Fueds, Dudes, and Attitudes PART 1

HAPPY NEW YEAR







Atlantis Paradise Island Resort Bahamas

Friday, January 1st

12:09 A.M.



“2011, baby. 2011!” Nikki Cooper said as she took off her 2011 sparkly glasses and put them on top of her light blond hair. She was walking down the marina along with her two best friends, Lauren Abrams and Rebecca Beverwil. The midnight breeze struck her and she had to remind herself that she wasn’t dreaming. “ I call the shower as soon as we get back to the room. Liam and I have a video chat date at exactly twelve forty-five, and I still have to change!” Rebecca whined, snapping her gum like there was no tomorrow. “What’s wrong with the clothes you have on?” Lauren asked, preoccupied by her iPhone. Rebecca and Nikki peeked over and saw that she was texting Justin, her boyfriend of almost three months. “Nothing, its just, their all wrinkly. But I don’t have anything that will make him sweat. L? Anything I could borrow from suitcase de Abrams?” Rebecca asked in her best Spanish accent. “red off the shoulder BCBG. Was going to wear it tonight, but I realized theirs no point wearing something as slutty as that when I’m not even going to be hooking up with any guys. Oh, and I have some gold necklaces you can borrow. They’ll look great.” Lauren pressed SEND on the message she just sent and looked up at the two girls, who were smiling and rolling their eyes. “Thanks.” Rebecca responded. “I’m sure he will love it. So, those fireworks were intense right?? I guess at Atlantis it’s a big deal. Don’t forget guys, we’re leaving tomorrow at 5-ish, because our flight to LAX is at 7. We gotta long flight ahead of us.” Rebecca checked her Gucci shock-watch. “I still haven’t gotten used to this time change. Even after ten days.” She added. “You’re like the queen of whining!” Nikki said, giving hand motions. Rebecca didn’t seem to be listening. Her blackberry tour just buzzed, and her face was glued to the screen.



Liam: Happy new year! Cant wait to see your gorgeous face in 30. U r my life! Peace out -L



Nikki could see Rebecca’s cheeks as they blushed in the pitch- black night. They finally got to the Royal towers, Rebecca showered, video chatted with Liam until two A.M., and then they all passed out on the king sized bed. Sleeping soundly, they dreamed about what the year would bring.

✻✻✻

“I swear, there is nothing better than 80 degree weather in January, bronze glowing skin, and my best friends by my side. I feel like I’m in a trance.” Lauren lifted her Dior shades and started to apply more banana boat tanning oil to her legs. The three girls we sitting poolside, watching hot guys go by and hearing people scream as they went down the leap of faith. Lauren was right. What could be better? “I cannot believe we have to go back to school on Monday. I just got used to not having to wake up at 6:30 A.M., and then having swim practice and soccer practice until 9 p.m.!! its too much work for us girls” Nikki said, checking out a guy who just stepped out of the pool and flipped his wet hair to the side. “Ehmagad have you ever seen anything that was too perfect?” Nikki whispered. The girls turned heads. He was your typical American boy. “9.5” Lauren said. “He would be a ten, except for that disturbing mole above his lip.” Lauren pointed to it. “Ick! So did not see that! He’s more like a 7.” Rebecca pretended to be grossed out and then took off her royal blue cover-up to reveal her salmon colored bikini. “Ladies, take off your cover-ups. We have no make ourselves look more available.” Nikki and Lauren gave her a weird look. “Um….you have a boyfriend babe! You have to be single before you’re ready to mingle hello!” Lauren said. Then she realized. She was as much taken as Rebecca was! The only single one would be...Nikki. Lauren thought she was decent looking, but she didn’t open up to guys at all. As they said in Legally blonde, she has all the equipment, she just needs to read the manual. As the guy passed by, Nikki continued to look at his pale biceps and dark hazel eyes. But before she knew it, he was gone in the distance, and she could see no more. “Shit.” Nikki said. “I didn’t even try to make a move! And we’re leaving in two hours” Nikki grabbed the tanning oil out of Lauren’s hands and applied some to her arms. “Don’t worry. When we get back to LA, Lauren and me will hook you up with the hottest guy ever. Made just for you. Do you know how many hot seniors there are at Beverly hills high school? Over two hundred!” Rebecca told her as she dug into her white Tory Burch beach bag to get out her phone. Nikki sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I hope so. Now, who wants a drink?” Nikki asked as an African American waiter came towards them. “God, yes. My throat is like the frikin’ desert!” Lauren moaned, grabbing the room key from her coach wallet. “Same” Rebecca said. “Lemme order. Three strawberry-mango margaritas. Two with lemon and one with lime. Room 816.” Rebecca grabbed the room card from Laurens hand and gave it to the man, who nodded and walked away. “Whew, I love that the drinking age in the Bahamas is 18.” Lauren said, smiling. “so, after the drinks, who wants to go on the power tower? Oh, one second. Hey baby…” Lauren picked up her phone to hear Justin’s adorable deep voice. Nikki and Rebecca looked at each other, then took a picture of themselves with Rebecca’s blackberry. After about 3 minutes of awkward silence as Lauren was on the phone, the drinks came and the girls gulped them up. Well, everyone except for Lauren, who’s was still sitting on the end table, untouched. “No, you hang up first! I am not hanging up first!” Rebecca and Nikki felt like they were about to barf as they barely heard Justin on the other line say almost the exact same thing. Yuck. As must as Nikki an Rebecca hated to admit it, Lauren and Justin were one of those couples. The you hang up first, feed each other grapes kind of couples. Rebecca tapped her red index finger on the armrest of the lounge chairs, and Nikki chewed at her non-existent fingernails. “…ok, I’m going to hang up now. Love you too. Alright yeah, dinner at STK. Sounds great. Bye!” Lauren finally pressed END on her iPhone and threw it in her canvas bag. “So, what was that about STK?” Rebecca asked. “He’s taking me to STK tomorrow night before we go back to school again.” Lauren stopped, then blushed. Rebecca’s smile turned into a frown as Lauren said that. “But that’s where we’re going!!” Rebecca yelled, pointing her index finger at her chest. “Me and Liam. On Sunday!” She continued. Laurens face still was smiling. “So we can double. No bd. Mkay?” Lauren couldn’t let her anger show. This was NOT going to rain on her parade. And not Rebecca’s either. “Fine.” She said, looking away. “I’ll talk to Liam. But you know him, he’s not really good with crowds.” Wow, that sounded stupid. Why did they have to come? Why pick there out of every place in Los Angeles? Rebecca opened up BBM and sent a quick message to Liam.



