Chapter 9 - "Popular" - Michaela's Story
October 29, 1999 - Beverly Hills, California

I touched the pretty aqua silk of my dress and twirled around in front of the mirror. It was the night of the Halloween Dance which was, according to Cordelia, the biggest social event so far this school year (the prom was the best event of the previous year). "I love the tiara," my friend Victoria said, standing up, "It really makes you look like a fairy princess."
Victoria, who was dressed as Juliet, was getting ready at my house because her boyfriend Jimmy lived in Brentwood, so it was easier for him to drive to my house than the Valley. I was going to meet Rod at the dance because he had other things to do. Gwen was going with Tweedle-Tay and wanted to get ready at our house, but I'd managed to make some excuse as to why she couldn't. Did that girl have no friends?
"Jimmy's going to be here in ten minutes," Victoria said, plaiting a few strands of her ash brown hair. "Did I tell you what he bought me last week?"
"Uh, no," I lied.
"He bought me a whole box of red m'n'ms because red symbolises love. How sweet! And yesterday he gave me the cutest little tickle-me-Elmo, because he says that when I laugh I shake like Elmo," Victoria said.
"Mmmmm," I said, absent mindedly. Gwen was really starting to annoy me. She was always coming over to our house and making suggestive comments towards my brother. What was her problem? She did have one friend, Dominique, and they were always pestering Tay and sitting around him at lunch. It was really preventing him from making friends. No guy wanted to be surrounded by ugly bimbos like Gwen and Dominique and no girl wanted to be seen with a guy who'd lower himself to hanging around Gwen. Sometimes my brother was too nice for his own good.
"Michaela?" Victoria asked.
"Oh, I agree totally. Jimmy is really sweet," I said, flashing a smile.
"Well, yeah. AND he looks just like Leonardo DiCaprio," Victoria gushed.
I couldn't see how this could be true because Jimmy was Asian, but I nodded. "How long have you been dating him for?"
"Eleven months," Victoria replied.
"Don't you ever get sick of each other?"
Victoria looked confused. "No! Don't be silly Michaela!" She sighed. "I guess you wouldn't understand, you haven't experience true love like I have."
"No," I said softly to myself. The doorbell rang. Victoria and I ran down the stairs.
"How does my hair look?" she asked.
"Shocking," I said, pretending to be disgusted. Victoria frowned and walked over to the hall mirror. I opened the door, expecting to see Jimmy. It was Gwen. She was wearing this short, fluro pink dress, pink stilettos, pink streaks in her hair and about a foot of makeup. "Hi Gwen," I said, trying to look cheerful as she walked in and I shut the door.
"Oh Michaela! The most awful thing has happened! My car broke down so my parents had to drive me to your house so I could go to the dance with you guys!" Gwen was all wide eyes and fake sadness.
"Wouldn't it have made more sense for them to drop you off at the dance?" I asked, seeing through Gwen's excuse.
Gwen had no answer. Victoria walked over and stuck her tongue out at me. "Liar," she said. She looked at Gwen and made a face. "Gwen, you do know this is meant to be fancy dress?"
Gwen laughed and flicked her hair. "Of course."
I raised my eyebrows. "Well, what are you going as?"
"Barbie!" Gwen said, giggling.
"But you look no different than you usually do....." Victoria said, pretending to be confused.
There was a silence. "Michaela, where's your brother?" Gwen said, shortly.
"Um, I don't know. Probably -" I began. Tweedle-Tay walked out into the hall. He was wearing these tight leather pants and DKNY shirt. "Speak of the devil."
"Hi Gwen! What are you doing here?" Tweedle-Tay asked.
"Oh TJ! It's the most -" Gwen began melodramatically. The doorbell rang. I quickly opened the door. It was Jimmy.
"Hi Hercules!" Victoria cooed embracing him.
"Hi Elmo!" Jimmy and Victoria began to kiss.
I looked up at the clock. "Oh my! The dance is going to start in ten minutes and it's a half-hour drive to school. Maybe we should be leaving now......" I gestured for Gwen and Tay to walk outside. Victoria and Jimmy quickly followed.

