Live Above The Influence

Life, as Cara Willow knew it, would change forever. The day she saw Nicole Hines walk the halls was the day she knew she wanted to walk right beside her. If she became cool too, Cara knew Nicole and her two friends Shelby Daniel and Emma Underwood wouldn’t and couldn’t turn her down!

Cara and her friend Allie Marbury walked to Mrs. Sim’s English class, their first period. As they turned the corner, Cara’s eyes grew wide. There she was, Nicole Hines, the most popular girl in school. Her brunette hair was layered, had blond highlights, and seemed to blow in the wind. Her green eyes looked like emeralds, her nose was short and pointed, and her body shape perfect like Kirsten Cavallari’s.

“Who’s that?” Cara asked, amazed.

“Who, that?” Allie looked at Nicole. “That is Nicole Hines, the school prep.” She shuddered. “Oh, how I hate that girl.”

“Why? That has she done?”

“Uh, have you been paying any bit of attention? She’s been making fun of me and ruining my reputation since the beginning of sixth grade!”

“How would I know that? This is only my second day!” Cara rolled her eyes. “Besides, she can’t be that bad. She looks really nice!” Bravely, Cara walked over to Nicole.

Allie shook her head. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”

As Cara approached the popular girl, she wondered if they would be best friends. That would be exciting! “Hi, Nicole!”

Nicole stopped talking to the curly brown-haired girl on her left and looked down at the new girl. She scrunched her nose as she took in the hideous sight. She wore her black hair in revolting pigtails, her enormous glasses swallowed her face, and her braces were red, white, and blue colored. Her clothes, when you looked at them, in Nicole’s point of view, stung the eyes. Her red “I love computers!” shirt clashed with her pink exercising pants, and her Keds were absolutely disgusting. “Can I help you?”

“Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Cara Willows! I just started the eighth grade. I was hoping you could show me around and help me get used to the place!”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Go back to your geeky friends, nerd! You are totally not cool!”

Cara looked hurt. “What do you mean?”

“Only freaks wear pigtails, your glasses are as big as your face, no one chooses red, white, and blue for their braces, your shirt is so nerdy, not to mention your shoes, and red and pink don’t match! Who dressed you? Someone who is color blind?”

Cara felt her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh look girls! The baby’s going to cry!” The laughed at her and pointed at her as she turned around and walked back to Allie.

Allie shook her head. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

At home that night, Cara looked at her self in the mirror. Her sixteen year-old sister, Cloe, walked in. “Cara, why do you look so sad? Aren’t you having fun at your new school?”

Cara shook her head. “Today, a girl named Nicole, who is really pretty and totally cool, said I looked geeky. Then she laughed and called me a baby.”

Cloe stifled a laugh. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be mean or anything, but it’s not like you look your age…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, girls your age normally are into fashion and being popular. You don’t really care about any of that stuff. You act just like you did when you were seven. You love watching Sesame Street and playing with Polly Pockets. You’re kind of…how do I put this?…Out of style?”

“I…I’m…out of style?” Cara turned around and looked at her sister. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well…I haven’t seen anyone your age wear pigtails or huge glasses like that since you were in third grade. No one wears “I love computers!” shirts, and everyone knows that red clashes with pink. And Keds aren’t really in style either.”

“Should I be worried about this?”

Cloe nodded. “But don’t freak out. I’ll help you. Let’s go to the mall and get you some new clothes to make you look really cool. Maybe that way, you’ll get some new friends.”

Cara smiled and nodded.

Once at the mall, Cloe said, “Cara, while we’re here, take a look at everyone’s hair. Maybe that way, if you find a style you like, you can wear your hair like that.” Cara nodded and looked around.

While they walked through the mall, she noticed that everyone’s hair was unique it its own way. One teenage girl’s hair was as bouncy as a spring, curly as a pig’s tail, and as bright as the sun. A young boy, about the age of eight, had hair as short as a boy cut and as black as a Goth’s makeup.

