Jenni James: Pride and Popularity

“Okay, and? How did you meet him? What were you doing? How did he know you played the cello? Did he see you perform or something? Come on, Alyssa, I’m dying for some exciting news already, so tell me!” Madison begged.

“All right, but you have to promise not to laugh, okay?” She turned to me. “Okay?”

We both nodded.

As if I would. Well, maybe a little.

“You know how my family and I go to the rest home in Bloomfield every Sunday evening so I can play for my grandpa, right? Actually, I’m pretty popular, and now I perform in their main lounge area so anyone who wants to can come in and listen. Some nights I even get requests. It’s like a standing gig every Sunday night at 6:30.” She winked at us.

“Really? I had no idea,” I said. “You should invite us sometime.”

“Yeah, we could be in the front row and hold up signs that say, ‘Alyssa rocks, so get your rocker and rock along with her!’” Madison added.

We all burst into giggles, but Madison quickly got back on track. “Okay, so about Zack?”

“Well, what you may not know, and what I definitely didn’t know,” said Alyssa, “was that Zack goes to the same rest home every Sunday afternoon to visit his grandma. Anyway, his grandma had told him about my playing. Which was cool, because his mom used to . . . Oh my gosh! Did you know his mom died of breast cancer?”

“What?” I almost dropped my drink.

Alyssa continued, “I mean I knew he had a stepmom and all, but I just always assumed his parents were divorced.”

I was shocked. “So did I.”

“So did I,” Madison exclaimed. “Well, at least he’s popular, you know?”

“Kind of a pathetic consolation prize for losing your mother,” I said.

Madison nodded quietly for a moment before snapping back into interrogation mode. “Enough doom and gloom. Tell us what happened. You were about to say something else about his mom?”

“Oh, did you know his mom used to play the cello? Can you believe it? The cello. It’s like fate or something.”

“Now, that is cool,” I said.

“That’s not even the best part!” Alyssa leaned forward. “Zack’s mom must’ve been an incredible player, because right before she died, when he was like seven or eight, she performed in a breast cancer fundraising event where her cello solo raised over $33,000! That’s thirty-three thousand dollars! Can you believe it? The most I have ever raised for charity was $23.59. No wait. It was $23.58. My punk little brother took his penny back after hearing me play.”

Too funny. I love little Tanner. He’s such a hoot. I tried not to smile.

Madison smothered a grin too. “Stop stalling already, Alyssa. Get to the good stuff.”

“So there I was playing. This time, I guess Zack decided to stay and listen. I didn’t even know he was there. You know how I get into my own zone when I’m performing? Anyway, later, he said that seeing me up there reminded him of his mom. And I won’t go into how much of a compliment that was to me, because then Madison will get all testy again. So, before I knew it” —Alyssa went on, drowning out Maddi’s protests— “my little recital was over and I was bowing, because they always make me bow when they clap. I tell you, old people can be pretty demanding.” She looked to Madison. “Okay. I’m moving on.

“And as I bowed and bowed—they were especially moved that day, standing up and everything—I was starting to get embarrassed by all the attention. So, to stop my adoring fans, I did an extra dramatic swooshing curtsy thing. That should never be done in public and never will be done in public again, because as I was standing, my arm went way out and totally hit a stunned Zack right in the face! He was coming up to compliment me. The smack surprised him so much he lost his balance and fell backwards. He knocked over a whole cluster of fake trees, spilling rocks, foam, and fake moss everywhere. It was so humiliating.”

“What? Oh my gosh. You knocked over Zack Bradford? That’s how you met?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

Madison laughed too. “This is hilarious! What did you do? What did he do?”

“Hey, you promised not to laugh.” Alyssa leaned back. “Well, I was mortified, as you can imagine, and I think he was too. His face was all red, and he couldn’t even look at me for a while. But it was okay, because we were both so busy. We helped the workers clean up the mess. It was after we collected the moss stuff, vacuumed the floor, and redecorated, that we were finally able to really talk to each other.”

“So what did you say?” I asked.

Alyssa blushed. “Well, I told him he still had some moss in his hair. After laughing about it and getting what he could without a mirror, he let me remove the rest. It was as I was pulling the bits of pieces off the back of his head that he told me about his mom and why he wanted to come up and talk to me.”

“Wow, Alyssa,” I whispered. Madison was as still as I was.

“Yeah, it was a really nice moment for both of us,” Alyssa went on. “Then I told him how my grandma and grandpa migrated here from China with just their instruments and a few dollars, and how it was because of them and their love of music that I play now. After that, Zack and I just sat on the couches and talked. It was really cool getting to see him as a normal guy.”

I smiled. “Alyssa, he’s one of the most popular guys in our school. I can’t believe that was the Zack you’ve been talking about all the time.”

“I was afraid you’d be mad at me if you knew he was Taylor’s friend,” she said.

“What, why? No, I’m happy for you, really!”

Madison smirked. “Well, we’ve all heard your thoughts on Taylor. It’s no wonder she hesitated to bring up Zack.” She turned to Alyssa. “He sounds like a great guy, and I think you should go for him.”

“Go for him? I thought you were already going out with him,” I said. “At least that’s what it seemed like.”

“No, not really. We just hang out at the rest home on Sundays. Usually, we’ll play a mad game of Dominoes or Pinochle with our grandparents.”

“Pinochle? It’s gotta be love if you’re playing Pinochle together,” Madison teased.

“We’re just friends,” Alyssa said defensively. “Honest. Apart from quickly saying hi to me in the halls a couple of times, Zack never even spoke to me today, and we have two classes together.”

What is it with popular guys shutting out people in front of their friends? I thought. It’s what makes me so mad about the “in” crowd. Everyone is so superficial. I hate to even think it, but Zack has an awesome chance at having a real, compassionate girlfriend for probably the first time in his life, and yet he’s too scared to do anything about it. Guys like that are so fake. Of course, then there’s Taylor Anderson, who’s on a whole other level of shallow.

At least I had three days to prepare to keep my equilibrium from tipping and making me dizzy whenever he was around. If Zack’s example wasn’t enough of an inducement to keep my head afloat—and keep me from drowning in the same silliness as the other girls around me—then I didn’t know what was.

This seemed like an awesome little pep talk to give myself at the time. But I hadn’t counted on one thing: Taylor showing up earlier than anyone could have predicted.

What guy comes home from a cross-country trip in the morning and attends school that day? Couldn’t he have waited one more day instead of waltzing into art class with a little yellow slip from the office? Of course, he would pick this class to show up to.