The evening creeps up quickly, and soon, it is time for LJ to take his passengers home. He carefully drives up to the front of Mickey's house. "Hey, kid," he says as Mickey hops out of the vehicle. "You did good today. I think you're ready for initiation." "Yeah?" Mickey asked with excitement. "See ya, soon." LJ said before driving away. Mickey thought this was the best news ever, but he had one problem: his sister! He waits until the scorpions get further down the road, then the smile on his face drops as he angrily marched inside. "Laney!" He slams the front door before walking over to the living room. "Laney! Where are you?!" He yells again. "I'm right here." Laney replies while walking downstairs. "How could you?!" He angrily asked. "Hey, what is all the commotion?" Their mother walks out of the kitchen to calm Mickey down. "Laney took Dad's car out!" "Laney, did you take your dad's car again?" "Dad said I can drive it anytime I want, while he's away." "Yeah, well, he didn't mean to use it to harass me and my friends!" Mickey shouted while running upstairs. "Those aren't your friends!" Mickey slams his bedroom door and lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. He's a spitting image of his father; too bad he doesn't have the same taste in friends as his father. "Those guys are jerks, Mickey!" Laney yells as she also goes to her room and slams her door. "Geez, I don't remember things being so complicated when I was a teen," their mother, Stephanie Zinone-Carrington, said.
A week or so later, the Tbirds are driving to school in William's car, which is pretty impressive on their part; most kids wouldn't be caught dead in a beat-up tin wagon as such, but the Tbirds don't mind, who cares if the hood is missing as long as the engine runs. They see a loner nerd named Edgar walking down the sidewalk with his books held in one arm. Immediately, they can tell he's an easy target by how he dresses. In their opinion, anyone in brown high-water pants with red suspenders and a blue button-up shirt has to be a pushover. The Tbirds quickly pull over; two get out of the car and force Edgar into the back seat, leaving his books behind on the pavement walkway. "Hey, what are you doing?!" Edgar shouts while being taken against his will. Once they have the package secure, the Tbirds quickly drive away from the scene of the crime.
At the high school, they walk Edgar into the registration office—or should I say drag Edgar? "Um, we gotta new student." Nick bumps Edgar with his shoulder. "Tell them your name." "I'm not supposed to be here," Edgar said. "None of us are supposed to be here. It's still summer outside; we should be on a beach somewhere soaking up the sun." Clarice, the admin lady, said. "Here's a few forms you need to fill out," she continues. "No, really, I'm at the wrong campus." Edgar tries to explain again. "You're gonna fill out these forms, or you're gonna get a Tbird knuckle sandwich." Nick whispers to Edgar, who immediately grows scared of the Tbirds as they surround him. "What is going on here?" Principal Middleton came to the counter and asked. "We got a new student, ain't that right, um?" "Edgar. The names Edgar Felsnic." "Well, Edgar Felsnic, welcome to Rydell." "Whatcha think, Mr. Middleton? The Tbirds did good, huh?" Willam asked. "Not bad, Tbirds, but I'm afraid one student isn't enough to save Rydell." The Tbirds turn away from the counter and huddle. "We need to kidnap more nerds." "There are a couple of band nerds that pass my driveway every morning. We can probably snatch them up." "My dad has chloroform in his basement." "Hey, genius we need them conscious to register." "Oh right." "Anybody else worried about Jared's dad having chloroform?" While brainstorming, Edgar comes up with an intelligent idea. "You should offer classes like home economics and workshop. Announce it in the newspaper." "That's an excellent idea, Edgar; this school needs more bright students like yourself. Clarice! Get the newspaper on the phone, and bring me my coffee!" Mr. Middleton hollers as he walks back into his office. "Hey, the Tbirds was just thinking that Mr. Middleton!" "Yeah, home conomics!" He shuts his office door and ignores the Tbirds. Jared grabs Edgar in a headlock, and they all walk out of the office together.
Out in the hall, the pink ladies bump into the Tbirds. Jared is still holding Edgar in a headlock. "Who's this? New Tbird?" Brooke asked. "He wishes," William replied. "Hey Edgar, here's your first class right here." Charlie picks up the hallway trash can and places it over Edgar's head. Jared shoves him away. "Yeah, trash economics 101." Nick said as they all walked away leaving Edgar to fend for himself. Jared and Jackie hold hands. William puts his arm around Brooke. Tina and Charlie kiss before walking together, and Rachel, Lyon, and Nick walk independently as they are the only single ones of the bunch. "I've got my first exam in chemistry; I just know I'm gonna fail," Rachel said. "Do what I do, circle C all the way down." Jared suggests. "It baffles me how we're in the same grade level." Brooke replied. "It's the Tbird rule," William said. "When in doubt, answer C, and you won't flunkout," the Tbirds said simultaneously as if they rehearsed this beforehand. "You guys are morons." Tina laughs. Jackie opens her locker and sees the new edition of this year's slam book. Her facial expression changes from happy to seriously concerned in seconds. "What? What is it?" Brooke asked. Jackie pulls out the slam book "Oh no, who did you tell?" She hits Jared. "Ow." She reads what the slam book has to say about her, "How could you?!" She shoves Jared and quickly runs away, holding the book to her chest. "Hey, Jackie!" Jared yells out to her but she doesn't look back.
Ms. Riz sits at her desk grading papers when a distraught Jackie storms in. "You alright?" Ms. Riz asked her. "Oh, sorry, I didn't think anyone was in here," Jackie replies while wiping her tears. "It's okay, come on in." Ms. Riz walks over to lock the classroom door. "You want to talk about it?" She asked her. "It's this year's slam book." She shows it to Ms.Riz. "It says horrible things about me." Jackie hangs her head as Ms. Riz grabs the book and reads it. "Jackie De Costa, pink lady material, also promiscuous material. If back seats could talk, Jackie's name would echo through the school parking lot like a holiday song sung by the school choir, hoe, hoe, hoe." Rizzo closes the book. "It not true," Jackie explains. "I lost my virginity to one guy this summer. One boyfriend! Now the whole school thinks I'm a whore. I want to run away! Forget this place!" She cries. Ms. Riz treads lightly; she can remember all too well what it was like to be the talk of the school. "Look, I understand what you're going through. I will make sure this book doesn't get passed around the school, but you need to keep your head up. Don't let senior year be a bad memory for you." She lifts Jackie's chin as the music plays in the background, and Ms. Riz begins to sing.
You're only a teen for a day.Tomorrow, you won't remember where the time went or who's to blame for the wasted days in high school that you cried for little things. Everyone around you will slowly fade away. The reflection in the mirror will suddenly start to change. So, listen when I tell you, you're only a teen for a day. No more football games or pep rallies, no cheering for your favorite team; the bonfires, I loved the best, but even those won't stand the test of time.You're only a teen for a day. Tomorrow, you'll be working, ringing up at the local grocery. If you're lucky, you'll be a star and move away someplace far, but once it's all behind you, once you get to walk the stage, you'd wish you'd done it better; you'd wish that you could stay a high school teen for longer than a day.
Singing not only cheered Jackie up, but also made Rizzo realize how much she loved Rydell High and all the memories she had as a student. "Jackie, there's something I've gotta do. I promise I will burn this book. You take as long as you need here, okay?" "Yes ma'am." Jackie replied as she saw Rizzo gather her belongings and rush out the door.