I don't own any of the characters associated with Rent, but I do own the other ones… I have no money, don't sue me…

Maureen Johnson sat on the side of the stage, tapping her feet as her best friend, Jessica, sang. Once her cue came up, Maureen jumped up and began dancing around the stage. Jessica smiled at her as the audience began applauding them. Of course their act was the hit. Their acts were always the hits, but that really only had to do with the fact that they were the most popular girls in school. Even if the performance wasn't as great as it was, the girls still would have gotten that standing ovation.

Well, the concert was over, and Maureen and Jessica were watching movies and sleeping over at Maureen's house. Once the movie ended, and the girls were getting ready for bed, Jessica looked over at Maureen and frowned.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You don't have nothing face. You have something face." Maureen plopped down on her bed and smiled up at Jessica. "Tell me what's up."

Jessica sat down and looked at the ground. "My dad got transferred to Florida."

The smile vanished from Maureen's face. "Well what does that mean?"

"It means that next month, I'm moving to Florida." A tear rolled slowly down the girls face.

Maureen jumped up, raising her voice just a bit. "You can't move! Who am I gonna hang out with?"

"I don't want to go. I'm sorry, but I have to."

This was way too much for Maureen to deal with. How could she get by with out Jessica? The girl who taught her how to dance? The person who taught her how to by common clothes at Walmart and make them into one-of-a-kind concoctions? The girl who taught her how to kiss? (Little did she know how much that would affect her later in her life.) "You can't even finish your last year of high school here?"

"Nope." Jessica stood up and put a hand on Maureen's shoulder, only to have it pushed away. "It's not like I want to go! It's not up to me! And this is a really good thing for my parents."

"What about you! What about what's good for you?" She sat back down on her bed, doing all she could to fight back the tears. "What about me?"

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest. "What about you? I'm the one who has to leave everything I know, make new friends, in a whole new place. You get to stay here with everything you already understand."

"So that means it's not going to be hard for me?"

It was Jessica's turn to raise her voice. "Not everything can always be about you Maureen!" Seeing the look on Maureen's face, Jessica lowered her voice. "And anyway, you're still the most popular girl in school. You'll make new friends."

"I'm not the most popular girl. I don't do anything. You're the popular one, and since I hang out with you, I get some of the lime light."

"Well then do something."

"Like what?"

"Something that will make you the one to stand out."

"I can't think about this anymore. Let's just go to sleep." Maureen crawled under her blankets and cried herself to sleep.

The girls last month together came and went, they said their sad goodbyes, and Maureen was back to being the one nobody noticed. She had never realized how much she liked being the one in the spot light.

"Well then do something."

"Like what?"

"Something that will make you the one to stand out."

Something to stand out. She could do that. She just needed an idea. She glanced around the halls, looking at posters for different clubs, when a poster for class president caught her eye. She could do that. Everyone would pay attention to everything she had to say!

"Not everything can always be about you Maureen!"

Maureen raised her head higher as she clutched her books to her chest. 'Yes they can.' She could easily pretend to help people in order to get attention for herself. The only problem: she had to have a speech ready by three today in order to run. She could do that. Tell the people what they wanted to hear, that was all she needed to do.

Maureen had an hours worth of note cards in front of her as she looked past the harsh lights and into the audience. She had never done something like this without Jessica. It was hard, but if she ran off stage, there was no way she could ever show her face in school again. Her hands were shaking so much she dropped her cards. It would have looked stupid if she picked them up, so she smiled and pretended that it was intentional.

She walked out from behind the podium and stood in the center of the stage. "Ever notice how much these president things are like Cinderella?" She had no idea what she was talking about, but people sat up with interest. "Ya! You remember, the evil step mom says Cinderella can go to the ball if she finishes all her work, and finds something to wear on her own. Well she does, but she's still not allowed to go." Maureen can see the questioning looks on people's faces, so she gets into her performance, making wide gestures with her arms, and face. "Everyone that runs for class president will promise you something. Better food. Longer time between classes. Lockers that open. They offer you all these things, and all you have to do, is vote for them. So, you vote for them. Yay! New class president! But you never get those things you bargained for. This is why I'm not offering you anything but the truth. I will never be able to get you those things, but I will fight for them." She took a dramatic bow, and sauntered off the stage, as the audience rose to a standing ovation. Of course she won, and she continued fighting for peoples rights with the truth, but only for the attention it brought her.