2.28.10

"Come on, Kara, we're going to be late!"

Kara-Lynn turned away from the mirror in her locker. "Are you afraid of being late, Bianca?" She pursed her lips and flipped her hair, turning back to the mirror, to apply more red lipstick. "Because if you are, I don't think that you'll be able to do this."

"I don't like it when Mr. Burns yells at me... He's kinda scary, Kara."

"Whatever. Come on." Kara slammed her locker closed and started walking the opposite way of their next class, toward the bathroom. "You're not going to chicken out on me, are you, Bianca?"

"No, Kara. I won't."

"Good." Kara said, leading the way into the bathroom. Gretchen and Xada were already there, talking. Xada was tall, with long legs and dark skin, having just moved from South Africa last year. She still had her accent, and it was sometimes hard to understand her, but Kara was patient with her, one of the few people she was patient with. Gretchen was shorter but not by much. Running had given her a stunning body, and her dark green eyes and brown hair only added to her beauty. Kara walked closer, her long blonde hair falling to her hips in curls.

"Did you bring the stuff?" Gretchen asked? Kara nodded, handing something to each of the girls. Bianca stood back, straight black bangs falling into her eyes. She was smaller than these girls, and though she was pretty and thin, she was soft and delicate.

"What's she doing here?" Xada asked, pointing to Bianca. Bianca sank further against the mirror behind her. Xada walked closer, a models's strut, like she was a human peacock. "You don't belong here. You'll never actually do it." Xada said, her face inches from where Bianca's was. Bianca swallowed hard. An enormous ball was forming in the middle of her throat.

"Calm down, Xada." Kara-Lynn said. She went into one of the stalls to change. Xada and Gretchen hopped up on the sinks to watch. They talked loudly.

"Do you think she'll do it?" Gretchen asked in her thick southern accent.

"No way. She'll totally chicken out." Xada answered, her long black hair shimmering. "I bet she won't even change into the dress."

"You're probably right."

Kara-Lynn exited the stall seconds later, having traded her super tiny shorts and plaid shirt, tied in the front to expose her stomach, for a fitting red dress that made her look much older than she was. It was strapless, and hugged her all the way to just above her knees.

"Love this dress on you." Gretchen said. "My turn." She grabbed her clothes from her bag and went into the stall, coming out a second later wearing an almost-identical dress in black. This one had straps, and went a little longer than the one that Kara was wearing. Xada went into the stall next, returning in a stunning electric blue dress, similar to the ones the girls were wearing. Hers was even shorter, making her long legs look even longer than they were. Kara-Lynn took something out of her backpack, handing it to Bianca.

Bianca stared at the package for a really long time, before going into the stall and changing. She emerged a minute later, wearing a green dress, like the ones the girls were wearing. Hers was perfect on her, and brought out her green eyes, under her asain face.

"Perfect. Now we just need to do our hair." Kara-Lynn walked over to Bianca and put her hand on her shoulder. You can do this, look at you! We just need to fix your hair and give you a little bit of make-up.

Bianca sat on the sink as Kara-Lynn put her black hair into curlers, gave her bangs a little more life, put some eyeshadow that made her green eyes pop, and some lipstick that made her look pale. All four of them together looked gorgeous. Bianca felt more confidant about what she was going to do now. The face in the mirror told her that she could do whatever she wanted, but did she dare do this?

"Let's go, girls." Gretchen said, slipping on her matching heels. Bianca followed the three of them out of the bathroom, wearing her own green heels. They walked around the hallways, finally finding the four boys standing near the teachers room, wearing tuxes. Brian, Craig, and Jordan. Those were their boyfriends. Jordan went and grabed Xada's arm, kissed her, and put his arms around her. Bianca stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. She didn't like strangers.

Holding Brian's hand, Gretchen pointed to the fourth boy. Bianca didn't know him. He was tall, asian like she was, and really, really hot. His skin was perfect, and his hair was cut short, but not too short.

"Chris Young," Gretchen said, "This is Bianca Williams. Your date for tonight." Bianca cringed inside. She should have expected Kara-Lynn to find her a date.

"Hi, there." Chris said, smiling. He put an arm around Bianca's waist, nudging her forward to follow the other three girls. "Did you get roped into this too?" He asked, dropping behind the other three a little bit. Bianca nodded stiffly, very uncomfortable in this environment. "You know, we're all taking seperate cars there, makes it look more real. We don't have to go if you don't want to. We can go somewhere else."

"Where?" Bianca asked.

"The mall? We can get some normal clothes there." Chris laughed.

Bianca walked with him, they were getting closer to the truck. She breathed in deeply, and then out twice as deep. "Okay, let's go to the mall."

Chris smiled brightly, helping Bianca into his truck and then going around to drive. He followed the other three cars from a slight distance, and then when they turned to get on the highway, he turned the opposite way to go to the mall. Bianca released her breath, not noticing that she had even been holding it.

