Title: Mission: Impossible
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Rating: PG
Prompt: 022 Enemies; written for the fanfic100 challenge
Word count: 2,700
Disclaimer: Alas, I don't own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won't mind if I borrow them for a little while.
Summary: Sam and Brooke try to gain some potentially valuable information about each other.
A/N: It is sophomore year in high school.
A/N2: Thanks so much to theagonyofblank and wolfemeister for the beta reads!
There were a number of things that every student at Kennedy High School knew for an absolute fact:
- Bio Glass was going to make your life a living hell.
- Nicole Julian should be avoided at all costs.
- You shouldn't eat the mystery meat in the cafeteria, especially not on Thursdays.
- And last but certainly not least, Brooke McQueen and Sam McPherson were bitter enemies, and always would be.
o0o0o
Monday morning
The hallways of Kennedy High
"Hey, she's alive!"
Sam turned and rolled her eyes at the three people approaching her, breathing out a tortured sigh as she grabbed some books from her locker and stuffed them into her bag. "Yes, Carm, I'm alive."
"Yeah, well we weren't sure if you'd actually make it here today," Harrison commented, stopping to lean on the locker next to Sam's, "or if you and Brooke had killed each other overnight."
"Well, lucky for all of us, I managed to make it through the first night without getting murdered in my sleep. Yesterday was complete and utter hell, though. I can't believe I have to actually live there now! I keep hoping that this is all just a nightmare, and I'll wake up any minute now."
As they hurried to make it to class before the bell rang, Lily asked, "Wait, I haven't seen Brooke yet today... Brooke's still alive too, right Sam?"
Sam rolled her eyes once again. "Yes, I promise that I haven't killed her. Yet. Last I saw her, Brooke was breathing just fine."
.
The Novak
"I'm serious, Nicole." Brooke was pacing furiously back and forth in front of the sinks. "I know that committing murder wouldn't exactly be good for my reputation, but I'm honestly considering it. I've only had to live with her for one day, and I can already tell that it's going to be a total nightmare."
Nicole sat calmly filing her nails. "Hey, as far as I'm concerned, you should go for it, Brookie. You'd be doing everyone a favor, really. There's no doubt that the world would be a better place without Spam McPherson in it. But will you please sit down? You're making me dizzy."
Just as Brooke took a seat next to Nicole with a frustrated groan, the door to the Novak burst open, revealing Mary Cherry. The newcomer rushed over to Brooke, grabbing hold of Brooke's shoulders and staring at her intently.
With a somewhat frightened expression on her face, Brooke asked warily, "Um, what are you doing, Mary Cherry?"
There was another moment of narrow-eyed scrutiny, before Mary Cherry replied melodramatically, "Ah'm just makin' sure that your first day of forced co-habitation with the evil Spam hasn't made you lose any and all trace of your sanity! But you're in luck, Brooke," she continued seriously, "your eyes don't have that crazy look in them, so you should be okay."
Brooke turned and lightly hit Nicole on the arm. "Hey, maybe that can be my defense when I get put on trial for Sam's murder! I can plead insanity, because having to live with Sam drove me out of my mind!"
.
Later that day...
Third period Biology
Sam heard the scrape of the chair next to her, alerting her to Brooke's arrival, but she refused to acknowledge it. She knew that just looking at her blonde nemesis would be enough to worsen her mood, so she thought it would be best to simply keep her eyes elsewhere.
Brooke certainly didn't mind the lack of attention in this case. She simply ignored Sam completely, turning around to chat quietly with Nicole.
She turned to face forward again as Bio Glass strode into the room, her gruff voice rising above the low murmur of chatter. "Well, my little tadpoles, I hear that some congratulations are in order! McBlonde and McBrown have officially merged households, which means that my alphabetical seating plan was even more genius than I originally thought!"
Brooke and Sam each stole a sideways glance towards the other, then frowned and quickly turned away again when they made accidental eye contact.
"Ooh, ooh, Miss Glass, sir!" Mary Cherry was waving her arm wildly in the air.
"Yes, Mary Cherry? What is it?"
Mary Cherry cleared her throat and smiled sweetly. "In honor of this lovely occasion, may I suggest no homework for tonight, so that our dear friends, Brooke and Spam, could spend their extra time engagin' in some sisterly bonding?"
"Ha! Nice try, Mary Cherry, but fat chance. In fact, since I'm a little worried about the mayhem that would be sure to occur if the McSisters spend too much time together, I think I'll give you even more homework than usual."
The entire class groaned in unison, with students split between glaring at Sam and Brooke's table, glaring at Mary Cherry, or slamming their heads down on their own tables.
.
Monday afternoon
The cafeteria
Sam, Lily, Harrison, and Carmen made their way over to their regular lunch table.
