In With the A Crowd

Author: Janet (SkyGirl5)

Genre: S/V, AU

Summary: inspired by Never Been Kissed - When Sydney Bristow receives the once-in-a-life-time opportunity to work on an undercover assignment back in High School she is foolishly hopeful that her past experiences would lend her the wisdom to succeed that time around. Sadly, she is very mistaken and ends up being utterly miserable. That is until she reveals her secret to a certain English teacher who just might admire her on more levels than one. [22]

Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC. And NBK is owned by whoever owns that.

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Chapters 1-10 // Chapters 11 - 22 + Epilogue

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Chapter 11

For the next few weeks, Sydney and Michael continued their subtly flirtatious routine. When Sydney would come up to his desk to speak with him before English class, Michael would make it a point to touch her arm gently as they spoke. They would stop to chat in the hallways between classes at least a few times per day, every time Sydney stopped by her locker, which was conveniently located close by Michael’s room. Also, during newspaper meetings, Michael would lean over Sydney as she worked, hovering much closer than he would if she was just an ordinary student.

All of these tiny factors combined did not seem to tip anyone off to anything unusual between them. Or, even if it did, Sydney did not get wind of it. In order to really kick things up, Sydney thought of a more interesting twist in their plan. Since she was still spending some of her study halls with Michael, she decided it would be an interesting experiment if she smeared his lipstick a bit while leaving his classroom to give the impression of something less than G-rated going on during that study hall. This final twist worked like a charm, especially when she was casually fixing her lipstick and caught the eye of Susan, the queen bee, so to speak.

It was just a few days after that incident that Susan approached Sydney after gym class in the locker rooms while they were changing. Sydney could see Susan and two of her loyal followers hovering annoyingly close and hoped they were about to speak to her, so she casually glanced over at them every so often, trying to catch their eye. Finally she did and Susan took a step forward. “It’s Sydney, right? You’re in my English class…”

“Yeah,” Sydney said as casually as possible.

“Well I – we were just wondering…is there something going on between you and Mr. Vaughn?” Susan asked carefully.

While fighting the urge to jump up and do a back flip that her plan was finally working, Sydney managed to grow a secretive smile across her face as she said, “What do you mean?” in the most innocent voice she could muster.

“Well you’ve been flirting with him,” Susan laughed loudly. Then she lowered her voice. “I mean, we all do it but…well, he seems to be flirting back,” Susan said in an utterly bewildered tone. Her tone made her thoughts fairly obvious. She was wondering why Mr. Vaughn was attracted to the formally geeky Sydney instead of her always chic self.

More than anything Sydney wanted to rub the truth into Susan’s face. She wanted to say that yes of course she and Michael were together – dating – and he thought she was beautiful. Sadly, this was not part of the plan so she had to play along. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sydney said with a slight giggle, making it clear she was hiding something. Then, she quickly reached for her backpack and excused herself politely, leaving Susan practically dying of curiosity behind her.

Rushing back to her locker from gym class, Sydney was practically soaring. More than anything she wanted to float down the hallway shouting, “IT WORKED!” but she could not. She needed to play it cool – very cool. After all she was so close. Somehow, during her evil plotting she got it into her head that getting in with the A crowd would be her ticket to the killer story her editor was harping on her for. All she needed was just a few days in their secret club and then BAM! It would hit her. Or so she thought, anyway.

Unable to resist telling Michael her good news, she ripped a piece of notebook paper from her backpack and quickly scribbled a few words onto it. Then, she folded it in half and sauntered into Michael’s classroom, which was already filling with students for his fourth period class. “Mr. Vaughn I just wanted to give you that article I promised you – you know, for the paper,” she said.

Michael looked up to her with an utterly lost and confused look on his face. “Um, what?” he asked quietly.

“Here you go,” she pressed the paper into his hand. “I’ve got to get to class!” she said before quickly rushing away.

Still lost as to what Sydney was up to, Michael unfolded the paper and read in her scribbled handwriting, It worked!. Michael could not help but laugh softly at this as he slipped the paper into his top desk drawer.

~*~

The next day, the whole school was practically abuzz about Sydney’s confirmation by silence of her affair with Michael. Of course, Sydney would not have known about this since those involved in rumors rarely heard about them, but as luck would have it she did hear about it while in a bathroom stall. With the stall door closed, no one knew she was inside and Sydney could not believe the conversation she was hearing.

“Did you hear someone at McMillan is sleeping with Mr. Vaughn?” a girl with a squeaky voice said.

“NO! Who is it? Ms. Krieger the librarian – they’d make a cute couple,” another girl with a deeper voice said with a slight giggle.

“No it’s a student! Some senior girl,” Squeaky voice said.

“No way!” a third girl chimed in.

“Totally! That’s what I heard! They’ve been like…having sex in his classroom or something. Apparently she’s in his English class. I guess she’s been staying after school for some extra credit,” Squeaky voice said suggestively. The other girls laughed.

“Hmm I wonder if she’s on the school newspaper, too? Mr. Vaughn’s the coordinator of that, right?” the deep voice girl asked.

“I think so…oh! My friend Sara is on the newspaper – I’ll ask her if she’s notice Mr. Vaughn getting friendly with anyone!”

With this, the girl’s conversation ended as they left the bathroom. Once they were gone, Sydney emerged from the stall she was in laughing to herself. Her evil plan was working and, little did she know that it was about to get a lot more interesting.



Chapter 12

Just a few days after Sydney overheard the bathroom gossip about herself and Michael, she was sitting in the cafeteria enjoying her lunch at a table by herself. In the time since she started at McMillan, she actually grew to enjoy her solitary eating time. It gave her time to begin some of her homework, which saved her time in the evenings.

Just as she was about to start on her Pre-Calculus homework, she was shocked to feel the table vibrate as other sat down around her. She looked up and was utterly stunned to see three girls and two boys sitting around her. Amazingly, each and every one of those people had been part of the crew throwing food at her not a month earlier. It was fascinating to see just how quickly times changed.

“Can we sit with you?” Susan asked politely. Of course, she was already sitting down so Sydney was hardly in a position to refuse, not that she was going to anyway.

“Um, yeah, sure,” she said distantly. “Can I help you guys?”

“No we just wanted to sit with you,” another girl, Nikki, smiled.

“And, you know, chat,” Susan added.

“Chat…,” Sydney repeated slowly. Somehow she had a feeling that hers and Michael’s nonexistent extracurricular activities were going to be brought up in that conversation.

“Well yeah. You came from Alaska right? Was it like…cold up there?” Jenny, a girl from Sydney’s English class, asked. Needless to say, Jenny had never been one of the sharper tools in the shed, at least not in Sydney’s experience with her.

“Um…yeah,” she said stupidly, not knowing what else to say. “But it actually wasn’t as cold as you thought….we lived in the southernmost point of the state, you see,” she said, hoping they would not ask her too many questions about Alaska, which she knew almost nothing about.

“Were there any hot mountain men there?” Nikki asked with a giggle.

“Not that I saw,” Sydney said with a slight laugh. Nikki actually looked disappointed.

“So what’s up with you and Mr. Vaughn?” One of the boys, Greg, asked. “I mean, are you two like dating?”

“Oh god no,” Sydney said quickly. “That’s crazy!”

“So what’s going on?!” Susan asked in a low voice, leaning towards her. Sydney could tell from Susan’s expression that she was anxious to have Sydney reveal all her deepest darkest secrets to her. Most likely, if Sydney did this, they would only be used against her at a later point in time. Luckily, Sydney had no plans on revealing anything true about herself.

“Oh nothing its nothing,” she sighed casually, looking back down into the cup of yogurt before her. “It’s just…you know he’s my favorite teacher -- ever,” she added with a suggestive laugh. Everyone else sitting at the table howled and laughed at this comment.

“I’ll bet he is!”

“So is he like a good …teacher?” Jenny asked.

“Well he certainly isn’t bad…but you know,” Sydney lowered her voice significantly, “we probably shouldn’t be talking about this here.”

“Oh she’s absolutely right,” Susan said, whispering as well. “How about you come to the mall with us sometime Sydney? You know, do some shopping maybe grab some coffee…”

“Oh,” Sydney hesitated, unsure of how to respond to this. On one hand, the abused geek inside her wanted to laugh right in their faces and tell them that there was no way in hell she was going to hang out with them; she was far better than them and should not waste time in their company. She knew, though, that this was the exact break she needed for her story and she could not say no. “Yeah that sounds nice…”

“Great! Well maybe we can arrange it right after we come back from thanksgiving break then,” Susan said happily. Sydney agreed with a nod and then she watched them all walk away. Then, she turned her attention back to her yogurt; it truly was amazing how much her popularity changed on the account of some highlights, makeup, sung jeans and, of course, a sex scandal.

~*~

When Sydney told Michael about her invitation to the mall, Michael was very surprised. In his mind, the mall was some sort of coveted temple for teenage girls and invites would not come easily. He was happy, though, that Sydney was finally getting the access she needed to make the best story possible.

Just a few days after Susan and her cronies sat with Sydney at lunch, Thanksgiving break began. In the few days before this, Sydney had received hellos and smiles from almost every member of the A crowd as she walked down the halls. This was a complete one-eighty from her first two months at McMillan and Sydney had to admit that was definitely a welcome change.

Unfortunately for Sydney, her break did not consist of any break at all due to the fact that all she was doing was writing papers and doing projects and other homework related tasks. This did not surprise her of course; she remembered teachers pilling on the homework during her own school years. She did not do any work on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, figuring she needed at least one day to relax. On Friday, though, she got down to business.

During the late morning, as a welcome distraction, Michael turned up at Sydney’s doorstep bearing pumpkin pie and a few other leftover Thanksgiving goodies, since he knew Sydney was spending the holiday by herself that year. “My mom always makes tons of food – enough to feed a small army, so I figured it was the least I could do,” he explained.

“Oh this is wonderful thank you. I definitely need some brain food for all the homework I’m doing,” she said, digging right into the pumpkin pie.

“You know you don’t have to do those English assignments if you don’t want to… I mean, just write whatever crap down so it looks like you’re turning something in,” Michael told her.

“But I like doing that – it’s the fun stuff,” she told him. “It’s the other stuff that’s miserable.”

“Like what else?”

“History paper…math packet in preparation for our midterm…gym paper-”

“What the hell do you have to write for gym?!” Michael asked with shock.

“I dunno…we have to pick a sports figure and say how they changed the sport or something… I don’t even know how I’m going to do that and the worst part is I’m just trying to get C’s in everything since it doesn’t really matter and all.”

“Well,” Michael said, shrugging off his jacket, “I’ll do your gym paper.”

