Oh, Baby (Chapter 2)

Lizzie couldn't sleep that night. She lied to her parents, making them think that she was actually happy about having a sibling. Even though she lied to her parents before about other things, that lie was the one she felt more guilty about. She went to school with it running through her mind. In addition, she knew that the subject was something that she was going to talk about with her best friends.
"Should I eat more chocolate?" asked Andrea.
"That depends," started Skye. "Are you going through your menstrual cycle?"
Debra giggled.
"No," Andrea replied. "I heard that chocolate gives you softer skin."
"That is true," said Madeline. "But you need to eat specific chocolate like a Hershey bar or the unsweetened kind that comes in a package."
"So I can't have chocolate pudding?"
"No, nothing with multiple ingredients. Just natural chocolate and you'll have natural, glowing skin like mine."
"Also, chocolate brings happiness," added Debra. "For reals, it sets off a drug in your brain that causes euphoria. That's why I eat it every day."
"Well, no wonder why you have skin like Halle Berry," complimented Andrea.
"Oh, and berries are good for you, too."
"So what's new for you, Liz'," asked Skye.
Lizzie sighed, dropping her shoulders. "A whole lot."
"What is it?" asked Madeline.
"My mom is pregnant."
"Oh, that's fantastic!" commented Debra. "Congrats, honey!"
"Yeah, I guess it's good."
"Then why do you sound so unenthusiastic?" asked Andrea.
"It just wasn't what I expected."
"Maybe after seventeen years, your parents are finally having sex again," said Skye.
"Ew, Skye," Madeline commented.
"What? I'm gross."
"The child is your dad's, too, right?" asked Debra.
"Yes, of course," answered Lizzie. "It's... I don't know, maybe I don't want a little brother or sister."
Andrea gasped. "How can you say that?"
"It's just how I feel."
"Lizzie, babies are majestic," said Madeline. "Once you catch a glimpse of their tiny face, there's no looking back."
"But if I want to walk, I got to look back to know where I'm going."
"What?"
"Lizzie, once Leroy was born, I knew I would forever love him," confessed Debra.
"And I don't know who I would be without my two little sisters," added Andrea.
"A convicted criminal," guessed Skye.
Andrea squinted her eyes at Skye.
"I know and your siblings are great and adorable," said Lizzie. "Actually, I don't know about your brother, Debra. He tried to hump my leg once."
"He's becoming a man," explained Debra.
"I'm not even a woman yet. However, my point is that I won't be my parent's number one priority anymore. I'll have to share that spot with someone else. And there's a possible chance they'll pay more attention to the baby because... it's a baby."
"So you're not ready to become a sister?" asked Madeline.
"I don't know. I mean I don't feel ready."
"Maybe it's newborn jitters," said Debra. "You'll get over it."
"I'm so glad that my mother can't find love to have more children," shared Skye.

Oh, Baby (Chapter 1)

Lizzie laid on her plaid sheet covered bed flat on her back. "Me and Warren are really hitting it off," she said into her cherry-colored cellphone. "We went on three dates in one week. That's like marriage phase."
"Ooh, do you want to marry him?" asked Madeline through the phone.
"That's not what I meant... but yes! I want to be Mrs. Lizzie Kerr. Or Mrs. Lizzie Duvall-Kerr. Or Warren should change his name to Mr. Duvall-Kerr or Kerr-Duvall. I know Carlos Pena Jr. shares a name with Alexis Vega."
"Alexa."
"Yeah, Alexis."
"Okay. You two would make a cute couple."
"Me, too. I'm hot; he's hot. We're hot together. Doesn't that make fire?"
"Yes, it does, Lizzie. Yes, it does."
"Wow, that's too hot. But I like him so I shouldn't care."
"Are you guys going on a date later this week?"
"Yes, we are. Next Saturday. He's taking me out to dinner so I'm gonna wear this amazing red dress--"
Lizzie saw her parents enter her open bedroom.
"--that is really long," she continued. "A long dress that covers my ankles, practically my whole feet. And it has long sleeves and a high neckline."
"Are your parents in the room?" Madeline asked.
"Maddie, I got to go."
"Alright. See ya, sister."
"Sister, see ya."
Lizzie swiped her finger on the phone to hang up. She sat up so she can properly face her parents.
"What's going on, guys?" she asked.
"Uh, Lizzie, we have something important to tell you," said her father.
"When you mean 'important', you mean I'm finally getting jewelry?"
"No."
"Oh, that's a bummer. Will you guys ever let me wear what I want?"
"I thought you like the way we dress you," said Lizzie's mother.
"You thought wrong, mom."
"Can we change the subject?" asked the father.
"Fine. We'll talk about this later. So what's the important thing?"
Lizzie's dad looked at his wife. "Do you want to tell her?"
Lizzie's mother nodded then looked at her daughter. "Lizzie, I'm pregnant."
Lizzie paused. "With joy?"
"No, with a baby. You're going to have a brother or sister."
"Huh." Lizzie stared blank into the air.
"What do you think?" her father asked.
Lizzie parted her lips in another pause. "You guys are having sex?"
Her father's eyebrows slanted towards each other.
"Lizzie, that is none of your business," said her mother.
"It is my business because you can't get pregnant without having sex," Lizzie explained herself.
"Then the answer to that question is obvious," her father responded.
Her mother hit her husband in the arm.
"I thought you two were conservative or something," Lizzie supposed. "That's the whole point of going to church, praying at the dinner table and me wearing these bum clothes."
"Hey, don't call those clothes 'bum'," pointed her mother. "These are clothes made by the Lord."
Lizzie gazed at the ceiling. "Then, Lord, I'm sorry to say this but these clothes are whack. Alright? Sorry to use urban dictionary slang but that's how I feel. You need to improve your fashion sense."
"Don't do that. It's not funny."
"Of course it's not funny. I don't laugh when I got these clothes on."
"Girls, don't argue," the dad enjoined. "Stress makes ugly children. Lizzie, are you happy or not?"
Lizzie held her breath. She looked down at her feet then at her parents. "Yes, I am," she replied before biting her lower lip.
"Fantastic."
"That's good," said her mother.
"And we may admire the powers of God but that doesn't mean we're not hip."
"Dad, hip people don't say 'hip'," mentioned Lizzie.
"You dunno what you be's talking bout... yo."

