Hey again! I definitely didn't expect to update so quickly, but I just adore this story so much that I'm typing it faster than I can keep up with! Haha. Thank you for my two lovely reviewers, who were so sweet. And big thanks to everyone who favorited and alerted. It means so much and I'm glad you liked the first chapter. Here's hoping you like the second!
The look that Barbie's sister was giving her just solidified the blonde's fears that her failing English was the worst thing that could happen today.
"You're failing English? Do you not realize that English is your NATIVE LANGUAGE? How am I even related to a dumbass like you?" Charlene Blank, a freshman at the high school, was not one to hide her feelings. She was standing at the kitchen island when Barbie had come home, sweaty and tired from cheerleading practice. Michelle McCool, the senior team captain, really liked making her team suffer. Especially the juniors.
"Shut up, Char. This is so bad. If Mom and Dad find out, I'll probably live in a box in an alley downtown. So you better keep your fat mouth shut about this." The blonde was far too exhausted to play nice with her little sister. The younger girl flicked a brown curl over the shoulder and adjusted her headband.
"Whatever, I'm not gonna say anything. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't. If they find out from someone other than you, then Mom's foot will go so far up your ass that your grandkids will feel it. So either raise your grade or face the wrath." Unfortunately, Barbie knew that Charlene was right. The blonde sat down at the island and put her chin on the table. She just wanted five or ten minutes to wallow in self pity.
"My teacher is making me get tutored. It's her sadistic little experiment or something." The blonde was too upset to feel guilty for talking behind her teacher's back. She knew that this was geared to help Barbie, but it felt more like a punishment for her than for Phil Brooks.
"That's retarded," Charlene retorted. Barbie gave her a warning look – she didn't like that word and Charlene was constantly told off by their mother for using it. "What? Do you see Mom anywhere? No. Retarded, retarded, retarded. I can say it all I want. Anyway, who has the unfortunate job of trying to help you pass?"
"You probably don't know him. His name is Phil Brooks. He's a senior."
"Never heard of him. Well, good luck. I'm gonna go put on this new self tanner I bought and then go to Heath's house." The younger Blank sister skipped out of the room and went upstairs, leaving Barbie by herself in the kitchen. She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl just as her phone started vibrating in her pocket. Barbie pulled it out and looked at the screen.
Eve Torres
Michelle is fucking insane. I may actually be paralyzed. Now that I'm studying Jiu-Jitsu I'm going to beat her up!
She laughed and sent a text back, agreeing with her best friend. Michelle was really hard on the juniors this year. Even the sophomores got off easier than the eleventh graders. When Michelle had been named squad captain this year, she made it clear that they would be going to Regionals in the spring and anyone who was holding the team back would be kicked off. The Michael S. Hickenbottom Chins cheerleaders hadn't gone to Regionals since 2004, so Barbie thought Michelle had her hopes set just a little too high. But Barbie loved cheering so she wasn't planning on doing anything that would turn Michelle on her.
Eve and Barbie made plans with fellow juniors the Bella twins, Nikki and Brie, to go out for ice cream that evening. Barbie's mother, Mrs. Connie Blank, walked through the front door just as her eldest daughter was leaving.
"Where are you going? Is Charlene home?" her mother asked.
"I'm going out for ice cream. Charlene's at Heath's house." Mrs. Blank scowled at the mention of Charlene's annoying ginger boyfriend.
"I really don't like that boy. Well, have fun, I guess. Be home by nine please, you know how your father gets when you girls aren't home when he gets back from work." Barbie nodded and slung her purse up on her shoulder, stepping over the threshold to get to the driveway. "Oh! Barbie! I almost forgot."
Please don't be about English, please don't be about English, she prayed silently to whatever God was up there listening.
"Here's $10, you deserve it. You're such a good girl, Barbie." Connie handed her a crisp bill, probably fresh from the credit union where she was a teller, and kissed her daughter on the cheek. Then she closed the door, leaving Barbie alone on the porch, holding a $10 bill that she'd neither earned nor deserved. Girls who fail English aren't good girls. Girls who fail English don't deserve ice cream money.
The blonde tucked the money into her wallet and got out the key to her black 2011 Lincoln MKS. After a good minute of fiddling with the radio, she pulled out of her driveway and drove towards town, singing along to the songs that played.
