Step one, be overly confident. Step two, gain the trust of the popular crowd. Step three, screw up the entire dynamic between yourself and two of your closest friends. The first two steps hadn't been much to obsess over.

Carter had expected a challenge, something to keep her busy for at least several months, but instead she was met with underwhelming circumstance and an unexpected problem. That problem had been nesting in Carter's mind since Saturday night, and no matter what she did, no matter how many moments she spent staring at Aiden's beautiful face, she couldn't let Kiran go.

The roles had changed. Carter was now the one avoiding Kiran. She would backtrack and turn away whenever she saw him walking towards her in the hallways. She would sit as far away as possible from him in whatever class they had together. The usual, childish tactics. Everything Kiran had done last week.

"So you lied to me," Tala said. Carter had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed Tala approaching their table, looking as beautiful as ever, in her skinny jeans, knee-length high-heeled boots, and sheer black shirt that hinted at more but covered up just enough. The girl always managed to look impeccable, even against the boring backdrop of Newton High's student body.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and several of them had a study period just before their last class of the day. Elena was sitting at the table, a Chemistry book in front of her, her face a little sweaty and a little frantic-looking. Melody was close by, sitting still and looking like she didn't know what to do with herself. Ashton Rhodes wasn't there to order her around.

"What're you talking about?" Carter asked, having finally snapped out of her daze.

"You said Kiran has a girlfriend. He doesn't. I asked him."

"Sorry, I thought he did. Maybe they broke up."

"I think you like him. Which is fine, but own up to it." Tala didn't sound threatening or angry at all. She seemed, as always, very amused by all of it. She kept her voice down so the other two girls wouldn't hear.

"Well... that's just... stupid."

"Look, don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Good, because there's nothing to tell." Even as she said it, Carter knew she didn't sound at all convincing.

Tala didn't say anything about the matter after that. She had on a rather infuriating smirk for a moment, but in the end decided to drop it. Carter knew that Tala wasn't the type to spread gossip, so that part didn't worry her. What did worry her was the fact that someone had found her attraction to Kiran obvious enough to talk about. What if others had noticed a hint of something?

What if Ashton Rhodes realized it and decided to use it against Carter at some point? Then again, Tala was exceptionally perceptive, so maybe Carter had nothing to worry about at all.

***

The day progressed like any other day. Students went from class to class. Teachers carried on in their monotone voices, trying to infuse some knowledge into uncaring kids. For Leigh, the day seemed to be moving extra slowly. For some reason she hadn't seen much of Carter, and she was desperate to know the status of her best friend's little plan.

Several people had approached her, wanting to know where Carter was. While for the most part Leigh saw it as a triumphant step in the right direction, a tiny part of her couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

It was a good kind of jealous though, like the kind you feel when your best friend is getting married while you're still single, or when your sister gets accepted into an Ivy League school while you're attending community college. You're happy and sad at the same time. Of course, the sadness of Leigh's jealousy wasn't nearly as grand as that of someone being constantly compared to a genius sibling, but it did consume her at times.

Still, she tried to shake it off and hope for the best. After all, she wasn't the glass-half-empty type of person.

"Hey Leigh," said Kiran.

Leigh felt her heart skip a beat. Not technically, since that would probably be considered a medical emergency. Just on an emotional level. He was looking as cute as ever, with his navy-blue suit jacket with its sleeves rolled up, his checkered dress shirt, and his stone-wash jeans. Leigh figured he should probably change his name to Mister Hipster. Or Mister Adorable. Whichever one he was most comfortable with.

"Hello, Earth to Leigh," Kiran said as he waved a hand in front of Leigh's face.

"Hey. Hi. How's it going?" Leigh asked, feeling embarrassed. It was really Kiran's fault. Had he not been so attractive, Leigh wouldn't find herself stuck in a daze whenever he was around.

"It's going great. There's something I wanna ask you."

Leigh imagined Kiran getting down on one knee and asking for her hand in marriage. "What's up?"

"I know this is going to seem a little awkward, but it's about Carter."

"Awkward? Why?"

"You just have to promise me you won't tell her anything about this."

"Sure, I promise." Promise you? I'll do anything for you. I'll go to the ends of the Earth for you. If that even makes sense. Why do they say that? It's not like the Earth has ends. Unless it just means mountains, in which case I'll climb a mountain for you. What? Get a grip. Leigh tried to stop letting her thoughts drift away. She needed to focus.

"Do you know what she thinks of me?"

"I'm sure she thinks you're a great guy," Leigh answered with a shrug.

"But you guys talk, right? I mean, that's what girls do, talk about their feelings? Has she said anything about me?"

Why was he asking Leigh a question only someone with a crush would ask? Guys didn't work that way, did they? They rarely spoke of their feelings. A girl could marry a guy, be with him for an entire lifetime, and still not know him completely. That was how closed off most of them were.

Leigh was overcome with a sinking feeling, a small piercing in her heart that she didn't like at all. "Not anything in particular. Why?"

