Every child has an idol, someone they look up to, and to model themselves after. Usually this comes in the form of a famous athlete or movie star, but ultimately most children look up to their parents, gaining behaviour patterns and personality traits almost unconsciously.

Rizzo didn't have any parents to idolise. Alright, that wasn't strictly true, but that's how she felt whenever she was left in the house alone for weeks at a time- which was often. She wasn't rich, but her Dad's job was pretty high demand and so he was away "on business" most of the time. Her mother, who never made it a secret how unhappy she was in her marriage, spent most of her time making up for her boredom by getting out of the house as often as possible and spending weeks on vacation, or God knows where. It was suspected that Mrs. Rizzo slept around, but there was no ground to those rumours other than the fact that she was never at home. This meant that Rizzo had to mostly fend for herself, something she had quickly grown accustomed to.

However, it also meant that she had to find other people to look up to and so people like Elizabeth Taylor became her idols, donning the red lips and saucy attitude that would serve as her armour. This look was a huge part of who she was. It was her tenth birthday when she decided to cut off her hair, it was also the first time her parents left her at home alone. After waiting all day for a phone call, she knew would never come, little Betty took the super sharp scissors her mother kept in the top draw and chopped off the brunette locks that Paula Rizzo fawned over. She had hoped that it would spark some kind of reaction, and she had been right. Her father had been furious, her mother had told her she looked like a boy. Those were the only times they were ever in agreement: when their daughter did something wrong.

Betty didn't blame her mother. Marrying John had never been the plan. She had wanted to live a little before settling down, had dreamed of becoming an actress one day. She might have made it too had she not fallen pregnant at eighteen. John had asked her to marry him out of responsibility more than anything else- he hadn't been all that thrilled with the prospect of a baby either. So, they had married and settled into their miserable lives together: he was too plain; she was too restless, all because Paula had allowed herself to be vulnerable in front of a man.

At a young age Rizzo made a promise to herself; she would never be vulnerable with anybody, especially not a man. She refused to end up as unhappy as her parents were. Of course, this was a difficult rule to follow. Especially when her friends were all determined to break down her steel walls.

She had met Marty first in Kindergarten. A little boy- probably Sonny now that she thought about it- had been trying to steel Marty's crayons and Rizzo, feeling the need to stick up for the girl, helped fend him off. They quickly became best friends, practically growing up together. Soon after, they had met Jan. She had been the new kid in school and the teacher had asked them to look out for her. As kids, they all looked out for each other. When Frenchy came along in middle school, she only completed the family.

It wasn't until then that the boys started to notice them more, when the hormones started raging. They were all friends but were all too immature for anything more. Still, Sonny pined after Marty, and Doody would occasionally attempt to flirt with Frenchy. In Middle school Kenickie was a couple of years above and it was the place he developed his reputation as a ladies' man. Sometimes she would catch him looking at her and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't found him attractive, but she was too young to realise what it truly was. She would never admit that thirteen-year-old Rizz had a huge crush on Danny Zuko and it didn't go away in High School, especially not when he began to flirt back.

It was 11th Grade when she and Danny started going together. It had been fun for the first few months, but then all the little quirks that used to be attractive became insufferable, and his brooding became unbearable. He was her first-time and, although it hadn't been all that special, she was a teenage girl after all and that type of thing was important to her. Not that she let him know that. Soon after, he began to realise that she wasn't the type of girl he was looking for. He realised that she would never be pure or undamaged. Betty Rizzo would change herself for no man and he must have known that because that summer he ended it. Surprisingly, it wasn't the thought of losing Danny that had hurt the most, it was the rejection and humiliation; the fact that he had been the one to end it because she wasn't good enough.

Still, she didn't cry. She was more angry than upset. By the start of 12th Grade she was over it. Alright, she was almost over it.

It was the first day back and things were going pretty great. It wasn't as if she liked school, but she was a senior this year. This was supposed to be one of the best years of her life. There were privileges that came with being a senior, one of which was cutting in front of the lunch line and intimidating all the freshman.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Exclaimed Marty. They had been waiting for this since as long as they could remember, and the noises of protest coming from the younger students only made it even more satisfying.

"What did I tell ya?" Rizzo replied with a smirk. Then the two burst into a fit of giggles, singing their way to the table.

"Did you guys get a look at Zuko this mornin'?" Jan asked as they sat down, "looking pretty good this year, huh, Rizz?" She waggled her eyebrows and gave Rizzo a knowing look. She should've expected it; her fling with Danny hadn't exactly been a private affair and so her friends liked to joke around about it.

