A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to update. I could bombard you with excuses, but instead, please take this new chapter as an apology. : - )
Roy walked into school that Monday morning completely certain that, by the end of the day, Pam Beesley would be begging for him to take her back.
He had spent the entire weekend convincing himself that he hadn't done anything wrong. He'd imagined dozens of scenarios where she came to him, crying out pleas for forgiveness, falling at his feet. Of course, he would eventually say yes – he couldn't say no to that girl. But it wouldn't hurt to make her beg a little. He deserved that much.
He started walking towards her locker, all the while, doing his best to ignore the numerous stares he was getting. He finally recognized her messy hairdo and stood up a bit straighter. Now, it's my turn. He started to walk towards her, but stopped abruptly when he noticed she was with someone else. He had to make sure, but it was actually true. Pam, his girlfriend (well, ex-girlfriend) was smiling and laughing with his one true nemesis: Jim Halpert. Not only that, but they were holding hands. Roy's heart almost stopped from the shock of this revelation. On the one hand, he couldn't believe she even had the nerve to go behind his back like that. On the other hand, he wondered how he hadn't seen it coming. How could I not have known that she – Are they looking this way?
He ducked into a nearby classroom, narrowly avoiding being spotted. Once inside, he collapsed into one of the chairs. Jim, he growled mentally, clenching and unclenching his hands. His chest burned every time he thought about what he'd just witnessed.
You'll pay for this, Halpert, he vowed. You've made a big mistake . . . and a powerful enemy.
OOOOO
Michael couldn't wait for AP Biology. There, he would be able to see Holly and ask her to be his girlfriend. And, of course, she'd say yes. Why wouldn't she say yes?
Finally, the bell rang and Michael bolted from the classroom. He gathered his books and ran to the science room, sliding into his seat and, luckily, getting there just before Holly did.
"Well, well, well," she said, grinning, as she sat down in the seat next to him. "Fancy seeing you again, partner."
Michael smiled. He would never get tired of that sense of humor. "Fancy seeing you, partner."
"Anything interesting happen while on the smoky trails?" she asked in a fake southern drawl.
Now's my chance! "Actually, I was wondering if you would be willing to be my girlfriend?"
Her eyes widened. "Um-" That's not a good reaction, he thought, his heart suddenly sinking. "I'm a transfer student. I'm only going to be here for one year and-"
"That's fine," Michael interrupted her, panicked. "Long distance relationship, right?"
She smiled sadly. "-And I have a boyfriend back home. AJ."
With those words, Michael's entire world came crashing down around him. Holly kept talking, but he didn't hear any of it. How could I have been so stupid?
"That's fine," he interrupted again, cutting Holly off. "That's totally fine. Totally cool. Totts cool. Do people say that now? 'Totts'?"
"No, I don't think – "
"Well, they should. And I have a girlfriend too. Jan, yeah. And she's totts cool."
"But you just asked me to be your girlfriend?"
"Well, yeah, a guy can have a woman on the side. I'm a player, Holly. A playah, as they are more well-known."
"Oh, really?"
"Definitely. Defs." Luckily, the teacher chose that moment to start class. Holly tried to talk to him again, but he shushed her, saying, "Class has started and I'd like to learn, thank you very much." Eventually, she gave up and started taking notes with the rest of the class.
Well, he thought. Dodged a bullet there.
OOOOO
As usual, around midday, everyone gathered for glee club and, if Oscar had been paying attention, he would have noticed some unusual behavior. For instance, Meredith was in the back, being more irritable and listless than normal. Ryan's eyes kept darting back and forth and it seemed like he couldn't sit still. Michael was practically foaming at the mouth with anger. Oscar would have noticed all this if he hadn't been busy with a mission of his own. In the few minutes before Mr. Ben arrived, he would find out just how big of an impact Shad had really left on these ladies. His guess (if he was being completely honest, he would say 'his hope') was that everyone will say 'Shad who?', thus allowing him to continue on his merry way.
He leaned in towards Kelly. "Hey, Kelly." She looked over at him. "That party last weekend, do you remember some guy named . . . Shad?"
At the mention of his name, every female in the room let out a loud sigh. Oscar's heart dropped. This is just not my year.
Kelly's eyes drifted up to the rafters, as if she were remembering that night. "Last night, I met a man beneath a pale and haunted moon, a man no women could refuse." She stood up and started to move towards the center of the room. "Bold and assertive, with a furtive air of mystery. Magically long of lash, tragically short of cash."
"As he approached, he wore an aura of nobility." Everyone turned to see where the next verse had come from. Erin stood, with the same dreamy-eyed look on her face that Kelly had, and began to move towards the center of the room as well. "I wore these Ferragamo shoes. This was, at last, I knew, my rendezvous with history." She stood next to Kelly. "What was a woman," she asked. "What was a woman to do?"
