High School Daze
Ch. 1
"Hey Shenzi, I need to tell you something."
"Yes, Chuckie?"
"I uh, I'm afraid that we're going to come home pretty late, so... I won't see you until we're at school."
"That's fine; I have two surprises for you now, anyway. Wait 'til you see them. Prepare to be blown away."
"What are they?"
"Don't you know what surprise means? It means you have to wait, silly."
"Ohh, alright. Well, I have to go. G'night, Tuck."
"G'night, Chuck."
The next morning, freshly-turned-15-year-old Shenzi put on her new glasses, showered, and started debating on what to wear. It was for her first day of high school, so it had to be perfect. She went with a black, short-sleeved blouse that only stopped below her breasts, a black and white tuxedo-like dress with a faux necktie, black buckled lace-up knee-high sneakers, black bow front-and-back earrings, and an ivory extension in her bangs.
A suddenly knock on the door startled her. "Hey sis, are you decent?" Frankie asked her, "I just had the greatest idea!"
"I'm good; Come on in." Frankie opened the door and entered the still-dark bedroom. She was wearing a simple black, lace dress, rainbow zebra tights, black sneakers that almost reached her knees, a rainbow stud belt with chains around her stomach, where her dress' skirt was, black bow earrings, a rainbow tattoo choker on her neck, and a black hair bow with rainbow stars. Her hair was back in its usual half-ponytail, but it looked different from a certain length of time without a haircut. "What's up?"
"Okay so, you know how you always wear a colored extension in your bangs?"
"Yeah," She nodded, "Go on."
"Well I was thinking, how about you wear more of them away from your face? You know what I'm talking about?"
"I understand," She nodded, "I'll give it a try. Good thing I got the ivory ones in a pack of 4." She grabbed the other 3, and sat in front of her mirror. "Um, can you help me with this, so that it's perfect?"
"Sure thing." After a few minutes of brushing and clipping, the extensions were in, so they were peeking out from in between sections of her natural, black hair. "How's that?"
Shenzi looked at her reflection and smiled. "That looks great! Thanks for the idea."
"No problem."
"Girls! You awake? Breakfast is ready!" Felicia yelled out to them. The two girls rushed downstairs and into the kitchen. "Wow Shen, nice hair," She complimented her youngest daughter.
"Thanks," She blushed timidly, "It was Frankie's idea."
"That was a great idea, Frankie. For your first day of high school, you two get your favorite breakfasts today."
After they finished, they grabbed their backpacks, which were the same ones from middle school, and ran out to the bus stop. "At least we're not late today," Frankie remarked.
"Yep," Shenzi agreed, "I feel like only yesterday, we were rushing out here, late for our first day at Jim Jr. High."
"I know, right?"
After a minute or two passed, the bus drove up. Lou Pickles was forced to retire from his job as bus driver, so there was a new one. This was the first time any of them would see them. To Shenzi and Frankie's confusion, he looked awfully familiar. Was déjà vu a regular thing when starting a new grade or something? The driver was a muscular man with large sunglasses, and what looked like a brown toupée. They shook off the feeling, and took their seats. Once they arrived, Shenzi hastily exited, not noticing the driver staring at her, and rushed to her new locker with Frankie and the twins following.
For high school, their lockers were a ways apart, which they were a bit disappointed about. As Shenzi looked at her new schedule, she didn't notice a certain someone walking up from behind her open locker door. When she closed her locker, she unknowingly revealed Chuckie standing with a wide smile. Surprisingly, he didn't notice her changes. "Hi Shenzi," He spoke up.
"W'AAH!" She screamed in surprise, but smiled widely when she saw who was next to her. "Chuckie!" She lunged on him in a tight embrace, which he happily returned. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," He smiled at her joy.
"How was your vacation?"
"It was awesome, but... if you were there, it would've been perfect."
"Aww," She blushed. It was then when she remembered. "Oh yeah! Your two surprises! You notice anything different on me?" She waited in anticipation with a teeth-baring grin.
Chuckie looked at her for a couple seconds, before he saw the changes. Or, one of them. "You got new glasses? They look great."
"Thanks," Her smile grew, "Anything else you see?"
This time, it took him around half a minute to notice the even bigger change. "You-you got your...?" He gestured to his teeth.
