AN: I deleted the other version of this story due to creative differences. A lot of things have changed. Names for one. If you read this before Abbie Reynolds is now Mollie Reynolds. There are a few things about Mollie/Abbie that have changed as well. She is no longer mute but she still signs. The reason will be explained later in this chapter. Derrick Lang is now Casper Lang. The setting of the story has also changed from Virginia to the picturesque landscape of Wyoming. The name of the town is now Hidden Rocks, Wyoming. As other important elements change in each chapter I will alert you to them in notes at the beginning.
Beneath the Surface
Chapter One: Monday
The sun was blaring down on the small Wyoming town of Hidden Rocks. The town was just waking up. Kids heading off to school, parents to work. Racing down Lakerose Terreace, in a bright red Mustang was Emma Ross. It was Monday, her favorite day of the week. How can Monday be someone's favorite day of the week was lost to everyone but Emma. Mondays were fresh starts, new beginnings to start things over. Emma loved Mondays.
The strange thing about Hidden Rocks, Wyoming is the entire town was built around Rockview Lake. Lakerose Terreace wound around the lake. The town was split in two. The even numbered streets were on one side and the odd numbered on the other. Most of the shopping, schools and churches were on the odd side of town and the residental and other random places were on the even side. Locals could tell when the travelers were lost becasue they would drive round in circles till they discovered the exception to the odd/even rule. Highway 14 ran through the odd side of town.
There were only a month of school left and she planned to make them absolutely perfect. She had a lot of wrongs to make right. Starting with the war between herself and Maddie Kingsly. Maddie hit a disgusting low at the Winter Formal back in December. From what unnamed sources would conclude, Maddie and her minions convinced Casper Lang that his wonderful girlfriend Halle Valmont was cheating on him. A fact, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
Emma sauntered into the school, placing her sunglasses on top of her head and walked right to her spot by the fountain. She watched as other students walked by. She returned waves and smiles. Everyone knew Emma. Emma prided herself on knowing everyone in her class by at least their name. She wasn't fake about knowing a person if she didn't. It was that quality that made the entire student body love her. She never let the love go to her head. Girls wanted to be her. Boys wanted to be with her. Nevertheless, Emma's heart only knew one. Hot British import, Jesse Valmont.
As she was staring off into space, going over every detail of her day in her head, a figure with short red hair plopped down next to her. Emma turned back to get something out of her bag by her feet she jumped back, coming face to face with her best friend Mollie Reynolds.
"God!" Emma exclaimed. "Kick something next time!"
"How about I kick you?" Mollie said.
"Not so much," Emma replied. "Anything interesting happen so far today?"
"Emma it's seven-thirty in the morning," Mollie said, pointing to the clock. "What could have possibly happened?"
"This," Emma said, handing Mollie her cell phone. "I got that on my way to school."
Mollie read the text message on Emma's phone. "Maddie wants to call a truce?" Mollie's eyes filled with shock. "What could she possibly be planning?"
"I couldn't believe it either. Too many people know the truth about what Maddie and her minions did to Halle and Casper at the Winter Formal. I'm surprised that more people haven't disowned them."
"Good morning, ladies!" a far too cheerful voice called.
"Has anyone ever told you that you are entirely too perky for it to be seven-thirty two in the morning?" Emma teased.
"What's up your ass?" Halle teased back.
"Maddie wants peace," Mollie explained. "But seriously Halle, what's got you so happy for the first time since the incident?"
"Ty called me last night. We talked all night. I'm running on coffee and a Red Bull."
"Thus explains why you're so perky," Emma concluded. "That is something to celebrate. Have you decided when you're going to meet him? Hold that thought. Bitch pack sighting."
Crossing the Quad was Maddie Kingsly and her posse of bitch clones. Flipping their blonde hair and scaring the crap out of freshmen were what was known to most of HVHS as the "Bitch Pack". Being dragged behind them were their boyfriends/bodyguards. Mollie and Casper locked eyes for a second ad then the connection was lost due to Maddie stepping into their line of sight. Halle was bent over her phone texting everyone in their entourage. Emma's rules stated if they were outnumbered to call for backup no questions asked.
