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Chapter 8

The basic rules of Clover High (as brought to my attention by Alex) are as follows:

1) Do not try to break the status quo.

"This isn't some inspirational high school movie about a 'nerd' who rises up and beats the nasty people at the top of the food chain because the captain of the football team falls in love with her. If you're popular, great. You get 4 years of artificial popularity. If not, then grit your teeth and bear it." Alex had told me while we walked down the hall from the cafeteria.

"Not that any of us care anyway." She'd said. "I fail to see how those 20-something- year-old looking high schoolers can worry so much about social status when they have these giant tests to get into college. With that logic, I can fail all year, and have only one test to redeem myself, stress about it for literally 3 movie minutes, then have the smart, good-looking-under-the-glasses, geeky person be forced to be my tutor, and because of our chemistry, come out with a top grade in chemistry!"

By this time she spoke determinedly and her fists were clenched by her side.

"Oh, and don't forget they also have the jealous ex who just happens to be the head cheerleader on their back. And then there's the best friend who's 'sexretly' in love with them, but for some reason, they choose the sporty jock that they've known for 12 movie minutes..." I respond, laughing.

Alex stopped in the hallway.

"Finally someone who gets me!" She exclaimed, wrapping me in a tight embrace. When she let go, she beamed at me, showing me all her teeth.

"But, despite all that, you still can't help but hope that she gets with the good looking jock, and that she eliminates that ex and passes her finals after only a night of frantic studying."

"Yes, my friend. The hypocrisy is real." I laughed, and proceeded to walk down the hallway with Alex, moving on to pointing out everything wrong with our favourite dystopian novels.

**
2) Mind your own business

"Ah, yes." Alex said, sitting down on a bench in the courtyard. "The hardest one to follow. Who can't resist the allure of a juicy rumour, ripe and ready to spread? It's all well and good enjoying the gossip while it's there, but if that gets traced back to you - and it will get traced back to you - you need to be ready for a viable excuse; I will be conveniently vacationing in Guatemala when this whole show down happens. " She finished, then gave me a smile so that I couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

"So... To avoid any confrontation I just keep to myself? I can do that!" I replied.

She nodded.

"But, just a side- note. How do I handle confrontation that did not spark from me spreading a rumour?"

Alex pinched my cheek and shook her head. "You have so so much to learn!" She cooed. "But that's for later. Right now, rule number 3!"

3) Keep grounded

"Okay, so you may or may not have to go through this initiation thing next week. Technically, I'm not allowed to outright warn you, but I can't get in trouble if you 'figure it out' on your own."

I narrowed my eyes. "Initiation? For what?" I asked suspiciously.

"The popular people are going to try and see if they can recruit you. They do it to all the new kids. Apparently, you've already passed level one, because you look the part, and they like your accent." She rolled her eyes. "I would be jealous because I was dismissed as soon as they saw me (you do not want to see my pictures from freshman year), but I'm kind of relieved. Popularity is way too much stress anyway."

Surprisingly, there was nothing but boredom in her voice. I guess Alex wasn't the revenge type.

"But it's not too late so save you. You do not want to roll with that crowd, believe me. They'll inevitably change you into one of them, and then you'll just be another crony with no brain and too much lipstick."

I was about to laugh before I saw the seriousness in her baby blue eyes.

"Whoa, well, uh thanks for the warning. Though I'm still kind of surprised. They actually want me?" I asked, as I leant on my arm in thought and disbelief. "I guess I made more of an impression than I thought."

Alex rolled her eyes and was about to respond, but then the bell rang.

"Okay, well, I guess this meeting will have to be cut short! Those are the three main rules, and the rest are things like being nice to people, don't be a know-it-all, basic stuff." She rose from where she was sitting and gave me a soft slap on the back. "I think you'll do fine."

I smiled a doubtful smile and followed her out of the courtyard, the initiation still on my mind.

***

"I always like to start the year with something fun! Surprise pop-quiz!"

Everyone groaned dramatically, almost drowning out the laughing of my enthusiastic English teacher.

"You guys should know me by now, I do actually know what fun is! Instead of a surprise pop-quiz, we're going to have a surprise debate. I'll put two of you against each other, and you'll each have 30 seconds to argue your point of view. The class will vote on the winner, and let me just say this now -it's based on your literary skills, not your popularity. I don't want to see you vote for someone just so that they can like your photo on Instagram." He smiled at the few laughs he got. "Anyway, the best speakers will be recommended for the debate team, so, consider this as sort of an initiation."

I frowned, not because I hated the idea, but I hated that I would have to argue with someone I barely knew. We were all seniors, so everyone else has known each other since the first year of high school. Why would anyone vote for me?

