DISCLAIMER: I do not own ACS, but if I did I would probably take over the world.
A/N: This is the embarkment of my first ACS fic, which I like to call Lifeline. I've put my heart and soul into this story for three months trying to make it perfect, writing and rewriting every chance I got, and I sincerely hope that you guys enjoy it as much as I have. :) It is finally completed, and if you guys are good (and if I have time) then I'll post every few days until all the chapters are out. So without further ado, I present my story.
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"MARY!" Mary awoke with a jolt. She looked at the clock and groaned. Six in the morning. Someone pounded furiously on her door. "Get up! The twins need a good breakfast this morning!"
"Yes, Dominique," Mary called. Once she heard footsteps disappearing down the wooden stairs to her attic bedroom, she hopped out of bed. She pulled on her favorite shirt and jeans and quickly brushed her hair. She saw herself in the mirror and decided she looked presentable. Eighteen year old Mary wasn't the prettiest girl in school, but she thought her clear skin and dark wavy hair helped her appearance a little bit. The just rising sun was dancing in the kitchen when she jogged downstairs to make some eggs and toast.
Suddenly there was a scramble, and Brit and Bree rushed into the kitchen, each screaming something about the other stealing their moisturizer. Mary rolled her eyes. Brit and Bree, the 'princesses' of the house were the most spoiled, petty, and self-centered people she knew. Mary begrudged every moment she had to work for them. Dominique, a washed-up pop star who refused to believe she was closing in on forty, waltzed in after them, some sticky goo plastered all over her face. After Mary's mother had died, Dominique (who had been her boss) took Mary in out of the "kindness" of her heart. Dominique never let Mary forget how she must repay this act of charity, and forced her to work as a servant for this very reason. Dominique's two daughters took after their mother in that making Mary's life miserable was their favorite pastime, besides shopping.
"Girls, I am going clubbing tonight, and I won't be home 'til late. Have Mary make you whatever you want to eat." Dominique turned to Mary. "Here's your list of chores for today. Make sure you do everything on here before you go to bed." Mary took the list and looked on in horror as she realized there were dozens of chores on here. 'Scrub the bathroom tiles,' 'Dust the living room,' 'Tidy the twins' rooms.' This would take her hours! She was not going to get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning, that was for sure.
Mary nodded and looked out the window when she heard a honk. Her ride was here. She stuffed her skateboard into her backpack and grabbed an apple, rushing out the door. Mary's best friend Tami was sitting in her big orange bus; and zoomed off once Mary hopped in. "There's no way I'm gonna be able to finish my homework and all these chores." She showed Tami the list.
Tami swore. "Domi-freak is just getting meaner and meaner, isn't she? Well I guess you're not going to Joey's party either." Mary slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand.
"Oh no! That's today? I completely forgot!" Mary sighed. Joey Parker was a big-time pop star, and surprisingly, her boyfriend. Tami sighed in response.
"Good thing graduation is only a few months away, then you can get out of there and go to Manhattan Dance." Tami smiled. She knew how badly Mary wanted a scholarship into that school.
"Yeah." Tami parked Big Orange in the students' section, and they walked into school as the warning bell rang. Mary shuffled to her locker, only to find Joey leaning against it, grinning down at her.
"Hey Mary." Joey leaned down and kissed Mary on the cheek. "You coming to my party?" Mary sighed as she grabbed her books out of her locker and closed it again. She looked up at him.
"I wish I could say I was, but I can't. Domi-freak's list of demands is miles long." Mary started towards home room, Joey plodding along after her.
"Ugh! She's the worst! That's totally not fair! When am I gonna get a chance to see you?" Joey pretended to pout. Mary halted outside of her classroom, knowing she had a couple minutes still.
"I'm really sorry. I can make it up to you this weekend if you want." Mary grinned. She looked up into Joey's blue eyes. "I had a surprise for you, but I just can't wait to tell you." Joey looked hopeful. "I didn't even tell Tami this yet, but yesterday I got a letter from Manhattan Dance. They say I'm in! I got the scholarship!" Joey laughed out loud.
"That's great Mary!" He lifted her and spun her around. Mary wrapped her arms around his neck and curled her fingers into his wavy brown hair. He grinned and gently pressed his lips to hers. The bell rang, bringing their moment to a halt.
Mary laughed. "Gotta go, Joey. See you soon." Joey waved and jogged off to class.
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"DETENTION!" Mary woke up with a jerk. She peered up into the face of Mr. Becker, her History teacher. "This is the fourth time this week I have caught you sleeping in this classroom. I have had enough! If you're not going to pay attention, then why don't you transfer out of my class?" Mary stared furiously at her shoes, while she heard whispers and giggles going around behind her. "I will see you after school, Miss Santiago."
