Dibs! (Chapter 5)

After being told by a teacher to report to lunch without any problems, the girls sat at their usual table in the cafeteria with white and brown stains on their shirts and bruises on their faces. They all looked back at Bret who was sitting in a farther table next to his said girlfriend, talking and laughing.
"I can't believe he has a girlfriend," said Madeline.
"I can't believe you ruined my sweater," added Andrea, tugging her shirt. "It's velveteen."
"How come none of us knew this?"
"Maybe we were blinded by his good looks," Debra conceived.
"Looks never looked so good," Lizzie said, almost in a whisper.
"Was the fact that he was actually ours all in our head?" asked Madeline.
"Could be," responded Skye. "Maybe we thought he was hitting on us but in fact... he was just being nice."
"How can nice be so fooling?" asked Lizzie.
"I don't know," replied Madeline. "But I do know that Bret almost tore us apart."
"Almost?" Andrea inquired. "We were just tearing each other apart out there ten minutes ago."
"Fine, it did tear us apart. And that is so lame of us."
"You're right," said Skye. "We're best friends."
"Meaning we shouldn't fight over a guy we barely know," added Lizzie.
"And our bond is stronger than what a boy can provide," Debra included.
"And no matter how hot-hot-hot he is," said Andrea, "friendship is endlessly important."
"Now that is what I'm talking about," said Madeline. "We need to stick together, not disconnect. We only knew Bret for a couple of days and we already thought he was our boyfriends."
"Typical girl problems," said Lizzie.
"Exactly. We've known each other for years and we're fighting over a boy that we've known for seventy-two hours. Even I can admit that is crazy of me and I can't say I'm crazy."
"I can admit that, too."
"Me, too," Debra said.
"I can admit it," Skye agreed.
"I'm crazy all the time so I know that's crazy," Andrea concurred.
"Hey, we can all get a little crazy sometimes," said Madeline. "I mean look at ourselves. We're covered in cupcake."
"And those were gross cupcakes," said Skye.
"Hey, I made them," glared Lizzie.
"Oh, I didn't mean your cupcakes. I meant the cupcakes that I-- I had yesterday. They were gross. But yours-- mmm!"
"Thank you. I can make you some if you want."
"Nah, I'm cool."
"We should hit the bathroom so we can clean this off," recommended Andrea.
"No," Madeline replied. "We should keep this on. Because when we walk out in the usual crowd of people, our stains will become symbols. Symbols of when the going gets tough and the tough gets going. But no matter what, we all need to stick together through thick and thin which we all did."
"That is a good idea!" said Lizzie.
"Yeah, but we can't walk around every day with cupcake stains on our clothing," said Debra. "We'll attract ants."
"I once wore a shirt that had a stain on it. Afterwards, my Aunt Alex had to live with me and my parents for almost a week. I got rid of the shirt and my aunt was gone like magic."
"Uh-huh," Skye nodded with a crack in her voice.
"Girls, let's promise to never fight ever again," said Madeline. "Like can we all agree?"
The girls consented.
"Dibs!" Andrea suddenly shouted as she saw an unknown boy enter the cafeteria. She hopped out of her seat and ran towards to the boy to greet him.
The girls stared at Andrea interacting with the boy, creating a long silence.
To break the silence, Madeline said, "At least she said 'dibs' first."

Dibs! (Chapter 4)

Less than a week after, it was the girls' lunch time and Lizzie tried to walk pass the cafeteria while holding an airtight container of vanilla frosted cupcakes. As she passed the usual door she enters, Madeline caught Lizzie from behind and rushed up to her.

"Lizzie," she called.

Lizzie stopped and turned around. "Oh, hi, Madeline. What's up?"

"Nothing," Madeline stopped in front of Lizzie. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, to the nurse's office."

"With cupcakes?"

"It's the nurse's birthday."

"And you like the nurse?"

"Somebody has to."

"Okay."

"Why does your hair look like that?"

Madeline tucked a piece of hair, from her super curly hairstyle, behind her ear. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you like to curl her hair tighter when something special has come up."

