Spinelli glared at Carmen, did she honestly think she was gonna do it? It doesn't take a genius to walk around in a too short skirt, scream, shake their butt, and manipulate guys. Actually, Spinelli was somewhat of an expert at the last one. Years of guys being her best friends had fixed her shy and innecent act, at least up to now.
Carmen returned Spinelli's look, her goth outfit making her seem almost frightening. "Your doing it. I already signed you up, your tryouts are during release today."
Spinelli grinned to herself, all she had to do was flunk the tryouts and she wouldn't have to join! And it shouldn't be to hard to fall on her head and act like a dimwit. She was almost looking forward to it…
***********30 minutes later************
Spinelli gave her mirror image a quick once over. Not a hair had fallen out of place, which somewhat disappointed her. Vaguly she heard the bell, signaling that it was time for the students to start making their way to 1st period classes. She glanced at her watch, 5 minutes until she was going to be late, and here she was in the bathroom wasting time.
Soon the sounds of feet running disappeared and the hallways became empty. Spinelli estimated she had less then 2 minutes to get to her class, Social studies. Picking up her SS book and pencil bag, she stuffed both of them into her navy blue book bag that hung over her shoulder. Carmen had assured her it was the "newest thing," and Spinelli had to admit, it WAS pretty cool. Sticking her head out the door she checked to make sure she was alone. Sighing with relief she made her way to the classroom, jogging easily past the lockers.
When she finally reached her classroom she put her hand on the doorknob slowly. Her brain yelled at it to turn, but her hand refused. Sticking her other hand on top she turned the knob, mentally scolding herself for acting so nervous. Finally her brain lost patience and she pushed the door open as hard as she could. The door banged against the wall and she did the practiced "glide" into the classroom. Brushing her raven black hair she moved to a seat in the middle rows, and swung her backpack onto the top. Some students ignored her, others asked people who the "new, hott girl" was. Not a one recognised her. Ignoring the stares everyone was shooting at her she pulled out her light blue notebook and started doodling. A couple dragons, a few dead trees, some roses, the woks. Spinelli had always been a good drawer, her chalk masterpeice in 4th grade had been proof of that, and she got so caught up she barely heard the bell ring and the teacher call her name.
"Ashley? Ashley!"
Startled Spinelli paused mid-flower. "Yes?" she asked the teacher quietly.
The teacher, a large women who looked about 50 and had gray hair pulled into as tight bun, sighed impatiently. "Would you please come up here and introduce yourself? I'm sure everyone would love to know more about you."
It was Spinelli's turn to sigh. 'Ashley' had become her new identity, and she loathed it. But she slid out of her seat and walked slowly up to the front of the room, pretending to blush at all the whistles. She had to fight to keep her fists unclenched. Spinning around on the heel of her foot she grinned slyly.
"Hey y'all." She said, the y'all was almost a second nature to her, one of her best friends in Juvi Hall had been Texan. "Well, my name is Ashley. Need I say anything else?"
She heard a quiet 'scandelous' from the back of the room. Sure enough, all four of the Ashley's were there, staring intently at her. They hadn't changed much, aside from developing figures and getting taller.
Ashley Arnbrewster sat in the middle, hands folded together and her legs crossed underneath her desk. She wore her usual pink and black colors, but this time it was a sundress that fell to just above her knees. Her blonde hair was layered and fell to her shoulders, no longer in a headband.
To her left sat Ashley Bolais, looking quite bored. It was a well known fact that Ashley B. had been Ashley A's best friend of the four, and it seemed to Spinelli that it hadn't changed. Her black hair was pulled into ponytail, and her dark skin brought out the yellow in her sundress.
On the other side of Ashley A was Ashley Quenlin, in a light blue sundress matching all of theirs, and had pulled her shoulder length red hair into two pigtails. She wrote on a piece of paper, occasionally glancing at Spinelli. She passed it to Ashley A, who gave Spinelli a once over, then nodded. Spinelli was pretty sure that was a bad thing.
Ashley Tomasian, usually the quietest of the Ashley's, was throwing notes at Ashley B, who read them and giggled. Ashley T's brown hair was still curly and was also layered to her mid-back. She was tan as ever, and wore a light green sundress like that of the other Ashley's.
Spinelli sighed and surveyed the rest of the classroom. There was T.J and Vince in the back row next to the Ashley's. Occasionally Ashley A would throw T.J a "kiss" and Spinelli was appalled to see that he returned them. Likewise happened between Ashley Q and Vince. Spinelli groaned inwardly, when did they stoop that low? Dating an Ashley? Then again, she had been gone and it was normal for things to change. Like looks.