"Yep!" She replied with excitement, "My braces are out! Just like yours!" He had his braces taken out a while before the Vegas vacation. Despite the pain, he was almost crying with joy.
"Your teeth look wonderful, Shen."
"Y-you sure about that?" She shrugged timidly, "They're still kinda bloody from the procedure."
"Trust me, Shenzi, you look great. You did before, and you still do." He kissed her blushing cheek.
"Thanks Chuck," She smiled bashfully, "You look great without yours too."
"Thanks Shen," He blushed. The bell rang throughout the building before they could say anything else. "Oh, what's our first class again?"
"It's math," Shenzi replied.
"Fun, fun." She giggled at his sarcasm, before they headed for the classroom. Even though she was a bit shaky, she managed to understand the terrifying newcomer known as algebra. She had to help Chuckie understand the concepts, but he pulled through as well. In their new health class, which wasShenzi volunteered to assist the teacher in a lecture about braces, and how they worked. But when she showed the results, the popular girls made fun of her, calling her "zombie mouth" because of the blood lingering from the procedure. Although she showed emotional pain, she stayed quiet as the teacher let her take her seat. "Shen, don't listen to them," Chuckie told her, "If they say you're a zombie, then you're the prettiest one."
"Thanks Chuck," She smiled sadly, still effected by the insults. As the class went on, an idea came in her mind. When she was getting ready for her next class, the popular girls came up to them, with Chuckie watching cautiously.
"Hey, zombie mouth!" The leader laughed, before one of her friends imitated a zombie. Shenzi stood her ground, before making her move; She opened her mouth widely and let out, you guessed it, a zombie-like snarl with her eyes wide. Chuckie cracked up laughing when the popular girls screamed and ran for their lives.
"Shenzi, that was brilliant," He laughed, "I mean, using their own words against them that way? You're a genius."
"Thanks," She giggled. Thankfully throughout the day, the popular girls left her alone after she scared them off. And even more thankfully, the gym coach was a lot gentler, and more respectful of boundaries. The emo girl relished the comfort away from you-know-who as the day went on. When she was outside however, she did feel eyes on her, but she brushed it off. After school was out, she had the same feeling when walking to the bus. It only increased when she entered the vehicle and passed by the driver. Feeling discomfort, she sat near the back, with Chuckie following.
"You okay, Shen?" He asked her, "You've never sat all the way back here before."
"I, I'm fine," She assured him, "I just have this... weird feeling, that someone's staring at me. And not in the kind that I like."
"It's probably because of what you went through with Mr. Pangborn," Chuckie guessed, "But he's gone now. He was fired earlier in the summer. You're alright." He kissed her temple in comfort.
"You're right," She laid on his shoulder. "If he ever comes back, he won't lay a finger on you when I'm around. He'll have to get through me."
"Thanks, Chuck." She laid a hand on his chest, close to his shirt collar.
"It's my pleasure." His hand landed on her shoulder and held her closer. He wasn't the violent or hateful type, but he hoped that Slambang Pangborn would burn in H-E double hockey sticks for what he did to poor Shenzi. Staring at her creepily, and touching her inappropriately, whether she's a minor or not; What a pervert. Chuckie thought that losing his job wasn't near enough of a suitable punishment. He snapped out of his thoughts when the bus stopped in front of his house. "He-here's my stop."
"Okay," She slowly sat up straight, "Bye Chuckie." She kissed his cheek.
"Bye Shen." He walked through the aisle to the door. He was weirded out when the driver gave him a cold stare, but he shook it off once he and Kimi were outside.
"You okay, Chuckie?" Kimi asked him.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," He nodded, "I just feel like the bus driver was glaring at me. It was a bit unsettling."
"Oh," Her eyebrows raised up, "Well, I think you're just still affected by Shenzi getting stared at by Pangborn. It's making you kind of paranoid."
"Probably," He shrugged, "But I know he was looking at me, and he didn't look happy. Although he was probably just having a bad day or something. The first day on the job is always tough."
"Maybe," She agreed, "Well, she's fine. Pangborn will have to go through us before he could even glance at her."
"Absolutely." Kimi decided to change the subject after greeting Kira. Chaz was working at the Java Lava with Betty. "So um, you know when you and Shenzi will become official?"
He shrugged with a nervous sigh. "I dunno. I don't want to ask her too soon, but at the same time, I don't want to wait too long. Does that make sense?"