"Oh, I-- I just thought today that curlier is better. It's just nothing."

"Okay, so you're not seeing anybody special today. Like your mother, your grandfather, a boy... friend?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Oh, okay. So you're not seeing someone like Bret?"

Madeline nervously chuckled. "Bret? No, no. I don't even know who that is."

"You do know who that is because you did your hair for Bret!"

"Well, you made those cupcakes for Bret."

"How did you know?"

"You just told me."

"What? Oh-- you and your trickery."

"How can you be seeing Bret? He's mine."

"Let me stop you right there: he is mine."

"Oh, that is not T-R-U-E."

"Oh, don't spell out your feelings. Maddie, Bret likes me and we do nice things for each other, showing that we are going to have to go on our first date. Like he helps me with physics, I make him delicious cupcakes."

"Oh, please. He don't want to eat your nasty cupcakes. You'll just downright kill him."

"How dare you! I know Bret doesn't want to go out with a girl with stuff on her face."

"I don't have stuff on my face."

"Oh, yeah?"

Lizzie opened her container. She took out one of the cupcakes and glanced at it for a while, confusing Madeline. Instantly, Lizzie pushed the cupcake on Madeline's face, twisting it until it crumbled down to the liner, leaving a smear of frosting and cake upon Madeline's face. She dropped it with Madeline just standing still with her eyes closed.

"How do you like them apples?" Lizzie inquired. "Or should I say how do you like them cupcakes? Cake."

Madeline opened her eyes, which instantly freaked Lizzie out. Quickly, Madeline ran after Lizzie, taking only a few seconds as she grabbed her hair and put her in a headlock, making Lizzie plead for her to stop. Luckily, Andrea saw the action when she tried to go to lunch and ran towards the girls.

She pulled Lizzie away from Madeline. "Hey, what is going on here?" Andrea asked.

"Lizzie says she's seeing Bret when I'm seeing Bret," Madeline answered angrily.

"You're seeing Bret?"

"Yeah!"

Andrea took a cupcake from Lizzie's open container and smushed it on top of Madeline's head. "I'm seeing Bret!"

"What?"

"That's impossible," said Lizzie. "I'm seeing Bret!"

Immediately, Skye and Debra approached the three girls.

"What is going on?" questioned Skye.

"Yeah, there's no need to fight," added Debra.

"Mads and Liz' claim to be hanging out with my boyfriend," answered Andrea.

"Wait, who's your boyfriend?" asked Skye.

"Bret Farley."

"Oh, no, he's not."

"No?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"Nuh-uh," said Debra. "He's my boyfriend."

"Bull to the crap," said Madeline.

"How is he all your boyfriend?" asked Lizzie.

"No, just my boyfriend," said Andrea.

"That's a lie."

"You're a lie."

"If he is all of your boyfriends," Madeline started, "then why do I have his number?" She pulled out a Post-It from her back pocket which had a phone number written on it.

Andrea looked closely at it. "Madeline, there's only six digits on that paper."

Madeline flipped the paper to look at it herself. "Aw. He didn't finish writing the number."

"Or maybe he just didn't want you to call him."

"That is not true!"

"So true because he's with me," Debra spilled.

"There is no way that he is only with you."

"If he's not, why did I spare him my exercising tape, 'Yoga on the Go-ga'?"

"Oh, puh-lease," said Skye.

"Puh-lease you!"

"Bret is mine!" shouted Lizzie.

Andrea pulled her hair. "No, he's mine."

"That is a bunch of bull," Madeline said after kicking Andrea's shin.

"Back off!" Skye growled, stepping up to the Madeline and stuffing the cupcake from her head into her mouth.

"Oh, I'm about to unleash an ultimate black beatdown on y'all's," said Debra, punching her left hand with her right fist. She jumped into the commotion and grabbed onto Skye's waist.

Immediately, the girls started to wrestle all of each other, developping a group scuffle. They pulled on each other's hair, pushed each other down on the floor and smushed one's face with Lizzie's cupcakes. They basically created a scrimmage in front of the witnessing people's eyes. One of those people were Bret, who walked up to the fighting girls with a mystery girl.

