she was like this, but I'd never witnessed it.

"Whatever." she said, acting like she was better than me when, not 20 minutes ago, she'd treated me like a god. "Aaliyah, you're not seriously telling me that you're going to stay friends with her?"

"Why not? Everybody has a past, why shouldn't we be friends with Rachel just because she didn't used to be popular?" said Aaliyah. Everybody in the room was staring at the argument between the siblings. It was shocking seeing the 2 girls acting so out of character. Aaliyah was usually the follower and Mandy was usually never mean. Things change, I guess.

"Because, we're popular, we can't be friends with someone who used to be like that." said Mandy, like it was obvious.

"You know what, Mandy? You're not the person you act like. You act like this nice, sweet girl, but underneath, you're just a coldhearted jerk, and I don't think that's ever going to change." said Aaliyah. When she was finished, the entire room broke out in applause. She walked away, smiling, and I followed. We left Mandy standing there in a complete daze.

"Aaliyah, you are my hero." I said when we were out of that horrible room.

"I don't know what came over me." she said, leaning her weight against the lockers behind her.

"Well, congrats! You're free! You can do whatever you want!" I said, taking her hands. "You don't have to worry about Mandy or Kayla anymore! You can be anyone you want to be!" As I said this, she seemed to start to comprehend what just happened. I don't think Aaliyah's going to be the dumb one anymore.

"Rachel, thank you." she said, looking up at me.

"What do mean?" I asked, confused.

"If you had never come here, I probably would've been Kayla's slave for a lot longer. Thank you, you're probably the only real friend I've had for a long time, even my sister wasn't my real friend. Thank you." she said, beaming up at me. This didn't really go according to plan, but it was probably better this way.

"Hey." said a familiar voice behind me. My back stiffened when I heard his voice. I hadn't really thought about talking to him, but now I was.

"Umm....... hi." I said turning around, very slowly.

"Can we talk?" said Mason.

"Okay?" I said, but it sounded more like a question not a reply. I looked back at Aaliyah, who nodded encouragingly. I had no choice but to face him. It would be painful, but I knew I had to. Goodbye Mason.

"You're gonna break up with me." I said, once Aaliyah had gone back into the cafeteria

"What?" he said like that was the last thing on his mind.

"What?" I said, confused. He wasn't going to dump me?

"You thought I was going to break up with you?" he asked completely shocked, almost as shocked as I was.

"Well... aren't you?" I asked feeling stupid. I knew Mason loved me, but I didn't think that he could love me, knowing that I used to look like that. 'God, Kayla's going to be so pissed!' I thought after the initial shock.

"No, I'm not. I just wanted to know why Kayla would do something like that." he said. I almost started cracking up. Kayla was going to be beyond pissed; she would probably die of anger.

"I don't know why. I guess she was just so jealous, she'd stoop to that level." I said. That was so awesome to say. Kayla got what she deserved and victory was sweet.

"I can't believe I used to have a crush on her." he said, putting his arm around my waste as we headed back into the cafeteria. 'I love karma' I thought.