Hi all – just one little note here. In this chapter, all italics are meant to be singing. You'd probably figure that out fast enough without me! Enjoy!
Part 4: The First Day of School
-Wednesday, October 3rd, 1999-
Margot and Julie relaxed onto the couches in the common TV area on the second floor near their rooms. Since all the rest of the group had gone to school, the two girls could relax and just hang out for a while until the rest came home.
Julie was watching television, comparing the shows in Japan to the ones over in America. Margot was thoroughly ensconced in a book that Darien had lent her, a nice, easy science fiction story. Julie smiled as she glanced up from the television. "This is the life," Julie said, "No homework, no school, no teachers nagging us, and no uniforms! I could get used to this!"
"Oh, didn't I tell you two?" Celia inquired as she walked down the stairs from her private office on the fourth floor. "I signed you up for school this morning. You are going to the same school as Serena and the rest." Two thuds resounded through the room as a pair of jaws hit the floor.
"But Celia! I didn't think that was possible!" Margot cried out in astonishment. "After all, we have no guardians in real life and we don't have our records or anything. Heck, we don't even know if our school exists over here. There isn't any possible way that you could have managed to get through all the technical details of the applications." Celia smiled as she pulled two twin papers from her briefcase. Sometimes, being an influential member of the school board had its advantages.
"Actually, these two little papers say otherwise. Maybe you would care to read them yourselves. I'll be downstairs." With that, she handed the two startled teens their accepted applications and walked off down the stairs. The two girls read over the official looking documents and gaped. Somehow, Celia had signed them up for the local school.
According to the papers, Margot and Julie were exchange students from America. As Ryo's cousins, their guardian was also Celia. As for school transcripts, Celia had cited that although both girls had rather good grades, the school they had formerly attended had had a little mishap with the filing and a few transcripts, including the two in question, were missing.
The two girls finished reading and stared at the papers they held in astonishment. Not only were they now Ryo's cousins, they were signed up for school! Two minutes later, they found Celia enjoying a cup of tea in the kitchen. She looked up as the two girls entered the room. Both teens had fixed their most pitiful puppy dog looks on their faces and were approaching Celia carefully.
"Dear, dear Celia…"
"Surely this can all be straightened out! After all…"
"We were already going to school over in America and we don't really need to take classes here, do we? After all, no one would know if we didn't go to school."
"And we will be really good, we promise. We'll keep our rooms clean and not go out into town during school hours and help you around the house and office. Heck, I will personally clean the entire house from top to bottom and inside out. Just please, please, please…"
"Don't force us to go back to that torture room they call school and have our heads once again stuffed with information."
Celia looked pensive for a moment. She leaned back and observed the two girls now groveling on the floor at her feet over her teacup. She tapped her fingertip against the China. "As tempting as that offer to clean the house from top to bottom is, I am afraid that it is too late for negotiations. You two are going to school, whether you like it or not. I was lenient and waited this long so you could settle in, but I am afraid that I must insist that you two attend school tomorrow. How, I am not going to change my mind. I've already bought your school uniforms. You two are attending school and that is final."
"We'll see about that," Margot muttered as she walked out of the room with Julie.
***
The next day, general chaos exploded through the house, as usual, as the group
began to get themselves ready for school.
Celia had presented Julie and Margot with their brand new school outfits
and a pair of book bags. The two girls
dressed slowly and joined the rest for breakfast. Having no books, they picked up their bags
and waited as the rest got ready.
As the rest of the girls and guys walked out of the door chattering, the two reluctant ones hung back. They snuck backwards away from the gaggle and tried to run for the nearby entry hall closet.
"Not today girls," Celia said as she pushed the two protesting girls out the door and into the crowd, swinging the door shut behind them.
Margot immediately latched onto the doorknob of the closed front door and clung there, wailing.
"Celia, you can't send us back to that prison the call a school! Please don't make us go, please!" She wailed again, tears coursing down her cheeks.
