Over 7600 hits and 125 reviews…wow…and also WOW. Thanks to everyone who took the extra few seconds to tell me what they thought. This chapter is for anyone who has ever dealt with a problem by spending an obscene amount of money.

Again thanks to Nonna aka writie for convincing me that this chapter wasn't completely rubbish. I know it's taken ages to post but I thought seeing as it's another long one, you might forgive me for being a little bit slower than normal.

In case anybody was wondering why I gave Tracy a new look…Tracy already had a new look in the finale, she had her hair down with shock, horror no hairspray, and she wore a short modern dress (i.e. early sixties style as opposed to late fifties style). I thought that going back to the big hair and bad clothes of the earlier scenes would be wrong because the new look was meant to be symbolise the changes that Tracy has gone through…well in my mind it was anyway, feel free to disagree. For the photo of Nikki that inspired Tracy's new look, go to fan forum. com and look for the Tracy/Link thread under couples, it's Zac and Nikki at some event to do with official Hairspray jewellery I think.

A Hairspray Fan; I appreciate the advice and I've taken it on board. I've come up with a couple of things to address the points you raised about pacing, repetition and Link. I hope they meet with your approval. : )

Nic: Now that two people have made the same comment I'm definitely going to do something about it, I do see where you're coming from and from now on Tracy should start changing, no more beating herself up about how she looks. The last thing I want is for anybody to lose sympathy for her.

I hope I don't offend anyone's literary sensibilities by still having her upset the day after the break-up.

Btw nobody is singing in this chapter, the song's just in there to set the mood.


Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

Tracy had walked into the store with her mother and Mr Pinky immediately started fawning over them, when Tracy mentioned the words 'makeover' and 'new wardrobe' she could have sworn he started salivating. It had taken two hours and most of her wages but Tracy had the new look she wanted. No more shapeless blouses and ugly plaid skirts for her…no more big hair either, because lets face it, an hour every morning that could have been better spent on sleep or homework was a little excessive. Together with her mother, Nadine and Mr Pinky, who had insisted on being involved seeing as it was his spokes-girl who was spending a huge wad of cash, she had picked out half a dozen skirts and twice as many blouses in a variety of colours and the cutest pair of black peep-toe heels she'd ever seen. She'd almost been enjoying herself, having to give an opinion on countless items of couture was proving to be a very effective distraction. It wasn't until she told Mr Pinky that she thought she'd picked out enough day wear that things went downhill pretty damn quickly.

"What about a prom dress?" Prom…Link... She saw her mother gesturing wildly out of the corner of her eye, no doubt trying to get him to stop talking but the damage had been done. Tracy's bottom lip began to tremble.

"Not today thank you. We need to get going after Tracy pays her bill." She managed to stop the tears from falling until she got outside. More than a hundred dollars of her own money gone and it had only stopped her crying for two hours, it didn't really seem worth it. Then again, it had felt like taking a step backwards to wear her old clothes after the pageant and her new clothes did make her look her age instead of twelve. At least she wasn't sobbing in public…that was something.

Link checked his watch, it had been two hours since Mr Turnblad had shut the door on his face and it occurred to Link that he might not have been telling the truth. Tracy might have been sat in the house knowing he was there and ignoring him. He wasn't about to defy Mr Turnblad and knock on the door again and Tracy clearly wasn't interested in talking to him. There was nothing else for him to but go back to his house and try to talk to her in the morning. He pulled away not paying much attention to the two figures in his rear view mirror.

"Wilbur we're home. Come look at Tracy, she got a makeover." Wilbur came out of the living room and saw his daughter's new look. In a knee-length black swing skirt and bright pink blouse Tracy looked very grown up, she was even wearing high heels.

"You look beautiful." Tracy smiled and hugged her father; he always knew the right thing to say to her.

"Thank you daddy." She stepped back and picked up all her shopping. "I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day."

"I'll bring your dinner in when I've warmed it up." Edna's voice carried through Tracy's bedroom door but Tracy wasn't feeling hungry. The emptiness she felt couldn't be cured with food, as good as her mother's cooking was.

