“Wow,” I heard Rob say under his breath. My reaction was one in the same. “She a total hottie, you were right Colton!”

“Let’s not over estimate her yet, you still haven’t met her,” I sound stupid to my own ears.

“Are you nuts? And I will meet her, after class; care to join me?” Rob asked.

“No, I catch her later for that I’m sure,” I explained easily. “So where’s she from?”

“L.A.” Colton answered in an all-knowing way.

“How do you know that?” I asked in a smart-ass kind of way.

“Well I asked her in World Geo well we were talking, anyways who would listen to Mr. Whatshisname?” Colton cornered. “I sure don’t and it’s my first day in his class!”

“Where is Levi and Lex I haven’t seen them yet?” I was hoping to change the subject.

“No idea dude!”

“Me either!”

“Great,” I answered, losing hope that I would be able to survive the first day back.

Later during Chemistry

I found that the new girl was in my class too, and to top that off we were lab partners.

“Hey I’m Matt,” I sounded like an idiot but at least I was trying.

“Oh, I’m Jamie. Does this guy ever shut up?” She asked and pointed toward the teacher. I choked back my laughter but a grin broke out over my face.

“No, but none of the teachers here do,” I answered in return. She grinned and one of her beautiful dimples shown. “Are you a junior too?”

“No I’m a sophomore!” She whispered.

“Really, how did you get in junior class, then?”

“I’m an advanced learner and I took bio when I was a freshman. Then in math I was placed in a class for high ability learners.”

“Smarty-pants,” I teased and she laughed lightly. I couldn’t help chuckling with her.

“Don’t even start, and I’m nowhere near a smarty-pants,” She said in an undertone.

“Oh yeah right, your in junior class and you’re a sophomore. You’re a smarty-pants weather you admit it or not!” I replied. Colton was right, she was easy to talk to, and she was really nice. “So you should know that you’re in my Advanced Algebra class.”

“I know I saw you and Colton told me that you were in the class. He also said a lot more stuff about you…I almost thought he was bargaining,” She was teasing me now… this was so unfair. What had Colton told her?

“Was this supposed to be a good or bad thing?” I teased.

“I haven’t decided, yet! He also, however, mentioned a Rob, Lex, and Levi but not as much. He can tell great stories.”

“Really, what kind of stories?”

“Amusing ones!” She laughed.

“Oh, really care to repeat any of them?”

“Nope! I think I’ll let you worry well I find them amusing and witty. Oh I shouldn’t forget humorous and funny, too.” She was just a little teasing devil of a beauty.

“I think you should care to share these stories of Colton’s about me. I think I would find them amusing and what else had you called it: funny, humorous, amusing and witty.”

“I don’t thinks so but he did say you where nice, funny, kind and smart; along with many other things. Like wicked, popular and sinful.”

“You’re teasing me!” I exclaimed in a low whisper.

“I’m not I swear! You can ask him if you want!”

“Fine I will,” I challenged.
“Good for you,” She could careless.

“So what’s your next class?” I asked.

“Keyboarding, you?”

“The same, it’s going to be horrible.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because we will do nothing but type for about an hour and that’s it.”

“Really sounds like fun!”

“Fun?”

“Just more time for me to surf the net! I mean think about, where there’s a will theirs a way.”

“Good Point,” I was interrupted by the bell ringing. “Come on let’s go to keyboarding and get into some trouble,” I said as I picked up my backpack and grabbed her books. She giggled and said thanks with a soft smile.

Chapter 2

(Jamie’s POV)

Matt walked me to the computer lab; we talked the whole way. He was cool to hang out with, he could make me laugh and that was always a good thing. Emma ran up to me on way down to the lab:

“Hey guys,” Emma interrupted.

“Hey.”

“So you met Matt finally?” Emma asked.

“What is finally supposed to mean?” Matt asked.

“Well I told Jamie that she just had to met you because, oh how did I put it? Umm—“

“You said and I quote, “Because you’re his type of girl!” I finished for her, we both laughed at the shocked expression on Matt’s face.

“And how exactly do you know what “my type of girl” is?” Matt asked still in stock.

“That’s a good question Emma. How would you know,” I asked, in curiosity.

“Well, I got to get to class see you guys at lunch!” Emma ran off after, leaving Matt thinking, and me laughing.

“Hey, Matt,” some guy called from behind us.

“Hey Rob,” Matt called back before his friend reached where we stood.

“You must be the girl Colton was talking about nonstop during 2nd hour?” Rob said. “I’m Rob, and you're Jamie, if I’m not mistaken?”

“No, you're not mistaken. I’m Jamie!”

“Awesome! So what class do you have next?”

“We have keyboarding next,” Matt injected.

“Really? Well I’m headed down that way. I’ll walk with you,” Rob said. We all started walking down the hall again.

“What class do you have next?” Matt asked in a cold tone, I never heard him use before.

“I have Computer Tech Applications. It’s the room right across from yours, actually,” Rob stated in a matter fact tone. “So Jamie, are you really from L.A.?”

“Yeah”

“Awesome, is this your first time here?” Rob asked.

“No, I had to come to Orlando once and we stopped here on the way. We were headed for the Caribbean, then to Jamaica,” I answered.

“So how was the Caribbean?”