Rebecca: Slight problem. Lauren and Justin are going to STK also on Sunday and she wants us to double with them. Is that cool? Sorry if it ruined our plans.

Liam: totally cool. Justin’s my best bro! Haha c u later gorgeous



Lauren crossed her arms and thought about Justin. Why did he have to be so hot!?!? She wish she could see him. And be with him. Alone. On a bed…but Rebecca and her stupid beau had to ruin it! She dug inside her canvas again and sent Justin an SMS text



Lauren: Rebecca and Liam decided to crash our date and it somehow turned into a double. Whatevs. We can always ignore her;) LoveeUUsoooooooomuch kiss kiss! Muahh! –L Xoxo

Justin: No big deal babe. Double sounds gtm. L8r.



Both Rebecca and Lauren put their phones back in their bags and Nikki, who was watching them send each text, stopped chewing her nails. Then, more awkward silence. Nikki broke it though. “C’mon guys lets go on the power tower. We only have so much time before we have to leave, so lets enjoy this place while we’ve got it!” Nikki was the queen of positivity. She always turned everyone’s mood around, even when it was really bad. Rebecca and Lauren looked at each other, with a dirty look. But after about 3 seconds, their scowl turned into a smile and then even turned into laughter. Why were they getting in a fight for something as stupid and coincidental as that? They only had about 3 hours left in paradise, and they wanted to enjoy it, and get as much tanning in as possible. If they were in school right now, they would be in first period English, and who really wants to sit in a smelly classroom for forty-five minutes and talk about the meaning of a prepositional phrase? Exactly. Nikki took off her tortoiseshell Ray bans and her blue Nike watch and threw it on the chair as she got up and held out each of her hands so that both of the girls could grab them. The two of them grabbed on to them, and the three girls started walking towards the power tower. Even after the mini feud was over, Nikki still felt a rush of tension in between the girl’s small and bony tan hands.



BACK IN THE 9O21O



STK

Sunday, January 3rd

8:23 P.M.



The lights of the steakhouse were dimming because all the energy the two girls were sucking out of the air. The only sounds of life on the dining table was Liam’s heavy breathing. Lauren was applying Dior Addict shine to her pale pink lips, Justin was watching football on the television by the wet bar in the corner, squinting to try to see the score. Rebecca was gazing under the table, playing brick breaker. And Liam was too preoccupied in the maze on the STK kids menu. He let out a sigh, scribbled over the whole thing, and threw the blue crayon back into the cup. “Damn mazes. You’d think they’d be so easy!” Liam put his elbows on the table and rested his bare palms on his sweaty cheeks. Everyone else didn’t say a thing. It was so awkward, because the two couples couldn’t talk about things with them that they would usually only talk about in private. Lauren almost jumped when her iPhone vibrated. She knew who it was from



Rebecca: akwarrrrrrd. What’s going on?

Lauren: dk. maybe its jet lag.