She met Eve and the Bella twins inside the ice cream shop and sat down at their usual table by the window. They talked, mostly about Michelle McCool and the cheerleading team. In fact, the discussion with Mrs. McMahon-Helmsley from after school was completely pushed from her mind, until she noticed a certain someone standing on the sidewalk outside.
It was Phil Brooks, of course. He was standing with his arms crossed, talking to a group of guys. They were all leaning up against the shop. Some of them were smoking, but she noticed that he wasn't. The blonde couldn't help but notice that up close, he looked, well... decent. Maybe more than decent. Her new tutor was glancing around in a bored manner, never lingering on one spot too long. He looked through the window into the restaurant and saw Barbie staring. He grinned down at her and she looked away quickly, suddenly intimidated by him.
"Well, I'm gonna go. I have some Trig homework to do." Eve Torres stood up and tossed away her napkin and the styrofoam cup that her frozen yogurt had been served in. The other three stood up, too. The cheerleaders exchanged hugs and walked out into the parking lot.
Be cool. Walk fast. Do not acknowledge him, Barbie coached herself as she walked past Phil and his friends. She stepped down from the sidewalk and hurried.
"BARBIE!" he called. She turned and looked, trying to ignore the curious glances that her fellow cheerleaders were giving her. After all, what would some degenerate like Brooks want with a girl like Barbie Blank? "I'll see you around," he smirked at her. She flushed and got into her car, speeding off before Eve or Nikki or Brie could ask any questions. All she wanted to do was go home, fall asleep, and realize that today was just a horrible nightmare.
She didn't get her wish.
Barbie woke up the next morning to the frantic pounding on her bedroom door. She was immediately sure that it was Charlene. This was affirmed when the younger girl started screaming.
"Get up, you lazy piece of crap! You have to drive me to school because Heath's truck broke down! Let's GO!" she shouted. With an angry shove of her blankets, she stomped out of bed and ripped open the door.
"Sure, why not insult me? That'll make me want to drive you!" Barbie yelled back. Charlene stomped away from the door and went down the stairs. The older girl sighed and closed her bedroom door, deciding that it was time to get ready. She put on her favorite purple sundress and a denim jacket and brushed her light blonde hair. After putting on some makeup, she grabbed her school bag and purse and rushed downstairs. She was already running late.
"You are literally the slowest person alive. I ate your toast because you decided to take twelve years to put on a freaking dress," Charlene snapped. She grabbed her lime green bookbag and went outside, slamming the front door shut as she left.
"What is her problem?" Barbie asked her father, who was sitting at the table watching the news. Mr. Norman Blank was a Creative Writing and Medieval Literature professor at the local university. Since he taught both morning and evening classes, he was really only home in the early morning. Barbie cherished the time she had with him.
"Do we ever really know when it comes to Charlene? She's strange. It comes with the territory." He stood up and kissed Barbie on the forehead. "Have a good day, Barbs. Have fun at cheerleading." The blonde girl waved and sprinted out the door that Charlene had just left through moments ago. The brunette was sitting in the passenger seat of the Lincoln already. She didn't even wait until Barbie had sat down to start bitching again.
"Hurry up! The bell's gonna ring in five minutes. You're such a lazy bitch. No wonder you're failing English." Barbie turned in her seat and had to resist slapping her little sister across the face.
"Do you want a ride or not?" The blonde snapped and turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the driveway. She sped the entire way to school and not a word was exchanged between them. The Blank sisters had their differences, but they hardly ever fought. She hated when they did.
Barbie had hardly parked the car before Charlene got out and whipped the door shut. Barbie decided to watch and see what her little sister would do. Her blonde eyesbrows raised when she watched Charlene stomp over to Heath Slater and immediately start yelling at him in the courtyard. A quick scan of the parking lot proved that Heath had actually drove to school in his black Toyota, it wasn't broken at all. The only thing that broke her out of her reverie was her stomach growling. Barbie gathered her bags and exited her car before walking towards the front doors.
She waved to several people, all the while her stomach was grumbling from her lack of a breakfast. She decided that school breakfast sounded pretty good right now, so she went into the cafeteria and got in line. Breakfast was never as crowded as lunch, but she was surprised at the amount of people there this morning. The tall blonde picked up a blueberry muffin and got to the register.
