I know most of the designers that I will mention in this story were not around when Kirsten was a teen, but let's pretend, okay? Thank you.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related the OC.
Also…
Holly is now Taryn, not Michelle.
"Hey Nic!" Alexa James, Kirsten's best friend since the first grade called. "Does this dress make my ass look like a truck?" She strutted out of Kirsten's enormous walk in closet in a black Calvin Klein sleeveless dress.
Kirsten looked at Alexa through her mirror, where she was attentively applying lip gloss to her lips.
She placed the wand back into its tube and said "Lex, you couldn't look fat even if you tried. And even if you were, black is slimming"
"You're wearing that Vera Wang dress, right?" Alexa said, walking over to the mirror to apply her mascara. "Taryn wanted to wear it, and let's just say pink is not her color." She turned around and leaned against the vanity. "You ready?"
Kirsten nodded in agreement. "Almost." She looked inside one of the drawers from her vanity and pulled out a silver flask.
"What are you doing?" Alexa asked
"Want to get the party started early?" Kirsten asked, holding the flask out.
"I can always count on you for a before the party drink." Alexa said, grabbing the flask and taking a sip.
"Hey, I stole it." Kirsten complained, "Leave some for me." She grabbed the flask and drank a large portion of its contents.
"Geez, Nic." Alexa said, watching her down the beverage. "Remember, you have to walk down a runway tonight. It would probably be better if you didn't fall off the stage."
Before Kirsten could reply, there was a knock on her door.
"Kirsten, sweetheart, are you ready?" Her mother's voice pierced through the door.
The two girls looked at each other with a glance of panic, and Alexa grabbed the bottle and shoved it underneath Kirsten's queen sized bed, quickly screwing the cap on.
"Yeah, I'm ready" she said.
Elizabeth Nichol walked into her Kirsten's room.
"Hi, Alexa" She said, "Sweetie, you look beautiful." She said before kissing Kirsten's forehead.
"Hey, Mrs. Nichol" Alexa said
"Thanks" Kirsten said.
"Dad and Hailey are downstairs," Elizabeth said "Let's go."
"Okay, I just have to get my shoes. We'll be right down."
Elizabeth left the room, and Kirsten grabbed the bottle once more, and took a gulp.
"Let's go"
Sandy walked into a vast building known as the 'club', Newport's country club, with Chris, the Burke's lovable but a bit on the eccentric side surfer son. He took him out on the waves earlier that day, and it turned out he was a bit of natural. Sure, he had hit his head on the board a few times, but he had caught a couple waves here and there.
He was now at the fashion show, which Kirsten had invited him too. When he had told Chris this while they were sitting on their boards – in between waves, he had been surprised.
"Kirsten invited you?" He had asked. Sandy had nodded yes. Chris had mouthed wow, and then said, "I've lived next door to Kirsten for like, my whole life, our moms are like, best friends and she's never said more than two words to me." Sandy had laughed, while Chris kept a straight face. "I'm not kidding. The most I've ever gotten out of that girl is hi, or please move."
Later, Sandy had learned that if Newport Beach were a monarchy, Caleb Nichol, Kirsten's father, would be the king.
"His company, The Newport Group" Chris had stated "Owns this county. Besides being successful, the man is scary." Sandy had given him a look, asking him if he was serious. "Dude, I wouldn't be surprised if he spent his nights sucking the blood out of innocent strangers."
The last interesting piece of information that Sandy had learned during the surf lesson was Chris' undying love for Kirsten's best friend, Alexa. He also learned that even though he was completely in love with Alexa, he had never spoken to her before.
And here was, at a country club with Southern California's wealthy and privileged. All around him, women were clad in Chanel dresses and men were wearing walking around in Armani suits. He had never felt more out of place in his whole life.
And then, across a small fountain, he saw her. She was wearing a black dress, and the sunset was surrounding her small frame. He stared her for a moment, until Chris walked up to him and said
"There she is."
"Who?" Sandy asked
"Alexa." Chris said. "Over there, across the fountain. But don't look like you're looking."
Sandy looked across the fountain and saw a pretty brunette talking to Kirsten. His eyes landed for a moment on her, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of the blonde standing next to her.
"Who is that?" Alexa asked Kirsten, staring at the new boy with dark hair across the fountain.
"I don't know" Kirsten said, quickly looking at Sandy before turning her attention back to Alexa. The truth was, she really didn't. Was he the cousin from Chicago, or the criminal from who knows where? "He's staying with the Burke's."
"Well, I'm going to find out." Alexa said before saying "We should go get ready."
Kirsten stood in the bathroom, wearing the pink Vera Wang dress that fit her in all the right places. She applied lip gloss, for her first coat had worn off after small talk with the Newpsies.
The door opened, and a woman with a clipboard stuck her head in and said
"Kirsten, you're next."
She nodded and placed the wand back in its cylinder. She then saw Alexa poke her head into the bathroom, stumbling, while holding two flutes of champagne.