Rebecca: I was talking about them!!! →



“So, guys,” Lauren said. She snapped a manicured hand in Justin’s face to try and unglue his eyes away from the plasma screen. He looked away from the screen and into Laurens brown eyes, and then smiled. “I am sooo not looking forward to school tomorrow. I still have to read three chapters in to kill a mocking bird by tomorrow!” Rebecca nodded at her comment and pressed PAUSE on her brick breaker game. “Same. I feel like Mr. Winsted is out to get me. Nothings like ever enough for him, ya know? It’s like chapter after chapter after chapter after chapter. He never gives us a frikin break! I mean first Shakespeare; that was pure torture I gotta tell ya. I mean literally, he expects us to read 80 plus pages in one night. Like, some people around here have a social life. This is LA for god’s sake! Repeat after me. Nine-oh-two-one-oh!! People have better things to do in Hollywood other than sit around and do homework. I mean, what do you expect us to do? Do homework on Venice beach? God damnit!” If babbling was a Olympic sport, Rebecca would take home the gold hands down. Rebecca finally looked up from her menu to see that Liam was half a sleep. Like she had said before, he wasn’t good with crowds. She pat him on the shoulder. And Lauren, well, Lauren it had seemed had just started to have a kissing party hosted by herself and Justin was the only guest. They hadn’t been listening the entire time!! How long had she been talking for? 30 seconds? A minute? Two? Trying to resist the urge not to look, Rebecca peeked over at them. His hands were on her skinny waist. One of her hands was behind his neck and the other was on his right knee. Rebecca felt embarrassed thinking this, but, damn, they both look like great kissers. Liam never kisses me like that. Then, after that, as much as she hated to admit it. Justins, kinda..hot! Rebecca giggled and took a sip of her glass of water. After that, she closed her menu and was saved by the waiter who was approaching their table. “Hey guys. Ready to order?” Rebecca saw that the waiter was trying not to notice the makeout committee to the left of him, so he was staring towards Rebecca first. She smiled at the middle-aged handsome man, whos name tag said Eric. “Can I have the Grilled Salmon please?” She asked/requested. “Sure. And would you like that with soup or salad?” He asked her. “Salad. With balsamic on the side please.” Rebecca said. “Absolutely. And you sir?” He pointed his pen at Liam, who was playing a game on his Droid. Rebecca jabbed his bicep, and he looked up. “Tenderloin steak please. Medium rare. With fries.” As soon as Eric nodded, Liam went back to his game. God, it was like living with a child! Rebecca thought as she rolled her eyes. “What about you miss? Miss?” Eric just waited. Rebecca kicked Lauren’s shin under the table, and she broke apart from Justin. “What? Oh right. Fillet Mignon. Well done. With a salad. No dressing. Oh, and another Margarita.” Lauren finished her sentence, and then looked back at Justin. So that’s why she was like that. She was tipsy. Maybe. Or maybe she just liked kissing Justin. In public places. “Thank you maam. And how about you?” Eric looked at Justin as he was finishing the last sip of his water and spinning the straw in the glass. “Cheeseburger with fries. Oh, and some of that truffle mac n cheese. Thanks man.” Justin handed Eric the menu and checked the time on his Torneou. 8:30 on the dot. After that he went back to nibbling on Lauren’s bony neck. She heard Lauren giggle. Staring at them, Rebecca sighed. She couldn’t wait to get home and start the hours of work that lay ahead.

It was going to be a long night.

✻✻✻



Beverly Hills High School

Monday, January 4th

8:11 A.M.



The three girls were sitting on the edges of their desks, talking and babbling on to other people about their Christmas breaks. Things like “and then he hooked up with her” and “I didn’t even get a tan” was the main topics that people were discussing. About 80 percent of the class was crowding around Rebecca, Lauren, and Nikki as they went on and on about their dreamy paradise vacation. Lauren was leading the conversation, as she always did. She ruled the entire social scene at BHHS.“The fireworks were insane. A couple days before, Rihanna preformed “Only girl in the world’ At the Atlantis are for a private concert. You can only get in if you have connections, and as most of you know, my dad is the VP of Island Def Jam.” Another thing that Lauren could win a gold metal at was bragging. Rebecca was sitting on her desk, crossed true religion jean filled legs, blackberry in palm, texting Liam. Nikki chewed what was left of her thumbnail. Lauren continued to chat. “Me and Justin have still been going strong. After new years, we went to STK, and he felt me up behind the building.” Rebecca tried not to laugh at Lauren’s lie as a round of “oooooos” echoed in the circle. Lauren blushed. She tended to do that when she was bluffing. You had to be retarded to believe her after you saw that. Rebecca rolled her eyes and peeked down at her phone as it buzzed.



Liam: Homework and chill @ my house after skl?

Rebecca: Absolutely. C U then. The bell just rang so g2g. Kisses!



Rebecca silenced her phone and stuffed it into her tan Kooba hobo. She hopped off the desk, and the stampede of girls followed her. As Mrs. Ferragamo pranced into the English classroom, carrying the Dooney and Bourke bag she always brings, and a liter bottle of Poland Spring. As she set them on the desk, a bunch of whispers still carried around the classroom. Mrs. Ferragamo just smiled and put her freshly manicured hands on the desk. “Alright settle down children. Abrams,” Lauren quickly turned her head to the teacher, “sit” Like she was a puppy. And Lauren sat down. “I hope you all had splendid holidays. But now the Holidays are over, and its time to get back on task, so, we are starting a new class novel” Please be Hamlet, please be hamlet! Rebecca thought-whispered to herself. She read the book over the summer, and practically memorized it. It was so good!. Mrs. Ferragamo went over to her teacher’s cabinet and pulled out a familiar looking book that Rebecca couldn’t recognize by the spine. It was a turquoise color with white letters and two very familiar looking people on the front cover. Now it hit her. “The Last Song. A romance-fictional novel by an award winning author named Nicholas sparks.” Mrs. Ferragamo showed off the cover, and then picked up two brown boxes with more books inside. “Rebecca, Chase, will you please pass them out loves? Chase, pass them to the boys, and Rebecca, pass them to the girls ok? Thanks guys.” Rebecca sighed and trudged to the front of the room were she was handed about ten books. She smiled at Mrs. Ferragamo, then at Chase, and started passing them out to the girls. After she finished and sat down, she rested her head on her desk. After about three seconds, she was startled by the sound of her blackberry chiming. Oh my god, I thought I turned it off! That just scared the crap out of me! Rebecca thought to herself. She pulled her phone out again and looked on the screen, which said she had a new text message from her dad.



