Phylicia's arch enemy

It was quite something to see Audrey Porter walk into a room. When she entered, all the boys noticed, but didn’t look; and all the girls looked, but hated every second of it. She wore her perfect black hair up in a bun, and seldom strayed from her usual skirt/turtleneck combo. Her breasts were a mystery the entire school; and her conservative dark clothing left a lot to the imagination. Audrey was a workaholic. A very beautiful workaholic. Every ounce of energy she didn’t exhaust on work, she poured into being as stoic as possible. Seeing her smile was like successfully killing a unicorn using only a sweater. It simply didn’t happen.

Or at least it appeared that way to me. She sat down in the library a few tables up. She adjusted the chopsticks in her hair, aggressively crossed her legs, and began her three hour study session. I, on the other hand, had not been able to study all year. I didn’t have the focus or the dedication required by Physics 12 by any means. Instead, I dreamt of what life might’ve been like if I was Audrey Porter. Maybe if I was beautiful and hardworking I would have more then a measly $200 grant from the local retired community.

I’m not saying I’m ugly. I’m just nothing compared to her. I have long light brown hair that is very curly. I’ve been wearing my glasses now for two years, and I hate them. I have average-sized breasts, and a pretty normal build. But my real pride is my thin tummy. I’m not a skinny girl or anything, but I keep in pretty good shape. So did Audrey though; we were both on the field hockey team. She, of course, played center. The mute, efficient and deadly team captain was picture perfect. No one messed with her out on the field, not even the roughnecks from Flint.

I, a mere second line defense-woman would’ve be crazy to try and talk to her after game time. I wondered if she even knew my name. We were in the same Physics class, but I sat in the back. She was in front, almost invincible to the teacher’s puns and bad jokes; she was a rock.
“Phylicia?” my name, its Greek, I’m pretty sure it means ‘fortunate’. But who just said it?
“…Phylicia?” my name again, I looked up. Sincere amazement just then, it was Porter.
“Uh, Audrey. Hi!” It was a bit strong. Audrey managed a smile back. Why would she be talking to me?
“Are you having trouble with EMF? I just don’t get it.” Very weird… I did feel comfortable with EMF, and Audrey didn’t, maybe this was a joke.
“Umm, no. I’m pretty comfortable with it.” This had potential.
“Oh… well that’s good.” Audrey looked at the floor. Immediately, I took the opportunity to score a point.
“Do you wanna work with me on this sheet Mr. Travis gave us?” I held it up. I guess she did, because she gave a very humble sigh of relief.
“Yeah,” she smiled politely, “that’d be great.” What bugged me about how she said this is that she said it perfectly; as if she was used to asking for help all the time. This drained a little satisfaction from the event, but nevertheless, I was ahead today.

I actually didn’t have anymore time left in the study hall; I had to run to work. So we made plans to study at her house. Her dad was out of town for a few days and we’d have the house to ourselves to study. I was really looking forward to tutoring her for a few hours. Maybe she wasn’t so much better then me after all.

The next day I wore a pair of cut-off jeans that might have been just a little too short for my dad’s approval. But he simply shrugged and looked away, knowing that it was the 21st century, and dads were not ‘allowed’ to tell their daughters how to dress. I had a t-shirt on and pulled my curly hair into a pony tail. I didn’t feel like wearing contacts that day, Audrey hadn’t earned them yet from me. Glasses would do, I’d show her. 

I knocked on her door and noted the response time. It took roughly six seconds for Audrey to open it, and then do the smile. Boy, she was fast. It was odd, especially considering I was fifteen minutes early. But, it was Porter after all, efficient but deadly. Her black hair was up, as usual, in those chopsticks. She looked beautiful in darker clothing, especially in that skirt. She had her cross over top of her turtleneck today. And to top it all off, her smile could’ve been on primetime TV. Despite all this, I nodded and smiled back.