(It gets a little weird)
Joanie Merlin continued as she was, carrying Sarahs books (what a friend!) laughing at her jokes (Sarah was so funny!), being her personal fashion consultant (Sarah always toom her shopping with her) and all around toadie. The fat girl who agreed with everything she said and cheered her on when she did anything. Sarah didn't seem to be using the stone much, and as the weeks passed...Joanie thought fewer and fewer Jon thoughts and started to sink deep into her new roll. She kissed her moms on the cheek (the idea of Karyn as her girlfriend was kinda gross now) and tickle little Romona (such a darling little sister) when she left for school, and now Sarah McMillain seemed like a princess...a queen. A girl who had everything...and deserved to have everything. Still, Sarah was constantly...doing things to her.
"What are you reading?"
"The Best of Leigh Brackett". It's a collection of her Sci-Fi stories from..."
Sarah would roll her eyes and smirk, taking the book from her hands and throwing it away. "You can't stand Sci-Fi, Joanie." she'd say, then hand her a copy of 'Us Weekly', saying "This is your FAVORITE source for news and entertainment, Joanie. You LOVE celebrity gossip, Joanie. You're obsessed with it. It's so very important to you...it's the most important thing in your life, next to me and filling your belly. Here...read it...everything in it is important..."
And in a flash...a huge section of my personality and likes vanished. I suddenly couldn't be bothered with nerdy sci-fi junk, knowing I'd throw away all the old, once beloved books I had at home. Replacing it, was the world of celebrity gossip...and that was WONDERFUL! She flipped through the pages with a growing sense of awe and wonder. Was Jen getting married? Did Miley kiss that boy? Who was seen talking with Jessica on the set of her new movie? She tried to resist...but it was all so important!
"In fact, I think you should be gossiping all the time, Joanie. School gossip is your second love. Understand?"
(one week later)
"And did you hear, that Kyle and Monica were seen in the hall, and they were totally kissing? And I thought that Monica and Dave - the boy from Homeroom who's always talking about running and stuff - were going together! Then, after they left, I saw Kyle and just HAD to tell him, and he was just so CRUSHED, but...you know...he needed to know. But then, it turned out that Monica was leading them BOTH on, so she could make Brad jealous, and that's when I let Donna know, because Donna and Brad were dating FOREVER, and she needs to know..."
Gabby. The whole school called her Joanie "Gabby", now, both behind her back and to her face. Thanks to Sarah, it seemed they always had. Sarah had changed her history again, making her a lifelong gossip and all around chatterbox and tattletale. Gabby was everyones nickname for her. Joanie liked it so much, that she changed Joanies name, and now Gabrielle 'Gabby' Merlin couldn't clearly barely her old name anymore. She read Us Weekly, People, The National Enquierer and such all week long, and trolled gossip websites for extra info. She stopped watching her stupid old Star Trak and Doctor Who junk, and started watching "E Entertainment", "The Soup" and "World Watched" for information. She became Sarahs most trusted spy, and durring the trip to school...the wait before...the walk in the halls...the ride back home...while shopping or eating or whatever...she talked...and talked...and talked about what she knew and who her sources were. Sarah liked the idea of the formerly nerdy Jon Merlin as nosy, obnoxious Gabby Merlin, and Gabby felt compelled to apply to the school paper...as its Gossip Columnist. She started running a string of "So-and-so-said-such-and-such" style columns, and the schools female population began to activly collect about her during lunch, asking for information and details about what she'd only hinted at in her column. Inside, Jon was writhing in embaressment at what he'd become under Sarahs changes, but outside...she LOVED it. She felt so...POWERFUL! Sarah liked the scheming nature of her personality now, and with a casual wish she changed Gabbys voice and style of speach, making her sound like Fran Drescher doing "The Nanny". It made Jon cringe to hear himself gushing and droning "Y'know...it's just so ter-uh-ble that I have ta tell you this...but I heard from a ve-ry reliable source...", but outside...you'd never know it. Outside, she was all Gabby Merlin - School Gossip. She dressed in brighter and flashier clothes, wore more makeup (always bright red lipstick now) and felt like an oaf...
That's what she was. That's what Sarah had done to her. Gabby was Sarahs jester now. She wore her big, blond hair like a crown and waddled her fat ass like a queen and talked-talked-talked about nothing all day...all for Sarahs entertainment. Gabby couldn't help it. It's what she was now. A big, fat fool.
She HAD to figure out a way around all this!
