This is my first Fan Fic I'm posting. Please R&R, only constructive critism, no flames. Thanks =D

Chapter 1

Opening my eyes in the morning after a long 7 hour beauty sleep was the best feeling in the world for me. This was because I just couldn't wait to go out and start a brand new day. It didn't matter how similar each day seemed to be for me. I love every minute of it.

I love waking up to the beat of my heart. I love skipping my way to school every morning just to see all of my amazing friends. I love dancing on my favourite television station. I love this new 11:30 curfew I was granted for my 16th birthday yesterday!

I sat right up and jumped out of bed like I did every morning. I hurried over to my closet, picking out a poufy dress which was yellow covering my torso, and had a white skirt, which had only thin straps to support it.

After changing into that, I sat down in front of my mirror. I combed through my short red hair, and brought the top layer into curls, laying it on top of my head. That's when I picked up my Ultra Clutch hairspray and continued spraying my hair until my finger was cramping.

I ran down the stairs and opened the fridge. "Dad, where're the leftovers?" I called into the living room.

"There are a couple frozen muffins from last night in the freezer!" he shouted back.

My dad entered the kitchen. "Good morning, dear."

"Morning, dad," I responded, looking through the freezer.

"Can you please go out and get me the paper? I'll heat up a muffin for you."

"Alright, thanks, dad!" I rushed outside and saw the newspaper on the top step. I bent down and read, 'THE SUN'. Underneath I saw, 'Baltimore, May 3, 1962'. I picked it up and brought it inside.

"Thanks honey," my dad said, handing me a warm chocolate chip muffin. "Remember: eleven-thirty. And no later than that, alright sweetheart?"

"Yeah, dad." I picked up my school bag, and looked into the mirror next to the front door. I fixed my hair and thanked God that I am Shelley Peterman.

I passed by the school bus to meet up with my best friends, Brad and Brenda Bennett. We walked off to school together. Brad Bennett is a loser, who is totally cute, but really stupid. He actually plays a huge part in my life being my dance partner, my best friend's twin brother, and my other best friend. He has light brown hair, blue eyes and he's the shortest boy on the show at 5'7". He is part of the group that Bix is in, acting totally hot. You know, like those guys that skip class to go to the washroom just to comb their hair back. Brad, however, out of his friends, is definitely…the sluttiest. He holds about five girls' virginity, and then some. Despite wasting so much of his life as a right hand man, Brad actually had a lot of less self centered friends like my friends and I. Not only that, but he's such a sweetie. He always stands up for me, and resents the people who hurt me in any way. Surprisingly, this ladies' man is currently taking an interest in one of the girls on the show, and some day hopes to start up a fairly serious relationship with her. Brad may be terrible with school, and he may…stuff his pants, but he's one hell of a friend, and is the best male dancer on the show.

Brenda is the other Bennett, though looking nothing like her brother. Bren is taller, with dark hair and thin green eyes. But she's almost as skanky, despite her extremely serious relationship with her boyfriend of 3 years, Joey. She's been my best friend since we were two years old because our fathers are co-workers, and through them, our mothers became very good friends. Brenda will flirt with any guy to get away from her fairy tale reality. It's actually quite funny, because she jokingly yells at Joey for flirting with other girls when she does it all the time. She's one of those girls who would go to a slumber party with her friends, and stop someone midsentence just so she could discuss looking at other boys, and how cute her brother's friends are. She lives for the Corny Collins Show, dancing with Fender. If she ever lost her privilege to dance on the show, she'd basically disintegrate into dust, which would later melt into an ashy puddle, only left for tiny school to jump in and splash around.

After a while of walking, Brad sped up to hurry in front of us. Brenda and I were left alone to talk like girls.

"So, I guess we're starting 'The Stricken Chicken' today then," I figured. "Y'know, because I'm pretty sure that we're finished with that jitter bug that Mrs. Von Tussle choreographed for us." I took a bite out of my muffin and stopped Brenda in her tracks. "What's wrong, Brenda? You're so quiet!"

"I need to tell you something about me and Joey," Brenda muttered. "Last week, he, uh…spent the night…"

"Brenda!" I shouted. "You did NOT!" I knew Brenda was a slut, but not THAT much…

"Shush! Keep quiet! That's not all… It kinda had…results."