************************

'Ooh la la la! I love you baby! Ooh la la la la.....'
The PA system blared throughout the hall. I looked around me at the tacky carved pumpkins and cardboard cutouts out witches and ghosts. I grimaced. Jimmy and Victoria were slow dancing to Alexia and Gwen was talking to Dominique over by the punchbowl. Luckily for Tweedle-Tay, he was with his friends Jonathan and David, rather than with Gwen. The entire set-up was totally tacky. Although it had been years since I went to school in Beverly Hills, I was sure things were much better there. "Kay! Kay! Over here!" I turned around to see Jenny, who was dressed as Buffy the vampire slayer making her way towards me.
"Hi Jen," I said. "Have you seen Rod?"
"No," she said, taking my arm. "But don't worry, you'll find him eventually, he's crazy about you. The girls are over here."
Jenny and I walked over to Cordelia, Maria and Kristy who were sitting down and trying (desperately hard) to look stylish in such lowly circumstances. We all said hi. "Have you seen Brad yet?" Kristy asked, adjusting her Xena costume. "He said he'd spare a few dance for me but - you know how popular he is with the girls....."
"No," Maria replied.
"Well at least someone is sparing a dance for you. I've only been asked to dance once tonight and that was by a ninth grader," Cordelia said bitterly, studying her nails.
"Ooooo - how cute!" Jenny squealed.
I looked around the hall for Rod. I couldn't see him anywhere......
"Are you looking for Rod?" Cordelia asked. I nodded. "Well he is here. I know because I danced with him earlier. I don't know why he's not looking for you......" she said, looking concerned.
"I thought you said you'd only been asked by a ninth grader?" I said, biting my lip.
"Oh! I guess I forgot Rod. You don't mind do you?" Cordelia said, innocently.
"No, it's fine. It's not like Rod and I have a totally serious relationship." I shook my head.
"I wouldn't be trusting Cordelia with Rod if I were you," Jenny muttered.
Tweedle-Tay walked over. "Hi," he said.
"Hi TJ," Kristy said flirtatiously. "Would you like to dance?"
Tweedle-Tay looked surprised. "But I'm going with Gwen."
"Oh," Kristy said. "I didn't know you were seeing her."
"Oh no, we're just friends," Tweedle-Tay said quickly.
"TJ, you are aware that this is fancy dress?" Cordelia said critically.
"Yeah," he said.
"Then who are you going as?" Maria asked, joining in.
"Tweedle-Tay Manson. You know, from that old band Manson. People say I look like him," he said with what he thought to be a dazzling smile. I had to stop myself from laughing. My brother placed so much importance on himself. He actually thought that people remembered his alter-ego.
"Yeah, you do," Jenny said nodding.
"Mmmmm. I used to like him when I was fourteen. I thought he was way cool," Kristy said, taking my brother's arm.
"Really?" Tweedle-Tay said, somewhat surprised, as they walked onto the dance floor.
I smiled to myself and sat down. If Tay had to go out with someone, Kristy was a lot better than Gwen. Gwen came rushing over. "Where'd he go?"
"The blue bird I should follow?" Jenny asked absentmindedly. We all looked at her, confused. "Never mind, intellectual joke!"
"My boyfriend! That ugly slut has stolen my boyfriend!" Gwen protested.
"But Gwen, you can't steal your own boyfriend," Cordelia said innocently.
"And you're right here," Maria added.
"What boyfriend?" Jenny asked.
"My brother is not your boyfriend, and Kristy is not ugly," I replied.
"She's a lot prettier than you," Maria added.
"Not that that's hard," Cordelia said giggling. We all laughed.
Gwen frowned. "You guys are such bitches!" she screamed. "You think you are so cool just because you're all pretty and thin and wear nice clothes and have boyfriends and are cheerleaders and every guy in school wants to go to bed with you! But you know, that's only what YOU think!" A crowd began to form around Gwen. "Everyone else here knows what sluts you all are and most of the guys here would rather date someone like me! My friends and I are way prettier! Just because you make up your own little clique and don't let anyone else in unless they are new and look like some sort of model - because you couldn't be seen with people you initially reject - doesn't make you all desirable! It just makes you bitches! And now you have the nerve to take the only guy I've ever loved and give him to yourselves! I don't get you! You can have guys like Rod!" At this point I spotted Rod in the crowd and waved nervously to him. "Why the fuck do you have to take guys like TJ? Why do you have to take the sweet, beautiful, people and mold them into copies of yourselves? WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST GET FUCKED! GET FUCKED!!! GET FUCKED!!!" Gwen looked at us with her tear filled eyes.
Rod put his arm around Gwen and stuck his tongue in her ear. "Gwen," he said, resting his hand on her chest. "You can have guys like me. You just have to be willing to..... compromise."
I saw Gwen's painfully skinny body tense. "GET FUCKED!!!!!" She screamed. The crowd laughed. I bit my lip and looked around for my brother. He was Gwen's only male friend and, while he probably weighed thirty pounds less than Rod, was Gwen's only hope of escape. I saw Tweedle- Tay and looked at him desperately. Gwen slapped Rod in the face and cried even harder. "I hate you! I hate you all! Why don't you stand up to those bitches! Why the fuck don't you! If every one did they wouldn't be exclusive by choice, they'd have no friends!" Gwen pushed her way through the crowd, being spat on by several guys along the way. I grimaced. As she made her way out of the hall I saw my brother following her to comfort her. At least she had one friend.
"What a drama queen!" Cordelia said. The crowd nodded in agreement. "Talk about over-reacting. Kristy and TJ are allowed to dance if they want. It's not like anyone here is married or anything!" She laughed. Maria and Jenny laughed along, nervously.
I looked down at my dress. I felt an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry about Gwen, she's a slut. You saw the way she was cracking onto me," Rod said gently.
I looked up into Rod's eyes, with confusion. "Come with me, I'll take you for a drive," he said with an uncharacteristic kindness.
"I think I'm going to be sick!" I said, quickly getting up. I pushed my way through the crowd in a daze and stumbled out of the hall, snapping the heel of my shoe in the process. Walking outside, I saw Gwen and Tweedle-Tay sitting side by side on the hall steps. Maybe there was something between them. I wouldn't know. I walked over to them and sat on the other side of my brother. Gwen was sobbing, her head on Tweedle-Tay's lap and he was patting her rough hair. I wanted to cry, so badly, but I couldn't. Tay obviously loved Gwen, and I was sure that a girlfriend was more important to him than a sister. They would think I was just trying to get sympathy.
"Hey Kay," he said. "Are you okay?"
"Sure Tay," I said, smiling weakly.
"Where's Rod? Shouldn't you be with him?" Tweedle-Tay continued.
I shrugged. "He's inside."
"Why aren't you inside?" he whispered.
"I don't think I have to answer that question Tay," I said. Luckily, Gwen didn't notice my slip-up. I sighed and rested my head on my brother's shoulder.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.
I nodded.
"You don't look okay," he continued.
"I'm fine!" I protested, lifting my head. I felt dizzy and the world began to spin. "Absolutely, posit -" I began, but I couldn't finish because my dinner had come out onto the grass. I moaned.
"Yeah Kay, you're fine," Tweedle-Tay said, moving away slightly. "Absolutely, positively, fine."

