Burned Out

Chapter 7: Le Brat

As usual, Jennifer was staring out the window instead of paying attention to class, so she was especially taken off guard when Ms. Barch called her name with wicked vehemence. "Yes, Ms. Barch!" she said as she came to attention, knocking her stool backwards.

This, of course, caused an undercurrent of laughter in the class, which was quickly shushed when they remembered where they were. Ms. Barch did not look amused as she said, "Can you give me an example of learned repetitive behavior? Sometime before your C average drops to an F will be fine." The class laughed again, but this time much quieter and for not nearly as long.

Jennifer was drawing a blank, despite the thinly-veiled threat. "Oh! Uh, um..." Her eyes cast about until they landed on Angie Chevalier, Co-Captain for the cheer squad, whose book was standing up on its edge, allowing her to use it for cover as she pointed towards her watch. "Er, watches?"

Ms. Barch did an excellent imitation of Spock as she arched a carefully penned eyebrow at her. "What about watches?"

"They, er..." Sweating bullets now, Jennifer looked to Angie again, to see her look down at her watch several times and make a little running figure gesture with her fingers. "Oh! Um, people will keep looking at their watches to keep from running late, even when they are running late?"

"Very good, Jennifer," Ms. Barch said, allowing Jennifer to breathe a sigh of relief, only to dash it. "You've mastered the art of getting help from your fellow students, when you should have been paying attention in class! I suppose I should be happy that you sought help from one of your fellow female classmates instead of a male, who would no doubt, try to take credit for it, while taking advantage of you."

The bell rang, signaling the end of class, and the students got up to leave. As Jennifer bent over to pick up her stool, Ms. Barch said, "Just a moment, Jennifer. I want a word with you and Angie after everyone else leaves."

Both girls gulped audibly, while the rest of the class filed out, most sporting grins. When the door finally closed, Ms. Barch said, "Your grades have been slipping of late; both of you. Do you want to end up shackled to some man for the rest of your lives, cooking his food, cleaning his house, raising his kids, while your body goes to pot, and he's out there, living it up?" She was relieved to see both girls shake their heads in the negative. "Then I suggest you two shape up. As it is, neither one of you is going to pass with better than a D- unless you pull off something miraculous. So, I'm giving you a choice: either do an extra credit project- and I mean a major project, or get used to seeing the borderline failing grade on your report cards this semester. Am I making myself clear?" They nodded, satisfying the beast. She sat down with a sigh and shook her head sadly. "Girls, I'm not doing this to be cruel. I just want you both to have the best choices in life possible, and a decent understanding of the fundamentals of science can do that. Now, go on." They turned to leave in silence, but were stopped at the door. "And girls? I want a project proposal by the end of the week. We can discuss a time line for turning it in, when we have that."

Both nodded and ran from the room as if it were on fire. They stopped in the hall outside the lunchroom, which was their next period. "I suppose we should meet up after school to discuss this?" Jennifer asked.

Angie nodded, her hand held over her chest. "Yeah. I don't want to get on Ms. Barch's bad side any more than I have to. My place today, about four okay with you? I have cheer practice."

Jennifer shook her head. "No, I have band practice about then. Why don't we just meet in the school library after classes, and I'll wait for you there?"

The platinum blonde cheerleader considered for a minute before nodding. "All right. Practice ought to be done around three-thirty or so. That'll give us plenty of time to come up with something."

"Cool," Jennifer said with a nod. "I'll be in the science section, looking up ideas, okay?" The blondes nodded and walked into the lunchroom.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"So, that was my science period; how was yours?" Jennifer asked with a smile. She was sure that she had the thinner end of the stick, no matter what Daria had to put up with in the class.

She had to concede defeat however, with her friend's reply. "Kevin Thompson's been made my lab partner to make a rat maze."

Jennifer sat there for a moment before replying. "Dammit. Do you always have to top me?"

Daria gave a casual shrug. "What can I say? Life hates me."

As if summoned by speaking his name, Kevin sat down beside Daria. "Hey, Daria. Mind if we do the maze thing at your house? My cable's broken."

