Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:02:40 -0500
From: Michael Philips <michaelphilips78@hotmail.com>
Subject: Popular - Chapter 4

The following is a complete work of fiction. Any resemblance between the
characters and any real life person is completely coincidental. Please do
not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.

Disclaimer: The following story may contain erotic situations between
consenting adults. If it is illegal for you to read this please leave now.

If you enjoy this story please check out my other stories, City Of Dreams
and Center Stage can be found in the Adult Friends section on Nifty, The
Fifth Power can be found in the SciFi/Fantasy section or all my stories can
be found at my Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MichaelPhilips or
you can send me an email at MichaelPhilips78@hotmail.com Please remember to
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If you would like to read all the posted chapters of Popular, please sign up
for my yahoo group.  Chapters 5 and 6 are available there in the files
section.  Also, all new chapters and stories are updated there every
weekend.  Thanks!

Popular
By: Michael Philips

Chapter Four

"Can you please explain to me again why this couldn't wait until a decent
hour in the morning?" Lexie yawned again as she looked over at Leo.

It was a little after nine o'clock in the morning, and Leo had woken her up
knocking on her door nearly twenty minutes ago.  She pulled her exhausted
butt out of bed to find him standing there in the same clothes he had on
last night.  The only thing that saved him was the bag of food he carried
with him.  Leo had stopped at a diner on campus before her wakeup call and
picked them both up breakfast.

"Lexie, I haven't even been to bed yet."  Leo sighed as he forked some egg
into his mouth.  "If you could have seen what he was like last night, you
would totally understand what I'm talking about."

"You haven't been to bed?"  Lexie thought he had just slept in his clothes.
She was surprised that he hadn't had any sleep.  Lexie started to get
worried because she had never seen Leo like this.  "What the hell is going
on, Leo?"

"I couldn't sleep, Lexie."  Leo rambled.  "You didn't see how sad he was.
Hayden really believed that last night was most likely a one time thing."

"Why would he think that?"  That got Lexie's attention.  She was wide-awake
at that point.  Leo was rambling so fast she could barely understand him.
"Leo, you need to slow down.  I've never seen you this worked up before.
Calm down, twin, and tell me what happened."

Leo gave Lexie a blow-by-blow explanation on what had happened on the Court
last night.  Lexie was upset that Hayden had been so obviously hurt in the
past.  What really surprised her was how upset Leo was.  She knew that he
was a compassionate person, even if it was a side of him not many people
saw, but he was really getting upset about the situation.  Her suspicions
grew in her head, but she decided that it wasn't the right time to bring
them up.

"So we need to form a game plan on how we are going to convince Hayden we
are going to be his friends."  Lexie said after Leo paused to eat some more
of his food.

"I knew that I could count on you, twin!" Leo finally grinned for the first
time.  "We need a good plan though.  I don't want it to seem like we're
smothering him or anything.  We need to make sure that we don't make him so
uncomfortable that we scare him off."

"If you don't want to scare him off, Leo, then can I suggest you going back
to your room and taking a shower."  Lexie wrinkled her nose at him.  "You
look like hell and I can smell the bar smoke and alcohol on you from here."

"I look like death warmed over don't I?" Leo grinned at Lexie after giving
himself the once over.

"You look even worse, though I admit I didn't think that was even possible."
  Lexie tried to look serious, but a giggle escaped from her lips.  She was
just cutting into a piece of sausage when she felt something hit her in the
head.  Lexie saw a piece of bacon fall down onto her plate.  "You will pay
for that, Leo, but not right now.  We are NOT getting into another food
fight in my dorm room.  Is that understood, twin?"

"Yes, ma'am."  Leo replied in a little boy's voice.

"Stop being cute, Leo.  You know I can't stay mad at you when you do that."
Lexie growled at him.

"If I stop being cute, Lexie, then I would cease to exist entirely."  Leo
looked at her with a small pout.  "You wouldn't want that to happen would
you?"

