Note to readers: This story is based on the NBC television series The Facts of Life, which as far as I know, is the property of Embassy Television, Columbia Pictures Television, and Sony Pictures Television. No infringement is intended.
Chapter 1: Battle of the Sexes
Just a few short weeks ago, Blair Warner had had it all. As the only child of David and Monica Warner and the heiress to both their family's fortunes, she really had lived the life of a princess ever since the day she was born. And even though her life had not been without its share of problems, especially where her parents' painful divorce and subsequent remarriages were concerned, she had still been very happy, and it truly did seem as though she had everything a girl could possibly want: money, cars, designer clothes, expensive jewelry, fur coats, gorgeous looks, and plenty of boyfriends, as well as wonderful friends. Blair was a student at the Eastland School for Girls in Peekskill, New York, and she'd become very close to the school dietician there, Mrs. Edna Garrett, and her three other roommates, Jo Polniaczek, Natalie Green, and Tootie Ramsey. Even though she rarely saw either one of her parents as often she would have wished to, she had still been very happy with her life at Eastland, with the four other people who'd become a true family to her over the past couple of years. She really had had everything and then some. And while Blair had been enjoying the last few weeks of her summer vacation that year in her mother's beach house in Hawaii after she and Mrs. Garrett and the girls had returned from their month-long stay in Paris, it had seemed as though everything was business as usual.
But then it happened. A moment came along in seventeen-year-old Blair Warner's life that changed absolutely everything. Now, she was no longer the same happy teenager, student, and princess that she'd been before, and it seemed impossible that she ever would be again. In just one moment in time, her entire life, her entire existence as she knew it, had come to an end.
And now that summer had ended and the new school year had begun, Blair's entire perspective on her life was completely different from the way it had been before everything had happened. Classes had resumed four days before, and had the recent events of her life not happened the way they did, she wouldn't have noticed anything special about the scene that was playing out in front of her. But now, she knew more than ever how precious every moment was with the people she loved, and spending time with them meant everything. Now, even the most seemingly insignificant conversations with the people she cared about meant so much and were very special to her.
Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie were standing around outside on the Eastland campus that Friday afternoon with Don and Andrew, a couple of boys from Eastland's brother school, Bates Academy, enjoying a lively discussion.
"I still say you're delusional, Jo," Don Jenkins, a tall, handsome sophomore with blonde hair and blue eyes, told Jo. "There is no way, no way, that your bike can beat my dad's Porsche in a race."
"My bike can beat anything on four wheels," Jo insisted with a confident smile.
"Right on, Jo!" Natalie cheered her on.
"Tell him, Jo!" Tootie cried out.
"Say Polniaczek…why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Andrew West, a shorter, good-looking, slightly heavyset black boy who was a junior at Bates, challenged Jo. "Why don't you and Don go out to Clark Road and have yourselves a little race, Don in his father's Porsche vs. you on your motorcycle?" Clark Road was a road that was really way out in the country, about twenty minutes away from Eastland, and since it was out of the way, all the kids knew that there wasn't a very big chance of them getting caught and busted by the police for their shenanigans.
Jo had talked about doing something similar her first year at Eastland with an old acquaintance of Blair's, Harrison Andrews, who had turned out to be a real creep later on. He, too, had a Porsche, and Jo had confidently told him that she was certain her bike could beat it. When they got to talking about racing each other, though, Mrs. Garrett quickly stepped in and put a stop to it, telling them that there would be "no burning rubber at Eastland." Now, however, the six kids were having this discussion privately without Mrs. Garrett or any other adults around to shut down their plans.
"Hey, you're on!" Jo responded without any hesitation whatsoever, and then she stuck her hand out and shook hands with Don. "It's three-thirty now. We don't have to be back to start cooking and setting up for dinner until five. Why don't we all go out to Clark Road right now and race?" Fortunately, Jo had decided to change out of her school uniform into a sweatshirt and jeans right after class. Therefore, she wouldn't be racing in her Eastland skirt that day.
Their race couldn't take forever, though. They did have to be back in plenty of time to help Mrs. Garrett set up for dinner. Ever since Jo, Blair, Natalie, and Tootie had had a run-in with the local cops and landed themselves on probation a couple of years before, and had gotten the school van they'd stolen totaled in an accident as well, they'd had to move out of the regular dorms at Eastland into the room across the hall from Mrs. Garrett's over the school cafeteria so she could keep her eye on them, and so they could help her out in the kitchen.
Natalie, Tootie, Andrew, and Don all echoed their agreement in the background while Blair got lost in her own thoughts. Ordinarily, Blair wouldn't be caught dead having anything to do with this rash, reckless, silly race of Jo's. Being the "princess" she'd always been, she would have shrugged it off as being nothing but typical impulsive, ruffian behavior from Jo and gone about her business – which likely would have involved getting ready for her next date with her latest boyfriend, or deciding what all she wanted to buy for herself on her next big shopping spree. But thanks to the recent jolt she'd just gotten, she was now keenly aware of how precious her life with her family at Eastland really was, and rather than just sitting around on the sidelines being a spectator to life like she had been in the past, now, all of the sudden, she was finding herself wanting to be a part of it. She no longer wanted to just let life pass her by the way she usually would have because she'd been too afraid to get her designer clothes dirty. Now, she wanted to live, truly live, and have fun and be daring and even take a reckless chance or two.
