Pride & Princesses

by Summer Day

  ‘This was so not in the plan.’ Teegan comforted me after the curtains had been lowered as the audience clapped madly and I was left waiting in the wings sans date even for the after-party. I figured I could safely kiss Julliard goodbye.

  ‘Gosh,’ Brooke said, ‘I had no idea Mouche was such a wonderful actress. I knew she was a great dancer.’

  ‘Oh hush,’ Teegan said, ‘can’t you see Phoebe is suffering terribly? Her one chance at college might be down the drain (now this made me angry, who were they kidding?) but what is worse, she had to witness Mark kissing Mouche. He’s obviously in lust with her – Mouche, I mean.’

  ‘It must have been so hard for you,’ Brooke said patronizingly.

  ‘It was just a play!’ I interjected. ‘Besides, no one owns anyone and we’re not even together. They were acting.’

  ‘Didn’t look like acting to me,’ Teegan said.

  I must admit, they did seem to have some serious chemistry. I should’ve stalked and claimed my prey in Sunrise Park when I had the chance (according to Chapter Nine of Mrs Robinson’s Guide).

  Oh, I was ready to weep like a heroine from one of the old-fashioned movies Jack Adams and Teegan and Mouche and I had watched together. And, of course, the show had to go on, so it was not officially Mouche’s fault. She’d only reluctantly agreed to don my costume.

  And here I was back stage, freezing and miserable as my best friend took my place during the deserved standing ovation. All the plans I’d had for prom and even my post high-school life suddenly seemed ground into the dust.

  ‘You’re such a drama queen,’ Trey had once said, when I was delegating roles in our neighbourhood Christmas pageant almost ten years ago. I was only six but I liked to be in control almost as much as Mouche.

  Not quite as much. Mouche had outsmarted me. Here she was, acting up a storm in place of me, a shining star. I’d wept as I watched her perform her scenes.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Phoebe,’ Mark said again later that night, ‘Freya was just helping me practise the scene. I know that sounds like a line but I really mean it.’

  ‘Well, it seems like she did her job so well, she forgot to tell her friend how to place the props correctly and ah...I can’t move my foot.’

  ‘I’ll get the nurse,’ Freya added helpfully. Don’t you just love that? That part where girls pretend to be nice in front of boys they are trying to impress? It makes me so annoyed.

  Chapter 25

  Frenemies

  Mouche walked towards me.

  My best friend had brought the Julliard people backstage to meet us. Was it her fault that they seemed more interested in talking to her about the possibility of a scholarship? They did say how great I was in the first two acts and Mouche looked at me with a wan smile, ‘I hope you can forgive me,’ she whispered. Then I realised, it was my place to say, ‘what for?’

  I had to get over myself.

  This was not the end of the world. After all, we still hadn’t organized dates for the prom, but I wasn’t letting her get away with taking my role and kissing my man and thinking it hadn’t hurt me to the very core of my being.

  The Julliard representatives gave me a polite smile then walked off as Mouche and I scowled at each other.

  ‘How could you, Mouche? You were my best friend in the whole world!’

  Mouche looked stunned. She turned around without giving me another glance, and walked away.

  For the first time in years, Mouche and I went home without saying a word, separately and silent.

  Well, Mouche walked, I hobbled.

  My ankle was bound tightly but well on the way to healing.

  Of course, the play didn’t go off without a hitch, but it did end up being a huge hit. Rocco and Julie only ran for six nights but there was a packed house every night. Mark learnt his lines pretty quickly after his first performance (after all he had been listening to the rehearsals for months!) and really rose to the occasion. Mouche got the best reviews of her career. Thom begged her to come back to the agency as he phoned with updates on Wednesday’s audition. ‘It’s between her and one other girl but I will keep you posted...’