Join the Club (Chapter 5)

For less than a week, the girls were official members of the math club. Skye had trouble deciding whether she should be mad or glad within those few days. She, of course, appreciates that her friends wanted to spend more time with her but ever since they joined, the uniqueness she liked in the club was crumbling. One afternoon, Denny passed out worksheets for the members to do. Andrea and Lizzie hated doing work like that but they couldn't complain since they chose to be apart of the activities.
"Alright, you all have twenty minutes to complete the worksheets. Whoever can complete this on time will get a fresh doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts. Time starts--"
"Done!" Madeline raised her filled out worksheet. "All finished and checked over."
Denny chuckled. "Nobody likes a show-off, Madeline."
"It doesn't really matter because everyone likes me."
"It's true, Den," said one of the members.
"Okay, then," said Denny. "You can go grab a doughnut." He pointed at the rectangular box of glazed doughnuts on the desk.
"Oh, I'm on a diet where I can't eat fried foods for a month," said Madeline.
"Okay, then."
"Come on, Madeline," said her neighbor. "It's free doughnuts; loosen up a bit."
"Loosen up a bit?" inquired Madeline. "We're in math club."
"You say it like it's a bad thing."
"I mean my skin will surely loosen up when I lose some weight. Then I'll tighten it up with some avocado."
"Mix the avocado with egg," advised Andrea. "It speeds up the process."
"Got it."
"Hey, Madeline, if you don't want your doughnut, can I have it?" asked Lizzie.
"Sure, my sister."
"No, no, you can't do that," said Denny.
Madeline giggled awkwardly. "Why not?"
"It's against the rules of free math food."
"Against the rules? Okay, you didn't follow the rules of 'dance dating' when you sucked on Josie's face."
"Ooh..." murmured almost all of the members in the room.
"Are you really bringing that up?" asked Denny.
"Yes, I am," responded Madeline, "because you don't come to a dance with a date and leave that date for an equally pretty girl."
"You knew I liked Josie."
"That didn't mean you had to ditch me."
"So what? You like me?"
"Uh, no! I'm just saying that you came with me and didn't leave with me."
"You said you were cool with it."
"Ever heard of a lie?"
"I didn't do anything wrong."
Madeline stood up. "Oh, now you're Mister Innocent? Josie didn't even know you existed yet at the end of the day, you had a hot date. Why leave a hot date?"
"Maybe Josie was hotter."
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry I don't look like Lucy Liu."
"Oh, please. I know you doubted me. And it's all because I don't look like Ryan Gosling, you fake Meghan Martin."
"Ain't nobody really want you, Napoleon Dynamite."
"So am I getting the doughnut or not?" Lizzie politely asked.
"You're not," Denny said to her.
"You are," Madeline leaned to look at her friend.
"She can't get a doughnut until she finishes her worksheet."
"But the problems on here are hard," Lizzie whined.
"Then too bad."
"Hey, don't talk to my friend like that," commanded Andrea.
"Stay out of this," murmured Randall, eyeing his paper.
"Don't tell me what to do."
"Then know what to do," Randall glared at her.
"I will snap your neck."
"Good luck trying. I'm experienced with exactly seven years of jujitsu."
"Well, I'm experienced with eight years of WWE. So tell me when you want to go."
Debra stood up and walked towards the two. "Guys, guys, please don't fight," she begged. "This is a club and clubs are about unity and unity is harmony."
"Yeah, listen to Harriet Tubman," said Randall.
Debra scowled. "Oh, because I'm black? Does it look like I'm leading my Negroes to the Underground Railroad? I think not, Gingerbread Man."
"Ladies, please, no conflict of any kind," Denny pleaded to them.
"Then let Lizzie have a doughnut," Madeline put her hands on her hips.
Denny faced her. "Don't start with me."
"Let her have a doughnut."
"She's done nothing."
"Well, you have to listen to me when I say this: it's my doughnut and I'll give it to whom ever I please."
"I don't care whom you please."
"But you do, sucking face with Josie like a lollipop."
"Excuse me but she likes getting her face sucked like a lollipop."
"Oh, my God!"
"I think I'm done," Skye muttered to herself. "I think I'm done," she said loudly. She stood up and walked over to Madeline's side.
"Oh, are you finished with the worksheet, my fellow assistant?" asked Denny.
"No, I'm done with this. This whole thing."
"What?"
"Denny, I appreciate you treating me well. And I want to thank you all for letting me in like family but my job is done. It's time for me to go."
"Skye, you don't have to do this."
"I know but I want to. I want to do this." Skye wrapped her arm around Madeline's shoulders. "Thank you, Den and everybody, but I'm going to go my separate way. So ladies, let's go somewhere, shall we?"
Lizzie and Andrea got up from their seats. Along with Debra, they walked over to Skye and Madeline. They turned and walked out of the classroom together. Skye used her free arm to wrap it around Debra's shoulders.
"Why are you quitting?" asked Madeline.
"That club wasn't right for me," answered Skye. "I mean it was fun and easy and all but I served my purpose."
"But your mom wants you to join a club so you can get a job and stuff," reminded Debra.
"I know. I'm going to join the music club: a club that I was meant to be in. I bet it'll be fun but not as fun as the time I have with you guys."
"Aw, Skye," cooed Lizzie, "you said something cheesy."
"Yeah and I'm not proud of it."