Dad: Hey Hun, sorry to text so early. Just telling you that I will be picking you up around 5 tonight for dinner at the Ivy. I have a surprise for you.

Rebecca: I promised Liam I would study with him after school, so…

Dad: Then I’ll pick you up from his place. Is that fine?

Rebecca: Whatever. I can’t talk now. See you later

Dad: Love you honey!



She put her phone back in her bag and stuffed it under her desk. Rebecca wondered what could the surprise be? Maybe he got her that snowflake pendant from Tiffany that she wanted for Christmas but couldn’t get because they were sold out. Maybe it was chrome spinners for her range rover. Maybe it was Jimmy Choo Shoes. Or…Rebecca panicked. What if it was bad? What is she was cut off? What if she had to move far, far away? Oh no. But then again, it still might be something good. She just had to wait and see.





✻✻✻

Beverly Hills High School Hallway

Monday, January 4th

10:57 A.M.

After over a week of partying and non-stop fun, Nikki still felt gloomy. Not because she had a bad time, not because she hated to be back, but because she didn’t have a boyfriend like Lauren and Rebecca. After applying Cherry Chap stick, Nikki slammed her locker shut and headed towards Spanish. As she walked down the long dull hallways, she observed the males that were speeding past her. Some of them were cute, some of them were hot, some of them were just painful to look at. But Nikki knew that most of the hot guys who were walking past her were jerks. Just plain jerks….

“Ow!”

“Oh, Im sorry”

“Its fine”

The mysterious boy picked up the books he knocked down and picked up Nikki’s Spanish binder and trust it into her arms. “Thanks” She said, light smile on her face. As the boy looked up from behind the pile of stuff he was holding, Nikki could see that he was pretty good looking. He was cute he was toned and he was blond hair, blue eyes. Just like her. Maybe this was a sign! This was destiny! Maybe they would get married! Maybe…

“Nikki?”

“Oh, Hey Liam.”

Shit.

“Really sorry about that. I was rushing. My bad.”

“No big. See ya.” Nikki spread another smile and speed-walked away. Forget destiny. Forget hope. Forget marriage! Whatever. When she finally got to class, she inhaled deeply the outside air because Mrs. Rosa insisted on having the room smell like trails end scented febreeze and seafood paella. She said it gave them a hint of what its like “waking up in Spain”. When she walked in, she saw some people coughing and some people asking Mrs. Rosa to change the scent in here. And of course she told them all the same thing: Its my room, and this is how I want it. Oh gosh. “Hey Nik, how was your break?” A familiar voice behind her said. She turned around to see that it was Karrie Shaper, her former best friend, but then she kind of faded apart when high school came around. “Oh, hey Kar. Yeah it was good. How about yours?” Nikki pretended to be interested in what tropical island in the Caribbean Karrie spent 10 days poolside sipping margaritas in. “Good. I went to The Cayman islands with Becky, Sarah, Jenna, and Trisha. You should check out the pics on Facebook. We had a blast.” Why don’t you brag a little bit more? It didn’t matter though, because Nikki’s tan skin was glowing in the sun that was coming through the window. Before she could say anything else, Mrs. Rosa interrupted. “Hola, Señores y Señoritas, por favor siéntese ahora.” She said, “Por favor saca las paquetes de Var y Dar.” Everyone did what they were told without comment. You did NOT want to be on her bad list. It was worse than being caught with a fake id at Ray’s bar and grill. Nikki scanned around the room to look for a guy that was cute and single. Jeff Gavins? Girlfriend. Matt Freilander? Girlfriend. Kurt Hummel? Gay. She sighed. After about five minutes of endless searching, she grabbed a blue sparkly pen from her pencil case and drew a small pointy high heel at the top left corner of her paper, a habit she had done since middle school. “sorry I’m late Mrs. Rosa. I mean, lo siento Senora.” A familiar voice said, and then chuckled as Nikki looked up. It was Derrick Fisher. Nikki’s eyes widened. Did he change over break? Since when did he become so…hot? Lauren and Rebecca always thought that she and Derrick would be perfect for each other because he was captain of the boys’ soccer team and she was captain of girls. Plus, they both had the same Pacific Ocean – colored eyes and all American blond hair. He had on a forest-green tee shirt and light wash jeans, complete with the what-every-guy-wears black converse. The only reason Rebecca had really considered him for her was because her and Derrick were really close family friends, and if they got married, her and Nikki would be half sisters. Lauren, well Lauren only wanted her to be with him for the sake of having a boyfriend. Especially when you’re a junior in high school.