I stared at my friend in awe. Did she mean she was…? No… Brenda? A mother? That's not going to happen. "Brenda! You are NOT!"

Bren's eyes started filling with tears. "Shelley, I need someone."

"I'm here," I assured. "Always." I gave my friend a tight hug, and then took another bite of my muffin.

"Hey, Shelley!" Somebody called. Looking up, I saw that it was Amber Von Tussle. She snatched the muffin out of my hand. "What are you doing with this?"

"I'm eating!" I said, sounding muffled through the muffin I was chewing. I reached to grab it back out of her hand, but she moved her hand out of my reach.

"No, you're not anymore. This will go straight down to your already-big-enough ass, and you'll take up the whole screen!"

"At least she eats, Amber!" Brenda said.

"I eat, too," Amber said, offensively.

I cleared my throat. "She means without throwing it up after."

Amber's jaw dropped, and she strutted away from us. She took a bite of the muffin. Brenda and I laughed, and high fived. Amber Von Tussle was mega bitch of our school. She's filthy rich. I get chills driving past her house-mansion. I never know what to call it. Of course she's petit, blonde and absolutely gorgeous. She's one of those catty girls whose moms do all the dirty work for them, whose boyfriend is their only friend, and who does nothing but sit at home staring at ceramic ducks, petting their fat ass, long haired, hissing cat who's named after the color of their fur. I guess I have some sympathy for her, because her father passed away when she was 6 years old. Amber always has two birthday parties a year. One on her actual birthday, which is July 26, and another around my birthday so people will compare.

Once we got to school, we met up with Brenda's boyfriend, and apparently future father of her child, Joey, and Brad. Joey Marks also plays a huge part in my life. He's a really close friend, one of my bests, and he's Brenda's boyfriend. I think he looks like he could be her twin brother with the same brown hair, thin eyes and olive skin. His facial expressions are identical to hers, as they always have been. Joey's really short at 5'8". He's like I.Q. in a way that he's innocent, cuddly, cute, adorable and so sweet. But he's completely different than him physically. Joey dances with Becky, and they look really cute together. I think Bren and Joey are perfect together, but he'd be perfect with Becky in a different way. Joey has adorable style, I love it. He wears all these suits in colours like light grey, and beige that look really good on him. Joey isn't good with girls, so it's shocking that he's with Brenda, mega skank who has the ability to date someone super sexy like Jesse. Joey used to be really shy and never spoke to anyone until his mom past away when he was 12. Now he's outgoing, aggressive and ready to dance.

As soon as we reached them, Brenda grabbed Joey by the arm and pulled him away. "We need to talk about something."

"Hey, Shelley? What was that about?" Brad asked, leaning over to me. He brushed his fingers through his light brown hair.

I chuckled. "Don't go spreading it around, but somebody is pregnant."

Brad furrowed his brow. "You mean Brenda's…?" He roared of laughter. "Way to go, Bren!"

Brenda would've been pissed if she heard him say that. I rolled my eyes and helped my sliding backpack back up my left arm. We walked together to our first class.

I waited the long 6 and a half hours until 3:30 arrived, and I picked up all of my stuff. I met up with Brenda, Brad and Joey and we all made our way to the school bus stop, which would drive us to the WYZT station.

I sat down next to a tiny, sandy haired girl with bright blue eyes. "Hey Tammy," I greeted.

"Oh, hey Shelley!" Tammy squealed, excitedly. "Your hair looks great today, like usual. Did you use more hairspray than usual?"

"I'm up to two cans per morning, now," I answered. "Did you change your hair? I've never seen it curl out at the bottom like that since fourth grade!"

"Oh, yeah, I did."

The school bus approached, and Tammy left me to hop in, behind Marcus Johns, a.k.a. Sketch. Sketch was really hot, but really not my type. He's a little bit self centered, actually. When we met, I always called him Marcus, and I still do, no matter how much he despises me for it. I guess that's the only reason he despises me though, because apparently, he's had a crush on me since we were 8 years old.

