Sandy and I were in the kitchen when Rose walked in wearing her pajamas. I was wearing a red tee that with BYE in white letters on and jean shorts with embroidered flowers on them.
"Do I have a fever? I think I have a fever or the chills." She stated. Yeah, girl chills, but you couldn't get chills without a fever. "Since recently, I've been feeling sick."
"You're not feeling well?" Sandy asked before Rose let out one of the fakest coughs I had ever heard.
"Maybe it's the Summer flu?" I suggested. No one laughed at that. I thought it was funny.
"Yeah, it's December, but it's possible." She agreed. I couldn't help but wonder how she didn't get it. I decided to try again.
"You should take Vick's Dayquil for it." I quipped. Still nothing. Tough room.
"Do you not want to go to school?" Sandy asked.
"Yes, Dad, I want to go to school." Rose responded. "I am just worried about infecting others."
"You're right. Maybe we should take you to the emergency room just to be sure." Sandy retorted.
"Or I could stay home and try to sleep it off." Rose suggested. At that point, I decided subtlety wasn't working.
"You know what else is a good idea?" I retorted. I really wasn't in the mood for games anymore. "Going to school and apologizing to Summer and Vicki for two-timing the two of them."
"No, and no why would I do that?" She asked. Well, it proves that you're not a bitch, for one.
"Oh, the Summer flu. I just got it." Sandy replied with a chuckle. He then gave me a pat on the back. "That was good."
"It's not my fault that they both tried to kiss me on Thanksgiving." Rose argued. "What was I supposed to do, not kiss them and hurt their feelings?"
"It seems like you already did." Sandy pointed out.
"Perhaps, but what about me? They attacked me with their lips. I am the victim here." She replied. She was making me want to hit her.
"Hey, how come you're not dressed. You're going to be late." Kirsten declared as she walked into the kitchen wearing her robe.
"And so are you." Sandy replied. "Or is that what women wear to yoga-lates these days? Taryn called saying today was the first day of your yoga-lates workshop and you can't be late."
"I don't know if I'm gonna go. I'm not feeling well." She declared. I could see where Rose got it from.
"See, it's contagious." Rose reasoned.
"You know, Honey, you might still be a little hungover." Sandy remarked as she got some coffee.
"From what?" Kirsten asked in offense.
"Probably from getting drunk and passing out on Thanksgiving." Rose remarked. She didn't have any room to judge.
"Hey, I had two glasses of wine." Kirsten argued. That wasn't true. "Okay, maybe three and I'm sure that Julie Cooper has spread all town that Kirsten Cohen has a drinking problem."
"That's why you have to go to yoga-lates." Sandy told her. "Otherwise they'll assume you're sleeping off a hangover."
"And you need to go to school and face Summer and Vicki or they'll think you're afraid." I added. I was glad to be on the winning side.
"Hey, I'm not afraid of Summer and Vicki." She argued. I then reminded of her of Summer's rage blackouts. "Okay, I'm not afraid of Vicki."
"So, you're going to school." I declared.
"And you're going to yoga-lates." Sandy told Kirsten.
"You just like saying that." Kirsten replied. I couldn't help but wonder what a combination of yoga and Pilates would be like.
"Yoga-lates? I do." Sandy agreed before he looked at me. "Yoga-lates."
"Yoga-lates." I repeated.
"I wanna know why these two are so smug." Kirsten said to her daughter.
"Because for once they've done nothing wrong." Rose pointed out. I hadn't done anything wrong since I had gotten here. Okay, there was the Donna thing, but that was more Rose's fault.
"That's true." Sandy declared before he clinked his mug against mine. "Here's to you."
"Back at you." I replied before I took a sip of my juice. It was good juice.
"Enjoy it, because knowing the two of you, it won't last." Kirsten replied. Again, it was more likely Rose would get in trouble than I would.
Unfortunately, because of the delay, Rose and I got to school later than usual and I didn't have time to see Kaitlin before class.
"So, this week will be your first group acting exercise. I will give you and your partner a scene and you will perform it in front of the class." Ava declared.
"Can we choose our partners?" Hadley questioned.
"When as an actor will you get to choose your partner?" Ava countered. "Unless you're involved in the production somehow, you usually won't. Sometimes you will have to act with someone that you might not like. I, for one, did not like playing Angelina Jolie's daughter in Homeless but I still did it."
