5
« on: November 21, 2006, 06:50:03 PM »
Chapter Four: My Name Is Jennifer Gartson
I smiled confidently. My idea is brilliant.. Kenny hinted at a missing part of my life. Something so tragic, that I had forgotten it, or forced to. If I can pry everyone for enough information, this may all become much more clearer. But I couldn?t do it while I am David Richards. No. Kenny Davis wouldn?t allow himself to slip up again, and Brad Roberts wouldn?t tell me scrap. Not unless I was someone else. I neared the school bus stop, of when I held the device, thought of my appearance, and counted to three. After the quick flash of light, I was exactly what I needed to be for this to work. A girl.
I walked on the bus aisle, and all the boys, even Kenny Davis and Brad Roberts, had their mouths open, maybe by surprise, maybe by confusion. Does this device not work, or is it only on the eye of the beholder. This was the longest walk I?ve ever done, and when I sat on the only empty seat I could find, a mad rush of boys fought for the seat next to me. Maybe it had worked. When Kenny sat himself next to me, he gave me a grin, and all I could do is smile back. I scooted away from him, towards the window, and he scooted towards me.
?Are you new here, blue eyes??
I looked at Kenny Davis in disgust. My best friend, having this conversation, with me? It was odd.
?Yes, I am.?
?My name is Kenny Davis, what?s yours??
?My name?my name?Jennifer?Gartson.?
?Nice to me you, Jenny.? I smiled awkwardly at Kenny.
?Well, nice meeting you. Um?can you?just?back off?? Kenny did a double take.
?Back?back off? Oh, okay, sure.? He slid a couple of inches away from me, surprised that his charms hadn?t worked on me. Heck, his charms didn?t do anything. A year ago, he tried impressing a girl with the same moves, and all he got was a slap across the face. If I was really the new girl, I would do the same thing, but he was my best friend, so I didn?t hurt his pride, and I let it slide. Brad waked up to him, sat on the seat next to us, and whispered in his ears. I clearly heard
?You got sacked by the new girl, dude.? I tried my best to stifle a laugh, while Kenny and Brad switched to seats farther up. Finally, alone to myself. I smiled, and said confidently,
?My name is Jennifer Gartson.?
I stood up in front of Mr. Carupul?s class. I had went to this part of the plan easily enough:
I had changed my appearance to look like a mother.
?Yes, I would like to sign my kid in, she?s new.? While the front office gave me some papers to sign, the person who was working on the computer left very quickly, telling everyone that ?it?s my only break. See you guys later.?. I remembered her appearance and clothing, and before finishing the sheet, I ask the people at the front office where the bathroom is. I go there, and change to look like the woman that left for her break.
?I have?some business to take care of.? when the people at the office looked at me. I typed into the computer all the information they need, and changed into the mom again, and finished the sheet, with all the information that I had typed into the computer, gave it to the office, and walked out, saying that ?My daughter should be here any minute, as I have to leave for work.? I went out of the school, hid in the bushes, changed my look to Jennifer and went into the school, and into the office.
?Hi, I?m Jennifer Gartson, my mom was here a while ago?? The counselor stood up, walked up to me, and said,
?Well, welcome to Stragal Heights Middle School, young lady!? She went to one of the women working at the front, and started whispering in her ear. Luckily, I gave myself super-hearing, so I could easily hear their hushed conversation.
?Well, she looks nice enough. Which ones are the open ones??
?Well, we can give her Mr. Dahlup as her science?? I screamed at them,
?I am a new student. Foreign..? The counselor looked up at me,
?Funny, you don?t sound foreign.?
?I?m part French, part Russian. I had an American mother, and I took a lot of English classes in France.?
Yes, excellent. So I?m still an immigrant. They can?t find my records in the U.S Citizen database, because I?m not one!
?Well, excellent! You don?t need any ESOL classes, that?s for sure.?
?Yes, um. My mom has some recommendations for me, says that these classes are the ones we trust. If we can?t get these classes for me, than we will go to Hartson Depths Middle School.?
The counselor?s eyes closed into slits.
?Hartson.?
Stragal Heights and Hartson Depths equals David versus Goliath. so this was a great way for me to get into every single one of my original classes. Which is where Regina was in as well.
Mr. Carupul stood up next to me. I tried my best to look nervous, because, well, how can I be nervous to see a class I?ve seen for the past couple of years? All of them have been in my elementary school, so acting nervous was very difficult.
?All of you, welcome our new student?? he bended down towards me,
?What?s your name again?? he whispered in my ear.
?Jennifer Gartson.? He stood up,
?Jennifer Gartson!? All the boys in the class had the same expression as the boys in the bus. They all panted like dogs, some with their tongues drooping down. I knew some guys were animals, but these guys are ridiculous. Mr. Carupul kneeled down an inch, since he is now taller than me, and whispered in my ear,
?Go ahead, take a seat. Any empty seat. There is one next to Kenny Davis (he waved at me), Brad Roberts (he gave me a quick glance) and Regina George. (She didn?t notice me nor did she care).? He stood up straight again, and waited patiently. I walked towards the seat next to Regina, and sat down.
?Hello, Jennifer.?
Chapter Five: The Sting
Mr. Carupul talked to Regina before the lunch bell rang.