“Oh Michael you don’t have to,” Sydney said quickly, not wanting him to waste his time on her homework.

“But I want to. Besides, it gives me time to spend with you right? And the faster you get your homework done the faster you get to do fun stuff like making out,” he grinned wickedly. Sydney laughed loudly before leading the way to her couch, where her homework station was set up.

Half an hour later, after doing some research with Sydney’s laptop, Michael joined her on the couch to write up the paper he had concocted on Michael Jordan’s contribution to basketball. Really, he was not a huge basketball fan himself, but Michael Jordan was the first name that popped into his mind as he was thinking about famous sports stars. Aside from Wayne Gretzky of course, but he felt Michael Jordan was easier and something Sydney would have come up with.

“So what did you do yesterday?” Michael asked finally when he was in need of a break from thinking. “I mean, where were your parents at?”

“Oh,” she said shortly, putting her history text book aside. “Didn’t I tell you? My parents are dead…”

“What?!” he gasped.

“Yeah, they died when I was twenty,” she said. “See my dad was a commercial pilot for Delta airlines, but he also had this small plane of his own…well, while I was at school, one day he decided to take it up with my mom. She never really liked that plane but went up anyway…well they don’t really know what happened, but they think it was a sudden gust of wind and the plane went down… They were killed instantly,” she said sadly.

“Oh my god Sydney I am so sorry!” Michael exclaimed, immediately pulling her into his arms.

“It’s okay Michael,” she said, though she hugged him back.

“So you don’t have any family? No siblings?” he asked, horrified that she was so alone in the world. In a way, it made all the teasing and ridiculing she suffered during her own high school years and her time at McMillan all the worse. If one did not have a family, friends became family, but if she did not have friends…well, Michael did not want to dwell on that; at least she had him.

Sydney shook her head. “No siblings…this was my grandparent’s house; they died by the time I was seventeen… my parents hung onto it for whatever reason, so after they died I moved in here. The mortgage is all paid off so it’s pretty affordable.”

“Oh Sydney,” Michael said, giving her head a gentle kiss.

“It’s okay, Michael; I’m okay,” she assured him with a strong smile.

“Well you’re coming home with me for Christmas,” he told her as if she had no choice in the matter.

“OH Michael that’s completely unnecessary,” she assured him.

“What are you insane?! You cannot spend Christmas alone. I won’t allow it,” he promised.

“Thank you,” she said softly, leaning her forehead against his.

“Anytime,” he promised.



Chapter 13

When Susan had said to Sydney that she would contact her after Thanksgiving break and invite her to go shopping, Sydney’s immediate reaction had been yeah right. She thought that invite was a fake; just something that people like Susan said to people like her to make them feel as though they were wanted. Of course this did not work on Sydney; she could have cared less if she went shopping with Susan or not.

Much to Sydney’s surprise, though, just a few days after Thanksgiving break, Susan approached her once more and invited her to the mall on Friday after school. For a few moments, Sydney was too shocked to even react, but finally she agreed, hoping the event would not be too painful.

Sydney’s Friday shopping outing with Susan, Nikki, Jenny, and another girl, Har, short for Harriet (who, not surprisingly, hated her name) was actually a very stressful event for her. She knew she had just one chance – one and only one – to impress Susan and her friends and hopefully earn an invite to another mall outing or perhaps even to some other social event. To add to her stress was the ominous phone call she had received from her boss the previous afternoon demanding that he see a rough article, which, of course, she did not have. Luckily, she could assure him that she was right on the cusp of something big.

“So, Sydney, tell us – what’s your favorite store here?” Susan asked Sydney as they walked into the mall, all five of them linking arms.

“Oh, um,” Sydney stammered for a moment, trying to think of the answer Susan would want to hear, instead of her own answer which was ‘whatever is on sale’. “I like a lot of them but I guess if I had to pick…American Eagle?”

“That’s our favorite too!” Jenny squealed happily. Sydney sighed with relief.

“So where are we going to shop first ladies?” Nikki asked.

“Um, actually, I was hoping you guys might be able to help me with something,” Sydney jumped in, hoping for a bonding point. “I need a new outfit – for a date – and I could use some advice.”

“Oh my god! You’re going on a date with Mr. Vaughn?! Like a real date?!” Jenny gasped.

“God no!” Sydney snapped quickly. “No, no this is someone else – from a different school. Mi..Mitch, yeah Mitch. I met him at the movies over the weekend,” Sydney lied quickly.

“So wait,” Har asked. “Did you and Mr. Vaughn like…break up?”

“Our relationship…isn’t exactly defined…” Sydney said slowly. Okay so that was technically true. Since she and Michael could not date in the traditional sense, they had yet to define themselves as boyfriend and girlfriend. However, considering that Sydney was going home with Michael for Christmas, she had a fairly good indication that was the direction they were heading in, even if it was not yet official.

“God that’s awful,” Susan shook her head. “Mr. Vaughn seems like such a nice guy…he didn’t strike me as the type who would use a girl for sex…”

“He’s not using me,” Sydney assured her. “But its not like I can go on a date with my English teacher – I mean, people would see.”

“Oh I get it!” Jenny jumped in. “You and Mr. Vaughn can’t be officially together because its probably against some school rule or something, so you’re going out with that Mitch guy to make it seem like you’re not really with Mr. Vaughn, but really you are!”

“Um…that’s close,” Sydney said with a slight laugh. Of course, her laugh was more a nervous reaction than anything else. She was hoping the subject could be changed as quickly as possible before she got herself or Michael in too much over their heads.

“Well we’ll help you find something for your date, won’t we girls?” Susan giggled. The rest nodded in agreement and they headed off towards the nearest trendy store.

Twenty minutes later, Sydney was purchasing a skirt that she felt was miles to short, but since Susan and the other girls assured her it was beyond perfect, she was hardly in a position to resist. At least it was on sale. In addition to the skirt, she bought a pink top that went perfect with it, which, surprisingly, she actually liked and was glad she found for herself. Jenny and Nikki assured her that if Mr. Vaughn knew she was going out with another guy in that outfit, he would be so jealous he would not be able to stand it. Somehow, Sydney had a feeling they might be right.

After an exhausting shopping outing, during which the girls’ parent’s credit cards were given quite a workout, Sydney finally got the invitation she had been desperately seeking. “So, I know we’re all going to be busy over the holidays and stuff, but we were thinking about having this party in mid-January. You know, over mid-terms week since we’re not going to be in school and all,” Susan said to Sydney.

“Oh yeah?” Sydney asked, trying to sound interested but not overly excited.

“Yeah, it would be on Tuesday afternoon of that week. I think the only mid-terms then are for the ninth and tenth graders… you don’t have any then, do you?”

“Um,” Sydney paused to think of her schedule. “No I think I only have them on Monday, Wednesday and one on Thursday.”

“Great! So you can come then?” Susan asked. Sydney shrugged and nodded. “Awesome! We’ll let you know later about the details. You know - time and location.”

“Okay, thanks,” Sydney smiled at her. Then, shockingly, Susan pulled Sydney into a one armed hug. Sydney was so stunned she could hardly move and continued to stand statuesque as Nikki, Jenny, and Har hugged her in turn. “See you guys Monday,” she managed as they all left.

“Wear your skirt to show off to You Know Who!” Jenny called back with a wave.

Sydney laughed softly and waved back before heading in the direction of where her own car was parked. As she walked, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Michael’s number. She had promised to call him and let him know when she was done shopping, so they could eat dinner together at her townhouse.

When they met there later on, the first thing Michael asked was how her shopping excursion went. “Well I bought a slutty skirt,” she responded.

“Oh I wanna see,” he smiled at her. She gave him a look. “I was serious!” he laughed.

“Its terrible…I should take it back, but its for my date so I can’t.”

“And what date would this be?” he asked with confusion.

“The one I had to make up… and then, of course, they asked if we broke up and I told them we didn’t have a defined relationship so now they think you’re just a jerk who’s using me for sex,” Sydney informed him.

“Oh wonderful,” he said with obvious sarcasm.

“Sorry,” she cringed slightly.

“It’s okay… I’m hoping this whole thing will come out as a ruse sooner or later anyway,” he sighed.

“I promise it will.”

“Good,” he smiled. “So was this trip at least worth while? I mean aside from the slutty skirt…”

“Actually it was! I got invited to a party they’re having during mid-terms week…and I figure it’ll be the typical drinking until we die type thing, so maybe it’ll give me good insights for my article because you know teenage binge drinking is becoming a big issue,” she pointed out.

“Yeah I know…well I really hope it works out for you,” he said before giving her a quick kiss.

“Thanks,” she smiled, “me too.”



Chapter 14

For Sydney, the beginning of her two week long winter break should have brought relaxation, but it did quite the opposite. Winter break meant Christmas was just a few days away, giving Sydney stress about meeting with Michael’s parents. To her, meeting a significant other’s parents was not a step to be taken lightly, and since she and Michael had only been technically together for two months, it seemed very early in their relationship to take this step.

Sydney knew that Michael was not intending their trip together to be part of a true ‘meet the parents’ situation; he was just making sure she did not have to spend another holiday alone, and she appreciated that. Still, she worried about making the right impression with Michael’s parents, who would obviously influence their son’s view on whether or not their relationship should continue.

Michael’s parent’s home was located about an hours drive away from where Sydney and Michael lived close by to McMillan high. At first, this distance gave Sydney concern that they would be spending the night at the elder Vaughn residence. Sydney, how was not very experienced in the boyfriend area, had never spent the night over at a boyfriend’s parents’ house, or anyone’s house for that matter. She was not sure the proper houseguest protocols, but luckily she did not have to stress over them; Michael informed her that the two of them would just be spending Christmas day there and no more time.

A Christmas Eve tradition in Michael’s family had always been going to church, no matter how crowded it was. When he moved away from his parents home, he found a church to go to close by his new home, and had been going there ever since, especially on Christmas Eve. Since Sydney had never been to church, he wanted to share this tradition with her, but he could not; their secrecy decree prevented it, especially since the church he was a member of also had many members that went to McMillan as well.

Instead of going to church Christmas Eve, Michael broke his tradition in favor of spending time with Sydney. She went over to his apartment for the first time and they drank hot chocolate while watching some Christmas Eve programs on television. As they were doing this, they could hear singing from outside and were surprised to find a group of carolers performing outside Michael’s apartment building. With blankets around them, they stood out on the balcony of Michael’s apartment and listened to the songs being sung while sharing a few kisses, which ended up being a very romantic moment for the two of them.

Much earlier than she would have liked to on Christmas morning, Sydney awoke and showered. After making herself looking as presentable as possible, she made sure she had every thing she needed, including the cookies she made for the Vaughn family. Just as she was finishing up the inventory of the items she was bringing along, Michael arrived to pick her up.

