Chapter 1
902 Words
2 Months Later
Dear Readers,
Have you ever felt like you're good at everything? Nah, I guess not. It's fine, though. Not everyone is Cupid. ;)
Tip #74: Fake it 'til you make it.
Guys won't give a f**k if you don't look confident. Push your boobs up and strut down the halls like a supermodel, even if you're the fugliest thing known to man.
Xoxo, Cupid.
Chloe smirks and presses enter on her iPhone keyboard. Phones all around her ding with the notification, and she pushes off of her locker, pretending to be reading Cupid's latest post as well.
Honestly, who would guess that Chloe Evans would be doing charity work by giving advice to hopeless losers?
No one.
She's popular, for God's sake. She doesn't need people to love her anonymously for them love her. What is this, Disney Channel?
"Oh em gee! Chloe!"
Speaking of charity...
Chloe turns, lips curled in distaste before she flips it into a fake beam. "Charity! Hey!"
She 'oof's when the bombshell crashes into her, glaring down at her in annoyance before rolling her eyes and returning the hug.
"How are you?!" Charity screeches happily, pulling away and fingering a new-looking Prada bag.
Prada is so last year, Chloe sighs internally, blinking back the urge to throw the words in Charity's face.
"Super gucci!" she replies, if a bit quieter. "Daddy came home with a new island last night. Speaking of islands, how was your time in the Bahamas?" Not that I really care.
"It was so, like, super duper!" Charity chimes, hooking her arm with Chloe's and beginning to walk forward. "I went to this yoga retreat where I learned about 'finding my inner cool.'" She giggle-snorts, and Chloe almost cringes away from her. "It was so eye-opening."
"I'm sure," Chloe almost snaps, smiling falsely once more. "I have first period in A Hall, so I'll catch you later!" And with that, Chloe is wriggling away from Charity's viper-like grip and speed-walking down the hall, heels clacking against the ugly white linoleum floors.
Irritated, Chloe pulls her phone out and opens up her "101 Ways to Get a Guy to Notice You" blog. She types out a new post:
Dear Readers,
Some of you are irritating as f**k! It's fine if you're pretty, but if not, just talk less and do more, yeah?
Tip #75: Don't be an irritating f**k.
It's pretty self-explanatory.
Xoxo, Cupid.
With a huff, Chloe hits the enter button. Phones around her ding once more, notification of her blog publishing a new sector popping up once more.
Laughs and murmurs thrum through the halls, and a smirk curves Chloe's lips as she turns into her first period class. With an exaggerated sigh, she strolls to the very back of the classroom and takes a seat there.
The young teacher sitting behind her desk at the front of the classroom peers at her through her spectacles. "Good morning, Miss Evans."
Chloe yawns, earning snickers from the few early students. "Is it though?"
Ms. Michael eyes her, sipping on her coffee and tucking a strand of brunette hair behind her ear. "It depends on how you look at it."
Chloe shrugs, unlocking her phone. "Whatever."
She scrolls through i********:, cringing at an especially ugly selfie post. She clicks the comment button and types a bunch of fire and heart-eyed emojis, being sure to click enter. Her comment joins many others like it, and she almost laughs.
She moves on to the next post, biting her lip as she stares at a picture of one of the hot man-whores in her grade washing a car. She would totally break off a piece if it didn't go against her personal code of conduct.
So, she simply double-taps and moves on.
A throat clears, and Chloe looks up to the front of the classroom. Blue clashes with green, and she inhales so suddenly, she chokes on her own spit.
"I'd appreciate it if you could put your phone away while I introduce a new student, Miss Evans," Ms. Michael says calmly, staring at Chloe as she slowly lowers her phone into her bag, not able to break eye-contact with the beautiful stranger.
Because, oh God, is he beautiful.
He brushes back his dark hair, abruptly breaking whatever connection they have been sharing.
"Uh," he starts awkwardly, half-smiling as he peers around the room, "my name's Alex Papenbrook."
Over half of the room sighs dreamily, Chloe included. Can't really blame them; there's a brunette Apollo standing in front of the room!
The nerdy girl sitting in front of Chloe huffs and sits back in her chair, clearly unamused with the display Alex offers. Chloe kicks her chair, glaring at the back of her head.
The girl turns around, and Chloe is stricken with how low-key attractive she is. Her clothes, however...
"Please refrain from engaging in kickboxing with my chair," she snaps smartly, her dark her swishing in its ponytail as she turns back around.
"You're clearly blind," Chloe sneers. "How is it that nerds like you can never see how attractive guys are?"
She turns back around. "The name's Haley Stark, and 'nerds like me' know how to keep our heads on straight." She ends the conversation by abruptly turning away again.
Chloe, out of spite, kicks her chair once more, murmuring, "You've made enemies with the wrong person, Stark."
And indeed she had.
- Writer