The rest of the class muttered in excitement, and I couldn't help but notice that there was no-one I could mutter with in this class.

I looked round the room awkwardly, and decided to twiddle my thumbs until the teacher was done doing something on the computer. I was doing it for about 30 seconds when I got a tap on the shoulder.

"You any good at arguing?" A boy said, smiling cheekily and showing all his teeth.

"Well, my mum seems to think so, no matter how I disagree." I smiled back, grateful to have someone to talk to.

He had a bright green beanie on that mostly covered his honeycomb hair - leaving enough to show his fringe. His smile was bright and infectious, and he had a cheeky atmosphere about him - the kind of guy that you can't bring down.

I liked him already.

"You're that girl everyone's been talking about." He said bluntly, and I felt blood rush to my cheeks. "Don't worry, every new kid has their 15 minutes of fame. After a while the novelty should wear off. Well, at least until another rumour is spread!"

I looked at him uncertainly and he smiled sheepishly.

"God, I'm making it sound worse than it is." He said apologetically. "To tell you the truth, it's not so bad. Just make friends with the decent people, and you'll be alright. You may have just got yourself one already." He winked.

"Okay... Well, thanks!" I said happily, just as the teacher projected a 'wheel of fortune' image on the screen, littered with multiple options to debate on.

I particularly liked the one about Zayn leaving one direction.

"Okay, so you each have 30 seconds to say your point remember, and whoever can convince the audience will win-"

His voice became background noise as I focused when the boy sitting behind me leant forward and whispered.

"This should be fun."

I turned around briefly and smiled, but as soon as I turned back, I saw the teachers eyes trained on us.

"Lovely, we have a volunteer! Kendall, thanks for talking, it really helped the no-one-wanting-to-go-first situation. Now let's see what you'll be doing!" He yelled, much like a game show host would do, and pressed a button that made the wheel turn round.

It landed on 'social media: yay or nay?'

Not a bad one, admittedly.

"And your ever so lovely assistant can supply our counter argument." He gestured to me and I sunk lower in my chair as I felt a lot of eyes on me.

"Come on up, let's see what you got." He said excitedly, and waited for me to unenthusiastically trundle to the front of the room.

"Okay, Kendall." He pointed to the boy now standing beside me. "You're for. And new girl. " he gestured to me once again. "You're against."

He looked at his watch and asked everyone if they were ready to listen. Then he asked us if we were ready and we both nodded, I was already conjuring up an argument in my head.

"For first... GO!"

The boy - Kendall presumably - turned to me and started to speak.

"Social media: yay or nay. Is this even a fair question? Countless good things have been done due to social media, and news has been spread so much faster because of people's ability to tweet at the speed of light. The world has become so much smaller, and now people can talk to relatives who live abroad, plan outings, entertain themselves at no cost, and get to know about current news. You can discover new things at the click of a button, and it's never been easier to get to know someone than by looking at their profile, or for employers to know who they're potentially employing. Everything is so much easier due to social media, and it's something that will continue to evolve in the future. I have faith that it will only grow more illustrious as the years go on."

He finished with another one of his genuine smiles, and I stood my ground, subtly impressed.

Mr. Small - the teacher - stopped the timer on his watch a few seconds after Kendall had stopped speaking.

"Good job, K. A strong argument." He nodded, as impressed as I was. "And you, newbie? A rebuttal?"

I looked back at Kendall who had an expectant expression on his face. He wanted to see what I had.

And I was about to show him.

**

I smiled at the pats of congratulations that I got from the people around me as we began to file for the door to exit the classroom.

Kendall was the last to congratulate me.

"Whoa, Sierra." He said. "You almost persuaded me to delete my twitter account. You were amazing up there!"

I shook my head humbly. "It was mostly you, actually. You set up a really good argument ."

"Yeah, for you to knock down!" He protested, grabbing his bag from his seat. "Well anyway, well done all the same, I'll be seeing you at Charlie's party tonight?"

I nodded.

"Cool, well see you there!" He said, walking out of the classroom and waving.

I walked to Mr. Small's desk and waited for him to speak. When he didn't say anything, I cleared my throat and looked around the room.

"Uh, you wanted to see me, Sir?" I queried.

A smile broke out on his faces
"You are a very talented girl, Sierra. Very talented indeed. Your speech was... Breathtaking." He said matter of factly.

"Thank you, Sir. I was on the debate team at my old school."

"I can see why!" He replied.

It was weird to me how much my ability was celebrated here. In my old school, I was labelled as a know-it-all, and people hated me for it. It was a nice change to be appreciated.

But the next thing that Mr. Small said surprised me the most.

"Tell me." He uttered. "Have you heard of our honours programme?"

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