Vince had become the perfect picture of an athlete, tall, muscular, his black hair cut in the same style as before. His outfit was a pair of jeans and a shirt that was just tight enough to hint a muscles. T.J's outfit was much the same, Spinelli was surprised to see that he had thrown his hat out of the look and cut his hair and gelled it. He also had muscles, but while Vince looked like a basketball player, T.J was pure football.
There was also Swinger Girl, still decked out in brown leather, but minus the hat. Menlow, still all suit and tie, although he had added a suitcase. The last face Spinelli recognised was Butch, who had become somewhat handsome. He appeared to be going out with Ashley B, because of the XO letters she was throwing at him.
Spinelli combed her hair delicatly with her fingers, flirting with the classroom. "So," she breathed, "Any questions?" Spinelli smiled as all of the boys raised their hands, apparently she wasn't as bad at flirting as she had thought. She figured, if she was gonna be an Ashley, she might as well BE an Ashley! Still raking her fingers through her hair she called on a boy with blonde spiked hair, who was sitting in the front row and who had been throwing spitwads at the teacher moments before. She suspected that his seating had been the teachers idea. "Yes?"
He gave her an 'I'm all that' smile. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger, and waited. "Will you go out with me?"
She watched as the spiral came loose. "Why," she asked softly so he had to strain to hear, "Would I do that?" He looked shocked, which only added to her pleasure. "Whoever had that question had better put your hand down, unless of course, you WANT me to say no to each of you individually." Almost all of the hands went down, although there were still a few up. "What?" she asked one of the boys friends, who grinned.
"I think your hot."
Spinelli groaned inwardly, clue in freak! She gave him a small smile and spoke in the same tone she would if she had been telling him that she loved him. "I think…" she said smiling, "that you're stupid. Next?"
A few more hands went down, good. "Like, whats your LAST name?" It was Ashley B, who looked positivaly interested.
Spinelli gave a shy smile. "Secret. But you may call me Ashley S." She turned to the teacher, who had written Mrs. Blutenburg on the chalkboard. "Please Mrs. Blutenburg, can the students introduce themselves to me? It will be a lot easier then being crowded by people introducing themselves later."
Mrs. B gave a curt nod. "Students, come up in small groups to introduce yourselves. Ashley S you may sit down."
Spinelli flipped her hair behind her head and walked to her seat, brushing against the boys desks. They were much easier to maniulate then she had thought, even though some of the girls stared at her jealously. Oh well, it wasn't her fault their boyfriends had wandering eyes. Ok, so maybe it WAS her fault. Even T.J and Vince were acting like the others, although the Ashleys were being nice about it. In fact…
"Hey Ashley S!"
Spinelli turned to see Ashley A waving her over to an empty seat. Apparently she had pushed T.J over a desk to make room. Spinelli grinned and picked up her book bag. Walking over slowly she listened as the boy who had called her "hot" introduced himself. His name was Brad, and he was a 16 year old roller blader. She'd have to check him out later, he had definate friend possiblities. She hadn't skated in years, but once it had been her favorite sport. She grinned and slid in next to Ashley A and T.J, and watched the students up front. So far she had avoided flashes, even though reality was beginning to give her a headache.
T.J gave her a "hey there" smile, which she returned shyly. It was hard enough pretending to be the shy new girl, but it was ten times harder around people she knew. "Hello," she whispered, suddenly very thankful her voice had gotten higher and less husky. "You gotta name?"
T.j's grin widened, showing toothpaste commerial perfect teeth. "You wanna guess it? Or you actually wanna listen to these freaks talk about themselves?"
Spinelli tried to stop her back from stiffening. Since when did T.J refer to people as freaks? But if a guessing game was what he wanted… She forced a grin, "Hmm… your name is… Theotore JD?" Peeking through closed eyes she rubbed her temples and laughed inwardly at the surprised look on his face. "No, wait… not Theotore… Theodore J Detweiler!" she grinned triumphantly and opened her eyes. All the Ashley's, T.J, and Vince were stunned. Her grin widened, "It ok if I call you Theo?"
He nodded numbly. Vince laughed quietly and slapped Spinelli's back in congradulations. It had just occurred to Spinelli how close the desks were to each other. She could probably reach out and touch someone 4 seats down. Theo and the Ashley's suddenly started laughing too, "Yeah. Fine. Whatever, that's what these guys call me. But you probably already knew that too."
Soon it was time for them to go up and reintroduce themselves. They stood up together and went down the aisles. Ashley A was the last to leave, and she dropped a note on Spinelli's desk. They exchanged smiles. Spinelli grinned to herself, maybe the Ashley's weren't as vile as she had thought. She unfolded the note and half listened to what Theo was saying about himself.