Join the Club (Chapter 4)

A couple of days later, Skye continued to attend math club and engage in the activities that she found fun along with the other members. They were glad that she was a member but since she was the only girl in the club, they thought of her as distracting. But they tried to learn to deal with it since they saw her every day in the club. This day, they were all completing a worksheet as part of a study session. After twenty minutes, Denny, the leader shouted:
"Time's up!"
Everybody stopped but they all seemed finished with the worksheet. Denny walked over to a white board with a stand and a blanket over it. He shed the board of the blanket, revealing a series of numbers and equations on it written in purple marker.
"These are the right answers," he declared. "If you missed one, please discuss as always."
Skye glanced at the board a few times and looked back at her paper to see if her answers were replicated. "Wow, got them all right," she said to herself.
"You're so smart, Skye," said the boy next to her.
"I have a question: why don't any girls attend this club?"
"Uh, a girl is attending the club and it's you."
"I know but why weren't there any girls here before?"
"You know how girls are obsessed with other things except for math like hair and magazines and Enrique Iglesias."
"I know what you mean. I'm friends with those people."
Almost instantly, Skye's girlfriends entered the classroom together. She saw them come in in the corner of her eye so she couldn't identify them until she looked up.
Her face dropped. "What the--"
Denny walked up to the girls. "Hello, Madeline. And others."
Madeline smiled. "Hi, Denny. How's Josie?"
"Kissable."
"Uh."
"Not to be rude but what are you all doing here?"
"We're here to join math club," answered Lizzie with pep.
"Cool!" said one of the members. "More girls!"
"Let me get the applications you need to fill out," said Denny.
"We'd rather join right now," admitted Andrea.
"I can't just let you join right off the bat. I need to see your mathematical abilities."
"We can show you right now," said Madeline.
"Oh, really? How?"
"I can memorize at least a thousand digits of pi."
"Let me see."
"3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937--"
"Alright, I believe you!" he snapped. He walked off to the desk in the corner and crouched down to pick up a pile of maroon colored shirts. He picked up the one on the top and handed it to Madeline. "You're in the club."
Madeline grinned and leaped before coming all the way into the classroom. She stood behind Skye, who gave her a quick smile. Skye sat stiff.
"What about you?" Denny asked Debra.
Debra showed him the front of a small set of packets that was in her hands. "I got 100 percent on my algebra test from last week." She put the packet behind the set to show the second one. "Here's another 100 percent on this test from the week before. I basically 100 percents on all my algebra tests and quizzes from last month to this month."
Denny handed her a shirt. "Okay, you're in."
Debra walked in, coming close to Madeline and Skye.
"Why do you believe that you should be in this club?" Denny asked Andrea.
"Because if I don't get in, I'll hurt you," she answered.
Denny handed her a shirt. "You're in," he accepted quickly.
Andrea gave him a grin then smiled at the girls while approaching them.
"Now why do you think that you should be here?" Denny asked Lizzie.
"Uh, let's see," said Lizzie. "Three times three is nine. Three times four is twelve. Three times five is fifteen. Three times six is eighteen. Three times--"
"Alright, you're in!" Denny shouted, handing her a shirt.
"Yay," she smiled before sprinting up to her friends.
Denny closed the door and turned around. "Alright, since you girls are new, I have to be clear that you might not be able to sit with who you want and I  would like for you all to find a seat, preferably the ones closest to the room, so we can cooperate rationally."
The girls separated and roamed around the room to find any open seats that were closer to the chalkboard. None of them shared a table and almost every boy at their tables would ogle at them. Andrea scowled when she got stuck sitting with a familiar classmate.
"Can she please sit at another table?" asked the classmate loudly.
"Shut up, Randall!" Andrea glared at him.
"I just want to feel comfortable."
"Well, maybe if your butt wasn't so flat, you wouldn't feel so uncomfortable."
"Please settle down," ordered Denny.
"Yeah, Randall."
"You, too, Miss... Um..."
"Gonzalez."
"You should be 'Gone-zalez'," Randall muttered.
"Oh, real rich, which is ironic because you're not that all."

Join the Club (Chapter 3)

More than a week after, during school, lunchtime had started and the girls went to the cafeteria to eat together as usual. Skye was yet to tell her friends that she decided to join math club because she felt embarrassed about her club choice. But it was better to tell them sooner or later so she planned to speak of it during luncheon.
"Do you think my nails are too long?" asked Lizzie, eyeing her long, naked fingernails.
"I didn't even know you could grow them that long," commented Andrea.
"Oh, it's a rational length," stated Madeline.
"Okay, is there something you don't know, smarty-pants?"
"I don't know why girls like to apply green lipstick. Green is totally not a natural lip shade."
"It's a natural lip shade for aliens," joked Skye. "Maybe that's the new trend going around."
"Ooh, do you think people will start wearing those Princess Leia buns?" asked Lizzie, hovering her hands around her head.
"I hope not," Madeline responded. "Every girl will look like they glued cinnamon buns to their hair."
Andrea giggled. "Lizzie, if you want your nails to be shorter, you should go to the salon. In fact, we should all go."
"Would Saturday do?" asked Madeline.
"For me, of course."
"Yeah, I can get a mani on Saturday," said Lizzie.
"I know I'm free," Debra remarked.
"What about you, Skye?" questioned Madeline.
"Uh, I won't be able to make it," answered Skye. "I'm attending a gathering with the guys."
"What guys?" asked Andrea.
"The guys from my club."
"Oh, the music appreciation club?" Debra inquired.
"Oh, no, I forgot to tell you all. I'm in math club."
"Math club?" Madeline asked.
"Yes, I am."
"With nerds?"
"I believe the correct term is 'geek American'."
"Since when were you good at math?" Andrea asked.
"When I stopped using cheat sheets."
"But why math club?" asked Lizzie.
"Why all the questions? I don't know why I chose math club. It's just easy and fun."
"Honey, I may be passing math but that don't mean I think it's fun," Madeline commented.
"Like what are you going to do at the gathering?" questioned Andrea. "Play strip chess?"
"If that's all what's there," replied Skye.
Andrea relaxed her face towards Skye's quip.
"Okay, so Skye won't come with us to the salon," said Madeline. "But we still have movie night."
"Oh, I won't be able to make it," said Skye. "I have to use Friday night to work on the playlist."
"Playlist?" Andrea's eyebrow went up.
"Yeah, the boys asked me to make a playlist for their club full of 'empowering anthems'. I think Fall Out Boy got some good songs."
"That's okay," said Madeline. "At least we have shopping on Wednesday."
"Actually, I have stay at the club until six so I won't have time to go shopping."
"So you have a math club schedule?"
"Yeah, actually, I do. It's basically a calendar for the next six months."
"Six months?" inquired Lizzie.
"How long were you planning to attend this club?" asked Madeline.
"For as long as I wanted," answered Skye.
"Did you really have to have chosen math club?" asked Andrea.
"You know, this table has been filling up with nothing but question marks. Listen, my mom wanted me to join a club and I did. Plus, you guys encouraged me to do this."
"Yeah but we didn't want you to join a club where they didn't let you do anything," said Madeline.
"They let me do things and they happen to be fun things. Sorry I'm having fun."
The girls sat silent.
"Apology accepted?" Lizzie tried to break the silence.