"Emma," Maddie greeted coldly. "Thumper, Halle."
Emma's blood boiled when Maddie greeted Abbie like that. It took every ounce of her self-control and good will to not knock the bitch to the ground. "Maddie and the Bitchettes. Aren't you a little out of your territory? I mean being this close to the fountain could be dangerous. I wouldn't want you to melt."
"Good one Emma," Casper laughed, eliciting a glare from Maddie.
"Let's just cut to the chase here Emma," Maddie said, choosing to ignore the comment from Emma. "This is stupid. We all have to deal with each other for the next year. Why don't we call a truce? How can we be a good influence on the incoming freshmen if we can't even get along? What kind of message are we sending them?"
"Oh my God!" Emma laughed. "Where on earth did that come from? We were getting along just great until you stabbed your best friend in the back. Everyone knows what you and Odette did to Halle."
"I'm not sure where you're getting your information Emma, but Halle and Casper's breakup had nothing to do with us."
"Really? Then maybe you need to ask seventy-four percent of the junior class what they think happened."
"You actually took a poll?" Mollie asked.
"Not important," Emma waved. "Here's my peace treaty. You and your second in command go on the school news and publicly admit what you did to Halle and Casper and then maybe we'll talk."
"What does any of this have to do with me?" Casper asked, royally confused.
Emma was about to open her mouth and lay all of Maddie and Odette's shit bare when Jesse, Matt and Marc rounded the corner. Jesse spotted Emma getting to her feet and stepping closer to Maddie. No good could come from this if Emma lost her temper.
"Emma!" he yelled from across the quad. "Back off! She's not worth it."
He got to them, pulled Emma back and high fived Casper in the process. Today was not the day to get suspended for fighting. Not with only little over a month left of school.
"I will say this, you ever address Mollie as anything other than her name your daddy's money won't be enough to save you," Emma sneered as she gathered her stuff. "And Casper, just so you know, you were played, royally. And you just let it happen. I don't feel the least bit sorry for you."
"Emma, that's enough!" Jesse said pulling her away.
"See you later, Emma!" Maddie called cheerfully, basking in her win. "And Thumper, I'll see you later as well."
It took all the strength Marc, Matt and Jesse had to pull Emma back. She turned around so fast that the boys took a whip of her hair. Mollie stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"I don't need you to fight my battles for me Em," she said, hiding the hurt in her eyes. "Just let it go. It's just a word. She can't hurt me."
Emma calmed down and shook out of Matt and Marc's grasp. She wrapped her arms around her and held her close. "She's going to get hers one of these days, Molls. I promise," Emma whispered into Mollie's ear.
Emma wiped away a tear that was creeping its way down Mollie's cheek. "Come on. Let's get to class."
Emma, Mollie, Halle, Matt, Marc and Jesse walked off to their first class of the day. They, plus Matt and Marc's girlfriends Becca and Jo all had Mr. Workman for Honors American History. Poor Mr. Workman tried his best to keep the large group of very good friends apart but nothing seemed to work. To him and most of the other teachers at HRHS Abbie and Emma were as good as one person. Same went for Becca and Jo. As Mr. Workman's seating chart stated, he had Matt, Marc, and Jesse split in the four corners of the room. He put social butterfly Emma in the middle of the room and scattered Mollie, Jo, Becca and Halle, trying to keep them separate.
The bell rang a few minutes later and the rest of his class shuffled in. Once everyone was settled, he began his lecture for the day. They were getting into the last few chapters of their book and then they would split off into groups to work on their final projects.
Emma, Halle and Mollie formed a group while the boys teamed up and Becca and Jo joined with Kate Andersen, the exchange student from Denmark. Each group was to draw a decade from Mr. Workman's prized Red Sox hat and report the world, US and local history for that year. Each group was allowed one trade.
Mollie drew the 1930's for their group. The boys nabbed the 1990's and Kate drew the 1940's. Halle switched with Janie Simmons for the 1950's. Once each team was happy with their decade they split off to separate area of the classroom to hash out the research and what not. Soon the class came to an end with everyone splitting off to other classes. Mollie retreated to the photography lab, Emma to chemistry, Jo and Becca to Trig. All planned to meet at break for coffee or tea if you're Mollie.
