“Okay, so that’s three now. We have weather and two main anchors. What about sports?” Charise asked.

“Uh, sorry, I don’t know anything about sports, except cheering them on,” Tiffani replied, examining her nails for any chips in the polish.

“I don’t know anything about them, period,” Emily added.

“Ditto,” Ophelia spoke up.

“Great,” Ms. Gibson groaned.


The group was silent for a few seconds. Ophelia glanced over at the window and remarked, "It's getting dark outside. I bet it's going to start raining soon."

She was met with more silence, but it did not last long.

Charise said, in a dramatic voice, trying to be funny and lighten the mood, “And the Lord sent unto the group a jock and a camera crew, and it was good.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked nervously at Charise, who responded, “What? I wasn’t being serious.”


Ms. Gibson opened the door. “Yes, may I help you?” she asked, looking at the two people standing in the hall, who hurried into the classroom. “Charise!” AJ called out, grinning and waving like a fool.

“My brother the imbecile,” Emily muttered to herself.

Ms. Gibson looked at Charise and said, “I think our prayers have been answered.”

Charise looked disgustedly at AJ, who was now standing as close to her as possible. “I am now praying for space. Lots and lots of space,” she muttered.


Ms. Gibson stood at the head of the table. AJ hurried to sit in the relinquished seat beside Charise. Ms. Gibson said, “Ladies and… uh… gentleman, welcome to the Clique News Crash team. You have been selected to be part of this new school group.”

“Clique News Crash?” AJ asked.

“Emily and I came up with it,” Ophelia explained. “The concept was that representatives of a variety of cliques would be the anchor people. Also, we wanted to play off of the phrase ‘breaking news.’”

“How about we go around the table and introduce ourselves?” Charise suggested.


“Good idea, Charise. I’ll go first,” Ms. Gibson said. “I’m Ms. Gibson, and I’m the advisor for the CNC team. I guess I'd be considered the head of the group.”


“I’m Charise Marlow, psychology student, tutor, and about a million other things. I’m basically working as an advisor. Also, I’m responsible for the basic concept of the show.”


Emily smiled shyly. “I’m Emily Desjardin. It’s nice to meet those of you who I don’t know.”


“I’m Ophelia Desdemona Foley. I’m here because I got into a fight. Ms. Gibson heard about how the principal wants me to basically serve a sort of community service-type sentence, so she made me part of this club.”


“What kind of name is Ophelia Desdemona?” Tiffani said scornfully.

“Shakespearian,” Emily replied, rather sharply, before Ophelia could reply. “Ophelia is from Hamlet, and Desdemona is from Othello, I think.”


Tiffani tossed her hair. “I’m Tiffani Michelle Royale, beautiful person, ultra-popular, and loved by all.”

“Not to mention that you have no shortage of confidence,” Ophelia muttered mockingly. Tiffani glared at her.


“I’m AJ Desjardin, athlete extraordinaire and God‘s gift to women!” Everyone rolled their eyes at this, and Ophelia and Emily snickered.


Everyone looked over at the library volunteer, who blushed shyly. “Oh, me? I’m Angela Julie Paxton, and it’s super swell to meet all of you!”


Ms. Gibson smiled and said, “Great, now we all know each other. The positions will be as follows: Tiffani and Emily will be the head anchors, Ophelia will do the weather, and AJ will be responsible for sports.”

“Of course,” AJ smirked.

“Oh my goodness, you never said what my job will be,” Angela cried out.

“You will be the cameraperson,” Charise replied. “Also, alternate anchorperson.”

“I will do my very best,” Angela said softly. She glanced over at AJ and murmured to herself, “Yes, my very best indeed.”

AJ said, “So… uh… what is this for that I just agreed to?”

Charise, Emily, and Ophelia slapped their foreheads and groaned.

That Monday, the five Clique News Crash members sat outside, waiting for Charise and Ms. Gibson.

“Where are they? If they don’t get here soon, we’re screwed!” Ophelia said nervously.

“Ophelia, watch your language,” Angela scolded, looking shocked.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and directed her attention to AJ. "AJ, why do you have your hair in a ponytail? You look like a freaking idiot."

Angela let out a loud gasp when Ophelia said "freaking."

“So, anyways, I was watching that movie She’s All That last night,” Tiffani said, changing the subject. She didn’t want Angela to start preaching.

Angela stalked into the building, offended, knowing when her presence was unwelcome.

“Ugh. That movie makes me sick,” Ophelia groaned. She was ready to go on a tirade about how much she hated movies that encouraged people changing to be more mainstream and therefore “acceptable.” Tiffani, however, disliked the movie for another reason.

“Totally. I mean, it is so unrealistic! I mean, in real life, nerdy chicks don’t look hot, even if they get rid of the glasses and ponytail,” Tiffani smirked. “Watch!” She reached over, plucked Emily’s spectacles from her face, and let the girl’s hair down.


“See?” Tiffani said, and then looked at the results. Her jaw dropped; this was not what she was expecting.

Emily was stunning, aside from her obvious discomfort at being so rudely handled. She gave Tiffani a dirty look, snatched her glasses back, and restyled her hair. “And I’ll thank you not to do that again,” Emily said irritably.


“Hey, there’s Charise!” AJ said, looking pleased. Then, an unhappy look crossed his face. “But who are the two dudes with her?”