  Teegan glanced at me knowingly and said, ‘it’s amazing what some girls will do to get their baby sister famous...’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Teegan had never really warmed to Mouche even though Mouche had made all her costumes beautifully and had really tried to be helpful once all the girls had realized their rules were somewhat skewed and they would need access to the proper advice.

  ‘Mouche would never kiss a boy just to get Wednesday famous.’

  ‘Not what I hear,’ said Teegan. ‘It sounds like she’s been doing more than kissing. My sister told me Jet’s father owns the company making the advertisement...Seems like I didn’t have to put in a good word for her after all...’

  It’s interesting to note that often people accuse others of something they have imagined or have done themselves. Mouche was giving me the silent treatment and I was seriously beginning to miss her. My only outside ‘friend’ contact came via the Princesses who were reverting, true to form, to type. Most of us were busy working on the final edit of the soon to be Boy Rating Blog now that our group effort, the team work of the second Boy Rating Diary, was practically in the bag.

  Mouche hadn’t returned my calls.

  The end of the school year was nigh, the dates had been dated, none of us had boyfriends (except maybe Mouche) but she hadn’t spoken to me for almost a week now, not since I’d yelled at her after the kissing scene with Mark. In truth, I’d only meant to ignore her for a day but it just seemed more and more difficult to talk. But let’s face it, the fault really lay entirely with me. I needed to own my jealous streak.

  Teegan wouldn’t talk to Mouche either. The leading Princess had always been envious of Mouche’s perfect hair, cornflower blue eyes and talent. Teegan had long wished for a reason to exclude such a pretty high-achiever. The other girls sided with Teegan, because deep down, they’d felt the same way. The only person who seemed to be talking to Mouche was Mark. Oh, and Jet. They all sat together to have lunch. It got even worse when I asked Jet to help me with my history homework (though I didn’t really need any help). That was when Mouche discovered me canoodling in a corner of the lunchroom with Jet. It was the same corner we’d invented the original Boy Rating Plan in, all those months ago.

  I grabbed Jet by the shirt collar, flicked his hair out of his eyes and planted a kiss on his cheek when he least expected it just as Mouche was walking over to say ‘hi,’ and collect her lunch.

  She turned around again and before I knew it, even if I’d wanted to talk to her, she didn’t seem receptive to talking anymore. In fact, she frowned at me.

  I was way upset but pretending not to be when she began to appear in tandem with my nemesis, Freya. Mouche really knew how to go for the jugular. They were discussing fashion and pre-men as if I didn’t exist. Apparently, Freya was secretly jealous that I had stolen Teegan which wasn’t entirely true because Teegan was no replacement for Mouche. We didn’t have that much in common.

  Teegan was acting more superior than ever. She was way too self-obsessed to be interested in my life plans (recently shelved). Teegan wasn’t interested in helping me become a better performer, either. She just wanted to discuss boys and talk about how easy it would be to prise Jet from Mouche (‘if she’s even got him...’). This got a tad boring after a while. We polished a lot of fingernails and chewed a lot of gum.

  Life was lonely without Mouche. I went to my closet one afternoon and pulled out the hundreds of childish letters we’d written to each other over the years and a little tear dropped off my cheek and into the shoe box before I mopped it up with a tissue.

  My mom noticed me flicking through old photograph albums. She was getting ready to go on a group date with Martin, Mrs Mouche and Mrs Mouche’s new boyfriend, Jake.

  ‘I’m going to talk to Mouche’s mom about this. I’m sure there is a way for both
of you to be friends again.’

  ‘No, mom, don’t. I’m going to work this out.’

  ‘Well, just remember darling, there are always boys, and it’s wonderful to make the right match and perhaps even have a husband one day, but real friendships can’t be replaced. The best ones last a lifetime...’

  It was true.

  I waved to Trey when he was washing the car that weekend and he waved back but it just wasn’t the same. I’d have to start mentally preparing a proper apology. Perhaps I’d even write it down. I could list it in the Sunrise News if Mouche could even be bothered reading it. Maybe it would be better to put it in her letterbox, personalize it like in the good old days. Hopefully, Mouche would listen.

