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 Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:44 am
It was late Sunday evening, but the sale at the hottest clothes store in town (it had to be; she shopped there) lasted another four hours, and Kimberley planned to take full advantage of it. She had tried on dozens of outfits in dozens of colors, and already had a closet full of favorites she planned on buying--all sure to make Billy's jaw drop like a rock. Money was no concern of hers. Nothing but the best for Mommy's Pageant Princess, after all.
The train of thought passed Billy's station again, and she wished he was here to carry all her stuff. Then again, her mind warned, had she invited him to come he'd have started trouble with all the boys who looked at her out of the corner of their eyes. There were quite a few so far.
But she wasn't the only eye-catcher wandering about. Joanne was her name, Kim knew that much. Everyone knew everyone else in the Pines. (Which was really creepy if you thought about it, but luckily she didn't.) She'd never liked this girl. "Just because" was her decided upon reason; as if she'd ever admit her spite stemmed from feeling inadequacy against her in terms of beauty. Kimberley could taking losing fine, usually, but not being the prettiest? No, sir. That was not acceptable.
How curious she'd be in a place like this.
"Joanne!" she chirped in the cheerful voice of one friend to another. Teenage girl friends, mind you, which were backstabbing shrews at best. "I didn't expect to see you here." Because you have the fashion sense of a freaking hillbilly. "What's up?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 1:25 am
Fashion was not Joanne's passion. She had no talent for it, and frankly, little interest in it. The clothes she wore were either clothes she made, or clothes from her grandmother's closet. Which was what she was wearing that Sunday evening: a long floral skirt, white blouse with lace cuffs, and a pink cardigan. All she needed was orthopedic shoes and the look would have screamed "ON SOCIAL SECURITY."
Fashion was not what lured Joanne out to stores like this one; craftsmanship was. She knew mass-produced clothes paled in comparison to handmade ones, and she had stopped judging them on durability and fit. But there was still a lot to learn from how the garments were put together, and Joanne wasn't going to be finished until she examined everything in the store, one piece at a time.
Unfortunately, she seemed to have picked the worst day of the year to do her research. Every girl under the age of twenty-five seemed to be there, and Joanne was constantly being bumped and pushed aside. Which bothered her, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything about it, so she kept working.
Then, unfortunately got worse. Joanne knew of Kimberley Bennett, fashion-savvy star cheerleader. It was impossible not to notice someone like that in the halls of Barren Pines. What really startled her was that Kimberley had started to talk to her- and knew her name. How on earth had she caught the eye of someone so... popular?
Instinctively, Joanne stepped behind a rack of dresses. As much as she wanted to run and keep running, she wasn't finished looking. Moreover, her grandmother had trained her to be polite. She struggled for several seconds before finally finding a trace of her voice. "H-hello. Miss Bennett, right?" Polite, formal, and barely above a whisper, but it was the best Joanne could come up with. "It's a lovely day, isn't it?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 1:43 pm
Kimberley never forgot a name, and she never forgot a face like this either. Or hair like this. Or eyes like this. Joanne was just so... so...
So lame, and it wasn't fair! Why did God give the lame girl who probably had on granny panties the best hair and eyes and face and stuff?! She knew she was pretty, too, but it just wasn't the same. It wasn't as good! She had to work to be this hot and all Joanne would have to do is put on some acceptable clothing.
Ever-territorial of her beauty queen status (self-appointed though it may be), every time the second hand of the clock moved, her behavior got that much more callous. "Miss Bennett? Come on, Jo, just because you dress like an old lady doesn't mean you have to talk like one."
What? Lovely day? Was she serious?
"Are you serious? Gawd, you should just be going to a bingo party at this rate." They had those right? She didn't know much about old people. She would never get old and would stay hot forever and ever. Duh. "Here, let me help find something that matches your eyes."
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:20 pm
Joanne tried to control herself. It half worked- while she kept herself from running, her face was contorted by a grimace. She could feel her cheeks burning as she listened to what Barren Pine's elite had to say about her. The hurt and anger rushed in, but she remained silent.
It was, after all, true. Joanne wasn't hip, and she didn't want to be. She thought it would keep her out of the way of people like Kimberley Bennett. Apparently, she was mistaken.
"I'm sorry," she said stiffly, her voice now barely audible. "It's kind of you to offer, but please don't worry about me. You're here to enjoy yourself, and I doubt you could make any difference."
Which was Joanne for "let me go now please please please." Though once she thought about it, adding that bit at the end might not have been the best idea. Oh dear.
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:07 pm
She was sadly mistaken.
"Sorry?" Kimberley echoed, almost-but-not-quite sounding disgusted. She bad-mouthed her and she said sorry? How fake could you get! And was that a challenge she just issued?
Oh, no, girlfriend. There was no nerd disease she couldn't cure. One of her redeeming quirks was that she could lose graceful, but as it stood, she didn't feel like the game had even started yet. "Of course I can."
A half-assed search turned up a dark blue, low-cut shirt. All the rage. "Here, try this!"
Something was very wrong about a girl who only hated her because she felt she was prettier trying to make her more attractive. Far be it by her to reason that out in the heat of the moment.
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:33 pm
That did not go as well as Joanne hoped.
"I didn't mean it that way," she protested briefly, but if anything, her voice was even quieter now. The chances of her being heard were minimal, even if she was speaking at a normal volume. Which was almost a good thing. At least she wasn't being stared at, but she knew that wouldn't last long.