“I don’t know, but they sure are hot,” Tiffani replied, eying the attractive men, the surprise of finding out that Emily was indeed attractive forgotten, at least temporarily.

Charise was flanked by two good-looking men. One was around her age and had straight dark hair and blue eyes. He kept glancing over at Charise with a worshipful expression. The other man was a bit older, perhaps in his early to mid-twenties. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and he held himself with great confidence.


“Hey, guys,” Charise greeted the group. “These are my friends, S,” she said, indicating the dark-haired young man, “and Dunstan,” she said, nodding towards the blonde man.

“Hey, dude, long time no see. How have things been for you, S?” Ophelia cheerfully greeted the first man, purposely turning her back on the blonde man.

“You know him?” Tiffani asked incredulously.

“Yes. Charise and I are cousins, and I spent my summers playing with Charise and S,” Ophelia explained. Then, turning to Charise, she asked, “Are Gideon and Sheridon coming?”

“Yeah. They have a class, but they’ll be here soon enough.”

“What about Cy?”

“Busy, but I was told to pass along good vibes to you. You know how Cy is.”


Dunstan looked over the group and chuckled to himself. “Hey, Charise,” he said with a slight smirk, “I thought you said this was a news crew.”

“They are,” she said.

“Looks more like the cast of The Breakfast Club. I mean, look, we have the brain, the athlete, the basket case, and the princess. Where’s the criminal?” Dunstan snickered. Ophelia resisted the urge to flip him off.

As if on cue, Angela came out of the building. Dunstan laughed loudly and asked, “Are you the criminal?”

Angela scratched her head. “Pardon?” she asked.


“Don’t worry about it. Just a stupid joke. Guys like him knock everything because they‘re afraid,” S said, casting a glare at Dunstan. He smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Samuel Verona. S to my friends. It’s very nice to meet you. You must be Angela. Charise told me about you.”

“Well, yes, I am, and I must say that it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Verona,” Angela gushed.

“Looks like S has another fan,” Ophelia murmured to Charise.

“Yeah. That reminds me; has Cassandra been… you know?” Charise whispered.

“Of course she has. She’s gotten a bit better about it, though. I hope she doesn’t make trouble when she finds out S is here,” Ophelia responded.

“If we’re lucky, she won’t find out until after we’re gone,” Charise muttered.


“Hi, everyone. Sorry I’m late. Traffic. You know how it is. Plus, I wanted to pick up donuts for you guys,” Ms. Gibson called out, hurrying over to the group. Her hair was smoothed out from its usual curled and waved mess. She smiled when she saw S and embraced him warmly. “S, it’s great to see you again! I hear you’re double majoring-- theater and music. Impressive! You’ve always been so talented! Hoping to create the next great musical, I presume?”

“Thank you, ma’am. You presume correctly. I’ve already started working on my senior project, even though I’m years from having to make use of it. Now, we need to get the equipment hooked up for the first show,” S said.

“Of course. So, what’s planned for the first show?” Ms. Gibson replied.


“Karaoke,” Dunstan interjected. Ms. Gibson eyed him, puzzled. He stuck out his hand. “Dunstan Diggory. Friend of Charise’s. Close friend. I’ve been her music teacher for the past… uh… four years or so. She’s spoken quite highly of you, and it’s a real honor to finally meet you.”

“Charmed,” Ms. Gibson muttered, rolling her eyes. “Guys, the principal has given us permission to use the auditorium instead of the old, dirty A/V room.” She led the way into the school. Charise, Ophelia, and Dunstan followed closely, with the rest trailing behind.


AJ sidled over to S. “Soooo… S, is it?” he drawled. He noticed the young man looking longingly at Charise. “So tell me, S… you hittin’ that, or what?”

“Excuse me?!” S said, looking shocked.

“Or is it the whole unrequited, ‘I love her, but she loves him’ junk?”

“I… we…,” S stammered.

“So... so, are you guys boyfriend/girlfriend? Steady dates? Lovers? Come on, Sporto, level with me. Do you slip her the hot--”

“Shut up, kid, it’s not like that! We’re just friends!” S snapped.

“Oh, so she’s not into you like that. Sucks to be you. Join the club, dude. Just between you and me, are you sure she’s not… y’know… a k.d. Lang fan?”


S gave AJ an angry look and then turned away. “Kid, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the heck away from me now before I backhand you. I don’t resort to violence, except as a last resort, but in your case, I think it may become necessary. You ask me one more question and I‘m beating the crap out of you.”

“Yeesh. Touchy!” AJ muttered, scurrying away.

“We’re five minutes from recording time,” Ms. Gibson announced.

Tiffani looked up from her donut (the fifth one she’d eaten, if truth be told), and wailed, “But my makeup’s gonna be all messed up!” She grabbed a mirror and began reapplying her lipstick.

“Are you nervous?” Ophelia asked Emily.

“Of course. I don’t like talking to big groups.”

“Well…” Ophelia thought a moment, “At the risk of sounding cliché, picture them all in their underwear!”

“But there’s some people you just don’t want to see in their underwear,” Emily replied. She and Ophelia chuckled.

“Then picture Charise and me whacking your brother in the head with a newspaper,” Ophelia suggested. Emily giggled and relaxed.


“Everyone get into position,” Charise called out. “Angela, is the camera ready?”

“I certainly do believe it is,” she said, adjusting the settings a bit.

