Author: Kerimack
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Cruel Intentions, I just borrow and manipulate them.
Distribution: I've been getting a couple of requests from people for my fics. You can have at them just make sure my name is attached.
Rating: R
Summary: A follow up to Everything Comes Full Circle. Sydney Valmont is an ambitious sixteen year old but her life beings to turn upside down when Garret Hardgrove steps into it. Please R&R.
Authors Notes: It seems every now and then after I finish a fic I get a request for a sequel where Kathryn and Sebastian have a kid. I have always avoided the idea for two reasons: one, I already worked on a Kat/Seb family fic with Kathryn Valmont called the Story of Us which I thought was pretty good. I loved the characterization of the kids in that and never saw a reason to just do the same thing. Second, it just never appealed to me. However I got to thinking recently that I really liked the character Sydney from ECFC and thought it might be interesting to see what happens when she's a teenager so hence this fic. I have a vague idea where this story will go so if you like it let me know and I'll continue. It's a little different that my other CI stories since Kat/Seb aren't the main characters. Anyway for those who were wondering (Ali) Confessions of an Ice Princess will definitely continue probably this weekend where as I'm taking a short mini break from the angst of The Ultimate Deception but I promise it will get done. Christ that was a long note.
Chapter 1: The Prodigal Child
A new day was dawning for Sydney Valmont. Today was the day, her day to be more specific. If everything went as planned today would be the turning point in her young life. She would finally take her position at the head of Manchester Prep. Barely sixteen and only a sophomore, if she was elected Sydney would be the youngest student body president ever. The only other person to achieve such a task was her mother Kathryn.
Rising from her large canopy bed with a smile she went to the bathroom and proceeded to get ready for school. Following her daily beauty rituals which consisted of a hot shower and massage from the Swedish masseur her parents employed, Sydney stood in front of her full length mirror and admired herself. Even at a young age she knew she was beautiful. When she was a child people would always complement her parents on what a stunning little girl she was. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that with her looks also came great power. Along with her money and brains it made her a nearly unstoppable force.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror she knew the first thing she would do when elected: try and get rid of the horrible uniforms. The blue plaid skirt and white dress shirt did little to enhance her figure. Standing a little over 5'7 her body was one every boy dreamed about. She had shapely legs, a firm stomach and great breasts which she showed of with an easy graceful manor. Sydney had also inherited her mothers silky dark hair and porcelain skin along with her fathers eyes and smile. She was a perfect blending of the two and she had always been grateful for that.
After spending ten minutes trying to raise her skirt without it being terribly noticeable Sydney left her room and headed down to breakfast. Before she even got there though her fathers voice rang out "you're such a bitch."
"Eat me asshole" her mother answered back with the same snarky tone.
Sydney walked into the room just in time to see her father lean against her mother and volley back "maybe later." When Kathryn smiled in response Sydney rolled her eyes and hoped they'd notice they weren't alone before their conversation went any further. Luckily Sebastian looked up just in time to see his daughter. With a smile he told her "you didn't hear that."
"Yeah right" she said turning her nose up. As annoying as it was to walk in on her parents in the middle of one of their foreplay sessions it actually made Sydney sort of happy. Almost everyone she knew including her friends parents were either divorced or remarried but not her parents and because of that she couldn't help but be a little proud. They had been married for seventeen years and yes they did have the occasional screaming match but they always made up in the end. Hell they even still had sex a fact that Sydney could go the rest of her life without knowing.
Starting at elementary school Sydney began to realize how lucky she was to have Kathryn Merteuil and Sebastian Valmont as her parents. No kid in Manchester had a cooler father than her. Besides the fact that he was charming, brilliant, funny and cool her father also loved her more than anything in the world and always made sure she knew it. Most of her friends thought it was weird that she still hung out with her dad but she could care less what those wanna be's thought. Sebastian took her on trips, lavished her with gifts and was even teaching her to drive his vintage jag. He didn't even let her mother drive his prized car.