Upon hearing this, the brunette got a calculating look on her face, one that almost was a smile. Jennifer could only feel a stab of pity for whoever was going to be on the receiving end of her plan, whatever it may be.

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*(")(")

The library was perhaps the least used building on the entire campus. It even sat alone, separate from the rest of the buildings, as if exiled for being too brainy. Jennifer walked in, having to yank fairly hard on the door to get it open. "No wonder no one uses the library; they can't get in," she remarked under her breath as she approached the help desk, where a bored looking middle-aged woman sat there, watching a small TV on the circular desk. Clearing her throat, Jennifer said, "Excuse me, I need to find some book on ideas for a science project. Do you have anything like that?"

The woman, Ms. Danvers, according to the nameplate, looked up at her in surprise, and came alive. "Oh! A science project, you say? Right this way!"

Jennifer was taken aback by her enthusiasm, but followed her to the appropriate section. "Um, Ms. Barch said it would have to be a fairly involved project, so I'm guessing a homemade volcano isn't going to cut it."

"I should say so," Ms. Danvers replied. "Middle school science fair just won't do. What sort of interest do you have in science? Maybe we can find something there to work with."

Rubbing her arm, Jennifer looked uncomfortably away. "Um, I really don't have one. This is just so I don't flunk out of the class."

Ms. Danvers looked surprised, but continued leading her to the small science section of the library. "Well, what other areas interest you? You'd be surprised the range of subjects where you can apply science."

"Well, I do sing in a band," Jennifer replied, then hastily added, "but I'm not sure if my lab partner would be as interested."

With a nod, Ms. Danvers said, "In that case, I can let you just peruse the books until your partner shows up. I recommend you begin with this one, this one, and... this one." She pulled three rather large tomes from the shelves and handed them to the blonde girl. "They cover the basics, and even if you find nothing appropriate in there, they may inspire you."

"Er, thanks," Jennifer mumbled, struggling under the large books.

It looked like the woman almost was going to pat her on the head before thinking better of it and just smiled at her. "No problem. If you have any questions or need more assistance, just let me know; I'll be at the front desk."

Jennifer nodded as the librarian walked away, and took her books to a table to begin looking through them. She was halfway through the second one when Angie sat down across from her, practically plopping down in the chair. "You look exhausted. Was practice that rough?"

"New girl growing pains," Angie replied with a shake of her head. "She's not working out too well, so she might get cut altogether if she doesn't start shaping up. But enough of that, find anything useful?"

"A couple of maybes in this one. Try leafing through that one while I finish this one up," Jennifer said, indicating the last book.

They spent several long minutes, silently reading, until Angie said, "Ooo! This one sounds good!" She laid the book on the table and turned it so that Jennifer could read it.

"The science of cheating?" Jennifer said, barely believing what she was reading. "Corked bats, huh? Well, I think Ms. Barch would approve of us taking on a 'male-centric war game' like baseball."

"Ooo, I didn't even think of that," Angie replied. "I was just thinking we could use my little brother to hit the balls, since he's in little league. We'll definitely have to use that when we present the idea to her. What do you think?"

Jennifer considered for a moment before shrugging. "Well, it certainly beats out my ideas. Let's do it."

Angie tilted her head at her. "What were your ideas? Maybe they would work better."

Waving her off, Jennifer said, "Nah, they were really stupid ones. Let's do yours."

Angie leaned over and laid a hand on Jennifer's arm. "Don't say that. I'm sure your ideas were good, too."

Jennifer was taken aback by the vehemence of Angie's reply, and looked down at the hand resting on her arm in surprise. "Well, they were a comparative study on using different materials for soundboards in a musical instrument, and using different materials for skateboard wheels, nothing like this. Besides, they would have been pretty expensive, and I know that I don't know anyone who can skateboard to ask."

Leaning back in her chair, Angie replied, "Well, okay. The money might have been a problem. We do have to put up for it ourselves, since it's extra credit, and even a cheap guitar isn't all that cheap, especially since we'd be taking it apart, and need several for comparison. But your ideas aren't stupid, just... expensive."