There were some people, she noticed , that was absolutely awful. One girl, about the age of twelve, had hair as terrible as a murder. One woman, who looked about forty, had a pink jacket and matching sweatpants, but had hair as fiery as, well, a fire!

And then there were the people with nice hair. One teenage boy had hair as clean s a whistle, and a teenage girl had blonde hair as straight as a ruler.

After walking around for a few minutes, Cloe announced, “We’re here! American Eagle!” She walked around the store, taking clothes off of racks for Cara to try on.

“Cleo, are you sure that this will make me cool like Nicole?”

Her sister nodded. “It’s a start, at least.”

The next day, Cara looked in her closet. “Whoa…” She noticed that her sister had kindly hung up all her new clothes. “What shall I wear?” After looking at her clothes, she picked out a SO… pink and brown long-sleeved thermal tee, a pair of dark blue Mudd jeans, and a pair of tan Ugg boots. Then she walked to her mirror and examined her outfit. She nodded in approval and picked up a brush and combed out her ratted hair. Then she straightened it with a Wigo Ceramic flat iron and looked at herself, pleased. She put on mascara, eyeliner, and light blue eye shadow with glitter. Finally, she took out her contacts and put them in. She took a final look in the mirror and nodded. She looked cool.

At school that day, Nicole and her posse walked up to Cara, who was at her locker. “Oh, look who’s trying to fit in now,” she laughed. “do you even feel cool?”

Cara shrugged. “I feel…different.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and walked away, her gang right behind her.

“Whoa! What happened to my best friend?” Allie joked, walking to Cara’s locker.

“Very funny, Allie,” she smiled. “I’m trying to change so I don’t look so geeky.”

“What are you talking about? I think red and pink looks awesome together! And I loved your hair in pigtails! And…”

“Stop it, Allie! I’m not like that anymore! I’ve grown up! I’m not the same person! I have a sense of style now, and if you can’t accept that, then you’re not my friend!”

“No, Cara, I meant…”

Two girls from Nicole’s group walked up to Cara. “Hi, Cara,” one girl smiled. She had curly blond hair like Goldilocks. “My name is Becky and this is my friend Yasmin. We’d like to know if you want to eat lunch with us today.”

The morning went surprisingly good. Cara had fun talking to Becky, Yasmin, and their friends Amanda, Vanessa, and topaz. She even was complimented on her new ‘do by Nicole’s friend, Shelby. “I like your new look,” she smiled. “It looks really good.”

At lunch, she sat at Nicole’s table. Becky, Yasmin, Amanda, Vanessa, Topaz, Shelby, Emma, Caroline, Kathleen, and of course, Nicole, all sat there and were all popular. Cara felt excited. It wasn’t even every day someone was personally invited to sit with the preps!

At the end of the day, Cara felt like a changed person. She was getting somewhere, and it was only her first day as her new self!

After school, she had a dentist appointment to check on her braces. How convenient, she thought. She needed to change the color on her braces, and this was the perfect chance.

Once there, Dr. Frick checked on Cara’s braces to see if they were working. “Everything looks good, Miss Willow. Now, since you’re here, would you like to change your colors?”

“Yes, please! I’d like to change my colors to pink.” After getting the change, Cara happily looked in a mirror. “Oh, wow! I really like it!”

“Glad you’re pleased with my work, Miss Willow. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a young boy with a cavity to fill.”

Once at home, Cara collapsed on the couch. Cloe came into the living room with a bowl of ice cream and sat on a tan chair opposite her sister. “How was school today?”

Cara looked at her sophomore sister. It was great! Two girls who sit at Nicole’s table invited me to sit with them. Even though Nicole didn’t like it, I know she won’t be able to resist me once I’m super popular!”

Cloe laughed. “You junior high kids are so immature!”

“You used to be one too.”

“Yes…yes I did.”

At school the next day, Cara wore a pink American Eagle sweater, a pair of . Jeans, a brown American Eagle leather belt, and Nine West leather buckle boots. Her hair, again, straightened and combed back, her makeup applied, her teeth brushed, and this time, her self-esteem high, she felt ready to confront Nicole.