"Sure it does," She assured him, "I bet she feels the same way. All I know about that stuff is, is that it has to be the perfect time."
"When is the perfect time?"
"I wish I knew," Kimi shrugged, "But... I think you'll know when the time comes, unless she asks you first."
"Either one is alright with me."
"Do you know when you and Chuckie will become an official item?" Frankie asked Shenzi after the latter helped the former with algebra homework.
"I dunno," She shrugged, "I don't want to take too long to ask him, but at the same time, I don't want to pop the question too early. That's not weird, is it?"
"No, it's not weird," Frankie assured her, "It's perfectly normal. From what I know, you should know the perfect time when it comes."
"I hope it's soon, but not too soon." "It'll come, sis; You just need to be patient. Both of you."
Soon, Wednesday came; Shenzi and Chuckie had a date. She was wearing a black velvet dress from the Ash Costello collection with a white bat collar, a deep v-neck dark denim vest, black bow earrings, and black loafer-like flats. Her ivory extensions were clipped in her hair once again. She was concerned when a couple minutes passed, and Chuckie hadn't arrived yet. She hoped he was alright. As she waited, she saw the popular girl from school and her posse. "Hey Tuck," The leader smiled as if she and the emo girl were friends, "Waiting for a date?"
"Well, if it's any of your business, I am," Shenzi crossed her arms.
"Don't waste your time," The brown-haired girl scoffed, "Whoever he is, boys like him only go for sexy girls with self-confidence, not dark weirdos." Shenzi's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Think about it." She and her posse walked in the building like nothing happened, while having a good laugh.
But Shenzi wasn't laughing at all; Heck, she wasn't even smiling. Tears pooled up, but when she saw a familiar car drive up, she quickly wiped and blinked them away. She put a smile on, not sure if it was convincing or not, when Chuckie exited the vehicle and walked up to her. "Hi Shenzi; What do you want to... what's the matter?" She concluded right then and there that she didn't look happy. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," She assured him, "Le-let's get in there." Before he could ask any more questions, she took his hand and gently, but hastily led him in the building.
When they were at their usual table with small tacos in front of them, Chuckie repeated his question. "What's the matter, Shen? Why were you sad when I came here?"
"I-I wasn't sad."
"Shenzi, I don't know much about acting, if anything at all, but I could tell that you were sad. You can tell me; What's wrong?"
"Um, if-if it's okay, I want to answer your question with another question."
"Go ahead."
"Am I really your type? Like uh, is your type actually hot, confident girls?" She was too shy to say "sexy" in front of him.
Chuckie stayed quiet for a second. "What did those girls tell you?"
"How do you know it was them?"
"Who else would make you doubt my feelings for you?"
She stayed silent with hesitance, before she sighed. "Okay, it was them. They said that you only like hot, confident girls, not dark weirdos like me."
"Shenzi, you're not a dark weirdo. Sure, you dress in these colors and you're unique, but who said that was bad? You stand out in any crowd, and frankly, overall, normal is boring." He set his hand over hers. "You are your own person. You're Shenzi Tuck. Don't let anyone change that. I don't know what I'd do if you changed yourself again."
"... You mean that?" She mumbled timidly.
"Absolutely." He leaned forward, and kissed her cheek. "You're the prettiest, smartest, funniest girl in school." He gently rubbed his nose on hers, getting giggles out of her.
"And you're the cutest boy in school, along with the smartest and funniest," She let a genuine smile grow, as he blushed. They stayed silent as they ate and enjoyed each other's company. No words were needed; Their presences were enough. At one point, Chuckie had to use the restroom, so Shenzi waited patiently outside the walkway for him to finish. As she leaned against the wall, she smiled at the reality of the situation. She was dating the boy of her dreams! And hopefully soon, they would become an official couple.
"Where's your date, Tuck?" The popular girl asked her.
"Chuckie's in the bathroom," Shenzi crossed her arms, "Not that it's any of your guys' business."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Chuckie? As in Chuckie Finster? You're on a date with him?"
"Yep," She nodded with pride, "We've been dating for 2 months, exclusively. And he likes me for me; Hot and confident aren't in his list of traits he likes in girls."
"Su-u-ure," The brunette smirked, "That's just what he wants you to believe."
"I don't think so," Shenzi shook her head, "He's never lied to me, and he never will."