“So, um, are you sure you want me to come with you… I mean, I don’t want to intrude on your family time…,” she said hesitantly as they began their drive.

“Well it’s a little late now with you in the car and everything…,” Michael began casually. Sydney swallowed hard and he laughed loudly. “Syd, lighten up I was kidding! Of course I want you to come with me and you’re not intruding. I know I would have a horrible Christmas if I knew you were at home all by yourself so really I’m doing it so I can have a nice time – purely selfish wishes.”

“As long as you’re sure…”

“Positive,” he smiled. “Plus my mom’s dying to meet you. I told her all about our little plot and she thinks its hilarious. She says she wants to substitute at McMillan just so she can be a fly on the wall and hear all the rumors buzzing around. That’s what she is, you know, a substitute teacher.”

“Oh that’s nice. I don’t think I could ever do that, though; too much abuse by the students,” Sydney said.

“Oh I know! I don’t know how she does it; she’s insane,” Michael sighed, shaking his head.

“Is that why you wanted to be a teacher? Because your mom is one?” Sydney asked him.

He nodded. “Yeah pretty much. My dad is one too, now. Well, he’s a professor. He worked in engineering for a long time and then when he retired he decided to become a professor, which is kinda cool for him.”

“Oh yeah, very,” Sydney smiled.

“What about you? How’d you get bitten by the reporting bug?” he asked.

“Oh I don’t even know if I have been bitten by it… I mean, when I was in school I knew I wanted to do something with writing and journalism just seemed the way to go. I had an internship at The Herald during my senior year and when they offered me a job I just took it, thinking it would be a good gateway into things or at least show me what I did or did not want to do. But now… I dunno,” she sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“Um, hello?! You know what this experience has been like for me! I wanted to quit my job just to get out of it,” she grumbled.

“Well yeah, but Syd, you’re not always going to be undercover doing crap like this,” he pointed out.

“That’s true… I dunno I guess I’m still young so I can decide,” she shrugged with a slight laugh.

“Of course you can still decide… man, I wish I was still young,” he laughed softly.

“Yeah because at twenty-eight you’re nearing the grave,” Sydney rolled her eyes.

“No, I didn’t mean it that way it’s just…well, twenty-eight is nearly thirty and that’s around the time people start having families and kids and…wow, responsibility. I mean, sometimes I forget to brush my own teeth!”

“Really?” Sydney asked with a scrunched up nose.

“No, not really I was just giving an example,” he explained. “Mostly I forget to buy something at the grocery store or something.”

“We all do that,” she promised him. “Don’t you want kids though? I mean, at some point in your life.”

“Oh yeah definitely, I guess I just haven’t hit the point where I’m totally craving them yet, you know? Like, there was this one guy who I roomed with during college. He wanted kids so bad when we were just twenty years old …”

“Really?” Sydney asked, surprised. To her, a guy wanted children so young seemed very unusual. She did, however, know girls who were dying for children at a similar age, but something told her that was just because of the baby cuteness factor.

“Yep. He got married during senior year to a girl who wanted children equally as bad as he did…and I think they have three now,” he told her.

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “See what I mean? I’m definitely not there yet…”

“Neither am I,” she assured him.

“Well at least we’re on the same page then,” he smiled.

For the rest of the ride, they chatted about fairly random subject, never saying on the same subject for very long. Finally, they arrived at Michael’s parent’s home, and they both hopped out of the car. Sydney was surprised at how short the drive actually seemed, but then again they had been talking the entire time, making it pass more quickly.

Inside the Vaughn residence, Sydney was welcomed into a warm hug by Michael’s mother. His father greeted her with a handshake before the parents turned their attention on saying hello to their son. After receiving a brief tour of the Vaughn residence, Sydney sat down with Michael and his parents to eat Christmas brunch, which, apparently, was a Vaughn family tradition.

As they ate, Mrs. Vaughn asked dozens of questions about Sydney’s under cover status (she promised to keep anything Sydney revealed a secret), and her experience at McMillan as a student for the second time around. Sydney answered her questions as honestly as possible without flat out saying that if it had not been for Michael she would have been curled up in a corner somewhere crying, which she knew to be the absolute truth.

After they ate, the family moved into the sitting room, where the gift exchange began. Sydney felt rather awkward sitting there as Michael received a significant pile of gifts from his parents, but as it turned out they had something for her too. Their gifts were merely practical things: some kitchen towels, gloves, and two pairs of socks Mrs. Vaughn deemed to be adorable, but Sydney still loved every minute of her Christmas there, especially since she had not had a real Christmas in a very long time.



Chapter 15

For the first time, Sydney was looking forward to returning to school in January. She had a wonderful Christmas holiday complete with lots of evenings spent with Michael and a few very successful idea pitches to her editor. Plus, she had the A Crowd’s party coming up, which was sure to give her the scoop she needed to write the perfect article.

The only downside to January’s excitement was the mid-term exams Sydney needed to take. Thanks to Michael’s insight on what exactly would be on the English final (he practically gave her the questions word for word since it was not like her grades counted for anything) studying for that would be a cinch. Her other three exams, however…well, she did not like to dwell on them for they gave her a stomachache.

On Friday, just three days before the exams were to begin, Sydney bumped in to a girl in her trig class, Cara, at the end of the day as she was making her way towards her locker. Cara was the tenth grader who had befriended her earlier in the year, so when she stopped to ask her a question about the review packet their teacher gave out, Sydney was inclined to help her out since, amazingly, she knew the answer. Cara thanked her for her assistance and then walked away. Sydney had barely taken two steps towards her locker when Susan and Jenny intercepted her.

“What were you just doing?!” Susan demanded.

“Um… I answered a question…,” Sydney said slowly, unsure as to how that was the supreme offence Susan made it out to be with her tone.

“But she was a sophomore!”

“A nerdy one!” Jenny added.

“Well she sits next to me in class; I was just helping her out,” Sydney said simply, not seeing any problem in what she had done. After all, it wasn’t as though she invited Cara to the mall. Heck, she didn’t even invite Cara to sit with her in the cafeteria. It was just a simple question related to a school issue.

“You cannot talk to people like that! If they talk to you, you walk away!” Susan instructed.

“Okay…,” Sydney said in a slow tone. “The next time she asks me a question I’ll ignore her and walk away…oh! and I’ll try to knock her books out of her hands as I do it.”

“Perfect!” Jenny grinned. Sydney’s jaw fell open. She, of course, had been joking, but clearly her sarcasm had not been picked up on; not in the least.

“So you’re still coming on Tuesday right?” Susan asked. Sydney nodded. “Great! Its going to start at one pm at Greg’s house. Here’s the address,” she said, handing over a piece of paper. “DO you need directions?”

“Oh no I know where that is,” Sydney assured her after glancing down at the street name on the paper in her hand.

“Terrif! See you then! Oh and good luck on your mid terms!” Susan called out as she walked away.

“Terrif!” Sydney repeated under her breath in a mocking tone. The party she was going to was certainly going to be…something. She just had to remember to get in, get the dirt she needed, and get out – that was the key to survival. That and not accepting drinks from anyone unless it was a pre-sealed bottle of water.

~*~

When Sydney arrived at Greg’s house on Tuesday, shortly after one, half a dozen cars were already parked on the street out front and in the driveway. Sydney parked her silver Neon behind a larger green SUV before stepping out and adjusting her skirt. She had decided (against her better judgment) on wearing the skirt picked out for her by Susan and the girls, hoping it would impress them on at least some level. Unfortunately, impressing them came with the downside of not being able to sit for the entire duration of her partying, but it was a worthy trade off.

When Sydney knocked on the door, Greg answered it and smiled immediate. “Sydney! I’m so glad you could come.”

“I’m glad I was invited,” she laughed softly.

“Well c’mon in. Guys! Sydney’s here! The fun can begin!” Greg shouted as he walked towards the back of the house where, presumably, everyone else was waiting. As it turned out, though, they were not in the back of the house, but down in the basement, which was completely finished with nice carpeting, leather sofas, and even a pool table.

“This is a pretty cool place you got here,” Sydney said to Greg.

“Ah yea it’s sweet. My older brother had this all done before he left for college a few years back; now we get to enjoy it, right guys?!” he called out to his eight guests. They all mumbled in return. “Anyway, there’s some drinks over there in the kitchen; help yourself.”

“Thanks,” Sydney smiled softly. Then, she headed in the direction Greg pointed, hoping there was some water, but figuring there was not. At the very least she figured there would be Coke since she knew Rum and Coke to be a popular alcohol drink (not that she had had any in her life time). While she did enjoy the occasional glass of wine, hard liquor was never her cup of tea and she certainly was not going to start right then.

“Oh Sydney we’re so glad you came!” Jenny said, rushing up and giving her a hug. In the process, she nearly spilled her plastic cup full of amber liquid, but luckily she did not. “And you’re wearing that skirt – it still looks awesome!”

“Thanks,” Sydney smiled at her.

“Did you want me to mix you a drink? My sister gave me this book for Christmas on all this mixed drinks – its so much fun!” Jenny giggled.

“Um, no you know I think I’m just gonna grab a bottle of something…,” she said. She was very skeptical of Jenny’s ability to do anything properly, especially when it involved proper drink mixing ratios, due to Jenny’s solid D in math.

“OK have fun,” Jenny giggled before skipping off.

Just as Sydney reached the kitchen area and began searching for something to carry around and pretend as though she was drinking it, she was intercepted by Nikki and Susan, who greeted her with hugs and complimented her skirt. “You know,” Nikki began quietly. “Greg is really happy you’re here.”

“Is he?” Sydney asked curiously. This was certainly news to her. Perhaps, though, he did not want her there for the reasons Nikki was implying with her quiet tone. Maybe he had an extra hotdog lying around and needed to get in some target practice.

“Yeah… he likes you, you know?” Nikki giggled. “I mean, he totally respects what you’ve got going on with Mr. Vaughn, he just thinks you’re hot.”

“Oh really?” Sydney asked, fighting the urge to gag. “Well he certainly is cute.”

“And so much more,” Nikki sighed dreamily.

After a few minutes more of speaking with Nikki and Susan, Sydney’s eyes began to drift around the basement area towards the different partiers. Over in one corner, she spotted a girl and a guy kissing one another. Though she did not know their names of the top of their head, she did recognize the girl as one who hung around Susan and her crew. When Sydney’s eyes scanned back across them, she was utterly stunned to see that the girl’s top had been removed just as though the two of them were alone in the room.

“Um,” she began to Susan quietly. “Should they, um…go someplace else?”