"You know what, don't worry about it. I gotta go. I'll see you later," said Kiran. He walked off without waiting to see what Leigh's reaction would be.

As Leigh watched him leave, she hoped that her instinct was wrong. She wasn't sure how she would be able to handle the possibility of the guy she was hopelessly in love with having feelings for her best friend. It was just too cruel to be real. Maybe it was all in her head, and there was nothing actually going on.

***

It was crazy that confidence was all it took for someone's high school status to completely change. Confidence was a whole course all on its own. It had variables, created endless possibilities, and offered many rewards. It was a thing of beauty, and those that obtained their Masters in confidence could potentially do anything they wanted. You could be a high school drop-out and still make millions if you're confident enough.

For the last week, Carter's confidence level had risen. While the situation with Kiran had put a small block in her path to popularity, it didn't take away any of her willpower.

It was lunchtime on Wednesday, and she found herself at the center of the cool kids table. However hilarious and cliché that sounded, she was happy with herself. At least for now.

Aiden was sitting right next to her, his hand on her thigh, a small smile on his handsome face. Some of his friends were there, and for the first time ever, Carter recognized them all. They were like a collection out of a typical teen movie. There was the resident computer geek-slash-hot dude, the guy who needed to crack a joke every second, the guy who appeared completely bored with everything, and two guys from the basketball team bragging constantly about their team's latest victory.

The five girls Carter had gotten used to seeing every day were there as well. Ashton had her arms folded across her chest, and she would glare at anyone who dared to pay more attention to Carter instead of her. Which was almost everyone there. No one besides Melody seemed to care enough to stop though.

"Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" Aiden asked her quietly.

"I thought I'd rent a car, drive to Mexico, maybe Tijuana, find a hot local and let him drink shots off my stomach."

"Well that sounds a little more interesting than what I had planned, but I hope you have fun." It was good that Aiden had started to get her humour. She had been afraid he would find her too dry, too deadpan, but he caught on quick.

"Oh? And what did you have planned?"

Aiden brought his lips to Carter's ear and whispered, "You, me, a bottle of champagne, poolside, no one else around... and if you want I can drink shots off your stomach."

"Hmm, I don't know. I'm still thinking Mexico. Besides, champagne has alcohol in it. I don't condone underage drinking."

"So when you said shots, they were shots of...?"

"Apple juice, obviously. What kind of girl do you think I am?" Carter said with a smirk. Truth be told, she was a rather good girl. As good as someone could be in Newton High. Then again, the term 'good' was always a little subjective, and she wasn't one to line herself up against others and compare everyone's level of goodness.

"What're you two whispering about?" Elena piped in.

Melody and Ashton were staring at Carter, probably quietly judging her. "Weekend plans. What're you girls up to? No party?"

"Not this weekend. My mom is making me go to my Nanna's birthday. Gag. Like I need to watch old people try to eat without their dentures falling out," Elena said before putting her lunch away and suddenly looking a bit nauseated.

"That sucks. But I'm sure your Nanna will be really happy to see you there," Carter replied with a warm smile.

"Are we done talking about Trace's Nanna? No one cares," Ashton Rhodes hissed. "Melody, Georgie and I are going to a house party on Saturday, by Ford. We would've invited you, but we assumed you'd be busy throwing yourself at other people's boyfriends."

"That's okay. I wouldn't have wanted to go anyway. College parties that let high school kids in are so pathetic. Imagine how desperate they must be for people to show up, that they'd invite you three." Carter hadn't meant for it to be so mean. She didn't know what had happened, but something had taken over her, pushing her to bite back.

Before Ashton could retort, or the other two girls could give in their two cents, Aiden faced Carter again. "Hey, let's go somewhere else. We can all go to the field. It's nice out."

Aiden's friends followed suit, as did Tala and Elena, and almost amusingly, Georgie.

Another victory. However small and unimpressive they might seem to strangers, Carter knew every single victory counted. While her initial goal wasn't to destroy Ashton's reputation, it had found its way into the project now, and to her it had indeed been another victory. Something in the power of humiliating those like Ashton filled Carter with great satisfaction.

Of course, she would try her hardest to not resort to such petty behaviour again. After all, she wasn't Ashton Rhodes.

When the group stepped outside, Carter concluded that 'nice' was an understatement when it came to the weather. The air was so thick with lazy warmth that the group laid around on the grass, all completely at ease and without any drama. It was a refreshing change from the cafeteria, the social center of the dramatic teenagers association.

It was peaceful and beautiful, and Carter wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in the arms of Aiden, not a single care in the world, completely immersed in one perfect moment.

The only problem was that whenever she closed her eyes, the face of Kiran Jones filled her mind.

When Aiden kissed her for the first time on that grass, she felt nothing. No passion. No light-headedness. No magic. Compared to Kiran, it was like kissing a statue, and it disappointed her greatly. She only hoped that, with time, the passion would build, and maybe if Aiden kissed her in a dark closet somewhere, her heart would float and her mind would become fuzzy.

Though how do you make yourself like someone? The heart wants what it wants, and what if Carter's heart never wanted Aiden?