The only thing Emma hated about chemistry was that both Maddie and Odette were in her class. But it was only an hour out of her day that she had to put up with them. She got the evil eye for half of class but Emma ignored it with her normal grace and poise. Whatever was going on outside of class would remain outside of class.
The bell rang and everyone gathered back in the quad for their fifteen-minute break between classes. Emma and her friends gathered around the small coffee shop run by the DECA kids. All the money raised by the shop went to the local charities around town. Emma walked up to the counter and Randy, the coffee shop manager already had her mocha ready for her. There were few people that Randy had coffee ready for them, Emma and her friends were about it.
The girls took their drinks over to the fountain and sat down. "So Halle, before we were rudely interrupted by the Bitch Pack, you were going to tell us when you're planning on meeting with Ty." Emma said.
"He and I are nominated for Outstanding Student in Community Service," Halle said, sipping her triple shot latte. "We plan on meeting there."
"We only want you to be happy, Halle," Jo said. "After everything that has happened you deserve it."
"Thanks guys," Halle said. "It means so much to me that you guys actually care about what's going on. Maddie and Odette never did."
"How did you end up friends with Maddie in the first place?" Kate asked. "You're nothing like her."
"You know I don't know how it happened either," Halle laughed. "I guess I just met them first and started hanging out with them."
"But now you're with us and we accept you for who you are," Mollie said.
"Friends for life," Jo said, throwing her hand out. The other girls piled theirs on top.
The rest of the day ran fairly smoothly for the girls and their boys. There were no more run ins with Maddie and her clones. For the first time in weeks, Emma got to actually go home without having to do Maddie damage control. She breezed into her house, greeting her grandmother as she passed.
"Did you have a good time at school today?" Mrs. Ross asked.
"Had a few mishaps this morning but the day was good. Mollie and the girls are coming over later to work on our history projects. Mollie and Halle will probably stay for dinner."
"Make sure you clear it with your grandfather," Mrs. Ross said as Emma went up the stairs to her bedroom.
"I will Nanna," Emma called.
Emma entered her bedroom and shut the door. Finally, she was in her sanctuary. Here no one could bother her and the horrors of the day could be reduced to bad memories. She wanted so badly to beat the shit out of Maddie for her comment about Mollie. Mollie was Emma's best friend since the Reynolds' moved in next door. For the longest time Emma had been the only girl on the street. Matt and his family lived three houses down and the O'Ryan boys two more from Matt. Emma was the only girl her age on Lakerose for twelve long years. Then the Reynolds' moved in. Emma was disappointed when she saw all the boys then a flash of pink could be seen.
Emma raced over to the house to introduce herself to the family. She put on a happy face as she walked across the street. She found a lady directing the movers and the many boys to different places around the house. Emma startled the woman. She began signing to Emma and all Emma could do was stand there confused. Then the flash of pink Emma had seen earlier came up to them.
"Hi!" a soft perky voice said. "I'm Mollie. This is my mom. We just moved here from Seattle, Washington."
Emma noticed that as Mollie was talking she was also signing. "Hi. I'm Emma. I live next door." Emma pointed to her house. Mollie ntroduced Emma to her mother, Katherine. Katherine was the first deaf person that Emma had ever met. Katherine sent the girls off to play in Mollie's room. Emma had never seen so much pink and white things in her life. Mollie had the coolest room Emma had ever seen. Mollie had her own TV, VCR, stereo and the coolest thing ever. Her bed was a pumpkin coach, like Cinderella's.
The afternoon rolled by quickly for the two girls. Mollie and Emma played with dolls, watched Cinderella a few times and even dug into Mollie's trunk of dress-up clothes. Emma hadn't had that much fun in a very long time.
That afternoon, Emma and Mollie spent hours talking and hanging out with each other. Emma learned that Mollie had eight older brothers. Gavin was the oldest and he lived in New York with his new wife Amy. The triplets Stephen, Miles and Raine were in college. JD was starting his junior year at Hidden Rocks High School, Bryan starting his sophomore year and Hunter his freshman. Mollie and Sebastian would be starting seventh grade. Mrs. Reynolds was so happy that Mollie had a friend at school already.
