Jenni James - Pride and Popularity

“He is so cute!” Cassidy said after a loud shriek. “I know.” I smiled and tucked my legs further underneath me. “I can’t believe he likes you, seriously.” She flipped her

curly blond hair away from her face. We had the same curls, except hers were—as she described them—golden. “If you ever get tired of him, let me know.”

“Don’t you think he’s a little old for you?” I grinned as I watched her lean over to the dresser. She stole one of my hair ties and put her hair up.

“Whatever. If he was twenty-five and I was twenty-one, no one would even blink.” Cassidy scrunched up her nose and fell back on the pillows. “It’s not fair. Why can’t I be older? I want to go on dates too—except not with Collin.”

“Grr. I forgot about Collin.” I tossed a pillow at her. Just hearing his name put a damper on the evening.

Why do I have to go out with Collin, especially when a guy like Blake asked me first? Life is so unfair. 

I was very proud of myself when I remembered my date with Jacob on Saturday afternoon. We went to see the new Ryan Reynolds movie, just like he’d said we would. And I tried not to scream when the scary parts came up, but I failed. Miserably.

Jacob clearly had a great time. He thought it was funny when I screamed. I’m not so sure the people who sat in front of us thought so, however. Since every time I screamed out in fear, I made them jump. Yes, sad but true. That is me. I am the person you can hear in the movie theater that yells or screams so loudly it actually scares everyone else. That’s when people in front of you can get a bit hostile.

Needless to say, Jacob and I both survived the ordeal. Then I had to go on my date with Collin, where I spent the entire evening wishing I were anywhere else—even if it was back in that scary movie with Jacob and the scarier people in front of us.

I knew the date with Collin would be a disaster from the get-go. I mean, it’s completely evident that you have an odd date when the guy actually asks you out through your mother. But does he have to sit there in public and continue to be odd? Pardon me, but I thought the reason you took a girl out on a date was so you could get to know her a little more, not so you can play with your phone all night, studiously avoiding her.

I let out yet another silent sigh as I watched my finger twirl around the rim of my glass of lemon water. We had ordered our food a few minutes before, but I knew it would be a wait due number of people at the restaurant. The Lion’s Den is only the nicest one in our city—which figured, since Taylor’s dad, Lionel Anderson, owned the place, just one of his many business ventures. I was a bit surprised at first when Collin pulled into the parking lot. It actually made me have some respect for him that he had thought to make reservations.

With another sigh, I moved my hand from the glass and began to refold the creases in my linen napkin again. The customers all around us were clearly having a marvelous time as they laughed and enjoyed each other’s company.

With regret, I looked across the table at Collin and watched his face light up as he stared at his phone and read another email from one of his online friends. I wasn’t sure he had any real friends, just online ones. Collin laughed. He must’ve read a joke. He really does have a nice smile.

When I had told Blake that Collin was cute, I wasn’t kidding. Collin was really cute. Unfortunately, his personality and mannerisms needed some work.

Would it kill the guy to share with me what is so funny? It’s like I don’t exist. What was the point of taking me out, anyway? Frustrated, I glanced at my watch.

After another fifteen minutes, I had begun to feel a bit desperate and was debating whether or not I would be missed if I walked out the door—the same door that every three or four minutes released another happy couple to explore the world beyond this boredom. I enviously followed the progress of a young couple in their twenties as they departed. I was reminded briefly of Blake, which would’ve led to morose thoughts of a missed date had I been given the chance, which, unbelievably, I wasn’t. Because as that couple left, someone else’s arm held the door open for them, an arm my eyes soon discovered belonged to Taylor Anderson. His other arm was wrapped around the waist of Kylie, his new cheerleader girlfriend.

Oh my gosh! What is he doing here? What are the odds he would show up here tonight, of all nights?

I followed Taylor’s progress across the room as he, with Kylie in tow, trailed the hostess to their seats. Many tables along the way were graced with his blinding smile and charm. I couldn’t have been more grossed out by such a display. Spare me.

As Taylor neared our table, I quickly averted my eyes and proceeded to refold the napkin. Oh, please don’t let him recognize me. Don’t let him recognize me. For an instant, I was jealous that I had nothing else to occupy my hands like Collin did.

“Chloe Hart. Hello.” Dang.

