Chapter 2: At My Old School...
Disclaimer: I do not own The Magic School Bus or any of the related characters. The Magic School Bus series is created by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen and owned by Nelvana. This entire story is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only. I am not making a profit from this story.
Notes: It's time to celebrate the end of exams, and in the words of Ms. Frizzle - everyone is in for a wild ride! R&R!
3:30pm
"Won't you please come out of the stall DA? You've been in there for half an hour," Phoebe pleaded for the fifth time.
"No way. I can never face Carlos again after Janet outed me right in front of him," Dorothy Ann sobbed from inside.
"It's okay DA, I haven't had sex yet either," Phoebe reassured her.
"Well at least your virginity status wasn't revealed to our entire bio class," Dorothy Ann wailed.
"There's nothing wrong with waiting for the right person," Phoebe said defensively.
"I know Pheebs, I am too."
"Then why are you acting like it's a bad thing?"
"It's not a bad thing. I just don't know what Carlos will think! What if he wants a more experienced woman," Dorothy Ann sulked.
"Then he isn't worth your time," Keesha declared, striding into the girls' washroom with Wanda.
Dorothy Ann finally emerged from the stall and went to the sink to wash and dry her face. When done, she turned around and offered them a watery smile.
"That's our girl," Keesha affectionately stroked Dorothy Ann's cheek.
"I know what'll cheer her up! Here DA, have a Mallow Blaster!" Wanda reached into her school bag and handed Dorothy Ann the sweet treat.
"Wanda and I should head out soon, otherwise we'll be late for work," Phoebe said, checking her watch. Their WcDonald's shift on Fridays started at 4:30pm.
"DA and I will meet you guys there. We love keeping you two company," Keesha promised as they headed out.
*/*/*
5:00pm
"Welcome to WcDonald's! What can we get for you today?" Phoebe chirped into her headset.
Still in the process of overcoming her painful shyness, she preferred bagging mobile orders with Wanda. But on days like today when her jealousy over Arnold's affection for Wanda reared its ugly head, she felt relieved to be working the till at the drive thru while Wanda worked the till at the front counter.
"Um hello?" Phoebe tentatively repeated into the headset when she didn't hear any order.
"COMBOOO!" a voice boomed from the other end.
"Yes, we have those. Which combo would you like?" Phoebe continued.
She frowned when she heard the sound of screeching tires approaching first window. When she opened it, she saw a couple of teenage pranksters who usually frequented the restaurant sitting in their car with shit-eating grins plastered across their faces. Phoebe clenched his fists and willed herself to have patience with them. She had a couple of hours left on her shift. Then she could go home and mope about how devastated Arnold looked when he heard that Wanda was planning to study abroad for a measly four months.
"Excuse me sir, you need to pick a combo from our menu so we can have it ready for you to pick up after you pay," Phoebe explained with a forced polite smile. She shrieked and belatedly ducked when a handful of change went flying at her face. The boys laughed and drove to second window where they started shouting for their orders.
Phoebe ripped off her headset and stormed to the front counter to cool down. It was times like these that made her wish she worked with plants instead of people. But she needed some way to make money to pay for school when she started studying Botany and Plant Science at Walkerville U and the hours here were more flexible.
"Oh my god, are you okay? I saw what happened on the surveillance camera screen!" Wanda exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders. Phoebe didn't answer. A number of security cameras were recently installed around the restaurant with a large monitor displaying all the feeds stationed above the front counter so customers could see that they were being recorded.
"Don't worry Pheebs, I'll give them a piece of my mind!" Wanda assured her as she strutted over to second window and pushed aside Brian, a boy from their grade who also worked at WcDonald's. He was currently playing a game on his smartphone. How he was hired remained a mystery to them, but being their manager Clara's nephew likely played a part.
Wanda threw open the window and began shouting profanities at the boys until they got scared and drove off. Then, she dusted off her hands and marched back to the front counter.
Phoebe felt even more embarrassed that Wanda had seen how pathetic she looked earlier. She clearly handled the situation better than Phoebe had. No wonder Arnold was in love with her. Wanda was a courageous ball of energy wrapped in a petite, pretty package. Her bold pixie cut suited her heart-shaped face and the casual outfits she wore to school each day did nothing to hide her shapely figure. By comparison, Phoebe felt like the definition of a plain jane. She was skinny, tall and had reached the end of high school with no curves to speak of. Each year, she told herself she would style her hair differently and change up her wardrobe, but always chickened out as soon as she reached the mall. It was embarrassing.