"For you!" She called, handing her a flute.
She gladly accepted the glass, and she and Alexa clinked glasses and she quickly downed the drink.
"I gotta go." She told Alexa, and then left the bathroom.
She walked through the dressing rooms, through the nervous, giggling girls dressed in designer dresses, past the mirrors until she reached the curtain. She stepped onto the runway and began to walk, smiling with every step she took.
She looked out into the audience, and saw Jimmy, sitting with his water polo buddies, clapping and cheering for her. And on the other side, she saw Sandy, looking straight at her. She realized that this wasn't weird; she was the one on the runway.
She smiled at him, and he noticed, and smiled back.
Little she did know, someone else noticed the smile. Jimmy saw Kirsten smile widely at the other side of the room, and looked over and saw the same boy who she had been talking to the night before.
Who was he?
And why had Kirsten smiled at him?
That's what everyone else was wondering.
Jack and Jenna Burke sat a round table, surrounded by their so-called friends, because you can never really know who can trust in this town.
Jenna's only real friend in Newport Beach was Elizabeth Nichol. The two had known each other since first grade, and been inseparable ever since.
People were commenting on how beautiful the girls were, giving out specific compliments to the girls whose parents were sitting at the table. But, the compliments were especially handed out when Kirsten Nichol came out on the runway. Not only was she the prettiest out of all the girls that had been walking down the runway, everyone in Newport was always trying to kiss Caleb Nichol's ass.
Everyone except for Jenna and Jack Burke. Jack had always looked down upon the shallowness of Newport society, and Jenna had never felt the need to impress her closest friend's husband.
"She looks beautiful," Jenna told Elizabeth, telling her not because she felt the need to impress the community's most wealthy family – Kirsten was beautiful, and she knew that her friend needed to know what a great life she had.
She knew that Elizabeth had a drinking problem. She wouldn't get drunk at occasions such as this, or other charity events, but she knew that every night that Caleb got home from work at midnight, she would fill her emptiness with a dosage of hard liquor.
Alexa was outside the club, searching for the dark haired boy who she had seen earlier. She spotted him about to leave with an awkward looking boy she had seen around school.
"Hey" She said as she walked up to him, when he was alone. "Are you leaving?"
"I was planning on it" Sandy said.
"There's this party at my friend Taryn's beach house tonight." She told him "If you need a ride, or anything." She motioned to a Jeep Wrangler where bunches of girls sat, excited to leave. "I'm Alexa"
Sandy nodded, and watched her walk away, as Chris reproached and said, "Ready to go?"
"We should go the party." Sandy said "At that girl Taryn's house."
"Ehh," Chris said, trying to think of an excuse.
"Alexa invited me, us." Sandy told him. "Actually, she asked for you."
"What?" Chris said. "That makes no sense, but yes, yes, let's go."
They walked over the car, where the girls had been calling for them to come over.
They hopped into the back of the car, and Sandy watched as Kirsten stepped into the same car that she had gotten into the night before.
He sat back, and for the rest of the ride, was silent except for the occasional conversation with Chris.
By the time Sandy and Chris had arrived, the party was in full swing. Girls had changed from their formal dresses to skimpy bikinis. Boys had changed from their classy suits to either swim trunks or informal shirts and shorts. People were scattered everywhere. Some were surrounding the kegs outside. A few others were grinding their bodies against each other to the music. There were even a few who were doing coke, all hovering over a coffee table.
Sandy sighed. Growing up in Chino, this was a situation he was used to. Hot, drunk girls, and horny, drunk boys.
But Chris, like Sandy had only one hot girl on his mind. And they were both standing together by the bar, with another blonde girl.
"I think I'm going to get something, to drink." Sandy stated, heading towards the kegs.
Kirsten stood with Alexa, and her other friend Taryn, filling up cups with liquor. They each put a bit into their cup, before adding another type of juice. Taryn then put the bottle back on the table, and when they weren't looking, Kirsten grabbed the bottle and subtly added more vodka to her cup, and quickly placed it back on the table.
"Is that a new purse?" Taryn asked her.
Kirsten nodded, and looked down at the Chanel bag her father had recently bought her.
"So adorable!" Taryn squealed, as Alexa added, "Does your Dad ever say no?"
Kirsten turned her attention to Sandy, who was standing with Chris Burke, her next door neighbor, at the kegs. He left Chris, and walked over to where open bags of chips sat, and grabbed a chip. He looked up, and they caught each other's gaze.
She walked over to him, and grabbed the bottle of vodka on her way over.
"Hey," She said
"Hey" He replied.
"You want to go out on the beach?" She asked him. It was a little forward, but she couldn't help herself. She felt this need to get to know him.
"Sure," He nodded, and the two of them walked out on to the beach together, with only them, the moon, the sand, and a bottle of vodka.