Brenda and I got in the bus behind Lou Ann Macintyre, my gorgeous redheaded friend. As Lou Ann skipped between seats, I noticed her make flirtatious eye contact with one of my best friends, I.Q Chambers. I'm the only person who knows what I.Q. actually stands for. It makes me laugh just trying to imagine him with such a goofy name.

I.Q.'s eyes widened as Lou Ann approached to sit next to him. Lou Ann Macintyre is another of my best friends. She's a total sweetie pie. She's short at 5'6", and she has flaming red, curly hair, and gentle brown eyes. She's a good dancer, and her partner is Paulie. She happens to dance best with Joey, but he was already with Becky. Lou is friends with everyone I hate. She used to be so close to Brad until he started getting all, "Oh, I'm so hot!" Lou Ann likes I.Q., and she's really funny about it. Their relationship is so cute. Lou Ann always acts like a little school girl who has a crush on a little boy. She's always chasing him around, following him around just to sit next to him on the school bus and cuddles into him. Of course, he always runs away. It's actually really funny watching them. Lou Ann is so adorable, and she's one of the nicest people I know. Her attractions are all over the place with Mikey, Paulie and I.Q. I only think she'd look good with I.Q., though.

I guess I should tell you what I.Q. stands for. But before you make fun, I should tell you that before his younger brother of 14, Aaron, was born, his parents went through some weirdo British phase. Unfortunately, that resulted in the name 'Isatore Quincy' for their first born child. I.Q. is really cute, and I'm almost totally in love with him, despite him being my best friend. We hadn't spoken until we were 12, when he asked me out. We dated till we were 15, and almost slept together the night we broke up, just after we had actually broken up. Now, I.Q. is my best friend. He has light brown hair, blue eyes, and he's really tall at 6'4", at least. Our relationship is hilarious. We always flirt, which sometimes…most times…always…leads to us cuddling, and kissing, making Lou Ann jealous, accidentally. I.Q. still loves me, he's told me a thousand times, but he's still crushing on Lou. He dances with Noreen, and he's one of the best dancers on the show. I.Q.'s basically perfect. He's smart, cute, sweet, romantic, adorable… Any girl who isn't interested is into girls!

After laughing at I.Q.'s sad misfortune, I took a seat with Brenda, across from Brad and Joey. "So, skanky pregnant sister," Brad chuckled. "When're you gonna spill the beans to Mrs. V. that you're my skanky pregnant sister?"

Brenda rolled her eyes at her brother and turned to face me. "What an egg head." She bustled her head into my shoulder.

"Bren, calm down. I'm just trying to lighten up the scary situation, and get the shuddering thought that my best friend and my sister had to do it to make this happen."

"Well, stop!"

After 10 minutes of silence, we all got off the school bus and entered the WYZT station, aware that it wouldn't be long until the short 60 minute rehearsal/preparation time we had would be over. Every one of us rushed over to our assigned mirrors. I sat on my stool reading the sign at the top. 'Shelley'. I loved my name. It was so beautiful. It was so unique. It was so me.

As I prepared my makeup, I was suddenly sprayed by a misty cloud of Ultra Clutch hairspray. "Made you jump!" Christopher Greene shouted. Chris was one of the few council members who had a distinctive nickname. We called him Fender. He says that the first guitar his parents had gotten him was a Fender Stratocaster. That's where he got the nickname.

Fender was only a bit taller than me, standing quite short at 5'10". His hair was fuzzy and black, and his brows were big and bushy. He and I became friends through Joey, but we're barely close. I personally don't see why all the girls always fuss over him being so cute. He's not as cute as some of the other council members, that's for sure.

I picked up my hairspray can and chased Fender around with it, sprayed him non-stop. We carried on for a minute or two until he bumped into Rebecca Lorousse, knocking her over. Victoria White helped her up.

Rebecca, or Becky as we called her, was adorable to the extreme. Her hair was short and dirty blond. No matter how often she was on T.V., or how good a dancer she was, Becky was always so nervous. She's only a couple of inches shorter than me, but she's quickly gaining. Becky doesn't quite get along with some of my male friends, like Brad, and Joey, and Fender sometimes, but I do happen to know about her little secret crush on Mr. Bradley.