Jennifer looked at the clock on the wall, and smiled. "Well, why don't we go see Ms. Barch now? I'm pretty sure she's still here, and we won't have to wait until tomorrow for approval or denial."

"Good idea," Angie said with a grin. She tilted her head to the side as she looked over to her partner. "You know, I think I'm going to like working with you. You're a lot nicer than I thought you'd be."

Jennifer had no idea how to take the compliment, and just gave a noncommittal shrug and half smile.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Dropping her backpack at the door, Jennifer plopped down on the couch next to her sister and heaved a great sigh.

"You're late," Samantha remarked far too casually to be casual.

Jennifer leaned over until her head rested on the older girl's arm, and gently grabbed the sleeve of her shirt with one hand, picking at it and letting it go repeatedly. "I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice.

Samantha shrugged lightly, so as to not disturb her sister too much from their comfortable position. "S'alright. Monique's still working on a new song, so today was just another repetition day. We're not missing anything terribly vital right now. We-"

"No," Jennifer said, interrupting her. "I mean, I'm sorry about the other day. I didn't mean to blow up at you like I did. I'm not even entirely certain what it was all about; I'm still in a jumble over it. I just... I saw them being so casual about rubbing half naked boys' chests, and it just pissed me off for some reason."

A look of dawning realization spread over the white-haired girl's face, and she smiled as she took her little sister's hand in her own, intertwining their fingers. "Well, don't worry about it too much. My feelings are a lot tougher than you think, and can take a heck of a lot more abuse from my favorite sister than that."

"I suppose it's lucky that you're my favorite sister, then," Jennifer said with a sly smile.

"Lucky us," Samantha agreed. "So why were you late today?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes and breathed a disgusted sigh. "Ms. Barch says I'm in danger of failing science, so she assigned me and a classmate an extra credit project."

Samantha gave a sympathetic wince. "Ouch. Well, just make sure it's something that will put men in a bad light, and you'll do fine."

"We found something even better," the blonde replied. "We're going to make all of baseball look bad by showing how effective cheating is."

"Ooo... I bet she loved that idea," Samantha replied with a low whistle.

Snuggling up closer, Jennifer said, "She literally wiped away a tear of pride when we told her the project's potential effect on a 'man's institution'. I think so long as we don't foul up too badly, this will raise my D to at least a C again, if not higher."

Samantha put her arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. "Still in high school, and already working the system. I'm so proud of you. I presume this means you'll be missing some practices in the near future?"

Nodding she replied, "Yes, but not tonight; we're going to start Saturday. Angie already had plans, and we have three weeks to turn it in. We won't need that long, and we're hoping that Ms. Barch will take that into account when she grades us. Anyways, I want to break it to the band tonight over practice."

"Angie, huh? Not Daria?"

Jennifer moved to look her in the eye with an expression that told her just how stupid she thought the question was. "Daria? In danger of failing anything other than P.E.? Hardly. Besides," she added, returning to the comfortable snuggle, "We're not in the same science class."

Samantha gave a grunt of understanding, but smiled mysteriously at her unaware little sister.

(\ /)

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*(")(")

Chez Chevalier was easily as impressive as the Taylor house. An oversized two-story house, most could be forgiven for mistaking it as a mansion. The front entryway had a massive balcony overhanging it, supported by a dozen white columns, and even had an outdoor chandelier for lighting. Needless to say, Jennifer was nervous to be in the exclusive Crewe Neck gated community once more, but doubly so, since she was going it alone this time. Sadly, Daria couldn't return the favor, due to her project with Kevin eating into her copious free time.

Ringing the doorbell, Jennifer stood at the front door nervously until it was answered a minute later by a blond boy around twelve years old. He regarded her with an uncannily calculating expression. "Um, hi. Is Angie in?"

A sly smile overtook the boy's mouth and his eyes scanned her head to toe. "Sure," he said, stepping aside to let her in. "She's upstairs in her room; left at the top of the stairs, second door on the left."

