Cheer-Streaked: A Westbridge Over-Drama
by The Jessica X
Sabrina & all other characters are © Archie / Hartbreak / Paramount / Whatever. This work of fiction is © myself.
WRITER'S NOTE: This and the chapters following contain plot elements (no actual dialogue) from the Sabrina novel "Prom Time" by Bobbi JG Weiss and David Cody Weiss. I was going to bring my story through Prom anyway, and unfortunately book #21 is the only reference material available, since they never had a Prom in the show (BLASPHEMY!)
By the way, thanks rumplemima and MysticSorceror for the reviews - can't live without them!
Chapter 12: Internal Polifreaks
"Psst!"
What was that, a gas leak? I was supposed to be getting to class, but I stopped to look around to see where it was coming from, anyway. Then I heard it again: "Psst!"
"Who's there?"
I saw a hand waving me over to the bathroom; I followed it inside to find... oh, who else?
"What do you want, freak?"
She rolled her eyes. "We're alone, Libby."
"Should I care?" I said coldly as I stared her down; she glared right back. Then, when we were both about to crack up, I threw my arms around her, laughing, "'cause I do!"
"Me too, Libby," she giggled, pulling back. "I just had a question is all."
"Fire away, freak," I said, checking my makeup in the mirror.
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Before I get to her question, I want to explain the lack of total weirdness of this Monday morning; you know, the fact that I'm still insulting her, but other than that we've dropped all pretense? See, it was no longer the least bit uncomfortable because this isn't the first time we've had a private conversation since I got kicked out of my house; no, now it was almost two weeks later, and in between we'd, y'know, hung around sometimes. We might have professionally (meaning 'in school') continued the same relationship we'd always had, but... well, a few days after the last time I soaked her shoulder I ran into her at the mall, and we were both headed for the food court, and- I dunno, we just ended up spending all day together, it was a blast and a half, and the rest was history.
By the way, it turns out she's not toothless; it was a really well-executed prank. I don't think I'll ever get just why she thought playing a prank on herself would be funny, but I did personally pull on her teeth just to be sure they were real.
...Then I washed my hands a dozen times, of course.
The worst part was, I actually kept thinking about how much I'd missed out on. I mean, the nerd could be really annoying and self-righteous sometimes, but she had that certain "substance"... something that Jill and Cee Cee were experiencing a perpetual shortage of. If only I'd known what I know now, the time we were stuck on the same team with Birkhead and Kinkle for that Brainbusters competition would've been a lot more fun; I keep thinking about that because studying for it was one of the few bizzare times we actually spent any real time together outside of school before all this started... even though her living room was flooded. And filled with poppies. And her aunts were dancing in the closet. And she tried to tickle me.
Now, now, don't get mad at me for leaving all that out, but I did it to move the story along; trust me, other than some conversations about guys and good clean fun (think skee ball and movies and junk like that), nothing of significance happened in there, so you're not missing much. Really, if I had put all of it in, we'd only have dozens of pages of fluff, and you'd get bored, anyway. So, back to the issue at hand!
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"Well, the Prom is coming up this weekend," she began, fidgeting with her fingers, "and I was wondering... what's going on? I mean, I just found out you guys on the committee have been planning for this in secret for like, almost a month, and the rest of us students don't know anything."
"That much has always been true." When I glanced over from my eyelashes, her arms were folded in expectation of a real answer. "Oh, don't worry; this Prom will be spectacular in every way."
"But, well, I was just wondering if maybe I could... come to a meeting?"
"Absolutely not!" I blurted, whirling on her. "Geez, what would the other cheerleaders think?"
"Oh, just tell them I twisted Mr. Kraft's arm and he twisted yours," she pleaded. "We need some equality on this."
"C'mon, Sabrina," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I mean, it's too late now for it to make any difference, anyway; we've already planned everything out, and most of the details have been decided on and-or booked. You'd be purely cosmetic."
Her fervent nod smelled like vindication. "I knew it; you guys have this planned out to be nothing but a festival for the popular, while all the rest of us suffer with mediocre accomodations."
"Exactly," I affirmed matter-of-factly. "See, we like to call that kinda thing 'A Prom'." Yes, complete with finger-quotes.
"Well, I think it stinks!" I almost laughed, because she actually stamped her foot. "We should have as much fun at this shindig as you guys!"
"But like I said, there's really no point in-"
"Come on, Libby! I at least wanna know what it'll be like so I can be ready for whatever horrible surprises await us unsuspecting pariahs!"