Join the Club (Chapter 2)

The next day, after school ended, Skye went down to the first floor to visit the music appreciation club to ask some questions in order to join. Her friend and band-mate, David, told her what room to go to so she roamed through the halls looking for it. There was a moment where she passed a classroom filled with arguing boys. The commotion caught her attention and she backed up to peek into the room. She saw a group of boys with the same red collared shirt on sitting at desks, shouting at each other and at the tan-haired boy with glasses standing in the front of the classroom.
"Gentleman, calm down," said the boy. "I know you're angry but be happy that you tried."
"We can't be happy, Denny," said one of the sitting boys, "because you're wrong."
"I laugh at that because I am not wrong nor ever wrong so how do you explain that?"
"We know you're wrong," said a different boy. "We just can't figure out what you did."
"That's because I'm correct."
"I don't believe that you actually think that you're correct."
"No, I know. I just did it. I am correct."
"Swear to God?"
"Jim, don't bring God into this."
More boys began to shout, overlapping their loud comments.
"Come on, guys, why can't you see it?" Den began to read the written equation on the chalkboard. "It's X to the power of six minus seven-X to the power of five times Y plus fifteen-X to the power of four times Y squared minus twenty-X cubed times Y cubed plus fifteen-X squared times Y to the power of four minus seven-X times Y to the power of five plus Y to the power of six."
"There is no way," said another boy.
"There is yes way."
"You're wrong," said Skye, entering the room.
Denny looked at Skye up and down. "Excuse me?"
"The seven is supposed to be a six."
"Ooh, she called you out," smiled Jim.
"How do you know?" asked Denny.
"Because of the pyramid," responded Skye.
"Oh, I remember the pyramid," said a boy.
"Yes, on the outside of the pyramid, it's all ones. And besides the ones, from top to bottom, are the numbers in order from one. And between those numbers are numbers added from ones from their above rows. Therefore, the seven is a six."
"She's like Albert Einstein with punk rock hair," said another boy.
"I thought his hair was punk rock," said Denny. "It kinda reminds me of Robert Smith from the Cure."
"Shut up," Skye's eyes widened. "You listen to the Cure?"
"Uh, they're the greatest band of all time I've been told. Hey, how are you so good at math?"
"Well, I used to cheat on my math tests. When I learned that some notes weren't made for specific tests I had, I decided to see a tutor. Now I pretty much can't fail math."
"Would you like to join our math club?"
"Me?"
"I'm looking right at you."
"Sure. Of course, man."
"Alright. What's your name?"
"Skye."
"Is that short for something?"
"Yes but I prefer Skye."
"Everyone, please welcome our newest member of the math club, Skye!" Denny declared.
"Wow, our first girl," said Jim. He fixed his hair then exhaled in the palm of his hand before sniffing it.
Skye squinted her eyes at him. "I'm not interested."
"Are they all?" Jim slouched in his chair and looked away.
       

Join the Club (Chapter 1)

The girls stared at Skye whose head was down on the lunch table and whose hand was holding an opened but not eaten granola bar.
Andrea decided to break the awkwardness. "Are you going to eat your bar?" she asked.
"It's full of nutrition," added Lizzie.
Skye exposed her face, flipping her blonde and pink hair back. She rested her round chin on the table while sporting a tired look on her face.
"What's the matter, Skye?" asked Madeline.
"I'm really confused," Skye responded.
"You don't know the difference between Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler, too?" inquired Lizzie.
"No, I know."
"Okay."
"I'm confused because I don't know what club I'm going to sign up for."
"You want to sign up for a club?" questioned Madeline.
"Yeah."
"Since when?"
"Since my mom told me, too."
"Why is your mom making you join a club?" asked Debra.
"So I can apply for colleges easily."
"What does a club have to do with going to college?" Lizzie asked.
"Depending on what club I join, colleges might find me useful for that. Plus, joining a club might help me get a job."
"Just work at McDonald's," suggested Madeline.
"Uh, I don't want to work at McDonald's. Plus, I don't think they hire people who look and act like me."
"What's wrong with the way you look?" asked Lizzie.
"I look like that if my middle name was anything, it would be 'Vandalism'."
"Okay, but nothing's wrong with the way you act," said Andrea.
"Yeah, I guess I'm an original people person. Hey, do you want to know a fact that I thought was interesting?"
"What?"
"The average human ingests at least eight spiders in their lifetime. I guess it happens when you're asleep since spiders like to weave webs in bedrooms. But anything can actually happen while you're asleep like getting murdered."
Andrea stared at chill Skye. "Sabes que, maybe there is something wrong with the way you act."
Skye's forehead crinkled.
"How about this?" started Madeline. "You can join me in debate club."
"I don't think I fully comprehend debate club," said Skye.
"Oh, it's easy and lots of fun. We discuss our opinions on social issues like the way the government runs things."
"I don't like the government."
"Maybe you can talk about why at debate club."
"And people will listen?"
"Yeah, but of course, there are going to be some people to express their opinions which will be the opposite of yours."
"Why would I want to listen to someone talk about how much they love government?"
"That's how some people feel."
"But nobody's going to convince me to like it."
"You may never know."
"I know nobody's going to convince me."
"You know what, Skye? If you don't like what you hear, just don't come."
"Don't worry; I wasn't even thinking about coming."
Madeline dropped her shoulders down.
"So what club that you think sparks your interests?" asked Debra.
"Hmm..." Skye began to think. "I don't know if there are any music clubs."
"There are a few. Like glee club--"
"No."
"Okay, I know there's a new club for music appreciation and instrumentation."
"Oh, my friend, David, mentioned that club. He joined it not too long ago ."
"Oh, then that's good," said Andrea, "because you'll already have a friend."
"But you could have a friend if you join debate club," Madeline added.
"Maddie, I'm not joining your government-loving club," Skye declined.
"We talk about other things, too!"
"Do you guys talk about Bono?"
"Uh..."
"I thought so."