The note contained two words. Two words that could make her, or break her.
Hello Spinelli…
Carmen returned Spinelli's look, her goth outfit making her seem almost frightening. "Your doing it. I already signed you up, your tryouts are during release today."
Spinelli grinned to herself, all she had to do was flunk the tryouts and she wouldn't have to join! And it shouldn't be to hard to fall on her head and act like a dimwit. She was almost looking forward to it…
***********30 minutes later************
Spinelli gave her mirror image a quick once over. Not a hair had fallen out of place, which somewhat disappointed her. Vaguly she heard the bell, signaling that it was time for the students to start making their way to 1st period classes. She glanced at her watch, 5 minutes until she was going to be late, and here she was in the bathroom wasting time.
Soon the sounds of feet running disappeared and the hallways became empty. Spinelli estimated she had less then 2 minutes to get to her class, Social studies. Picking up her SS book and pencil bag, she stuffed both of them into her navy blue book bag that hung over her shoulder. Carmen had assured her it was the "newest thing," and Spinelli had to admit, it WAS pretty cool. Sticking her head out the door she checked to make sure she was alone. Sighing with relief she made her way to the classroom, jogging easily past the lockers.
When she finally reached her classroom she put her hand on the doorknob slowly. Her brain yelled at it to turn, but her hand refused. Sticking her other hand on top she turned the knob, mentally scolding herself for acting so nervous. Finally her brain lost patience and she pushed the door open as hard as she could. The door banged against the wall and she did the practiced "glide" into the classroom. Brushing her raven black hair she moved to a seat in the middle rows, and swung her backpack onto the top. Some students ignored her, others asked people who the "new, hott girl" was. Not a one recognised her. Ignoring the stares everyone was shooting at her she pulled out her light blue notebook and started doodling. A couple dragons, a few dead trees, some roses, the woks. Spinelli had always been a good drawer, her chalk masterpeice in 4th grade had been proof of that, and she got so caught up she barely heard the bell ring and the teacher call her name.
"Ashley? Ashley!"
Startled Spinelli paused mid-flower. "Yes?" she asked the teacher quietly.
The teacher, a large women who looked about 50 and had gray hair pulled into as tight bun, sighed impatiently. "Would you please come up here and introduce yourself? I'm sure everyone would love to know more about you."
It was Spinelli's turn to sigh. 'Ashley' had become her new identity, and she loathed it. But she slid out of her seat and walked slowly up to the front of the room, pretending to blush at all the whistles. She had to fight to keep her fists unclenched. Spinning around on the heel of her foot she grinned slyly.
"Hey y'all." She said, the y'all was almost a second nature to her, one of her best friends in Juvi Hall had been Texan. "Well, my name is Ashley. Need I say anything else?"
She heard a quiet 'scandelous' from the back of the room. Sure enough, all four of the Ashley's were there, staring intently at her. They hadn't changed much, aside from developing figures and getting taller.
Ashley Arnbrewster sat in the middle, hands folded together and her legs crossed underneath her desk. She wore her usual pink and black colors, but this time it was a sundress that fell to just above her knees. Her blonde hair was layered and fell to her shoulders, no longer in a headband.
To her left sat Ashley Bolais, looking quite bored. It was a well known fact that Ashley B. had been Ashley A's best friend of the four, and it seemed to Spinelli that it hadn't changed. Her black hair was pulled into ponytail, and her dark skin brought out the yellow in her sundress.
On the other side of Ashley A was Ashley Quenlin, in a light blue sundress matching all of theirs, and had pulled her shoulder length red hair into two pigtails. She wrote on a piece of paper, occasionally glancing at Spinelli. She passed it to Ashley A, who gave Spinelli a once over, then nodded. Spinelli was pretty sure that was a bad thing.
Ashley Tomasian, usually the quietest of the Ashley's, was throwing notes at Ashley B, who read them and giggled. Ashley T's brown hair was still curly and was also layered to her mid-back. She was tan as ever, and wore a light green sundress like that of the other Ashley's.
Spinelli sighed and surveyed the rest of the classroom. There was T.J and Vince in the back row next to the Ashley's. Occasionally Ashley A would throw T.J a "kiss" and Spinelli was appalled to see that he returned them. Likewise happened between Ashley Q and Vince. Spinelli groaned inwardly, when did they stoop that low? Dating an Ashley? Then again, she had been gone and it was normal for things to change. Like looks.