Maybe if she hadn't had to stay up so late doing chores, then she wouldn't be so tired in school. This is why she needed Joey to tutor her on a daily basis. He had a perfect 4.0 GPA, and he was a patient and creative teacher.
Mary rubbed her forehead. Dominique would kill her for being late again. The last bell rang. "See you in ten minutes, Miss Santiago." Mr. Becker frowned. Mary threw her stuff into her backpack and filed out the door with the other students. She dragged herself to her locker where, not surprisingly, Joey was waiting for her.
"Hey baby." Mary kissed Joey. She pulled away and opened her locker, exchanging her old books for new ones.
"What's wrong, Mary?" Joey's brow creased in concern.
"Oh nothing. I just got detention for sleeping in class again. No biggie." Mary shrugged.
"That sucks." Joey pulled Mary into a big hug. Mary sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.
"I gotta go. Call you tonight." Mary gave Joey one last kiss on the cheek and departed for detention.
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Mary tried to enjoy the feel of the wind on her face as she skateboarded down the street, hurdling towards Dominique's house. She knew that she wouldn't get much freedom after she came home late again, so she probably wouldn't feel like this for a while. Mary had a philosophy about freedom- you weren't truly free unless you could travel around by yourself. If you had to rely on others to take you places, you had to trust in them to get you there safely, to get you there on time, to get you there at all, in fact. But if you could get there yourself, you were truly free, because you were relying on yourself.
Mary pulled into the driveway, took a deep breath, and opened the door. To her surprise, Dominique was not waiting in the foyer to dish out punishment. Actually, Dominique was no where to be seen. Mary tentatively crept through the house, looking out for any sign of Dominique or the twins. When she entered the living room, she came to a halt. What she saw before her made her want to laugh, scream, and hurl all at the same time.
Dominique was sitting on the couch, engaged in what looked like a face-eating war with some guy Mary had never seen before. Before Mary could get out of there without being seen, Dominique suddenly jumped away from the guy (who looked immensely disappointed) like a child caught stealing candy. Then, she apparently remembered just who owned whom in this house, and she put her hands on her hips.
"What are you doing here so late? It's five-thirty for Pete's sake! You were supposed to be home an hour and a half ago to clean my room for company coming over!"
Mary looked at their "company." He was a big guy- maybe six foot four or five- and he had short black hair that he wore in a flat top, like he was in the army. His olive toned skin glistened like he had been sweating (Mary wanted to gag at this realization), and he had an angry expression plastered on his face. Dominique approached Mary and hissed in her ear, "Dennis is going to sell me a record deal, and I don't want you screwing this up!" She leaned away and walked back towards the couch. "Now get out of here and let us get back to talking business like civilized adults." Mary turned to leave. "Oh yeah, one more thing." Mary shut her eyes tight and expected the worst. "You're grounded. Don't ever come home this late again. No privileges for a week."
Mary nodded and ran up to her room as fast as she could. She sunk into her bed and smiled. She guessed Dennis's "attention" had put Dominique in a good mood; she had been expecting much worse. Mary locked her door. She could never be too sure neither of the twins were listening outside of her door- they had been endlessly jealous when Joey asked her out instead of one of them, and they couldn't wait to get her in trouble for any small thing she did. Mary flipped open her phone and pressed Joey's speed dial. It rang a few times before she heard Joey's soothing tenor voice on the other end.
"Hey Mary. How'd it go?"
"I'm only grounded for a week, so not too bad."
"Wow, Domi-freak's in a good mood today."
"Sh-yeah, she was making out with this weird guy when I came home. It was strange in a creepy, disgusting way. Some record producer named Dennis."
"Whoa, Dennis Mackintire? Producer of Mackintire Records?" Joey sounded surprised.
"I don't know; big guy, short black hair, army-material."
"M-hm, that's the guy. Wow, he's a weird one. I think he was arrested a few times. Mary, Promise me something. Just-" Joey halted.
"What is it?"
"Just stay away from him. I'm glad it went well with Domi-freak. I gotta go, love you."
Mary sighed. Back to reality. "Love you too." She hung up. Better get some homework done before she had to make dinner.
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A/N: So what did you guys think? Please tell me! Just for future reference, all of my original characters' names have meanings relative to the story, so if you want to know what Dennis' name means, you need to review, then I'll tell you. Ha ha, got you right where I want you. And I know that if you read this that doesn't mean that you'll review. So to avoid this dilemma, just answer me this random question: What's your favorite color? You know what to do. Press that little button right there. Yeah, you're looking at it. Go.