Girls' Dresses to Madeline's Sweet Seventeen

 Lizzie's Dress

 

Andrea's Dress

 Debra's Dress

 Skye's Dress

Madeline's Dresses

Sweet Seventeen (Chapter 5)

Since Chad was M.I.A., it gave Madeline time to talk with her girlfriends. After a few minutes, they split up. When Skye went her separate way, holding a pink frosted cupcake, she unexpectedly bumped into Chad.
"Oh, hey, Skye, right?" he said.
"Yeah, that's me," she responded.
"Do you know where Madeline is? I want to give her that dance now."
"Uh, I actually have no clue where she is. You should keep walking around."
"Okay."
"But first, let me fix your hair." Skye took her cupcake and slammed it on top of Chad's blond head. He stood in shock as she squished the whole cupcake in his hair, moving her hand in circles. "Oh, yeah, that's it. Okay, alright." She took her hand off, rubbing the frosting and crumbs in-between her fingers. "There you go, you look fantastic."
Chad gaped his mouth. "Ugh! Why did you do that?"
He marched away from Skye with her saying, "Just trying to help."
Once he was yards away from Skye, he was abruptly stopped by Debra who was holding a pink frosted doughnut.
"Hello, Chad," she greeted. "Boy, you look a mess."
"Yeah, one of your friends attacked me," Chad said.
"Ooh, I'm sorry. I know what will make it better."
Debra pulled on the collar of Chad's jacket and stuffed the doughnut inside. He opened his mouth in disgust while Debra pressed the outside of the right side of his jacket to smashed the doughnut.
"Ooh, yeah," she said. "Doesn't that feel better? Namaste, boy."
Debra walked pass the poor boy. He looked into the inside of his jacket to ogle at the crumbled cake and the burst of icing. He took a few steps forward, feeling gross. He couldn't walk any further as Andrea got in front of him with a plastic cup of pink punch.
"Hey, Chad," she greeted. "Ay dios mio, you look disgusting; esta loca. And you peed your pants, too. Look."
She stuck her fingers inside the front of Chad's dress pants and pulled. She poured her whole cup of punch into the space, making Chad shudder and shake in her hands. The punch formed a wet stain around his crotch area, making it seem as if he soiled himself. Andrea patted him on the shoulder before dropping the cup and walking off. He shivered and stood there, looking at his pants' stain, unaware of Lizzie approaching him with a cup of pink frozen yogurt in each hand.
"What's up, Chad?" she greeted. "I didn't tell Maddie."
She stuck the cups, at the same time, on his chest. She pushed down to get as much of the yogurt on his jacket as possible. She twisted and made circles on his jacket, almost covering his whole upper body with the frozen pink treat. Chad shivered at the yogurt roaming around his abdomen. Once Lizzie was finished, she laid the cups upside down on his broad shoulders. She winked right at him before strutting off to the left.
Chad felt like the freezing food froze him like a statue. He shook off the cups as they numbed his shoulders. He wanted to wipe away the mess but he knew that wasn't going to do him justice. He felt everybody's eyes on him. The embarrassment blinded him for a moment until he looked up to see Madeline walking towards him, holding a paper plate of a slice of pink frosted cake.
"Madeline," Chad's heart began to race. "I-- I--"
"Bonne anniversaire," she uttered.
Quickly, she thrust the plate over Chad's face. She twisted and turned it to get every last bit of cake on his gorgeous face. She peeled off the plate to reveal Chad's face as a frosted mess. The icing heavily dripped from over his eyes and mouth. He stood there feeling shocked and humiliated. The whole crowd practically laughed at him.
"Now get out of here," Madeline threw the plate at him, "and take your cherry pie with you."
Chad wiped the cake from his eyes and ran through the backyard out the back door.
"Now who wants cake?" Madeline shouted.
Every guest screamed in agreement.

Madeline changed her showy dress before she joined the girls to speak to each other over a slice of cake while lounging on the couch in the "VIP section". The couch was fit for four people so Debra sat on the arm as she ate her cake.
"At least now I know I'm single," said Madeline after sliding her fork out through her teeth. "How bout you?"
"I'm talking to a special someone," Lizzie responded.
"Same here," Skye agreed.
"I don't even know anymore," said Andrea.
"I'll be a single Pringle with you, Maddie," comforted Debra.
"Do you think Chad will learn his lesson?" asked Lizzie.
"Lizzie, we assaulted him with confections," said Skye. "If he doesn't learn, he needs to be set on fire."
"Did he cry?" Andrea asked.
"I like to think he did," responded Madeline.
"Nobody cheats on the birthday girl," said Debra.
"Darn straight."
"I could never think about Jeffrey cheating on me," Skye confessed. "He seems way too sweet."
"Are you saying that there's something there where cheating is an alternative?" questioned Lizzie.
"Excuse me?"
"You and Jeffrey are in a relationship?"
"Oh, no. No, no. It was just a... thought."
"Because he's your boyfriend."
"Nuh-uh, he's not."
"Word to your mother," Madeline sang along to the song playing in the background.
"Why did you choose this song to be on your playlist?" asked Andrea.
"Because he's Vanilla Ice-Ice, baby!"
"You're so cheesy," commented Skye.
"Hey, I'm the birthday girl and I'll be who I please."
"Hey, can't hold you back," said Lizzie.
"I think I'm gonna ask Sean to dance with me."
"You're considering it?" Skye asked with a scowl.
"Yeah." Madeline stood up.
"Well, if he starts wheezing, ask David for his mom's number so she can bring him his inhaler."