“Everyone remember-- smile, enunciate, and try not to look down at your notes too much,” S said. “Don’t worry; you’ll all do fine! Remember, this isn’t live, so if you mess up, we can reshoot.”

Okay… and… go!” Ms. Gibson called.

“Hello, and welcome to Clique News Crash,” Emily said. “I’m Emily Desjardin.”

“I’m Tiffani Royale.”

“I’m Ophelia Foley.”

“I’m AJ Desjardin, and we have Angela Paxton working the camera. This is the Monday morning edition of CNC.”

“This is a brand new show here at Oakdale,” Emily said.

“We’re going to give you news, gossip, and lots of laughs. So, watch us. I hope you’ll enjoy the show,” Tiffani grinned.

“Today, we’re going to do something special-- karaoke. We’re asking all interested students to stop in during the first half of lunch. We’ll tape you doing karaoke, and then later today, the tape will be shown,” Ophelia said.


“We have some special guests helping us today,” AJ said. “Some Oakdale alumni-- the lovely, gorgeous, talented Charise Marlow and… uh… the other one, Samuel Verona!” Charise and S walked into view of the camera, gave quick waves, and walked off.

“They’re a little camera-shy,” Emily said with a giggle.

“But that’s okay, because I know Charise will be happy to demonstrate her wonderful singing voice later today,” Ophelia added. Off-camera, Charise cried out, astonished, “Ophelia!”

“So, stop in at the auditorium and show your skills,” Tiffani said. “And now for the sports, with AJ Desjardin…”



The pretty blue-eyed girl with black hair stared up at the television. “S…” she whispered.



Ophelia, Emily, and Tiffani sat in Ms. Gibson’s classroom, waiting for the rest of the Clique News Crash crew to get there. Tiffani had turned the television on to a show about celebrities.

“…And Julianna Delorice has been spotted at another of Paris Hilton’s parties. The party-hearty ex-lead singer of All That Glitters was spotted drinking heavily and…”


Charise walked in.

“Hey, guys,” she said.

Ophelia hurriedly switched off the television with the remote control.

Charise sat down and stared at her cousin for a second, noticing a somewhat guilty expression on her face. “Let me guess, celebrity news.”

“Yes,” Ophelia responded.

“About a singer.”

“Yes.”

“Female.”

“Yes.”

“Between ages thirty and forty.”

“Yes.”

“Brunette, light skin, green eyes, skimpy clothing, and likes to party.”

“Yes.”

“Lives in England but has been traveling through the USA lately.”

“Yes.”

“Julianna Delorice.”

“How did you know?” Tiffani blurted out.

“Let’s just say I know about these things,” Charise said with a grimace. “Everyone else is in the auditorium. I was sent to come get you.”

“I thought we were supposed to meet up in here,” Emily spoke up.

“Change of plans. Now come on,” Charise said.

I like your story! It seems interesting and unique. Can I slap AJ for being such a......guy? lol I'll keep checking back for updates, and I hope it stays as good as it is already (or maybe even better!).

Great update!! :D

BlakRoses, sometimes, I want to slap all of the characters at different times (believe it or not, my least favorite character is one of the major ones). I'm happy that you like this story, and I hope I can keep the quality up to your expectations. You'll really get a kick out of AJ's antics in the fourth chapter, which I'm writing right now and have fully outlined.

stormy, thanks for reading the updates. I never know what people will or won't like; thanks for giving me some confidence about my stories.

That's what I'm here for!

Oh, and as a side note, I purposely reference a lot of movies in this story, so if some of the dialogue sounds familiar, you'll know why. In fact, the chapter I'm currently writing is meant to parody a rather well-known movie (that has already been parodied, but not quite how I'm doing it).

The women hurried over to the auditorium, which had many students in it.

“Wow,” Emily whispered. “People actually showed up!”

They climbed the stairs to the stage and stood next to the microphone.


S walked into the auditorium and joined them on the stage. As he did so, a girl in the audience let out a loud cry. She rushed down the aisle, over to the stage, and up the stairs. Much to everyone’s surprise, the pretty black-haired girl flung herself into S’s arms and clung to him, trying to cover his face with kisses. Ophelia and Charise exchanged looks of utter dismay while S looked pleadingly at Charise. Everyone else was simply confused.

After a moment of dead silence, Charise finally spoke up. “Cassandra,” she said, addressing the girl with black hair.

“S, why haven’t you kept in touch?” Cassandra wailed, ignoring Charise. “Mother has been worried about you! You promised to keep in touch with me and take care of me! Remember?!”


“Cassandra.” Charise gently pried the girl off of S, who mouthed words of thanks.

Cassandra gave Charise a look of pure hatred. “Charise,” she said bitterly. “You’re looking well.”

“You do too,” Charise said kindly, reaching out to hug her.

Cassandra slapped Charise’s hands away and shouted, “It’s your fault my big brother doesn’t care about me anymore! You did this to him!”

“Cassandra…” Charise said weakly.

“Uh…” Ophelia was desperate to end the drama. She grabbed up a microphone. “Hi, everyone. I’m Ophelia, from Clique News Crash, the new campus show. We’re doing karaoke here. We’ll be videotaping you guys in action, and later today, we’ll show the tape on our news show!”