Vicki on the other hand…I cannot stand her. But to be completely honest, it's only because in 3rd grade, she told everybody a really terrible rumor about me. I can't even remember what it was, but it had me scarred for a few years. She has short, sandy hair, and she's the same height as me. She's actually very pretty. Amber got everybody making fun of her because she's the 'fattest' girl on the show. To me, that just says that all of the other girls are scarily, unhealthily skinny, because Vicki's only 131 lbs.

Becky and Vicki joined into the chase until Velma yelled at us. "There's a time and a place for everything…except for that!" I hated her, as well…

As Vicki stood up from her ending fall, she grabbed onto Paulie Jason. Paulie has flaming red hair and was 6 feet tall. He was completely into Vicki, which was so ridiculous. They've been on/off since they were eleven years old. They're currently off, but probably going to be on again tomorrow…

I fixed my hair and returned to my dressing station. I sat down and picked up one of my washing loofas, shoving it down my dress, ultimately…stuffing my bra. Hey, at least it looked real. But I couldn't find my other one. I turned around to see Jesse Jamero spraying his hair. He had a loofa next to his extra hairspray can. Why he had one, I didn't wanna know.

Jesse was quite tall at 6'2". He had really dark, slick hair, dark eyes, and he hung out with all of the boys who think they're so hot, like Marcus.

"Hey, Jess?" I asked. I pointed to the loofa. "Can I borrow that?"

"Um… Sure." Jesse handed me the loofa, and I stuffed it down my dress, equalling out the size.

I hopped up and ran on to stage, meeting one of my 'frienemies', Darla Dell. Darla's about the same height as me, with the same hair as Lou Ann. She and I get along, we're good friends, but sometimes I hate her for always liking the guys I do, and 'flirting' them away from me…

We started rehearsing with Noreen and Doreen Nelson, who are the second set of twins on the show. They have the same brown, bouncy hairstyle, and are completely identical. I'm really close with Noreen, and because of that, I enjoy the presence of Doreen as well, sometimes. We're always able to tell them apart because Noreen always wears colours like pink, red, orange and yellow where Doreen wears purple, blue, green and grey. Later on, Michael Boss, or Mikey, joined in as well.

We stopped rehearsing when we heard a screech sound. Amber. We all looked over, and there was Amber, complaining to her 'drop-dead gorgeous' boyfriend, Link Larkin. Well, all the other girls think Link is attractive. I think he looks like a drugged up duck that just got run over by a stampede of cows, and then was crushed by an 8 year old refrigerator that has never been washed with the same age old cottage cheese inside of it. Point made. Actually, Link is a really nice guy, and we're pretty close. We've dated once before. He was actually my first boyfriend. Oh, back in the days when he was cute…

I quickly looked away after hearing a beautifully familiar roar of laughter coming from the dressing stations. There he was, Bix Scott. Bix of course wasn't his real name; his real name was Clint Scott…which is why people call him Bix. Bix was the same height as me, and was really cute. I just wanted to give him a hug. This was the guy I had moved on to. I really like him. I just wanna go run off with him, and get married, every single time I see him. He's good friends with Brad, Link, Mikey, Jesse and Marcus. Y'know, the group of guys who think they're all hot, and what not. The only one thing I don't like about him is how jealous he is of Brad. It's like, Bix isn't afraid to show Brad how he hates the fact that Brad is Link's beat friend and not him.

"Alright, everybody! Places, please!" Mrs. V. shouted. I shook my head to get out of my trance, and got back into my real world. I ran into place.

"And five, four, three…" The camera man finished off his count down with his fingers.

"Hey there teenage Baltimore!" Corny Collins shouted into the camera as the rest of the council members danced around. "Don't change that channel, 'cause it's time for The Corny Collins Show! Brought to you by Ultra Clutch Hairspray!"

He started singing our theme song. "Oh, every afternoon when the clock strikes four…"

"Bop bee bop, ba ba ba ba ba bee bop!" We all sang, doing the theme dance.

"A crazy bunch of kids crash through that door!"

"Bop bee bop, ba ba ba ba ba bee bop!"