Sweet Seventeen (Chapter 4)

An extra hour into the party, everybody was having fun. People danced, talked and sang, just feeling really grateful. Skye was having a good time as she conversed with her bandmates and her crush.
"Nice print on that tux, man," Skye complimented Kent.
"Why thanks," he said, looking down at his jacket. "I put bleach on it."
"I do the same thing with my jeans," shared David.
"Is that you guys' beauty secret now?" Skye joked.
"Maybe they were born with it," said Jeffrey.
"Maybe it's Maybelline," Kent responded.
The two shared a laugh.
"Is that the brand of eyeliner that you use, Kent?" asked Skye.
Kent leered at Skye but in a friendly way.
"Do you know where Madeline is?" asked Sean.
"Why?" David inquired. "You want to sniff her hair again?"
"Ha, no. And I can't help it that her hair smells like jasmine! No, I just wanted to see if she would like to dance with me."
"Sean, Maddie has a date," Skye reminded.
"I can make her forget about that date."
"How? By vomiting on her shoes?"
Sean paused for a second. "You got a better idea?"
"Here she comes, dude," warned Jeffrey, looking behind himself.
Madeline approached the group with a greeting smile.
"Hello," she said.
The boys' greetings scrambled.
"Hi, Madeline," Sean responded. "You look nice."
Madeline smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Thank you."
"Do you smell good?"
"Do I what?"
"I'm sorry."
"Skye, I'm going to have waiters serve you and the girls cake when we get to cut it. I need to know what size slice do you want, big or small?"
"Big," answered Skye. "I love sugar and don't care about calories."
"Why can't I be like you?"
"Don't flatter yourself."
"I think you look prettier than Skye, Maddie," spilled Sean.
"Aren't you a doll," Skye said sarcastically.
"Can I dance with you later?"
"No hard feelings, Sean," started Madeline, "but I have a date to, you know, do that with."
"Oh, well, that's okay. I'll just stick my fingers in the punch bowl-- I mean drink punch from the punch bowl when you dance with... your date. So, yay."
"Uh-huh," Madeline nervously giggled. She pulled Skye away only by a few feet. "If he sticks his fingers in the punch, I'm telling the guard to literally kick him out," she whispered.
"Oh, he won't do that until he sees you actually drink the punch," confessed Skye.
Madeline stared at her. "Then I don't want punch. I want iced tea. I have some in my basement and I'm going to go get it."
"Whatever makes you happy."
Madeline and Skye went their separate ways as Madeline walked through the crowd, only to get stopped by Lizzie.
"Hey, why are you walking around?" Madeline asked.
"Oh, I just got up to get Warren and I some punch," answered Lizzie. "Is there caffeine in it?"
"No."
"Then I might have to add soda to his drink. Or maybe coffee. Whichever will keep him awake. Or should I give him Nyquil? No, that's when you're sick. Dayquil. Wait..."
"It doesn't matter. Listen, I have some soda in my basement. You can go and give him a can."
"Cool."
"Also, there are some cans of iced tea. Can you get me one?"
"Sure, Mads. It's your birthday."
"Thank you and darn straight."
Lizzie walked off and squeezed through the huge crowd to get on the patio. She entered the house and looked for the basement door which was not hard to find since she has been in the basement before. She walked downstairs as the light was already turned on. She spotted the refrigerator in two seconds and happened to notice a couple necking and embracing right by it.
"Geez, get a room, not a basement," she snickered, walking towards the fridge.
The couple broke apart as the brown-haired girl turned her head around, making Chad's face as clear as daytime.
Lizzie's demeanor definitely changed. "Chad?!"
The girl panicked then ran off upstairs.
"Lizzie, it's not what you think," said Chad, wide-eyed.
"So you weren't kissing a girl that wasn't Madeline?" inquired Lizzie.
"Uh, um..."
"Uh, I believe it's what I think."
"Please, listen, she ambushed me. I don't know who that was."
"So you let her keep ambushing you. Sweetie, when one gets ambushed, they don't stay ambushed. You are a liar."
"Please don't tell Madeline."
"Why?"
"Because I really like her. And I know it is what it looked like but it's her birthday and I don't want to ruin it. Please don't tell her."
Lizzie exhaled through her nose. "Fine, I won't tell her."

"Madeline! Madeline!" Lizzie ran through the crowd, panting and pushing people out of the way.
She found her standing and talking to Lizzie's friend, Warren.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Madeline's attention was caught. "Where's my iced tea?"
"I couldn't get it because I have to tell you something."
"What?"
"Warren, get out of here."
Warren scrunched his forehead but eventually walked away.
"Maddie, Chad is here with a girl," Lizzie spat it out.
Madeline squinted her eyes. "I know; he's with me, silly."
"No, a different girl. She looked like Cindy Crawford and everything."
"Wait, what was he doing with her?"
"I don't know. Sucking her face off!"
"Oh, my goodness."
"I know and he was really sucking her face."
"I thought he liked me."
"I'm sorry, Madeline. I can't believe he cheated on you."
"Well, we weren't officially a couple so I don't think he actually 'cheated' on me."
"Maddie, he's your date. Dates don't suck other girls' faces off when they could suck their date's face."
"It isn't the first time my date cheated on me. But I actually, really liked this one."
"Now I ruined your birthday. I'm so sorry."
"No, you didn't ruin my birthday." Then she snapped her fingers. "I just figured out a way to make it even better."
"What's the way? Dayquil?"
"Okay, do you even know what Dayquil is?"

