Pride & Princesses (11 page)

     
I was reading over my history notes in study hall after Mark and Jet had successfully managed to abscond. I saw them leave the car park via my study hall window, but nobody as yet recognized Jet’s car and from a distance they looked like teachers....albeit very rich ones.
  

   
‘Second week of school and they’re already in trouble,’ Freya stated.

    
‘I just love bad boys,’ Teegan replied.

    
After biology, which I’d slept through, history was cancelled but our classes were late so although I’d also tried to ditch along with Mouche, we got caught in the entrance hall (or exit hall in our case). The teachers are more than a little militant at the start of the semester, but luckily, they let us off with a warning.
 

    
‘Sometimes I just can’t wait for school to be over so I can start my real life,’ Brooke mused like a child.

    
‘
Social skills are far more important than intelligence
; it says so right here.’ I whispered to Mouche in the library.

   
‘I’m not so sure about that,’ our teacher said, eavesdropping.

    
‘We need to network!’ Mouche passed me a note attached to the diary. Page nine was open with all our gathered quotes from man-dating guides of yesteryear attached. The basis for the diary was gaining some real momentum.

   
‘Honestly, if school is just like a microcosm of the real world, it’s a wonder any of us survives it. At least in the real world you can hide from people you hate,’ I whispered just as Freya walked by, a little too close to my ballet slippers for comfort. Behind her, her twisted sisters trailed like ducks near a pond. They were caught leaving by the overly zealous teacher and had been herded up like cattle. Now they’re all chewing gum in retaliation; so ninth grade.

   
Freya ‘accidentally’ kicked over my bag as she entered the room.

  
‘Oops, sorry,’ she said. Usually, she travels in a pack. It makes it a lot easier to disguise her evil intentions.

Chapter 6

Swim team

   
‘Throughout history, women’s moral behavior has always been highly scrutinized...males have had social freedoms women were seemingly unaware of...these freedoms were kept from women not just because of biology but because men invented the patriarchal rules...’
I was glued to
A History of Suffrage
in the back seat of the bus as we embarked on our trip to the swimming centre.

   
‘What does patriarchy mean?’ I asked Mouche.

   
She instantly looked it up.

   
‘It’s like...society is male-dominated, so women have to fit in with rules they didn’t create but then they help to maintain them...otherwise, I guess, society as we know it...would break down completely...’

   
‘Oh,’ I sort of understood. It was like Mark and Jet escaping while we had to stay and be bored in study hall. Maybe they were just smarter, or quicker or something.

   
‘And maybe they are just male...because according to your literature...being male might be enough to let you progress easily through life,’ Miss Tartt was way bitter and overheard us as we snapped the pages shut. She really wasn’t ready to hear this stuff. She needed to focus on prettying up and being nice to other women in particular. Then people would take her seriously and she could study the history of feminism but still husband hunt.

   
‘It’s good to know the history of our sexual struggle,’ Mouche said, ‘but we so don’t want to become like her...’ Miss Tartt wandered off the bus after taking the roll. I was so glad she wasn’t going to be coming along to pass judgement on my freestyle.

   
I’d also been relieved to wave Freya and Brooke goodbye at the bus stop but dismayed to learn that Mouche and I are two of only six girls on the swim team. Teegan and Tory are going with us because they are quite athletic and always compete with Mouche and me in everything. Brooke and Freya are waving us off, standing on the pavement. Brooke is wearing her latest crucifix because she has recently found religion and is working on her
‘do unto others’
motto. Proof of this is the magnanimous smile colouring her expression. She’s also considering the benefit of ‘dressing more modestly’, but worried she may not fit in with her junior sorority sisters.

   
Meanwhile, Teegan, Freya, and Tory have decided to dress entirely inappropriately for the morning. It’s uncharacteristically cold and none of them have sweaters.
 
Teegan occasionally pretends to be my friend, so I mock smile and try to be ‘friendly’ in return. Freya, meanwhile, is trying hard to impress Mark who has barely looked at her. So sad. As Mrs Jones might have said, ‘
those girls need to play hard to get.’

    
Still, as I sat on the back seat of the bus watching the Princesses through the window, waving and pretending to be supportive of me, as they chat to each other, I have to admit I’m not sure even I have the restraint to act indifferently towards someone I like. I hold that thought as Teegan and Tory reach their seats.

   
Everyone is seated, the bus takes off and lurches forward as I’m leaning over my tote bag searching for my iPOD. Gravity pushes me into the back of the seat in front.