I bit my lip.
"Libby...?"
I sighed.
"Libby!"
"Oh, alright, alright, Susan B. Anthofreak," I moaned, drooping so as to look as put-upon as possible. "I'll make an announcement at lunch that there will be a public meeting of the committee after school today, but don't try to twist my arm again; my oh-so-popular hands are tied, got it?"
She grinned, hugging me again. "Thanks, Lib- you're the best enemy a girl could ask for!"
"Feeling's mutual, you whiny activist dork." And out she flounced. Did she realise how awkward a position she put me in? None of the other cheerleaders are going to want a nerd like her there, mucking up our well-oiled machine.
"Oh, what am I gonna do with her?" I asked my reflection.
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As you may have guessed, that meeting didn't quite go the way she planned, so she did what she had to do; whipped the students into a frenzy and got herself and Dorkhead on our committee. I tried to do damage control to save face, so I made sure their only duties were picking out napkins... but Sabrina at least got what she wanted, which was the inside scoop on the Prom.
See, we were going with this Camelot theme; elegant evening gowns, dragons and knights in shining armour, and a giant "round table" dance floor. The school music department's Renaissance ensemble were set to play us up some chamber music stuff for the important proceedings, and then Mayday Heyday - this local rock band with a really cute lead singer - would take over for the rest of the night.
But the freak had a problem with some things... like the special catering for the cheerleaders and their dates, and the peasant hut backdrop for the other students' Prom portraits. Gimme a break, here; shouldn't we be rewarded for all the hard work we put into the dance? But no, everything has to be "equal" or whatever.
And it didn't take her long after our second meeting - during which she confronted us about all that - for her to corner me. I was just walking down the hall, minding my own queen beeswax, when she pulled me through an emergency exit.
"Wha-?!" And I was behind the school. "Sabrina! What are you doing?!"
"Libby, we have to talk about this." Her nostrils were flaring a little.
"Why didn't that door set off the alarm?"
"Huh?" She blinked, then focused on my question and rolled her eyes. "Oh. Yeah, this door's alarm never worked; I found that out on accident last year."
"Hmm..."
"But nevermind that, okay?"
"Fine," I sighed. "Talk about what, freakmonger?"
"About the fact that this prom is going to suck for the rest of us!" she exclaimed. "Our punch is going to be Hawaiian, isn't it?"
Wow, that was dead on. "Well..."
"And if we're lucky, hot dogs and Oreos for food. And we don't even get to dance on the dance floor? What the heck is that?!"
"Sabrina, get a grip!" I replied gruffly, folding my arms and leaning against the brick wall. "I told you, my hands are tied; everyone, from the cheerleaders to the geeks, already know Prom is gonna be like that, so what's your damage?"
She looked at me, exasperated and a little put out. "Libby, why do you care so much about what they think?"
What was she talking about? "Why shouldn't I? I'm popular, and that's how you stay that way; give the people what they want... or at the very least, what they expect."
"But I know you're better than that!"
"No I'm not," I said quickly. Y'know, it only strikes me as funny now that I was trying to disregard a compliment.
"Oh, really?" Sabrina couldn't help but let out a laugh, despite her frustration. "Listen: you might think it's a deep, dark secret, but having a soul is actually a good thing! I mean it! So I can't understand why you still want everyone to see you as some stuck-up, prissy drama queen!"
"Because it's all I've got!"
"No, it's not!" she growled. "After the past couple weeks, I know that better than anyone; I've seen inside you and the real Libby's trapped in that pseudo-evil husk, waiting to jump out and yell, 'Surprise, I'm not a bitch!' I can see that, why can't you?"
"LOOK!" For some reason I was shouting already - in hindsight I have to say, "defensive much?", but at the time I thought what I was saying made sense. "You don't- I just- this is me! I am what you see, and I need this, okay?! So we're gonna have a dazzling, over-the-top Prom, and the popular kids will get to dance in the middle and the freaks are going to dance with freaks in the freak section, and the status quo will be satisfied, and we'll all go about our merry little lives regardless of what we really want! Is that clear?!"
Oops.
She just stared at me, and I knew why. "Libby-"
But I couldn't stand to hear it - whatever it was. Maybe she wasn't going to spot it right away, maybe I misread the dawning of understanding in her facial expression - but I knew she'd get to it sooner or later, so I slammed my way back through the emergency door and on to class. I just knew this friendship would bring nothing but disaster...
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END Chapter Twelve