In fact, Rizzo hadn't noticed Danny at all this morning. Her attentions had been focused on the tall blonde he called his best friend. She had noticed him before, he was extremely attractive after all and most people would be lying if they said they hadn't thought about it, but this year something was different. This year he hadn't just melted into the background; no longer just Danny Zuko's co-star. There was something he had that Danny didn't, something she couldn't put her finger on.

As she thought about it more, she decided that, given the choice, she wouldn't get back together with Danny. Yes, he was attractive, but he constantly felt sorry for himself- a quality Rizzo despised in anyone and strived never to have. She needed somebody who took responsibility for their actions, who didn't need sympathy from anybody. She would never find that in Danny Zuko.

"That's ancient history." She answered, hoping to end the conversation quickly.

"Well, history sometimes repeats itself." Marty teased.

Weeks ago, she might have snapped at her friends for bringing up the sore subject, but today, whether it was because of the thrill of finally being a senior, or because her heart was no longer broken, leaving only the faint stab of rejection, Rizzo felt giddy. So, rather than snapping, she good-naturedly mocked Marty causing the girls to collapse into giggles.

"Hey, you guys." Greeted Frenchy in her usual lively tone.

The red head normally rode to school with them, but today she had been asked to help the new girl settle in.

"Hi, Frenchy."

Frenchy turned to the girl in question, whose timid face betrayed her nerves. "Go sit down." She did as she was asked, awkwardly taking a seat next to Jan.

"This here is Sandy Olsen." Started Frenchy, taking her own seat, "and that's Jan and Marty, and this is Rizzo."

Sandy was an attractive, yet shy looking girl. From what Rizzo could tell, the girl didn't have a rebellious bone in her body. She was the embodiment of the word "innocent" and would probably have a hard time fitting in with the group of unconventional teenage girls.

"She just moved here from Sydney, Australia." Frenchy's voice filled with admiration, clearly impressed.

"How are things down under?" Rizzo teased, her witty humour firmly in place.

Sandy looked a little taken aback by the comment, unsure how to respond, "Oh, fine, thanks."

The conversation moved on until Patty Simcox arrived, spouting about the Student Council. If there was one thing Rizzo wouldn't miss about high school, it was "The bad-seed of Rydell High." The girls pretended to be interested, making sarcastic comments that the preppy cheerleader didn't catch on to. Although Patty was one of the most annoying people at Rydell, and there were a lot, it was easy just to drown her out.

As Patty introduced herself to Sandy, Frenchy muttered "you guys, how do you like Sandy?"

Rizzo thought for a second, watching as Sandy smiled widely as she took a flyer for the Cheerleading squad. She never was one to judge a book by it's cover, but she had a feeling that she wasn't wrong about the purity that practically radiating from the blonde's perfect skin.

"She looks to pure to be pink."

If only she had known how wrong she was.

The conversation soon turned to the summer. "What did you do this summer, Sandy?" Frenchy prompted, seeing that her new friend had been quiet for a while.

"I spent most of it at the beach." She replied, a small smile on her face. "I met a boy there."

It wasn't a surprise that Sandy was the romantic type. "You hauled your cookies all the way to the beach for some guy?"

"He was sort of special." Sandy defended. Rizzo couldn't imagine being so naïve. "Special" guys just simply didn't exist.

"There ain't no such thing." For some reason, she found the girl's idyllic view of romance amusing, but it was also ridiculously unrealistic.

"It was really romantic."

Then she described her entire summer on the beach with a guy, who sounded much to good to be true. Sandy had the attention of half the girls in school, all fawning over this perfect man. Rizzo found herself getting bored of the story pretty early on. She didn't want "perfect" like most girls, she wanted passion and excitement. This guy sounded like a wet rag.

"True love and he didn't lay a hand on you?" Asked the brunette, sceptically, "sounds like a creep."

"He wasn't. He was a gentleman." Sandy insisted.

"What was his name?"

"Danny. Danny Zuko."

This had to be the most absurd thing she had ever heard. The Danny Zuko had spent his summer making sandcastles and playing life-guard all to fool this poor girl into falling in love with him?

The girls giggled behind her, but she thought the news would be better left as a surprise. She could find a way to use this to her advantage. So, she planted the fakest smile on her lips she could muster, "Well, I think he sounds peachy keen. Maybe, if you believe in miracles, Prince Charming will show up again someday. Somewhere unexpected."

This was just too good to be true, and Sandy's obliviously hopeful smile made it all the more satisfying.

"See you later." She said, "Come on, Girls."

The rest of the day was spent daydreaming as the teacher droned and Marty stressed about Algebra. Her thoughts shifted between her plan to get back at Danny and her new-found interest in Kenickie.

Rizzo wasn't a monster. She didn't particularly like the new blonde girl, but this was bigger than that. It wasn't about Sandy, it was about making Danny hurt the way she had at his rejection. She doubted Zuko had ever been rejected in his life; he was so used to getting everything he wanted. Sandy's arrival was the perfect opportunity to put him in his place.