Jimmy Cooper watched as Kirsten walked out of the house with the same boy who she had smiled at during the fashion show. The same boy she had been talking to the night before.
What the hell was she doing?
And even more so than he had before, he had to wonder, why was Kirsten with this guy instead of him?
Kirsten and Sandy sat down together on patch of sand, a fair distance from the party.
"You want some?" Kirsten asked Sandy, who shook his head no.
Kirsten shrugged her shoulders, and said "More for me." And took a sip. "So, what's your name?"
"Sandy Cohen" He answered.
"Sandy?" She asked "Isn't Sandy a girl's name?" She joked.
"It's short for Sanford." He told her. "I like to think that my mother was going through a temporary moment of insanity when she named me."
"I see." Kirsten said. "I'm Kirsten Ni-" Sandy interrupted her before she could finish.
"Nichol." He finished. "I know."
She gave him a quizzical look, and then asked him what he was doing in Newport before taking another sip from the bottle.
"I told you last night."
"So you really stole a car?" Kirsten asked. "That's so-"
"Stupid? Idiotic? I know." Sandy said. "Call it a temporary moment of insanity."
She laughed, and then said, "How long are you staying with the Burke's?"
"I don't know." Sandy truthfully answered. "Just the weekend probably. I don't think Mrs. Burke really wants me there."
"Where are you going to go after that? Back home?"
"Yeah. I'll talk things out with my mom."
"She'll have to take you back in, right?" Kirsten asked. She'd never met anyone whose mom kicked them out. Regardless of the fact that any of her friend's parents were either together or divorced, but they all would never think of kicking their kids out. "I mean, she's your mom."
"I don't know. She's kind of a screw up." Sandy said, doubtfully
"So is mine." Kirsten said, taking another sip. Sandy looked at her questionably.
"She drinks, a lot." Kirsten told him. "Sometimes I'll come home from school and she'll be completely wasted. My dad works a lot, so it kind of gets to her."
Kirsten looked at him, not believing that she told him that.
"I haven't told anyone that," Kirsten said
"I can keep a secret." Sandy told her, and they shared a smile.
A few hours later, Sandy was on the beach, and Kirsten was back inside, drinking like there was no tomorrow.
He looked over, and saw a bunch of water polo players bullying Chris. He walked over, and told the one who seemed to be 'in charge', who he recognized as Kirsten's boyfriend to leave Chris alone.
They dropped Chris on the sand, and Jimmy walked over to Sandy and said "What?"
"Leave him alone." Sandy said, preparing to throw a punch at any given moment.
"Why don't you leave my girlfriend alone?" Jimmy said, and shoved Sandy.
"Listen, man, I don't want to fight." Sandy said.
"Well, I do." Jimmy said. "What the hell are you doing with my girlfriend?"
"Nothing, man-" Sandy started, but couldn't finish because Jimmy had hit him right in the face, causing Sandy to retaliate and hit him right back.
Before he knew it, he was on the ground.
"Welcome to the OC bitch!" Jimmy called. "This is how it's done in Orange County." He leaned down to Sandy and said, "Stay away from my girlfriend."
Sandy and Chris were now back in the pool house, and Chris was recalling the tales of their earlier run-in with the water polo team.
Sandy walked out of the pool house, and saw the same SUV that he had driven to the party in parking in Kirsten's driveway. Two girls, who he had recognized as Alexa and another girl at the party were carrying Kirsten to her front door, Alexa holding her upper body, the other carrying her legs. She was passed out, and Sandy's mind flashed back to the bottle of vodka that she had been drinking out of.
"Shouldn't her boyfriend be doing this?" The blonde one, who he assumed to be Taryn, the girl who had thrown the party, said.
"He was about as wasted as she is!" Alexa called, giggling, clearly drunk herself.
"Where are her keys?" Taryn asked, as they dropped her on the ground and picked up her purse, sifting through it, searching for her keys.
"Nic, where are your keys?" Alexa asked, after an unsuccessful look inside of her purse. "Nic, Nic!" Kirsten didn't move an inch.
"We can't ring the doorbell" Taryn said "Her dad will freak!"
Alexa and Taryn looked at each other, and then Alexa said to Kirsten's motionless body "Bye Nic!"
"Call us!" Taryn said as she and Alexa scurried back to the car, driving off.
Sandy should have been shocked, but the girls were drunk, and your judgment fades when you have alcohol in your system.
Sandy left the Burke's house, and walked to Kirsten's driveway. He picked her up and cradled her thin body in his hands. He walked back to the pool house, and set her down on the bed, draping a blanket over her body.
He grabbed a pillow and extra blanket, and went over the couch. Chris had passed out on the floor.
And, for the second night in Orange County, Sandy Cohen fell asleep thinking of Kirsten Nichol.
I know, I know, much like the pilot. After I get Sandy to stay in the OC, the storyline will be different. This is setting up for that. So please, please, please review. Thanks!