Reluctantly, I looked up into his amused eyes and faked a smile. “Oh, Taylor, hi. I didn’t see you.” In my nervousness, I accidentally brushed my napkin to the floor.

Taylor swiftly bent over and picked it up. As he placed the napkin in my hand, he held it and whispered in my ear, “Liar. You’ve been watching me since the moment I walked in.” He squeezed my hand, then stepped back.

I felt my face heat up as Taylor swept Kylie toward Collin. I was speechless.

“Collin Farnsworth. Good to see you,” Taylor said.

As he gaped at Taylor, Collin fumbled with his phone and dropped it. Then in a flash, he was up, pumping Taylor’s hand. “Taylor Anderson! What a surprise! So nice of you to come over.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Taylor glanced back at me and grinned.

I rolled my eyes. Could he be any more obnoxious?

“Here.” Taylor forcibly removed his hand from Collin’s grasp. “Let me introduce you to Kylie.” With his left hand he gently pushed her forward.

She looked a little less than thrilled to be introduced to Collin. But for Taylor’s sake, she fulfilled the requirement like a beauty queen, all teeth and shiny lip gloss. In his obvious attempt to impress, Collin showered her with a load of gratuitous compliments. I was a bit embarrassed by his conduct and would’ve gotten over it eventually had Taylor not turned at that moment and grinned at me slyly. He glanced at Collin, then back at me and raised his eyebrows. All at once it hit me. Taylor totally thinks I have a thing for Collin! Collin? As if!

Immediately I began to pray they would leave soon, or our food would come, or the building would start on fire. Anything to escape Taylor’s stupid “knowing” grin.

And then like manna from heaven, I was saved. Not the way I hoped, but who cares? Taylor’s gaze left me long enough to catch Kylie’s look. She seemed to practically beg to be out of our sight. All at once the gentleman in Taylor came alive. After a reassuring smile at Kylie, he turned back to me and Collin.

“Well, I’ll let you two enjoy your night.”

Yes! I was so happy, I could’ve hugged Kylie. Until—

“You’ve got yourself a great catch there, Farnsworth,” Taylor said. “You hold on to her, all right?”

Collin looked at me—really looked at me for the first time that night—and then smiled. I could almost see the imaginary wheels turning. Suddenly, visions of repeated date nights just like this one popped into my head. Briefly, I contemplated causing Taylor bodily harm. Taylor patted Collin on the back like he would one of his buddies. Clearly proud of himself, he beamed right at me. Why stop at bodily harm?

Believe it or not, after that the date was even more boring, primarily due to Collin’s excessive compliments of a certain “local celebrity” that I had to hear. To add insult to injury, after I had finally finished my meal, that little rat Taylor had the nerve to send over our bill, paid for by him, with a little note attached to the receipt that read: “We hope you enjoyed your romantic evening as much as we enjoyed ours. Love, Kylie and Taylor.”

How long would it take for them to find Taylor’s body? A long time, I bet. No one would really miss the guy anyway, right? 

After church I pulled out my homework again and hit the books. I already had an essay to complete for English class, plus two paragraph worksheets for World History. I turned on my radio to a soft-rock station and plopped onto my bed. About forty minutes into ancient Rome, I had almost finished my second worksheet when Mom called me down to dinner.

My parents asked 101 questions about my date with Collin the night before. Talk about awkward. I mean, how do you tell your mom the guy she set you up with was a total pathetic loser, one who wouldn’t even look twice at you until some popular jerk basically told him to? The worst part was that by the time Collin dropped me off he had almost convinced himself we were in love. Good grief.

Anyway, my family’s dinner conversation went something like this:

MOM: So, how did your date with Collin go last night? DAD: Yeah, how did that go?

ME: Uh, go? What do you mean?

MOM: Do you like him? Does he like you?

ME: What? No.

DAD: Why doesn’t he like you?

ME: No. I mean, he likes me and all, he just doesn’t like me.

MOM: Oh. So what did you talk about?

ME: Not much.

DAD: How much did the meal cost?

MOM: Honey, don’t ask her that!

ME: I don’t know.

DAD: A-ha! A good guy. He wouldn’t let you see the receipt when he paid for it.

ME: Yeah, a true good guy. You have no idea.

CLAIRE: So was the food good?

ME: The food?