It would be a bonus to see the looks on his friends' faces when they found out that wasn't the effortlessly cool leader, they thought he was. It was strange to think of Zuko as the leader of the T-Birds. Most people, including the members themselves, automatically assumed he was. He fascinated the students of Rydell: boys wanted to be him; girls wanted to sleep with him- even Patty Simcox, for God's sake- but, for Rizzo, Danny was more of the right-hand-man than anything else.

In many ways, Danny was still a boy with very little experience in the word. Kenickie on the other hand had a maturity that, along with his quiet confidence and commanding presence, made him a natural born leader. Zuko might be the official face of the T-Birds, but Kenickie was the man behind the curtain; the true leader.

There was something about that maturity that made her feel connected to him in some way. Her parents' absence and lack of interest meant that she had, had to grow up sooner than most her age. Though she didn't know what Kenickie's homelife was like, she felt it was something similar. They took care of themselves and only looked out for their friends. In that way they were almost like kindred spirits.

Perhaps that was where the attraction had come from. Now that she was free of Zuko, she could finally explore that connection. Could finally do something about the fire she felt when he looked at her sometimes.

Before she knew it, the day was over and she, Marty, and Jan were making their way to the parking lot.

"Would you cool it, Marty?" Rizzo turned to her friend, who had been ranting about algebra for the past twenty minutes. "You're gonna do fine."

"What am I gonna do if I fail, huh?" She whined, "I'll have to re-take the whole year!"

"Hey, Sonny's good at math, right?" A sly smile spread across Rizzo's face.

"Yeah... and?" Marty's voice became wary.

"He'd be thrilled to be your "Study Buddy."" Jan chimed in, with a similar expression.

Marty's eyes widened, "Me and Sonny? In a room alone?"

When the girls only nodded their heads, she rolled her eyes, "Get real."

Her friends giggled at her flushed cheeks. Then her eyes widened again, and she exclaimed, "Oh, Shit!"

Both Jan and Rizzo looked at her in alarm, "I left my glasses back in class!"

The girls groaned at her dramatic tendencies. "Jan, could you come with me?" She pleaded.

"Sure." Jan nodded turning to Rizzo. "We won't be long."

"Wouldn't want Einstein to look dumb." She smirked, referencing Marty's earlier comment about the glasses making her look smarter. The brunette just gave her a playful glare and stuck her tongue out in response.

Once Rizz reached her car, her prized possession, she began searching for her keys. As she did so, she felt a presence behind her and the scent of cigarettes, car grease, and some kind of musk washed over her. It was intoxicating.

She turned, and her eyes met with Kenickie's baby blue orbs. He was gazing at her intently with an unidentifiable look on his handsome face. He had never been this close before.

"How are ya, Rizz?" She hadn't heard his voice in weeks and it sent chills down her spine.

"Not bad, Kenick." Then her eyes lowered to his muscled arms. She swore they hadn't looked that good last year. "You been workin' out?" She teased.

There was something in his eyes that told her he was pleased she'd noticed. "I've been lugging boxes at Bargain City." He replied, "savin' for a car."

She had to say she was impressed. Most guys just expected their parents to buy them a car. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." His voice lowered flirtatiously.

There was a silence between them and he seemed to be studying her face. For a moment, she felt that awful feeling of vulnerability. Only it wasn't so awful. "Look, Rizz, I just wanted to say I think Zuko is a real idiot."

That surprised her. She had assumed the best friends were on the always on the same page, especially when it came to women. And she certainly didn't think he cared that much about her.

"You do, huh?"

"Yeah, anyone stupid enough to let you go oughta get their head checked."

He was being unusually flattering. She figured he probably pitied her. She hated being pitied, and yet, there was honesty in his eyes as though he really believed what he was saying.

His eyes became flirtatious again, "you goin' to the pep rally Friday?"

"Sure," she answered, glad for the change of subject, "what's it to ya?"

"I was thinkin' we could, you know, talk." Kenickie pulled on the collar of his leather jacket and looked to the ground. He was uncomfortable. It was kind of sweet.

Rizzo was about to respond when she spotted Marty and Jan approaching the car out of the corner of her eye. "How could I have lost another rhinestone?"

Once they'd reached the pink Cadillac, they noticed the close proximity of the pair. Trying to alleviate the awkwardness, Jan smiled widely, "Hey Kenickie, you have a good summer?"

Kenickie cleared his throat, "yeah, it was cool. I better get goin', got another shift." He turned to Rizzo, "See you Friday."

"Yeah, I'll see you."

And, for the first time, Rizzo was actually looking forward for that stupid pep rally.

Thanks for reading xx