Cassandra ripped the microphone away from Ophelia and said, “Karaoke? Well, fine… put this song on, Ophelia.” She handed Ophelia a CD and a copy of the lyrics. Ophelia glanced over the lyrics and said, “You might have to censor a few words.” “That’s fine with me. I’ll just sing the song and get on my way, like everyone,” meaning Charise, “wants.”


Ophelia hurried to put the CD in, and music began playing. Cassandra began singing in a low, bitter voice, glaring at S and Charise, “I want you to know, that I’m happy for you. I wish nothing but the best for you both. An older version of me…”


“Oh no,” Emily whispered to Ophelia. “It’s worse than you think,” Ophelia whispered back, then added, “Remind me to tell you the whole story another day, when Charise and S aren‘t around.”

Cassandra went through the song, becoming more and more bitter. After the last, “You oughta know,” she more or less flung the microphone in the direction of S and Charise and stormed off the stage.

Charise caught the microphone, watched Cassandra leave, and then said, “Wasn’t she great, ladies and gents? And who wants to go next? Preferably something lighter…”

Charise did not have to wait long for a response.

“I will!” AJ cried out, grabbing the microphone away. He smiled flirtatiously at Charise and called to Angela, who was working the music, “It’s number six on the red CD.”

Music began playing and AJ began singing his favorite Aerosmith song, much to the amusement and chagrin of everyone. Soon, everyone was laughing at AJ’s craziness, as he sang loudly, “Well, I got me the strangest woman, believe me this chick’s no cinch, but I tried to get her goin’…”


Charise whispered to S, Ophelia, and Emily, “I’m not surprised by his choice.”

“Me either,” Emily replied.


Two men slipped through the doors of the auditorium and waved at Charise, who indicated that they should come up on the stage. One was extremely attractive, with brown hair and blue eyes, while the other wore thick black-framed glasses and was more plain-looking. Charise briefly introduced them to the CNC crew while AJ sang.

“This is Gideon,” Charise said, indicating the more attractive man, “and Sheridon,” the man wearing glasses. “We’ve known each other practically forever.”


“So, what did we miss?” Gideon asked.

“Cassandra was her usual melodramatic self,” Ophelia replied.

Sheridon and Gideon chuckled. “So, did you sing yet?” Sheridon asked Ophelia. She shook her head. “I’m no good at singing. That’s more Charise’s thing. I don‘t think I‘m going to do it.”

Emily took a deep breath and spoke up, summoning what little courage she was able to. “What if I do it with you? Will you feel better knowing we’ll both look stupid? I’m terrible at singing too, but I’m going to sing a song. If I can get up the guts to do this, so can you, Ophelia.”

Ophelia grinned. “Sure. Let’s pick out a song and go after AJ.”


AJ finally stopped singing. Charise took the microphone. AJ stepped behind Charise and stared at her rear until S, Gideon, and Sheridon forced him to move.

“Next up, we have Ophelia and Emily performing a song that they say is exactly how they feel about society,” Charise announced.

Ophelia yelled into the microphone, “Helloooooooooo, Oakdale! Are you ready to rock?”

Emily shouted, “You all know this song, so feel free to join in at any time!”

The music began, and they started singing enthusiastically. By the time they were about halfway through, it was clear that the lyrics did indeed express their feelings about life:

“Disease's growing, it's epidemic, I'm scared that there ain't a cure, The world believes it and I'm going crazy, I cannot take any more. I'm so glad that I'll never fit in, that will never be me! Outcasts and girls with ambition, that's what I wanna see.”


When they finally finished, they received a moderate amount of applause. Tiffani snatched up a microphone. “Move, amateurs,” she said. “They want to see a real star singing.”

“As you wish,” Ophelia said. “I have to do a costume change anyways. Knock ‘em dead, Tiger.”

She and Emily glanced at each other and snickered as they left the stage.

Tiffani rolled her eyes, thinking, “What a couple of weirdoes!” Then, she nodded to Angela, indicating that she should begin the music.

Tiffani launched into a cringe worthy rendition of “Luxurious” that would have made Gwen Stefani gouge her eardrums out.


About midway through, Ophelia and Emily returned to the stage. Ophelia was dressed in a different outfit and wore dark lipstick and gaudy eyeshadow and liner. Charise looked her cousin over, laughed, and said, “You want I should call you Mrs. Valo or Mrs. Explosion?”

“Shut up, Charise,” Ophelia growled, blushing.

“After you perform, I have something funny to tell you,” Charise grinned.

“Fine.”


Mae came up on stage and handed Angela a CD. Then, she and Ophelia began singing, “She is smiling, like heaven’s down on Earth…”


After they finished, to a great deal of applause and the next performer came on, Ophelia said to Charise, “So, what did you want to tell me?”

“Remember how a few years ago, Dad took us on a trip with him, and we went to that concert? It was around Halloween…”

“That one? What about it?”

“Remember that thing I dared you to do?” Charise grinned.

Ophelia blushed. “Yeah, why?”

“I was looking on a certain website a few days ago, and… well, apparently, someone got it on video. Your hand has been immortalized for all time.” Charise noticed Ophelia’s increased blushing and added, “There’s people would love to have been in your position. So, I have to ask… did you ever find out where heaven really is?”

Ophelia rolled her eyes and muttered, “Bite me, Charise.”