“Oh them,” Susan rolled her eyes and waved her hand causally. “They’re fine; they do that a lot. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay…,” Sydney said with uncertainty. Yeah, that wasn’t going to be awkward.

Interestingly, as time progressed, other couples began following in the path of the shirtless duo in the corner. Sydney had heard of ‘make out parties’ from her own high school days, but always felt they were for younger teens, and that they were a thing of the past. It appeared, though, she was about to be very mistaken in that latter assumption.

“You ladies ready for some party games?” Greg’s friend, Brad, asked Susan and Nikki. The girls laughed loudly, took long swigs of their drinks, and then followed Brad to the other side of the room.

Party games. Party games? This struck Sydney as very odd. In her mind, party games were Pin the Tail on the Donkey or Duck, Duck, Goose – games she had not played since she was seven-years-old and at Maggie Steven’s birthday party. She could not for the life of her think of what party games were played at a party for seventeen and eighteen year olds. Sadly, she was about to find out.

“Sydney c’mon,” Jenny said, grabbing Sydney’s hand and pulling her towards the cluster of her peers across the room. “Greg, really wants you to play.”

“Um…okay, but what are we playing?” she asked, still confused.

“Here give her this,” Susan said to Jenny, holding out an item Sydney could not see.

“No not that one, this one,” Jenny said, reaching for another item in Susan’s grasp. Then, she held it out to Sydney, who was surprised to see a tube of lipstick. “Put it on.”

“Oh…kay…um its there a mirror?” she asked. The last thing she wanted to do was smear lip gloss all over her face in front of so many people.

“Oh I’ll just do it,” Jenny laughed. Then she yanked the cap off the tube, grabbed Sydney’s chin, and applied the color perfectly. “Looks great!”

“Purple,” Sydney said with an almost laugh. Strange. Purple lipstick…that really did not seem to be a popular shade. In fact, Sydney was sure she looked quite ghastly in it.

A she was standing there, trying to figure out what the heck was going on, she noticed that Greg and his friend were unzipping their jeans. This seemed ludicrous at first until it all hit her like a speeding freight train. The different lipsticks. The make-out twins in the corner, who were disturbingly losing more clothing as time progressed. The alcohol. The daytime, basement setting. She was, unbeknownst to her until that exact moment, at a so called “Rainbow Party”.

“Oh my god,” she breathed at this realization.

“What?” Jenny asked, having heard her hiss.

“Um…,” Sydney hesitated. She needed an excuse – a very good excuse – and she needed it fast. “Well, I, um…is there a bathroom?”

“On the other side of the stairs,” Jenny told her, pointing.

“Thanks!” Sydney said quickly before practically running in that general direction. Once safely behind the bathroom door, Sydney leaned heavily on the counter and began to hyperventilate. No bathrooms to escape from. No back doors. No easy way out. She was screwed.



Chapter 16

After pacing around the tiny bathroom for almost ten minutes, Sydney formulated a plausible plan to allow her to escape and still maintain the necessary friendship with Susan and her crew. Slowly, she crept out of the bathroom and around the other side of the stairs only to find…well, she tried not to dwell on it as she stared intently at the floor. Finally, Jenny noticed her and approached. “Sydney are you alright? You were in there for like… along time.”

“Well its just um,” she cleared her throat softly. “I started my period early and-”

“Oh god,” Jenny cringed, her smeared red lipstick looking even worse with this facial expression. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m not feeling well, so I think I’m just gonna go,” Sydney said, gesturing towards the stairs with her thumb.

“Oh, okay… well I’ll see you at the final tomorrow,” Jenny said happily, as though the activities gong on around her had not registered at all.

“Yeah…tomorrow,” Sydney said distantly. Then, she turned and headed up the stairs, fighting the urge to run. She did run, though, once she was outside. She ran all the way to her car, jumped inside and locked the doors. Only then did she begin repeating under her breath, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!”

She continued this mantra throughout her drive to Michael’s apartment. She knew it was too early for him to be home, so she waited outside, pacing up and down the sidewalk, reviewing the last hour in her mind. She did this for almost an hour before she finally spotted Michael approaching from the parking lot.

“Sydney?” he asked with mild concern. “What are you-”

“OH MY GOD!” She shrieked at him.

Michael took a step back. “Whoa okay…calm down. I take it the party wasn’t good…you didn’t wear that lipstick did you?” he asked, squinting carefully at her before shaking his head with disapproval.

“They invited…me to…an ORGY!” she breathed out.

“What?!” he shrieked that time. Then, quickly, he ushered her quickly into his apartment where they could continue their obviously strange conversation. “So, okay, explain from the beginning.”

“Do you know what a rainbow party is?” she asked him seriously.

“Um… I think I heard about that on Oprah one time…”

“You watch Oprah?!”

“It was on in the teacher’s lounge,” he shrugged.

“Okay…well this is what happened,” she began as she flopped down on Michael’s couch. “So I get there and of course everyone’s already a little tipsy – but that didn’t surprise me. So I’m talking to Susan and out of the corner of my eye I see this couple making out in the corner of the room and they’re like stripping each other!”

“Ew,” Michael chimed in.

“I know! So that tipped me off to something weird…and then Greg says we’re going to play this game-”

“Spin the bottle?” Michael offered with a laugh.

“I wish! So then Jenny gives me this god awful lipstick and I was totally confused until I saw everyone else putting on lipstick and then it hit me and I freaked out!” she exclaimed.

“Wait I still don’t understand…how is lipstick a game?” he questioned.

Sydney sighed heavily, really not wanting to fully explain this unusual game to Michael. “All the girls wear different lipstick so that when they give the guys oral sex the end up with…a rainbow,” she said with a slight grimace.

“Wait…WHAT?! Oh my god!” Michael exclaimed when he fully realized in his mind’s eye what she was describing.

“Uh yeah, so like I said I was invited to an orgy!” she exclaimed with horror.

“Why would they do this?!?! WHY?! Oh my god! It was on Oprah! Lots of people must do it! Oh my god,” he said, rubbing his wrinkled brow.

“Hello! I was there!”

“What did you do?!”

“Faked sick and left,” she told him with a sigh before running her hands over her face. “I mean what was I supposed to do?! Get on my knees an join them? No thank you. Believe it or not I do have some dignity left…despite what this skirt says about me…”

“Of course you do,” Michael sighed putting an arm around her shoulders and kissing her head gently. “I’m sorry you were so traumatized.”

“Yes…although! This is it! This will be my story! I mean, I’m sure not every parent saw that Oprah episode, plus even if they did they wouldn’t think it would happen to their child,” she said, a grin crossing her face. Okay, so she was permanently scarred for life by the visual she got at Greg’s party, but she was going to have one hell of an article because of it.

“Yeah…but they’re going to kill you when they read it and see their names in the paper,” Michael pointed out.

“Oh I won’t use any names…plus what are they gonna do? They can deny it all they want but I saw…unfortunately,” she added with a shiver.

“Aw you poor thing,” Michael laughed softly.

“Yeah well… oh god, what if they invite me to another party!?” she asked with ever-growing horror. “I can’t go to another one!”

“Just make up an excuse.”

“But I can’t do that every time. It’ll get too obvious!” she groaned. Once again, she was screwed.

“No I’ve got it! Say something like…like you have a grandparent living with you who is really sick and you need to help out… that’ll give you at least a few weeks worth of excuses maybe even more,” Michael told her with a smile.

“Oh that’s brilliant!” Sydney said, giving him a quick kiss.

“Thanks,” he laughed. “It’s totally foolproof. I mean, what are they gonna do? Tell you to just let your grandmother die? I highly doubt they’re that cruel…”

“You’d be surprised,” Sydney scoffed.

“Well at least its better than, ‘I have to wash my hair…a lot’,” he said.

“True,” Sydney laughed. “God this is just so wrong. I mean, I’m never gonna be able to look at these people the same way again, knowing what they do. Oh god!” she gasped, rising her fingers to her lips. “Do you have any Lysol?!!? This lipstick is probably laced with STDs!!!!!!”

She bolted off the couch and ran to Michael’s bathroom, where she promptly began rubbing soap all over her lips. “Sydney,” Michael said with a slight laugh at the image of the purple lipstick spreading out across Sydney’s face, “I highly doubt the lipstick was laced with STDs.”

“How do you know?!” she mumbled through her fingertips as she washed the soap away.

“Well I don’t but I’m sure your fine,” he sighed.

“What if I’m not?! What if I get herpes!?”

“You’re not going to get herpes,” he laughed. “Just calm down and stop scrubbing your face; you’re not going to have any skin left.”

“Alright fine,” she sighed. “But if I get herpes I’m soooo suing those kids.”

“You go ahead and do that,” Michael said in a patronizing tone. Sydney gave him an unappreciative look and he laughed.



Chapter 17

For the next month, Sydney continually avoided party invites from Susan and her crew, which were disturbingly frequent. When she first gave them the “my grandmother is sick” excuse given to her by Michael, everyone seemed genuinely sympathetic of her situation, which she was grateful for. As time progressed though, they threw in things like “Well don’t you want a break?” or “it won’t be for very long” and turning them down became harder and harder.

When Susan invited her to the mall during the last week in February, Sydney did not feel as though she was in a position to turn them down and still maintain their friendship, which she needed to maintain a pleasurable existence at McMillan. Besides, it was just shopping at the mall – a public venue – nothing could go wrong there.

As Sydney and Jenny were waiting for Susan to purchase something, Jenny brought up the subject of Sydney’s grandmother. She seemed honestly interested in how she was doing, so Sydney said that she was better, not great but better. “Oh I’m glad,” Jenny smiled at her. “Are you sure, though, that she was really sick?”

“What do you mean?” Sydney asked, her face growing hot.

“Well, it’s just…you never came to one of our parties again…” Jenny said. Sydney looked away, desperately trying to think up an answer on the fly. Sadly, she could not. “It’s okay, you know,” Jenny continued. “You can tell me the truth – I won’t tell Susan.”

Deep down, Sydney knew that was a lie, but for the time being she just needed to get out an answer, any answer, that would suffice. “Well it’s just,” she began hesitantly. “I’ve never really…done anything like that before, so I was a little scared.”

“Oh well I was kinda scared too the first time I was invited to a party, but it’s really fun once you get the hang of it,” Jenny giggled softly.

“I’m sure,” Sydney said through gritted teeth.

“Well, just so you know, Greg really wants you to come back, so if you ever want to try again…”

“I’ll think about it,” Sydney said evasively. Thankfully, at that moment Susan came out of the shop where she was buying a new shirt, so they were able to drop the conversation line Sydney was dreading. As she walked down the mall hallway between Jenny and Susan she could only hope that her half true answer was enough to keep the invites at bay at least for a little while.

