I’m Popular (or at least i used to be) Antes Story [GL]

"Hold the door!" I yelled as I power walked towards the dorm elevator.

"Tch." I couldn't hear the green haired tsundere from where I was but I could tell from her lips that's the noise she made.

Emma slowly put her hand out as the elevator doors began to close. She just barely stopped them. I entered the elevator and Emma moved her hand so the elevator doors could close.

As I turned to face the doors the bookish girl sighed. "You shouldn't be late to things."

"Hey. You must have left at about the same time as me." I claimed while looking at Emma.

She looked up at me. "Well, I have a good reason. You were probably just staring at your closet."

"Maybe I was. How does my outfit look? Do you think it was worth the time I spent?" I said as I gestured towards my clothes.

Today I was wearing my Sherpa Denim Jacket, my black turtleneck, my blue flare jeans, and my black booties. My accessories were my white scarf, my hoop earrings, and my Louis Vuitton Pochette.

Emma was wearing a light blue ribbed sweater, her seashell necklace, a white skirt, her white high topped Converse, and a white Jansport backpack.

Emma seemed surprised by the question. "Wha-what an odd question."

She looked me up and down and then cleared her throat.

"I think it looks nice. It's a little 70's-esque too. I actually quite like it." The short girl stated as if it were a fact.

"Thanks..." I said, a little embarrassed.

Didn't think I'd get such a standing ovation.

Emma leaned forward a little to look at my face as I had turned towards the door unconsciously. A small smile formed on her face as she leaned back. "That being said, you still could've just woken up earlier."

As the elevator stopped I said. "I guess. Still don't know the reason you're late though. Spill."

Ugh spill is such a late 2000's Disney show with a laugh track kind of word.

The elevator doors opened. We were now on the first floor.

I looked at the bookish girl as we walked into the hallway. She now was the embarrassed one.

"I was just reading." Emma murmured.

"Were you reading fanfiction or something?"

She waved her right hand. "No. Nothing like that. It was just some contemporary work."

"You read new books?" I asked as I opened the door to the living room-like area. There were a couple of friend groups here and there but I didn't see ours.

"From time to time. Why does that surprise you?" The short girl asked.

"You seem to be really into Romantic period books. I feel like contemporary stuff is way across the spectrum when it comes to literature." I explained as we walked towards the space across from the couches.

"I see why you would think that."

"Do you have the book on you?"

"Yes..."

"Can I see it?" I asked as we turned around so our backs were to the wall.

Emma looked around the room and sighed. "I guess since we seem to be the first ones here."

The bookish girl took off her backpack and unzipped a small compartment in the front.

She took out a small red book. She pointed the front cover towards me and brought it up to cover her mouth in a cute way. It had a doodle of two characters' heads on it. Above the doodle the title read "Other Girls are Pretty and Funny and I Love Them".

Lesbian novel!?!

Emma giggled behind her book. "It looks like your eyes are popping out."

"I'm just surprised. How do you like it?"

She moved the book to look at it. "It's a nice novel. I really like the main character."

"What's she like?"

The short girl murmured. "Well...she's quiet. She likes intellectual texts-"

I interrupted her, "Sounds like someone I know."

She ignored me and continued on. "And she was popular with a lot of girls at her college."

"That's not like someone I know."

"Hey!"

"You're not in college."

"Oh..."

I felt myself smirk. "Do you want to be popular with girls?"

Emma blushed and started stuttering. "N-n-no! Of course not. That's stupid. I only have intellectual aspirations."

"Being popular with women is not a dumb aspiration. I had a friend who had a similar dream."

"Oh? Was this friend able to reach her grand aspirations?"

"Yeah. When she did though she realized it wasn't all that. After this realization, she craved a special kind of connection. One she thought she already had."

Huh...

Emma looked surprised initially but returned to her neutral expression after a few seconds.

"I hope this friend finds what she's looking for." She said warmly.

"Yeah. Me too." I nonchalantly said.

There was a brief moment of silence. The silence was broken by the sound of something in Emma's backpack buzzing.

She took her phone out of the backpack and it vibrated again. She looked at it and frowned. She scrolled with her thumb until she saw something that made her open her mouth in surprise.

"What?" I asked.

The bookish girl put her phone down and looked at me. "We're supposed to meet the group in the computer lab. Yuka has an assignment she's working on."

I sighed. "Alright. Let's get going then."

Emma nodded and put her stuff back in her backpack. We walked through the first floor of our dorm until we made it outside.

Despite it being sunny, it was cold and windy outside. When we made it down the stairs the short girl looked at me. "What are your aspirations, Jocelyn?"

I took a few seconds to respond and came up with. "I...I don't really have one. I want to graduate I guess. Get a job."

That's boring. Do I mention fashion? Do I even want to do anything in fashion after this whole model debacle?

"That's a little dull." Emma said plainly.

"I prefer the term simple."

I continued as I opened the gate. "What's your dream?"

We walked through and I was able to close it with ease.

"It's a little embarrassing, but I want to write something." The bookish girl admitted as we started to make our way down the hill towards the school.

"Can't you write something now though?"

"I can. I aspire to write for something big though like a show or a play."

"Oh, that could be cool. What genre would it be?"

"Fantasy. I would love to create an original world readers can feel a part of as they read." Emma explained wistfully.

She really cares about this.

"That's such an author response." I said as I itched my elbow.

"Is that a positive thing or a negative thing?" She asked.

"If you look at it in a certain way it means you're a step closer to your dream if you talk like your future coworkers." I claimed.

Are other writers really considered coworkers? I remember seeing a random D E E P quote post on my Instagram feed talking about how writing was one of the loneliest jobs.

Is it really the worst to not have coworkers? I wouldn't want to have to talk to millennials and old people all day. Then again there has been a rise in teen and young adult authors recently so maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"So positive then." The short girl said.

"Yep. Positive. Good luck with your dream."

"Thank you."

I nodded and then looked ahead. The main school building was right in front of us. Emma frowned as she looked at the blue doors that served as the main entrance.

"Is that leader girl still messing with you?" I asked.

"No. I was just in my dorm most of yesterday so Alexa couldn't do anything." She murmured.

Right, Friday was only two days ago.

"That makes sense. Why do you think she had her lackeys do all of that?" I asked.

The bookish girl crossed her arms. "I don't know. We've had a few classes together over the years but, we've never talked."

Emma put her arms down, looked down dejectedly and continued on. "I caught her staring at me in class one time last year. Maybe she's hated me since then."

Staring? Weird...

"I doubt it. Your not a very...hateable person. It probably was just the top of the class thing that her lackeys were talking about."

The short girl looked up at up at me as I spoke. My usage of the made up word "hateable" confused her at first but after thinking about it for a few seconds she said. "Maybe that's it."

"Yeah, hopefully she just gives up that top of class dream soon. In between that time though, let me know if she does anything to you. We're in this together." I affirmed, trying to sound confident.

It's totally not like I just want to get back at her for roasting me Friday.

Emma looked down and fidgeted with her hands.

"Thank you, Jocelyn..." She murmured.

"No problem. Now let's meet up with the rest of the group. I'm starting to get hungry."

The bookish girl looked up at me with her stormy grey eyes and nodded.