Nearby, Alex stopped adjusting the helmet she was wearing. Leaning on her bike, the bike that both her and Michelle rode to school, she grimaced. "Jeez, I thought only Serena could cry like that," She said. Serena glared at the blonde. "Sorry Serena," Alex apologized, "No offense princess, but you did tend to cry loudly like that in the beginning. I just never thought that that decibel level could be duplicated by a human being." Margot's wails cut off mid-vowel. She hiccupped and looked over at Alex, glaring at the grinning girl.
As she loosened her grip on the doorknob, Kento and Ryo grabbed her, one by each arm, and dragged her off. Nearby, Julie attempted to sneak away unnoticed into the shrubbery surrounding the walkway. She had almost made it behind a particularly high bush when a hand reached out and snagged the sailor collar of her shirt.
Sage grinned at the shorter girl as she struggled to free herself from his iron grip. She finally gave up with a sigh, not willing to rip her uniform. Rowen moved nearer and helped Sage by securing one of Julie's wrists in his larger hand. Julie looked up at the two boys with big puppy eyes.
"Tough for you. If I have to go to school, so do you," Sage said as he tugged her back to join the group, which no included a struggling Margot being propelled along by her two not so friendly escorts.
"Nonononononono!! Let go of me! Don't make me go back to the evil place they call school. I don't want to! You can't make me. It's gotta be some kind of child abuse or something," cried Margot as she was dragged along the street backwards. Ami piped up.
"How is it child abuse? And what is it you hate about school so much?" The two girls looked at Ami in shock. "It's just school in general and the classes. If we have to take one more class like Social Justice…" Margot shivered as she let her words trail off.
"Social Justice?" Ami asked.
"Just don't ask. Class from hell. That about sums it up," Julie said simply. The group continued their march in silence.
Rowen let got of Julie, trusting her to not run away, but he hovered nearby just in case while Kento and Ryo still dragged Margot along, not trusting her to stay, rather than run back home. Julie dragged her feet as she walked along next to Cye. Cye looked at the scowling girl and smiled. "Frankly Julie," he said, "I am surprised you didn't latch yourself to that doorknob too." Julie glared at him.
"Margot beat me to it."
***
At lunch that day, everyone sat down outside in a group to eat their
lunches. Not surprisingly, the only two
missing were…yup! Margot and Julie had
apparently disappeared after receiving their food from the lunch line. The group laughed.
"I wouldn't want to be those two when Celia finds out they ditched school at lunch," Raye said, laughing as she dug into her food. Sage laughed.
"After all they've gone through, I wouldn't put it past the two of them." Cye smiled.
"I doubt they really ditched school. After all, they know Celia would use their rears for target practice. So, it's highly unlikely that they ditched. They may be a bit out of it, but they are not that stupid." Ryo chuckled and said, "Are you willing to bet on that Cye?" At that moment, an acorn fell out of the tree above him and hit him on the head. Ryo glanced up, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Rubbing his head, he turned back to the conversation.
***
Up in the tree above them, Margot and Julie perched in the branches, holding
their sandwiches in one hand while eavesdropping on the conversation. Julie dusted her hands, proud of the perfect
aim she had with the acorn she had dropped.
"We gotta teach those guys a lesson!" said
Margot as she bit into the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "They have to learn that it doesn't pay to
laugh at the two of us. After all, we
nay not have their special powers, but we are perfectly able to get back at
them in other ways."
"I think I have an idea," Julie said as the surveyed the five boys below her, grinning evilly. "Just you guys wait! It's payback time!"
***
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Yes, I'm sure this is going to work. Do we have the video camera?" Julie asked Margot as the two of them stealthily made their way through the training room to where the guys' shower room was.
The two girls had overheard the Ronin Warriors discussing going out after training and that they were just going to shower and get ready downstairs before they left, which would save time. Of course, Julie and Margot happened to overhear that piece of information and decided to use it against them in the form of revenge for dragging them off to school earlier that morning, despite the fact that the two girls had been vociferously protesting.
"Yes, we have the video camera. This is going to be fun," Margot said with a mischievous grin on her face as she handed the camera to Julie.
"Yeah, I just hope we don't get caught." Margot gave Julie a stern look.
"Don't tell me that you're having doubts now. I thought that you were confident that this was going to work. After all, it was your idea so you should have no worries." Julie glared at her best friend.
