Sixth Street ✓

Wednesday 18th December

"Did you hear? Kirsty is in hospital..."

"Who would have thought Kirsty was bulimic?"

"Apparently Penelope is coming back to school soon..."

"Do you think she'll be at the party tonight?"

The school was abuzz with gossip. Somehow, word has gotten out about Kirsty, and the reaction to the news was a mixture of shock and disgust for the most part. Needless to say, Kirsty had taken the last few days of school off to meet with experts in eating disorders, and it was unlikely that many of the girls would see her again before Christmas.

But this major event had been overshadowed by the news that Penelope was returning to school on Friday, for the final day before Christmas. The last day always held a comfortable environment and mostly consisted of snippets of Christmas movies in the various classes that took place, so it was judged appropriate for Penelope.

At least, that was what Alyce had heard. Even though she was admittedly the least popular girl in the class at the moment, the urge to spread gossip was so infectious it had gotten back around to her.

She didn't know whether to be pleased or angry that Penelope was returning. Would it be easier or harder to regain her status? She wasn't sure whether people would eventually get sick of Penelope's little victim act or dote on her even more. Alyce had no sympathy for her whatsoever, but this wasn't anything shocking; she very rarely expressed sympathy for anything.

As she approached the school, she saw Nat leaning against one of the walls. She was here early. From the looks of things, she was extremely deflated, which spiked Alyce's curiosity. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to act sympathetic for once, if it would help her gain some information.

She strolled towards Nat, fixing an appropriate look of concern on her face. "Hey, Nat," she greeted her, crossing her fingers that the girl would be fooled into telling her something. "Is everything okay? You look a little sad."

"I'm not sad," Nat snapped back instantly, but then she bit her lip and let her guard down a little. "Oh, what the hell. Yeah, I am sad."

Alyce perked up a little, but maintained the helpful, worried facade. "Want to talk about it?" She offered. "They say it helps."

Nat studied her for a moment, as if trying to detect an ulterior motive, but either she found none or didn't care enough because she spoke again. "Penelope's coming back, so I've no hope of becoming queen." She said bitterly. "She'll go on lording it over everyone, maybe playing the innocent little victim for a while to gain compassion. Kirsty was going to help me, she said she had dirt on Penelope that could bring her down, but now she's in hospital so that plan's gone out the window."

Alyce breath hitched in her throat. "Dirt?" She said hopefully. "On Penelope?"

Nat shrugged. "Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me what it is. I phoned her. She said she's trying to be a better person or some shit, so she's not going to involve herself in this anymore."

"If Kirsty found dirt, then there must be some way for us to find it." Alyce said excitedly. Suddenly, things were falling in place. "I find it, I take Penelope down, I can be the new popular girl."

Nat scoffed. "Yeah, right. People hate you Alyce. You have to have some popularity to reach Penelope's status."

A light bulb went off inside Alyce's head. "And you do," She said softly. "You have the right amount of popularity." She raised her voice, looking Nat straight in the eye. "Let's form an alliance. I'll find the dirt on Penelope, and we'll bring her down together. You can use your existing popularity to drag me up to the top spot too."