"Hey Don, Andrew, I just had a thought," Blair suddenly chimed in. "Instead of all of us going out to Clark Road for a race between Jo's bike and Don's Porsche, why don't we make it a battle of the sexes? Jo on her bike and me in my Porsche versus you two guys in your cars?"
Stunned, everyone merely stared at each other for a long moment, unable to believe their ears. Blair Warner of all people would never make a suggestion like that! To say the least, they were all shocked that Blair would even think of getting into a race with her fancy Porsche.
"Blair, are you feeling alright?" Tootie asked as she jokingly put her hand on Blair's forehead, causing all the others to laugh, and Blair laughed along with them.
"Tootie, I'm serious," Blair insisted.
"Aren't you afraid of chipping your nails?" Jo teased, and again everybody laughed.
"No, Jo, I am not afraid of chipping my nails," Blair told her. "It's just that…I don't know; it always seems that I'm too afraid of getting hurt or getting dirty to really do anything exciting in my life. And now, I want to change that. I want thrills. I want fun. I want excitement. Come on, guys. Let me race with you this afternoon."
"It's alright by me. What do you guys think?" asked Jo.
"Yeah, a battle of the sexes sounds interesting," Andrew said. "I think we can take 'em, Don. What do you think?"
"Of course we can take 'em," Don agreed. "Come on, everybody! Let's go!"
"Alright!" Natalie said aloud.
"This is so cool!" Tootie cried out. "Blair, Jo, I know you guys are going to win," she said as they all walked out to their vehicles.
"Not necessarily," Andrew disagreed. "After all, it is two cars against one car and one motorcycle."
"That doesn't matter," said Natalie. "It's like Jo said: her bike can beat anything on four wheels. She and Blair are going to cream you!"
"Dream on, little girls. Dream on," said Don.
"We'll see who's dreaming when we all get to Clark Road!" Tootie retorted.
"Come on, guys. Let's go," Blair said. "Natalie, Tootie, you two ride with me."
"Alright, Blair," Natalie said, and then she and Tootie hopped into Blair's Porsche with Blair, while Jo got on her bike and Andrew and Don get into their cars, and a few moments later, everybody took off.
It was about ten minutes until four when they all got to Clark Road. Clark Road was a wide, typically deserted country road. Ever since the highway nearby had been constructed a couple of years ago, hardly anybody ever traveled down Clark Road anymore, so it was a good spot for the kids to have their race – and a good spot for them to go to without getting caught by the police or any adults.
Once they all turned onto Clark Road, they drove about a mile and a half down the road to an old gas station that had gone out of business once the highway had been built, and they pulled into its deserted parking lot. After everybody had gotten out of their cars, Jo took the lead and started explaining what they were going to do.
"Okay, guys, let's keep this simple. Natalie, Tootie, you two stay here and wait for us while Blair, Don, Andrew and I drive back to the beginning of the road. Then when I honk my horn, all four of us will start driving together at the same time, and the first person to pass this old gas station wins the race. If Don or Andrew pass it first, then that means the guys win our battle of the sexes. If Blair or I pass it first, then that means the women win."
"Sounds good to me," Don agreed.
"Me too. Let's hit it, everybody!" Andrew said aloud.
"Blair…are you sure you want to do this?" Jo asked her.
"Yes, Jo, I'm sure," Blair told her, but Jo was still unable to believe her ears. She just couldn't believe that this was Blair Warner she was talking to now; that it was Blair Warner she was about to enter into a race with of all things!
"Come on, you guys! Let's go!" Tootie told them.
"We're going, Tootie. We're going," Jo responded as she hopped on her motorcycle and the others got into their cars.
After they drove back to the beginning of Clark Road, Blair, Don, and Andrew waited for several moments until Jo honked her horn. The instant she did that, Jo's motorcycle, Don's Porsche, and Andrew's Mercedes became a speeding blur on the road. Blair put her foot down on the accelerator of her own Porsche, but naturally, since this was her very first race ever, she was pretty nervous about pushing her car to the kind of speeds Jo, Andrew, and Don were traveling at. She pushed the needle of her car's speedometer up to sixty and seventy miles per hour easily enough, but as she pushed her car up to eighty miles per hour, she began to grow a little nervous, and even more so at eighty-five miles per hour. But although she was hesitant, she pushed the car further, up to ninety miles per hour, then ninety-five miles per hour. As she pushed her Porsche up to higher and higher speeds, she began to catch up to Jo, Don, and Andrew a little bit. They'd really taken off and left her behind in the dust in the beginning, but now, she was starting to gain a little ground, although she still had a way to go before she really caught up to them. And while Andrew and Don were neck and neck, Jo was currently in the lead.
