Detention
Gigi Goode had known for her entire life that she wasn't like other girls. Not in the way that most people figure it out though. She loved all of the girly things, the barbies, the pretty pink dresses, the makeup, you name it! She was the same in that way. But when all the other little girls gushed about the princes in the Disney movies they watched, Gigi was more mesmerized by the princesses.
Of course she had no idea what this difference meant for her future as a child. Middle school showed her that though, when Jackie Cox came out to the school as being bisexual. She was bullied ruthlessly for it, called terrible names, pushed into lockers, the list goes on. "If they bullied like this Jackie for being bi, they would probably bury me in a ditch if they knew I was lesbian," Gigi decided.
It was then that she decided that nobody else had to know. And by nobody, she meant not even her twin brother. It was in her best interest to keep these feelings hidden tightly away, only telling them to her secret diary. She put on a facade of being boy crazy, of being obsessed with Kyle, and of being a bitch to all the other girls so that nobody would suspect a thing. And so far, it was working quite well for her. Kyle and everyone else in the school were completely convinced that she was in love with him (she was in the drama club after all, of course she was a good actress), and all of the girls were too scared to even step too close to her. All she had to do was keep up the straight girl act for the next year and a half of high school; it would be easy really, as long as she didn't have any distractions...such as a certain curly haired brunette...
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The morning went by quickly and after lunch, Crystal was headed to what she predicted would be her favorite class, art/art history. She sat down next to a dark haired girl who she recognized as Jackie Cox. Their small talk was interrupted by Gigi who was sitting across the table.
"So! It seemed like you knew Kyle Smith," Gigi spoke with the same passive aggressive tone from before.
"Not really, he was just showing me around," Crystal quietly said back, trying not to disrupt the class.
"Interesting, well don't get any ideas because—"
"Uh- shouldn't that be Picasso instead of Davinci?" Crystal cut off Gigi to ask the teacher, who was matching paintings to their artists on the board. The teacher, Mrs. Sakura, looked at Crystal with a skeptical look before looking back at the board to check her work.
"Yes, it seems that it should be," Mrs. Sakura smiled at Crystal. "Welcome to the school."
Gigi sat there with her mouth gaping as she stared at Crystal. "She's pretty AND smart?! This is gonna be harder than I anticipated," Gigi thought, slightly annoyed. Meanwhile, Jackie was completely excited at seeing that Crystal was a total art nerd like herself. She knew she had to get her to sign up for the art show.
Crystal practically bolted up when class ended and made sure to pass through the lobby on her way to her next class so that she could look at the musical sign up sheet. Of course she tried to be discreet, but Gigi had been walking not far behind her and seen the entire ordeal. Was she trying to take her spot in the musical? Was she plotting against her? Why would she do that? Had she caught onto Gigi's staring at her? Gigi didn't know what it was, but something about Crystal was just so mysterious. She wanted to know more.
When Gigi got to her next class, she asked the teacher for a pass to the library so that she could "print something." As soon as she was in the back right corner of the library, out of sight from any other students lingering around, she turned the computer in front of her on. She didn't have much time so she worked quickly, typing Crystal's name into the search engine to try to find out anything she could about the girl.
"Local Girl Wins Cash Prize for Art Competition" the headline read. At the top of the article was a picture of Crystal smiling brightly with a large canvas on an easel next to her. "Wow...it can't hurt to just look at her, right? That's normal, normal people do stuff like that, it doesn't mean anything," Gigi convinced herself and with that she found herself scrolling through pictures of the girl. Gigi sat there letting herself just stare for a little too long, jolting out of her trance when she heard her name.
"Geege? What're you doing in here?" Shit. It was Gavin. Before Gigi had the chance to close the tab he was leaning against the back of her chair and asking, "Why are you looking at pictures of the new girl?" in a confused tone. Gigi had to think of an excuse. Fast. Not even her twin brother could know what she was really up to. Her mouth was moving before she had fully thought through what she wanted to say.
"Jesus Gavin! You scared the crap out of me! I was just doing some research on her, I saw her looking at the sign up sheet for the musical before. I think she's up to something. I don't know what it is, but we need to stop her. I was looking for something we could use against her!"
"Oh, well did you find anything?" Phew, that was a close one.
"Just this article about her winning some art contest...maybe we can use it to get Jackie to recruit her to the art club...get her out of our hair," Gigi thought up an idea on the spot. Gavin quickly went along with the plan, which Gigi was grateful for. Not only did it crush any suspicion Gavin might have had, but it would ensure that Gigi and Crystal didn't cross paths too often, making life a little easier for Gigi.
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The rest of the school day went smoothly for Crystal and soon the final bell was ringing and she was on her way to the auditorium for detention. Crystal had never had detention in her entire 17 years of living. She was a good student, a teacher's pet even sometimes, and she always got good grades. She knew things would be different at her new school. She would have to focus more on her work, which is why she wasn't joining any clubs yet, but she never thought that she would end up in trouble, let alone on her first day.
Upon walking up the stairs to the stage, Crystal was immediately bombarded by an eager looking Jackie.
"Yes! The answer is yes!" Jackie exclaimed.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"The art club has it's first art show in two weeks and there is certainly room for you!" Jackie was flailing around a piece of paper excitedly.
"Where did that come from?" Crystal questioned, point to the paper that she now recognized as an article about her winning an art contest back at home.
"Didn't you put it in my locker?"
"No! Of course not."
"Oh, well, still! We would love to have you in the art show anyway! The art club meets almost every day after school, please?" Jackie begged.
"I don't know...I really need to get adjusted to everything for a while...but I'll think about it!"
Gigi watched from a few feet away, feeling a little guilty that Crystal had to suffer the consequences of the silly lie she had told to protect herself.
"Well what a perfect opportunity to get adjusted, you know, by joining a club!" Gavin butted in, going along with Gigi's made up plan and trying to encourage Crystal.
"So many new faces in detention today! Let's not make a habit of it, but it is nice to have some extra hands helping out the drama club! While you are here—" Ms. Sport continued on her tangent but Crystal was too distracted to keep listening. She found her eyes wandering over to the blonde again, watching her pretend to work on the set. Something about Gigi was so intriguing to Crystal, despite the fact that she could probably ruin her if she wanted to. Crystal zoned out while looking at her, only to be snapped out of it by none other than Gigi Goode herself, who was now standing directly in front of her with her hands planted on her hips.
"What are you looking at, new girl? Are you trying to spread your nerd germs to me!?" Gigi asked in the nastiest voice she could muster. Crystal must be on to her. She must've seen her staring and now she was trying to get in her head and psych her out about it. Gigi was not going to let that happen. She needed to keep the power.
"I- no! I was just- uh- sorry. I just zoned out, I didn't mean to stare!" Crystal stuttered out a half truth. Gigi just shot her another dirty look before turning and walking back towards Gavin. "I knew I shouldn't have been staring!" Crystal cursed herself for being so stupid and careless. "Steer clear of the blonde dressed in all pink," she remembered her mental note from this morning. For whatever reason, despite Gigi being a total bitch just as she expected, she wasn't so sure that she wanted to "steer clear" of her.