“Ok, I guess. Nothing that was out of this world; it was just different.”

“What about Jamaica?” Rob was curious.

“I had do go to a wedding and that seem to take forever,” I answered and gave Rob a sweet smile. I was just playing innocent until I felt Matt slip his hand in mine; I looked up at him and gave him a curious look.

“So Matt, are you two dating yet?” Rob asked. “Because if you don’t ask her someone else will!”

“I’m aware of that Rob!” Matt stated in the same cold voice.

“Excellent. Well this is my stop so, I’ll see you guys later.”

“Let’s get into class before were late,” He said and pulled on my hand. He led me to a seat in the front of the room because the teachers’ desk was in the back of the room. Once we were in our seats: “Would you go out with me?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Rob had a good point, so will you?”

“Sure,” I answered. Then he did something that shocked me to my roots…

Chapter 3

(Matt’s POV)

I don’t know what made me kiss her, the last thing I remember was leaning over and kissing her soft, parted lips. So as I was saying, I had lost my mind because we were right in the front of the class and I was kissing her. All the guys cheered and the girls were envious but I couldn’t have cared less about what they thought, all that mattered was the girl in my arms. Unfortunately, I had to break the kiss or land us in a detention or two if; I haven’t already!

“Sorry,” I whispered in her ear before I pulled away completely. I laid my head against the wall behind me as she started talking to David who was sitting beside her. Which I think made me jealous! I leaned making sure David saw me grab her hand, and interlaced our fingers. David gave me a glare and I merely smiled.

“So how was your summer, David?” I asked.

“Fine, Matt, although I have a question!” David answered as Mr. Hook the teacher started pacing the back of the room and take attendance. I heard Jamie call present and felt a strike in the ribs.

“What?” I asked Jamie in surprise.

“Your name was called!” She said, with a sinful smile playing across her lovely lips.

“Oh, PRESENT,” I called. Jamie chuckled and I looked up to see everyone laughing too.

“Thank you Matt,” Mr. Hook said; and moved on down the list. I gave Jamie a stunned/shocked expression and she laughed at me. Soon the whole class joined her and I just sat there confused and misunderstood was wrote all over my face. Even Mr. Hook looked at me and broke out laughing at me.

“So unfunny, everyone,” I said loudly.

“I thought it was,” Jamie said over her shoulder. She gave me wicked smile then started talking to David again.

“So what classes did you sign up for this year,” Jamie asked David.
“Oh nothing to dramatic, just accounting, business law, personal finance, marketing, marketing law, and all the core classes,” David said and flashed her a fetching smile.

“Oh really, those sound like hard classes!” She exclaimed.

“David, are you going out for soccer this year?” I asked.

“Yeah, if I feel like it! Do you play any sports Jamie?” David asked.

“A little, I play soccer, basketball, and run cross country!” Jamie explained.

“That’s more than a little,” I muttered under my breath.

“Ok everyone, I want you to get into the typing time program and get to typing,” Mr. Hook said before taking his seat.

David and Jamie kept whispering while they typing. After the first typing test Jamie got 94 words per minute, I on the other hand only got 40 words per minute.

“Break for lunch be back at 12:45,” Mr. Hook said. Holy Crap that’s a 45 minute lunch, I thought. Emma’s class was letting out for lunch as we were so she ran up and started chatting like no tomorrow with Jamie. David and I were talking with Rob a few people behind them.

“So what did you think,” Colton said coming out of thin air.

“Think about what?” I asked.

“Jamie, idiot?” Colton said with a dramatic eye roll.

“She’s a good kisser,” I said with a wide smirk spreading across my face.

“You kissed her!” Colton looked as though he was having a heart attack.

“Yes, he did right in front of the whole Fking class,” David said dramatically.

“Score bro,” Rob said and gave me a high five as we continued toward the lunch room and court yard. I looked to where Emma and Jamie were walking who were soon joined by Amanda, Lex, and Brandon. Lex started trying to wrap his arms around Jamie with little success but it didn’t stop him from trying.

“I’ll see you later,” I said and started walking over to them.

“Wait up, mate,” Rob called out and I stopped to wait for him. “You’re crushing hard aren’t you?” He asked as we started walking over to where Jamie and the others were seating.

“I’m not sure, maybe,” I replied.

“Well you’ve never done this crap with Jenny or any other chick,” Rob said knowingly.

“I don’t know but thanks,” I really didn’t know so yeah. “Can we join you?” I asked as we reached our destination.

“We only have room for one,” Emma said as she pointed toward the only seat left.

“That’s ok,” I said as I sat down and Rob sat on top of my lap. “You good?” I asked Rob and everyone laughted.

“I’m fine, sweety,” He said as he wrapped his arms around my neck. I reluctantly wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Good sugar plum,” I said sweetly. Jamie and everyone else couldn’t stop laughing at us. We broke apart after a couple minutes and laughted until we were in tears. “We’re so gay!” I said while laughing.

“Okay ok, we’re done,” Rob said after he stopped laughing.

“You guys are idiots,” Emma said as she slowly got done laughing.