"I may have cooked up this revenge scheme, but that doesn't mean that I'm not worried we're going to get caught." Julie paused and smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides," she continued, "if we do get caught, it's going to take the guys a long time to catch up to us because they very well aren't going to run after us naked. They aren't stupid enough to do that."
"Oh, are you so sure of that, Julie?" Margot asked, "If you ask me, I think they can be very stupid."
"Why do you say that?" Julie asked as the made sure that the video camera worked, half-paying attention to Margot's words.
"Well, they messed with us and that was rather dumb of them because now they're going to pay the price." Julie chuckled slightly in agreement.
"Well," Julie said, lowering the camera away from her face, "I think we're ready to rock and roll." The two of them carefully, and as quietly as they could, pushed the door open, not wanting to alert the guys and announce their presence.
As the two girls slowly moved their way into the room, they could hear the sounds of the guys getting ready to take their showers. "What exactly are we looking for?" Margot whispered to Julie as she crept along behind her.
"I don't know. Anything weird they do in the shower that we can use to get them back with. They're guys and when they get together, they do weird things. It's like they turn into 8-year olds." They heard the sound of running water from the showers at the other end of the room and peered beyond a corner to see steam rising from 5 shower stalls, each stall complete with its own set of feet peeking out from underneath the shower curtains and a head visible from above the curtain. Wordlessly, Julie raised the camera and started filming, zooming out so she could capture all 5 showers stalls.
There were no words or anything out of the ordinary from any of the guys for a few moments before the two girls saw movement coming from the shower curtain that was in the middle of the 5 and Ryo poked his head out of behind the shower curtain. Julie and Margot held their breaths, praying to a higher deity that they wouldn't get caught. Luckily for them, the spot that they had picked out was one where the guys couldn't see them, but Margot and Julie could see the guys.
"Hey Kento," Ryo said, "Turn on the music. I need a little background noise." Julie and Margot sighed with relief, which went unheard by the guys due to the sound of the running water that masked the sound, as they realized that Ryo was talking to Kento. A hand and a head snaked out of behind the shower curtain at the far left of the row, which Margot and Julie recognized as a wet Kento, and reached out for a stereo that was placed on a high shelf by the showers. "Roger, dodger," Kento said with a smile on his face as he turned on the stereo.
There was silence for a few moments before Margot and Julie heard the sounds of a rather upbeat and sensual song coming out of the speakers. Within moments, the two girls had identified the song as Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time". What happened next, the two were not prepared for. As Britney's voice wafted out of the speakers, one of the guys began to sing.
Oh baby, baby
Julie and Margot's ears perked up as they identified the singer who was singing along as Ryo. They looked at Ryo's stall, the camera all the while focused on all 5, and were just in time to see Ryo begin to dance. The only reason why they could tell he was dancing was because they could see a faint outline of his body from behind the shower curtain, as they could with all the other guys. The two girls' mouths were agape as they continued to watch Ryo sing.
Oh baby, baby
Oh baby, baby
How was I supposed to know
That something wasn't right here
Oh baby, baby
I shouldn't have you go
And now you're out of sight, yeah
Julie and Margot could barely contain their laughter as they watched Ryo dance, him stepping around in a circle, all the while lathering up his arms with soap. They were surprised at how good Ryo could sing, but it seemed that, for the moment, he was finished singing.
Suddenly, the singer changed to Cye, who came in singing with a better singing voice than Ryo.
Show me
How you want it to be
Tell me baby
'Cause I need to know now
Oh, because.
The two girls watched as Cye grooved in his own shower stall, marveling at how crazy the two guys were. As the chorus approached, all of the guys chimed in, each of them doing their own dance.
My loneliness
Is killing me (and I)
I must confess
I still believe (still believe)
When I'm not with your I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time.
The chorus ended and the small instrumental started up. The two girls were ready to explode with mirth. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. It just wasn't possible. Yet, it was perfect for their purposes. They knew what they had to do with the footage. As the two were planning what to do, the second verse started up, Sage singing along with Britney.