Jennifer nodded silently and walked towards the grand staircase which took up much of the vestibule. She looked back, and saw the boy still watching her, that same creepy smile on his face. Wanting to be out of his gaze fast, she ran up the stairs and followed his directions to the indicated door. Even without his guidance, Jennifer would have had no trouble finding the room, as the door was covered in cheerleading stickers, memorabilia, as well as a wooden plaque bearing the name, "ANGIE". Jennifer knocked, immediately getting a response.

"Come in!"

She opened the door and was surprised to see that the room'sdécor did not entirely match the door's. There was the expected queen size four-poster bed, complete with oversized stuffed teddy bear big enough to take up almost half the bed, but the bedclothes were what one would have anticipated from a mature woman, not a teen cheerleader. The furniture was minimal, with a tallboy dresser, vanity, and desk, with only a single bookshelf for accent. Angie stood next to her desk, wearing a tight, red tank top and a denim miniskirt, smiling at her.

"I hope my little brother wasn't too much of a pest. I was just getting ready for our study date," she said, indicating a tray of glasses filled with soda and a plate of clubhouse crackers as well as a notepad. "Take your shoes and jacket off and come on in. Make yourself at home."

Jennifer slipped off her boots and put them next to the door as she walked in and threw her jacket on the bed. "Your family takes off their shoes when they come in, too? I thought mine was the only one to do that outside of Japan."

Angie pulled out one of the two chairs at the desk and held it for her guest. "Yeah, we only wear our shoes when we know we're leaving the house. It helps cut down on the dirt for Rosalia when she vacuums, and it's just more comfortable."

Taking the offered seat, Jennifer looked over the notepad, seeing that she had already been planning the project out. It sent a wave of relief through her, knowing that she wouldn't be carrying this thing alone like Daria likely was with hers. "Been pricing bats?"

"Yeah, I figured since you said you were going to come up with a list of materials to stuff in them, I could do this. Speed up the process a little, anyways," Angie said.

"I never would have thought to look in a Goodwill for used sports equipment," Jennifer said with a nod. "Looks like they'll be our best bet."

Angie sat in the other chair, tucking it under the desk, putting them both extremely close. "Sorry about the tightness here; I hope you don't mind?"

Jennifer shrugged. "S'fine, but aren't we leaving to get the bats now?"

"No, my little brother, Howie is going to go get them. He's probably gone now." Angie noticed the look of relief that passed over her guest's face and frowned. "He didn't do anything to you when you came in, did he? He's mostly harmless, but every time Brittany comes over, he creeps her out."

Jennifer looked away, partly ashamed at feeling this way because of a kid, but mostly from the treatment he gave her. "Well, he did watch me as I went up the stairs. It was... unsettling."

The sound of bare feet running from Angie's door, followed by the front door slamming shut caused the cheerleader's frown to deepen. "Gonna have to talk to dad about that. He knows he's not supposed to upset guests like that, let alone eavesdrop." She shook her head to clear it, and returned her attention back to the notepad, pointing out the next item on the list. "Anyways, I was thinking we can use my dad's workshop in the garage to drill out the bats. He's got a good electric drill and a clamp to hold it steady, and he said we could use them, as long as we're careful." She moved so that their upper arms and shoulders were touching, and looked at Jennifer. "So, what were you thinking to use for stuffing?"

Jennifer thought nothing of the contact, and pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. "Well, there's cork, of course, but I was also thinking of using Styrofoam, like from a cup, as well as super-bounce balls, sawdust, and water. We could even try filling the hollow with resin and letting it dry. This of course, depends on how many bats we can afford; which reminds me-" She dug into her pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill. "Here's for the initial costs. I can bring more as needed to split it with you."

Angie pushed the hand offering the money away, shaking her head. "It's all right, Jennifer. I got this covered; or rather, my brother does."

"Huh?"

Angie gave a sly smile and said, "I caught him peeping on me as I was doing homework with Brittany the other day. In return for not telling our parents, he agreed to fund our extra credit project for us. Well, that and be our gofer and batter. I'm hoping this will break him of his habit of perving on my friends, but he seems to have a thing for blondes, so I'm not holding my breath.

