Chapter 34

I walked into the school on Monday and saw that most of the students were gathered.

"Quite unusual". I thought.

It didn't occur to me that I might be the reason behind that gathering.

"Look who is here". A student said happily and most of the other students in the hallway turned to look. They all stared at me and smiled. Most of them tried to get closer to congratulate me.

"Congratulations". Someone said.

"This is like the best thing we have had to talk about in years". Another student commented.

"You are so good at this".

"You should do this more often".

"You are a superstar now".

"Can you sign my paper?". She pointed out the paper and a pen. I snatched the paper from her with exaggerated force.

"Eesh, easy". She said to me and frowned her face.

"Being popular means being known by most or all the people around a particular place. Being popular in different cases entails different things for different personalities. While some people are known for their beauty, others are known for their expertise in sports and some are popular because they can sing or dance very well.

Being popular in Duncan high school is way different from all of this. A space in the upper echelon is guaranteed if only you can prove your worth. The lingering question is "How can you prove yourself worthy of a space in the Duncan high school upper echelon?". Anyways, I won't leave you hanging. In today's article Duncan Chronicles, I will answer the question that has left many students hanging.

To be popular means to impress your friends and make everything think you are "cool". It's no news that I got detention last week for fighting with high school queen Kimberley McAdams. The fight was as a result of a scandal she caused about me in the school. To Kimberley McAdams and her friends, such shameful act is tagged as being "cool", how true is this?

Popular girls and boys are always very revengeful. They will go at any length to exert revenge on whoever offends them. This is further worsened by the fact that the victim refuses to open up to the school authorities. Being feared is being part of what guarantees you a space in the upper echelon.

The surprising thing about the Duncan high school hierarchy is that getting to the top is as hard as staying at the top. After struggling to get to the top, you have to struggle even harder to remain there as even your own friends can bring you down. This is one of the things I learned from Kimberley McAdams and it will forever remain in my mind. Kimberley and I became friends after the detention. We were both seen by Clara Williams and Monica Hart walking out of the female bathroom. A few minutes before walking out, I recall we were chatting and laughing only for her to deny me in front of her friends because she thinks am "uncool".

She apologized later and we went to The Seven's restaurant on a girly date to make up for denying me in the presence of her friends. You might ask yourself why The Seven's when we could go to a restaurant nearby and less expensive. The answer is that Kimberley McAdams doesn't want to be seen with me. She faces a lot of pressure from her friends. They (especially Clara Hart) decide her life for her. She might be the high school queen but she needs the approval of her minions to do certain things. The high school queen is afraid that she might lose her position if she goes against her friends or against the set of rules. In a later paragraph, I will explain the set of rules you have to follow to be a popular girl or boy or to be accepted by the popular group.

It's is a known fact that the Final year Arts A class is the coolest and most notorious class in the whole school but how so? The most popular girl and boy (Kim and Marc respectively) are from this class and the other students are also considered cool. In this class are twelve ranks of being cool and only twelve students, the first being Kimberley McAdams and the last being Barbara Marvel Jesus. The funny thing is that the class representative, Disney Roberts is in rank eleven. All the power of being a class representative goes to Kimberley while Disney is only class representative in duties. Academic prowess is the last item on a priority list while fashion quality is the top item. The fewer morals and regard for authority you have, the better for you.

Kim is a very nice and smart girl who loves kids and Ice cream. She is viewed by a lot of people as a meanie and a jerk.

The class representative Disney loves to read and write but can't fulfil her dreams because she doesn't want to get on the wrong side of the high school queen. Disney is a very smart girl and can do better in her academics if she doesn't have to spend endless times after partying and hanging out with the cool crowd. She does everything Kim, Marc, Monica and Clara tells her to do even if it goes against her morals. Once did she not turn in her Spanish assignment despite the fact that she had done it because the other kids haven't. Thank God we have to wear uniforms, if not a lot of students would have been humiliated by the proud cool kids.

Monica is a nice girl who cares so much about her best friend Kim but doesn't show it because the cool kid rules are against kindness and affection.

Clara, on the other hand, is a professional gossipmonger and can gossip about almost anything. "She is the source of most rumours in the school" Kimberley McAdams said during my interview with her. The good side of Clara Hart is yet to be discovered.

Rumours and gossip is part of being a cool kid. A lot of people will talk bad about you behind your back and pretend to love you in your presence.

You never know who the real bad kid is but most of them are just pretending to be bad to get accepted by other people.

You might find this hard to believe but below are some rules that relate to being popular:

* Be mean to people even if they are nice to you.

* Party, take drugs and alcohol

* Gossip and spread rumours

*Do anything to stay at the top even if it means betraying your most trusted friends

*Wear cool and accepted clothes. Be in vogue.

*The most popular girl must date the most popular boy in school.

*As a popular guy, you must play at least one sport.

*Do not join school clubs except when forced to.

*Do not offer nerdy subjects like Trig, advanced science, quantum physics and engineering mathematics.

*Do not be seen with a nerd even if your life depends on it.

*Get into trouble regularly.

*Be tagged as the school enemy by the teachers e.g Marc as school enemy number one and Kim as school enemy number two.

*Make fun of other students especially the science nerds.

*Be feared by all.

*Hate all, love none.

I hope this article is eye-opening for whoever reads it and I believe I have answered all the questions about being popular and has left no iota of doubt in you. The popular kids are just like us and should be treated no differently. Being cool should mean being a smart kid and having morals and values not otherwise.

Note: Everything written are facts and are collected from a reliable source.

Source: Kimberley McAdams.

Written by: Barbara Marvel Jesus.

#No upper echelon

#Equal rights among students

#No highschool hierarchy

For:- The Duncan Chronicles.