The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth - Alexandra Robbins [26]
That was all the preps needed to know. They told Whitney that Luke was a loser and a stoner. Actually Luke had been clean for four years while every one of Whitney’s popular friends smoked pot. Whitney had relatives who had been in rehab, so, after trying once and regretting it, she had promised herself she wouldn’t smoke. When the preps pressured her, she explained later, “since saying ‘no’ isn’t enough, I have to fake excuses like I have asthma, or I got arrested for it a while ago.”
The populars were rude to Luke when Whitney brought him to their parties. At one gathering, a popular guy shouted, “Who brought the weirdo?” Besides his blue hair, Luke didn’t look that different; he was relatively short, with ripped abs and a baby-cute face. But the prep girls told Whitney bluntly not to bring Luke to future parties because “he wouldn’t be welcome.”
Eventually, Whitney decided that if the preps didn’t allow Luke at their summer parties, then she wouldn’t go to them either. While her clique bonded without her, Whitney thought nothing of the temporary abandonment of her friends. All she wanted was to be with Luke, with whom she didn’t have to act fake. He encouraged her to be more of an individual and less judgmental. She accepted his plea not to do drugs, ever. Happier and starry-eyed, Whitney decided she was a new person. She wore bohemian clothes to reflect this change. She wanted to be different from everybody else.
By the end of the summer, Whitney and Luke were spending most of their days together. When Whitney threw her end-of-summer party, she invited her new best friend, somehow expecting her group to understand. But the preps didn’t talk to him, glowered at him, and whispered to each other in front of him. They told Whitney they were angry she had spent the summer with him. Luke waited out the party inside, playing Rock Band with Whitney’s younger sisters. Whitney felt bad, but what could she do? Telling off her friends would only start the year with drama. Now that the summer was over, Whitney had to face reality. The populars would be at school with her. Luke would not.
WHEN THE CANDIDATES DELIVERED their speeches, Chip and Giselle gave respectable talks. Bianca’s speech made no sense, which didn’t matter because Shay’s speech was, “I don’t want to be secretary. Vote for Bianca.”
Whitney stood up. “So I’ve been your treasurer basically forever,” she said. “I know the ropes and all. Why break tradition?” She ad-libbed a few quick items and sat down.
Then Jessica rose. Whitney had heard that Jessica had told classmates she was tired of the same students winning every year. Jessica apparently had rounded up other non-popular groups in an attempt to overthrow Whitney. She gave a long, detailed, polished speech that outlined her plans for the senior trip, graduation, and community service. Even Whitney had to admit that this FFA girl deserved to be a class officer.
Whitney found out at the end of second period that she had won for the sixth consecutive year. She acted blasé but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She vowed to glare at Jessica whenever she spoke for the rest of the year.
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THE SECRET OF POPULARITY
Some readers might wonder why, in a book about cafeteria fringe, I chose to follow someone who had a prime seat at the center table. Let me be clear: There are plenty of popular students who are friendly and gracious, just as there are outcasts who are not. Even the best-intentioned kids might make social blunders because they are still growing up. In Whitney’s case, as much as she espoused the benefits of popularity, she was conflicted. “I’ve never felt one hundred percent part of my group,” she admitted. She dealt with a double-edged sword. Because she sometimes acted like the bitch that the populars wanted her to be, she wasn’t fully embraced by other students. Because she sometimes revealed what she considered her