The author uses a relatable analogy from the classic teen film "Heathers" to explain how PageRank works. The story revolves around the social hierarchy of Westerburg High, where different cliques have varying levels of popularity and relationships with each other. The author calculates the PageRank score for each student in the graph using a simpler query that calls the PageRank graph algorithms function. The results show that the Heathers are indeed popular, but their popularity is boosted by their relationships with other popular groups, such as the Jocks and Cheerleaders. Unpopular students like Betty Finn and J.D. also have higher PageRank scores due to their strong relationships with Veronica Sawyer. The story highlights how quality matters in determining one's popularity score, rather than just quantity.