"Oh, there she is. Thank God." Allison interrupted as she looked down the hallway.
This entrance was typical for Sarah - late, but just early enough for everyone to get a good look at her, shoes just loud enough to echo off the industrial-beige ceramic tile of the floor, oversized sunglasses just big enough to cover a face framed by bleached blonde hair.
But, as the figure got closer, Allison and Melissa began to get confused.
Their best friend Sarah, trend-setter and envy queen, walked in her heels a little differently today. Her makeup was applied differently. Her boobs didn't look anywhere near as big as they should. She looked more toned, a little more muscular. She wore the same clothes, but they were arranged differently, accessorized in a way that was definitely un-Sarah. She looked, athletic.
They both looked at each other in a mixture of surprise, excitement, and intrigue. What kind of job could Sarah have gotten to end up looking the way she did now? They both wanted in; Sarah was beautiful before, but this was easily an improvement.
The biggest surprise came when they realized 'Sarah' wasn't walking toward them.
Instead, she walked directly past the slack-jawed girls to the doors marked "Career and Counseling Services."
"Hey Mel. Hey Allison. What's up?"
The voice from behind them sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
"Ugh. I was up all night last night completing a couple quests on World of Warcraft. Those Kirin Tor rings aren't going to pay for themselves, you know what I mean? And then don't even get me started on my search for an EECMS plugin that lets you show a Twitter hash tag feed "
"Uh, excuse me." Allison was the first to interrupt. The person's greasy, unkempt hair was only matched by their oily skin. It was making her sick just to look at it.
"And just who are you?" Melissa chimed in immediately after with disdain.
"Whatever losers, don't you recognize me? It's Sarah "
____
"Brittney-Lynne! Hiiiii!" Jon bounced up and down with excitement.
"Stop, stop! Let me look at you. Don't you look hot, you little skank!"
"Taught by the biggest skeeze I know."
"Takes one to know one, biatch."
And they both laughed.
"I didn't know you were going to be here - the career people just said I had to come to the office at school today to watch some kind of movie."
"Yeah, they're doing it for everyone. Actually, I'm here with your sister Zoe - she seemed REALLY interested in what you were going through, so I took it upon myself to get her up to speed. I have a feeling that when she's finished with the meeting she's going to be super jealous of you!"
Jon didn't look convinced.
"Don't ask me how, but the career center staff have a way of changing people's minds, know what I mean? When she comes out of there, Zoe might even want to be a professional cheerleader too. Too bad she doesn't have the body for it."
It was true. Zoe didn't have the body or the work ethic to be a professional cheerleader. But Jon did. At least, that's what Brittney-Lynne told him. But what confused him most was that all professional cheerleaders were girls. NBA, NFL, NHL, all skimpy outfits that left no room for any thing boy, and extra space for things that only proclaimed "girl." How could he ever step into their high-heeled boots? Since when did he want to?
" and then we'll have drills, and get you fitted so that you're all really for gameday!"
Brittney-Lynne was a patsy. Jon knew that right away. But who was pulling the strings?
The door to the projection room opened and out came Zoe. She was alert, eyes wide and smiling. As they passed each other, Jon noticed a gold satin bow in her hair and a look that lingered on his clothes and body for longer than he was comfortable. She was obviously studying him.
"Hi Jon, your turn. Ready for the informational video?" A man in a white coat gestured to the door of the projection room.