"Well, if you're sure," Jennifer said, clearly dubious.

Angie closed her hand over hers with the money. "I'm sure."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Taking the two slices of pizza from her sister standing behind the counter, Jennifer and Daria nodded at her and took their food to a free table. As they sat down, Jennifer continued from where she left off. "So anyway, it turns out her little brother has been giving Brittany the creepy eye, meaning that Angie has been having to go over to her house when they want to hang out, and Brittany's little brothers aren't much better, perving on Angie, and oh, my god, I sound just like them, don't I?" She put her face in her hands, and moaned.

Daria nodded, and finished the bite of pizza in her mouth before answering. "I didn't want to say anything for fear that it was verbally contagious. But now that you've brought it up, yeah, you kinda do."

"Please, let's just talk about your project. I don't want to think what it would lead to if I were to keep talking about this," Jennifer said as she dragged her hands down her face to plop down on her lap.

Happy to oblige, Daria told her about the shenanigans going on at the Morgendorffer household as they ate. Jennifer lifted the pizza slice to her mouth, pausing to say, "You know, if you were really good, you'd have Kevin running the maze, and the mouse helping you run the experiment."

"I don't know," Daria replied. "At least the mouse has a chance of beating the-"

Daria never got a chance to finish her thought, as Kevin chose that moment to approach them and ask, "So, Daria, we still have a lot of work to do on this maze thing, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't expect you to maintain your laser-like focus of the past week," she replied in a tone so dry, it could dehydrate a dam reservoir.

As dense as ever, Kevin said, "Cool! Whatever. Hey, maybe I'll stop by the garage tonight, after the Steelers game."

Daria shook her head, trying to dissuade him. "That's not really necessary-"

"Oh, wait! I can't. I promised Quinn I'd help her practice her back massage technique," he interrupted.

Jennifer crooked an eyebrow at the excuse, then shook her head. "Well, it's her life, I suppose. If she wants to throw it away chasing after the human equivalent of a sock puppet filled with oatmeal, who am I to say anything?"

Kevin looked a little affronted at her. "Hey! Oatmeal is the breakfast of winners!"

"Down, boy," Daria said to him.

A few booths over, Joey, Jeffie, and Jamie were sneaking glances at the two girls talking to the QB, and discussing the possible implications of the situation. "Kevin's been hanging out at that Daria chick's, like, every night this week," Joey said.

Jeffie had more to add to the pot. "That's not all. I heard from Nicky that that Burnout chick has been hanging out at Angie's all week, too!"

"But that chick's a... what is she again?" Joey asked.

"And Daria's a brain. Is that any better?" Jeffie asked back.

Jamie, who had been watching both girls, said, "There must be something we don't know."

"We gotta find out," Joey said as he stood and lead the three of them over to their table, where Brittany was unsuccessfully trying to get her boyfriend away from Daria.

Kevin leaned over and whispered out of the side of his mouth loud enough to negate the purpose of a whisper, "Daria! That's a chick movie!"

Jennifer leaned over and covered her mouth on one side and whispered equally loudly, "Psst. Kevin. Brittany's a chick! They're allowed to like things like that. It's in the cheerleader handbook!"

"It is not!" Brittany shouted, unaware that Jennifer was trying to help her.

Looking up at her, Jennifer asked, "Are you sure? I heard it was somewhere between pyramids and tumbling."

Brittany looked unsure now, but shook her head, and planted her gaze on her beau. Batting her eyelashes at him, she asked, "So, what showing are you taking me to?"

Kevin's face took on a decidedly worried look. "Oh, uh. Gotta go. Practice!" he said as he ran from the pizza parlor.

Not quite finished, the cheerleader turned to Daria and glared at her. "If you think you're going to take Kevin away from me, you're wrong. Because he's my Kevin, and you're... you're a... a brain."

Daria gave her a serious look as if reappraising her. "You know, Brittany, that was actually a very astute observation about the likelihood of my dating your boyfriend."

"Don't you have a football player to drag to the movies?" Jennifer asked, causing her to leave in a huff.