Oh baby, baby
The reason I breathe is you
Boy you've got me blinded
Oh pretty baby
There's nothing that I wouldn't do
It's not the way I planned it
Margot and Julie thought it was hilarious as they saw Sage, or rather the outline of his body, shimmy up and down the beat of the music, a definitely feminine move. But, what was funnier, was what Rowen started doing as he sang.
Show me
How you want it to be
Tell me baby
'Cause I need to know now
Oh, because
As Rowen sang, the loofah scrub that he was holding in his hand flew up in the air and he started swinging it in the air, his body moving in little waves. Margot covered her mouth to keep from laughing and Julie bit the inside of her lip; it was all they could do to keep from exploding as the 5 guys started singing again.
My loneliness
Is killing me (and I)
I must confess
I still believe (still believe)
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
The chorus ended for a second time and Kento began singing, acting out the words with great melodramatics.
Oh baby, baby
Oh baby, baby
Oh baby, baby
How was I supposed to know
Oh pretty baby
I shouldn't have let you go
Kento, once he was finished, handed the spotlight onto Ryo, who began singing again with great energy.
I must confess
That my loneliness
Is killing me now
Don't you I still believe
That you will be here
And give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
The guys all started singing together, singing the chorus one last time as a group.
My loneliness
Is killing me (and I)
I must confess
I still believe (still believe)
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
Ryo, once again, took the lead as the other guys backed him up with the chorus. Ryo, whose hands were working to the beat of the music, had somehow managed to get all of his shampooed hair on top of his head and manipulated it into a gigantic cowlick. But, that didn't seem to matter to Ryo as he sang with the other guys as backup singers.
I must confess
(My loneliness)
That my loneliness
(Is killing me)
Is killing me now
(I must confess)
Don't you know I still believe
(I still believe)
That you will be here
And give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time
The song faded out and Margot and Julie had had enough watching them in the shower. As the music changed to a totally different song, Julie and Margot burst out of the shower room, letting a few loud giggles escape their mouths. The guys heard the giggles and Rowen poked his head out of the shower. "What was that, you guys?" he asked.
"I don't know," Sage said, peering over the shower curtain, "But it doesn't really matter. It probably came from outside or something."
"I hope nobody heard us singing," Rowen said as he put his head back in the shower stall.
"Nobody heard us, Rowen," Ryo said, "You're just being suspicious." Rowen only shrugged.
***
Margot and Julie burst out of the shower room and ran until they reached the
stairs until they burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "That was the funniest thing I have ever
seen," Margot forced out between fits of laughter. Julie couldn't respond, she was laughing so
hard; the only thing she could do was turn off the video camera and clutch her
sides in laughter.
By the time the two of them had calmed down, they were totally out of breath and their sides ached from laughing so hard. Margot wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and she looked down at Julie, who was sitting on the stairs, stabilizing her breathing.
"What do we do now?" Margot asked Julie.
"We figure out what we're going to do with this tape. But, before that, we have to edit the end slightly to cut out our laughing."
"Oh, let's get to it then," Margot said, "This is going to be great," Margot finished, rubbing her hands together evilly. Julie smiled up at her best friend before they wordlessly went upstairs to plan the Ronin Warriors' humiliation.
***
A few hours later, after the guys had gone and come back from grocery shopping,
which was what they were being sent out to do, Margot and Julie had snuck down
to the family room, courtesy of the secret passageway that led from underneath
the stairs and snaked around the house until it reached the family room.
Once they had arrived in the family room, the two girls silently pushed the television into the ballroom and hooked it up to the wonderful stereo system that was in the ballroom for when there were parties held there. Luckily for them, the stereo system could be hooked up to the intercom and the sound could be blasted through the house. Margot held the tape in her hand as Julie finished hooking up the VCR to the television, the final preparation step. Julie stood up and looked at Margot. "Are you ready to do this?" Julie asked Margot, "Because once we put that tape in, there's no turning back.
"I am so ready to go through with this," Margot said. Margot sniffed the air and smelled the sweet aromas of Lita's cooking. "Besides," Margot said, "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can eat. I'm hungry."