Just then, Nikki remembered she had his number from the Beverwils annual Christmas party. She pulled out her sidekick and went to SMS.



Nikki: lol, good timing. How was your break?

Derrick: Thx. It wuz good. Coffee&convo after skl at the coffee bean?

Nikki: sounds good. Cnt wait 2 catch ^

It took Nikki about 20 seconds after she put her sidekick away to realize that he just technically asked her out. Maybe writing in a journal like Dr. Porter suggested wasn’t a bad idea. She could never in ten years have thought that she would fall for him or go out with him. Until Now.

✻✻✻

Beverly Hills High School

Monday, January 4th

8:11 A.M.



Lauren was more anxious to see Justin than she had been on any sale there was at Kittson Couture. Even though she’s seen him only a few days before, that seemed like a blur. It seemed like she hadn’t seen him since Rebecca’s Christmas party. She couldn’t wait to get her arms around his neck and kiss him until his lips were about to fall off. She was pacing towards the projection room above the auditorium, where they usually met for their annual make out sessions. She speed walked down the hallway of Beverly Hills high school, trying not to slam her Jimmy Choo peep-toe pumps against the blue tile floor. She finally got to the auditorium and was majorly relieved that she didn’t fall on her ass.

“Hey”

“Hey gorgeous.”

Lauren filled the empty spaces in Justin’s fingers with hers as they walked towards the empty room. “I missed you” She said, hoping for the same thing back, but Justin just smiled and kept walking. When Lauren opened the door to the small little room, she realized that the room smelt like week old pizza. In the projection room, there was a section with a bunch of tangled up wires and computers, and then there was a small coffee table with a small couch. A coca cola machine stood beside it. Lauren squeezed Justin’s hand harder, but she felt like the more she squeezed, the more he pulled away. Giving up, she led go and popped a squat on the couch, and he followed her.

“So, how was Aruba? We didn’t really get to talk about it much at STK” Lauren asked.

“It was so nice. Probably the temperature it was in the Bahamas. And I gotta admit, there were a lot of hot girls there.” Lauren lightly slapped his arm, and they both laughed.

“Hey!” Lauren paused and then laughed again. “You never gave me a welcome back kiss when you saw me the other night, so this has to count as double.” She put her hand on his knee and leaned in closer before he could say anything else. Her lips pressed against his and it felt so right. She put her arms on his shoulders and he put his on her waist. Lauren loved this and didn’t wanna stop. After about three or so minutes, they broke apart. “I’m out of breath” Justin said, spreading a slight smile. Lauren knew he wanted to stop. But she didn’t want to. She had to think of something sexy to say to turn him on. “I’ll give you some.” She said with a sexy tone. She grabbed the back of his neck and she leaned in again. Justin’s lips were baby’s butt soft and hers smelt like warm vanilla sugar flavored iGloss. Yummy. Lauren moved to her arms on his back and pulled off his black Calvin Klein tee. Lauren took off her LF cardigan and thrust it on the ground. Lauren thought that after almost three months, she and Justin would finally have sex. He had already lost his virginity last year, but Lauren knew that he had clearly moved on. She didn’t let it get to her. There was a couch, it was private, and there was no one expected to be in there for at least another period. So it was perfect. Until Justin Broke apart again, only this time it wasn’t for air, it was for good. “Not here” He said, grabbing his shirt from the side of the couch and throwing it back on. Lauren was starting to get frustrated. She picked up her cardigan and wrapped it on her bronze cold shoulders. “You promised,” She said, her volume increasing. “You promised after new years, we would hook up. And know your just going to back out? Really Justin?” Lauren realized she was starting to sound like a bitch, and she took a deep breath and calmed her voice down. “I’m sorry Its just…I was really looking forward to this all break, and it seems like your not as into it as I thought you would be.” She gave him another kiss, this time it was a French kiss. They both broke apart at the same time, and she continued. She didn’t want to seem desperate, but it felt like she had no other choice. Then it finally came out. “Don’t you want to have sex with me?” She blurted. She was scared of Justin’s expression, but his face was still blank, then he smiled, then chuckled. Great, now he’s making jokes. “What!?” She yelled. Justin stood still. “Nothing.” He finally said. “its just that when I said not now, I meant like not here. Of course I wanna…you know. Just not here. Why don’t you come to my house around five later. My rents are on a business trip and my nanny’s out of town. We have the whole mansion to ourselves. It couldn’t be any more perfect.” He said. Lauren smiled, relieved. “Okay” She said, surprised that he was actually sensitive. “I’ll see you around 7 then. Bye!” Lauren gave Justin one last goodbye kiss and without saying anything headed out the door. Nothing in her life has been better than Justin. And it was going to stay that way. She swore to it.

AN AFTERNOON TO REMEMBER

Carson Residence

Monday, January 4

4:46 P.M.