The three J's finally made their way to the table, and Joey leaned on the table over Daria. "So, Daria, are you doing anything tonight?"

Jeffie looked at Jennifer with a sly wink. "Hey, Burnout, you feel like hitting a movie? You chicks dig Whitney Houston, right?"

Luckily for him, Quinn walked by before the indignant blonde could reply. "Joey, Jeffie, Jamiel. Which one of you guys wants to walk me home?"

As all three of them fought for the honor of walking Quinn home on the way out of the shop, Jennifer caught sight of her sister behind the counter, trying and failing to hide her laughter.

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( . .)

*(")(")

"Jennifer, could you come check this? Make sure the settings are right?" Angie was currently bent over at the waist, fiddling with the controls of her brother's automatic baseball pitching machine, which was set up in the enormous Chevalier backyard.

Looking up from where she was setting up the batter's box, Jennifer saw that her partner's choice of attire, while perhaps comfortable, was arguably not the wisest decision, given how the cutoff denim shorts were riding up, putting her rear end on display. Her own modest shorts and t-shirt were downright dowdy by comparison, and her sole concession to safety, which consisted of tying her hair back into a ponytail amazed her with how much light it let in. "Um, all right." She walked over and squatted down to look at the controls. "Hmm. How good is your brother at batting? We want consistent pitching, but we also want consistent hits, too."

Angie looked over at her and shrugged. "He says his average this year is three-twenty. For reference, most pro players rarely even get to four hundred."

Jennifer couldn't help it, as her eyes momentarily dipped down to glance at the cleavage on display from Angie's tank top. Blushing, she returned her eyes to the machine controls and adjusted the speed dial down a couple of notches. "Better be safe than sorry, then. Let's see how often he hits with a regular bat so we can find the perfect speed. Go ahead and set up the blanket behind the box, so we can see if we're aimed at his strike zone, will you?" She was still amazed at all the baseball jargon she had been picking up as a result of working on this project.

"You got it, partner!" Angie said. She walked over to the pole they had set up over which they would drape the heavy blanket, and again, Jennifer's eyes were drawn to Angie's rear, which had a noticeable sway. She shook her head, and returned to making adjustments to the machine while the cheerleader threw a side of the blanket over the pole and held it in place with a pair of spring clamps. "Okay, all set here," Angie called out.

Rising from her squat, Jennifer replied, "Same here. Call out 'the Champ'."

The sarcasm in Jennifer's tone brought out a snicker from Angie. "Come on out, Howie! And bring your regular bat, too!"

It took a minute or so before Angie's younger brother came out, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, as well as a batting helmet. The requested bat was in his hands as he took up his position in front of the blanket. Jennifer was a little disturbed with the way he kept looking at her, but that was nothing compared to the way he looked at his sister. Okay, this is getting disturbing. That boy is just a bundle of neuroses. Pushing aside her internal commentary, Jennifer said, "We're gonna test to see if we're set up right, so we'll toss a couple, but don't swing. After those adjustments are made, we'll dial in the speed, and then we can get to the meat of the project, okay?"

He nodded and assumed his stance. "I know how this works; don't worry. This isn't my first time in front of one of these, you know."

Jennifer smiled at his indignant tone as she sighted the machine through the reticule from behind. "All right, then. Here we go."

The first two pitches were low, so she adjusted the angle, and nodded at him again. The first three pitches were easily hit, so she said, "Okay, we're moving up to forty-five miles an hour, so get ready." Again the balls were easily hit, so she kept going up until he started getting fewer hits on average. "Looks like your best range is about sixty-five, so we'll leave it there." She could see that he had worked up a sweat, so she added, "Take five, and we'll get started on the experimental bats. We want you fresh so we get consistent results.

Howie was thankful for the reprieve, as after over thirty pitches, he was starting to feel the burn. He just nodded to her and sat down on the grass, drinking a Gatorade.

Jennifer walked over to Angie, noticing that she had a pad of paper already in hand as she stood next to a three foot long pole with two small wheels at the bottom. The cheerleader showed the pole to her, saying, "So, do you wanna work the pitching machine, or the measuring wheel?"