Sweet Seventeen (Chapter 3)

Several days later, the party occurred over the weekend at night. It was more than an average birthday party; it was the expensive extravaganza that Madeline had always dreamed of. It took place in her backyard which had to be a thousand acres. Pastel colored decorations with glitter and gleam were placed on the walls and fences. Pink and silver confetti was scrambled on the floor and floating in the clean, big pool. The blue tinted water of it reflected the white lights coming from the ornaments hung on the fences. On top of the patio door was a 20 by 40 foot poster of Madeline in four pictures with different poses: one red, one yellow, the other blue and the last one purple. Far across from it was the food table which consisted of foods of a pink color, mostly desserts. In the center was a tall, tiered cake with pink frosting, big enough to feed a dinosaur. The big, black speakers played nothing but Madeline's favorite songs by artists such as Christina Aguilera, Hilary Duff and Justin Timberlake. The guests wore formal clothing that were still fun and expressive. Madeline's best friends sure followed the dress code properly as they arrived to the back fence in outfits of their own individual style. A couple of the girls held boxes covered in colorful wrapping paper. They approached a tall, buff man, seeming to play the part of a security guard.
"Names," he inquired when they stopped.
The girls confessed their names as the man looked at his clipboard.
"Skye."
"Debra."
"Andrea."
"Lizzie. But my real name's Elizabeth. It might say that on there. But if it doesn't, then that's not my name."
The guard looked through all of the pages on the clipboard. "Invitations?"
At the same time, the girls held up their sparkly invitations.
"Alright." The guard opened the door. "You can go in. Also, you're all in the VIP section so enjoy that."
"Thank you," said Lizzie.
The girls entered the backyard through the door.
"I wonder if there's money," said Andrea.
The party was not that crowded even though there were a lot of people. Otherwise, the girls had free space to walk.
"How many people does she know?" asked Skye.
"Too many," Andrea responded.
"I'm going to sit Maddie's gift down somewhere," said Debra.
"Me, too," Lizzie agreed.
The two split from Andrea and Skye to search for the area for gifts. Meanwhile, Skye was ambushed by her friend,  Jeffrey.
She turned around and smiled at him. "Oh, hey!"
"Hi, Skye," he greeted back.
"You got here before I did."
"I had nothing to do today so I got here as early as I could."
"You look good."
"Thanks." Jeffrey played with his tie. "I used duct tape."
"Fashionable."
"I'd ask you to dance but I don't know this song."
Skye chuckled. "Then we could try."
They stopped talking when the lights grew dim. The darkness silenced the rest of the guests. The music also silenced. The patio door opened, exposing a bright light, and discharged loads of smoke, catching everybody's attention. Out the door strutted six muscular men with black dress pants and no shirts, wearing red ties around their necks. Three of them stood on the right side of the platform and the other three stood on the left. The ornaments nearest to the patio only lit up, showing the handsome men. Soon, hip hop music started to play on the speakers. Once that happened, the men started dancing; acts of gyrating and wiggling was part of that choreography.
"Where am I?" asked Skye. "Magic Mike?"
After a good minute of sensual choreography, the men faced each other and stuck out their hands. Through more smoke, Madeline ran out of the house with a microphone. All of the guests applauded her when they stood and posed like a supermodel.
"What's up, everybody?" she screamed into the microphone that amplified her voice. "Welcome to my seventeenth birthday bash!"
Everybody cheered.
"You guys will have so much fun. There's music, cake and me. So everybody do me a favor and have the 'bestest' time that you can, alright?"
The guests hollered like merry animals.
"Also, no grinding."
"Aw," uttered one guest.
Madeline handed the microphone to her father and hugged him. After that, she walked pass everybody, most of them dancing to the new music, to find her far friends. It did not take her long to find them all standing together with Jeffrey.
"Hello, my sisters," she greeted.
"Hi, Madeline," Debra greeted back.
"O.M.G., Maddie, that was amazing," Lizzie commented.
"Yeah, I love how you turned your party into a strip club," said Skye. "That was a real cherry on top."
"They're not strippers," defended Madeline. "They are professional dancers."
"That's secret code for strippers."
Jeffrey chuckled. Madeline pursed her lips and cocked her head. Before she could say anything else, she stopped herself when she felt arms wrap around her waist from behind.
"Hey, babe," Chad greeted.
Madeline smiled. "Hey, you." She turned around and held his hands. "You look yummy today."
"You're the one looking yummy, reminding me of cherry--"
"Stop!" Her eyes became dead serious.
"Sorry."
Her eyes went back to being flirtatious. "So when a slow song comes on, can I count on you to dance with me?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Anything for the birthday girl. Uh, do you mind if I go back to my friends?"
"Not at all. I want you to have the best time as you can."
"Wow, you're so great."
"I know. See you later." Madeline softly pushed him away on his solid chest.
"See you," Chad winked.
When he walked away, Madeline turned around to face her friends.
"Can you say 'love'?" sighed Debra, putting her hands on her chest.
"Can you say 'barf'?" Skye taunted.
"Where's the VIP section?" asked Andrea.
Madeline pointed to her right side. "Oh, it's right there."
Andrea looked at the red couch being protected by red rope.
"Just a chair?" she questioned.
"Not just any chair," said Madeline. "It's a red chair."
"For a rich girl, you sure are cheap."