~*~

After school on the first Wednesday in March, Sydney was standing at her locker rearranging the books and notebooks in her backpack. The hallway she was standing in was empty since it was not just after school, but after the newspaper club meeting as well. Sydney thought that all the students had gone home until, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Greg approaching. From the duffle bag in his hands and the fact that he was coming from the direction of the locker rooms, Sydney deduced that he had some sort of sports practice after school, which explained his presence there.

“Hey Sydney,” he said as he walked to his own locker, just a few feet away from hers.

“Hi Greg,” Sydney said politely.

“You’re looking cute this afternoon,” he smiled at her.

“Oh…thanks,” she said, briefly glancing down at herself. She was wearing the short black skirt she disliked and a pink button up top along with it. It wasn’t her favorite outfit, but it was far better than her hideous plaid pants that had, thankfully, been donated to a local clothing shelter a few months earlier.

“So, uh, I’ve missed you at the parties,” he said, taking a few steps towards her. “Susan says you haven’t been coming because your grandmother is sick.”

“Oh yeah…well she’s getting better now,” Sydney said, slamming her locker. She was hoping for a quick escape, but sadly it did not appear as though that was a possibility; Greg was drawing closer with each passing moment.

“Oh good, glad to hear it. Maybe that means you can come to our party. You know, we’re having one right after the spring dance on Saturday night. You think you can make that?” he asked, now just a foot from her.

“Um I don’t know,” she took a step back from him. “I have a curfew so…”

“Curfew that’s a shame,” he shook his head. Then, in one swift motion, he was standing in front of her and, tragically, her back was pinned against the locker banks; she had no place to go.

“Greg I…I really should be getting home,” Sydney stammered, beginning to panic. Her heart was pounding and she was beginning to sweat. All she needed was a clear path to run down the hallway and escape, but Greg was everywhere she turned.

“You know,” Greg began. He rested his left forearm against the lockers by Sydney’s head and his right hand beside her hip, successfully pinning her in place. “This is a nice color for you…pink.” He lowered his left hand and played with the top button on her shirt. When his finger brushed up against her skin, she gasped and tried to jump back, which only resulted in her head contacting rather painfully with the metal locker hinges.

“I talked to Jenny,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “She told me what you said to her…I hope you don’t mind. I was thinking maybe we could have a party of our own…maybe you wouldn’t be so nervous if it was just the two of us….”

“Greg,” Sydney squeaked, but Greg quickly clamped his left hand over her mouth and made a shushing noise. With his left hand silencing her, his right began drifting towards Sydney’s thigh. Then, despite her muffled squeaks of protest it rose higher and higher towards the hem of her skirt.

Sydney knew exactly what was going to happen and the tears began pour down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do to stop it; she was frozen in place with utter terror.

Luckily, before things got much worse, Michael came around the corner and saw what was happening. It all happened so fast Sydney barely knew what was going on. One minute, Greg had her pinned to the locker with his hand up her skirt and the next she was sliding down towards the ground as Michael scrambled back to his feet from his position on top of Greg. Apparently, Michael had tackled Greg to the ground.

“Michael,” she cried out upon finally reaching the floor.

“Are you alright!?” he asked frantically. He crawled over to her and began brushing the hair out of her face to get a better look at her.

“I think so,” she squeaked out. Before she could say another word, though, another voice was heard in the hallway.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! Mr. Vaughn, did you just tackle that student?!”

“Um, Principle Grace,” Michael said nervously as he stood up. “I can explain that.”

“I should hope so! What is wrong with that young lady? Is she injured? I think all of you should come to my office and explain this immediately!” the principal said.

Michael sighed and helped Sydney to her feet before the three of them followed the principal; this was certainly going to be interesting.



Chapter 18

Once Sydney and Greg were seated in the principle’s office with Michael standing up against the wall behind them, the principle asked, “Now, who would like to begin explaining?”

“Mr. Vaughn just freakin’ tackled me! I didn’t do anything! I was just talking to Sydney,” Greg was quick to defend.

“That is absolutely not true!” Michael snapped.

“Perhaps, then, you would like to give your side of the story,” the principle said.

“I was coming back to my classroom after the Newspaper club meeting,” Michael began. My classroom happens to be right next to Syd- I mean Ms. Bristow’s locker. So, as I rounded the corner, I saw Mr. Kanten pinning Ms. Bristow against the wall. I saw his hand covering her mouth and he was obviously…well I thought he was raping her, so I did the first thing that came to mind to get it to stop,” he said honestly.

“And you felt tackling the boy was the best way to do that?” the principle asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What was I supposed to do?! Let him hurt her?!” he demanded, furious.

“Well you could have said something instead of resolving it with physical violence…”

“That’s ridiculous,” Michael spat. If he had seen Greg hurting any student that way, he was not sure what his reaction would have been, but it certainly would not have ended with a simple, casual, “hey stop that!” But since it was Sydney being harmed…well, Greg was lucky he was not bleeding anywhere.

“Maybe I should press assault charges against you,” Greg muttered to him.

“I suggest, Mr. Kanten, that you keep your mouth shut until we determine if charges will be brought against you,” the principle said dangerously. Greg shrank in his seat and the principle turned to Sydney. “Now, Ms. Bristow, could you please tell us what happened? Would you like to do it in private?”

“No its okay,” Sydney said quietly. She just wanted to end this discussion as quickly as possible so she could get home. “I was at my locker and Greg came up to me…I thought he was just going to say hi, but then he kept saying all these things…and he pinned me against the locker and put his hand over my mouth to keep me from saying anything…and his other hand was…was…,” but Sydney couldn’t finish her sentence, she merely looked away.

“Perhaps Mr. Kanten and Mr. Vaughn should wait outside,” the principle said.

Reluctantly, Michael left his protective position hovering behind Sydney and walked out into the main office. The secretary had gone home for the day, so Michael paced around behind her desk, thinking it was best to have a large physical object between himself and Greg so he didn’t accidentally beat him to death like he wanted to.

“You know everyone knows about you and Sydney,” Greg began quietly.

“What?” Michael snapped.

“You heard me. Everyone knows that you’re sleeping with Sydney so I get why you were so upset when you saw us, but you know I was just going to get a piece of the action too,” Greg said, leaning back in the chair he sat down in.

Michael took a deep breath and slowly counted to ten before responding. It would feel so good to tell him the truth, or beat him to death, but he could not. He needed to stick to the plan. “For your information,” he began through gritted teeth. “Sydney and I are not sleeping together and it would not have mattered if you had Sydney up against that locker or a woman I had never met before – I still would have tackled you because no woman ever deserves to be raped and the people who rape them deserve to be-”

Michael’s comment was cut off by the principle’s office door swinging open. Sydney slowly shuffled out behind the principle, who was looking very stern. “Well I think its about time we all head home. Mr. Vaughn, you and I will discuss the ramifications of your actions after school tomorrow. Mr. Kanten, you and I will discuss your punishment before school tomorrow.”

“Wait a second, you’re not calling the police?!” Michael asked, not sure who to be furious at for that action.

“No, Ms. Bristow is not pressing charges, making you one lucky young man,” the principal said to Greg. Before another word could be said, Sydney hurried out of the office. By the time Michael caught up with her, she had reached her locker and was picking up her dropped backpack and jacket.

“Wait for me; I’ll drive you home,” he muttered as he walked passed and into his classroom. He quickly packed up the tests that needed to be graded and locked his classroom before jogging out of the school building. Once in the parking lot, Michael saw Sydney’s car was gone, meaning she had not waited for him as he asked. Concerned about her welfare, Michael drove straight to her house.

He parked not along the street she lived on, but on one a block away. Then, he hurried to her house and rang the front door repeatedly until he answered. “I heard it the first time,” she said in a dull tone.

“I was just-”

“I know,” she sighed.

“I don’t want you to be alone,” he told her softly. Sydney nodded and let him inside. “Are you okay? I mean, we didn’t get to talk about-”

“I know,” she sighed once more. “Look I just… I just wanna go take a shower right now, but I’d like you to stay if you-”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised her with a smile. She gave him a rather forced smile in return before heading upstairs.

Once she was gone, Michael walked back into her kitchen and rummaged around for something to eat. He found pasta noodles sitting out on her counter along with a jar of spaghetti sauce and figured that was the dinner she planned on. To help her out, he set a pot of water on the stove to boil and opened the tomato sauce jar into a large bowl to warm up.

It was almost forty-five minutes before Sydney returned wearing sweatpants with her damp hair back in a clip. She sat down silently at the kitchen table and waited for Michael to bring over plates full of pasta along with the spaghetti sauce. She managed to mumble a thank you, but then stayed silent as she pushed the food around her plate, eating very little of it.

Once Michael put the leftovers in Sydney’s refrigerator, he joined her on the couch, where she was staring blankly into space. Michael sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as he kissed the back of her head. She leaned her body against his and nestled her head into his neck, feeling comforted by his embrace.

“I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “If I had been a minute earlier…”

“It’s not your fault Michael; don’t think that,” she assured him.

“But he was-”

“I’m okay,” she sighed. He gave her a skeptical look. “I am…or I will be. I mean he didn’t…he didn’t hurt me. He just…he was just trying to take off my underwear,” she choked out.

“Oh Sydney,” Michael sighed, clutching her tighter to him. He never wanted anyone to touch her there…well except maybe himself, in due time, of course. But he certainly never wanted anyone else to touch her in that way, especially not in situations of duress.

For the rest of the evening, Michael held Sydney tightly, neither of them wanting to move an inch. When Michael noticed Sydney’s eyelids growing heavy, he suggested she go to bed after her trying day, but he suspected she did not yet want to move from his presence. “Do you want me to stay?” he offered.

“Oh you don’t have to,” she sighed, sliding out of his lap. She did not want to force him to stay when he had to work the next day even if she did want him to stay.

“No I want to,” he assured her. “You go ahead up. I just want to grade a few more of these tests and then I’ll come, okay?”

Sydney agreed with a silent nod and left the couch. After grading at lightening speed, Michael ascended the stairs only to hear soft sounds of crying coming from Sydney’s bedroom. Immediately, Michael shed his button down shirt and belt before slipping in bed beside her and wrapping his arms around her.

“I just keep reliving it,” she sobbed. “I close my eyes and he’s pinning me against the wall again only you’re not there….”

“Shh, it’s okay,” he tried to soothe her. “You don’t have to think about that because it’s over and he’s not going to hurt you again. I promise he won’t hurt you.”

Sydney said nothing more, but she continued to cling to Michael until she finally cried herself exhausted and fell sleep.



