Disclaimer: I don't own, so don't sue. Are we all clear? Goooooood.

Ding-dong

Tootie was still sleeping. She groggily opened her eyes, just slightly. From where she stood, she was still asleep.

Ding-dong

She reached over to push the snooze button on her alarm clock. "Ten more minutes." she muttered, her speech slurred from tiredness.

Ding-dong...Ding-dong

Tootie realized it wasn't her alarm clock going off, and climbed outof bed. She managed to make it to the front door, despite the fact that her eyes were closed. She was so sleepy that she couldn't get her eyes to open, and frankly, she didn't care to. She managed to get them open just a bit, and it looked like she was squinting. She opened the door. It was Timmy.

"Oh, hi, Timmy..." she slurred groggily. Her eyes were completely shut again and she stood, swaying back and forth in a slow, unsteady rhythm. It seemed that she was going to fall over, but she didn't.

Timmy blushed at the sight of Tootie. She was in a green tank top, and matching shorts that were, well, very short. Very short. She'd never even consider wearing something like that in public. He couldn't help but notice that she had very nice legs, and immediately, he was grateful that she never wore anything like this in public. He didn't know how long he'd be able to bear it if guys were flirting with her wherever they went.

"Uh...h-hey, Tootie. I thought I'd just come over here in the morning. That way you wouldn't have to stop at my house to pick me up. It'd save you a lot of gas money in the long run, and that will be a good thing, considering we're going to college soon, and we'll need all the money we can get..." Timmy stopped himself when he realized he was rambling. "And I also came over because my mom made those stuffed french toast bars that you like so much." He lifted up a papter plate covered in tin foil, and then placed it down on the end table next to the door. "She knows that you love them, and thought it'd be nice if I br--" Tootie fell over, right onto him.

She had fallen asleep after she'd greeted him. Her head rested on his shoulder, and the rest of her body was leaning on him, as a drunk person might lean on someone if they were attempting to slow dance. He couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved. Here she was in pajamas that she looked very good in, leaning on him, fast asleep. He carefully lifted her up and carried her into the house. After closing the door with his foot, he gently shook her.

"Tootie. Tootie...Tootie!"

Tootie awoke with a startled yelp. She looked up and saw Timmy's face. She realized she was in his arms. She gave another yelp. She was certainly awake now! She could already feel herself blushing.

"You can put me down now. I'm awake." she sighed, embarrassed out of her mind. She thanked him when he did, and he explained why he had come over ten minutes before she left to pick up him and everyone else for school.

"That's fine with me." she said. "And tell your mom thanks for the breakfast."

He gave a nod.

"I'm going to go get dressed now." she said as she realized what she was wearing. Man, why hadn't she had the decency to put on a robe before she came down?

"Are you sure you'll be alright up there?" Timmy gave a playful smile. "I mean, just a few minutes ago, you were falling over." He shut his eyes and slowly swayed back and forth in a dramatical fashion before pretending to fall over.

Tootie crossed her arms as he laughed. "Ha. Ha. Very funny. Apparently not funny enough for you to not catch me." she smirked.

"I was only doing the right thing." he returned the smirk with one of his own.

"Ok, well, you win this one, Timmy. But like I said yesterday, this isn't over." she smiled before running upstairs to get ready for school.

"Hey, guys!" Taylor greeted as he climbed into the backseat of the car with Chester and A.J.

"Hey, Taylor." Tootie smiled in the rearview mirror at him. When he returned it, she couldn't help but feel special. Call her crazy. I thought that I didn'tlike Taylor! What's happening? I don't even know Taylor. I thought the feelings were cleared up. Why are they coming back?

"You! Get back here, freshman!" Trixie spat at a younger girl in fury. The little redhead turned around. Trixie and Veronica were both standing side by side, with equally angry looks on their faces. This couldn't be anything but trouble for her. Carefully and slowly, the small girl walked over to the two seniors.

"T-t-t-trixie Tang...it's an honor to meet you. Both y-you and Veronica. You're l-ledgends." she stammered nervously. Maybe flattery would get her out of whatever hideous faux pas she had committed to make them so angry with her.