  Let’s face it, my friendship with Mouche seemed just as important as winning the game, maybe even more so.

  Then something happened which changed everything and forced us all to talk again on the day Miss Love and Mr Frames tied the knot.

  Chapter 26

  The Wedding

  Mouche and I were silent junior bridesmaids. It was a beautiful, solemn but joyous occasion, just as a wedding should be. They had a great band playing memorable songs and beautiful flowers adorning the aisles with garlands to decorate the reception tables afterwards.

  What was left of the brief fall we’d had led to a slight layer of orange crunch covering the ground and an even briefer winter which had left the slightest amount of snow. The first time it had snowed in Sunrise in thirty years, according to Mark’s aunt. The whole town was there, practically the entire school and all the parents of the Sunrise Parents and Teachers Association gathered in synchronicity. It was just the Princesses and Mouche and I who seemed to have some socialization issues. We were dressed (to add to Mouche’s disgust) in pink. I liked the dresses, and I heard Mouche grudgingly admit to Teegan once she had hers properly fitted, that she liked them too.

  By the day of the wedding we had consolidated the dates. After the play, the mix-ups and the dates, came the joining of two like souls in Holy Matrimony. We all had little notes in our inboxes and final drafts of the content of the blog, which was yet to be published on the internet. We still hadn’t had our final group meeting, because none of us were talking.

  At the reception that followed Mr Frames’ marriage to Miss Love, Jet couldn’t take his eyes off Mouche as she sat at her table between Mark and Jet. How was it she had managed not to come between those two friends? Were the boys actually more mature than the girls or was it just that they’d never let a petty emotion like jealousy get in the way of enjoying life? I think probably the latter.

  Mark looked at me then smiled and walked over to speak.

  ‘Phoebe, I’m so sorry about what happened...backstage and all that. Seems like I spend half my life apologising to you.’

  ‘Mmm...seems like it.’ I wasn’t convinced.

  Suddenly Joel appeared like my knight in shining armour.

  Mark scowled at him, turned and walked over to Mouche, then asked her to dance.

  Typical.

  ‘Phoebe Harris I missed you more than words can say,’ Joel said.

  I wanted to laugh. I didn’t believe a word Joel said and if he hadn’t taken my hand before I stood up I would never have danced with him.

  ‘I’m sure you had far too much to do in New York to think about me...’

  ‘I emailed you hundreds of times,’ Joel said in a mocking way.

  ‘That, I find hard to believe, since I only have two emails. It was quite thrilling to hear all about your travels. I didn’t think you’d be back here in a hurry.’ I said sarcastically.

  Joel seemed to sense I knew something about his past that he hadn’t told me, like what an irresponsible individual he’d been, lying to me and manipulating all the people in his path, including Mark’s sister.

  ‘I couldn’t miss the entire semester. Besides, Miss Love was almost totally responsible for giving me a glowing reference that encouraged the Deputy Principal to re-think my exclusion from school...so here I am...’

  ‘Here you are,’ I said absently, searching the room for Mark.

  Joel took my hands in his. They were surprisingly warm and not at all clammy which had to mean he had many good qualities yet to be discovered. I figured I’d let someone else discover them.

  I glanced around the room as we danced. The Sunrise Hall was decked out in strobe light splendour. As the dinner dishes were being cleared, dessert was served, mood music began to play and the night wore on.

  Teegan brought her date, Jack Adams, the film buff. They’d somehow hit it off in the back of the projection room with Teegan taking ‘our rules’ very seriously, playing hard to get, then finally relenting and letting him know she was interested in him. Jack seemed to like her approach and gave her a box of Coco Mademoiselle perfume for her birthday. Dutifully, she added it to the holding locker which was now crammed full of surprises, as well as a diary filled to the brim with notes due to be uploaded onto our anonymous site.