"Stop it!" he ordered. "What are you girls doing?"

The girls stopped once they heard his voice and spotted at the Caucasian brunette who standing by his side.

"Who is she?" Andrea asked irately.

Bret looked at the girl for a second. "This is my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" the girls shouted at the same time.

Dibs! (Chapter 3)

Later, after that class, Skye waited for Bret to arrive at her English class and he so did. His seat was assigned next to hers. Once the bell rung, the teacher instructed the class to read the first five chapters of their given book. She also added when the class is done, they can answer the questions on their worksheet with the help of their neighbor.

As Skye read the book, she applied a set of headphones from the MP3 player on her lap over her ears. She played a song and turned the volume to the point where the sound was audible to the class. It even garnered attention from Bret himself.

"Hey," he said to Skye.

Skye slipped her headphones down over her neck. "Hello."

"Is that 'Ace of Spades' by Motorhead?"

"Why, yes, it is. You like Motorhead?"

"Love them."

"Wha-a-at?"

"It's true."

"I thought I was the only one here who listens to Motorhead."

"Well, now we're the only two."

Skye smiled.

"I'm Bret."

"Skye."

"Exotic."

"Thanks."

"Do you have a set of earphones?"

"You want to share?"

"Yeah, if it's not a bother."

"Oh, no. No, no. I actually do have a set of earphones, stashed right in my pencil case."

"Cool."

"Yes, I am. I mean it is."

The day after, Andrea and Debra had already developed plans to win over Bret's affections as they each both knew how to be near him. Right before Debra could be around him, Andrea could not take her eyes off of Bret in gym class. For him to notice her, she wore her signature golden hoop earrings, put her hair in a bouffant-style ponytail and tied her gym shirt in a knot in the front. She sat behind him on the gym bleachers but he did not notice her yet.

After a minute of the class waiting, the gym teacher walked out in front of them.

"Okay, class," he announced, "you know the drill. I want you sprinting in three long circles inside the gymnasium. After that, I'm going to teach you how to dance. And Andrea, fix that shirt."

"I did fix the shirt," said Andrea.

"No, I meant 'fix' as in wear it the correct way. Not 'fix' as in style it up and make it glamorous or whatnot."

"Fine."

The students got up from the bleachers and walked down onto the court. As Andrea stepped down, she walked next to Bret with her shirt still tied.

"Do you think this looks good?" she asked him.

"Sure," he answered.

"I mean, why work hard to get abs if you can't show them off?"

"No, I feel you."

"I'm Andrea, in case you didn't hear Mister Bobsack say my name."

Bret chuckled. "I'm Bret."

"Cool. Do you like sports?"

"Yes."

"I don't. But I'm very good at them."

"Any sport?"

"Any sport, especially basketball."

"How good are you?"

"Very. How good are you?"

"Very."

"Oh. I bet I can beat you in a game of basketball."

"I bet you can't."

"There's a basketball court three miles from my house. Maybe you can come over and show me what you're working with."

"Fine."

"As wine."

Later that day, school was over, however, Debra was still there as she started joining a yoga club just three weeks before. Before the club began, Debra convinced the members to do their yoga outside in the back of the school. She came up with the idea when she learned that Bret liked to study on the circle bench behind the school. Luckily for her, the members agreed and they all brought their mats to do yoga. They wore sweatsuits as intended for the club with Debra being the only person to not wear a jacket. Before she laid out her yoga mat, she approached Bret, who was reading his 'The Best Marauders' book on the bench.

"Hey," she said, sitting her backpack, "do you mind if we do our yoga here?"

"Not at all," Bret smiled.

"Great."

She laid out her mat five feet away from Bret while the other members laid out their mats from the side of her. Debra stepped on hers and started stretching in front of Bret.

"I'm Debra," she introduced herself. "Have I seen you before?"

"I don't think so," Bret responded. "I'm Bret, by the way."

"Oh, Bret. Do you like yoga?"

"I do it once in a while."

"Oh, music to my ears. Do you want to join us?"

"I don't know. I have to read this whole book for history class."