“We know,” Rob and I said in union. Everyone laughed some more; I noticed Lex was still trying to wrap his arms around Jamie and even I was getting annoyed. Thank god Lex’s class started to leave the Emma’s class was next (Colton was in Emma’s class). Brandon and Amanda’s classes were after that; our class didn’t leave for another 10 minutes.

After class

“Well what class are you off to now,” I asked Jamie as we exited the computer lab.

“Honor’s English 10, you?” She asked back.

“Honor’s English 11, so yeah we are in the same hallway,” I said in deep thought.

“Cool!”

“I’ll walk you,” I said with a smile.

At the end of the day

When the bell rang I walked Jamie to her locker after Debate where Emma met up with us there.

“Hey, so given any thought to going to the mall with us,” Emma asked us.

“I have no idea,” Jamie replied as she shut her locker then leaned back against it.

“What about you Matt?” Emma asked with a wicked wink. Although everyone knew that Rob wanted her, so that meant hands off.

“Maybe,” I said before adding a sinful smirk and giving her a little kiss on her cheek.

“So what are you two doing after school?” Emma asked curiously.

“Nothing,” I replied.

“Oh, I’m going to go shopping with Lex,” Jamie said with a adorable smile.

“So did her ask you out,” Emma was so into gossip.

“He did and asked if I would go with him to check out homecoming outfits!”

“So did he ask you to homecoming?” I asked, in hopes that he didn’t.

“Not yet why?” Jamie asked as her cute little brow turned into a frown.

“Just curious?”

Maybe there was a God, I thought.

(Matt’s pov)

I watched as Jamie and Emma walked out of the cafeteria toward their lockers.

“Well that girl is something,” I heard Tristan say.

“Yeah, she is,” I agreed.

“You like her don’t you,” he questioned.

“Of course not!”

“Fine then I’ll just go and ask her to the dance,” he said with a smirk forming on his face.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said as we started to head toward our gym class; meeting up with Rob and Brandon on our way.

“But you just said you didn’t like her,” he pressed.

“Matt doesn’t like who?” Rob and Brandon asked at the same time.

“That new girl Jamie,” Tristan said easily.

“I could have told you that he has a thing for her,” Rob supplied.

“I don’t have a thing for her,” I said as we opened the door to the locker rooms.

“Whatever,” Tristan said under his breath!

“I don’t!”

“We all know your lying,” Brandon said while pulling his shirt over his head.

“I’m not lying,” Yeah I am, I thought.

“Yeah whatever,” the other three murmured.

You wanna come over to my house? Watch a movie or something?”
“Oh, I can’t, I’m sorry Janis. I have tons of math homework; Mrs. Norbury is totally pushing us since the exams are coming up. Plus, Aaron is coming over so I want to spend some time with him,” Cady replied apologetically, then added as an afterthought, “you don’t mind, right?”

“No, not at all. So, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Janis replied casually.

“Okay, bye.” Cady said as she gave Janis a quick smile and heading out the classroom.

Janis smiled back and watched Cady head out. She then turned her attention to the desk in front of her and busied herself with putting her books away in her backpack. A quick glance around revealed to Janis that she was the only one left in the empty, quiet room. As she took her time, carefully putting her things away, Janis heard shuffling behind her. She turned around to find the teacher collecting pencil shavings off of the floor. Mrs. Merewether looked up at Janis and smiled, then continued to concentrate on her task. Janis smiled back and quickly turned around. She began to carelessly put her books away and headed out the door. Nothing was worse than being left alone with a teacher and being forced to make uncomfortable small talk or suffer through an awkward silence. Janis made her way to her locker, grabbed the homework she needed, and walked down the hall.

As she continued her lazy strides, Janis heard giggling and immediately knew whom it belonged to. Turning the corner, she caught sight of the Plastics: Regina George, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith. Janis was well aware of the girls in pink and their late stays at school on Wednesday evenings when the senior boys soccer team held their practices. Gretchen stopped laughing and gave Janis a disgusted look, clearly marking her disapproval of Janis’ outfit, make-up and –existence, for that matter. Janis lowered her gaze to the floor, and feeling uncomfortably embarrassed, walked down the hall past the three girls silently hoping that they would spare her any humiliation. She looked up at Regina as she passed by, noticing Regina’s serious, unreadable face and hard stare. As she continued to walk down the hall, Janis could feel their eyes boring onto her back. She almost turned the corner when she heard the words escape Gretchen’s lips in a hushed tone.

Lesbian.”

“I think she likes me,” Regina chimed in.

Janis stopped and clenched her face tight; they hit her right on the target. Taking a deep breath she turned around to look at the Plastics. At Gretchen who gave another disgusted look. At Karen, who looked confused and unaware of the events unfolding before her. Finally, Janis’ gaze fell on Regina; a seductive smile tugged at her lips and her eyebrow arched as if suggesting something. Janis turned the corner, and breathing deeply; she headed out of the school. As she made her way home, Regina’s comment lingered in her mind and it made her smile.

He hated waking up early. It seemed almost like a chore; to get up when he was sleepy, eat when he wasn’t hungry, and think when he was tired. However, today, he had to get up earlier than usual. The school play couldn’t just perform itself.

It was a clear, sunny morning, Damian observed, as he made his way to school. His vision was still blurry from the lack of sleep he had gotten the night before. Shaking his head to clear his thought and rubbing his eyes, Damian continues to march towards school.