If Sydney adored her father she idolized her mother. At a very young age Sydney noticed the power her mother had over other people and she always wanted to emulate it. Everyone in their society worshipped her even though most of them didn't know the real her. But Sydney did and because of that she felt special. Like her and her father were a part of this special group were they were the only members of. To the out side world Kathryn was what every woman wished to be and what every man wanted. At thirty five she was one of the richest women in the world running a publishing empire. On top of that she was still gorgeous, graceful and charming. Still Sydney and Sebastian knew the real Kathryn, the women with the intricate mind who crafted the perfect image everyone adored.
Taking a seat at the large table Sydney studied her mother as she drank her coffee. Getting lost in thought she wondered if she would ever be able to live up to her mothers legacy. Sometimes she didn't think she could. "So are you ready for today?" Kathryn asked interrupting her thought.
Smiling confidently she answered "of course."
"Are you sure want to do this Syd?" Sebastian inquired.
"Yes" she sighed.
Turning around Kathryn looked at her husband "why are you so against this?'
"I'm not" he explained as he took a seat across from his daughter "it's just she's still a sophomore and student body president is a lot of work. All I'm suggesting is you do it next year. Why waste all your free time at school? You know what I was doing at your age?"
"Yeah I've heard the rumors" Sydney said with a smirk. "Mrs. Johnson still gets nervous every time you come to school. But this is important daddy. Do you have any idea the amount of power that comes with student body president?"
"Oh why does this sound so familiar?" Sebastian asked as he glanced over at his wife.
Kathryn shrugged "don't look at me. The girl can think for herself."
"Damn straight" her daughter replied. "Anyway this election is practically in the bag. I mean what loser in that school would ever run against me and win? Everyone knows I'm the next student body president. Steven Reynolds is even throwing me a victory party on Friday night at his parents-"
"No fucking way" her father growled. "I don't want you anywhere near that loser or his god forsaken family."
"Daddy! You don't even know him you just don't like his asshole father because he dated mom. Well that was a million years ago and besides his parents won't even be there. Why would they?"
"That's not the point" Kathryn sighed.
"Oh come on mom it's not like I actually like him or anything. I would never get involved with him he's just throwing a party." This wasn't entirely true, Sydney was a little bit interested in Steven but she had heard the cliff notes version of her mothers history with Court Reynolds and knew it was best to downplay any interest she might have in his son.
Kathryn glanced over at Sebastian who with a heavy sigh finally said "ok fine you can go just as long as you promise to stay away from all Reynolds."
She nodded happily "I promise. Oh I have to go I'm going to be late."
"Do you want me to drive you?" Sebastian offered.
"No thanks daddy" she gave him a quick kiss. "I'll talk to you later."
"Sydney wait, take these" Kathryn took her diamond earrings off and handed them to her daughter. "They're for you're victory speech. Good luck"
Sydney smiled as she quickly put them on. "Thanks mom" she said after a quick hug. As she headed out of the room Sydney turned around and glanced back at her parents. Her father was leaning in and whispering something to her mother that made her smile. Watching them she had an epiphany of sorts. Sydney knew what she wanted: power, success and underlings hanging on her every word. However secretly the thing she wanted most of all was a guy who looked at her the same way her father looked at her mother.
* * * * * *
Following second period Sydney made her way to the girls bathroom all ready high of her victory that was sure to come. All morning her fellow classmates, even the juniors and seniors were wishing her luck and promising her their vote once she was elected. However if, like she suspected, no one else ran against her she would win automatically and there would be no need to kiss ass in order secure a few votes. So far it looked like no one was brave or stupid enough to run against her.
"So are you excited?" Jennifer Adams asked as she followed her friend into the empty bathroom.
Sydney shrugged playing it cool "it's just another day Jen."
"Oh please cut the shit" she laughed "I know you've practically been counting down the days for this, you can't fool me."
Although she was right Sydney didn't show it and instead remained cool and confident just like her mother had taught her. "Whatever, look I'm just anxious about the victory party on Friday. Do you think I should ware that new sheer black dress?"
Jen grinned "if you do be prepared to spend most of the night on your back."
Sydney smiled at the idea than confided "I've been putting off Steven for a little while but depending on how the party goes, Friday might be his lucky night."
As the two girls laughed the bathroom doors swung open and Brenda Parcel and Courtney Matthew's came rushing in. "Oh my god have you heard?" they exclaimed almost in perfect unison.