"This will only take a few minutes. Besides, yoga really frees the mind and spirit. You'll be relaxed like a cup of butter."

"Hmm... why not?"

"Great! I have an extra mat. Coincedental?"

She opened her backpack and pulled out a lavender yoga mat. She laid it right behind hers and straightened it out. Bret sat his book down on the bench and walked over to the mat to step over it.

"Let's start with my favorite yoga poses," Debra recommended. "First, the melting heart pose."

She got down on her knees and laid her hands and arms straight out in front of her on the mat. Bret hesitated a bit but he confidently imitated the pose.

"Now let's form it into the table to child pose," she said.

Still on her knees, Debra lift her body up with her elbows on the mat with her forearms facing up. As Bret did the same, he tried not to stare at Debra's buttocks as it was all he could see.

"Cobra pose," Debra instructed.

She flattened her legs on the mat and held herself up with her hands on the mat and her arms facing straight up. Bret took a couple glances of Debra's clenched buttocks as he imitated the pose.

Debra stood up then said, "Stand up and now do the downward facing dog."

She quickly bent down, shaping her body like the letter V. Her hands and feet were on the mat, making an open space. Bret, copying the downward dog pose, could not help but just look at Debra's facing buttocks.

"Debra?" he caught her attention.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Do you do squats?"

"Yes, all the time. Why?"

"Just asking."

Dibs! (Chapter 2)

The next day, Madeline was at the school library along with her history class as her teacher brought them there to check out history-related books to help them write their upcoming essay. Once she arrived at the library, she noticed that the new kid was in there as well. She was confused yet she did not care as she wanted to flirt with the boy. When the teacher instructed the students to look for books, Madeline went after the unnamed boy.

She walked up behind him while he gazed upon the top of one of the book shelves. "Hi," she garnered his attention.

"Hi," the boy smiled.

"I'm Madeline," she held her hand.

The boy shook her hand. "I'm Bret."

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"You have such strong hands."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, it was a compliment."

"Oh, then, thank you."

"Anytime. What are you looking for?"

"I just saw a book that said, 'The Best Marauders' that I want to get because it relates to my given topic."

"Ooh, pirates. I have a topic, too, that I should be working on but I'm interested in helping you with your topic."

"Oh, are you smart?"

"The smartest."

"I like smart girls."

"I know all of the presidents of the United States."

"Interesting."

"Try remembering them."

Bret chuckled.

"How long have you been in Laguna High?"

"About two days. I wasn't in this class yesterday because my alarm clock and I ended up arriving a couple hours late."

"Oh, late on the first day of school?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much a bad boy."

Madeline giggled. "Do you want me to get your book for you?"

"No, thanks. I'm tall so there's a possibility I can reach it."

"But I would be nothing but glad to get your book."

"Okay. Thanks."

Madeline giggled again before reaching for the requested book. She made a straining sound with her mouth as she made a few attempts to get the high-shelved book. She turned around and spotted the person in front of her sitting in a chair by a table.

"Eleanor, I need your chair," she said, pulling the chair from the girl's bottom, almost making her tumble.



On the same day, Lizzie noticed Bret in her physics class when she turned her head from her seat and saw him sitting in the back row of desks. She smiled to herself as she planned to make an attempt of talking to him. Her teacher was out so a substitute filled in for him. So the instructions given to the class were to take notes about an upcoming subject. When the students were told to get textbooks from the back cabinets, Lizzie got up once she saw Bret get up.

She approached him from behind. "Hi," she said with pep.

Bret turned around. "Hello."

"I'm Lizzie."

"I'm Bret."

"Ha, beat that, Maddie."

"What?"

"I meant cool name."

"Thank you. My mom thought of it first."

"Well, your mom sounds like a great woman."

"She is."

"So are you new?"

"Yeah. I was supposed to be here yesterday but I was late to class."

"Oh, did the teacher marked you absent?"

"I don't know."

"Because I know people get marked absent if they were at school on the very first day. But if you're new, there's probably nothing to mark, right?"

Bret chuckled bashfully. "I guess."