"Well, they throw off their coats and leave the squares behind, and then they shake it, shake it, shake it, like they're losing their mind. You'll never see them frown 'cause they're the…"

"…nicest kids in town!"

As I looked around at everyone dancing around with other people's partners, I noticed Amber dancing solo. She was supposed to be dancing with Brad. Brad tried to sneak around her, but she pushed him away.

"Oh, every afternoon you turn your T.V. on!"

"Na na na na na na na na na!" At this time, as we swung one arm up in the air, I purposely pushed Amber forward, and grinned as she glared at me.

"And we know you turn the sound up when your parents are gone, yeah!"

"Na na na na na na na na na!"

"When you twist and shout for your favourite star, and when you've practiced every step that's in your repertoire, you'd better come on down and meet the…"

"…nicest kids in town!" We all danced away from Corny Collins after we waved into the camera.

"Nice white kids who like to lead the way, and once a month we have our…"

"Negro Day!" All of the council members stretched their arms and legs apart and then carried on with our dancing slowly dropping our arms.

"And I'm the man who keeps it spinnin' round, Mr. Corny Collins with the latest, greatest Baltimore sound!"

At this time, Amber and Link, as usual, took all the spot light as they danced in front. The others lined up behind them, dancing back and forth, going the opposite way as their partners. Mine was Brad, as he usually was. We danced between Darla and Mikey, and Becky and Joey, who were at the end of the long line up. Lou Ann and Paulie started the line on the other side.

"So every afternoon drop everything!"

"Bop bee bop, ba ba ba ba ba bee bop!"

"Who needs to read or write when you can dance and sing?"

"Bop bee bop ba ba ba ba ba bee bop!"

We all grouped off in two groups on either side of Corny, who helped up a fallen Amber as he sang, "Forget about your algebra and calculus. You can always do your homework on the morning bus." The two groups ran over to Corny. "Can't tell a verb from a noun, they're the…"

"…nicest kids in town!"

We all quickly ran away and got into our lines at the back of the stage. I stood between Brenda and Lou Ann, across from Sketch and I.Q, who we were going to meld with in line soon enough.

"R-r-r-roll call!" Corny shouted. Then he moved out of the way.

"I'm Amber!"

Like usual, Amber was taking too much time trying to look pretty for the camera, so Brad pushed her to the side and put his hands to his hips. "Brad!"

"Tammy!" Tammy's voice was high pitched as she made a T shape out of her arms.

"Fender!" Fender bent down and strummed an air guitar before he ran to the side.

"Brenda!" Brenda jumped in the air, raising her arms up high.

"Sketch!" Sketch bent down and used his hands to smooth his hair back.

"Shelley!" I shouted next, placing my hands under my chin. Brenda and Tammy always say I sound so incredibly happy. Even happier than Tammy sounds.

"I.Q.!" My friend introduced, putting one finger up to his tempo, and the other hand to his hip.

"Lou Ann!" Lou Ann sounded excited as well.

"Joey!"

"Mikey!"

"Vicki!"

"Becky!"

"Bix!"

"Jesse!"

"Darla!"

"Paulie!"

"Noreen!" Noreen stopped for just a moment with her thumb up until her sister arrived behind her.

"Doreen!"

The drugged duck made his way up to the front of the now broken line. "And I'm…Link." I could almost hear all of the girls screaming around Baltimore…aside from my sisters and I, who are gagging.

"So if every night your shaking as you lie in bed…"

"Mony mony! Ooh, mony mony!"

"And the bass and drums are pounding in your head!"

"Mony mony! Ooh, mony mony!"

"Who cares about sleep when you can snooze in school?"

"Ah-ooh!"

"You'll never get to college, but you'll sure look cool!"

"Ooh, ah-ooh!"

"Don't need a cap and a gown when you're the…"

"…nicest kids in town!"

"They're the nicest, nicest. They're the nicest, nicest! They're the sugar and spices. Nicest kids in…"

We all turned around and ran up to Corny. "…kids in town. Whoo!"

One 'Stricken Chicken' later…

We finished of our dance and clapped our hands off, cheering for ourselves. A loud beep went off. "And we're off…" Mrs. Von Tussle moaned. "Corny!"

