Kelsie

"Oh, look who's this," Jules Kinney snarked above the ruckus of the cafeteria. I pretended not to hear her and carried on eating my meal. "She's gonna get fat eating all that chicken!" Mac Little responded. I gripped my fork, wishing I could stab both of them in the heart with it. "No cutlery fights!" Dew reprimanded. She was quite eccentric and could usually be counted on to make a weird remark, which was why Jules casted her out of the social circle. Dew busied herself with wolfing down her chicken and twirling her wispy strands of hair.

Jules Kinney was the leader of Popular. The club's members included Mac Little, her trusty minion, Karlie Gloss, the kind rich girl, and Callie Martin. My ex-best friend. Cal ditched me to join the club for their fame and their 'claim' to allow every guy to be attracted to you. I guess it worked for Cal, cause now she's got lots of guys hanging off and around her.

Just saying.

The only guy I wanted attracted to me was the one that was next to Jules Kinney, looking gorgeous and totally adorbs trying to feed her. Joash Locke. The fact which drew almost the entire female population to him was his black puppy eyes and tanned skin, coupled with his unruly brown hair. The epitome of hot, hot, hot. Jules was with Jo, but she constantly reminded him how 'lucky' he was to have her by flirting around and getting down with his friends.

Amazing couple much?

Karlie glanced at me and shot me a sympathetic smile. Cal was talking to her and waving her hands around. I acknowledged her with a nod and stabbed a french fry, dipped it in ketchup and shoved it in my mouth. "Somebody's angry!" Jules called and all eyes rested on me. I gritted my teeth and chewed the fry so thoroughly it became mush. Jules and Mac strode over. Mac was really as short as her name implied, but was one of the meanest and cruelest girls. She totally fit the title of 'Meanie of the Year', alongside Jules.

"Hey, polka dotted, what's for lunch?" Jules asked as she examined my tray. She and her crew called me that 'cause I have light brown freckles on my arm and I had a few pimples on my face. "Fries, chicken, salad... what a healthy meal! Don't eat too much oily stuff or you'll have even more polka dots!" she commented and Mac burst into laughter. "Take this fork and shove it up your-" Dew intervened before I said 'asshole'. "Kelsie!" she cried and clapped a hand over her mouth. "What's up, Essence of eccentricacy?" Mac snorted. "It's eccentricity," Jules corrected, sounding frustrated. 

If you were stuck with Mac, wouldn't you be frustrated too?

Dew glared at them. "Shut up. You don't know anything. And you will never." she said. Dew could be mysterious. Sometimes she'd tried opening up to me, but I never really cared 'cause I was always not in the mood to hear her life story. Who has time for that? I guess my attitude toward that made me lose my friends. I didn't like keeping secrets for my friends. Jules blanched and scoffed. "I won't wanna know. Maybe it all started with your Mom having a scandalous affair and getting dumped, " Jules added. Dew balled her fists.

"Don't insult other people's mothers. For all we know maybe yours was embroiled in a scandal too." I offered, lazily chomping on my salad. Dew was a little startled that I'd helped her, but that's what almost-friends were for. Jules huffed and strutted off, back to Joash, with Mac trailing behind her. Karlie shot her a look and smiled hesitantly at me. Callie was shaking her head and sighing. In their club, they sorta had statuses too. Jules was queen, Mac was the servant, Karlie and Callie bystanders.

Totally fit them.

The bell rang and I dumped what remained of my lunch into the bin. I couldn't stomach any of it. Did I mention that the caf food was horrible except for the fries? Jules and Jo walked together hand in hand. Mac was left talking to one of Jo's minions. Karlie went with Callie to the girls' room, giggling along the way. I stalked to Geog and Dew trailed behind me. "Uh, Kelsie? Thanks. For helping me." she said sheepishly. I shrugged. "That's what almost-friends do." I replied. Since Cal and I parted, I'd had a lot of almost-friends. There wouldn't be anyone who'd take Cal's place.

For now.