"Then you're off the hook. How lucky are you?"

"Very."

"Yeah!"

He chuckled again, this time a little less bashfully. "You're funny."

"I hope so! Hey, do you want me to help you take notes? I know stuff."

"Sure. Why not?"

"Good to hear because when I would ask people that, they always had reasons for why not."

Dibs! (Chapter 1)

"What is that?" asked Andrea, looking at Madeline pick her sandwich. "Baby spinach?"

"Yes," Madeline answered. "Why?"

"You can put that in a sandwich?"

"Yeah, it's a green and you can put greens in sandwiches."

"And it makes it healthy?" asked Lizzie.

"Yeah. Whatever green is healthy."

"Like green skittles?"

"No, I mean vegetables."

"Ew."

"What do you mean 'ew'? You eat vegetables."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I like it."

"My dad puts ham in his sandwich," noted Skye.

"So?" inquired Madeline.

"So ham is less healthy than turkey. Don't you know that?"

"Of course. I know everything."

"I don't believe that," Andrea commented.

"Don't you know me at all?"

"What do you know that we don't know?"

"I know all the presidents of the United States."

"I find that hardly true."

"Well, I do."

"Then list them."

"Fine. George Washington; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; John Quincy Adams; James Madison; Ulysses S. Grant; Andrew Johnson; Abraham Lincoln; George Bush; Ronald Reagan; Richard Nixon; James Monroe; Jimmy Carter; John F. Kennedy; Millard Filmore; Andrew Jackson; Rutherford B. Hayes; Franklin Pierce; James Buchanon; Dwight Eisen--"

"Okay, I get it! You win."

"Yay."

"I don't know half of those people," admitted Lizzie.

"Do you know something, guys?" questioned Skye.

"Madeline knows something."

"No, I mean something weird is going on. Like don't you feel a draft in here? As in a spiritual draft."

"Are you trying to say that there's a ghost nearby?"

"No. I just feel like something happened today but I can't put my finger on it."

"Speaking of fingers," said Andrea, looking behind herself, "I would like to put my fingers on that."

The girls paid their attention to an unfamiliar boy who was entering the cafeteria. He was tall, had brown hair, peachy skin, a leather jacket and black sunglasses. The girls were so dumbstruck by his good looks that they all imagined him walking in slow motion. Once he walked past them, the girls gradually stopped paying attention.

"That is what I was trying to talk about," said Skye.

"Is he new?" asked Lizzie.

"Yeah. I saw him for the first time in my English class."

"Well, I never seen him before thus he has to be new," said Madeline.

"He's so hot that the sun can't compete with him," Debra commented.

"He's so hot that you can cook scrambled eggs off his back," Andrea added.

"I bet those eggs would be delicious," said Lizzie.

"Dibs!" shouted the girls at the same time. They groaned and moaned right after.

"I saw him first," said Skye.

"Well, I saw him second," Andrea responded.

"I deserve to have him because I know all the presidents of the United States," Madeline decided.

"What does that got to do with this?"

"Maybe that guy prefers smart girls."

"Oh, and we're not smart?" Debra asked.

"That's not what I'm trying to say."

"Then what are you trying to say?" asked Andrea.

"If the shoe fits, put it on."

"For you to know, I own thiry-four pairs of shoes that are hidden away from my parents," said Lizzie. "And they all fit so I guess that boy is M-I-N-E, mine."

"Touch my man and you'll be G-O-N-E, gone." said Andrea.

"Girls, we don't even know his name to possess him," noted Skye.

"His name is Charles," Madeline jumped in.

"You don't know that," said Andrea.

"I predicted it."

"Just because you're smart doesn't mean your predictions are true."

"But I don't have to be smart to know your predictions are false."

"Oh, you little--"

"Girls!" Debra called. "Can we not fight over a guy? I mean we barely know him; this is getting a little silly."

"Debra's right," Lizzie sighed. "We're not going to let a guy get in the way. We're best friends; we make it work."

"Oh, yeah," Madeline agreed.

The girls concurred and began giggling. Later, their friendly giggles turned into perturbed scowling and spurious smiles.