When she got to her locker, she was greeted by Becky and Yasmin. “Hi Cara! You look so cool!” Becky gasped.

Cara smiled, humbly. “I don’t think I look that good. But I love your shirt! And those jeans look really good on you!”

Becky looked down at her “I may be a flirt, but your boyfriend likes it!” t-shirt. “Really? Nicole always hated it.”

“That’s because she’s jealous that you look so good in it and she doesn’t.”

Yasmine’s eyes opened wide. “Now that you mention it, Nicole does look a little fat…”

By lunchtime, everyone started looking at Nicole differently. Yasmine had proudly spread that Nicole had some extra fat on her, and everyone was laughing at the popular girl behind her back, and everyone was laughing at the popular girl behind her back.

Outside at recess, Nicole walked up, outraged. “Cara, why did you tell everyone that I was fat?”

Cara laughed. “I didn’t tell anyone. Becky, Yasmin, and I noticed that you weren’t exactly what you claim to be, so Yasmin did the pleasure of spreading it around. It isn’t wrong to inform my fans the truth.”

Nicole chocked on this piece of information. “Your fans? The truth? I think you’re living in a fantasy world, little girl! Go back to your pigtails and big glasses!”

“Now that I’ve changed, I like it. So go my way, or the highway. Your place as the most popular girl is mine!”

“Think again, geek!”

“Fat lard!”

“Wanna-be!”

“You’re so last year!” Everyone gasped at Cara’s harsh words. They looked back and forth between the two enemies.

Finally, Nicole said, “Famous last words,” and walked away.

Nicole still tried to contain her good reputation, still mad that Cara stole her popularity. Mean while, Cara was thrilled! She was told every bit of gossip first, started trends, and was invited to every party. The sixth ad seventh graders looked up to her, and all the eighth grade girls thought she was so cool.

But after a few weeks, Cara started to feel tired of this lifestyle. She felt like she was living a lie. At school, everyone knew her as the cool, popular girl. But at home, she was a computer geek who relaxed while listening to Beethoven and Mozart. She really missed her old self and wanted it back. She realized that being popular wasn’t easy. She had to fake it just to feel cool.

That night, as she started on her homework, she started her radio/CD player. She listened as the music played. “What is this?” she asked confused.

Cloe popped her head into the room. “Do you like it?”

“What is it?

“Evanescence. They’re an awesome band. My friend Stacy gave me the cd to borrow. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Cloe left and Cara continued her homework. She looked after a while to see what song was on. It was number three, “Everybody’s Fool”. She listened to the words and realized the song described her.

“Never was and never will be. You don’t know how you’ve betrayed me. And somehow you’ve got everybody fooled.”

“Wow…that really is me! I’m being so fake just to fool everyone into think that I’m cool!”

“Without the mask, where will you hide? Can’t find yourself, lost in your lie! I know the truth know, and I know who you are. And I don’t love you anymore!”

“The meaning behind the song is that she’s fake. That’s me.” Right then, Cara knew what she needed to do.

The next day at school, Cara wore her contacts and straightened her hair, but she wore an orange shirt that said “Bach Bach Bach!” with a chicken on it and green exercising pants. She bravely slipped on her Keds and went to school.

Becky and Yasmin looked at Cara in disgust. “What are you wearing?” Becky coughed.

“I’m tired of who I was. This is who I really am. A computer geek who loves to listen to classical music and is a fanatic of Star Wars.”

“Then why did you pretend to be all popular?” Yasmin asked.

“I thought if I looked cool, I’d feel cool. But I realized I was just being controlled by society and that I should just be who I am instead of letting other people program me by what they think is cool.”

Becky and Yasmin looked at each other. After a few seconds, they cracked up. “What a nerd!” They laughed as they walked away.

“Hey, you’re back!” Allie smiled as she walked up to Cara.

“I was never gone,” Cara stated.

“I know, but you were acting so weird, it was like you were gone for a while. But at least now you’re back.” She hugged her friend. “I’m glad to have you back, Cara.”

Cara hugged her back. “It’s glad to be back, Allie.”