Chapter 19

Very early the next morning, Michael awoke to the sounds of his watch alarm beeping. He turned it off quickly, hoping Sydney would not wake. Luckily, it appeared she had not.

With great care, he slid out of her embrace, inching his way so that he would not wake her from shaking the bed. By the time he was standing up, she had not moved or stirred, so it appeared his plan was successful once again. He grabbed his shirt and belt before creeping downstairs to find his shoes and other belongings to take with him. He knew Sydney would not be in to school that day and frankly could not blame her. The only question in his mind was whether or not she would ever go back to McMillan.

As much as Michael wanted to go into work incredibly early so he could leave earlier than normal and check up on Sydney, he could not. It was not until he was driving back to his apartment that he remembered his meeting with the principle later that afternoon. He probably should have been more concerned for his job security, but all his worry was focused on Sydney. After all, he could always find another job, but Sydney’s emotional scars…well, they might not go away as easily.

~*~

When Sydney woke up, she noticed that it was after nine o’clock yet she had no desire to get out of bed. All the emotional stress from the high school rollercoaster she had been on was finally catching up to her and she was entirely drained. By eleven, she managed to drag herself to the shower in hopes of forcing herself to become more alert.

As she was scrubbing her hair, Sydney knew for sure that she would never return to McMillan High. After all, it wasn’t as though she enjoyed her time there, even if looking at Michael was a welcome relief from the computer screen she stared at while working at The Herald. For her, the emotional trauma just was not worth it anymore; she had enough. The only problem she was having was how to complete her assignment and write her article to the satisfaction of her boss.

Then, as she was stepping out of the shower, a perfect plan it her. It would give a great ending to the article already swimming around in her mind. Plus it had the added bonus of being very fun.

~*~

When Michael finally escaped McMillan and returned to Sydney’s townhouse, he was shocked to find her in rather high spirits. “What’s… with you?” he asked suspiciously.

“I am enjoying my last day off before I have to go back and slave away at a news paper,” she told him with a smile. “OH! I almost forgot! How’d your meeting with the principle go? You didn’t get fired did you?” she asked with concern.

“No. After considering the situation, they decided to let me off with a warning – a strong warning. Greg, however, wasn’t so lucky,” he cringed slightly.

“What happened?” Sydney asked.

“Well he’s been suspended indefinitely pending a hearing with the school board to determine whether or not he should be expelled,” Michael said.

“Is it wrong that I don’t feel bad?” she asked with a slight laugh.

“Of course not. He’s lucky he’s not behind bars – which, if you ask me, he should be,” Michael said seriously.

“I just didn’t want to go through that mess when it was something that would just end up being an assault charge and a few hours of community service punishment. I think almost being expelled three months before graduation will do that for him,” she said.

Michael nodded, completely understanding this. He had not thought of it at first, but pressing charges against Greg meant going to trial, which was something he knew Sydney didn’t want to do. “So why are you so happy?”

“Oh I just had a good idea for my story that’s all…”

“Care to share?”

She simply smiled. “Nope, you’ll have to wait and see.”

~*~

As was to be expected, the entire school was well aware of the incidents between Sydney and Greg by the end of first period the next day. The general reaction from the school population was, of course, shock and anger towards Greg and his actions. Some students, however, had a different opinion, but Sydney did not find this out until Friday, when she walked into homeroom. She was makeup free for the first time in months and wearing jeans in a sweatshirt. She was anxious to see the looks on the faces of Susan and her coconspirators at her make-under, but their faces could never compare to Michael’s expression of pure shock, which was utterly priceless. Sydney knew more than anything he wanted to ask wrath she was doing there (since she had not told him she would be) but it was all part of the plan.

“Sydney, oh my god, we didn’t think you’d be here today,” Jenny said to her in the hallway right after first period.

“Well, I wasn’t going to come, but I really wanted to go to the dance tomorrow. My dress is so pretty; I just have to use it,” Sydney told her. It was one of the school rules that any student who did not attend school on Friday would not be admitted to Saturday’s dance, thus she had to go to complete her plan.

“Oh well I can’t wait to see it!” Jenny giggled.

“Sydney, I’m glad you’re here,” Susan said as she came up behind jenny. “I really wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes…you know I talked to Greg and he just feels so awful about this whole thing,” Susan sighed sadly.

“Oh?” Sydney croaked, her voice slightly weaker.

“Yeah, he just wants you to know it was just a big misunderstanding. I mean, he never meant to hurt you I’m sure – he was just playing around,” Susan said with a slight laugh.

Sydney strongly resisted the urge to lash out and merely plastered a fake smile across her face. Did this surprise her? Not really. She was sure Greg fed his friends some line about the whole thing being blown way out of proportion. He wanted to make sure his friends heard the situation from the horse’s mouth, which made sense. The only problem was the horse was lying through his oversized teeth. He probably told them something about how he was leaning towards Sydney and Mr. Vaughn, in a jealous rage that someone was near his girl, attacked him for no good reason. Sadly, only Michael and Sydney would ever know the real truth.

“I’m sure he was,” she said simply. Then, she walked away.



Chapter 20

Immediately after school on Friday, Michael called Sydney’s cell phone and begged for the details of her plan. Sydney was steadfast, though; the only thing she asked was whether or not he was still chaperoning the dance on Saturday night. When he said that he was, she assured him he would have a front row seat.

Getting ready for the dance on Saturday night, Sydney could not help but have a huge smile across her face. Since she had never really attended dances during high school, this dance was like her first dance ever and she was certainly going to make the most of it. She absolutely adored the pink glittery dress she bought. It was so beautiful it make her want to wear it constantly like the four-year-old girls who never take of their princess dresses.

After curling each strand of her hair perfectly and pulling half of it back with a sparking clip encrusted with fake diamond jewels, Sydney was ready to go. She said goodbye to Heathcliff before skipping out to her car, ready to have a night to remember. She hoped that if all went according to plan it would be memorable not only for herself, but for McMillan high as well.

“Oh my god Sydney you look perfect!” Jenny squealed when she bumped into Sydney in the parking lot walking into McMillan’s gymnasium.

“You look great too Jenny. I love that purple color,” Sydney smiled at her.

“Thanks! Oh its so sad you’re here alone,” Jenny frowned slightly.

“It’s okay,” Sydney promised her. Quite frankly she preferred being alone rather than forced together with a date she had nothing in common with. Besides, there was a man waiting inside for her, they just would not be able to communicate with each other inside. Then again, with the music blaring that was not that big of a loss.

Inside the gym was decorated with dozens and dozens of glittering streamers. Of course, it was dark as well, so they were difficult to see unless one of the spotlights hit them. Then, bursts of colorful light were shot across the gym and reflected on the walls.

Just inside the door, Sydney parted with Jenny, promising to meet up with her later. Once on her own, Sydney made her way all around the gym, trying to find Michael. Her first time through she did not spot him, but the second time she spied him by the punch bowl. She casually made her way over to him, trying to catch his eye. When she finally did, she winked and saw him wink back. With this, she went back out on the dance floor hoping to speak with Jenny one last time before the big show began.

By ten o’clock the dance floor was packed with students. Most were dancing inappropriately so the teachers were working overtime trying to get them to at least behave with some semblance of dignity. As ten fifteen was displayed on her watch, a slow song began to play and Sydney put her plan into action. She slipped out of the main crowed and hugged the wall, making her way towards Michael’s punch bowl station. She tip-toed her way over to him and smiled. “Dance with me?”

Michael laughed. “Funny joke,” he mumbled quietly.

“I was quite serious,” she assured him. He gave her a look making it clear she found her positively out of her mind. “Please? C’mon no one will see. Please? This is the first dance I ever went to and I’ve never really danced with anyone before. Pretty, pretty please?” she begged continually, hoping her persistence would get him to give in.

“Woman you are gonna get me in so much trouble,” he groaned, but reluctantly agreed. Staying by the punchbowl, where the lights were the darkest, Michael tentatively put one of his hands at Sydney’s waist and picked up her hand with his other.

At this dancing position Sydney laughed. “We should dance more like them.”

He shook his head. “I’m too old for that; I’d break a hip.” Sydney rolled her eyes.

After just a few moments of dancing, Sydney pulled herself closer to Michael, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. “You know Michael,” she began softly. “I wouldn’t have made it through this whole thing if it wasn’t for you. I mean, not just this stupid assignment, either – everything. You’re the only person that’s bothered to see through my stupid geeky exterior and see me for the freak I am – a freak you can stand to be around, I mean…”

“You’re not a freak,” he assured her softly.

“Well, that’s debatable,” she laughed softly. “I’m just… I’m so glad you’ve been here for me this past week…I’m glad you’re in my life, even if I don’t always understand why… I just wanted to say that even though we’ve only been together for not quite six months now, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had and I love you,” she admitted. Ok, so that was not part of the plan; that just came out, so she decided to go with it. “And I hope I didn’t make a mistake by admitting that,” she added more nervously.

“You didn’t,” he assured her softly. “I love you too.”

Never having felt more relieved, Sydney just couldn’t help herself. Forgetting where she was, she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the lips. It appeared that their romantic admission made Michael forget where they were as well, because he kissed her back. In that one single moment, a wave of silence flooded the gymnasium; even the music stopped. Michael and Sydney didn’t notice this, though; they were too engrossed in each other.

When they finally stopped kissing and noticed the eerie silence, Sydney turned her head towards the dance floor. There, hundred of eyes were staring and dozens of mouths were agape. Sure, a rumor was one thing, but to see an English teacher kiss one of his students in the middle of the school dance? That was something entirely different.

While Michael felt all the blood in his veins ice over, Sydney, on the other hand, was quite calm. “I guess you would all like an explanation, huh?” Sydney asked loud enough for everyone to hear her. This, of course, was a rhetorical question, so she continued rather quickly.

“Well first you should know that I’m not really a student, and I’m not seventeen. I’m twenty-four and I’m a reporter. I was sent here last September to find a story and… I got one,” she laughed softly to herself.

“I’m sure each and every one of you heard the rumor that there was something unprofessional going on between Mr. Vaughn and myself. Well it was all fake. We made it up; well, actually you guys did. You spread all the rumors and all we had to do was smile at each other and you believed we were having sex,” she laughed.

“Just to make it clear – this was all my thing. Mr. Vaughn was only involved minimally and only after I asked him to be. If anyone in the schools administration has any questions about that they can feel free to contact me.

“As you might imagine, I won’t be coming back here again, but I’d like to let you know that my time here has been…interesting to say the least,” she said, laughing softly once more. Boy was that the world’s biggest understatement. She was just about to leave, having said all she wanted to, before stopping herself. “Oh and just incase there was any doubt – what happened on Wednesday afternoon was not part of anyone’s plan; that was real.” Then, with that, she picked up the long skirt of her dress left quickly, leaving a deadly silent room behind her.