"Yeah, sure. Just tell yourself that, and maybe it'll happen." While laughing, the posse and their leader walked out with overfilled bags in their hands.
She didn't realize that tears were in eyes again, some even falling, until Chuckie came out of the restroom. "Shenzi, what's wrong? Did those rude girls come here again?"
"C-can we just go early?" She wiped her cheeks with the back of her left hand under her bangs and glasses.
"Sure we can," With an arm around her shoulders, Chuckie escorted her outside, and they sat on a bench. "I'll call Dad real quick." He took out his phone, dialed Chaz's number, and waited for an answer. "Hello, Dad?" Shenzi laid on his shoulder. "Can you come get us? Shenzi wants to go home early, and I have a strong feeling it involves these girls from school who keep verbally putting her down. Okay, thanks." He hung up, and looked down at the sad girl. "Dad's on his way." When a tear rolled down her cheek, he brushed it away as she sniffled. "Shen, don't let those twits get to you. They don't know me like you do, and they don't know you like I do. They have no right to say whatever it was they said. No offense, but I don't want to see you as a "daffodil" ever again, or a hippie, or whatever. I want you to stay the beautiful Goth girl that you are, okay?"
She played with his shirt collar as he spoke, before answering his question. "O-okay."
"Good," He kissed her head in comfort, "'Cause you're amazing... just the way you are," He quietly sang in her ear, making her smile grow back. "There's that smile." He kissed her blushing cheek. Before any more words were said, a familiar car parked in front of the mall entrance. "There's Dad; Come on, Shen." Hand-in-hand, they stood up and entered the vehicle.
"You okay, Shenzi?" Chaz asked his son's date, "Why do you want to go home early?"
"I... I don't want to talk about it," She replied quietly yet audibly, avoiding his eyes from the rearview mirror.
"That bad, huh?"
"Mm hmm," She nodded. The rest of the drive was silent, as the emo girl avoided the redheads' gazes. She never thought she'd feel joy, even if it was a tiny bit, when they stopped at her house. "Thanks for the date, Chuck," She said quietly but audibly, "A-and thanks for driving me home, Chaz." After they returned her thanks with kind "you're welcome"s, she exited the car and walked in the house without a word.
"What's wrong, Shen?" Frankie asked her little sister, "Did the date go bad?"
"No, it went fine," She replies quietly, "I... I don't want to talk about it." She walked upstairs before any more questions were directed to her. She was completely silent during dinner time; When her parents tried to ask her what was troubling her, Frankie told them what she heard: Shenzi didn't want to speak of it. So thankfully for her, they didn't ask her about it anymore. After she was done, she quietly excused herself and walked upstairs to her room, where she gingerly closed the door.
As she laid in her bed, still in her date clothes except her shoes, the words directed to her by the brunette girl ran through her mind. Boys like him only go for sexy girls with self-confidence, not dark weirdos.
She then decided just what to do for school the next day. Since she was alone, she stood out of bed, locked her door as quietly as she could, and looked through her closet and dresser for the perfect outfit. Pushing her shyness aside, she eventually found it.
The next morning, Shenzi woke up a minute or two earlier than usual. After stashing her secret (for now) outfit in her backpack, she changed into a regular outfit for cover: A black and white corset tutu dress, a black short-sleeved cardigan, black and white canvas flats, black flower pendant earrings, and a white extensions in her bangs. In the rest of her hair were new extensions that were black and faded into ivory. "Hey girls," Felicia greeted her daughters when they walked downstairs. "You feeling better, Shen?"
"I think so," She shrugged.
"Hopefully you won't run into those nasty twits again," Frankie remarked, "And hopefully, they won't run into me. Because if they do, they'll regret even thinking of bullying you."
"Thanks, sis."
"No prob."
Soon, they boarded the bus and took their seats, with Shenzi having that feeling of uneasiness again when passing by the driver.
Meanwhile, Chuckie and Kimi had missed the bus by accident, so Kira drove them to school, although the bus arrived first. After getting a drink from the water fountain, Chuckie looked behind his back when he heard Shenzi's voice, but what he saw made him spit the water out in shock.
(A/N: Ooh, cliffhanger. O,O You know the disclaimer. Oh, and no songs used in this whole trilogy belong to me. I just thought I'd make that clear.)