Several other students performed songs. An Asian boy awkwardly sang “You Give Love a Bad Name,” three girls sang “When It’s Over,” and a short girl with red hair sang “Don’t Speak.” Then, a boy with longish brown hair stepped onto the stage.

“Oh my God, that’s Louie,” Emily whispered to Ophelia. Ophelia noticed the girl’s unusually pink cheeks.

“You like him, eh?” Ophelia whispered in response, lightly elbowing the blushing girl in her side.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Your face is red like a fire truck.”

“Uh…” Louie said. “This is a song for a… well, it just has special meaning for me.” He nodded for Angela to play the song.

Emily squealed a little as he started singing. “Oh wow, I love this song!” she remarked to Ophelia.

“Sure, if you like songs from Disney films. But it is a good song,” Ophelia replied, chuckling to herself. While “Stand Out” may not have been her favorite song, it was enjoyable enough. Louie finished his song and then walked offstage, but not without casting a quick glance in the direction of Emily and Ophelia, something that did not go unnoticed by Ophelia, though she decided to let it go without comment for now.

“Okay, guys, lunch period is almost over, so we’ll have to start packing things up in a bit. I want to thank you all for your participation, and I hope you will continue to support us,” Charise called out to the audience. She turned to the newscast members and said, “We’ll pack up. You guys go take care of business.”



Tiffani took her seat in English class. For the first time in a while, she was in a good mood, and it wasn’t because of food. Then, something happened to ruin that good mood.

Three cheerleaders sat across from her: Sawyer McNamara, Veronica Chandler, and Heather Finn, three of the most popular girls in the school. Sawyer brushed back her long black hair and peered at Tiffani, eyes narrowed.

“Hey, Tiffani,” she drawled, a smirk on her lips. “You’ve been replaced on the squad.”

“What?!” Tiffani cried out. “By who?”

“Sherrie Aldrich,” Heather replied, peeking out from beneath her red bangs.

“Sherrie? As in, my best friend?” Tiffani gasped.

“Yeah. Sucks to be you,” Veronica sneered.


The clips of the students singing karaoke was played midway through that class. Everyone laughed at the bad singing and murmured excitedly about the good singing. However, there were three clips at the end that were a surprise to everyone, including the Clique News Crash members.

The first clip showed Charise singing “Let It Be.” She was incredible.


The second clip was of S singing “She Will Be Loved” in an equally incredible voice.


The third clip was of Dunstan singing.


After only about three seconds of listening, Ophelia looked over at Emily with an expression of pure horror.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

“This is not good. He’s singing that song and…” Ophelia bit her lower lip.

“You’re getting upset over a Jet song?” Emily asked. "It's not that bad of a song."

“Not that. The person singing it. I just have this bad feeling…” Ophelia trailed off.

"You mean, aside from the fact that he was apparently just wandering around campus all day, since he wasn't in the auditorium with us?" Emily asked.


Her fears were not unreasonable, because after Dunstan finished singing, he said, “Charise, do you want to be my girlfriend?”

“No,” Ophelia whispered. “Please, don’t have said yes.”

“YES!” Charise cried out on the screen, flinging herself into his arms. The tape cut off there.


“I hate that man,” Ophelia growled under her breath.


Across the room, AJ turned to Tiffani and said, “That reminds me; wanna go do something this weekend?”

“Sure!” Tiffani squealed.

Angela, several seats behind, silently witnessed this, her eyes narrowed and an expression of bitter envy on her pretty face.

SATURDAY, 9:30 AM

The phone rang loudly. Charise rushed over to the phone, wondering who could be calling at such an early hour. Had her grandmother’s health taken a turn for the worse? Had her father been in an accident? Had her mother--

“Hello?” she said nervously.

“Hey, Charise,” came the response. It was Charise’s former classmate and semi-friend, Tacita Brown.


“Hey, Tacita, what’s up?” Charise asked, more relieved.

“Charise, I need to ask a big favor of you. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, right?” Tacita hurriedly said. She did not wait for a response. “Well, look, something really important came up, and I can’t baby-sit for the Williams family today. Can you do it for me? Please?”

“I… I guess,” Charise stammered. “I wish you’d have given me more advanced warning, but--”

“Great! You need to be there at noon, and they’re supposed to be back around 6:30 this evening. Thanks, Charise!” Tacita chirped. She hung up the phone before Charise could answer.

Charise clutched the phone in her hand. “What have I gotten myself into?” she asked.

-------------

“Emily? This is Ophelia.”

“Hey, it’s kind of early. What’s up?” Emily said, covering the mouthpiece of the phone briefly so that Ophelia wouldn’t hear the yawn.

“You want to get together today and hang out? My friend Cy wants to meet you, after hearing so much about you.”

“What have you been saying to… um… Cy?”

“Only good stuff. Are you in or out?” Ophelia said.


“I’m in, I guess,” Emily responded.

“Great! So, where do you live?”

“221 Pepper Drive, right down the street from the burger place.”

“Oh, that’s right around the corner from where I live! Cy and I will be over there… oh… shall we say, noon?”

“Sounds great,” Emily said. “So, what’s this Cy person like?”

“Brilliant, funny, sweet… one of my favorite people in the world,” Ophelia said. It was clear that she cared a great deal for Cy… who ever that was.

--------------

Charise sat on the sofa and gazed around the house. Small, furnished in a simple yet tasteful fashion. She approved.