Lily turned to Sam as they sat down. "I can't believe Bio Glass gave us more homework, just to keep you and Brooke from spending time together! That's got to be illegal, or something. She's being prejudiced against...I don't know...step-siblings!"
"Future step-siblings," Sam emphasized. "We're not actually related yet, thank God."
"Well, Glass does have a point, you have to admit," Carmen added. "I mean, I'm no happier than the rest of you about the extra work, but there's no way that Mary Cherry's suggestion of some 'sisterly bonding' would end well."
Sam sighed. "You know, I think I just need a way to vent my frustrations a little bit. It's just so completely unfair, that I can't stand it! I've had to leave my home behind, my own motherhas already fallen under Brooke's spell, and I just can never get away from her! Plus, the fact remains that she has faced absolutely no consequences for cheating on the last bio test! She really needs to get taken down a few notches."
"Well, now that you live in such close quarters, maybe you'll get a chance to get some real dirt on her," Harrison suggested.
The table lapsed into silence for a few minutes, as they each picked at the unidentifiable food on their plates.
Suddenly, Sam perked up, a thoughtful grin spreading across her face. "You guys, I might have an idea..."
.
Meanwhile, at the more fair-haired lunch table...
"Yo, Brooke," Sugar Daddy asked as she joined her friends at the table, "you feel like starting another food fight? That day was, seriously, like the best day of school ever!"
Brooke smiled indulgently. "Sorry, Sugar, but I think I've had enough food in my hair to last a lifetime. Besides, if it weren't for that food fight, then maybe my dad and Jane wouldn't have felt the need to force us all into living together. It's like they've turned my home into some doomed-to-fail social experiment: throw two opinionated teenage girls into one house, and see what happens!" Brooke looked over towards Sam, frowning as she saw the girl smile.
"I mean, just look at her!" Brooke could barely keep the disgust out of her voice. "I was perfectly happy before I knew who Sam McPherson was! And now she's invaded my life, ruining everything. What does she want from me?"
Nicole sneered in annoyance. "What she wants, I have no idea. The thought of trying to get inside Spam's head is too disgusting to even contemplate. But what she obviously needs is to get thrown off of that high horse of hers."
The conversation turned to something else, but Brooke wasn't really paying attention. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Sam talking animatedly with her friends. There just had to be a way to take Sam down.
.
Tuesday afternoon
Glamazon practice
"All right, girls, that's a wrap for today! Great job!" Brooke called out.
"And by 'great job,' Brooke really means that you all look like crap, so you'd better shape up by tomorrow! This squad needs to be perfect! None of you want to be the ugly stain that gets in the way of our glory, now, do you?" Nicole added.
Brooke touched Nicole's arm, asking, "Hey, Nic. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, hun. What's on your mind?"
"Well, do you remember what we were talking about yesterday?"
Before Nicole got a chance to reply, it was actually Mary Cherry who spoke, having stuck around even though Brooke hadn't asked her to. "Ooh, you mean when we were talkin' 'bout her majesty, Gwyneth?"
"Um, no. Not that..."
"The latest episode of Dawson's Creek?"
"No, that's not it, either."
"The way that Joe's bit of blue hair kinda sparkles in the sunshine?"
At that last suggestion, both Brooke and Nicole simply stared at Mary Cherry.
"Oops. We didn' actually talk about that one, did we? Heh," Mary Cherry smiled sheepishly.
Finally, Brooke spoke up. "Anyway, what I really meant was when we were talking about Sam, and how I completely despise her, and how we need to do something about it. Well, I was thinking...and I might know the perfect way to knock her off that high horse you mentioned."
.
Tuesday evening
The McPherson-McQueen household
"So, Brooke. Got any exciting plans for the rest of the week?" Sam approached Brooke carefully, attempting to maintain an air of nonchalance.
Brooke looked up from her book as Sam came and sat next to her on the couch. She frowned at the brunette, suspicious of the seemingly innocent tone. "Why do you want to know?"
Sam sighed. "It's just a simple question, Brooke. I'm trying to make conversation."
"Well, I'm going shopping with Nicole and Mary Cherry on Thursday."
"Really? That's great. Sounds like fun!" Sam mentally smacked herself on the head. She knew that she sounded like an idiot.
In confirmation of that thought, Brooke was now looking at her like she had two heads. "Okay, why are you being so weird? Well, weirder than usual, that is."
"Oh, whatever, never mind," Sam murmured, quickly getting up from her seat and leaving the room. She got the information that she wanted, anyway, so there was no reason to stick around any longer.
.
Wednesday morning
The Novak
"All right," Brooke began, addressing Nic and Mary Cherry, "the mission is a go for Thursday. Sam said that she's going to be out at a movie with her friends, so we'll have a few hours to work with. We have all the supplies?"