Upon arriving home, Sydney was so busy giving attention and food to Heathcliff that she did not have a chance to change out of her dress right away. Just as she was about do to so and go to bed, she heard a knock at her front door. She smiled softly, knowing exactly who it was.

“You aren’t in trouble are you?” she asked carefully.

“No,” he laughed softly. “Actually the principle thought it was hilarious. And he was too relived that I wasn’t actually sleeping with a student to say anything otherwise. I think he’s just glad the insanity will finally be over.”

“That makes two of us,” Sydney said seriously.

“Three,” Michael chimed in with a smile.

“You too, huh?” she asked with a playful smile.

“Are you kidding me?! We can finally go on a real date!”

“That’s true,” she laughed softly. Then she stepped aside and ushered him in through the door. “C’mon upstairs if you want,” she told him. Michael nodded and loosened his tie as he followed her up.

“So our first real date, huh?” Sydney asked once they were in her bedroom. She walked over to him and assisted him in removing his tie before pulling off his suit jacket and putting it on a hanger so it wouldn’t get wrinkled over night. “Where we going?”

“Out to dinner – a nice dinner…maybe you could wear that black skirt,” he winked. She elbowed him, annoyed. “Hey that was hot!” he insisted.

“It’s going to the clothing bank,” she told him seriously.

“The homeless people don’t want your slutty clothes!” he insisted with a laugh.

“Slutty!” she gasped.

“I’m not calling you slutty; I’m calling the skirt slutty,” he defended.

“Can’t really argue there,” she laughed softly. Then, she stepped into his embrace and gave him a long kiss. As they were still nuzzling their lips together, Sydney grasped Michael’s hands and brought them around behind her back to the zipper on her dress.

“Sydney,” Michael said with a slightly nervous laugh.

“Yes?”

“Are you…serious?” he questioned carefully. She nodded her head as her fingers began undoing the buttons on his shirt. “But just three days ago you-”

“I’m okay, Michael,” she promised him. “Besides, it won’t be scary if you’re the one touching me.”

Unable to say no to this, Michael slowly guided the zipper of her dress down to its fullest extent before pulling her into a searing kiss.



Chapter 21

The next morning, when Michael opened his eyes to see faint light pouring in through the window blinds of Sydney’s bedroom, he was surprised to find the space in bed beside him was empty. He glanced over to the bathroom door and saw that it was open and the bathroom was dark inside, meaning Sydney was not in there, either. Rolling over, he spotted a clock and, to his shock, found it was just barely six thirty. Concerned Sydney might be ill, Michael reluctantly slid from bed.

Descending the stairs, Michael could hear faint sounds of typing. From the third to last step, he peered into the sitting room and found Sydney on the couch with her computer in her lap and Heathcliff beside her.

“Do you know what time it is?!” Michael asked in a groggy tone. The two of them had not fallen asleep until well after midnight, so Sydney was shockingly alert for just five or six hours of sleep.

“Oh no, did I wake you?” she asked with concern.

Michael shook his head as he yawned. “No…woke up and you weren’t there.”

“Oh well I’ve been up since five forty-five. I had a flash of inspiration on this story. Go back to bed I’m nearly done,” she told him. Still in need of extra sleep, Michael shuffled his way back upstairs and collapsed back into bed.

When Michael next awoke it was almost nine and Sydney was back in bed beside him, asleep. He propped his head up on his fist and gazed down at her, watching her eyes gently flutter as she slept. After just a few minutes, she began to mumble and grumble as she stirred from sleep, stretching out her back and legs as she did so. Michael slid down in the bed and placed one arm around her waist while kissing her forehead gently.

“Mm morning…again,” Sydney mumbled as she curled her body around his arm.

“Morning to you,” he said softly. “Finish your article?”

“Yep,” she smiled.

“Can’t wait to read it.”

After laying there for just another moment, Sydney began to giggle as she buried her face down into Michael’s neck. Naturally, he was confused and asked what on earth she was doing. “Nothing, nothing,” she sighed. “It’s just…I can’t really believe you’re here and that you love me and I’m not alone anymore…” she said sadly. Then she laughed and covered her face with her hands. “God I have to stop being this clingy or you’re going to hate me.”

“You’re not clingy,” Michael assured her with a laugh, giving her a tight hug. “Clingy would be calling me 18 times a day to ask what I just ate or showing up at my doorstep every hour on the hour telling me how much you missed me…”

Sydney laughed. “I think you moved right from clingy to stalker…”

“That’s probably true,” Michael laughed as well.

“You wanna know something?” she asked softly. Michael tucked his hands underneath his head and nodded encouragingly. “Well, last night was only the second time I’ve…done that,” she admitted while turning a soft shade of pink.

Michael’s brow wrinkled with mild confusion. “You mean I was only the second guy?”

“No, well yes, but no – that was only the second time ever,” she clarified.

At this very shocking statement, all Michael could do was stammer dumbfounded for a moment before he could finally ask, “Wha- how?!”

“Because I never really had any boyfriends,” she explained simply. “I was the plaid wearing freak!”

“Plaid or no plaid you’re still beautiful,” he promised her.

She smiled softly at this. “Well, apparently the kids I was around didn’t think so. Finally, during junior year I got a boyfriend who stuck around for a few months and…well I guess I was just freaked out that I’d never find a boyfriend again, so we slept together once and that was it,” she shrugged slightly.

“I’m…so sorry,” he said, not sure what else to say to that. The only other thing he wanted to do was go and find every guy who had turned Sydney down and laugh in their faces. After all, he was now the lucky one; he had her.

“It’s okay,” she promised him. Then she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “C’mon I’ll go make you breakfast and you can read my article.”

“Sounds good to me,” he smiled.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Michael found a printed out copy of Sydney’s article sitting on the counter, so he picked it up and began to read,

In With the A Crowd: How I Became Popular

High school. You remember it, I’m sure. Football games, Homecoming dances, pep rallies, seeing your friends every day – tons of fun, right? Well, maybe it is for some, and I don’t know about your high school experience, but mine was nothing like that. Four years of utter misery is what I remember best.

When my editor gave me this undercover assignment, I thought going back to high school would be a good experience for me. Maybe I could heal some old wounds. Maybe I wouldn’t be so miserable. Maybe I might even – God forbid – enjoy myself. After all, I had the wisdom of my past experiences to use as a How Not To… guide.

Sadly, this was not the case.

It seemed I hadn’t changed a bit. Sure, I was older and my glasses were a little thicker, but deep down I was the same. That the more I tried to fit in, the more I failed. The more I tried to be “cool” the more I looked like a geek. The more I tried, the more I ended up with egg on my face…well, actually it was mustard.

It was not until I revealed my undercover status to one of my teachers and enlisted his help in the situation that things began to turn around. Together, we devised a plan to turn me from geek to chic and I’ll be the first to admit I’m shocked it worked.

Now I’m sure your wondering how did this girl with dark glasses, plaid clothes, and a God-awful haircut managed to climb her way up the social ladder. Well, it wasn’t easy and I don’t recommend it at all, but here’s how I did it.

Sex sells. We all know that’s true. You know what else sells? Sex scandals. I’d bet my years salary that more people could tell me who Monica Lewinski is than Henry Kissinger.

To begin my make over process I ditched all my old clothes in favor of tighter, hipper threads. Sure, you could practically count the number of freckles on my body through my clothes, but that wasn’t going to make me popular. No, my name was rocketed around the school for a completely different reason.

The aforementioned teacher, who later became my partner in crime, assisted me in spreading a rumor that we were having an affair. Now this fine educator is not the sort of man who would have an affair with anyone – let alone a seventeen year old student; however, his good looks combined with everyone’s natural affinity for some good dirt were a perfect combination.

Keep in mind neither of us ever uttered the words, “Yes we’re having sex.” All I did was join the club he was in charge of, volunteer to help him out with some projects, smile flirtatiously at him, and wild minds fueled the rest. Soon the school was abuzz with the idea of a teacher-student sex scandal right under their noses.

The moment word of this got out, the Queen Bee and her loyal subjects were practically tripping over themselves trying to get to me and ask me intimate details about my extracurricular sex-tivities, hoping I would reveal every last speck of dirt. I, of course, never said anything directly relating to the non-existent affair, but it didn’t matter; they already had their minds made up. I was in.

For the first time in my life I was part of the popular crowd. I was getting invited to parties. I was asked out on jaunts to the mall. Li’l old me.

Suddenly, I wasn’t allowed to talk to those deemed unworthy by the Queen Bee herself. It did not matter if they were asking directions to the bathroom or for help with their math homework; I was to stare right over their head as if they were invisible. Oh yeah, and knock their books out of their hands for an added bonus.

I was wearing clothes that showed off more skin than necessary. Shoes that made my feet ache so bad I thought the pain would never go away. And, I was doing all this just because she – Ms. Bee – said so.

The most shocking thing I came across was at one of their ‘get-togethers’. No, it wasn’t the alcohol – which I expected. Mom’s and Dad’s, do you know what little Susie is doing on her days off from school? Well, she’s in the Queen Bee’s basement with all the other lemmings, not a stitch of clothing among them. That’s right – it’s no longer alcohol and drugs you have to worry about, parents. It’s sex - group sex at that.

I was invited to one of these parties and with no questions – or names – asked I was requested to get down on my hands and knees in front of a boy I had barely spoken two words to. A boy who, incidentally, had pelted me with mustard covered hot dogs just a few months earlier (that was during my geek phase, of course). I am proud to say I did not partake in such activities and quickly fled to the nearest exit. Yet, the thing that still befuddles me to this day is that these girls seemed to make nothing of it – to them, it was as casual as holding hands. Well let me tell you, it certainly wasn’t his hand they were asking me to hold.

I’m not here to preach about the degrading morals of today’s teens – though that would be an interesting subject to debate. Mostly, this article is about my learning experience in my rise and fall from social grace. So, what did I learn? More than anything, I learned who I was.

I, Sydney Bristow, am a geek, and I’m proud of it.

True, I did learn a few valuable fashion lessons. For instance, plaid will never again come in contact with my skin. But, I am fully prepared to throw away my micro-minis and dust off my old weekend sweatpants. I also learned that popularity just isn’t worth it. This is a free country, so why would I want to live by the rules of Ms. Bee when she surely is no better than anyone else. In fact, she just might be worse.

My experience was not completely worthless, though. From it, I gained not only my own identity, but a very significant relationship and – dare I say – love. No, it wasn’t that boy from the party (never did catch his name…), but it just so happens to be my partner in crime. As it turns out, we make a pretty good couple after all – a scandal free one at that.