"I'd actually b-b-believe you, if I hadn't heard that you were t-t-trash talking me!" Trixie screeched in the girl's face, throwing her nervous stammering back at her.

"I didn't! I never would! I-"

"So you didn't call Trixie a slut?" Veronica cut her off. Before the girl even had a chance to answer, she yelled, "Answer me, you ugly little freak!" The girl shook her head wildly, stung by this comment. Veronica looked at Trixie and they had a small conference with their eyes. They both looked back at the girl.

"What's your name?" Trixie asked in a tone that made her unsure of whether she was in the clear, or in the dark.

"Audrey Kenton." She spoke. She didn't dare look them in the eyes, lest they think she was challenging them.

"Audrey Kenton..." Trixie spoke slowly, as if she had taken a bite of a new food and was trying to decide if she liked how it tasted."You can go now."

"I- I can go? So you believe me? You're not going to hurt me?" Audrey ran a hand through her red hair, a newfound relief skittering across her face.

The two older girls laughed as if they'd just heard the most hilarious joke. "No! Of course we don't believe you!" Trixie laughed. Audrey felt a chill travel her spine. They didn't believe her, but they were laughing as if they were happy. Something was wrong.

"But,"Veronica sighed, her laughter gone, but the smile still there, "We're not going to hurt you."

Audrey let a small whoosh of air.

"We let our flunkys handle that."

The color drained from Audrey's face. She was going to get beaten up? But she hadn't even done anything!

"Well,"Trixie said, as if taking something into consideration. "Maybe we'll hurt you too, but just a little."

Before Audrey could even move, Veronica moved behind her and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. Trixie then reached out and slapped the girl harshly across the face. Audrey let out a little yelp, but it was no big deal to her. It was really just the shock of it. Veronica laughed and let go of Audrey, giving her a shove as she did so.

"I look forward to gaining your worship, freshman." Trixie smiled sweetly before walking off, Veronica by her side.

Audrey placed her hand where she'd been slapped. It had hurt, but only for the moment. Trixie didn't hit that hard. That was probably why she had flunkies. But still, it had shocked her, and tears still ran down her face. She stared after the two beautiful girls who every girl, including her, hated, but wanted to be like. Even after they were gone, she didn't remove her hand from that very spot. In the back of her mind, she was pathetically trying to make the situation into something good. On the plus side, even though she slapped me, I was touched by Trixie Tang. At least she cares what I think of her, which means she cares about me, in a way. Trixie Tang notices me!

That's how it was with Trixie, Veronica, and the other girls at school. That's how it was: pathetic.

"So, tell me more about yourself, Tootie." Taylor said. The two of them were at her locker. She moved some books around, until she found the one that she'd have preferred to never find at all : Calculus. She pulled it out of her locker and began to stick it into her bookbag. "Well," she began. "I used to hate living in the same house as my older sister, Vicky."

"Was she that bad?"

"Oh, she was a tyrant! She had red hair. She got it from my dad, but everyone preferred to think it was because she was the spawn of satan."

"So she was that bad." he winced.

"She used to babysit. Every parent in Dimmsdale loved her. She would pretend to be so sweet, that it was sickening. Then, as soon as the parents left, she'd torture us! She'd make us do every chore she could think of. She'd break things so we'd get in trouble. And she worked us to the bone! And when the parents got home, they thought we were happy, because they were too stupid to see how unhappy we looked, and Vicky's sweet reassurances were the icing on the cake. She got paid a lot more than I've ever known a babysitter to be paid. She'd come home every night with a moneybag - literally!"

"Wow." Taylor slowly shook his head. "Wait. Do you mean Vicky? As in Icky Vicky? She's the girl Chip Skylark was singing about?" his jaw dropped in disbelief. "And you had to live with her? Wow! What happened to her? Please tell me that she's in prison with a big burly unibrowed woman who is "very nice" to her every day, and is doomed to live like that for the rest of her days as pennance."

"Pennance?" Tootie looked at him, "Taylor, Vicky's not Catholic.

"So we'll make her one!" he cried. Tootie couldn't help but laugh at the little display that he was putting on.

"Taylor. She's really not like that anymore."

"Oh?" Taylor raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Well, that changes everything. What happened to her?"