"Maybe you should hold onto the question until I'm done eating and I'm more
awake."  Lexie smirked at him and continued to eat her breakfast.

"See if I ever bring you breakfast again."  Leo mumbled under his breath.

"See if I don't kill you the next time you come pounding on my door that
early in the morning."  She teased back at him.  "You know we don't have
classes today, and it's my one day to sleep in.  I could have used it too
after last night.  Damn, that boy can move, and my body is feeling it today.
  I haven't moved that much in years."

"Not even last night when Noah brought you home?"  Leo ribbed his twin.

"You know Noah might be a man of many talents, but he's lacking in a few."
Lexie's face looked perfectly innocent.

"That was a total over share!"   Leo whined.  "I'm still eating my breakfast
here.  You shouldn't be talking about such revolting things.  I do NOT need
to know about my twin's sex life."

"Or lack there of."  Lexie said with a sigh.

"Is he still playing all hard to get on you?"  Leo's voice was filled with
concern.

"I think you hit the nail on the head when you said the word hard."  Lexie
was definitely frustrated with Noah.  "We waited until we were out of high
school before moving onto anything heavy.  He'll get all excited when we
make out, but when it comes time to do the deed, the wind leaves his sail so
to speak."

"Do you think he's gay?"  Leo cautiously asked.

It was a question that surprised Lexie.  Another piece of information was
filed away in her memory for later.  She had considered that Noah might be
gay before, but she knew that it wasn't that.  Noah was definitely playing
on team hetero.

"No, though I wish it that."  Lexie said with a huge sigh.  "At least if he
was gay I couldn't fault him for anything.  I think the problem is my
money."

"His family has money.  Why would your family's wealth mean anything to
him?" Leo asked.

"I think Noah needs to be the one in control.  I let him think that he is,
but when it comes to finances and things like that, my family is ahead of
him.  I think he's really uncomfortable with that, and somehow it's
subconsciously affecting his....performance."  Lexie explained.

"You know that I would be heart broken if things didn't work out with Noah."
  Leo said with a grin.  "I think that if you were to move on I would know
the perfect person."

"Let me read your mind."  Lexie said rubbing her fingers on her temples.
"Hayden."

"You really should work for a psychic network!"  Leo said with a wink.

"I'm not psychic, Leo.  You just seem to forget we share a brain."  Lexie
stuck her tongue out at him.  "Hayden and I wouldn't work out."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Lexie?"  Leo demanded.  "I watched the
two of you last night at Downbeat.  The two of you practically set the dance
floor on FIRE!  The tension between the two of you was thicker than hell."

"We were both in the moment of the whole situation, Leo."  Lexie explained
to her twin.  "There really wasn't any tension between us at all.  Besides,
if Hayden is trying to adjust to the idea of having friends, what do you
think the thoughts of having a girlfriend would do to him?  I thought you
didn't want to scare him off."

"Alright, you have a point there."  Leo agreed with her.  "If you are ever
on the market though, don't think for a second I won't try to get the two of
you together."

"We'll see about that.  So what should we do about Hayden?"  Lexie changed
the subject on her twin.  There would be time later to talk about finding
someone for Hayden, and Lexie had some ideas about that.

Leo and Lexie spent the next half hour going over ideas and plans for
helping out Hayden.  It was a bit surprising to both of them how quickly
this quiet guy had worked his way into their lives.  The amazing part of it
was that Hayden wasn't even trying to.  In fact, if anything, he was trying
to keep them at arm's length.  They finally agreed on a game plan and kept
their fingers crossed hoping it would work.


*


Hayden was munching on an apple as he sat underneath one of the large trees
that lined the edge of the Court.  It was a cool, shady spot, but he left
his sunglasses on in an attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone.  He had
tried to eat lunch in the cafeteria, but it had turned into an utter
disaster.  Hayden had felt as if every pair of eyes there were trained on
him and inspecting him.  He had forgotten about his new look until then.