I can't sleep tonight
Everybody knowing everything's not right
and I can't close my eyes
I'm seeing a tunnel at the end of all these lights
Sunny days where have you gone?
I get the strongest feeling I was wrong

When Edna came in with the plate of food Tracy was already asleep, her clothes were neatly laid out for the morning and her school bag was packed but she would have preferred that the room was a mess if it would mean that her little girl could sleep without that look of anguish on her face and a tear soaked pillow.

Tracy woke up for the seventh time just before six in the morning, her stomach growled and her head throbbed from a night of crying and fitful, restless dozing but what bothered her most, what made he want to crawl back under the covers, was the thought of being stuck on a bus full of people she didn't really know or like and having every single one of them, including the driver, wondering why she wasn't with Link. Tracy was just grateful that she didn't have history that day. Having Link and Amber in the same class today would just be torture and thankfully the universe hadn't decided to be that cruel. Her day was going to be bad enough as it was, the argument had been replaying in her head all night and she had a feeling that it wasn't going to stop just because she left the house. Tracy wished there was something she could do to change what had happened but she knew that no amount of marching could take back what had been said, especially the truthful parts. She didn't really know Link, Seaweed had told her more about himself than Link had. Link had showed her little more than his on-screen persona. Tracy had believed him capable of not only backing out of doing what was right but making a cheap joke about her size in the process. She had expected him to hurt her and it had got her so paranoid she'd ended up hurting them both. One perfect moment kissing him and then all that doubt had rushed in, the gossip hadn't helped but what really confused things was how she'd been finding herself looking at him like a hungry lioness at a zebra.

As she stared in the mirror Tracy could hardly recognise the face that looked back at her, her skin was pale and blotchy and her normally bright eyes were dull, bloodshot and red-rimmed, but now that her hair was only going to take fifteen minutes she did at least have time to try and fix her face after doing her 'do'. Trying to ignore how upset she still looked Tracy began her morning ritual of brushing out the knots in her hair and then backcombing some back in on the top of her head and spraying them into rigidity. The familiarity of her actions was oddly soothing and, as she clipped the back combed hair in place at the back of her hair and covered it in Ultra Clutch, Tracy had to concede that she did look more stylish with the simpler 'do' and it would look so much better when she danced than her old 'do' which had just wobbled stiffly, Penny had worn her hair in a very similar style to the Miss Hairspray pageant Tracy remembered with a small lip tremble. Determined to not make her face look any worse she pushed the memories aside and reached for her small make up collection and applying the base that would even out her complexion. Pale shimmer eye-shadow and barely there pink lipstick completed the transformation, Tracy was pleasantly surprised, she almost looked…pretty. Unless someone was looking for the redness around her eyes nobody would know how long she'd been crying for, or that she'd been crying at all. Slipping the outfit she'd worn home from Mr Pinky's back on Tracy took an experimental twirl, the skirt moved brilliantly and the high heels made her feel more confident, which was probably going to be a big help.

"Tracy are you awake?" Her mother opened the door and took in her daughter's polished appearance. "You look lovely hon. I've made you a fry up. I thought you'd be extra hungry this morning." Tracy gave her mother a smile, everything was going to be fine. She didn't care what was going to happen at school that day because even if it sucked everything was going to be fine. She had her parents and she had Penny. She might have just broken up with Link but she was going to be fine. Her clothes were new, her hair looked fantastic and she was going to be fine…even if the bells had stopped ringing. Tracy ate her full English breakfast trying not to notice how her parents were sneaking glances at her when they thought she wasn't looking as if they expected her to burst into tears. Last night was bad but today was another beautiful Baltimore morning. One last make-up and hair check and she was ready to go. "Don't forget your lunch Tracy."

"It's already packed. I'll see you after the show." Tracy walked out of the house humming to herself and dancing every so often. The bum on his bar room stool did a double take, that big little girl looked kinda nice; then again he was already wasted.

Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied
when I was seventeen?
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can't avoid the lightning

"Is that Tracy Turnblad?"

"Why isn't Link Larking taking her to school?"

"Did they break up?"

"Look at Tracy!"