Rebecca and Liam were giggling on the couch. “I dare you” Liam said, “Close your eyes.” Rebecca laughed. “How do I know you wont give me anything-”Liam shut her up with a kiss. “Shhh. Just trust me. Now close those pretty eyes of yours before I do something to shut you up again.” He threatened. Rebecca closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and sat up straight on the plush couch cushion. Liam peeled an orange and gently placed it on Rebecca’s tongue. She chewed, swallowed and opened her eyes. Liam laughed. “What dada think I was gonna give you?” He asked. “I don’t know, one of those really sour candies? Haha.” Rebecca responded. “Not a chance.” Liam said back, smiling. “So what do you wanna do now?” He asked. “Gimme my book from my book bag. And grab yours too. I wanna read some.” She said. Liam did what he was told and gave the book to her, clutching hers in her hand. “Mrs. Ferragamo says we have to read the prologue. Do you wanna start?” She asked. They opened their books to page one and Liam began to read in his deep, sweet voice. “Staring out the bedroom window, Ronnie wondered whether Pastor Harris was already at the church. She assumed that he was, and as she watched the waves breaking over the beach, she questioned whether he was still able to notice the play of light as it streamed through the stained- glass window above him. Perhaps not-the window had been installed more than a month ago, after all, and he was probably too preoccupied to notice anymore. Still, she hoped that someone new in town had stumbled into the church this morning and experienced the same sense of wonder she’d had when she’d first seen the light flood the church on that cold day in November…” Liam was continuing to read until they were both startled by the doorbell ringing. “Shit. That’s my dad.” Rebecca shut her book, threw it into her bag, and began to gather her things. Once finished, she gave Liam a goodbye kiss and headed for the door. “Love you too, Beck.” He said, as the sound of her footsteps was getting softer. But she was already gone.



✻✻✻

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Monday, January 4

4:49 P.M.



“One medium skimmed latte with one Splenda please. Thanks. Here ya go.” Nikki handed the guy a five -dollar bill and took a quick glance over at where Derrick was sitting, waiting for her to receive her drink. He was spinning around the straw in his iced coffee, staring casually out the window and pretending to not check out Nikki’s toned body. You would think that in the 90210, there would be better things to look at. She guessed not. She grabbed her latte from the counter and walked over towards Derrick, who just pulled out his envy3, but put it away when he saw her coming. “Hey.” He said as he smiled. “I saved you a seat.” Nikki laughed at his sense of humor as he pulled out the seat across from him and she popped a squat. “Thanks. So how have you been?” She asked, popping the lid off her latte and blowing on it. “Pretty good. The usual. I’m doing football. And you’re doing soccer, right?” He starred into her robins egg colored eyes. “And swimming. I love to swim.” She added. “Cool” He said, “Why dontcha come to our next game?” Nikki watched as he blushed. How adorable. “Yeah. Sure.” Before he could say anything, she added, “I’d love to.” Which made her blush. Did she like him? Or, more importantly, did he like her? It’s hard to find out with guys. She closed the lid and took a sip of her drink. As she did, Derrick picked up his iced coffee from the brown wooden table and looked at Nikki as he raised his cup. “To…a great new year.” He said. She tapped her cup to his and took another long sip. “So, I was thinking. Maybe if you were free on Friday. I don’t have a game or anything, but I was thinking if you didn’t have soccer or swimming or anything, we could hangout or something. Maybe dinner and a movie?” Nikki already knew her answer. She did nothing bud nod and smile. It was crystal clear now. He liked her.

Hastings Residence

Monday, January 4

5:08 P.M.



“Ow! Stop it! Go make your self useful and get a condom.” Lauren kicked Justin’s stomach and she sat up after he got off of her. He raced to his nightstand table and pulled out a Trojan from the box in the back. “Got ‘em.” He took off his black shirt, shut the blinds, and turned back to Lauren, who looked super-hot. “Excellent. Now come here you naughty boy. I gotta give you some punishment.” She giggled and he sat on the bed, but not for long, because he was pushed down by Lauren. She crawled on him on her knees and took off her long sleeve Bebe sweater to reveal her black bra. She kissed his lips and worked her way down to his warm neck. She creped up to his neck and inhaled the deep smell of Dior Homme. Nothing had ever smelled sweeter.

✻✻✻

The Ivy

Monday, January 4th

5:36 P.M.





“One vodka soda please. Becky, honey, do you want another sparkling water?”