Mrs. Williams smiled warmly at her. She was a small, plump bespectacled woman with a sweet smile. “Charise, thanks for coming in on short notice,” she said. “You know where everything is; you’ve done enough house-sitting and pet-sitting for us over the years. Michaela’s in her room right now, taking a nap. I know you haven't babysat her since she was a toddler, but she shouldn't be much harder to take care of. You’ve got our numbers, right, sweetie?”

Charise nodded.

“Great. Let’s see… phone numbers, keys… I don’t think I’m forgetting anything. Oh, yeah. I left some money so you can order pizza or get some takeout for you and Michaela, if you don’t feel like cooking. If you’re more in the mood for home cooked, there’s all kinds of fixings for salads and burgers and things like that. Oh, and I think there’s some cake left from the other day, if you’d like a piece. Charise, honey, you are a lifesaver, you know that?” She reached over and gave Charise’s hand an affectionate squeeze, then called out, “Chris, sweetie, are you ready yet?”


Mr. Williams walked into the living room and flashed Charise a broad grin. “Hey there, Charise. How are things with your family?”

“The same as usual. Dad’s been busy, Gramma Cici has been in and out of the hospital lately, and Cy has been taking some online college courses. Oh, and Ophelia’s part of the news team at school.”

“Tell your dad I said hi, and tell Ophelia I saw a great deal on art supplies and fabric at the shopping center the other day,” Mr. Williams replied. He turned to his wife and said, “You ready, Gwen?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Mrs. Williams said. She gave her husband a brief kiss on the cheek and then said to Charise, “If you need anything at all, you can call us. Take care, sweetheart.”

She and her husband walked out the door. Charise sat on the sofa, listening to them drive away.

“So, you’re the one they hired to take care of me? I guess Tacita was too scared to come back,” a voice said behind Charise. Charise turned and found a pretty little girl standing in the doorway, wearing her pajamas.


Charise took a deep breath. To be honest, children terrified her. She briefly wondered why she hadn’t tried to get Ophelia to come along; Ophelia was better with kids than Charise ever could be!

“Hello, Michaela. I’m Charise. Your mommy and daddy asked me to keep an eye on you while they go out for the afternoon.”

Michaela eyed Charise. “I’m hungry. Get me some food.”

“Ask nicely.”

Michaela glared. “Now!”

“Not with that attitude, Missy.”



Michaela rolled her eyes. “Fine. I would like some food. Can you please get me some?”

“That’s better. And yes, I will make you something to eat.”

“Nuh-uh.” Michaela scowled. “I know Mommy left some money for pizza. Get me pizza!”

“Forget it, rugrat,” Charise responded. “We’re dining in this afternoon; it’s cuisine a la Charise, or nothing.”

“Fine,” Michaela replied. “Mac and cheese.” She saw the slight frown on Charise’s face and reluctantly added, rolling her eyes, “Please.”

“Coming right up.”

Oh wow! I went to school with all these people. LOL!
I'm also happy to see another longer story. This is excellant!!!
I know he's a goof, but I'm totally loving AJ because I know one in RL. I also loved the part where Tiffani pulled the glasses off Emily's face and she was really pretty. I can't wait to read more.
P.S. I know she's a bit of a beotch, but I'm intriqued by how Tiffani's character is going to develope through all this. I'm hooked.

Montridge, wow, I never expected you to read this. I'm glad that you like it so much! Tiffani's not a bad person, per se, but because she's been surrounded by superficial people for so long, she tends to view other people rather harshly. Besides, it would have been unrealistic for her to magically become a nice person overnight.

Here's a few little hints as to what's to come in future chapters, to keep you speculating, as well as a few bits of trivia:

1) The fourth chapter will parody a movie, and will focus a good bit on AJ. I think you'll get a kick out of it, especially the ending for a chapter (let's just say it's my chance to show what I think would really happen if people tried some of the stuff done in movies).

2) One of the later chapters focuses very heavily on Tiffani and was inspired by something I read about in a news article, involving a college. Originally, the chapter was going to involve her losing weight and being invited back onto the squad, and she would have to decide whether or not she would leave CNC. However, after reading the news article, I decided to change that chapter entirely.

3) One character will die near the end.

4) There will be a few very... odd... pairings. That's all I'm going to tell you about that.

5) When this story was in its early stages, Ophelia was more like Mae, Angela was a cutesy groupie, and Tiffani was still a member of the cheerleading squad and had no weight problems.

6) A few things in the story are based on real events. For example, I read about a girl being kicked off her school's pep squad for her weight (despite being a healthy weight, the coordinater decided she was "fat" compared to the other girls). I used that as the basis for Tiffani being kicked off the teams. Also, that speech that Emily did for her class, as well as the reactions people gave, really did happen to me.

7) Dunstan's appearance changed a lot between writing and creating the shots. He was originally going to look more like S, except with thick, curly hair. I changed him into a blonde guy to make him more like the person he's based on.

8) Angela is meant to be a parody of characters from TV shows set in the 50's.

9) Oakdale's name was chosen because it sounded like a good "any town" name. When I started writing the story, I did not realize that it was used as a town name in a soap opera, as well as being a real town.


I'll try to get the next installment up tonight or tomorrow morning. This is going to be a pretty serious chapter, for the most part, but it will give you a lot of insight into several of the characters.

I am really enjoying this story! Can't wait for more!