  Tory was with Tom Allen and his Blackberry which he had switched on to silent. He was checking shares for the stock club, which had dwindled dramatically in popularity but Tory had followed every rule in our guide and all of them had worked out brilliantly with Tom. He wasn’t very generous at first. But by the third date, he presented her with his sister’s ice-skates, unopened, left lying in a box after she’d abandoned them and gone to prep school in upstate New York. Their date was at the Sunrise ice-rink and very romantic, according to Tory, who seemed to have all but forgotten about Mark Knightly. Don’t ask me why. ‘Anyway those ice-skates will be perfect for skating in winter at the Rockefeller centre,’ Tory said wistfully as she placed the new white skates next to a previously gifted pair.

  Brooke wore a somewhat sullen expression underneath her apricot winter hat and had straightened her curls in honour of the day. She’d managed to take Peter Williamson for a weekend with her and her very wealthy parents to one of the lake resorts (where they occupied separate wings because there was no way either Peter’s or Brooke’s parents would have considered any other arrangement) even though Brooke desperately tried to pull off more than rule one ‘the kiss,’ and didn’t even achieve that. However, to thank Brooke for her hospitality, Peter had very sweetly insisted on buying Brooke the sunglasses she’d admired in the resort gift shop window. They weren’t exactly Chanel but they were the latest style and we arranged them nicely on the top shelf of our now bulging treasure chest.

  Freya had arranged to go to an art gallery opening with Josh Klein who spent the entire evening talking about his passion for playing the violin and why he loved the early works of Picasso. Freya was so surprised by how much he knew about the world of life and art that she had bypassed rules one to three and gone straight to collecting proof (in the form of an old-fashioned photo booth – she had resorted to kissing Josh in there before he’d had any chance to protest) and had even forgotten about collecting a ‘gift’ for our treasure chest. It was good that he had agreed to accompany her to the wedding.

  ‘He didn’t freak out like Mrs Jones’ Guide suggested he might’ Freya said. He had, of course, loaned her his mother’s cashmere coat and it would be at least six months before Mrs Klein missed this particular item from her extensive wardrobe. Freya didn’t ask questions once she had claimed her prey.

  None of them (that we knew) had secured Mark for the prom and we had, in fact, heard that he was due back in London for the holidays. He was going with Mouche - or not at all. We weren’t surprised to notice him ignore us or to see Jet glance lovingly at Mouche as our teachers said their traditional vows.

  Wednesday had come along because Miss Love desperately needed a flower girl and all the children she taught were teenagers and Wednesday was happy to be dressed like a little princess in crown and ‘diamonds’ for the day. She currently sat under the table with the page boy (Miss Tartt’s nephew, Timmy) playing pick-up sticks.

  My cousin Ella and Mouche’s cousin Katie made a brief
appearance. Ella resumed a conversation with Joel (whom she had met in the local candy store just hours after he’d arrived back from the airport). If I’d been paying more attention, I probably would have noticed Ella flirting with Joel, but I was busily finishing dessert and wondering how best to approach Mouche again by then.

  Now that the Princesses were playing by their own rules their dates had gone surprisingly well. The boys seemed flattered and thrilled that these girls had taken the initiative to ask them out and who could have predicted their basically generous natures would rub off on the Princesses.

  Let’s face it, love was making everyone kinder.

  Except, of course, Mouche and me and Jet and Mark.

  We were all more confused than ever.

  And there was Petra. She may have been too young for a serious boyfriend, but she would certainly benefit from the company of good friends. Instead of socializing she arrived late and sat isolated in a corner. I found her a seat at my table for the entree (delicious lobster mornay and crunchy bread and butter with tomato soup – very exotic) which cheered her up no end and had her looking quite full and happy. I think me and Mouche (if our friendship survives this impasse which I am sure it will) will adopt Petra as our next (and slightly younger) best friend and give her the benefit of all our good advice. That’s if we ever talk to each other again.