Sweet Seventeen (Chapter 2)

Two days later, after school, Madeline committed to a plan on how to give out the rest of her invitations. She had an idea, which was to arrive at the desired people's homes on a horse. So her father was able to rent a horse for her to ride but under the supervision of a horseman. Therefore, with the help of her friends and an equestrian, Madeline took a trip down to her friend Chad's house as she sat on top of a white majestic horse. The rest of the guys walked by the horse to correctly direct it.
"No, everything has to be pastel," she spoke into her cellphone, "mostly pink. The only solid colors used should be black and white but not too much of it. Yes and pink foods only, from salmon to strawberry-frosted cupcakes."
"Salmon?" Andrea scrunched her forehead.
"No pizza!"
"Hang on a second," said Lizzie.
Madeline pressed the phone down on her shoulder.
"You don't want pizza at your party?"
"No, I want pink foods."
"How about pizza with only Canadian bacon on it?" suggested Skye.
"Fine." Madeline put the phone back on her ear. "I change my mind; I want pizza now but with Canadian bacon."
"How am I going to eat the pizza if there's meat on it?" asked Debra.
"Try taking the bacon off," Skye proposed.
"And I want music that I only like," Madeline said. "I prefer the music of pop, pop rock and R&B."
"No hip hop?" questioned Andrea.
"I don't like hip hop," Madeline whispered to Andrea.
"But you like Iggy Azalea and she does hip hop."
"Fine." She spoke into the phone, "Add pop rap to that."
"What the frick is pop rap?"
"It's hip hop," Madeline said to Andrea.
"You didn't say 'hip hop'."
"I don't want the speakers playing 2Chainz."
"Oh, is 2Chainz the guy who did the 'Started from the Bottom' song?" asked Lizzie.
Andrea stared at Lizzie. "Never mind. Play your pop rap."
Madeline went back to the phone. "That's the kind of music I want. I don't mind what years but nothing pass Aretha Franklin."
"You're gonna play Aretha Franklin at your party?"
"Is Aretha Franklin the woman that invented the hot comb?" asked Lizzie.
"Shut up, Lizzie."
"That's all I want," continued Madeline. "I'll call you back when I have more concerns which will probably be in the next ten minutes." She hung up her phone and stuck it in her jeans' pocket.
"Make sure to keep your hands on the reins," instructed the equestrian.
"Yeah, I know." Madeline gripped onto the reins coming from the horse's head.
"Will there be goodie bags?" asked Lizzie.
"Of course. The party is going to be a goodie so why not have bags?"
"What's going to be in the bags?" asked Debra.
"Cash? Expensive jewelry?" Andrea guessed.
"I was thinking more like little toys," admitted Madeline, "but I can always make some changes."
"'You can always' as in 'you will'?"
The equestrian directed the horse into the sidewalk leading to a house. The girls helped the horse walk only on that sidewalk.
Madeline took out the glittery envelope that was tucked in her jeans. "Ooh, we're here! Chad is going to freak!"
"Hands on the reins," reminded the equestrian.
"The horse is stopping."
The girls got the white horse to make a halt a couple of feet away from the house door.
"Ring the doorbell," Madeline ordered the equestrian.
He leered at Madeline before pressing the doorbell to make it ring. After several seconds, the door opened with Chad exposing himself. The equestrian took out a kazoo from his pocket and blew into it.
"Huzzah, all hail Madame Maddie," he said in deadpan.
"Say it like you mean it," Madeline quietly commanded.
"Huzzah, all hail Madame Maddie!" the equestrian said more jovial but in a feign manner.
Chad smiled. "What is all this?"
Madeline held her envelope. "I'm inviting you to my birthday extravaganza. Since I'm a madame, will you be my monsieur?"
"Sure!"
"Fantastic." She handed him the envelope. "Wear something striking."
"You're incredible."
"When am I not?"
"Since you came all the way here on a horse with a jester, I don't know if I should leave."
"Oh, you can leave. I want this to be burned on your memory like a dream."
"Alright. See you at the party."
"See you in a suit."
Chad winked at the grinning Madeline before going back into his house and closing the door.
"Time to get the horse to turn around," said Skye, softly patting the white horse on its side. "Since there are fifty blocks to go."
"I am not a jester," said the equestrian.

Sweet Seventeen (Chapter 1)

On a special sunny school day, lunchtime had started and the girls were brought together at the cafeteria. Madeline was the last to enter as she strutted in with several decorated envelopes in her hands. She flung them down on the table and sat down.
"Bam!" she uttered. "Anyone wanna guess what these are?"
"Acceptance letters?" guessed Lizzie. "Ah, you've been accepted into Yale? Congratulations!"
"I was not accepted into Yale."
"Harvard?"
"No."
"Princeton?"
"No."
"Any smart school?"
"I haven't been accepted into anything... yet."
"Obviously," said Skye. "What acceptance letter is sent in an envelope of craft store glitter?"
"These are invitations to my birthday party for next week."
"Oh, coolio!" Debra remarked, taking one of the envelopes.
The rest of the girls took an envelope.
"Are we the first to receive these?" asked Andrea.
"Of course," answered Madeline. "You guys are my best friends."
"We better be."
Lizzie ripped open the envelope, making glitter rain in the air. She took out a card that was also pasted with glitter. "Ooh, your invitations are sparkly, too."
"I keep forgetting how much you love glitter," said Skye, rubbing the glitter that was in-between her fingers.
"I'm so excited to have this party," grinned Madeline. "It's going to be bigger than my last party."
"Why? You're turning seventeen which isn't a big of a deal as turning sixteen."
"I know but the party I had wasn't the party I wanted. This time, my parents are letting me plan the whole thing exactly how I want it."
"Man, I wish I had rich parents," Andrea desired. "Maybe I would love them a bit more."
"Who are you going to invite?" asked Debra.
"Everyone that I'm comfortable being around," Madeline replied. "So I'll invite Samantha, Chrissy-- I can even invite all of your crushes."
"Well, I know Skye's crush can also be called her boyfriend," said Andrea.
Skye scoffed. "He is not my boyfriend. Yet."
"Ooh, D.T.R., Skye," smiled Lizzie.
Skye smiled while rolling her eyes.
"I'm also going to invite Chad as my date," Madeline added.
"On a scale from one to ten, how much do you like Chad?" asked Lizzie.
"Eleven."
"Ooh, off the scale. That's almost illegal."
"When are you going to have 'the talk' with him?" asked Andrea.
"Can you say something else other than 'the talk'," questioned Madeline, "because I don't like how that sounds. Uh, nonetheless, I don't think I have to. He knows what I want and I think I know what he wants."
"So instead of calling him Chad, we'll just call him 'Maddie's boyfriend'," proposed Debra.
"Now I wouldn't go that far. But please do so he can feel pressured to call me his girlfriend."
"That's manipulative," said Skye.
"So?"
"I didn't say that's not good."