Vince had become the perfect picture of an athlete, tall, muscular, his black hair cut in the same style as before. His outfit was a pair of jeans and a shirt that was just tight enough to hint a muscles. T.J's outfit was much the same, Spinelli was surprised to see that he had thrown his hat out of the look and cut his hair and gelled it. He also had muscles, but while Vince looked like a basketball player, T.J was pure football.
There was also Swinger Girl, still decked out in brown leather, but minus the hat. Menlow, still all suit and tie, although he had added a suitcase. The last face Spinelli recognised was Butch, who had become somewhat handsome. He appeared to be going out with Ashley B, because of the XO letters she was throwing at him.
Spinelli combed her hair delicatly with her fingers, flirting with the classroom. "So," she breathed, "Any questions?" Spinelli smiled as all of the boys raised their hands, apparently she wasn't as bad at flirting as she had thought. She figured, if she was gonna be an Ashley, she might as well BE an Ashley! Still raking her fingers through her hair she called on a boy with blonde spiked hair, who was sitting in the front row and who had been throwing spitwads at the teacher moments before. She suspected that his seating had been the teachers idea. "Yes?"
He gave her an 'I'm all that' smile. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger, and waited. "Will you go out with me?"
She watched as the spiral came loose. "Why," she asked softly so he had to strain to hear, "Would I do that?" He looked shocked, which only added to her pleasure. "Whoever had that question had better put your hand down, unless of course, you WANT me to say no to each of you individually." Almost all of the hands went down, although there were still a few up. "What?" she asked one of the boys friends, who grinned.
"I think your hot."
Spinelli groaned inwardly, clue in freak! She gave him a small smile and spoke in the same tone she would if she had been telling him that she loved him. "I think…" she said smiling, "that you're stupid. Next?"
A few more hands went down, good. "Like, whats your LAST name?" It was Ashley B, who looked positivaly interested.
Spinelli gave a shy smile. "Secret. But you may call me Ashley S." She turned to the teacher, who had written Mrs. Blutenburg on the chalkboard. "Please Mrs. Blutenburg, can the students introduce themselves to me? It will be a lot easier then being crowded by people introducing themselves later."
Mrs. B gave a curt nod. "Students, come up in small groups to introduce yourselves. Ashley S you may sit down."
Spinelli flipped her hair behind her head and walked to her seat, brushing against the boys desks. They were much easier to maniulate then she had thought, even though some of the girls stared at her jealously. Oh well, it wasn't her fault their boyfriends had wandering eyes. Ok, so maybe it WAS her fault. Even T.J and Vince were acting like the others, although the Ashleys were being nice about it. In fact…
"Hey Ashley S!"
Spinelli turned to see Ashley A waving her over to an empty seat. Apparently she had pushed T.J over a desk to make room. Spinelli grinned and picked up her book bag. Walking over slowly she listened as the boy who had called her "hot" introduced himself. His name was Brad, and he was a 16 year old roller blader. She'd have to check him out later, he had definate friend possiblities. She hadn't skated in years, but once it had been her favorite sport. She grinned and slid in next to Ashley A and T.J, and watched the students up front. So far she had avoided flashes, even though reality was beginning to give her a headache.
T.J gave her a "hey there" smile, which she returned shyly. It was hard enough pretending to be the shy new girl, but it was ten times harder around people she knew. "Hello," she whispered, suddenly very thankful her voice had gotten higher and less husky. "You gotta name?"
T.j's grin widened, showing toothpaste commerial perfect teeth. "You wanna guess it? Or you actually wanna listen to these freaks talk about themselves?"
Spinelli tried to stop her back from stiffening. Since when did T.J refer to people as freaks? But if a guessing game was what he wanted… She forced a grin, "Hmm… your name is… Theotore JD?" Peeking through closed eyes she rubbed her temples and laughed inwardly at the surprised look on his face. "No, wait… not Theotore… Theodore J Detweiler!" she grinned triumphantly and opened her eyes. All the Ashley's, T.J, and Vince were stunned. Her grin widened, "It ok if I call you Theo?"
He nodded numbly. Vince laughed quietly and slapped Spinelli's back in congradulations. It had just occurred to Spinelli how close the desks were to each other. She could probably reach out and touch someone 4 seats down. Theo and the Ashley's suddenly started laughing too, "Yeah. Fine. Whatever, that's what these guys call me. But you probably already knew that too."
Soon it was time for them to go up and reintroduce themselves. They stood up together and went down the aisles. Ashley A was the last to leave, and she dropped a note on Spinelli's desk. They exchanged smiles. Spinelli grinned to herself, maybe the Ashley's weren't as vile as she had thought. She unfolded the note and half listened to what Theo was saying about himself.
The note contained two words. Two words that could make her, or break her.
Hello Spinelli…