A sigh escaped his lips as he took another bite of his apple.  Maybe the
whole makeover thing had been a bad idea.  He didn't want to attract
attention at Reynolds, but in his attempt to impress Leo, Lexie, and Noah he
had ended up doing just that.  Hayden escaped the cafeteria before people
tried to make conversation with him.  The previous night's events were too
fresh in his mind for him to really deal with anyone.

"A penny for your thoughts."

Hayden looked up to find Lexie standing next to him.  A smile appeared on
his face before he could stop it.  If he was going to run into anyone today,
he was glad that it was Lexie.  There was just something about her that put
him at ease.  Hayden motioned for her to sit down next to him.

"Thought you might want a sandwich."  Lexie reached into the paper bag she
was carrying and handed it to him after she sat down.  "I hope turkey was
okay."

"Why would you think I wanted a sandwich?" Hayden asked as he took the food.
  His stomach had been grumbling, and the apple really wasn't cutting it.

"I was walking into the Cafe as I saw you make your escape."  Lexie smiled
at him and then looked out at the Court.  "I don't blame you though.  I
wouldn't want to put up with all the stares either."

"It's a bit overwhelming."  Hayden quietly replied as he bit into his
sandwich.  "Thanks for the food, by the way."

"No big."  She replied with a wave of her hand.  "I know what you mean about
people being overwhelming, though.  You should try being a tomboy that
suddenly turns into a girl."

"What?"  Hayden asked curiously.

Lexie smiled and leaned back against the tree next to him.  Hayden was
normally uncomfortable with people being that close to him, but it was
different with Lexie.  There was a calmness and serenity that almost
surrounded the girl.

"I met Leo and Noah in kindergarten.  I didn't really have any friends at
that point."  Lexie began her story.  "All of the girls were into playing
with dolls and dressing up, and that just wasn't my thing.  I wanted to run
around and play on the playground.  So once I met the two of them my tomboy
status just kinda kicked in.  All through elementary school I was just one
of the guys, but that all changed the summer before high school."

"Puberty?"  Hayden asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt her story.

"You know it, Hayden."  She smiled at him.  "Mother Nature hit me, and let
me tell you, she was a force to be reckoned with.  My body was growing and
changing so fast my mind could barely keep up with it.  By the time our
freshman year of high school was over I was taller than most of the boys,
and let's just say I developed other things fairly quickly."

Hayden couldn't help but chuckle as Lexie gave her breasts a glare.  It was
surprising to him that someone who seemed so confident and laidback had gone
through a similar experience.

"It was almost like the ugly duckling that turned into a swan."  Lexie
giggled.  "Then once my braces came off and my mother started showing me how
to put on makeup it just completed the transformation.  All of sudden I had
gone from the tomboy to the cheerleader."

"You were a cheerleader?"  Hayden grinned at her.  "Were you the head
cheerleader?"

Lexie laughed and punched Hayden in the arm because of his reference to
Jerrica.  She was really enjoying sitting there with Hayden, and she was
glad to see him relax and just be himself.

"I never got that far up in the cheerleading hierarchy, but I had fun with
it.  I've always had too much energy, so all the jumping and cheering was a
good way to release it."  Lexie explained.

"And based on last night, you had taken up dancing at some point?" Hayden
continued to eat his almost forgotten sandwich.

"Most cheerleading teams do dance routines, so I guess it was inevitable
that I took some dance lessons.  I was fortunate though since I have a
pretty natural rhythm.  I took to dancing like a duck to water."  Lexie made
a quaking noise that caused Hayden to nearly choke on his food from
laughter.  She leaned over and patted him on the back.  "Careful now, if I
killed you there would be hell to pay.  Leo would kill me."

"The two of you seem pretty close with each other."  Hayden was able to
finally reply.

"Neither one of us have any brothers or sisters, so we kinda latched onto
each other early on."  Lexie smiled at the memories that flashed through her
mind.  "It was pretty obvious from the start that Leo and I were on the same
wavelength.  By the time high school came around we were finishing each
other's sentences and all kind of crazy stuff.  We look so similar and with
our birthdays being only a few weeks apart people thought we were brother
and sister, twins in fact.  The scary part it is, we are practically twins."
  Lexie's laughter filled Hayden with warmth.