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Meanwhile, in Tulsa.......

"Mom! I don't want to take Elizabeth, Kestrel and MacArthy trick-or- treating!" Grubbery complained.
"I don't want him to take us either!" Elizabeth said, pouting. "I'm eleven! I can look after Kess and Mackie, we'll be fine!"
"Yeah, they'll be fine." For once, Grubbery was actually supporting his younger sister's pleas.
"Besides, Grubbery is totally uncool," Elizabeth whispered in her mother's ear. "He listens to all that grunge stuff, which is like, so seven years ago!"
Fergie Manson shook her head. "Elizabeth, it's not that I don't trust you. Tulsa is a big, dangerous city - we have 400 000 people. In that many people there are sure to be a few psychopaths, Grubbery is old enough to protect you, you're only a little girl."
"Well there is one psychopath in this very room Mom, so I guess I see what you mean," Elizabeth said, looking at Grubbery.
"Mom, when you say psychopath, do you mean the sort of people that would lock their children in an attic?" Grubbery mused, tying his hair into a ponytail.
"Don't be smart with me Grubbery!" Fergie said, pissed off. "I'd take the kids trick-or-treating but I'm pregnant and my back hurts."
"Well it's not my fault you've never heard of contraception! I hope you get the message after you've had your - what is it? Ninth," Grubbery snapped.
Elizabeth counted on her fingers and nodded. "We do only have three bedrooms you know," she said.
"Grubbery! Elizabeth! Get ready, you ALL have to go out!" Fergie said sternly, motioning her children up the stairs.
"Tweedle-Tay didn't have to go trick-or-treating when he was fourteen!" Grubbery called.
"That's because he was - just go!" Fergie screamed. She sat down and sighed. Grubbery had been such a delinquent since he found out about the twins. He wasn't listening to pop music at all and was cursing. He was yelling at his parents too and fighting with his brothers and sisters sometimes, over things like what to watch on television. We was being a very naughty boy indeed. But the thing that worried Fergie most was, Grubbery had taken up listening to the music of her estranged cousin, Marilyn. Who knew what sort of Satanic rituals he might get involved in? Fergie's worst fears were conformed when her children returned from upstairs. Grubbery was dressed in....... black.