Sure enough, the moment Joanne tried to get away, she found a shirt in her face. A wimpy, manufactured shirt in a style she would never consider wearing. Her cheeks burned brighter and she looked away. "Really, I didn't mean... you don't have to do this."
Hopefully, Kimberley would lose her interest soon. But somehow, Joanne doubted it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:31 pm
Had she been speaking at normal volume Kimberley wouldn't have heard her just on the grounds she wasn't listening. The article of clothing had captured her full attention up until she thrust it at Joanne.
"I know I don't," she asserted, as if everything her new project had said up until now was just a build for her to state the most obvious thing in the world. "That's what makes me nice."
Nice. Right.
"And try this one too, when you're done with that. Oh! This one, too. --Oh, and this one!" Within seconds Joanne had gone from a single piece to an entire wardrobe. "Don't be, like, slow about it."
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:43 pm
And just like that, Joanne knew she was stuck. Kimberley was being nice- nicer than anyone had been to her in a while, because she usually tried to avoid such generosity. People being nice to her meant they were focused on her, which was a terrible situation to be in. But now that she was in it, there wasn't any way out. Joanne couldn't be impolite and ignore her. It just wasn't the way she was raised.
With great reluctance, she took the shirt. And the five pieces of clothing that followed it. And gave a weak, lukewarm smile. "Thank you," she murmured, stepping into the nearest dressing room.
There wasn't a way she could just stay in there until the store closed, was there?
Probably not. With an unhappy sigh, Joanne started to change out of her clothes and into whatever it was Kimberley had picked out for her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:24 pm
Only girls like Kimberley could take something that could have so easily been nice and twist it into an insult that went right for the throat. What made it so obnoxious was she didn't say it that way. She said it like she was doing this poor girl a favor. "You know, Joanne, if you actually tried to be prettier you could get a boyfriend."
Did she have one? If so, Kimberley didn't know about him, and that was enough of a reason to dump him. Everyone knew about her and Billy. That's how you knew you were going to get married one day.
"A real boyfriend. Not like, some geek from anime club or something."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:31 pm
In Joanne's mind, Kimberley was doing her a favor. It wasn't a favor she wanted in any way, but it was generosity nonetheless, and as such, she couldn't refuse it. Even though she really, really wanted to.
When the talk turned to boyfriends though, Joanne turned white at the mere thought. A boy with her, touching her... she was frozen for several moments before she got over the mental image. With shaking hands, she pulled on the shirt, too out of it to notice it was on backwards.
When she thought she was under control, she stepped out of the dressing room, eyes pointedly staring at the floor. She didn't speak, not really knowing what to say. She probably looked terrible.
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:31 pm
Kimberley glowered and wasn't sure if she should love or hate this girl right now. Her handy work would turn out great results, which of course meant she was a great artist. (Just like Billy! He'd be so proud.) But she was making someone she already felt was prettier than her more so, and...
Oh well. Screw it.
"It's on backwards!" she scolded, stepping into the dressing room and pulling Joanne in with her. Personal space? What's what? "Here, let me help you!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:06 pm
The question of beauty was one that Joanne would have contested, had she known it was an issue. Granted, her aesthetics varied vastly from the teenage norm, and her taste was skewed at best. But even given those conditions, she never would have called herself beautiful. Especially wearing a third-rate shirt. Which was apparently so third-rate, she managed to get it on the wrong way.
Before she could protest, she was yanked back into the dressing room. "It's okay," she protested quietly. And then, even softer: "It's not a very well-made blouse."
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Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:11 am
"Are you kidding? This is brand name." What a weirdo. It was almost enough to make Kimberley lose hope, but she'd been challenged, so it had to be done. Outside the room, boys forced to follow behind their girlfriends stopped and stared at the two feminine voices. --Even if they could only hear one clearly, it was the one that made them gawk.
"Just take it off!" Kimberley demanded, grabbing the ends of the shirt and trying to lift it over her head. "If you put it on correctly, you won't have a problem. It'll look great!"
Oh, sure, that part she said at normal volume.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:17 am
If there was one thing Joanne hated more than talking to popular people, it was talking to people who liked poorly made clothing because of their brand. Yes, she was someone likely to be ambushed by the cast of What Not To Wear. But for all her lack of fashion sense, Joanne knew a fair amount about brand names. Her knowledge was all craft and no trend, but that didn't mean she couldn't tell her J-Lo from her J. Crew.
As the shirt was pulled over her head, revealing a white lace bra, she turned to face Kimberley, and promptly looked away again. "Does it really matter how it looks if it falls apart in five wears or less?" she asked, her voice louder than it had been all day. If there was something Joanne didn't tolerate, it was praising what she viewed as bad clothing.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:37 am
"Five?" Kimberley, amazingly enough, actually shut up for a second to think that one over. She needed an example of why Joanne was wrong, but the truth was, she couldn't think of a time she'd wore any of her shirts or skirts that many times. After about three, they lost that "new" feeling that made her want them like a Christmas puppy that pissed on the expensive carpet.
Yeah, she'd had a puppy like that once, too. Had.
"Of course it matters. You want to look your best. That's all that matters today." Nodding--to agree with herself--Kimberley handed the shirt back to her and tapped her foot impatiently. "I mean, look at the president in America right now. The only reason he got hired is because he was hotter than the other one."
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