"It must be really nice to have someone that close to you."  Hayden couldn't
help the touch of sadness that crept into his voice.

"It's pretty wonderful actually."  Lexie had noticed the sadness in Hayden's
voice and decided to take a risk.  "It sounds like you haven't had any close
friends like that."

"I was the typical nerdy kid."  Hayden said quietly.  "I really didn't have
many friends.  I was the quiet kid, the one that people usually made fun of.
  So I turned to other things for friendship, like books, and things like
that.  So I ended up staying in my house a lot, not really going outside to
play or anything."

"It sounds kinda lonely."  Lexie's voice was soft and comforting.  She
didn't want to interrupt Hayden because she wanted him to keep talking, but
she didn't want him to think she wasn't listening.

"Actually it wasn't, Lexie.  While all the other kids were playing on the
swings or playing kickball, I was exploring all kinds of fun and exciting
worlds."  Hayden said with a small smile.  "I thought it was stupid to be
rolling around in the dirt when I could be fighting pirates or exploring
outer space for alien life.  Of course when I got to high school all of that
caught up with me.  Everyone had their little cliques of friends and I was
the shy, kinda overweight smart kid."  Hayden's face turned down in a sad
frown.  "They weren't the nicest of kids, but then again kids can be cruel
no matter what the situation."

"I know that all too well."  Lexie added with a sad smile of her own.  "I
was called a thousand things in elementary school since I wasn't like all
the other little girls.  It's tough as hell to deal with."

"How did you deal with it?"  Hayden quietly asked.

"I turned to Leo, actually.  He had become my best friend, and it was
because of him that I was able to deal with everything."  Lexie replied.
"How did you deal with it?"

"At first I just ignored it.  I figured that people would get bored and
would eventually leave me alone."  Hayden answered as memories passed
through his mind.  "Of course that wasn't the case.  I finally just got fed
up with it and decided that I was going to change.  I started working out
and getting into shape.  I made sure to do things though that didn't require
anyone but me.  I got into swimming and running.  I didn't want to have to
deal with anyone else."

"And you started dancing.  I remember you mentioning that last night."
Lexie said.

"Yeah I did, and like you, I have a pretty natural rhythm so it was fun."
Hayden answered her.  "By my senior year in high school I had gotten into
really good shape, which meant most of my clothes didn't fit anymore.  So my
parents made sure to update my wardrobe the summer before my senior year.  I
went back to school like a brand new person.  They couldn't even believe it
was me."

"Was that a good thing?" Lexie asked.

"At first I thought it was."  Hayden glanced at Lexie and smiled.  "Suddenly
everyone wanted to be my friend or to hang out with me.  I had a lot of fun,
at first, but then I realized that they only wanted to be my friend because
of how I looked.  They really didn't want to get to know me or really be my
friend.  They just wanted to be seen with the new hot guy."

"That's fucked up."  Lexie's voice showed the anger she felt.  She glanced
over at Hayden and something clicked in her head.  "Those clothes you were
wearing...they were the clothes you had before you started working out.  You
had those on here because you didn't want people to see what was underneath
them.  You wanted to be judged on what was inside of you, not what you
looked liked."

"Yeah." Hayden replied with a sigh.  "That lasted all of two days."

"What made you decide to change your plan?" Lexie asked curiously.  It
didn't make sense to her that he would go through all of that, and then
suddenly decided to change course.

"It was Noah actually."  Hayden replied with a grin as he remembered their
conversation.  "He was nice enough to point out that the three of you are
kinda like the popular clique here on campus.  I didn't want to embarrass
you guys or have people talk about the dorky guy that was hanging out with
you."

