My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan by Seth Rudetsky Read Free Book Online Page B

When the bell rang, Mary Ann got up with the chocolate flattened all across the left butt cheek of one of her two signature outfits. On the way out, I braced myself for a Doug Gool onslaught but thankfully he forgot about the Axis of Gayvil and instead stood behind Mary Ann and said, “Look, everyone. It’s Eva
Brown
!” Doug’s two cronies high-fived him and some kids not in Doug’s group started to laugh, too. Mary Ann looked around, confused. She knew they were making fun of her but didn’t know why, because she couldn’t see the chocolate. I didn’t want to attract any Doug attention, plus I was dying to know if word of my “relationship” with Becky had spread, so I started to sneak out.
    When I was by the door, I saw Spencer push through the circle of kids that was starting to surround Mary Ann. He stood in front of her, handed her a tissue, and said simply, “You have chocolate on the back of your dress.” As Mary Ann turned around to wipe it, she tripped a little and her glasses fell to the ground and cracked. People stopped laughing as she bent down to pick them up. She managed to wipe the chocolate with one hand while grabbing her glasses with the other, but as she got up, her organic rubber band snagged on the desk, which made her hair disengage from its signature ponytail. She stood there with her hair askew, holding her ruined glasses in one hand and a dirty tissue in the other. The crowdthat was around her began to disperse. They didn’t mind mocking and psychologically torturing her, but actual physical damage wasn’t in the mix when you were considered a “good kid” by your parents.
    The only ones who remained were Spencer and Doug Gool. I looked at them and then looked back at Mary Ann. I didn’t mean to be shallow at that moment, but seeing her without her thick glasses and with her hair less severe made me realize that she actually had a beautiful face. It was like that cliché I’ve seen in old black-and-white movies with the librarian letting down her hair to reveal herself as a knockout, but it was true. Spencer was helping Mary Ann get herself together and Doug was watching. For a second, I thought there was going to be a Hallmark moment where Doug sees the broken glasses and realizes the damage his words can do. He then puts out his hand to Mary Ann and says, “Friends?”
    And … credits.
    That didn’t happen. Instead of putting out his hand, he simply put out a finger. I think you know the one. After that, he got his book bag, bumped Spencer in the shoulder (calling him a spaz), and walked out. I watched Doug go down the hallway and was pleasantly surprised to see Chuck coming from the other direction. I gazed at him as he stopped in front of me and said to one of his friends in the classroom, “See you at lunch, right?”
    Sigh. He’s so handsome. He was sporting just a little bit of facial hair, and I noticed that, like his hair, his beard was sandyblond but with a hint of red in it as well. I got a great view because he kept standing in front of me. I didn’t know why his friend hadn’t responded until I realized the only people left in the classroom were Spencer and Mary Ann.
    AH!
I
was the friend he wanted to see at lunch! I quickly changed my facial expression from
staring from afar
to
responding from close up
and answered, “Yes, Chuck. I will see you at lunch.” It was a little stilted but, come on, I was in shock! This was the first time he had ever asked me a question that wasn’t laced with annoyance or anger. Spencer and I always ate lunch together, so did this mean that Chuck would “see” me as he walked to his table, or did he mean that both he and Becky would actually be sitting with us? Dare I hope for such joy?
    Before I could ask, Chuck gave me a thumbs-up (such cute thumbs!) and walked off while I went toward my locker in a daze. When I got there, I realized I hadn’t said goodbye to Spencer, but I knew I’d see him at lunch and would explain