People Change

“So, what’s this I hear about Brian’s foolproof pick-up line backfiring?” Val asked the group as a whole when she walked over to hand Matt his drink to him. Brian instantly scowled at the mention of what happened earlier on in the week. Val laughed at the look on his face before prodding Matt in the side. “Scowl at him. He couldn’t wait to tell me when he got home.”

“Shhh, baby, you’re going to get me killed,” Matt said quietly, slipping a hand over Val’s mouth.

“You do that well enough on your own, Matt,” Val replied, pulling away from his hand. “There’s food and stuff in the kitchen if you guys need anything,” she added before turning and disappearing back into the crowd.

“You guys better get used to her saying that,” Matt warned his friends. “She’ll say it every time she walks by.”

“What is wrong with our giant friend this evening?” Zacky asked, causing everyone to focus their attention on Jimmy, who’d been unnaturally quiet since he and Leana had arrived to the party.

“Well, I invited my sister...” Jimmy answered, looking up at his friends to gauge their reactions. “I talked to Val, Matt, and she said that she would love to catch up with Sydney. I really thought she’d be here by now.” He glanced down at his watch. “Maybe she chickened out.”

“It’s probably a good thing,” Zacky said. “None of us got along with her. Quite shocking, really, that such a nerdy, strange chick could be your sister.”

“She’s changed a lot,” Jimmy insisted. “You guys might get along with her now.”

“I’m not too sure about that, Jimmy,” Brian replied.

“She’s a lot different,” Jimmy repeated. “Just behave, alright?”

“We’ll try,” everyone agreed, which was the best Jimmy could hope for.

@@@@@

“Okay, now I’m nervous,” Sydney admitted as she parked her emerald green Taurus across the street from Matt’s house, the only parking spot that seemed to be available. She inhaled deeply as both Sydney and Lanie peered across the street at the house already alive with lights and people. Even across the street, Sydney could see Jimmy and his four friends standing next to the living room window, their silhouettes carved in shadow on the glass.

“It’s too late to back out now,” Lanie said sternly, looking around at her friend. Sydney wore a Jasmine costume from Aladdin—the blue one that she could be seen wearing throughout most of the movies. She wore her hair like Jasmine does in the Aladdin movies. Lanie wore a Dorothy costume from the Wizard Of Oz. She even had on a pair of glittery red heels and wore her bright red hair in braided pigtails with ribbons on the ends.

“You’re right,” Sydney agreed, and she led the way out of the car and across the street. “Okay, maybe not,” she added nervously, turning to go back to the car.

“No, bitch,” Lanie disagreed, grabbing Sydney’s arms to stop her from walking further away. “You kick ass in that costume! They won’t recognize you. They’re looking for a nerdy chick with no makeup dressed like Hermione from Harry Potter, not a gorgeous centerfold dressed like Jasmine. Now, either you walk in voluntarily, or I drag you in there and we make a scene.”

“Right,” Sydney said, pulling her arms out of Lanie’s hands and turning back to the house. She walked as confidently as she could up the three steps onto the front porch. As Sydney raised her hand to knock, Lanie heaved a sigh and shoved past her, twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open. Sydney led the way into the house.

“Think they got alcohol?” Lanie muttered in Sydney’s ear.

“Yeah, more than likely. It’s probably in the kitchen,” Sydney answered. Lanie nodded before winding her way through the party-goers towards the kitchen. Sydney headed towards the living room, keeping an eye on Jimmy and his friends to make sure they didn’t spot her.

Sydney managed to remain unrecognized and undiscovered for about fifteen minutes. She’d just emerged from the kitchen with a handful of M&M’s when a blonde appeared out of nowhere, smiling to beat the band. Sydney instantly recognized her as Val, and that’s when she decided that all her hard work would be for nothing.

“Oh my gosh, Sydney, look at you!” Val gushed, grabbing Sydney’s arms and marveling at her transformation. “Last time I saw you, you were nerdy and awkward, but now...Wow! You look gorgeous!”

“Thanks, Val,” Sydney answered sheepishly, blushing at Val’s words. She popped an M&M into her mouth, wondering if she could escape Val’s clutches before she made the decision to drag Sydney over to the guys.

“C’mon!” Val said excitedly, beginning to drag Sydney across the living room towards Jimmy and his friends. Sydney began to panic on the inside. It didn’t matter if she was different on the outside, or if she was just a little bit different on the inside. Surely they would see past it all and see the nerdy, awkward girl they used to pick on still hidden deep inside Sydney. None of it mattered; they’d see her, and it would be just like back in high school. They hadn’t changed: inside, they were still the cruel upperclassmen who picked on Sydney to no end.

Before Sydney could fight against Val, they burst through one last wall of people. And, blam! Jimmy and his friends were right there, the three people who influenced Sydney the most to change herself into something better.

“Hey, Matt!” Val exclaimed, her fingers still clenched around Sydney’s elbow. “Do you recognize her?” Val pulled Sydney forward until she was front and center. She could feel all their eyes on her. Sydney braced herself for the scathing remarks to start.

“No,” Matt answered, looking at Val with a very confused expression on his face. “Should I?”

“Yes!” Val said. “Look, it’s Sydney! Sydney Sullivan! You remember her, right?”