“No I’m good. Thanks dad” Rebecca gave the waiter her empty glass and took a sip of her water that was sitting on the table. Her dad stared at her as she gulped it down. “So how have you been sweetie pie? I haven’t seen you since Christmas. Tell me all about the Bahamas.” Rebecca was so the opposite of interested in telling her dad all about her deluxe island vacation. So she just said the same thing that she said to everyone else who asked her today. “It was fine. Thanks. How was your vacation?” She knew that her dad was expecting more, but she was hoping that the question she just asked would bring her away from her life and more onto his. “Oh, wow honey. Vegas at Christmas time is so beautiful. They have a huge tree. It’s just like Rockefeller center. Remember when I took you to New York when you were six?” He asked. “Yeah I remember. So what did you do in Vegas all by yourself?” There was no way that Victor Beverwil could go to Las Vegas all by him self as a single man, and not bring back anyone. “Actually…” He paused for a second, “ That’s funny you ask that, sweet pee. Because as it turns out, I actually met someone…” Before He could finish he turned his head towards the door, where two young women came in. “Hey. There they are.” He got up off the seat. Rebecca was startled. There were two. One of them had light blond hair, like Nikki’s, with brown eyes. Her face was heart-shaped, and she was wearing natural looking makeup. A floral covered frock went down just above her knees. The other one was a total different story. Dressed in an almost skin tight short dress, this woman looked like she was going out clubbing. She hair was dirty blond and filled with soft curls; that looked like a models. And she didn’t look much like the other one; only she looked a slight bit older. Rebecca’s guess was twenty for the first one, twenty-five for the seconds one. As they approached closer, Rebecca was shocked to see Victor put one arm around girl number 2’s waist and kiss her lightly on the lips. “Hey babe. Hey Steph.” Rebecca heard Victor say this from the other side of the room, and then walked toward Rebecca. “Come. I want you to meet Rebecca.” He whispered, knowing she was probably listening. As the three of them came over, Rebecca’s scowl turned into a smile. “Miranda, Stephanie. This is Rebecca, my one and only daughter. She’s a straight A student and is taking four A-P classes this year.” Miranda came closer to Rebecca and then gave her a mini hug, as if she was too good for her. “Hey babe! I am sooo happy to meet you!” Rebecca glanced down at her black Jimmy Choo peep toe pumps, and then back up again. Then she turned towards Stephanie. All she did was shake her hand. Then Victor spoke again. “And Rebecca, sweetie. This is Miranda, and Miranda’s daughter, Stephanie.” Daughter? “Miranda is my… fiancé.”

Fiancé?

You have got to be kidding.





NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF

Beverly Hills High School

Tuesday, January 5th

11:31 A.M.



Lauren could not wipe the smile off her face the following day. Three of the teachers asked why, but she was too delusional to answer. She could feel her heart racing in her chest, and there was a tingly feeling that was going up her spice. As she was walking towards world history, she smiled at everyone who walked by, gripped her books tight to her chest, and ignored the fact that people were looking at her like she was from Venus. She applied at least eight coats of Caramel Macchiato flavored iGloss. Her lips were so shiny that they looked like they had been wrapped in Saran wrap. She was wearing a black and grey theory top, black juicy sweats, and silver Tory Burch flats. Her confidence level felt as high as Carter Baisen, a crack addict in the grade above her. She hadn’t told anyone about what happened yesterday. Not Rebecca and Lauren, not her mom, and not her dad. But she didn’t want to keep it that why, so she pulled out her iPhone from her leather case, went to iChat, and Im’ed the girls



ABRAMSXO6:hey guys. I’ve got somethin 2 tell ya

REBECCALYN414: yeah?

SWIMNSOCCER: yeah tell us

ABRAMSXO6: I lost it

REBECCALYN414: your AmEx?

SWIMNSOCCER: ur phone?

ABRAMSXO6: nooo..i mean...i lost my flower

REBECCALYN414: WHAT?

SWIMNSOCCER: huh?

ABRAMSXO6: I. AM. NOT. A. VIRGIN. ANYMORE.

REBECCALYN414: woah. With Justin?

ABRAMSXO6: who do u think?

REBECCALYN414: I’m so happy for you girlie!

SWIMNSOCCER: Me 2, one less member in V club!!

ABRAMSXO6: HAHAHAHA.

REBECCALYN414: Gotta go, guys. 12th grade calc.

SWIMNSOCCER: Same. Physics

ABRAMSXO6: Bye!!



Lauren put her phone on sleep mode and stuffed it into her lavender-colored Longchamp tote. She dug in and pulled out more iGloss and swiped it across her lips. Talking to Rebecca and Lauren was like therapy: It made her feel better and it was worth the time. Before she zipped it up, the light on her iPhone popped up and made a Bing noise. It was a text message from Rebecca.



Rebecca: by the way, Shelby told me that there’s a new girl in yours and Justin’s Chemistry class from New York. I think her names Serena. Check her out on Facebook. I did. And she’s gorgeous



Lauren winced at the text. So? Why would Rebecca think Lauren cared about that? Unless she was a drop-dead gorgeous, five foot four anorexic model who was interested in stealing her boyfriend, she had nothing to worry about.

Right?







✻✻✻





“Class, this is Serena Block. She’s a model from New York who moved here, and is coming to our school.” Mrs. Passman, the Chemistry teacher said. Lauren couldn’t stop staring. It was just what she had thought. A model. Lauren guessed that she looked about 95 pounds. Her legs were like twigs. She was wearing dark wash skinny jeans, Ralph Lauren flats, and Lauren could smell her Chanel No. 19 perfume from all the way in the back of the room. There was no way that this cookie was going to get in the way of her and Justin’s love life.

Justin: She’s hot!

Lauren: Don’t even think about it. Your mine. Forever & Always



At least she hoped so.





MORE THAN JUST A FRIEND

Cooper Residence

Friday, January 8th

7:15 P.M.