Thanks, JoeSims! I'm very happy that you like the story. I'm always worried that people don't like the story or think it's too stupid or weird. I hope you'll enjoy the upcoming additions to the story.

12:05 PM

S walked into the café and looked around.

Where was she? Did he come to the wrong place? There was another place with the same name as this, wasn't there?

He glanced from table to table, looking for the woman he was supposed to meet. Then, he saw her-- attractive and outrageously dressed, with black hair. When she saw him, she waved and called out, “S, there you are!”

Several people turned to look in S’s direction. He blushed and hurried over to the table and sat down at the table.

“Well, S, it’s certainly a pleasure to be on this date with you,” the woman giggled.

“Tacita, I thought you said you had to baby-sit today,” S said softly.

“I found a replacement,” Tacita replied. She thought to herself, “Man, oh man, Charise would kill me if she knew I blew off the babysitting job to go on a date with S!”


“Replacement, huh?” S responded, raising an eyebrow. “Would it have to do with the phone call Charise got this morning?”

“Maybe,” Tacita replied with a wink. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“It’s about Charise.”

“I thought so,” Tacita sighed. “So, what’s up?”



“Dang it, Michaela, can you at least sit down while you eat?” Charise cried out impatiently.

“How come? Mommy doesn’t care what I do while I eat, as long as I eat,” Michaela argued.

“I know very well that your mom does no such thing, Michaela. Now sit your butt down!”

“Ooh, you said butt!” Michaela giggled, pointing at Charise.

“Yes, I did,” Charise responded, “And if you keep it up, it’s gonna be smacked.”

“You can’t do nothing to me,” Michaela smirked.

“But your parents can, and guess what, kiddo. You act up, and I spill all to your parents. And you know what? You’ll get in trouble. I might not be able to spank you, but your mom and dad can and will.”



Emily sat outside her house, waiting. Her parents were at work, and her brother was playing video games at his friend Kenny’s house. She looked left and right, looking to see if Ophelia was coming.

“They’re late,” she muttered.

What if she and Cy, whoever that was, didn’t show up? What would she do then? She looked over and saw them turning the corner.


Ophelia was wearing a loose-fitting and rather short dress that did not match her Goth persona at school, and Cy… so this was Cy! A tall woman with long red hair, casually but tastefully dressed. As they came closer, something struck Emily as being “off” about the redhead. When the pair came within three feet of her, Emily realized that the “woman” was a man… with a rather womanly figure.


The redhead’s eyes widened upon seeing Emily’s confused expression, and lightly poked Ophelia’s shoulder. Ophelia scurried a short distance away.

“You didn’t tell her, I take it! You leave me to do all the dirty work, don’t you, Lia? You’re lucky you’re so cute. Okay, hi,” the redhead said finally addressing Emily. “I’m Cy Cloud, age 18, close friend of Ophelia. And pre-op, not post, just in case you were wondering. As for the pronoun question you’re probably pondering, I would prefer to be referred to in the feminine tense. Any comments, statements, questions?”


Emily finally spoke. “You’re… so pretty. I love your outfit! And your hair is so beautiful!”

Cy smiled gently. “I like this one, Lia. Good vibes from this one, definitely.”

Ophelia sighed with relief and grinned at Emily. “Well, shall we?”


The trio began the trip to Ophelia’s house.

“Sorry for not giving an advanced warning, Emily,” Ophelia said, “but I wasn’t sure how to word things.”

“You’re forgiven,” Emily responded. “Just don’t pull that kind of thing again.”

“Ooh, a bit fiery. I think we'll get along just fine, Em,” Cy laughed.

very interesting & diverse characters you have there. Glad I found this story and will check for updates regularly.

*adds to list of stories*

Thank you for reading, kimmyfrmtx. I'm always happy to hear that people enjoy this story.

Lol! I'd be a little freaked if someone like Cy came up to me. But he seems real nice. Great update! :D

12:15 PM

“So, what’s this guy like?” Tacita asked.

“He’s this rich musician jerk. He used to be Charise’s music teacher when she was younger. And now… now they’re a couple. It makes me sick,” S responded.

“You think she’d be better off with you?”

“I should think so!”


Tacita chuckled softly to herself. “S, I’m going to tell you a little something. Everyone knows how you feel about Charise, except for Charise. But then again, let’s call a spade a spade; Charise isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to relationships and romance. But your lack of action isn’t helping matters, you know. You think you can get a girl’s attention just because you’ve been nice to her?”

S shook his head. “It’s not to get her attention.”

“Then why?”


“I’m just happy to be allowed to be near Charise.”

Tacita groaned. “Man, you have problems. It’s not like she appreciates you or anything.”

“Eh?”

“You are so messed up.”

--------------

The trio walked into the quiet house.

“Make yourselves at home,” Ophelia said. “I’m going to see if I can find Elphie.”

She hurried into the next room.

“Elphie?” Emily asked.

Ophelia walked back in, holding a beautiful cat with Siamese markings and green eyes. “This is Elphaba, also known as Elphie.”

Emily peered closely at the cat. “A Siamese… with green eyes?”

“Yeah, she’s a mixed breed but managed to get all the Siamese markings. She’s very skittish; I’m surprised she let you come so close,” Ophelia replied.

“Her little brother’s a real pain in the butt. He likes to make loud noises while Lia’s holding her, just to make the cat scratch her up!” Cy added.