With a sigh Sydney turned back to her reflection and reapplied her lip gloss "heard what?"
"Garret Hardgrove is running against you. There is going to be an election!"
At the news Sydney's heart stopped and she froze momentarily. Taking a deep breath she spun back around and hissed "what?"
"He just announced it"
Suddenly her cool demeanor flew out the window and she yelled "that scholarship loser is trying to run against me? No fucking way!"
Courtney and Brenda eyes went wide in surprise at their friends sudden mood swing. "Well he is a senior, and really smart, and gorgeous-"
"Who gives a shit!"
"Well if memory serves you did last year. Admit it Syd you totally wanted him" Jennifer told her with her usual sly grin.
Her other friends turned to her and cautiously asked "is that true?"
"Of course not" she barked while glaring at Jen. "Garret might be older but he's a total nobody. Let him run against me because there's not a chance in hell he'll win." Then without waiting for a reply from her friends she grabbed her bag and charged out of the room.
"Where are you going?"
"To have a chat with the enemy" she called back before marching down the hallway.
After searching the second floor Sydney headed down to the auditorium where she found him surrounded by a group of admirers. Standing towards the back of the room she glared at him, seething with hatred. She couldn't believe the nerve of that asshole to actually try and run against her. Then again she didn't know why she was so surprised. Garret after all was a Hardgrove.
Sydney had long ago heard from her mother all about the Hardgroves or more specifically Annette. She knew her mother despised her and in Sydney's opinion she had good reason. When she was a child Annette was her grade school teacher but for some reason she was transferred to another class. Since then the Valmont's had little to no contact with Annette. Then just as Sydney was starting Manchester Garrett moved to town. He was Annette's younger brother who had spent his time between Kansas and New York before his father died which was when Annette took him in. The only reason he got into a prestigious school like Manchester was because his father was the headmaster before he crocked and because he was supposedly smart.
Although they weren't in the same classes it wasn't hard to figure out that Garrett was much more intelligent than most of the students. As much as Sydney hated to admit it he was also gorgeous. Tall with unruly dark hair and intense dark eyes Garret was the guy every girl was after ever since he moved permanently to New York. During her freshman year Sydney had a crush on him but never acted on it realizing all it would be was sex (which at the time was an activity she was just getting use to) so she had forgotten about him and tried to push him out of her mind. However as she stood watching him she couldn't help but feel a slight rush go through her body but she ignored it as she reminded herself why she was there.
Finally after a few minutes his hanger on'ers started to depart so Sydney took the opportunity to charge up to him. "You son of a bitch" she hissed.
Slowly Garrett turned around and when he saw her he smiled "well if it isn't my competition. I thought you'd show up sooner or later. How are you Syd?"
It irked her to no end that he called her Syd like they were friends or something when they were far from it. "Look I don't know what you think you're trying to do-"
"What I'm trying to do?" He repeated back with mild amusement "I'm running for student body president and I plan on winning."
"Like hell" she spat back coldly. "I've worked way to hard for this to have some middle class reject come and steal it away from me."
Garret flinched at her words but still held his own. "Worked hard for it? I hardly call servicing the football team on your knees hard work."
"Fuck you!"
"Oh I see I hit a nerve. Well that's good because all you money and popularity isn't going to win you this princess and if I were you I would get ready for a whole lot of disappointment because I will win this election."
"Please spare me. I know for a fact you could give two shits about this election. You're only doing this because I'm a Valmont."
Garrett smiled as he took a step towards her. His hand reached out and wiped a strand of her dark hair from her face. "Is that what I'm doing?"
They stared at one another for one intense moment before Sydney told him in a low voice "I will be the next student body president."
"We'll see" taking a step back Garrett offered her his hand. "May the best competitor win."
Sydney look down at his hand and turned her nose up as she crossed her arms to her chest. Chuckling slightly he said "have it your way. Now if you'll excuse me I have some things to attend to. See you around Syd."
As he left she was about to yell after him not to call her that but for some reason she didn't. Actually she sort of liked that he called her Syd. Pushing the thought aside Sydney collapsed back in one of the theater seats and contemplated her plan of attack.
- to be continued (Please Review)