It didn't take much thought which she would prefer. Not only was one less work, but also put herself out of line of sight from a certain pervert twelve year-old boy. "Pitching machine, thanks, but I'll write down the measurements. I'll just be babysitting the thing, so I may as well."

"I knew you'd say that," Angie said with a grin as she went to stand next to the impromptu batter's box.

Jennifer clapped her hands loudly, rousing their test subject. "All right, let's do this! Places, everyone!" She took up her position behind the machine and turned it back on, careful to lean away from the wheels which launched the ball, just in case. When everyone was in place, she dropped the ball into the chute, and was almost impressed by the hit, until she remembered just who hit it.

As soon as she heard the crack, Angie took off, almost as if she were racing the ball, but quite naturally, got there second. Leaning over to read the meter, she gave them another view that Jennifer was sure would only fuel certain less than familial thoughts in her brother. "Two hundred five feet!" she hollered back.

Four more times they repeated the process with the baseline bat, writing down each result. Finally, they were ready for the corked bats, and repeated the process again. However, they ran into a problem as three of their five special bats split before they could get five hits from each. The worst was the bat filled with water, which broke on the first hit, but not before sending the ball the furthest of them all, a whopping two hundred and forty-one feet.

Angie ran up to Jennifer, flushed and breathing hard, but still grinning. "A shame about that last bat, huh? He really walloped that one!"

Jennifer nodded as she looked over the numbers. "Yeah. I wonder if it would have helped if we had used mercury like I initially wanted. I bet the water weakened the bat, and that's why it broke so easy."

The cheerleader nodded her assent. She looked over at her brother, who was laying on his back in the grass and said, "All right. You know the deal. You clean up this mess while we do our work inside, where there's AC. I hope this has taught you not to peep on me and my guests. That's not cool, Howie."

The exhausted boy just waved his hand at her, giving her a noncommittal grunt. Jennifer picked up the split bats and their spilled contents. "We'll just take these for the report. You can keep the rest if you want, just don't get caught using them, because we'll disavow any knowledge of them."

The girls walked in, breathing a sigh of relief when the cold air hit them. Jennifer's eyes were once more drawn to Angie's cleavage as the cheerleader pulled her shirt away from her chest in an effort to fan herself. "Let's grab some lemonade and head up to my room," Angie said as she headed over to the refrigerator.

Drinks in hand and safely behind a closed bedroom door, they sat at the desk, their chairs, arms, and legs touching side-by-side as they went over the numbers again. "Well, the sample size is pretty small, but it appears there is a difference, however small," Jennifer remarked.

"Especially the water-filled one," Angie agreed. "A shame it broke after one hit."

Jennifer shook her head. "We'll include the data, but I think with only one try, Ms. Barch is going to tell us to dismiss it as an outlier. A shame, since the numbers from the other hits is at most a boost of only a few feet."

"Yeah," Angie said in a sad tone. She turned to face Jennifer, an odd look in her eye.

Getting nervous under the intense stare, Jennifer squirmed in her seat, suddenly all-too aware of all the skin-to-skin contact she had with the cheerleader. "Um, is something wrong?"

Angie smiled at her, as she took hold of the hair put up in a ponytail in the back. "Your hair is such a pretty shade of blonde; really sets off the green in your eyes."

Jennifer's heart started beating as if she were sprinting a marathon, and she wet her lips, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Um, than-"

She didn't get any further, as Angie cupped her cheek and leaned forward. Their lips met, and Jennifer could only sit there stunned, while Angie's tongue gently probed her mouth, which was hanging open in shock.

Finally, Jennifer's brain checked back in and registered just what was going on. She put her hands on Angie's shoulders, and pushed them apart, until the teen rocker fell backwards, taking her chair with her. Immediately, she was on her feet, looking around in confusion. "What the hell, Angie? I don't- I can't- I'm- I mean... What the hell?" she shouted at her.

Angie's hands flew to her mouth, and she immediately looked regretful. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think you and Daria were exclusive! I thought you two were like me and Brittany; just friends with benefits, I swear! I'd never go after someone else's girlfriend! I never even would have sent out the signals I was interested, had I known!"