"When did Noah talk to you?  You hung out with all of us and I never heard
him mention it?"  Lexie contained all of her anger deep inside of her.  She
didn't want Hayden to know she was upset because she didn't want to him to
think it was his fault.

"He caught up with me right before I got back to my dorm after I left the
Court yesterday afternoon."  Hayden's smile faltered a bit.

Lexie was going to kill Noah.  Her mind had already begun to formulate a
plan on how to do it and where to hide the body.  She couldn't believe that
Noah would stoop so low.  She was going to have a very, very long talk with
him.  Lexie reached over and placed a hand on Hayden's shoulder.

"Noah can be a bit too pompous and materialistic for his own good."  Lexie
squeezed Hayden's shoulder and smiled at him.  "I want you to know, and this
is the truth, that it doesn't matter what you look like or what clothes you
wear.  We want to be your friend, not because of the guy that danced with me
last night, but because of the sweet guy that we had lunch with yesterday.
Leo and I are NOT concerned with what other people think.  You could have
came out with us last night in exactly what you had on earlier in the day."

"Then why did Noah come to talk to me?" Hayden was confused.

"I don't know, buddy, but I can guarantee you that I am going to find out."
Lexie was definitely going to find out.  Noah had just better hope that he
lives through the questioning.  "Hayden, you were cute yesterday and you're
still cute today.  I want you to be comfortable, though.  You be whoever it
is you want to be, and I'm still going to be your friend."

"That's what I was getting from Leo last night."  Hayden's eyes became
blurry.  He wasn't used to having people wanting to be his friend without
there being strings attached.  The fact that Leo and Lexie welcomed him just
for being him was a bit much for him to handle.  "I don't know what to say.
This is just...just new to me."

"You're not used to friends caring about you, are you?"  Lexie's voice was
soft and gentle.  She could easily see what Leo had been talking about that
morning.  Hayden had been hurt very badly.  She could see the tears that
threatened to spill down his face, and her heart went out to her new friend.
  Lexie moved over and slid her arm around Hayden's shoulders.  "It'll take
some time to get used to the idea, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna find out
that we'll grow on ya."

Hayden tensed when he felt Lexie's arm slide around his shoulders, but he
allowed himself to relax.  He even slid an arm around her waist and enjoyed
the company for a few moments.  Maybe things could turn out all right, and
maybe last night wasn't as big of a mistake as he thought.

"You make it sound like you're a fungus."  Hayden said with a small chuckle.

"We can be pretty contagious."  Lexie laughed along with Hayden.  She
thought maybe putting her arm around him was too much too fast, but he had
thankfully relaxed and put his arm around her in return.  "Though I like to
think we put the fun in fungus."

"Ok, that just was bad."  Hayden's laughter echoed through the air.

"Well, excuse me, sir, that you don't enjoy my punny attitude."  Lexie
pouted at Hayden.  "If you think that was bad, just wait until Leo gets on a
roll."

"I'm sure it can't get any worse."  Hayden grinned at Lexie.

"Oh really?"  Lexie gave Hayden an evil look.  She quickly moved her arm off
of his shoulder and pinched his side.  Hayden's body jerked and he chuckled,
but he gave her a glare.  Lexie's face broke out in an evil grin.  "Is
someone ticklish?"

"No!"  Hayden wasn't very convincing.

Lexie lunged towards him and began to tickle the sides of his body.  Hayden
yelped and tried to back away, but Lexie had knocked him to the ground.  He
tried to defend himself, but her hands were just too fast.  In a matter of a
few seconds she had him laughing so hard he thought he was going to wet his
pants.

"Say uncle!"  Lexie had straddled his stomach and paused in her tickling
attack.  Hayden shook his head and she began to tickle him again.  "Say
uncle!"

In a desperate attempt to catch his breath Hayden quickly shifted his body,
which caused Lexie to fall off of him.  He quickly moved on top of Lexie and
began to tickle her back.  Her laughing and screams filled the air.  Hayden
quickly grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.

"Say uncle!"  He said with a grin as he looked down at her.