Mary Cherry nodded. "Yep! We've got walkie-talkies, a flashlight, and gloves. Oh, and anti-bacterial lotion."
At Brooke's questioning look, Nicole explained, "Hey, if I have to actually touch anything in Spam's room, I'm going to need to immediately de-contaminate myself."
Brooke shrugged. "Okay, whatever. Just be at my house at 3:30 tomorrow. We'll wait until Sam leaves, and then we'll take action."
.
Wednesday afternoon
The cafeteria
Sam leaned in over the table and lowered her voice. "Okay, you guys. Brooke's going to be out shopping tomorrow, and we now have an alibi -- she thinks that the four of us are going to the movies tomorrow. So, we just need to figure out how we're going to make sure that Brooke's out of the house when we want her to be."
"There's a window in my house where you can see right into Brooke's bedroom," Harrison commented. The speed at which he gave this information caused the three girls around him to pause and look at him strangely. He blushed, murmuring, "I mean, I think I just happened to possibly notice that, you know, one time."
"Harrison? I really don't want to know how often you've made use of that viewpoint, but it'll be useful now, so I'll just try not to think about it. So, it's settled. I'll make sure Brooke's still planning on going to the mall, and then I'll meet up with the three of you at Harrison's house for the next phase of the plan."
.
Thursday afternoon
The McPherson-McQueen household
Sam peeked her head around Brooke's door. "Well, have fun shopping, Brooke. And I know it'll be hard, but just try to make sure that you don't spend so much that the entire family has to file for bankruptcy, okay?"
"Ha-ha, very funny, Sam," Brooke responded dryly. "Now, don't you have somewhere else to be? As in, anywhere that's out of my sight?"
Sam just smirked sarcastically and left the room, almost literally running into Nicole and Mary Cherry.
"God, Spam, watch where you're going!" Nicole spat out. "The shoes you just came close to stepping on are worth more than your entire wardrobe, so back off!"
Sam was about to burst into an angry retort, but she remembered that she had more important things to do, so she simply glared at Nicole, and then practically ran over to Harrison's house.
Once Sam was gone, Brooke got up off of her bed and closed the door behind Nicole and Mary Cherry. "Okay, we'll wait for a few minutes to make sure she doesn't come back for anything, and then we'll move over to her room. My dad and Jane are around, though, so we're going to have to stay quiet. No one can know what we're doing."
.
Harrison's house
Sam arrived at the window Harrison had mentioned to find Lily staring towards Brooke's room through a pair of binoculars, with Harrison and Carmen standing beside her.
"What's going on? Have they left yet?" Sam asked.
"No, they're still in there, talking about something or another," Lily reported. "And hey, Sam, I guess that's your room, huh? Good thing your shades are closed, now that we know that the perverted Harrison over here has this lovely view."
"Hey!" Harrison exclaimed indignantly. "I am not a pervert! I just-"
Harrison was interrupted when Lily smacked him in excitement. "Ooh, they're leaving! Let's go!"
.
Back at the McPherson-McQueen household...
The three blondes snuck quietly into Sam's room, closing the door behind them right before the front door slowly opened and the four brunettes crept inside and up the stairs, staying out of sight from Mike and Jane.
In Sam's room, the girls immediately started looking around. Mary Cherry took the closet, Brooke got Sam's desk, and Nicole started with Sam's dresser.
"You're sure you don' know where she keeps it, Brookie?" Mary Cherry asked through the walkie-talkie.
"I can hear you perfectly well without these things, Mary Cherry," Brooke replied. "But no, to answer your question, I don't know where it is. I've seen her writing in it, so I know it exists, but I don't know where she keeps it."
Meanwhile, Sam, Lily, Carmen, and Harrison had entered into Brooke's room.
"Okay," Sam began. "I have no idea where it is, so just spread out, I guess. It's got to be in here somewhere."
"Man, this is going to be so great, you guys," Carmen said. "I can't wait to read this thing! We're going to have so much power over them after this. I bet we can even get them to let me on the Glamazons, now!"
Harrison was looking under Brooke's bed as he muttered, "Let's just find it first, and then we can start thinking about bribery, okay?"
Fifteen minutes later, the doors to both rooms opened simultaneously, with Sam and Brooke triumphantly leading the way out of each one.
They both froze when they saw each other, eyes widening in surprise. Sam's gaze was quickly drawn to the object in Brooke's hand. It looked suspiciously like Sam's diary.
Sam tried to hide the book in her own hand behind her back, but she saw that Brooke had already noticed it.
Realizing there wasn't a better way out of this mess, Brooke wordlessly held Sam's diary out in front of her. Sam gazed back at Brooke for another few moments, and then grudgingly held out Brooke's diary as well. The girls quickly reached for and grabbed hold of her own diary, before brushing past each other and into their own rooms, with their respective friends following right behind them.
For now, a truce would have to do.