"That's $1.90," the cafeteria worker told her. The cheerleader got out her wallet and frowned when she saw the $10 bill from last night. She had felt too guilty to use it to buy ice cream, but that was the only money she had this morning. She pulled it out and handed it over. The lady with the hairnet gave her the $8.10 in change and checked out the student behind Barbie.
Should she sit down and eat or eat on the way to her locker? She knew that if anyone, especially Mrs. Guerrero, saw her eating in the hallway, she would probably get detention, so she sat down at an empty table and opened up the wrapping of her muffin. A quick look at the clock told her that she had three minutes to get to homeroom, so she broke her breakfast in half and shoved a piece in her mouth.
"Hey, princess," someone said behind her. She closed her eyes and prayed that she had just imagined it. When she opened them, she saw Phil Brooks sitting beside her. She chewed quickly and swallowed.
"Hi, Phil," she greeted. Normally she would sound happy, but after the argument with her sister and how unpredictable she imagined Phil to be, happy was the last emotion she was feeling. "Why did you call me princess?" she asked warily.
"Because that's what you are. You're a Barbie doll cheerleader princess." She knew it wasn't meant to sound so sadistic, but it annoyed her anyway. She jumped up and tossed the rest of her muffin in the trash. She made the move to stomp out of the cafeteria but he stopped her. "Hey! I'm kidding. Pull the stick out of your ass, Barbie. Look, I doubt you want these tutoring sessions to happen anymore than I do, but unless you want to fail your class then we'd better get started. The last thing I want is for that psychotic bitch to suspend me." She wanted to tell him off for making fun of Mrs. McMahon-Helmsley, but she couldn't muster up the courage.
"Fine. When should we start?"
"Are you free after school?" he asked.
"No, sorry. I have cheerleading practice until five." He gave her a little grin.
"Of course you do. How about tomorrow?" Barbie nodded and mulled it over.
"That's good for me. I don't have practice on Wednesdays or Thursdays."
"So Wednesdays and Thursdays in the library. I guess it's a date then, huh?" Before Barbie could think of something to say, he was already walking away. She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and groaned. There was no doubt in her mind that Phil Brooks was going to drive her insane.
"Barbie, I would like to talk to you," Maryse said to Barbie during third period French class. Barbie and Maryse were friendly, but weren't best friends. Maryse was also on the cheerleading team, and she definitely looked the part with long, bleach blonde hair, a tan figure and long legs. The only thing imperfect about her was that her accent was hard to understand...and she was a major gossip.
"Okay," Barbie nodded.
"I saw your sister and her boyfriend arguing outside of the school this morning. They were really...going at it."
"Yeah, I know. She's weird like that. And everyone knows that Heath is a piece of work," Barbie shrugged and packed up her books. The bell would ring any second.
"I also saw you talking to that greasy looking senior. Don't they call him Punk?"
"Maybe. I don't really know." She did not want to have this conversation, especially with a gossip like Maryse Ouellet. With her luck, rumors about her and Phil Brooks would be all over school by 8th period thanks to Maryse if she continued talking. The bell rang and Barbie left the room and went upstairs. Just as she reached the top of the stairwell, she was greeted by Zack.
"Hey Barbie!" Zack exclaimed. Barbie mustered up a small smile.
"Hi Zack. How are you?"
"I'm great, Barbie. About yesterday, I sorted Randy out. He won't bother you again." Somehow, Barbie didn't count on that. Randy Orton had a way of always showing up somewhere...not that she minded. He was the hottest guy in school.
"Thanks, Zack. I appreciate it. What did Mrs. Guerrero do to you when you went to the office?" She still felt a little guilty that she wasn't punished even though she had sat back and watched the whole thing happen.
"I have detention today after school. But it's not big deal, I did it for you." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, a cheek that flushed crimson. For God's sake, people were watching! Eve was walking down the hallway at the time and the Latina's mouth dropped open in shock.
"I have to get to class, Zack," Barbie muttered when he stopped. She hurried away, past her laughing classmates and up to Eve. Eve's hand was up to her mouth in shock.
"Did that just happen? Did I just imagine that?" Eve whisper-shrieked. She turned around and her and Barbie hurried through the hallway. "Is he insane?"