"Ok, then," Julie said, "Put in the tape and let's get back up to our room. Everyone is in the dining room, waiting for us to come down to dinner, so they'll all come into this room at the sound of the tape starting." Margot smiled in affirmation and put the tape in the VCR. She then turned on the TV, pressed the play button on the VCR, turned on the stereo, and finally turned on the intercom as sounds of running water came out of the stereo speakers, which the intercom picked up and sent through the house.
By the time that Julie and Margot had snuck back into the family room and into the secret passageway, everyone else in the house, who was in the dining room, could hear the sounds of something coming out of the ballroom. All of them extremely confused, the Universal Warriors moved into the ballroom to see the TV in there. On the television screen were 5 shower stalls, all of them occupied. No one knew what was going on until they heard Ryo's voice coming out of the speakers. "Hey Kento, turn on the music. I need a little background noise."
"Roger, dodger," Kento said as he turned on the music. Everyone started laughing, except for the Ronin Warriors, as they watched the 5 guys sing and dance to Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" on the television. The guys knew they had been set up and they knew who had done it; the only people they knew who could set this up.
As the rest of the group watched the video, Darien, who was still laughing, said, "Now I know why I don't take showers downstairs. Something like this could happen." Once the video ended, the Ronin Warriors, who were absolutely livid, turned around and began marching upstairs to Julie and Margot's rooms. The other 11 warriors followed, laughing the whole way. They also knew who had done it and wanted to congratulate the two girls.
The Universal Warriors reached Margot's room and Ryo opened the door and marched into Margot's room to see the two girls studiously doing their homework. Margot was sitting at her desk, answering questions out of a history book, and Julie was lying down on Margot's bed, reading for English. The two looked like they had been sitting there since the moment they got home because they were still in their school uniforms.
Margot and Julie both looked up at the group, their eyes wide with innocence. "What's going on? Is it dinner time?" Margot asked, feigning innocence.
"You know what's going on," Sage growled, "You set that whole thing up."
"What whole thing?" Julie asked, just as innocent as Margot, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do. You filmed us in the shower, singing to Britney Spears," Cye said, anger creeping into his voice. The two girls burst out into laughter from what seemed like the thought of the 5 guys singing to Britney Spears when in fact they were laughing at the memory of seeing them singing to Britney Spears, but nobody knew that. "You?" Margot asked.
"Singing to Britney Spears?" Julie asked.
"That's the funniest thing I've ever heard," Margot said with humor in her voice.
"Yeah, I wish I had thought of filming them doing that. I'd sure like to take the blame for that prank." The Ronin Warriors watched the two girls with scrutinizing gazes. They had no proof that the girls did it, so they couldn't get them on it, but they knew that it was Margot and Julie who filmed them in the shower.
Frustrated at not being able to call them on it with physical proof, the Ronin Warriors left Margot's room, slamming the door behind them. The other Universal Warriors were still in Margot's room and as soon as the door slammed shut, all 11 of them began applauding. Margot and Julie both took bows and straightened up with smiles on their faces. "I must say," Serena said, "Excellent job. That was the best thing I've seen in ages."
"I agree," Raye said, "It was funny to see them dancing in the shower. You guys are evil." Margot and Julie only looked at each other. "We know," they said in unison as Darien opened the door and led the group out, including Margot and Julie, as they all walked back down to dinner.
****************
Hi again! Just wanted to drop a note in here. I hope you all enjoyed that little humorous escapade. There is an interlude that comes between this and the next chapter, but as I haven't quite finished it, it may be updated into the story later, so keep your eyes peeled for it. Otherwise, look for an update later this week, maybe early this weekend.
Also, to Ninmast – you know, I never really thought about the questions and ideas you brought up, but FateChica firmly believes that there must be a parallel universe somewhere where this story exists. I don't know what to think, but you certainly got my mind turning with your review. And don't worry, there're still three more books for you to try and be first to review on! : )
Aphrodite2 – thanks for the review! I can't believe you read book two five times! Wow, talk about liking something. I mean, I've read book 3 several times since we wrote it, but then, I'm coauthor. Thanks for the great review and I hope you'll continue sharing your opinion with us!
And everyone else who has reviewed, you are the bestest. And if you haven't reviewed – we do appreciate you comments and constructive criticisms, so feel free! : ) ~DestinyBabe