The whispers had already started but Tracy was listening to her radio, a premeditated move to make sure she didn't break down on the bus, not that she would because everything was going to be fine. The next time the bus stopped to let on more kids a group of guys got on noticing that there was something different about Tracy Turnblad this morning. Tracy jumped when one of the boys tapped her on the shoulder…Marvin, Martin… she couldn't remember his name.

"Hi, mind if I sit here?"

"Go right ahead…"

"Marshall."

"Right. Sorry Marshall, I'm Tracy." Marshall smiled.

"I know. You're on the Corney Collins Show."

"That's me."

"You're the favourite in our house, my little sister wants to be Tracy Turnblad when she grows up." Tracy smiled.

"That's so sweet."

"Well my sister's got good taste." He couldn't be flirting could he? No, no that was impossible. Guys didn't flirt with Tracy Turnblad…except for Link and she'd managed to ruin that spectacularly. The bus pulled up in front of the school, saving Tracy from having to reply. "Can I walk you to class?" Holy crap he really was flirting.

"I…I'm sorry, I've got to find my friends." Excusing herself Tracy quickly made her way to Penny and Seaweed.

"Tracy you look great. What's the occasion?" Tracy couldn't tell Penny what had happened without, privacy, food -preferably sugary- and lots of tissues.

"I'll tell you later. Everything's going to be fine, just as long as I don't see…" The warning bell went. "I have to go. I'll see you later." Tracy pushed her way through the crowd ignoring the wolf whistles, they weren't for her anyway, opened her locker and found Link's picture staring back at her. Swallowing the lump in her throat Tracy took it down and put it on the small shelf in her locker before taking out the books that she needed and going to her first class.

"Hey Tracy! Shake it, don't break it!" Turning to see that it was only Seaweed's friend Germaine she rolled her eyes at him and carried on walking.

"What happened to Tracy Turnblad?"

"Did you see how Tracy looked? I've never seen anybody change so much overnight."

"I bet it was down to Link."

"She came on the bus this morning."

"Doesn't Link Larkin normally drive her to school?"

I can't stand myself
I'm being held up by invisible men
Still life on a shelf when
I got my mind on something else
Sunny days
where have you gone?
I get the strongest feeling I was wrong

Link walked through the corridors to his class trying to say stoic but with every word he got more and more worried about Tracy. He had to talk to her but he didn't have any classes with her. When he got to class he took a page out of his notebook and spent the entire lesson writing the short note he put in her locker.

My darlin

I'm sorry if I made you think that I don't care about you, because I do, more than I can say. I didn't mean a word of what I said in the car, we should be together. You're not like any other girl I've ever met. You're the bravest, kindest, most decent person I know. I don't deserve you, I always say the wrong thing and I keep hurting you without meaning to but I do want to be with you, more than I've ever wanted anything else in my whole life.

I spoke to your father last night, he doesn't want me at the house anymore and I guess I understand. He told me about the last time you went swimming. Trace you know I'd never say that about you, well I hope you know that. I've always liked how you look. I meant to tell you at Maybelle's after the pageant but I didn't. When I saw you in dancing in detention with Seaweed you looked so happy, you didn't care what anybody thought, I'd never seen anybody look that free when they danced. I forgot how embarrassed you were when you saw me. All I remembered was how you moved and how pretty you looked.

You looked prettier than ever today

I miss you

Yours always

Link

If you want to talk at lunch I'll be waiting at my locker

Link walked off, hurrying slightly because his detour to Tracy's locker had made him late for his next class, PE. It wasn't his favourite lesson but all the dancing he did meant he didn't suck at any athletic event, especially those requiring co-ordination and balance.

He was about to leave the male locker room and go to his next class when a couple of guys walked in talking about Tracy.

"I don't know what happened with Larkin last night but Tracy was looking pretty bon in French earlier." Link was puzzled; Tracy looked good, good enough to get complements from guys who never noticed her before? He wasn't being egotistical or anything but he'd expected her to not look her best after the fight they had, apparently she looked better than her best.