Ophelia gently set the cat down onto the floor and then grinned up at her friends.


“Uh, Ophelia…” Emily said.

“Yes?”

“I was just thinking… your dress…”

“What about it?” Ophelia asked, brushing cat hair from it.

“It doesn’t seem very…”

“Very what, Emily?”

“Goth!”

Cy chuckled softly. “She said the G word, Lia. Do you want me to leave the room, or do you want me to witness the yelling at?”

Ophelia gave Cy a light punch in the arm. “Hush up, Cy. Emily’s one of the few people who I can actually explain it to. She doesn’t know any better.”

“I don’t?” Emily asked, puzzled.

Ophelia sighed. “Sit down, Emily.” Emily plopped herself down on the nearby sofa. Cy sat on the floor and waited to hear the speech she knew was coming.


“Emily, I’m going to explain this to you because you, unlike most of the unwashed cretins at our school, are capable of understanding what I am going to tell you. I am not goth. At our age, goth is for people who dye their hair black and wear that ugly white face paint and smudgy black eyeliner and shop at Hot Topic and cut themselves while listening to whiny singers with no talent. That does not describe me. This is my natural hair color, and I don’t wear that nasty white stuff or enough eyeliner to make me look like a raccoon. Oh, and most of my clothes are either homemade, from thrift stores, or shipped from other places.”

“So why do you let people call you a goth then?” Emily asked.

“It’s easier than explaining all this to people. Besides, the people who label me as such are generally idiots, and if I argue with them, I’m stooping to their level. And let’s face it, I wouldn’t win the argument because they’ve had more experience being idiots,” Ophelia replied.


“I see…”

“Eh, this is getting dull,” Cy commented.

“You’re right,” Ophelia replied. “It’s time for us to go crazy!”

“Go…crazy?” Emily echoed worriedly.

... And the plot thickens, as they say... It's comming along very nicely. As I've mentioned before... It's fascinating to see how you mesh these characters, how they interact, how real they seem. Very refreashing. Your attention to detail, makes all the difference... Oh, and don't ever worry about your stories, or writing... It's fantastic.

Ophelia doesn't even look goth so I don't understand how anyone would even label her as that. Oh well. Great update! :D

I agree with Stormy. WTF??? Like the update. Keep them coming!

1:00 PM

Charise sighed as she washed the dishes. She had Michaela distracted with a movie, at least for the moment. Tacita had better be dealing with a life or death situation! She growled softly to herself.

She dried her hands off and then a terrible thought hit her: she had left her purse alone with Michaela!


Gasping, she hurried into the living room, where Michaela was busily applying makeup to her face.

“Hey, Charise, am I pretty?” Michaela asked with a grin.

Charise sighed. “Let’s get you cleaned up, kiddo.”

“Nuh-uh! I look pretty this way!” Michaela scowled.

“Wearing all that makeup is going to give you skin problems.”


“So why do you wear it?”

Charise flinched slightly. “Because I know how to put on enough to look good without giving myself skin problems.”

“Then why do you have that pimple on your cheek?”

Charise gasped and leaned close to the mirror for a closer look. Michaela hurried away, silently smirking.



“Let’s face it, S, she’s not exactly the best match for you,” Tacita said.

“Yes, but I still care about her.”

“I know, and that’s the sad thing,” Tacita replied, brushing her hair out of her face. “S, you haven’t done anything to make her think of you as anything more than a friend. Let’s face it, kiddo, at the rate you’re going, the only way you’ll end up with Charise is if someone she really looked up to said, with their last dying breath, that the fate of the world depended on her marrying you and you two having kids together. And, you know, even then, I don’t know if it would be a one hundred percent chance of working out.”

S rolled his eyes. “Thanks a lot, Tacita,” he said bitterly.


Tacita smiled softly. “I know you care about her, though, and if it makes you happy, then go for it.”

“But she doesn’t really know who I am.”

Tacita laughed and poked at his arm. “Because you won’t let her. You’re so mysterious all the time. Now tell me, would it be so dangerous to let Charise know how much you care? Like I said, everybody else knows.”

“I thought you didn’t want me going after her.”

“I’d rather you tell her your feelings and be rejected and know how she feels, than to want her for years and years, complaining to me the whole time, and then find out too late that she likes you. The worst she can do is tell you she’s not interested, right?”

“Are you sure I should go for it, though?” S asked. He chewed his fingernails.


"Sure, go for it!" Tacita replied. "You've always liked her. Remember when we were little? You were about six years old when you met Charise. And when she walked through the door of the classroom and you saw her for the first time, you said, ‘Tacita, is that an angel?’”


S snorted. “Okay, there's a lot wrong with what you just said. First of all, I was eight, not six. Second of all, I didn’t say that; you’ve seen Spider-Man too many times.”

“My point is still valid, though.”

“Whatever you say… Aunt May.”

“Oh, shut up, S.”

“Fine.”


“But the point is, go find out how she feels, and stop whining to me about it. I want you to go home and do something to make her feel special. Then, at least you can say you’ve tried.”

S rose. “I… I think I might do that.”

Tacita stood up and hugged him. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”


She watched S hurry away, and murmured, “Hope he gets her.” Then she dialed a number on her phone. “Jeff? This is Tacita. We’re still up for 5:30 tonight?”