The girls were even more ecstatic when the Valmont's moved in across the lake from their house. Emma. It was a bunch of girls. Finally, the numbers on the block were evening out. However, it wasn't the girls that caught Emma's eyes. In that gaggle of girls, there was a boy. A very good-looking boy. A boy that Emma would fall in love with very soon.
The Valmont's had moved to Hidden Rocks three years ago and Jesse and Emma were looking to celebrate their two year anniversary the following week. Everything was falling into place for her. Now all she had to do was get rid of Maddie and her evil minions and everything would be perfect.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and the front door opened. All of Emma's friends knew that they could just ring the bell and come in, as long as Nanna's car was in the driveway. Mollie was still the only one to wait for someone to invite her in. It was just how Mollie was. She could hear footsteps on the stairs and she went to her door opening it to find Halle in the hallway. She looked panicked.
"Halle what's wrong?" Emma exclaimed. "You look like your dog just died. What's going on?"
"Look at this," Halle said, handing Emma her Sidekick. "I just got this message from Maddie."
Emma read the message and was instantly on the phone to Jesse and the boys. Maddie had to be stopped. "Jesse where are you guys?"
"At the park. Why?" Jesse asked.
"Maddie's going after Mollie," Emma said. "Halle got a message from Maddie saying that Mollie needs to watch her back."
"Isn't she at your place? Maddie wouldn't dare come near your place," Jesse argued.
"She said she had work to do at the library. What did Mollie do to Maddie?"
"Well it is common knowledge that Mollie and Casper are lab partners for AP bio, so she may think that Mollie is trying to steal Casper from her."
"That's insane. Mollie would never do something like that."
"We'll keep an eye out for both her and Maddie. Nothing is going to happen on our watch."
"Thanks Jesse," Emma said, hanging up the phone. "You know Halle; this could all be a ruse to piss me off."
"I wouldn't put it past her though," Halle said. "Maddie is capable of pretty much anything."
"I know that. I've been fighting Maddie and her witches for years. This is not about Mollie at all. This is about me and Maddie."
"How do you know that?" Halle asked.
"Because the same thing happened when we were in the fifth grade," Emma sighed. "Only it was with Nellie McMurray."
Nellie McMurray and Emma Ross were the best of friends. They did everything together from girl scouts to horseback riding at Mt. Lang Ski Resort. Maddie was in their group and was trying everything to get Emma and Nellie to get into a fight. But nothing she did was working. Emma was a stubborn little girl. She would not allow Maddie to mess up her summer.
As summer camp moved on so did Maddie's plans to turn Nellie to the "dark side". Maddie started a rumor that Emma had a thing for Matt Montgomery, the boy that Nellie had a crush on. As the rumors grew, so did Nellie's noticement of Emma and Matt's friendship. Nellie watched as Matt and Emma would have lunch together and how they would talk quietly, looking over at Nellie then would laugh. After camp that day Nellie asked what was going on with Emma and Matt. Emma said nothing was going on.
As the days drug on Maddie was winning the mental war against Nellie. Soon she would be broken and come to Maddie for help. But what Nellie didn't know is that Matt had a thing for Nellie as well and he and Emma were planning a special date for them. Maddie found out about the date and used it against Emma and Matt, turning Nellie to her side. A nasty confrontation happened just after the transformation.
"Nellie!" Emma called to her once best friend. "I saved you a seat over here."
"Save it! Maybe Matt will sit with you!" Nellie spat. "Or maybe you can find a new best friend to steal a boy from!"
"I didn't steal Matt from you, Nellie! Matt and I are just friends! I was trying to help you!" Emma argued.
"That's not what I saw and what everybody is saying! They're all saying that you and Matt are going to Mikki's tomorrow for some special dinner!"
"That special dinner is for you and Matt, Nellie! It was supposed to be surprise! Who told you?"
"My new best friend Maddie," Nellie said. "She won't stab me in the back."