As he pushed through the school doors and made his way into the hallways, Damian felt a rush stuffy air leave the building. He was in no particular hurry to make his way to the auditorium, so he decided to hang out in the halls to kill some time. A few students were scattered about, studying for their tests, making last minute preparations on their projects, or just goofing off.

As Damian cut the corner, he saw Regina with her endless legs and toned shoulders, flirting with someone, who was around the other corner and out of Damian’s sight. He watched Regina for a little while. She blew a kiss, giggled, gave a quick wave and continued down the hall, out of sight. Damian felt excitement rush through his body as his pulse increased. A gossip at heart, Damain could not wait to be the first person to inform the whole school on Regina’s newest boyfriend. He paced rapidly down the hall to where Regina had stood and turned around the corner only to see the object of Regina’s affections turn another corner. Damian quickly followed the figure’s trail but suddenly stopped when he heard the familiar voice of his drama teacher.

“There you are, Damian! What are you doing? You are late for practice, what are we supposed to do without the lead?” she asked.

Damain considered coming up with an excuse, but decided against it and gave a quick apology instead. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Damian, you have to understand that it was your choice to be in this play, and you have a lot of responsibilities as the star. You can’t let your fellow actors down. Now, I am going to make some more copies of the script, but I want to see you in the auditorium when I get back. Is this understood?” the drama teacher asked.

“Yes,” Damian mumbled again, feeling ashamed and guilty for his actions.

He watched his teacher continue down the hall then turned back to the hallway he had seen the figure head towards. Damian caught a glance of the figure, who took another corner. As he slowly made his way to the auditorium, he felt confused. He was certain that the figure he had seen resembled his best friend, Janis Ian.

Cady was relieved to finally get out of class. Sitting in the cleanest stall she could find of the girls’ bathroom, she let her mind take a break from the difficult task of thinking and closed her eyes. Her mind suddenly jumped back to the present and she jerked awake when a pair of noisy voices entered the bathroom. Cady saw through the open bottom of her stall, two pairs of shoes; high heels and skateboarding sneakers. The shoes looked awfully familiar, but no matter how hard she tried, Cady couldn’t figure out where she’d seen them before. She was surprised when they both entered the same stall right next to hers.

The girls giggled as one of them shut the stall and locked it. Cady couldn’t make out their whispered words, but they kept on chuckling and talking to one another. Suddenly, the stall next to hers went silent, so Cady, filled with curiosity, leaned her ear closer to their stall. Hearing the all too familiar sound, Cady gasped and pulled back when she heard the two kissing. The girls stopped their session to whisper something inaudible to each other. Cady saw what little she could see of their shoes disappear as they got on top of the toilet seat. They must have finally realized that someone else was in the room, Cady thought, rolling her eyes.

Not wanting to sit and listen to the action taking place in her neighbouring stall, Cady exited her stall as quietly as she could. She decided to wash her hands so she could kill some time before she had to go back to class. As she rubbed the liquid soap on her hands, Cady could finally understand the words that came out from the girls in the stall.

“I have to go now or else Coach Carr is going to be mad at me,” a low husky voice said.

“Don’t be silly, he doesn’t say anything to me and I’m always skipping his class,” a perky voice responded back.

“That’s because he plays favourites. He’s a pervert and he likes you, among other girls. I’ve already gotten on his bad side, and you know how much I hate staying after school for his completely useless, time-consuming detentions,” the husky voice explained.

As the two voices continued to argue, Cady felt her heartbeat faster. She started to breathe quickly and washed her hands in panic as she remembered where she had seen the shoes before. She was sure she knew whom these voices belonged to. Cady had spent half of her time hanging out with one of them, and the other half of her time laughing about all the dumb she had said with the other one. She ran for the door and quickly made her way back to her math class, still in shock at her most recent discovery. As she took a quick glance back, she saw her best friend and her mortal enemy exit the washroom, holding hands, and then head in different directions.

“Stop joking around Cady, that’s not very funny!”

“Gretchen, do you honestly think I would make something like this up?” Cady asked, bewildered at Gretchen’s disbelief.

“Yes?” Karen answered, puzzled herself.

“I’m telling the truth, you guys! Why don’t you believe me?” Cady answered, she could feel the frustration inside of her rising as her eyes shifted from one girl to the next.

“Because Regina is not like that. I would know, she tells me everything since I’m such a good friend,” Gretchen replied with confidence.

“Well, I’m sure everyone has a secret that they keep to themselves. Don’t you?” Cady asked Gretchen.

Gretchen looked down at the floor, running her fingers through her hair. Cady’s words rang true to her ear; Gretchen did keep many secrets. But that was not why her hair was so big, like others assumed, Gretchen rolled her eyes at the thought. She couldn’t help it if her father, the inventor of toaster strudel, was rich enough to get her the best hairdresser in town.

“Like that one time where you got diarrhea at Barnes and Nobles?” Karen asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had crept into the conversation.

“Oh my gosh Karen, I told you not to spill that!” Gretchen yelled at her, shocked at the unanticipated words that left Karen’s mouth.

“I didn’t,” Karen replied back innocently.

“You just told Cady right now,” Gretchen accused her, giving Karen her best cold, hard stare.