As she went off to yell at one of my favourite people in the world, like her family enjoyed, obviously, someone called my name again. "Shelley!"

I turned to see another of my favourite people in the world running over at me. "Oh, hey Bix." I brought both of my hands over to my left hip and started flirting, as usual. "Good dancing today!"

"You too, like usual," he smiled. "Hey, listen I was just wondering…" This was it… Bix was about to ask me out. "How about…you and me go to…"

Bix's voice cut off when Velma Von Tussle shoved her hand down my dress and ripped the loofa out of my right bra cup. I stared at her in awe and ripped it out of her hand. I didn't dare to look back at Bix's face. I was too scared to see how he looked. Was he laughing at me? Was he turned on? Perhaps he was raising his eyebrow at me like I was stupid. Who knows? I pulled the other one out and handed them to the make-up girl.

I did turn around when I heard Brad say, very quickly, "I'll do it!" He then tore a rolled up cloth out of his pants. Apparently, Velma wanted him to ruin his time with Noreen, as well. She just didn't want any of us to be happy. When we're happy, she's not. You could see where Amber gets it from.

Then, I wasn't so afraid to look at Bix after the massive humiliation that Mrs. V. just put me through. He actually smiled at me, and we laughed a little bit at it. I let my eyes drift away from him when I noticed Brenda talking to Velma, and she held her stomach a little bit.

Amber approached me angrily. "You try that again, and there will be sumps where your feet should be! You got that? You little whor--."

"Amber!" Link called.

Amber turned around for her boyfriend and walked to him slowly. "—oly moly! Baby!"

I rolled my eyes. "God I cannot stand her."

"I know…" Bix agreed. "There's just something about her, and I don't know what it is…"

"You don't know what it is?!" I scoffed.

"Good point…" Bix decided. "So anyway, Shelley… Do you wanna, y'know, go out to…"

"Shelley!" someone else called.

I groaned as Brad approached me, prancing.

"Look, I'll talk to you later, Shelley," Bix said, walking away.

I groaned again, turning around to Brad. I hit him hard in the head.

"Hey!"

"You idiot!" I shouted at him. "Bix was just about to ask me out!"

"Oh…well then I guess it wouldn't be the best time to tell you that I have a date with Noreen on Sunday."

I rolled my eyes, annoyed, and hit Brad in the arm as I walked away.

Brenda and I met up outside of the station, ready to walk home.

"Shell, I'm leaving the show A.S.A.P." Tears were brought to my friend's eyes as she said that. "I know that I said that I had to leave early because you start showing really fast…but I'd rather have people think I'm fat and stay on for a couple of months than have people know I'm pregnant and be off for 9 months. I don't want to leave. I want to stay. Savour every moment until we have to leave the council and watch fresh, new little 8th graders take our spots, one by one."

"I understand, Bren," I assured her. "But listen, just…if you need anything, don't be afraid to call me over, and ask for my help or anything. Hey, does your dad know?"

"No and neither does my mom. What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, mom, dad, guess what? I slept with Joey and now I'm gonna have a baby!'? No, I was thinking maybe I'd just avoid them, and cover my stomach with a pillow every time they come around until I give birth. Then, that way, I can get the baby to live with Joey, and they'll never suspect a thing."

"Yeah, and what happens when you start getting so big that the pillow seems to look a lot more round?"

We paused as we reached her house. "It doesn't even matter, anymore. I mean, come on, they knew what they were allowing the first night they allowed me to have him over alone. Not saying that we did anything… But honestly, they always knew I was a little bit…promiscuous. It's their own fault."

I chuckled. "Wait a second, you asked your parents for permission to allow Joey to spend the night?"

"Yeah, that way they can kick Brad out of the house."

"They do that?!" I wondered. "If I was them, I always would have made Brad stay just so it wouldn't result in nine months of agony."

Brenda lightly slapped me upside the head. "Bye, Shelley Belly."

I laughed lightly as I rubbed my head. "Bye."

I hope you liked it. I'll be posting Chapter 2 soon...Most likely later tonight, seeing as it's already finished. Don't forget to R&R!