"God, he's so sweet and it's really flattering that he likes me. But I don't like him!" The blonde moaned ill-temperedly. When they ended up at Barbie's locker, she dumped her books in and sighed. "I just don't know how to let him down easy without hurting his feelings."
"Just do it. Be like 'Zack, I do not like you. You are not Randy Orton and never will be. Sayonara, bro,'" Eve suggested while shrugging. The blue-eyed blonde just shook her head.
"No way. That'd be horrible. Anyway, let's get to lunch. I've gotta tell Maryse to not tell anyone about this; I'm sure she's already heard all about it." And Barbie was right. Maryse was standing at the table, staring like a hawk at the doors to the cafeteria. Once Barbie and Eve walked in, the French Canadian exchange student marched up to them.
"Barbie, please do not tell me that you are dating Zack Ryder. He is such a loser." She looked at Barbie expectantly and crossed her arms over her large chest.
"I'm not! And don't go telling people that!" Barbie exclaimed. She knew that Maryse would've heard about it already. In fact, she was probably behind Barbie on the stairs when it had happened.
"I was not planning on it," Maryse said. "I'm embarrassed for you. It's already around school that he kissed you."
Barbie didn't respond or bother to correct her. Instead, she got into the lunch line with Eve, ignoring the stares of her fellow students. Eve told off some nosy freshman who came up and asked Barbie about Zack. The Latina was still yelling even as he retreated to the back of the line.
"Calm down, Eve. You don't want your panties in a twist." It was a slick voice, a voice that was becoming all too familiar to Barbie Blank.
"Shut up, Punk, or I'll make you shut up," Eve grinned.
"How? By backing into my mailbox again? Please do, that was probably the funniest thing that I've ever witnessed. Even my mom was on the verge of tears."
"You two know each other?" Barbie blurted out before she could stop herself. The two others looked at her.
"Duh, he's my neighbor. He lives in the brick house across the street," Eve clarified. Barbie knew instantly which one she meant. She had been over Eve's house several times before.
"Oh," Barbie replied lamely. She waited for him to say something about their new arrangement but he said nothing...almost like he knew that she didn't want Eve to know about her English troubles. Maybe he did know.
Barbie realized he did when he threw a wink at her when no one was looking.
Eve and Barbie got their lunch trays and walked up to the table. Michelle McCool, cheer captain, was waiting for them. Her ever-faithful cronies Layla and Alicia were sitting on either side of her.
"Barbie," Michelle started, "we need to talk." Barbie set her tray down and slowly sat in her seat. This can't be good.
"Okay." She hardly noticed Eve sit beside her.
"Are you going out with Zack Ryder?" Michelle grilled the fellow blonde, leaning over her chef salad. "Because I can't allow that to happen. Remember The List, Barbie. Think about it." The List was a list of off-limits guys that Michelle had compiled in the beginning of the year. Besides obvious guys like Michelle's boyfriend Dolph Ziggler and Layla's crush John Cena, it also contained the name of every guy that Michelle considered to be a loser and detrimental to the reputation of the cheer squad. Zack Ryder was on that list. So was Heath Slater, oddly enough.
"I am not going out with him. I don't like him so don't worry about it." This school was unbelievable. Word spread like wildfire, even in just minutes. Although if anyone knew anything, it would be Maryse and Michelle.
"If you're sure," Michelle sing-songed in her southern accent. Without another word, she started eating her salad. Suddenly Barbie wasn't as hungry as she was that morning. She glanced to her left and saw Phil Brooks across the cafeteria, watching her with that wide grin of his. She gave him a weak smile and started to pick at her lunch uncomfortably. She felt the stares of her classmates on her, and she knew all of them were wondering the same thing. But she wasn't too concerned about Zack. She was more concerned about her first tutoring session, tomorrow in the library.
HOLY CRAP I did not expect it to be that long! But what can I say? Just a few things I want to discuss. I thought it was funny how Barbie thought there would be rumors about her and Phil but the rumors were actually about her and Zack. Kind of makes you wonder if Barbie WANTED them to be about Phil? Just kidding! Also, isn't Charlene a bitch? Nah, there's just trouble in paradise with her and Heath. I love Charlene so much and I hope you guys do, too. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it!
-Annie
(P.S. Just putting this out there- I don't own ANYTHING!)