“Well sorry, but I’m just trying to make a point. That’s a secret you never told anyone,” Karen explained.

“Yeah, but you know about it,” Gretchen rebutted.

“But no one else knows,” Karen replied.

“Except you and now Cady too,” Gretchen answered, tilting her head towards Cady’s direction. She avoided any eye contact for she was sure she could see Cady holding back a smile.

“Yeah, so you know and I know, but we don’t count because it happened to you and I was there. And Cady knows, but she doesn’t count because she’s our friend and she wouldn’t tell anyone, but nobody else knows. So then, technically, no one knows.” Karen explained to Gretchen.

“Oh my gosh, just drop it Karen,” Gretchen gave up, exhausted from having to argue with a total idiot.

Cady saw the two at a loss for words and fall awkwardly silent, again. She decided to jump back into the conversation, “should we maybe confront Regina about it?”

“But what if it’s not true?” Gretchen questioned.

“It is, I saw it with my own eyes. Do you think I’m blind?” Cady asked angrily.

“I don’t think we should ask her,” Gretchen replied back.

Cady was growing impatient with the way the conversation had turned. Seeing Karen nodding her head of approval at Gretchen’s suggestion, Cady decided to take matters into her own hands. “Fine, then I’ll ask Janice.”

“No!” Karen suddenly yelled out, surprising both Cady and Gretchen, “then she’s going to find out about Regina’s secret.”

Gretchen and Cady both rolled their eyes at Karen’s idiotic statement. Gretchen ignored the comment and offered a reasonable suggestion. “Can we not make it so obvious. Maybe we could just kind of, you know, catch her in the act.”

“What do you mean?” Cady questioned.

“You know, like catch her staring at Janice or something, and then ask her about it or maybe start a conversation about Janice to see what Regina thinks. I would like to spare her the humiliation because, you know, I’m such a good friend.” Gretchen replied.

Cady rolled her eyes as Gretchen repeated the last few words. Although, she wanted to confront Regina directly, she accepted defeat and agreed to Gretchen’s idea. Gretchen smiled at her latest victory.

“Great, so keep you eyes and ears open, especially at lunch tomorrow.” Cady explained to Karen and Gretchen, bring the conversation to a close. As she saw the two walk down the hallway of the school and head towards home, Cady turned around with an evil grin on her face, and repeated the words Janice had spoken months ago.

“Alright, let’s rock this bitch!”

“Hey, did you get last night’s homework? ‘Cause I didn’t,” Janis said as she took her usual seat in science class next to Cady and Damian.

“What are you talking about? It was totally easy. I was done in like two second,” Cady replied, bewildered at Janis’ statement.

“Wow,” Damian replied, shocked, “I spent two hours contemplating on it and then I just gave up and went shopping,” he declared as he dourly put his elbows on the desk, resting his head on them and sulk down.

“Guys science isn’t that hard,” Cady said looking between Janis and Damian.

“Says the girl whose parents are scientists,” Janis glumly mumbled the forgotten fact to herself. She turned towards Cady to see her reaction.

“C’mon, I’m serious, science is so totally easy,” Cady tried again.

“Yeah, and you also love math. We’re not all born geniuses like you Cady,” Damian matter-of-factly pointed out, slumping his shoulders.

“Aw man, I’m gonna suck ass on the exam like this,” Janis declared, banging her fist on her desk.

“Me too,” Damian agreed.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I’m sure of it,” Cady reassured her friends. When she saw that her words didn’t help she added, “I could help you guys if you want.”

Damian instantly perked up and looked at Cady with a wide smile and opened eyes, “Really?” he asked.

Cady looked at Janis who remained expressionless but had a twinkle in her eye. “Sure, you guys wanna meet up tonight? I don’t have much to do today.” Cady answered.

Janis and Damian looked at each other without speaking. Janis faced Cady and replied, “Well, I definitely can’t do today.”

“Why not?” Damian asked.

“I’ve got stuff to do,” Janis replied. When Damian and Cady kept looking at her, she answered, “Because I have stuff to do around the house.”

“Oh,” Cady replied with a puzzled expression.

The teacher suddenly appeared in class as the students quieted down. The minutes went by slowly but finally the bell rang to indicate that the period was over. Cady, Damian and Janis got up automatically and started to pack their bags.

“Hey, Cady thanks for the offer to help us out, I really appreciate it. I’ll see you in the cafeteria.” Janis told Cady as she gave the two a quick wave and headed out the room to her locker.

As Damian and Cady continued to pack their things, Damian spoke up, “I bet she can’t make it tonight ‘cause she’s going to hang with Regina.”

Cady stopped packing as Damian’s word surprised. She decided to play cool and question Damian as her heart raced and she felt a purge of excitement.

“Why would you say that?” Cady asked, averting any eye contact with him.

Damian looked around, then approached Cady and whispered, “Okay, well don’t tell anyone, but last week, I came to school early and I think I saw the two flirting.”

Cady, not sure how to handle the news, pretended to be in disbelief, “You’re weird.”

“I knew it would be hard for you to believe it,” Damian said.

Cady headed for the door but thought better of it and turned around to Damian. “You know,” she said, “it’s funny you would say that because I think I heard them making out in the girls washroom the other day.”