Several moments later, the abandoned gas station and empty parking lot came into view, and as Blair looked at her speedometer then and saw that she was going slightly over a hundred miles an hour, she noticed that Don was starting to catch up to Jo. Blair knew that if Don did manage to catch up to her and get in the lead and win the race, he would never let either one of them live it down. It was true that Blair Warner was not used to driving at such insane speeds, and it was true that she was beginning to feel like she couldn't completely keep her car under control because she was driving so much faster than what she was used to. It was true that she was nervous and scared, but in those moments, she remembered exactly why it was that she wanted to do this in the first place. She wanted to do it because she'd recently come to the realization that throughout her entire life, she had always, always done the safe thing. She'd never been allowed to learn how to ride a bike because her parents, particularly her mother, hadn't wanted her to get her knees scraped and bloody and get her pretty clothes dirty. She'd never been daring or taken risks before. In some ways, it was almost as if she'd never really lived before, because her parents had always made her live her life like she was a delicate porcelain doll instead of a human being. And Blair Warner now knew it beyond the shadow of a doubt that she did not want to be a porcelain doll anymore, and she made up her mind in that instant that she wasn't going to be.
Even though it scared her, she pushed her car up to one hundred ten, then one hundred twenty, then one hundred twenty-five miles per hour, and as she did that, she successfully managed to catch up to Don. Then she dared to push her car all the way up to one hundred thirty miles per hour, and it was in the precise moment the needle on the speedometer hit one-thirty that both Blair and Jo passed the gas station at the same time, with the guys trailing them.
Blair heard Natalie and Tootie cheer as she and Jo passed the gas station and officially won their battle of the sexes, and immediately afterwards, she began hitting her brakes and slowing her car down. Jo did the same with her bike, and the guys with their cars. As Blair slowed her car down to a safer speed, her heart continued pounding away inside her chest, and she really began to feel the effects of the adrenaline rush she'd just experienced. Her whole body was shaking, but yet, even though she'd been scared, terrified even, she was now suddenly filled with an exhilaration she'd never known before. She did it! She had taken a huge risk with her car, her safety, even her life. There had been no way to know if Blair would have been able to keep her car under control while driving at such dangerous speeds, especially considering the fact that she had no experience racing. She'd taken one heck of a gamble with her own life, and she'd won, and it was an incredible feeling! It felt good to know that for once in her life, she'd had the guts to stop living her life like she was a porcelain doll; that she'd had the guts to take a real risk for a change…to really live.
Everybody pulled into the nearest road off of Clark Road, which was about half a mile from the old gas station where Natalie and Tootie still were, and they turned their vehicles around and came back. When they all pulled into the gas station's parking lot, Natalie and Tootie cheered once again when they saw Blair and Jo.
"You guys were amazing!" Tootie cried out as Jo got off her bike and Blair stepped out of her Porsche.
"You were incredible!" Natalie said aloud.
"That was the coolest race I ever saw!" Tootie told them excitedly.
"Blair, I cannot believe you actually drove your Porsche that fast!" Natalie cried out.
"I can't believe it either! Blair, you never, ever do anything like this! This is so unlike you," Tootie observed.
"You know Warner, I've really gotta hand it to ya," Jo said as she slapped Blair on the back. "I never thought that you of all people would ever have the guts to go that fast. You're actually not a bad racer."
"We Warners are full of surprises," Blair said with a big smile, feeling immensely pleased with herself.
Andrew and Don had already gotten out of their cars a moment ago, and now they walked up to the girls, both of them looking very stubborn and defiant. They were not ready to completely admit defeat to a couple of girls that easily.
"Alright ladies, alright, you did win…this time. But I've got twenty bucks that says you two wouldn't be able to beat us again in a rematch," Andrew challenged them.
"Why don't we meet back here at Clark Road one afternoon next week and race again? What do you girls say?" Don asked.
"I say you guys are on," Jo told them with her usual confidence. "What do you say, Blair?"
"I'm sorry, guys. I'm busy next week. I'm free the week after next, though."
"What are you doing next week?" asked Natalie.
"Oh, it's nothing, Natalie," Blair dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
"No, Warner, tell us what it is that's so important that we can't have our rematch next week," said Don.
"Yeah, Blair, what is it?" Tootie questioned.
"It's something personal, you guys. I don't want to talk about it. But I will say this much: it's something that I really need to do for me. So anyway, why don't we meet here again the Monday after next, say at four o'clock?"
"That's good for me," Jo answered.
"The Monday after next at four is fine," said Andrew.
"It's fine for me too," said Don.
"Great. Then it's settled. We'll all meet back here the Monday after next at four o'clock for the rematch," Jo told everybody. "See you guys then."
"Alright, Jo, Blair, we'll see you girls around," Don told them.
"See you later," Andrew said, and then they both got in their cars and left, and the girls left as well. And as they headed back to the Eastland campus, Blair felt absolutely terrific, and Jo, Natalie, and Tootie still felt stunned at what had happened that day.