"Well, all of her clients grew up. And so did she. She apologized to everyone, and even worked hard to pay back all of the parents."

"Wow. From satan to saint, huh? So what's she up to now?" he leaned against a locker next to hers and crossed his arms, nodding as he listened.

"She graduated from college, and she now has a job. In fact, she's the owner of the building."

"As...?" Taylor proded.

"A social worker."

Taylor stared at Tootie, his mouth open. After a moment, he was able to speak again. "Oh, you're kidding me!" He quickly pushed himself up from the locker. "Vicky - Icky Vicky - your sister, the spawn of he who rules the wrath of Hell - is a social worker?"

Tootie closed her locker, slung the bookbag onto her back, and gave a calm smile. "Yep." She started to walk down the hallway to homeroom. Taylor chased after her. He jumped in front of her and walked backwards, meeting her pace. "You do know what a social worker is, don't you? It's a person who takes a child away from an abusive home, and finds them a safer one."

"Yes, I know. So?"

"So, she was abusive to your parents for crying out loud! How is it that she's now protecting kids when she used to treat them worse than any abusive parent could ever dream to?"

"People change." she shrugged.

Taylor stopped, and Tootie crashed into him. He caught her by her wrists. She glanced up at him in surprise. He had some of the most tantalizing eyes she'd ever seen, besides Timmy's. They were a deep, dark green. They looked so mystical and unreal. They made his pupils stand out, and it seemed as if when he looked at her, he could see straight into her soul. Yet, at the same time, they were hypnotizing.

She blinked and shook her head. She could feel the warmth that had settled into her cheeks, and she pulled away. "Um..thanks for catching me."

"Yeah. No problem." he rubbed the back of his neck. It was then that she noticed that his cheeks were flushed bright pink. She could feel a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She never imagained she could make a guy blush like that.

"Oh, and you never did tell me how you got your nickname."

Tootie looked at him. Before she could say a word, he held up a finger, "I told you I'd hold you to it, didn't I? Now tell me."

"Well, when I was a little baby, whenever my parents fed me something that I didn't really like, I would...you know..."

"Toot-ie?..." Taylor attempted to take on a look of sympathy, but whatever success he had was dashed by his laughter.

"Taylor!" Tootie gasped, though she could't help smiling,"I thought you weren't going to laugh!"

"No, no. I said I was going to hold you to it. Remind you until you told me. I never said anything about not laughing when you did." he managed to say. Tootie sighed, but a chuckle rose in her own throat. She soon found herself laughing too.

He had this unexplainable way of being able to make her laugh, no matter what was going on. And it was only day 2. Unbelievable. Her laughing was stopped short, though, as soon as she saw Timmy. He was walking in the direction opposite them, since his homeroom was on the other side of the school.

The thing that pained Tootie was that he looked upset. He was walking with Chester, and A.J., who were talking. Normally, he would be talking too, but today, he was looking towards the floor, unaware of anything except where he was going.

"Hey, Timmy!" she called out.

Timmy looked up upon his name being called, and smiled when he saw Tootie. "Hey, Tootie."

"What's wrong, Timmy?"

Timmy shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking about some old friends. I miss them."

"Can't you call them?"

"No. They're gone. They were called back to where they came from."

Tootie's face fell a little bit as she realized what he meant, or so she thought. "Oh, Timmy, I'm so sorry."

"It's ok. I'm fine now."

The bell rang.

"I'll see you at lunch."

She smiled, and nodded. Timmy continued walking towards his homeroom. She had no idea that he had been talking about his fairy god parents. And while it was true, they'd been called back to where they came from - Fairy World- he hadn't meant it in the sense that Tootie thought he meant. They didn't die. As a matter of fact, they were probably back on earth now, with some other little child, brightening their life as they did for him. Maybe one of the freshman wandering the hallways had them, and they were a notebook and pencil in somebody's arms, spotting him, and wishing they could call out to him to say hello again.

Cosmo..Wanda..I miss you so much. I'll never forget you. I swear I won't.

So, how'd you like it? Trixie and Veronica are starting to lose it, no? thanks to everyone who has reviewed already, and thanks in advance to anyone that does.