Damian’s mouth fell open and he blinked several times, allow himself to let the news sink in. “I knew there was something going on. I’ve actually been kinda sneaky about it. I’m trying to get Janis to spill it,” Damian said proudly.

“That’s freaky, ‘cause me, Gretchen and Karen have been trying to do the same thing with Regina.” Cady pointed out.

“Whoa, we have like some sort of telepathy going on.” Damian said as he pointed his index finger to his head.

“Damian, okay, no.” Cady replied.

“Sorry, so what should we do? So far, there are four of us who know.” Damian said as he caught up with Cady and the two began to head out the door.

“Just stick to trying to get them to spill it,” Cady answered.

“Alright,” Damian nodded his head. He suddenly grabbed Cady’s hand and shook it, “Eek, I’m so excited!”

“Damian.” Cady sternly said, pointing her eyes to their interlocked hands.

“Right, right sorry.” Damian said as the two headed out.

It was time for lunch.

Cady sat down on the plastic chair, smacked her plastic lunch tray on the plastic table as her friends, the Plastics, watched. Cady smiled awkwardly as she looked towards her quiet friends who stared back. Gretchen and Karen stared at her hard and Gretchen slightly nodded her head, indicating that Cady should start the conversation.

“So,” Cady sighed, “how are you doing, Regina?”

Regina furrowed her brows at the unusual question and scoffed, “just fine.”

“Cool.” Cady replied soberly. She looked towards Gretchen again, who had a frown on her face and was rolling her eye towards the Queen of the Plastics.

“Regina, is there something you are not telling us?” Cady questioned as subtly as she could.

“What do you mean?” Regina asked unsure of where the conversation was leading.

“Well, there’s a rumour flying around that you are sleeping with a certain someone, I don’t think it’s true, but, of course, Cady has to be just so nosy and ask you.” Gretchen replied.

Cady turned towards Gretchen in anger, but decided to drop arguing Gretchen when she realized that everything she had was in her nature--and it was true. She turned back to Regina and asked, “so is it true or not?”

Regina continued to poke at her food for a while to get her thoughts together. She finally sighed and put down the fork. Gathering courage, she looked Cady in the eye and replied, “yes, it’s true.”

Cady instantly smiled; she had been right all along. Gretchen’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Regina in disbelief. Karen spilled the milk she was drinking, which caused her to go into a coughing fit.

Seeing Gretchen’s shocked face, Regina quickly added, “but only because I need to get my art mark up. ‘Cause Jan is good at art.”

“Jan? You have a nickname for her?” Karen asked shocked.

“Wait, who?” Regina asked, suddenly confused, “Jan is his real name, that’s not his nickname.”

Cady’s smile disappeared as she heard Regina’s revelation. “Jan is a guy?” she asked.

“Yes, Jan Wong from my art class. Who did you think I was sleeping with?” Regina asked, bewildered.

“Well I thought-” Cady began to answer but was cut off.

“Oh nobody, just a nobody. Forget it.” Gretchen answered quickly, nodding towards Cady, silently commanding her to shut up. Cady sighed in frustration as she silently ate her food during the rest of lunch


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan turned around when he heard someone tap his shoulder. He took his concentration out of shoveling his books in his bag and turned around to greet the person. “Oh, hi Cady, what’s up?” he asked, pleasantly surprised that the quite girl from his English class had approached him.
“I just wanted to say,” Cady replied, “that sleeping with Regina is not worth it. She’s just using you to get a good art mark.”

Jan began to laugh hard. He continued to put his books in his bag, and when he was done, he slapped his bag onto his shoulder and faced Cady. “There’s been some miscommunication. I already have a girlfriend. And I’m not sleeping with Regina.” Jan patted Cady’s shoulder and walked down the hall, leaving Cady astonished.

He suddenly turned around and added, “and, Cady, I’m failing art class."

“Okay, so sulfur chloride!”
“Nope.”

“Sulfur nitride?”

“No.”

“Sulfur hexafluoride?”

“No, you can’t just guess, Damian. Think about it.” Cady insisted.

It was a quiet afternoon as Damain and Janis sat around Cady’s dining table to study and tried to understand science. Cady’s plan to confront Regina earlier in the day had failed miserably; she’d lied. Cady decided to focus her energy in getting Janis to spill the truth.

“Ugh, dioxide, it’s sulfur dioxide,” Janis blurted, tired of listening to Damian guess all day long.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Cady answered, happy that at least someone was finally getting it.

“Hey! I was gonna say that one!” Damian yelped, receiving a playful slap on the shoulder from Cady.

“Right,” Janis rolled her eyes.

Cady decided to pick up the pace of the conversation; she and Damain had already discussed the plan. “Okay, you guys, let’s take a break now. I’ve got chips and cookies,” she said as she got up and headed towards the kitchen.

“Cookies, called it! Cady, I hope you’ve got ones that are low in calories; I’m trying to watch my weight,” Damian called from behind.

Cady blankly stared at Damian then turned her gaze towards Janis, who shrugged and replied, “g-a-y.”

“I’m not the only one,” Damian mumbled as he looked at the papers in front of him.

“What was that?” Janis asked.

“Nothing,” Damian replied, trying to hide grin.

