Sweetest Sin – Chapter Three
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the 'Mean Girls' characters. Only the original characters belong to me.
Author's Note – This chapter is more or less the springboard that gets the story moving. Although I have to warn you, Jason may come off as out of character, depending on the way you look at what happens here. You'll read soon ;).Thanks to my reviewers:

SUmMeRiTh – We both love Gretchen! Your opinion about Jason may change after you read this, though. I'm glad you're enjoying this. Thanks for the review!

godlfish demon – Thanks!

Arcadie - The one thing I didn't like about Jason was how he took Gretchen for granted (thus, Jake is created ;). I know if I were her I'd ditch Jason for Jake anyday, hehe. Thanks for reviewing!

GiGgLyGaL – I wish there were more 'Mean Girls' fics too. Glad you like this!

R1za-cam1le – Thanks for the review! I always thought a Plastic loving someone "forbidden" would be cool. I'm a band geek too, so I guess I can join the club, haha.

Wild-lotus – Thanks! The next update should be soon, so I won't keep you waiting for long ;).


The bell resounded in the nearly deserted hall excusing the students from another long day of cramming useless knowledge into their uninterested minds.

Gretchen walked out of the science lab and scanned the crowd for a sign of Jake standing nearby. He waved to her from the water fountain, welcoming her over.

She took nearly two steps when Jason took her by the arm and smiled. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Gretchen feigned a smile, "I was just, uh… walking to the parking lot." She threw a look at Jake that warned him to get out of the area.

"It's been so long since we've been able to talk," Jason said. "What do you say we go somewhere private and catch up?"

"Why not," Gretchen grudgingly agreed, allowing Jason to hold her hand. She looked over her shoulder toward the fountain, where Jake gave her a tried grin before walking in the opposite direction.

Jason led her to the projection room above the auditorium – the room that seemed to see the most action at North Shore. Gretchen knew what he was expecting from her, but she wasn't in the mood to be wasting her time with him when she could be spending it with Jake.

Jason shut the door behind him, quickly getting down to business as he pulled her in for a kiss. His actions were nowhere near as gentle or caring as Jake's, she noted, flinching under his touch. It obviously didn't go unnoticed.

Jason broke away, looking confused. "Okay, I give up. What's the matter?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to play dumb, hoping he would buy her act of innocence.

"You've been acting really distant lately," he stated. "I'd just like to know why so maybe I can help."

"There's nothing wrong. Really," she said firmly.

"I think I've figured it out."

Gretchen's breath caught in her throat.

"You're scamming me behind my back, aren't you?" he finished.

Gretchen immediately thought of Jake, but nothing ever happened between them. As much as she hoped it would, she remained loyal to Jason. "No, Jason, honestly. I would never do that to you!"

"Really?" he quipped. "Then how do you explain the other night when I stopped by your house?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied.

"Oh, I think you do. I saw his car in your driveway."

Gretchen's expression fell. Jake was simply dropping her off that night. Jason was blowing it way out of proportion with the few facts he had.

"All you have to do is own up to it. Tell me the truth," he continued.

"I'm telling you, nothing is going on with me!" Gretchen insisted.

"Don't lie to me!" Jason fumed.

"Wait, shouldn't I be the one who worries here? After all, you and Taylor Wydell have been hanging out a lot recently," Gretchen pointed out, much to Jason's dismay.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said quietly, clenching a fist in his increasing anger.

"We saw you two in the mall last week! The two of you were so close you were almost joined at the hip. It sure as hell didn't look like 'just friends' to me!" Gretchen spat, letting her penned up emotions roar.

"You have it all wrong!" Jason advanced on her, backing her closer to the corner.

"I thought I could trust you, Jason! Not watch while you practically hump Taylor's leg by the fountain. My God, you're such a –."

Jason's temper flared and before she could react he slapped her, leaving a stinging red imprint on her cheek.

Gretchen placed a hand over the throbbing welt on her cheek, cowering into the corner while she watched in horror as Jason tried to calm himself down. The sense of betrayal rose in her, crouched against the wall, not daring to make another move for fear of setting him off again.

Jason staggered backwards; staring at the hand that doubled as a weapon. He didn't know what came over him, what possessed him to lay a hand on her. He couldn't bear to look at her, instead running out the door, letting it slowly swing shut behind him.

Once alone in the darkened room, Gretchen carefully rose to her feet and leaned against the wall. Gathering her courage she walked to her Jeep, keeping a close on her surroundings and watching for Jason to pop out of every curve. She drove to the only place she knew she could, the one person she knew she could tell this to in confidence.


She pulled along the street in front of the Heron house. She grabbed her purse next to her seat and fumbled through it looking for her compact. The stinging still hadn't resided, a not-so-subtle lesson learned.

She knew better than to feed fuel to a six foot tall fire but she wasn't about to stand around and let him accuse her of jumping beds behind his back, even if she did have slightly romantic thoughts about Jake.

The left side of her face was swollen and painted a beat red. It was going to be hard to cover this up. She folded her compact up and dropped it back to her purse. Climbing out of the car, she felt herself trembling. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she had to talk to someone about this, and Cady was her best bet seeing as how she already knew about the situation with Jake.

Walking to the front door, a million thoughts were racing through her mind. She hesitated when she reached the door, almost turned around and walked right back to the car to drive off. She decided to face the challenge, despite the nagging nervousness welling up in the pit of her stomach.

Closing her eyes, she knocked on the hardwood door and waited. The seconds droned on before the door finally swung open revealing Cady's father, newspaper in hand, standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you?"

"Is Cady here? It's an emergency, I really need to talk to her," Gretchen's voice trembled with the rest of her body.

"She's in her room. Come on in," Mr. Heron ushered her inside, pushing the door shut behind her and walking to the stairs.

Cady heard her father call for her from the bottom of the stairs. She went to the origin of his voice and found a stirred up Gretchen chewing her nails, looking like a train wreck waiting to happen.

Gretchen spotted Cady when she reached the bottom of the stairs, "Cady, thank God! I need you right now."

"What's going on?"

"Can we do this in… private," Gretchen asked, the tears beginning to dam up behind her crumbling façade as she glanced to the next room where Cady's dad settled down to continue reading the newspaper.

"Follow me," Cady said and led the way to her bedroom.

Gretchen sat on the end of the bed, the brick wall she was spinning out of control towards looming closer every second. Cady sat next to her, obviously worried about what was troubling her newfound friend.

She noticed the bright red mark on Gretchen's cheek and the worry took over. "What happened to you?" she asked sympathetically, reaching out to touch the redness.

Gretchen flinched, the soreness of the memory hurt almost as much, if not more, than the actual wound itself. "It's Jason," she began, taking it slow so she wouldn't overwhelm herself and breakdown completely.

"Did he do this to you?" Cady asked, the typical best friend defensiveness kicking in.

The dam broke and the tears blazed a trail down her face, over the swollen welt. No words were needed as Cady offered a shoulder to cry on.

"He accused me of sleeping around," Gretchen managed between sobs.

"How could he think that? You've always been loyal to him," Cady responded.

"That's what I told him but it only made him more upset," Gretchen closed her eyes, reliving the frightful moment. "I brought up Taylor Wydell and it drove him over the edge. That's when he…" Gretchen's body wracked as she buried her face in Cady's embrace.

"Everything will be fine, trust me," Cady tried to comfort her.

"Please, just keep this between the two of us?" Gretchen pleaded.

"I won't tell a soul," Cady agreed, locking the secret up and throwing away the key.