Before Matt could answer, he was interrupted by the sound of Brian choking on his drink. Apparently, upon hearing who the chick was, he’d inhaled deeply while taking a drink and it all went down the wrong pipe. Zacky slapped him on the back, and Brian coughed, blinking in shock at Sydney.

“But...she’s the chick who slapped me!” Brian exclaimed, pointing at Sydney.

“You deserved it, you ass,” Sydney snarled, gaining a bit of confidence once she realized that nobody had started the scathing remarks.

“I must admit that she looks a bit more like your sister now,” Zacky said, taking a drink of his beer. “Guess we can’t call you Stilt Chick anymore, huh?”

“No, I would prefer if you didn’t,” Sydney answered tightly.

“Is he the ass?” Lanie asked. Sydney turned her head to see Lanie standing next to her, glaring at Brian, who was still recovering from choking.

“Yeah, he’s the ass,” Sydney answered with a scowl in Brian’s direction. All the guys had picked on Sydney, but Brian had been the meanest, and he’d done it the most frequently.

“I have a name you know!” Brian snapped, his eyebrows arching downwards angrily.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Sydney retorted, popping an M&M into her mouth. Brian and Sydney glared at each other for several seconds before Johnny broke the awkward silence.

“Brian, you teased this chick? I’m surprised that you weren’t trying to get her to fuck you,” Johnny asked, looking at Brian in confusion. Johnny was really the only one who didn’t make fun of Sydney. He didn’t hang out with the guys much when Sydney “knew” them. She only knew who Johnny was because Jimmy had described him to her, and she’d seen pictures of him as well.

“I looked a lot different in high school,” Sydney spoke up before Brian could, snapping her gaze to Johnny and softening her face out of its glare. “I used to be an awkward nerd. I’d show you a picture, but I don’t want to break your eyes, so I won’t. Brian could tell you all about how ugly I was before.”

“C’mon, I’m sure the rest of the ladies would love to see you again,” Val said quickly, grabbing Sydney’s elbow and pulling her away from the group. Lanie followed behind, taking a sip of her beer. “I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t think. I should’ve known Brian would be an ass. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine, Val,” Sydney assured her, patting her on the shoulder. “I’ve gotten used to it by now.”

“Please, you have to tell me what happened after you graduated,” Val continued, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the music.

Before Sydney could answer, two men suddenly appeared out of nowhere. One had long black hair, while the other had shorter red and black hair. They both wore white masks over their faces with what looked like skulls drawn on them with black Sharpie.

“Hello,” they both greeted Lanie, twitching their eyebrows at her flirtatiously. Lanie turned faintly pink, but before she could respond, they turned to each other and snapped, “What the fuck, man?”

“I want to mate with her!” the one with shorter hair exclaimed, jabbing a thumb into his chest.

“No! I am the obvious choice for mating material!” the other one with longer hair snapped.

“You wish, dude. She’s so checking me out. Hey, baby,” the short-haired one added, winking at Lanie.

“Whatever, bro,” the long-haired one replied, shaking his head. “I’ll just have my way with her friend.” He curled an arm around Sydney’s waist and pulled her towards him, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Hey, Jason,” Sydney said with a laugh. “Matt, she’s my hoe, not yours,” Sydney told the other Berry twin. Lanie and Matt were currently eyeing each other while trying to look like they weren’t eyeing each other. Jason and Matt Berry were always nice to Sydney, probably because they were just as strange as her, minus the nerdy deal.

“Gotta love that girl-on-girl action,” Jason replied, shoving Matt back and wrapping his other arm around Lanie’s waist, pulling her against his other side. “Especially if it involves two very sexy girls.”

“Don’t worry, Lanie,” Sydney assured Lanie. “They’re just real cuddly.”

“What are you two supposed to be anyway?” Lanie asked the Berry twins.

“We’re roadies,” Matt answered, punching his brother in the gut for shoving him.

“You already do that in real life,” Sydney pointed out.

“No, you don’t understand,” Jason continued. “We’re roadies...for Slipknot, hence the masks.” He pointed at his mask. “Masked roadies for a masked band. Get it?”

“Yeah,” Sydney answered. “Oh, Lanie, this is Jason, and that’s Matt. Guys, this is Elena, but please call her Lanie if you want to keep your head attached to your penis.”

Matt made a purring noise in the back of his throat. “Oooh, feisty. I like that.”

Lanie blushed and nodded when Matt asked her to dance. Jason, Sydney, and Val watched them walk away towards where most of the people dancing were shaking their booties.

“That guy needs to get laid, bad,” Jason muttered out of the corner of his mouth. “But, it was great seeing you, Syd,” he added, only in a louder voice. “Get my number from Jimmy sometime, call me on my celly, and we can get together and have lunch. I’d love to be seen in public with hot stuff like you.”

“That sounds great, Jason,” Sydney answered with a smile. “See you around.”

“Yeah, bye, babe,” Jason replied, pressing a kiss to Sydney’s cheek before turning and disappearing into the crowd, probably to spy on his brother and Lanie dancing so he could break them up if they started dancing too sexily together.

“Anyway,” Val continued. She and Sydney continued on their way.