"You're not hurt, right Pheebs?" Wanda said with concern lacing her voice.
"I'm fine. I think a few coins went down my shirt, which is great because we rarely get tips," Phoebe joked, avoiding eye contact with her friend.
"Don't worry, I'm sure those will slide right through," Wanda beamed, before her eyes widened in horror when she realized what she said.
"Oh my god Pheebs, I swear I didn't mean to imply you have small boobs!" Wanda cried. Phoebe's chest painfully constricted and she took a step away from her friend. As if on cue, the coins inside her shirt were dislodged and fell to the floor in a series of clinks. Wanda's mouth hung open in disbelief.
Phoebe silently raised her hand and for once Wanda didn't say a word. Instead, she turned back to the register and watched the door for customers. It was then that Phoebe noticed there were hardly any in the dining area and no one else was lined up at the drive thru. It was unusually quiet for a Friday afternoon on a hot summer day.
"I think I'm going to send you girls home early today. The ice cream machine is broken and Wanda has had to turn away almost every customer. I called a repairman, but he's not available until tomorrow morning, so it should be fairly calm this evening. Brian and I can handle things and we have some cooks in the back. You'll still get paid for your shift," their manager informed them, emerging from her office.
"Sorry to hear, Clara. We'll see you tomorrow then," Phoebe empathetically said. Their manager was a fairly nice middle-aged lady, so Phoebe was sorry to see that her business would suffer tonight. But she was secretly happy to go home earlier. She felt exhausted after hell week and emotionally drained from being constantly overshadowed by Wanda.
"Have a good night Clara!" Wanda shouted as she and Phoebe went to the break room to retrieve their belongings.
"We should probably tell DA and Keesha not to come," Phoebe suggested while they were leaving.
"Too late," Wanda replied when she saw the other two girls walking up to the restaurant. At least Dorothy Ann appeared to be in higher spirits.
"The ice cream machine broke so we got sent home early," Wanda explained when they drew closer.
"Bummer! I really wanted a chocolate shake. Now what?" Keesha moaned.
"Sleepover?" Phoebe suggested.
"My mom is away on business and William is spending the night at his friend's house, so mine could work. But I don't want to stay home. We've been indoors studying for exams all month. Let's have a girls' night out!" Wanda punctuated her excitement with a jump.
"Alrighty, where are we going kids?" Keesha sighed. Whenever Wanda had an idea, it usually led to trouble. Being the de facto class mom, Keesha had to be ready to bail them out of whatever mischief Wanda had planned.
"Clubbing!" Wanda announced.
"No way. I'm not risking my scholarship for a night of stupidity," Dorothy Ann sternly said.
"At my old school, we never went clubbing," Phoebe said fearfully.
"At your old school, you were way too young to go clubbing," Wanda snarked.
"A reminder that we are all STILL too young to go clubbing," Keesha deadpanned.
"That never stopped us before," Wanda argued.
"You've been to a nightclub?" Dorothy Ann gasped.
"I was young once," Keesha joked. "Yeah, Ralphie got us fake IDs last year and we went together one night. I hated it. The music was too loud and it was crowded with sweaty people."
"I'm a regular. I've been going since sophomore year. Got my fake ID at the same place Ralphie did," Wanda proudly said.
"How long does it take to make one?" Phoebe curiously asked.
"At least a week," Keesha estimated.
"Well then, I guess going clubbing tonight is out of the question," Dorothy Ann sighed in relief.
"Hmm maybe not...I have a plan! Meet me at my house at 8pm. Bring your favorite cocktail dress and do NOT tell your parents you're coming over," Wanda instructed.
"Why not?" Phoebe asked.
"Because my mom isn't home, so if they call to speak to her for whatever reason then we'll all get busted," Wanda said in an obvious tone.
"But, how are we supposed to leave without them knowing?" Dorothy Ann said in confusion as a devious smirk spread across her friend's face.
"Sneak out."
Notes: The Mallow Blaster that Wanda gives DA is a reference to the one in Arnold's stomach from the episode "Gets Eaten".
William is Wanda's younger brother, who makes an appearance in the episode, "Under Construction".
Phoebe has always loved nature (i.e. the episode, "Goes to Seed"), so her Botany major seemed like a no brainer.
I snorted when I wrote the last line of this chapter because I read it in Goddard's voice from the Jimmy Neutron movie.