She then started to go down the list of names.
"Rhiannon, you will be working with Holly." Ava declared. I then looked over to Holly. I forgot that she was in the class because she never really participated much unless it was mandatory. "You two will be working on a scene from one of my favorite movies: DEBS. Also, I will say that no one is allowed to rehearse here after school. Part of this assignment is going out of your comfort zone."
At lunch, I went and sat with Kaitlin and Rose while Hadley joined us.
"I can't believe you're with Holly." Rose remarked.
"Why is that a bad thing? Everyone knows where lives." Hadley pointed out. Apparently, Holly threw the best parties in the whole school.
"There's some not so good history between the two of them." Kaitlin explained. "But your teacher does have a point. You don't always get to choose who you're acting with. Who are you with, Hadley?"
"Marcy Ross. We're doing High School Musical." Hadley explained. I already knew that but Kaitlin and Rose didn't.
"I like Marcy. She's nice." Rose replied.
"You need to stop talking about other girls, especially ones who aren't Vicki or Summer." I told her. "Make up your mind before you lose both of them."
"Hey, I'm the victim here." Rose stated.
"Don't tell us. Tell Summer and Vicki." Kaitlin told her.
"Your lives would make some great stories for my dad's show." Hadley commented.
"So, what are you and Holly doing?" Kaitlin asked me. This wasn't going to be easy.
"We're doing DEBS." I answered. "She's going to be Amy and I'm Lucy."
"You're doing a romantic scene with her?" Kaitlin asked. She sounded worried.
"It's not romantic. It's just flirty." I replied.
"Who knows maybe you'll see a different side of her and become friends." Rose interrupted.
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"No, that would be weird." Rose replied. "I mean what would you two even talk about?"
"Well, there's soccer." I pointed out.
Later, Kaitlin and I were in the bathroom when Vicki walked in. She didn't walk in on anything because we weren't sleezy enough to make out in the bathroom. We were just working on our makeup.
"Were you talking to Rose?" She asked.
"Well she is my sister." I pointed out. "I can't exactly avoid her."
"What did she say about me?" The British girl questioned.
"I am not getting in the middle of this. We are not getting in the middle of this, but she didn't say anything about you." I declared. "I can tell you where she parks the car, though."
At that point, Summer walked into the bathroom. The two of them exchanged looks and I was suddenly uncomfortable.
"I'm done." I declared as I dragged Kaitlin out. I didn't even care that my makeup wasn't finished.
"It doesn't sound like there's a catfight going on in there." Kaitlin replied.
"All I can say is that that is a hell of a love triangle." I replied. "I don't know if I could date a transgender girl, mostly because I want to be with you so much."
"So, I'm pretty sure that my mom is telling people that yours is a drunk." Kaitlin replied. Well my mom is a drunk, but I knew she was talking about Kirsten, who I was pretty sure wasn't. Also, that wasn't a nice thing to say about your boyfriend's daughter.
After school, I decided to go to Holly's house. Well I didn't decide it then. It was what we agreed on. However, before I left, Rose told me that apparently Summer and Vicki were friends now. I rang the doorbell and it was answered by her mom. She looked like an older version of Holly with brown hair, right down to the eyebrows. It was probably something genetic.
"You must be Rhiannon." She said. "Holly got just got here too. She'll be right down."
At that point, Greg Fischer, also known as the guy who attacked Jimmy at cotillion, walked in. I hoped that he wouldn't remember me. I had no idea what was going on with the assault charges.
"This is Holly's friend, Rhiannon." Her mom introduced. That was a bit of an overstatement. "They're doing a project together for Theatre."
"Oh I did some theatre when I was younger." Greg declared. He seemed like he didn't remember me.
"Hi, Daddy." Holly declared after she came down the stairs. She then gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before looking at me. "We should go upstairs."
"So do you think we should get costumes?" I asked.
"If we do, they need to be as accurate as possible." Holly said. "We can't get something generic."
"I have to say, I'm impressed by how much thought you put into this." I admitted.
"Most people think that I'm just a dumb blonde, but I'm not." She said. "So when was the last time, you saw the movie. We should do that first."
"Maybe we should go through a run without seeing it first." I declared. "I printed off a copy of the script."
We went through the lines a few times, but it didn't feel right.