"I know what you mean. She can couchez avec moi any soir she likes." Not being stupid Link knew exactly what they were talking about and his hands became fists. He had never talked about girls like that, he'd never even thought about any of the girls he dated in such a coarse way and to hear two guys talking about Tracy like that made him angrier than he'd thought possible.

"Who knew she was so stacked?"

"I know. Where the hell has she been hiding that rack? And you know what they say about fat chicks, they're so grateful that you're paying them attention they'll do anything to keep you happy." Link felt his blood boil; deeply offended on behalf of the girl he cared about and beyond pissed that they were making her sound like a lonely, desperate whor...he couldn't even finish thinking the word, not when it was related to Tracy. "She's so short that she wouldn't even get her skirt dirty by kne-" Link's fist acted of its own accord and slammed into the face of the guy talking the vilest trash about Tracy. It was a distinctly Neanderthal reaction to what they had been saying but Link just couldn't bring himself to care. Blood spurted from the guy's nose and dripped on to his clothes in what Link thought was a very satisfactory way as he stepped back. Hitting that guy had made his hand throb painfully, but it was worth it. Tracy didn't deserve to be talked about like that. She deserved the best, which he clearly wasn't. He should have known there was something wrong, at the very least he should have told her he loved her, that he'd been falling ever since her saw her dancing to Ladies' Choice.

Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can't avoid the lightning

Oh, where did the blue skies go?
And why is it raining so? It
's so cold

On his way to the wash room to clean his hand Link got mobbed by a group of sophomore girls wanting autographs. He obliged them even though he didn't really feel like being Link Larkin television personality at that precise moment in time. Feeling eyes on him he looked around and saw Tracy with Penny and Seaweed. He realised how it must look, that he was just being the television heartthrob, and he excused himself as quickly as he could to go talk to her, tell her she looked beautiful in her new clothes, which she did. The warning bell sounded and the corridor began to fill.

"Darlin I wasn't…" Tracy took in a breath and tried not to let the events of the previous night resound too loudly in her mind. Link saw that she was trying to hold herself together, she was hurt and doing her best to hide it, much like he was.

"I get it Link. It's fine." Oh no, those had been the exact words she'd said to him at the platter party.

"Tracy about last night..."

"I can't…not at school, not in the middle of the day." He understood, there was still most of the school day left, not to mention the show and there was no guarantee of privacy until after they'd finished broadcasting.

"Now isn't the time. I'm singing on the show later, it's…I picked the song for a reason." Tracy nodded in understanding and turned to leave, Link let her walk away from him secure in the knowledge that if anybody could help him reassure Tracy, it was Elvis. When he sang 'Don't Be Cruel', which he had picked out of the dozen or so Elvis songs in his repertoire last week, she'd realise that she was the only one for him, even if he had to sing it instead of saying it. Seaweed and Penny followed Tracy, sharing confused looks along with the rest of the slowly growing audience.

I can't sleep tonight
Everybody knowing everything's not right
and I can't close my eyes
I'm seeing a tunnel at the end of all these lights
Sunny days where have you gone?
I get the strongest feeling I was wrong

The rest of the morning was torture, the whole school had heard about the awkward conversation, drawing their own conclusions which they discussed openly and constantly. Tracy went to her locker to drop off books she didn't need, there was a small pile of paper on the floor that had fallen from her open locker, notes, the first was Marshall's number, the second was from a boy she didn't even know, as was the third, she shoved them all on top of the poster of Link that had previously adorned her locker door and went to lunch with Penny and Seaweed. A couple of corridors away Link waited by his locker hoping that his note had gotten through to Tracy. If it hadn't…well he didn't want to think about that. Everything was going to be fine.


Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can't avoid the lightning
Oh, where did the blue skies go?
And why is it raining so?
Its so cold
Why does it always rain on me?
Why does it always rain...


Link leaving Tracy a note appeared in chapter three of TiffanyNyC's story 'For Always and Forever', which I totally recommend, but I got the idea of Marshall leaving Tracy a note in her locker with his number on it and a couple of others doing similar things which would theoretically make her feel better about herself…then I came up with Link's note, then its significance. It'll all come out later and I can't say anything else without giving away major spoilers but it will play an important part later on…one of the chapters in the early teens I think.