My final word goes to those teens out there, struggling their way through the iron jaws of high school and trying desperately to flee the stings of Ms. Bee. The truth is once high school is over it won’t matter. It’s just one insignificant chapter in the book of your life. Once you leave, you’ll never ever go back. Unless you become a reporter, of course, and you stumble upon an undercover assignment… In that case, take my advice: turn it down.

“This is incredible,” Michael exclaimed after reading it through.

“No its not,” she said, blushing at his complement.

“Yes it is!” he assured her. “It’s wonderful and your editor is gonna love it!” he said before giving her a congratulatory kiss.

“You really think so?” she asked hopefully. Michael nodded firmly. She smiled and gave him a hug, praying that he was right since her job depended on it.



Chapter 22

For Sydney, the next week was the best she had ever had, which was practically ironic considering a few days earlier it had been the absolute worst. She did not know what to expect first thing Monday morning when she turned in her article to Mr. Carlen. After all, it was not exactly the exposé he was looking for. True, it did expose some things (teenage orgies among them), but that was not the focus of the article.

Much to her utter shock, Mr. Carlen loved her article. In fact, he beyond loved it. He wanted her to do a week long series of articles on the topic since one just did not due it justice. He wanted in depth details about these parties and the warning signs parents should look for to see if their children were participating in such scandalous behavior.

When Sydney firmly turned down his offer, Mr. Carlen was in utter disbelief, but she had her reasons. For starters, after everything that happened with Greg, she was just too close to the issue. She was also ready to move on with her life past those horrific high school days. She had been there and done that twice now, and she was ready to tackle other issues.

Mr. Carlen could not force her to write the articles he desired, of course, but he did not bother hiding his disappointment on the issue. He took her notes and passed them on to another reporter who he hoped would be able to uncover something more on the issue. Then, he sent Sydney back to her regular desk, where a stack of articles needing editing were waiting for her.

Thought this was a return to the mundane job she once wanted a change from, Sydney welcomed it in this case. After all, it did not involve taking notes, memorizing facts or taking tests. Above that, she could wear whatever she wanted without fear of ridicule and she knew that once she left the office for the day she would have no homework. It was wonderful.

Just two days later, as Sydney was still enjoying the return to being just another editor, she and Michael went out on their first official date. Michael chose the restaurant and the two of them went out and had a perfect dinner together. As much as they promised it wouldn’t, their conversation did end up turning to McMillan and what was going on there now that Sydney had left. Apparently, everyone was still gossiping about Sydney’s presence there and dozens of fallacies that went along with it. Of course, many students questioned Michael to death, trying to get him to dish out gossip, but he always gave a standard “No comment” line. Sydney could not help but think that by the time her article ran in a few days, the kids at McMillan would have a lot more to talk and gossip about.

~*~

For the next month, things for Sydney and Michael went perfectly. They went out on three or four dates a week, but only spent the night together on Friday and Saturday, non-school nights. Otherwise, Michael would have had to get up at an ungodly hour to make it to McMillan on time and Sydney felt guilty making him do this. Besides, she had Heathcliff to fill Michael’s side of the bed when he wasn’t there.

When Michael discovered Sydney’s twenty-fifth birthday was quickly approaching, he was shocked to find out that she rarely celebrated her birthday milestones. Well, she celebrated them when she was younger, but admitted she had not celebrated at all since her parents died. This did not surprise Michael, since he knew full well her social experiences left something to be desired; however, he was not willing to let this tradition of hers continued. He decided he was going to throw her a huge surprise bash.

This, of course, was a good idea in theory, but in actual practice was rather difficult. Sydney did not have many friends, making a huge bash with all her nearest and dearest not so huge after all. To remedy this situation, Michael decided the hugeness of the party did not have to be in the guest list, more in the way he pulled it off.

After borrowing a key to her house, Michael set to work on decorating it floor to ceiling all in Sydney’s favorite colors: pink, purple, and soft yellow. Of course the amount of streamers and balloons he was using was a vastly excessive number, but he was going for shock value not a fashion statement.

As he blew up balloons and hung streamers around doorways, Heathcliff followed him around the house, batting at the dangling piece of paper until they would tear down. This made Michael realize he needed to hang everything at least three feet above the floor, far out of the range of the little kitty’s claws. Finally, Michael heard Sydney’s key grinding in the front door lock and ran to his position behind the streamers and balloons in the kitchen area.

Sydney walked inside and saw the mass of colors plus the Happy Birthday banners and gasped. Never had she seen anything quite like Michael’s excessive display and never had anything even close to it been done for her. She was so touched by what he had done that she began to cry, which, naturally, made Michael concerned, but she assured him they were good tears.

After touring through all the decorations Michael covered her house with and eating the cake he bought her, the two of them headed to the mall so Sydney could pick out her birthday present. Michael was a self-proclaimed horrible present buyer and did best if he was told exactly what to get otherwise he failed miserable and bought something ridiculous. Sydney had to laugh at this strange quality, but she found it more endearing than annoying, which for Michael was a good thing.

As they walked hand-in-hand down the mall, Sydney thought she heard someone calling out her name. Confused, she turned and looked in the direction the voice was coming from. There, she was surprised to find Jenny barreling towards her, waving her arms frantically. Jenny, once under the Queen Bee’s control, was shockingly dressed in a sweatshirt and tattered jeans, her hair up in a ponytail with not a drop of makeup on her face.

“Sydney! Sydney I’m so glad to see you!” Jenny said excitedly as she pulled Sydney into a hug. “Hi Mr. Vaughn,” she added in a calmer tone.

“Hi Jenny,” he laughed softly.

“Sydney I just wanted to thank you,” Jenny said to her.

“Thank…me?!” she asked with surprise.

Jenny nodded. “Yes. You’re article helped me so much! I stopped listening to Susan and what she said. Of course, now she hates me and no one will talk to me, but I found some new friends and I’m really glad I’m not going to those parties anymore!” she said seriously.

“Well I’m glad,” Sydney smiled at her. Then, Jenny said her goodbyes, stating that she did not want to interrupt Sydney and Michael’s time together, and she left.

“You see that,” Michael said, slipping an arm around her waist. “You helped her and I bet you helped tons of other girls too.”

“I know that’s so…weird,” Sydney laughed softly. Michael gave her a curious look. “I mean, I helped her become a geek…I’m creating more geeks! Is that a good thing?”

Michael laughed. “Well, I think it is. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I happen to love my little geek,” he said, kissing her cheek.

Sydney laughed. “I think I’m gonna make you a bumper sticker that says that.”

“Alright,” he agreed, laughing as well.

She gave him a skeptical look. “You’d really use that?”

“Sure,” he shrugged.

“You’re crazy!”

“Just about you,” he promised.



Epilogue

“I am never going back to high school again!” fourteen-year-old Kaitlyn Vaughn exclaimed as she walked through the front door of her parent’s home. She promptly slammed the door behind her and ran upstairs to her room before her mother had a chance to respond.

It took a moment for Sydney to make her way upstairs with two-year-old Jack on her hip. During Kaitlyn’s birth, there was a complication that left Sydney was severe scarring. Doctors were not sure she could ever have more children. While at the time Sydney and Michael were upset about this, they were not entirely devastated, having not been certain they wanted more than one child anyway. However, just as they were selling Kaitlyn’s baby things (figuring they would never be used again) and moving to a different house, the Vaughn family was graced with Jack very unexpectedly.

Since Sydney was thirty-eight years old during her pregnancy, it was labeled as high-risk and she was forced on bed rest beginning at her seventh month. After healthy baby boy Jack was born, Sydney quit her reporting job at the newspaper to stay home and focus on her new child. Two years later, she had yet to return to work, but planned on doing so once Jack was in preschool.

“Kaitlyn?” Sydney questioned, rapping gently on her daughter’s bedroom door. “Honey what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” Kaitlyn shouted back. Knowing her daughter could have a temper and often times needed half an hour alone just to cool down, Sydney went back downstairs to finish making the family’s dinner.

At the usual time of four thirty, Michael Vaughn arrived home. While he still taught high school English, he did not teach at the school his daughter attended. Starting when Kaitlyn was eight years old, she begged the family to move into the neighboring district so she did not have to suffer the emotional trauma of having her father at her high school twenty four-seven. After years of begging, they finally agreed. This, of course, was right around the time Sydney became pregnant and while their new addition was unplanned and unexpected, he was very welcome. Even Kaitlyn enjoyed having a little brother…most of the time, anyway.

“There’s my little man,” Michael beamed as he scooped Jack up from the child-size table he was sitting at, coloring. Jack immediately locked his tiny arms around his father, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “How was your day buddy?”

“Good,” Jack responded simply.

“Good,” Michael laughed softly in response. Then, he set Jack back down on the floor and walked over to greet his wife of sixteen years.

“Apparently Kait had a very bad day at school,” Sydney sighed.

“What? Why? It was the first day, how bad could it have been?” Michael asked. Of course, he knew just how bad high school could be for some students, but Kaitlyn had always fit in well in other years. True, she may not have been the most popular girl in her class, but she did have a close circle of friends she spent time with.

“I have no idea; she locked herself in her room and won’t talk to me,” Sydney said with a sigh. Somehow, she just knew this year would be the beginning of many mother-daughter feuds. She had been lucky so far; there hadn’t been many.

“I’ll go talk to her…or try anyway,” Michael sighed.

Upstairs, he found Kaitlyn’s door was no longer locked, but he knocked on it before entering anyway. “Kait its me. Can we talk?” There was no response, so Michael opened the door slowly. Kaitlyn was sitting on her bed looking at a textbook, an iPod in her ears.

“Hey,” Michael tapped her head lightly. “What’d we say about the iPod and homework?”

“But Dad its just math,” Kaitlyn whined.

“I know and you’re good at math, which is why you don’t need to use your iPod while doing it,” he told her seriously. “Now, your mother says you had a bad day. What happened honey?”

“Nothing,” Kaitlyn grumbled. Of course Michael didn’t believe her, and he kneeled down beside her bed to stare her down until she gave up what was bothering her. “It’s just…everyone hates me. I had to sit all by myself at lunch today!”

“Ok first, no one hates you. Second, where were all your friends, huh?” he asked.

“They all have a different lunch than me! I’m all by myself and I hate it!” she whined.

“You’re not all by yourself Kait. It was just the first day of school – everyone’s still adjusting. I promise by the end of the week you will find someone to sit with at lunch and they certainly won’t hate you,” he assured her. Then, he leaned over and kissed her head gently. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Kait sighed. “But if you’re wrong you have to buy me something pretty.”

“Deal,” Michael laughed.

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