"I don't think this is working." I declared.
"That's why we should watch the movie first." Holly pointed out. "There's a DVD player in my dad's office. You can get it while I find the DVD."
"Do you want to talk about what happened with Marissa?" I questioned.
"I know what I did was wrong. I was just so mad when I found out that she was dating Luke too. I wanted to get even. Had I had known about her parents, I probably wouldn't have done it."
I went into the office and started to look through the room for the DVD player. I opened one of the drawers and stared what was inside with a look of shock on my face.
"Holly, you need to see this." I declared seriously.
"What is it?" She asked as she entered the room and looked inside the drawer. "Oh my God, is that what I think it is."
"It looks like it." I declared as I saw the pictures. I felt like I needed to wash my eyes. "We need to tell someone about this, probably the police."
"But he's my dad." Holly stated with a hurt expression on her face. She looked like someone had just stolen her puppy.
"I understand that, but if someone finds out that we knew about this and didn't tell anyone, both of us could get sent to juvie and your mom could go to jail with him." I explained.
"Let me talk to my mom first." She requested. "You should go home. I promise I'll deal with it."
The next morning, I met up with Kaitlin. I was wearing a dress with a white bodice and pink tulle skirt with a denim jacket tied at the waist. She was wearing a navy sweater with a yellow midi skirt.
"So how did it go with Holly yesterday?" She asked. "You don't appear injured in any way."
"It went okay." I stammered.
"What happened?" She asked me in concern.
"Why do you think s…something happened?" I replied. She just glared at me. "I can't tell you. All I can say is that we found something really bad. She said that she knew what she did to Marissa was wrong though."
"Rhiannon, you need to tell me what you found." She told me.
"I told Holly that I wouldn't tell anyone until she had the chance to talk to her." I explained. "I know that you won't tell anyone, but I can't tell you."
"Fine." She agreed. "I just hope that you don't get in trouble for whatever this is. I don't want to see you hurt."
We then met up with Rose in the café.
"So, did anyone get shot?" Rose asked.
"That is not funny." I warned her. "How about we talk about Summer and Vicki. You love talking about them? I want to hear about your crazy adventures."
"They came out of the bathroom together and then they went to the library." Rose explained. It seemed like I had successfully distracted her from it. She continued as we walked through the line. "These are two people who hate each other brought together by their even greater hatred of me. It's like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader teaming up to beat the emperor."
"Vader was also Luke's father." I pointed out before I noticed Holly in the hallway. I walked over to her. "Hey, did you talk to your mom?"
"I've got this under control. Just learn your lines and I'll learn mine." She shouted at me. I recognized her being defensive. She then ran off.
"Seriously, Rhiannon, what happened?" Kaitlin demanded as she came out into the hall.
"I made a promise." I reminded her. "When this gets out, you'll understand why I am not telling you."
Later in the day, I was found by Rose in the hallway.
"Did you hear the news about Holly's dad?" She asked. "Police raided his house. Turns out that he's a total pedo. They found child porn all over his house."
I saw her in the hallway as more people started talking about it.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"My mom is dumping him." She explained. "I guess the rumor mill spreads fast."
At that point, Kaitlin came over and I had never seen look so angry.
"Was this what you wouldn't tell me?" She questioned. "You didn't want to tell me that you found kid porn at her house?"
"I asked her not to." Holly interrupted. She was starting to cry. "She's good. The fact that she didn't tell makes her a good person. She could have told everyone or the police, but she didn't. Hold onto her, Kaity, she's a good."
She then walked away. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I knew things were only going to get worse.
"Kaity?" I asked in amusement.
"It was my nickname when I was younger." She said. "At least it sounds better than Mini Coop."
That night dinner was quiet. Something was obviously up between Sandy and Kirsten.
"You know after all these years of Holly being a bitch to me, I can't believe this." Rose stated. "This is crazy."
"It's not funny." Sandy told her. "Their marriage is over and her life is never going to be the same."
"Mary-Ann is already filing for divorce." Kirsten added. "Greg is gonna be in jail for a while."
"You know none of this would've happened if I hadn't gone over there." I declared.
"Don't blame yourself." Sandy replied. "This would have gotten out sooner or later, better you than some drunk some teenager."
"I don't understand how you could keep something like that from someone so long, especially someone that you're married to." I responded.