    
I steady myself. Mouche, seated next to me, smiles and whispers, ‘this should be fun, any excuse for extra-curricular activities with the boys and Princesses can barely contain their enthusiasm.’

    
I nod in knowing agreement and flick through my playlist. Mouche is busy updating our future blog – the secret one of course, the one we carry in diary form. This one is for our eyes only. Mouche will update the official
Sunrise News Blog
after the Fall Fling. We’ve decided to go with a traditional headline ‘Possible Prom Themes’ then upload an article titled:
Prom Themes Throughout History
with the by-line -
  
vapid possibilities from previous junior years -
Underwater World, Chicago 1930, Movie Star Couples
(the usual). No sense running with the lead story of two girls dating themselves into history until it’s ready.

   
Mouche was going to quit the swim team to concentrate on her academic classes but I persuaded her to come with me.
‘It is a known fact that ladies need strenuous exercise just as much as men...’
I told Mouche using received pronounciation
.

  
‘
Which guide did you get that from?’

   
‘I don’t know, I think I heard the sentiments in
Little Women
.’

   
‘Oh, I love that story.’

   
‘Me too.’

  
 
There aren’t very many people who swim and as luck would have it, Mark and Jet and Alex and Tom are riding the bus as well.

    
‘I’ve often noted that swimming tends to do beautiful things to shoulders. You can see the results in the broad arm muscles of the boy sitting in front of me, his face slightly obscured by the headrest of the seat,’ I whispered to Mouche.

    
Of course, I’m describing Mark.

    
When he turns his head Mouche stifles a giggle as I unwrap some gum, offer her some and innocently observe the world outside the bus windows.
 

     
‘He’s very uptight,’ Mouche scrawled on the side of her note page, shoving it in front of me.

      
‘He still hasn’t spoken to me but earlier today, he offered to help me lift my bag when the locker door was stuck,’ I said softly.
 

     
‘Chivalry is so not over yet,’ Mouche added, ‘Oh, fabulous, Tom Allen just glanced my way. Guess what?
 
Teegan and Tory have decided to flirt with all the boys on our behalf.
Don’t they realize none of us are ready for
the approach
since we’ve barely had time to read the copious quantities of old-fashioned dating literature we found in the closets of our slummy mommies?’
 

    
‘I loved it when you used to jokingly answer the telephone with those immortal words,
Hello this is Mrs Mouche’s brothel…’

     
‘I was only twelve…’

     
‘Our mothers weren’t quite as fond of the introduction as I recall...’

    
The bus had stopped at a red light by this time. Suddenly Teegan crawled out of her seat and made her way to the back of the vehicle.

   
‘Hi Pheebs,’ Teegan said as if she was my best friend.

    
I smiled tepidly. Mouche had her ears blocked with music.

   
‘Hi Mark,’ Teegan continued. ‘I can’t wait for you to pick us up Saturday tonight.’
   

    
Mark looked over at Jet as if Teegan had gone nuts, and then gave her a reluctant smile. Both Teegan and Tory smiled back and I was embarrassed for everyone and pretended to be writing, but the road ahead was bumpy so after a few minutes I stopped.

   
‘I forgot to tell you, Freya and Brooke are Jet’s neighbours. They’ve been ‘noticing’ him for years and Freya even spread a vicious rumor that she has webcam images of Jet doing it with an ex!’ I whispered.

    
‘So possibly illegal, to spread publicity unasked, but Brooke doesn’t care. She thinks she’s above the law. No doubt the footage is inspired because Jet is very sporty and buff. I’m not sure if Teegan and Tory realize just how popular Jet could become,’ Mouche added with a smile.

  
‘He’s good natured, too,’ I whispered after Jet had helped Mouche with her jacket and bags. ‘It seems like nothing is a trouble to him.’

   
‘Brooke and Freya act like eager fans when Jet is around. Although they are as obsessed with Mark as everyone else, he has blatantly ignored them and even the Princesses get a little hurt when boys like him look down on girls like them.’ Mouche said.

   
‘They treat Jet with the reverence of a fan base and look up to him. Brooke was once overheard in the cafeteria saying, ‘of course we’re lucky to be his neighbours but we could be totally torn apart if it came to fighting over Jet.’

   
Thankfully, Mark and Jet had their earplugs safely in their ears by this point.

   
‘Girls like the Princesses learn to be nice to boys at a young age. Perhaps their mothers teach them,’ Mouche whispered, ‘Brooke and Freya have loads of money and their walk-in closets are twice the size of Teegan’s and Tory’s who make up for this slight disadvantage with extra stylish ensembles.’