I slid into my seat in Geog and opened my diary. Dear Cass, I scribbled. Today, I- my pencil nib broke when Cass was snatched from underneath me. I looked up... and into the eyes of Joash Locke. "Hi...?" I asked as I grabbed Cass back. Jo stared at me with a funny expression. He must've thought that I'd gone mad. In school, no one wrote in diaries. Except if you're crazy. He finally smiled tentatively at me. "Uh, Jo? Teacher's here," I hissed and he hurriedly slinked back to his seat. Unfortunately, he didn't go unnoticed. "Mr Locke, do you have some business at Miss Nelson's table?" Mr Crew asked. Jo flushed red. "N-no sir." he replied and hid his face in the textbook. The class sniggered and we turned our attention back to the lesson.

We were on the AP track after all. We couldn't afford to miss out on the Ivy League colleges.

I hid a smile as Mr Crew yammered on and on. Jo actually stole my diary. Maybe I had a chance... or not. Maybe he was helping Jules. He was like that, always attending to his girl. I wish I was like Jules. Then maybe Jo would be mine instead of hers.Suddenly I was jolted from my thoughts when Mr Crew called me. "Kelsie, when did the Chinese finish building The Great Wall?" Mr Crew inquired. The wheels turned in my mind and jammed. Come on... "Uh, 206 BC?" I guessed, pulling a random number. Mr Crew nodded in approval and carried on. I tried not to zone out, but I couldn't stop. I was just so tired. Tired from fighting Popular. Tired from defending Dew. Tired from losing Cal. Tired from the sleepless nights.

I'm aging beyond my years. 

"Sleep dabs." I murmured and the whole class turned to me. Oh my gosh." I'm so so sorry." I apologised. The whole class was smirking and laughing at me.Please, tell me I did not just say sleep dabs. I meant sleep debts. "Miss Nelson, do you have anything to share?" Mr Crew asked. I shook my head furiously. "How about a 68 degree dab?" Jo called out, his eyes twinkling. A chorus of 'yeah's and 'oh's surrounded me and drowned my protests out. I sighed and stood. "Dab, dab, dab..." the class chorused. Mr Crew looked amused and didn't stop me. I raised my arms and dabbed. The class cheered and I sat down, relieved. Jo turned. "Nice dab, Kelsie." he commended. Did he... did he just... praise me?

Gestures like that were uncommon from him.

Geog passed in a blur and we headed for the last lesson: Phys. Ed. We did stretches, warmed up and got ready for our dodgeball match. "Get into two teams of girls and two for boys." Coach yelled. Jules and the other girls who were 'socially accepted' by her formed a team, and the outcasts another. Dew and I ran for the balls and tossed them to Dina and Gina. They were the best throwers and knocked out Cal and Karl in an instant. You go, gals! Jules flung a ball at me and I sidestepped it. Missed one, Jules. Mac just dodged and got hit in the stomach. "Oomph!" she cried as she fell. The game was stopped and I sighed. A huge fuss was made but in the end there was only a light bruise.

Popular really made a mountain out of a molehill.

The game continued, but we were losing cause Popular insisted that Dina and Gina were so called 'out of court'. Sore losers, much? People like them were like that. Dew glared at Jules and tossed her ball as hard as she could... and hit Jules's chest. Jules started screaming and crying and kicking up a fuss. Why was she always such a spoiled brat?Jo was standing awkwardly and patting his shoulder. Our eyes met and a smile tugged at his lips. Aww. Jules was pointing at Dew and she flipped her hair. Wow. Mac glared and flipped her off. I stuck my tongue out. Mac puffed up but she immediately turned to Jules who suddenly yelled.

Yell- no, cry-baby.

Dew and I slapped a five. "Way to get back at Jules for her remarks about your mother." I whispered. Callie frowned at me and turned to Jules. I was a little bit scared of getting tattled on but Cal gave me a reassuring smile. The first we ever shared in a long, long time.

A/N: Yay I'm done with the first chapter! Hope you liked it. Please leave feedback but no hate mail. If you do, I'm deleting it. xxheadlightsxx are you in luv yet?