Emma came out of the memory. Nellie moved away a few years later, never knowing the truth of what Maddie had truly done. That was the last time that Emma ever played matchmaker. She was worried that Maddie may try to turn Mollie. But Mollie was stronger than that. She would know if Maddie was trying to play her against Emma. They had to find her.
"Where do you think Abbie could be?" Halle asked. "I know she said something about going to the library after school but she can't still be there?"
"One thing is for sure, she never goes anywhere without her Sidekick."
Emma punched out a quick message about the threat and to buzz her as soon as she could. About thirty seconds later Emma got a reply.
Emma, I'm at the library with Casper. I'll have him drop me off when we're done with our project.
"Shit," Emma muttered. "If Maddie finds out that Casper and Mollie were alone together there's going to be hell to pay."
"Sounds to me that Maddie needs to have a better view of herself if she thinks the boy she stole is going to leave her."
"Well that's exactly how Maddie is going to see it. The girl is overly jealous of everyone who even dares to talk to or look at something she wants. So much for an uneventful Monday afternoon. Let's go do some major damage control."
Emma gathered her car keys, she, and Halle strode downstairs to the garage. "Nanna we're going to the library. We forgot that Mollie wanted to meet there instead."
"Call if you're going anywhere else," Mrs. Ross called as the girls left the house.
Emma and Halle got in her car and drove off to the public library. Emma plugged in her IPod and the two girls jammed to the soundtracks from Rent and Wicked. All of Emma and her friends had their own roles when singing along to Rent. If everyone was together Emma was Mimi, Jesse was Roger. Matt and Becca took the roles of Collins and Angel. Marc was Mark and Jo was Maureen. Casper on occasion would do Benny. Halle was Joanne. Mollie would run sound. She wasn't that big a fan of Rent. Whenever they could all manage it, they would all do Seasons of Love or La Vie Boheme for the school talent show.
Emma whipped into the parking spot next to Casper's truck. She and Halle got out and walked into the library. Emma's eyes gazed across the open tables and spotted Mollie and Casper in the back, away from most of the foot traffic. Emma and Halle came over and Mollie quickly dropped Casper's hand under the table, still interlocked with hers.
"Emma, Halle?" Casper questioned. "What are you doing here?"
"We should be asking you the same question," Emma snapped. "
"We are not doing anything wrong," Casper said. "What did you think was going on?"
"Other than your bitch of a girlfriend issuing a threat against my best friend because she is spending time with you," Emma responded.
"All this girl drama is really starting to bug me," Casper said, giving Mollie's hand a soft squeeze under the table. "We are just lab partners and Maddie knows that."
"Well what Maddie knows and what she chooses to believe are two totally different things," Emma argued.
"For someone who really hates drama you sure do like to create it for yourself," Casper commented. "Emma you are so scared of losing your precious crown that you create this illusion that everyone is out to get you. For your information, Maddie is not the monster you have made her out to be. Once you get to know her she really is a sweet girl."
"Emma please just go," Mollie sighed. "I'll be fine. I'm not afraid of her."
"Fine, but you can't say I didn't warn you both."
Once Emma and Halle were out of sight, Mollie pulled her and Casper's hands back onto the table. She felt horrible that she was lying to everyone about her relationship with Casper but it had to be done, not only to spare Halle's feelings but also to protect Mollie from any backlash from Maddie.
"I can't keep lying to them," Mollie said to Casper. "Either we end us or you have to break up with Maddie. I can't keep doing this."
"Mollie I don't like treating you like the other woman," Derrick said softly. "I'll talk to Maddie tonight. I will figure us out."
"Until then can we please finish this genetics project so I can go home?"
Casper kissed Mollie's hand and the two bunkered down and got to work. Unknown to both Mollie and Casper someone else overheard that conversation and was planning on taking the information back to Maddie before Casper could sugarcoat it. Monday afternoon just got a lot more complicated than anyone realized. Leah Martin slipped out of her hiding place from behind a bookshelf and wound her way around to the front of the library. She had some good stuff to report and maybe just maybe things at school would get a bit more interesting come morning.