"You'd be surprised." Sandy said with some added spice. Something was definitely up there. I hoped it wasn't too serious. "But secrets will always come out."
"And some marriages can handle it and some can't." Kirsten added,
"I'm sure that he'll be fine now that he's a sex offender." Rose quipped.
I couldn't help but notice that Holly wasn't at school the next day. I hoped that she wasn't transferring, not only because I needed her for the assignment. I hoped that her mom didn't decide to run from this. Sometimes you just had to weather the storm and when it was over, there was a rainbow.
Rose meanwhile told me that she planned on apologizing to Summer and Vicki. I just hoped that she wouldn't make it about herself.
"I want to see Holly after school today." I told Kaitlin. "You can come with me if you want."
"You really are a good one." She said. "Yes, I will go with you. I think I can forgive her for what she did to my sister. I know what she's going through. It's ironic because her dad is the one who started all of this."
"Do you think he wanted the money to buy more?" I questioned.
"He probably did." She declared. I then got a text that said her was going with Summer on Saturday and Vicki on Sunday.
After school, we went to Holly's house and rang the doorbell. She answered it.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. I imagined she was surprised to see us.
"We came in to check up on you and see if you're okay." I answered. "Do you think we can come in and talk?"
"I wanted to thank you for keeping you word." She said as we walked into the house. "I just don't know what I'm going to do now."
I decided to give her something that she really needed, a hug. We then saw Mary-Ann crying.
As soon as she saw her, Holly ran out the door crying. Kaitlin and I ran after her. We ended up following her to this old baseball field where she had some beers. She looked like she needed to vent.
"My whole life has been a lie." She declared. "I thought my dad loved me, but he only loved me for my body. Yeah, he never touched me, but he always wanted me to look my best."
"I suppose I owe it to you." I declared. "I don't want to make it about me, but I want to tell you that I'm transgender. You can get a new start on life. And it I think you dad did love you, even if it wasn't for the right reasons. At least he was there. And you don't know if he lusted after you specifically."
"Do you want to get some ice cream with us?" Kaitlin suggested. "I mean beer is good, but it doesn't help you the way that chocolate does."
"I would like that." She agreed.
We then went to the ice cream parlor and she got a nice sundae. I personally went for the strawberry shortcake and I did not regret it.
"So, do you think there's a possibility that Marissa might want to take me back?" Holly asked.
"I don't think that would be good for either of you right now." I declared. "You both have a lot of issues and neither of you should date until you get them figured out."
I then reached into my purse and gave her Dr. Carter's card. At that point, Kaitlin's phone rang.
"Hey, Dad." She greeted him. "Really, that's great? Okay, I love you. I'll see you soon."
The two of us looked over since her phone wasn't on speaker.
"My dad just told me that he's not going to jail." She beamed. "Not only has some of the money he owes been rescinded, but Caleb bought the house."
"So, Holly, would you like to sleep over tonight? We could rehearse if you want or watch the movie or do whatever." I replied.
"Thanks." She told me. "You know I probably wouldn't have been upset if you told her. I knew Kaity wouldn't tell."
I took her to my house and told Sandy and Kirsten that I offered to let her stay in the pool house with me after they called her mom.
The next day, she went to school with us. We stood outside including, Rose and Marissa.
"This is going to be weird." She said. "Everyone is staring at me."
"Well you are very attractive." I quipped. "Look it's better to be an outcast and have friends than be someone whose friends will turn on them so quickly."
"Are you sure I can't just hit the beach and let people forget?" She asked me.
"It doesn't work. I'm still the girl from Chino who stole a car." I explained, even though I was only an accomplice in the theft.
"And I'm still the girl whose dad stole everyone's money." Kaitlin told her.
"Same with trying to my overdose." Marissa added.
"And I'm still…well I'm Seth Cohen to most people. It doesn't matter that I'm a girl now." Rose replied.
"This is going to suck." Holly declared.
"Maybe it won't." I argued. "By the way, we have to have the scene ready to perform tomorrow."
So, I was going to keep the original storyline, but I figured Luke's dad being gay wouldn't be as big of a deal in 2017. I then decided that I wanted to redeem Holly instead. Plus she'd probably be more likely to take a theatre class. Mary-Ann is played by Jennifer Connely. Please don't forget to review.