Kelly smiled and nodded, knowingly. "And when he smiled, he lit the night with grace and confidence. His teeth were clean and straight and white, just like a picket fence." She started moving towards Oscar, who was trying to pretend this wasn't happening. "I couldn't look directly at them, they were that intense. What was a woman," she asked him. "What was a woman to do?"
Erin stood center stage. "I never realized how long my heart had been ignored. He sang my name and it rang out, just like some major chord. If music be the food of love, he ate my smorgasbord. What was a woman – "
"What was a woman – " Kelly echoed.
"What was a woman to do?" they sang together.
Suddenly, Meredith stood up, granted, rather shakily. "Last night, I met a prince and, suddenly, my life has changed. I have a purpose and a cause – "
"To help my dreamy royal boyfriend." Angela sang, also standing. Both girls started to walk towards Kelly and Erin.
"He's off rebelling and I'm kveling here, but never mind," Meredith sang, reaching the stage. "He's just so ooh!"
"So suave it makes you mental," Angela agreed.
"So gosh darn continental." Kelly muttered.
Suddenly, Pam stood up, pulled into the music, much to the surprise of Jim. He watched, wide-eyed as she made her way to the other girls. Finally reaching center stage, she struck a powerful pose and began to sing.
"He had the most amazing eyes that I had ever seen. He came in with a ticket for the second mezzanine." She shook her head and growled, "I ripped it up and put him right down there in J-13!" She held the note until Kelly finally walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Miss, if you don't mind."
Pam stepped back, but not before singing, "What was a woman – "
"What was a woman – " the rest of the girls echoed.
"What was a woman to do?" Phyllis sang quietly from the corner. Everyone turned to her, suddenly realizing she had been the only one not to step forward.
Of course, Mr. Ben chose that moment of silence to walk in. "Alright, is everyone ready to – Why are all you girls up here?" As they scurried back to their seats, muttering apologies, Mr. Ben said, "I mean, if y'all are that excited to do a musical number, that's fine. That's great, actually. I don't want to squash that creativity."
Oscar turned around to see Phyllis with an uncharacteristically dark expression. "Are you okay?" he whispered. She looked over at him, obviously very distracted.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Oscar turned forward again, unconvinced.
OOOOO
The bell rang announcing the end of school and Angela headed to her locker, packing up for the end of the day. She was so focused in packing up her stuff, in fact, that she didn't feel Dwight's presence until he snuck up behind her. Tiptoeing towards her, he finally wrapped his arms around her, yelling, "Surprise!"
"Dwight!" she yelled, shoving him off her. He stepped back, surprised. She took a quick look around to make sure no one saw that before glaring at him. "Why would you do that?"
"But, you kissed me, I thought – "Angela quickly shushed him, looking around again. He lowered his voice. "I thought that meant we could be public now."
"No!" Dwight gave her such a sad look that her heart nearly melted. "I mean," she started again, taking on a softer tone. "Not yet."
"But, Angela – "
"Not. Yet." She shot him the 'this conversation is over' look before turning back to her locker. But, for once, Dwight wasn't ready for this conversation to be over.
"We kiss in a shadow," he sang. "We hide from the moon. Our meetings are few and over too soon." Slowly, Angela turned to face him, a look of shock on her face.
"What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Angela, no one can hear us!" He spread his arms out. "No one's around." He took her hand and sang, "We speak in a whisper, afraid to be heard. When people are near, we speak not a word." He began pulling her to the middle of the hallway. "Alone in our secret, together we sigh." He wrapped his arms around her and, finally letting in, Angela let him hold her. "For one smiling day, to be free! To kiss in the sunlight and say to the sky, 'Behold and believe what you see. Behold how my lover loves me!'"
Pulling back, Angela started walking back to her locker, trying to ignore the truth of it all. Still, she couldn't help but agree. "We speak in a whisper," she sang quietly, not facing him. "Afraid to be heard. When people are near – "
"We speak not a word." She heard Dwight answer from behind her and, sighing in frustration, she turned to face him again. He held out a hand and, after a moment of hesitation, she took it. He began to dance with her, swaying and twirling her. "Alone in our secret, together we sigh. For one smiling day to be free-" Finally, Angela began singing with him.
"To kiss in the sunlight and say to the sky, 'Behold and believe what you see. Behold how my lover loves me!'"
Suddenly, Angela pulled back, nearly throwing Dwight off-balance. "No! Dwight, I just can't do this! Not right now, just – " She looked up at him. "Just for a little while longer."
After a very long moment, he nodded, "Just for a little while longer." Angela smiled before grabbing the rest of her stuff from her locker and running off. Dwight watched her go sadly.