"Aunt!"  Lexie exclaimed with a laugh.

"That was close, but not close enough."  Hayden reached down and began to
tickle her again.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

The laughter immediately stopped and Hayden and Lexie glanced up to find
Noah standing beside them.  The situation could have been funny, except for
the fact that Noah had sounded, and definitely looked, pissed off.  Hayden
quickly moved off of Lexie and tried to explain.

"We were just talking, and then she started tickling me, well attacking me
really and..." Hayden hadn't meant to start rambling, but he couldn't help
it.  He didn't want Noah to think he had been making a pass at his
girlfriend.

"I guess we should have warned you about that."  Noah's face broke out in a
smile.  He was pissed off at first, but he quickly realized it was a playful
situation.  This could work out to his benefit because most of the people
walking around the Court had to have seen their goofing off.  People would
definitely know that Hayden was part of their group now.  His chances of
winning the bet were increasing by the minute.  "I'm sorry if I sounded
upset.  I had just expected to find Leo here, and was surprised to find it
was you, Hayden.  The two of them are constantly going at it, but I'm glad
to see you're having fun."

"I don't know if I'd call practically pissing my pants fun, but it was
interesting to say the least."  Hayden stuck his tongue out at Lexie.  He
was so relieved that Noah wasn't upset.  "I'll be better prepared next
time."

"That's what you think."  Lexie grinned at him.  "The next time I strike it
will be when you least expect it."

"I guess I'm just going to have to constantly be on alert then."  Hayden
laughed.  "Then again, I might be the one to strike first."

"I'm not scared of you...much."  As Lexie said the last word her voice was
barely able to be heard.  Hayden's laughter bubbled from his throat.  "I'll
make sure to have Leo around next time. He'll back me up."

"What am I backing you up for this time, twin?"  Leo stepped from the back
of the tree.  "I heard Hayden's laughter and figured I would see what so
funny."  He grinned at his twin.  Their plan had obviously worked.

"Hayden had started tickling me, and I was left completely defenseless."
Lexie pouted and glared at Hayden.

"Why do I get the feeling that that isn't right?"  Leo said with a grin. "I
would guess that you attacked poor, unknowing Hayden, and he was forced to
defend himself."

"That's exactly what happened."  Hayden said nodding his head.  "I was
sitting here eating an apple, minding my own business, when she leapt from
behind the tree and attacked me."

Lexie's jaw dropped as she heard what Hayden said.  He looked so innocent,
and he made the whole thing sound very believable.  Hayden glanced over at
her and stuck his tongue out.  This caused Lexie to start giggling
uncontrollably.  She was glad to see that Hayden was warming up to them.
Noah reached out his hand to her and helped her to her feet.

Leo was enjoying watching the banter between Hayden and Lexie.  It made him
feel really good inside to see Hayden opening up and having a good time.  He
reached out his hand to help Hayden up from the ground.  Hayden grasped the
offered hand and little bolts of electricity shot up Leo's arm.

Leo stepped forward to help pull Hayden up from the ground, but his foot got
caught on one of the tree roots.  His body suddenly pitched forward as he
lost his balance.  Leo fell forward and wasn't able to move fast enough, and
his  body crashed into Hayden knocking him back onto the ground.   The air
rushed out of off both of their bodies from the impact.

It took a moment for Leo to clear his head, and when he finally did the
reality of the situation hit him full force.  Hayden was laid out on the
ground underneath of him.  Leo's body covered Hayden's and he could feel not
only the heat coming off of the body underneath of him, but he felt every
muscle and curve of Hayden's body.  Every nerve ending in Leo's body shook
as the feeling rushed through him.  His face was inches away from Hayden's,
and Leo found himself staring into the sharpest, bluest eyes he had ever
seen.

"We really need to stop meeting like this, Leo."  Hayden's amused voice
echoed in his ear.

Leo's mind finally betrayed some of his inner feelings as one single thought
echoed through his head.  What if he didn't want it to stop?