?Show her around. Show her some of your friends. Make her feel at home. Make her feel wanted.? Regina sighed.
?Fine, I?ll do it. But only because she?s foreign.?. As their conversation ended, Regina gave me a quick glance. She stood up abruptly, startling Mr. Carupul, who had almost had his round chin smacked into Regina?s ascending head. He gave a quick sigh, and looked at the clock. The bell rang, and all the boys and the girls ran out to the cafeteria.
I sat down on the opposite side of Regina and her girl gang. One of them I recognize, another I know, and the other I haven?t seen nor met yet. Regina dug through her purse, and pulled out a clipped picture of a teacher.
?If you want to get our respect, all you have to do is this. My English teacher, Ms. Narvishoni, is a real prick. She says that me and my friends don?t listen in class. She needs to learn some ?manners?. All you have to do is exchange her lipstick she uses in the morning with my ?special mix?. When she applies the mix on her lips, the lipstick will drip right into her mouth, causing her to have a very?despicable taste in her mouth for a week, and possibly?indigestion.? She handed me the mix. ?Try to do it early in the morning, so we can see the results first thing tomorrow. Here. This should help you.? She handed me a piece of paper. I nodded, and stuffed both items into my skirt pocket. The group stood up, said a polite farewell, and walked away to another table.
I crashed onto my bed. I read some more of the information for the device, and noticed that I could ?save? my desired appearances. I clicked the save icon, and a computer, the size of half a laptop, pulled out of the tiny device. I looked at the device, surprised at its physics-defying status, and saved my desired appearances. I crashed on my bed, after turning normal, and before I knew it, my alarm clock rang. New day.
There was no way you could enter the school early in the morning, much more earlier than the other kids, if you weren?t the faculty member of the school. I knew Ms. Narvishoni likes to keep her lipstick inside her purse, which is inside her closet, which is inside her locked classroom. The school was very strict on its security, so before hours, all classroom doors were locked and relocked. A robbery of some kind happened in this school. What?s to steal in a school? Markers? The school was in a panic, and turned into the ultimate secured school. Locked doors, bulletproof windows, the works. But like, what will happen. The school security makes my job hard enough as is, but I got one thing that ?robbers? can?t get. The Gene-Bender. I wasn?t going to steal anything, I was just doing a practical joke. I mean-spirited one, but what will happen to me. Jennifer never existed. I could very well turn into someone else if anything got too hot. Not a problem. The Gene-bender? The ultimate tool in a no-good?s inventory. The Mona Lisa in all the dastardly gadgets in the world.
I walked to the school, around 6:30. I told my mom that ?I was meeting with Nick to study up for a test early.? She bought it. She dropped me off to Nick Blark?s house, which was half a block away from the school. Nick wasn?t at home. He was actually with his parents for vacation. In Italy. Thousands of miles away. My mom didn?t know this, so she dropped me off with a ?good luck?, kiss on the cheek, and a small hug. When her car was out of sight, I dug into my backpack, pulled out the Gender-Bender, and changed.
I sneaked into the school with no problem. Change into a janitor, use key, enter, lock door. I sneaked around as Mr. Naltwash, the school janitor. 5?8, bit of a muzzle, it was an odd experience. I walked towards Ms. Narvishoni?s classroom, and opened the door. I yanked open the closet door, opened the purse, switched the lipstick, and went out of the school.
I took a large bite of my tuna sandwich. Lunch has just started when Regina and her group of girls sat on the same table I was.
?Looks like you succeeded.?
?Bit harsh, don?t you think??
?What, that? No, no, no. Actually, she is my aunt of my father?s side. A bit mean, yes, but fun nonetheless. Actually, the lipstick I gave you was her newly bought one she had forgotten. I was supposed to do it, but, well, I was too busy.?
?So, I had to do an errand??
?Hey, you succeeded. Ella here thinks you were too chicken to do it.?
Ella gave a frown.
?You now have my complete trust, and my friendship.?
Chapter Six- Uncovering Secrets
The more the group considered me as part of them, the more I got involved with them. From shopping to hanging-out, we did what most girls did. And the more I got involved, the more my feministic side grew. As a boy, I finally cared about my hair, about what I wear, and whether I really care. About any of it, really. Because I?ve never been in a situation like this before. I don?t think anyone has. In a way, I feel like I am breaking through their privacy, even though they allow me to occupy it in the first place. I was portraying a completely other person from myself, and it grows harder to be able to do it day after day. Lying to an entire nation, it made it hard for me to sleep without dreaming about what happens if they found out about my secret. Now that could spell B-A-D-N-E-W-S indeed.
?Okay, girls, now it?s time to play truth and dare.? Regina announced to the group. We huddled around into a circle on her bedroom carpet and sat around telling each other stories. When the whole thing was done, they all went downstairs to get food. I stayed up in the bedroom, watching a movie. Here was I. In the belly of the beast. I?ve tried everything to get Regina to cough up information about my past, but all I get was a swoosh of her hair and the back of her head. Not very fair. When the program went into commercial, I snooped around her room, looking at all of her stuff. I stumbled into her diary. Just recently unlocked, I opened it, and put it onto the first page, titled August 28th, 2004.