Cady smiled and headed into the kitchen.

“You’re lucky you’re finally getting this stuff. I’m still screwed for the exam,” Damian said, hoping the conversation would lead to where he wanted.

“Yeah well it ain’t exactly easy as pie,” Janis replied.

“Ew, not math please,” Damian answered back. He watched Janis work on her homework for a bit and, when she looked up, he asked, “so do have you got a date yet for Spring Fling?”

“No,” came the reply.

“Aw Janis, you’re so lonely. I think it’s time somebody got a boyfriend.” Damian said, pretending to pity her.

“What?” Janis wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion at the sudden turn in the conversation.

“Think about it, Cady has someone, I have someone, and that leaves you all alone.” Damian explained.

“Who do you have?” Janis asked, astonished that Damian actually had a love life.

“Why, Celine Dion and Madonna of course; they are my fashion idols!” Damian replied with a wink. Damian sighed, “girl, you need a boyfriend.”

“No thank you,” Janis said, as she continued doing her work

“Oh, I understand.” Damian dropped his voice in understanding and went back to work.

“Good.” Janis said without looking up at Damian.

“You don’t lean that way,” Damian said.

“What?” Janis screamed out, throwing her pencil on the table.

“You’re a lesbian,” Damian said matter-of-factly.

“Damian! I told you it’s just a stupid rumour,” Janis rebuffed.

“Right. It’s all right Janis, there’s nothing wrong with being gay,” Damian tried to explain.

“I know, but I’m not,” Janis replied back.

“Okay, okay, sorry. Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Damian replied. As Janis calmed down and continued her work, he tried again, “so what was it about her that did it?”

“What?” Janis asked, confused.

“Was it the shoulders, the legs, the blonde hair or the jugs?” Damian wondered, smiling at the hint of red that started to appear of Janis’ cheeks.

“What are you talking about?” Janis asked, as her heart started to beat faster.

“Regina George, of course,” Damian slyly answered.

“What the hell, Damian?” Janis got up on the chair and yelled at Damian.

“Don’t deny it Janis. You love her and she loves you back,” Damian stated.

“I’m not denying anything, Damian, it’s not true,” Janis responded.

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yeah it is, I know it is.”

“So you choose to believe some rumour over your own best friend?” Janis accused Damian

“I saw it with my own eyes,” Damian answered back.

“Saw what?” Janis asked as she crossed her arms.

“You two together, now admit it!” Damian pleaded.

“It’s not true, you need to get your eyes checked,” Janis answered, hoping to shut him up.

Damian sighed. He looked down at his work and decided to drop the subject, “okay fine, you don’t have to tell me,” he said in a melancholy voice.

The abrupt halt of the conversation surprised Janis. She watched Damian work; his face a mixed expression of hurt and disappointment. Janis closed her eyes and swallowed hard; she knew she would regret this later, “alright, but you can’t tell anyone, not even Cady.”

Damian couldn’t believe his ears. He instantly perked up at the confession and looked up at Janis, who was getting redder by the minute. He held his pinky up high and said, “pinky swear!”

Janis entangled her pinky with Damian’s and smiled; it felt good to finally let someone know. “Good,” she said, trusting Damian.

Janis sat back down and tried to focus on her work. The silence between them felt awkward and, when Damien couldn’t contain his excitement anymore he blurted out, “so is she good in bed?”

Cady stared hard. She didn’t know what shocked her more; the fact that she was staring at picture of a 13-year old, blonde Janis, who smiled innocently at the camera, or the fact that the picture was surrounded by a frame in the shape of a heart. Holding the frame firmly, she sat down on the big bed, still at awe.

Cady had come over to Regina’s to hang out. They had talked about the usual things; boys, gossip, all the coolest parties, and who was going to ask who out to the Spring Fling. Cady did not detect even the slightest bit of disturbance in Regina, who for her part, acted as she always did, flawlessly. A few pieces of pizza and a conversation later, Regina had excused herself and had headed into the bathroom. Cady found this to be the perfect opportunity to rummage through Regina’s cluttered room, and find something, anything that proved her relationship with Janis. Moving swiftly to Regina’s dresser, Cady opened the first drawer; mentally preparing herself for the piles of jumble she would have to mussel through in the limited amount of time she had. However, she was not ready for the lack of contents she found in the dresser; it had been empty except for the picture of Janis.

Now, Cady sat on the edge of Regina’s bed, her eyes fixed on Janis’. She was startled when the bedroom door opened and Regina popped back in with a smile on her face. Cady noticed Regina glance at the frame, her smile replaced by a look of nervousness and fright. Regina then raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

“What’s that in your hand?” She asked Cady.

“Oh um, it’s a picture of … Janis,” Cady responded.

“Janis?” Regina looked surprised. She snatched the picture from Cady’s hand and looked at it in disgust, “Ew! Oh my gosh, this is so old, back when I was actually like friends with this freak.”

Regina took the picture and dumped it in the trashcan next to her dresser. She suddenly turned around to face Cady on the bed and asked, “Where’d you find it?”

Unsure of what to say, Cady decided to tell the truth, “It was in the top drawer of your dresser.”

“No wonder,” Regina said, shaking her head, “I haven’t looked through that thing in ages.”

