Pride and Popularity

that turned my insides into jelly.

“So, do you still plan to come for dinner tomorrow?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it. What are your parents like?”

“Um, they’re sort of crazy.”

“Crazy?”

I laughed. “Well, they just like to put the guys who date me through some sort of a dating ritual thing.”

“Dating ritual?” Blake sounded surprised. “What do you mean? What’s it like? Is there anything I need to know?”

“Just go with it. You’ll be fine.”

“Okay, come on, Chloe. Can’t you give me more than that?”

“You definitely need a sense of humor to survive.”

“All right, so I need a sense of humor.”

“The funnier you are, the better.”

“Wait. You mean I have to act funny? Like a monkey or something?”

“What? No! You think you’ll have to act like something?” I giggled.

“Very funny.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “How else am I supposed to act?”

“Like yourself.” Smiling, I got up off the bed and wandered over to my mirror.

“Myself?”

“Yep, be yourself and you’ll be fine.” I made a face at my haphazard hair.

“You know, you’re lucky I’m brave or this could really begin to scare me,” Blake said.

I wonder if he likes red hair. I sprung a curl and answered, “Scare you? No, it’s not scary. Just, um, funny.”

“So, you guys are going to make fun of me or something?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I never know what they’re planning to do. Stop being so curious. I promise, you’ll live.” As I turned to plunk back on the bed, my knee collided with the corner of my dresser. Ouch! “Oh, sh–sugar!”

“Sugar? Did you say sugar?” I could tell Blake was trying not to laugh.

“Not always.”

“Oh?”

“No. Sometimes I say ‘sugar plum fairies.’”

He snorted. “You say ‘sugar plum fairies’ instead of—”

“Don’t say it!”

“—shoot.”

“Oh, I thought you were going to say something else.”

“I thought about it,” he said.

“You did?”

“Yep, but I changed it at the last minute. I didn’t want you to get mad and say ‘sugar’ or something.”

“Ha ha. Good one.”

“So why don’t you say, uh, the other word?”

“Oh, because—”

“Because of your parents?”

“No. Well, yeah, but mostly because I’d rather be unique and different than follow the crowd.” Oh my gosh! What am I saying? Blake is so going to think I’m a dork now. “Anyway, I know it’s kind of childish to say ‘sugar,’ but I always have, so it’s—”

“Chloe!” my mom yelled.

Thank you, Mom. “Uh, Blake, I’ve gotta go. My mom’s calling me.”

“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. See ya tomorrow. Don’t forget to be funny. Bye.”

“Bye. Oh, uh, Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Just for the record, I like that you’re unique. Besides, it sounds cute when you say ‘sugar.’”

My heart stopped and then flip-flopped. “Really?” He thinks I sound cute?

“Yes. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” I sighed and fell back onto my pillows as I hung up the phone. A girl could kiss a guy like that.

“Chloe Elizabeth!” My mother’s exasperated shout sliced through my daydreams of kissing Blake.

“Coming,” I called, wishing for just three minutes of privacy. It’s not every day a girl gets told she sounds cute.

My mom was still in the dining room. She was sitting next to my dad.

“There you are, Chloe. Have a seat.” Dad pointed to the chair opposite him.

Wondering if we were having some sort of family conference, I sat down hesitantly. “What’s up?” My parents only did this gang-up thing if they needed to tell one of their kids something upsetting.

“Well I’ve just checked my email.” Mom paused, obviously waiting for me to speak up. When I didn’t, she went on, “It seems you were caught reading a note in your English class today.”

You’re kidding me. Mr. Young emailed my parents? That is so harsh. “Um, yeah. I was.” Great. So what’s it going to be, grounding for life?

“Your father and I” —she looked over at my dad as if to include him— “think it’s time for you to take some responsibility.”

“Okay.”

“Four-wheeling instead of doing your homework, talking on the phone all evening, reading notes in class.” My dad raised a finger for each of the things he listed, as if he was counting them off.

“So? What do you want me to do?”

“We think it would be a good idea for you to get a job. It’s been almost three weeks since the theater group broke up. Playtime is over, Chloe.” My mom gave me a knowing look. 

Needless to say, after the “talk” with my folks, I called up Ms. Chavez at the dance studio to ask for my old job back. She said I could start Monday. I asked for weekends and Wednesdays off so I could still go on dates, just in case a certain someone felt like asking me out again after this weekend’s test and my blatant rejection of our first date.

My phone call with Ms. Chavez turned out to be a bit more lucrative than I’d expected. Not only did she offer to give me a raise, but she had a friend who was willing to consider me for Arizona State University’s ballet scholarship program. I guess she had told her friend about me and the work I’d done in her studio. Ms. Chavez even offered to help me with an admissions DVD. To say my parents freaked would be an understatement, and I was pretty excited myself.

Later that evening when I called Madison to tell her about my date with Collin, my call to Blake, my new job, and my possible ASU scholarship, she still found time to insist Taylor liked me. But Madison was singing a different tune about Taylor on Friday. We all were, because apparently, he’d fallen in love. 

Eight Taylor Is In Love

So what else would the whole student body talk about besides Taylor Anderson? You know, I have no idea, because it appears there is always some excitement that happens to revolve around him. Seriously, can’t we think of something more original? So he’s got a new girlfriend. Like that’s a shocker. The longest the guy has ever gone girlfriendless was back in the seventh grade, and even that was for just three days.