2.27.10

***alexarayy108 has entered ZNC Chat***
alexarayy108: Anybody here?
alexarayy108: Guess not...
***frannybaybe has entered ZNC Chat***
alexarayy108: Franny! Oh, thank God!
frannybaybee: What's up, A-Ray?
alexarayy108: It's Cora, she's cheating on Vince.
frannybaybee: Are you sure? That really dosn't sound like Cora...
alexarayy108: I'm positive, Franny! I saw her kissing Jorge by the stage...
frannybaybee: Oh.
frannybaybee: Well, yeah. That kinda proves it.
alexarayy108: What do we do?
frannybaybee: We? Psh, I don't know! Did you talk to Cora yet?
alexarayy108: Are you crazy?! I don't want her to get mad at me!
frannybaybee: No, I just meant that she might have some kind of explination.
alexarayy108: Yeah, I guess.
***coraboramachine has entered ZNC Chat***
coraboramachine: Hey, guys!
frannybaybee: Hey, C. What's up?
coraboramachine: Nothing much, what about you, A-Ray?
alexarayy108: I saw you cheating on Vince, Cora.
coraboramachine: What?
***alexarayy108 has left ZNC Chat***
coraboramachine: What the heck! I never cheated on Vince! I would never do that!
frannybaybee: I know you wouldn't. But A-Ray said she saw you kissing Jorge.
coraboramachine: WHAT?! He's playing opposite me in the play! We were running lines!
frannybaybee: You may want to tell her that before she tells Vince.
coraboramachine: Crap.
coraboramachine: Get her back here, she's not answering my text messages.
frannybaybee: Aright.
***frannybaybee has gone away***

Francesca stood up from her computer and walked into the kitchen, digging through her backpack for her cell phone to text Alexa-Ray. She entered the message quickly, and sent it off, returning to the computer before Cora got mad. Hot chocolate in hand, she braced herself for the upcoming battle of truth.

***frannybaybee has returned from away***
coraboramachine: What did she say?
frannybaybee: She didn't answer my message yet.
coraboramachine: Well, what did you send her?
frannybaybee: "Hey, A-Ray. Can you come back to the chat? Cora just wants to talk. She's not mad, I promise."
coraboramachine: Good. I hope she comes back. I really would never cheat on Vince.
frannybaybee: I know, C. I just think that she's kind of jealous. A-Ray doesn't have a boyfriend...
coraboramachine: Neither do you.
frannybaybee: Thanks for reminding me.
coraboramachine: I'm sorry. Still sore over your break-up with Nick?
frannybaybee: Yeah, kinda. It was only a few weeks ago... I kind of miss him.
coraboramachine: Yeah, I get it.
frannybaybee: I'll be right back. I'm hungry.
***frannybaybee has gone away***

Franny ran a hand through her tangled blonde hair, standing up from her chair to go get some food. She looked in the cabinet, trying to search for some cookies, chocolate, sugary cereal, anything that would keep her mind off of Nick. She missed him like crazy, not like she would ever let him know that.

Her phone buzzed within her pocket. She answered the text message from A-Ray quickly, grabbing a juice box and a package of mini-muffans quickly and shoving them into her mouth one by one as she typed A-Ray's response to Cora.

***frannybaybee has returned from away***
frannybaybee: Back.
coraboramachine: Did she answer?
frannybaybee: Actually, yes.
coraboramachine: What did she say?
frannybaybee: "Not right now, I have to go to ballet. Tell Cora that I'll call her later so we can talk about this.
coraboramachine: Okay, it's a start.
frannybaybee: Agreed. I'm going to get going on some homework. I'll see you tomorrow in Chem, kay?
coraboramachine: Cool beans, see you then.
***frannybaybee has left ZNC Chat***

She turned off her computer, resisting the temptation to log on to facebook and check up on Nick's profile. He was dating some girl. Some taller, prettier blonde. That was what bothered her the most. She was a blonde too, and looked a lot like she did. "Jerk." She mumbled under her breath, heading back into the kitchen for another package of min-muffins.

The door squeaked as she opened the pantry, a reminder that what she was doing was not only insane, but also highly unhealthy. She had been eating non-stop for two weeks now, and had gained twelve pounds as a result. She was spiriling out of control, having never been rejected before. And she didn't like it. Her mother had tried taking her to a therapist when she gained the first five, but all that did was make it worse. More tramatic. Franny hated talking to people she didn't know. She didn't give her heart out very easily, and certainly didn't appreciate it when it was broken. Though this was the first time, she thought, it was definitely the worst that it could ever be. She could sit on the couch, watching the television for hours on end, unaware of time. The only thing that kept her sane was homework.

It wasn't just her breakup with Nick that was causing her these problems. Franny's brother had died just a month before, two weeks after her Dad left them, leaving with some girl from Canada to go live his life with his other family in Newfoundland, Canada. Her mother was rarely home, working double shifts as a doctor. She was a spinal sergen at Yale Hospital in Connecticut.

Franny believed it was her fault, that her mother was working double shifts. She thought that her mother didn't love her anymore. Only loved her brother, and missed Chris so much, that she couldn't actually look at Franny without crying. Franny took to staying in her room, behind closed doors to eliminate the confrontation. Not that it mattered anyway. When she was sleeping, her mother was awake, and when Franny was at school, her mother was taking her five minutes of relaxation before heading off to the hospital exactly an hour before Franny was due home. Franny almost wanted to skip school, just to face her mom.

The only attention that she had gotten in the past two weeks was when her mother tried to bring her to a therapist. Franny had yelled at her so much, hurt her feelings so badly. She didn't mean too, she just didn't want help. She just wanted to be alone.