"To kiss in the sunlight and say to the sky, 'Behold and believe what you see. Behold how my lover loves me!'" His final notes echoed in the empty hallway. He waited awhile, before sighing and heading home.
OOOOO
Erin hopped off the big white bus with the rest of the children and walked into the Delview Foster Home as if she had lived there all her life. Of course, technically, she had.
A large woman with dark skin and hair in a bun sat behind a large desk with a computer. She looked up as the kids walked in. Smiling, she stood up to greet the mob of all ages.
"Hello!" she said.
"Hello, Mrs. Taylor!" They chorused. Of course, by now, they all knew what to do. The younger children went into the playroom as a sort of 'Aftercare'. The older children just went back to their assigned rooms and worked on their homework.
Erin waved at Mrs. Taylor before walking off to her, as she liked to call it, dorm. Reaching the door, she took the key from her backpack and used it to unlock the door. Before she could get in, she heard a voice from behind her.
"Hey, Kelly!" She turned to see Reed running towards her. After making sure no one was looking, she let him into her room. Technically, boys weren't allowed in girls dorms, but Reed was her friend and she knew she could trust him.
He sat on her bed as she locked the door behind her. The room held a number of beds, but the one closest to the door was Erin's. Each girl could decorate their space however they wanted. Beyond that, the room was pretty plain. The walls were a light blue. The floors had a light blue carpet. Erin liked it, and thus, so did Reed.
"So, what's new today?" He grinned. Erin was glad she had a friend like Reed. He was always willing to listen to her stories about her school. Eventually, she decided he had to have been joking about not dating Andy. The date had turned out fine, great, actually. Then again, she hadn't told him that she'd gone out with Andy yet. But she would do it today. She'd promised herself.
"Reed," she smiled. "I told you, my new name is Erin."
"Right, right," he nodded. "I keep forgetting. Maybe because I've known you as Kelly for years."
"Well, I'm Erin now. Or, at least, for as long as I'll stay at this school." Her smile faded a bit, as she thought of all the schools she'd been through over the years. Luckily, Reed interrupted those thoughts.
"So, what's new, Erin?" She nodded approvingly and Reed gave a fake bow.
"Well," she looked up at him and grinned. "I don't know if I want to tell you."
His eyes gleamed as he matched her grin. "Oh, really?" He slowly came to a standing position and started moving towards her. "You don't want to tell me, do you?"
She started backing up a bit in preparation. "Maybe, maybe not."
"Oh, you little – " Reed started running at her and she let out a small shriek of laughter. She tried to get away, but, eventually, he tackled her. They both ended up on the floor and Reed started tickling her. She started laughing uncontrollably as he taunted her playfully. "You won't tell me? Will you tell me now? Or now? Or how 'bout – "
"Is everything alright in there?" They heard Mrs. Taylor's voice come through the door and, immediately, Reed got off Erin. He ducked under the bed as Erin got up, dusted herself off, and casually opened the door.
"Yes?"
"Is everything alright in there? I heard screaming." Mrs. Taylor looked over Erin, scanning the room.
"Nope, just a movie." Mrs. Taylor gave her an odd look.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Well . . . turn it down."
"Right, sorry." Closing the door, Erin turned to see Reed back on the bed. "We've got to be more careful." Reed flopped to a lying position.
"You say that every time. Plus, we've done this for years. We've got it down to a science." He glanced over at her. "And you know you love it."
She grinned, shrugging. "It's a guilty pleasure."
Sitting up, Reed asked, "So, what's up?"
She walked over and sat next to him. "Well, Friday, this last Friday . . . there was a party." Reed nodded. "And I went to it . . . with Andy." His eyes widened as his shoulders dropped.
"What did I tell you about him?"
"Well, Kelly said – "
"Kelly? The same Kelly who renamed you? I knew I didn't like her for a reason." Erin playfully whacked him on the shoulder.
"She's fine once you get to know her. And so is Andy. He's really polite."
"Ooh, polite. What a catch!" Erin rolled her eyes, smiling. "Trust me, he's going to break your heart."
Erin kept silent. Reed was a year older. He'd had his heart broken plenty of times. He must know something about it. He got up from the bed and started walking to the door.
"I'm gonna head back to my room." Erin sighed.
"Reed – "
"Just think about what I said, okay?"
". . . Okay." He snuck out the door and Erin watched him go. Once the door closed, she flopped back onto the bed, trying to sort out her feelings. After a while, she found there was only one thing she knew for sure: High school is hard.
Songs used: 'What was a woman to do?' from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (www . youtube . com / watch?v=w7YZFelhd_o) and 'We Kiss in a Shadow' from The King and I (www . youtube . com / watch?v=tPWOv04P5Is)