“Do you guys want s’more pizza before you go to the movie?” Alison Cooper, Nikki’s mom asked the two of them. They looked at each other, and Nikki blushed. “No, mom. I think we’re good.” Nikki said, forgetting the fact that Derrick hadn’t said anything. But whatever, boys liked girls who took charge. “Ok. Now, baby I cleaned your cleats and put them in the mud room just like you asked.” Alison took the last slice from the box, folded it up, and bit the tip. “Senior Varsity try outs for next year are really soon, and I need you to be prepared. So, starting in February, I have arranged for an indoor soccer boot camp. You know, just to help you be more prepared. USC will not be impressed to know that you can score a goal. It has to be much more than that. Derrick, babe. Tell my daughter how important it is to be on your heels. Especially junior year. The SAT’s are coming soon and I think its really important that-’’

“MOM!” Nikki had to stop her mother from going into babbling mode. She did not want to hear this right now. Not on a Friday night. The first Friday that she’s doing something other than sports or sitting in her room alone with her Macbook. “Sorry honey, its just that people need to know.”

“Well, Derrick doesn’t” She snapped back. Alison didn’t want to make a scene. “Ok, well have fun at the movie guys. I’m going to hop in the shower. Here’s some money if you want some candy or something.” She threw a twenty on the counter. “Love you Nikki. Nice meeting you, Derrick. Bye!!” She speed walked up the stairs and Nikki was thanking the lord they were finally alone. “Your mom is so sweet, Nik.” He already gave her a nickname! Nikki looked away so he wouldn’t have to see her blush. “Yeah, sometimes.” She said. “C’mon, we don’t wanna be late for the movie.” She took her plate and put it to the left of the sink, and he did the same. “Ok. Lemme just grab my jacket from the front hall. Its really cold outside.”

“K” She replied. “I’ll wait for you in the car.” She turned on her heel and headed for the side door, while he flipped his hair and headed towards the front. As she opened the door to her black Audi, she realized something. Derrick was not like the guys she would usually meet. He didn’t want her because of her looks. He liked her for her, and its hard to find a guy like that in LA. His hair was so irresistible, like chocolate covered pretzels. She loved the way he always smelt like Abercrombie Cologne. She loved that he didn’t have to dress to impress her. And most importantly, she loved that she could be herself when she was around him. Sometimes when she hung out with Lauren and Rebecca, she felt like she had to act in a different way in order to impress them. Because they were richer? Prettier? As she turned on the engine, backed out of the garage, and headed towards the front, She wondered something else. And that was, if he was a good kisser or not.

And tonight, she was hoping to test that theory.









✻✻✻

New Beverly Cinemas

Friday, January 8th

8:56 P.M.



Rebecca: Hey wanna come ovr? Bored out of my mind having dinner with daddy and Miranda ugh

Nikki: Cant im @ the movies. Btw whos Miranda?

Rebecca: My dads fiancé whos young enough to be my sister

Nikki: Ohh sorry☹ Ctrn movies! Txt u l8r



Nikki flipped her sidekick closed and threw it into her blue forever 21 hobo. “Sorry about that. Rebecca.” She whispered. “No big.” He whispered back. “Want a sour patch.?” Without hesitation, she dug inside the bag and pulled out a green one, then chewed. “Thanks.” She took a sip of the Jumbo sprite that they were sharing and leaning back in the comfy leather movie chair. As she watched, one turquoise eye was on the screen, while the corner of her left eye was peeking at Derrick. He was flexing, then yawned. Before she knew it, he was wrapping his right arm around her shoulders, and the chills started to kick in. She looked over at him and smiled. He smiled back, then put his eyes back on the screen. Nikki inhaled the deep smell of buttered popcorn and chocolate as it went through her lungs. It smelt so good.

But then she smelt Derricks Abercrombie Cologne

And it smelt even better.

And the smell was getting stronger

As he leaned in, Nikki tried not to laugh. She had this weird flaw of when she was nervous, and she laughed like crazy. She was so unprepared for this. The closest thing she had gotten to lip-gloss was Cherry flavored ChapStick. As he got even closer, the tensions started building up. Should I lick my lips and hope it passes for gloss? Should I keep my mouth closed? Should I take a deep breath incase this lasts longer than I expected? Should I use tongue? I watched Rebecca and Liam kiss. I’ve watched Lauren and Justin kiss. It doesn’t look to hard, right? Damn, he’s coming closer…

Derrick grabbed both sides of her blond locks on either side of her head and titled his head to the right. She followed, because clearly she was new at this. Finally, their lips touched, and Nikki felt like she had just landed off of a flight that had nothing but turbulence. Nervous at first, but now she knew this was where she needed to be. She rested her arms on his shoulders and he moved her hands down to her waist. After a couple minutes, they broke apart. He smiled, and she smiled back, giving him the signal that they should keep going. As there lips touched again, Nikki realized that Derricks mouth was open, and he wanted to French kiss. Unprepared and unsure, Nikki gave him hers, and they began to make out. They broke away again after about five minutes. After that, they continued to watch the movie, holding hands and texting each other. But what Nikki didn’t know was that after the movie ended, they would leave and go back into the back seat of the car and make out even more.

And she was perfectly ok with that.