“Oh,” Cady replied looking down at her hands, fully conscious of Regina’s obvious lie.

“And Cady,” Regina waited until Cady fixed her eyes at Regina, “no more snooping through my stuff. Got that?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Cady looked down again, embarrassed.

A silence fell over the two. Cady continued to look down as she felt Regina’s eyes bore into her. Uncomfortable with the silence, Cady decided it was time she got home.

“I guess I should go,” Cady said as she got up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her shirt.

“Sure,” Regina replied casually as she walked Cady to the bedroom door and said, “You know the way out. See you later, biatch.”

Giving a quick smile Regina made her way back to the bedroom and closed the door slightly. Cady continued down the hall until she reached the stairs. From where she stood, she could see Regina’s movements through the crack she left open of her bedroom door. Making her way slowly and softly down the steps, Cady saw Regina reach into the trashcan, pull out the picture she had thrown earlier and put it back into the dresser. Regina then turned around, sensing that some was watching her, only to meet Cady’s eyes, as she stood on the staircase. Knowing she had been caught, Regina wasted no time in explaining. Her face full of fear, Regina mouthed the word “please” to Cady, a question more than a demand. And Cady nodded her head, like a good friend would.

Hah, that’s funny, he’s retarded anyways,” Regina said as she continued to rummage through her side drawer.

“Yeah well, he’s like that,” Janis sat down on the big bed she has become so familiar with as she finished her story.

“There, found it,” Regina pulled out the item she has been looking for and handed it over to Janis. “See this one is so much better because it won’t run if you cry.”

Janis took the tube of mascara from Regina and carefully examined the label. Raising a questioning look she asked, “why would I cry?”

Regina shrugged. She sat down next to Janis, and upon seeing Janis preoccupied, fell backwards with a sigh. It had almost become a constant ritual; she would present Janis with some new cosmetics and then spend the next ten or so minutes lying on her bed watching Janis read over the contents, looking for unusual ingredients. Secretly, Regina knew Janis didn’t understand a word, but was careful not to bother her.

A few minutes later, Janis stuffed the tube into the pocket of her jeans, kicking her shoes off. Gathering her legs upon the bed, she turned to Regina and suspiciously asked, “Do you think Cady knows about…us?”

Regina felt her heart jump into her throat as the words slipped from Janis’ lips. If Cady had spilled Regina’s secret, she would become an outcast, a thought she could not possibly fathom. Worriedly, she asked, “What do you mean?”

Janis looked towards the back a wall as she spoke, “Well, she keeps trying to drop hints, that maybe ….I…. or I don’t know. Forget it, it’s stupid; it’s nothing.”

Regina breathed a sigh of relief and coolly responded, “Well, she’s weird. She doesn’t even know how badly we’re playing her anyway.”

“Yeah, she has no idea we already know the stuff she’s reporting about us to each other,” Janis chuckled as she laid down next to Regina, “But you know, she’s pretty fast, she’ll catch on sooner or later, I’m sure of it. Or, if not her, than someone else.”

There it was again. Janis has crossed the line for the umpteenth time. She always insisted in ruining a pleasant evening. Regina got angry at the though of being out; she always did. “Not if you keep your mouth shut,” she snapped.

The raven-haired teen let out a sigh as she prepared herself for the familiar argument that she knew would erupt. She had tried to tell Regina it would be better for their relationship if everyone knew. She was tired of pretending to hate Regina. And the only way she could see her was by secretly sneaking into her house at night, or by leaving her own backdoor open so that Regina could pop by.

“You always have to bring this thing up don’t you?” Regina annoyingly got up from the bed and sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the room.

Silence reigned over the room as both became subdued in their own thoughts. Regina hated it whenever Janis brought around the subject. Janis should have known by now that Regina’s place in the school hierarchy was very important to her. If the others had found out that Regina was a lesbian, her life would be ruined just like Janis’ was. The thought always made Regina feel guilty. Regina knew, Janis hadn’t asked for those terrible rumours to out her. But spreading rumours was Regina’s defense mechanism. She’d spread the bed wetting rumour about Kyle and it had landed Regina her first boyfriend. When she realized she preferred other girls, Regina started to think differently about her best friend Janis but Janis was getting boys faster than hot cakes. The rumour had only caused Janis to drop out of school. When Regina had finally admitted the truth, Janis wasn’t as upset as she had expected; she was always the nicer one. Janis had gone along as an experiment but soon realized that she liked Regina.

“I’m going to take Shane with me to the Spring Fling,” Regina broke the silence; tired of fighting she decided to change the subject. When Janis did not respond right away, Regina tried again, “You know Shane Oman, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know him,” came the quiet voice from the bed.

“So, who are you taking? That Damian guy?” Regina questioned.

“No.”

Surprised by the answer, Regina asked, “You’re going alone

“No, actually I’m thinking about not going,” Janis said as she got up from the bed and headed for the door.

“What?” Regina asked, not understanding.

“Yeah, I mean I just need to study for exams,” Janis said. She pulled out the mascara tube and threw it to Regina, “here, you might need that in case you…cry.”

Janis quietly snuck down the stairs and out of the house. The abrupt exit surprised Regina. Looking at the bottle, she wondered if she would ever see Janis again.