"Angie, I'm not even gay! Daria and I are just friends! That's all!"

Realization dawned on the cheerleader, and she looked even more horrified. "Omigosh! I thought- I mean everyone just assumed you were- I mean, you're in an all-girl band, and then when you said you were going to be a rock star who dated models instead of being one, and you've never had a boyfriend, and your only friend was Daria, I just-"

"Well, I'm not, okay? Hell, I'm not even sure I want anything to do with either sex, right now." Jennifer gave a exhausted sigh and ran a hand through her hair, undoing the ponytail partway as she paced the room. "I mean, There's nothing wrong with being gay, if that's your thing; whatever floats your boat, right? But I'm not even sure what I want right now."

"Bisexual," Angie said in a low voice.

"Huh?"

"I'm bisexual, not gay," Angie clarified. "I like both boys and girls, though I think I lean more towards girls than boys. We're just... softer, I guess." She looked Jennifer in the eye and shrugged. "I like that."

Jennifer sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, but jumped again as if electrocuted. Instead, she picked up the chair and sat down in it, facing Angie, but far enough away that they couldn't accidentally touch. "Okay, proper terms aside, what are we going to do about this? I mean, we do have a project to finish."

Angie sat back, crossed her long, toned legs, and looked hard at the obviously spooked girl. Her breathing was erratic, her eyes couldn't seem to settle on any one spot, and her hair was in disarray, some of it poking up like antennae that Angie thought suited her look quite nicely, were it not for her current emotional state. "Well, I think we've established that you're not interested in girls, or at least, not this girl, right?" When Jennifer didn't give an answer, but instead looked down at the floor, she sighed and stood, startling her into looking at her. The cheerleader then went to the corner of the desk and dragged it so that the narrow end was butting up against the wall. She gestured to it. "Well, pull up and let's get back to work. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that what happened just now, never leaves this room, right?"

Jennifer nodded and gave a tired sigh as she scooted the chair closer. "Yeah, it goes without saying. Besides, it's no one's business but our own, right?"

Giving her a kind, understanding smile, Angie nodded. "Thanks, Jennifer. And... sorry about the confusion. I really did think..." She shook her head and her smile turned a little sad. "It doesn't matter. But just so you know, should you change your mind..."

Jennifer blushed hard and scrunched down in her seat. "You'll be on that very short list, Angie."

The cheerleader gave a her a knowing smile. I bet I know who is at the very top of that list, too.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"So, we finished the project two weeks ahead of schedule like we planned, and Ms. Barch was so pleased, especially with the way we worked Angie's little brother to exhaustion, that she gave us both an A+. I'm pretty sure that will raise my overall grade to a C+, maybe even a B-." Jennifer took a bite of her pizza slice, while Daria finished off her soda.

"Sounds like we both had a successful social experiment, partnering up with popular kids," Daria remarked.

Jennifer froze at the word, "experiment", but hid it well. "Yeah, though mine wasn't nearly as interesting, nor as fraught with intrigue as yours."

Daria shrugged. "It's like I told you; life just hates me more."

The cheerleaders walked by their table, each holding a slice of cheeseless pizza and a cup of diet Ultra cola just then. Most of them ignored the pair, save for Brittany, who turned her nose up at Daria, and Angie, who nodded at Jennifer and smiled. "Hey, partner," she said as they passed.

"Partner," Jennifer replied, returning the nod, and ignoring the arched eyebrow Daria gave her.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

I have to say that I wasn't planning on something like this happening until at least second season at the earliest, but my muse got all huffy at the slow pace. Still, all in all, I think it came out pretty well. Angie turned out to be more fun than I thought she would, and before you ask, yes, I do think a relationship between her and Brittany like she described here is entirely all too plausible in canon. The two of them seemed like good friends in the show, and with Brittany the way she was (blonde, built, blue, and brain full of Bubblicious), I think it possible they showed their affection a little more physically than most friends. Also, this seems to be a record, both in size of chappies for this story, and in percentage of dialogue from the show. This is getting pretty fun. :)