The Deliquint & The Debutante

"EEEEENOOOOUUUUGH!" came the shrill voice of Mrs. Garret The two combating teens immediately snapped their heads around to look at the older woman in surprise, but a moment later, they were back to glaring at each other."This constant bickering has got to stop," Mrs. Garret continued in a more normal tone of voice, though it was just as emphatic."Well, if her highness here would just..." Jo began"That's right, peasant..." Blair sneered"Why you...!" the brunette started to lunge for the blonde, but Natalie and Tootie each grabbed an arm and managed to hold her back."Stop it this instant!" Mrs. Garret cried out in frustration Jo shook off the restraining hands and stomped over to the redheaded woman."Mrs. G, I hate her! I can't stand her. I just wanna kill 'er!" Jo practically yelled Mrs. Garret could see the hint of tears forming in the tomboy's eyes, and she reached out a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders"Now, I know you didn't mean that, Jo. You're just upset.

She turned to Blair and held out her other arm. The young girl hesitantly stepped into the embrace, obviously wary of coming so close to her angry nemesis."I think I know exactly what the two of you need," Mrs. Garret declared, as she led them out of the dining area and up the stairs to their dorm room. But instead of stopping at their assigned room, Mrs. Garret continued down the hall to an old storage/bathroom. She gently nudged them ahead of her into the room and stood in the doorway, as they looked around the dirty place. Boxes were stacked haphazardly around the room, and in one corner, a freestanding sink and toilet sat exposed. The two young women looked back at Mrs. Garret fearfully."You two need to work things out. So, for the next month, you will spend every waking moment with each other until you learn to work together and respect each other." As understanding sunk in, both girls began to protest."Mrs. Garret!" Blair exclaimed. "You can't possibly expect me to stay in this filthy room with this... this... with her!"Nothin' doin', Mrs. G. No way am I gonna be cooped up in here with her highness for a whole month," Jo glared daggers at the rich debutante. "I won't be responsible for what I'm gonna do to her if I have to be alone with her for that long," she continued menacingly, staring hard at Blair."You girls will live together, work together, eat together, and sleep together. Or I'll have to talk to the Headmaster about your recent behavior.

May I remind you that you're both still on probation for the stunt you pulled with the van," Mrs. Garret trumped Jo's threat. "Now, I expect you to have this place cleaned up and ready for your belongings in an hour." She picked up a couple of brooms leaning against the wall by the door and handed one to each of them. "I suggest you girls get to work." Mrs. Garret turned around and pulled the door closed behind her as she left. Even Jo was shocked when she heard the click of the lock being engaged. They were trapped"Well, I hope you're happy with yourself. Look what you got us into," Blair immediately started in."Me?! You're the one who couldn't keep your mouth shut. Now I gotta put up with your ugly face for the next month," Jo said miserably The young brunette abruptly turned away and started harshly sweeping the floor. Blair looked at the broom in her own hand distastefully. After a minute had passed and Jo hadn't heard Blair start cleaning, she stopped sweeping and looked up"I'm not doin' the whole room by myself. Either start usin' that thing or I'll beat you with it," Jo threatened. Blair snorted, but Jo took a step toward her with her own broom, and Blair quickly backed away and started awkwardly dabbing at the floor with the clumsy instrument"All right, all right. I'm sweeping. See?" Blair exaggerated her movements with the broom Jo watched her in disgust for a few moments and then went back to cleaning up her immediate area By the time Mrs. Garret returned, they'd managed to sweep up the whole room, and the many boxes had been stacked up around the 'bathroom,' creating a semblance of privacy. There was just enough room for the girls' beds to be brought in, along with a single dresser for them to share.

Once the furniture was in the room, there was barely a foot of walking space from the door to the nearest bed, and the beds had been forced together, basically making one almost queen-sized bed."Please, Mrs. Garret. I can't live like this," Blair whined, as she tried to wheedle her way out of this insane punishment"It's only for a month, Blair. You'll survive just fine," Mrs. Garret promised, as she patted her on the shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture"If I accident'ly kill her in my sleep, I can't be held responsible, can I?" Jo questioned hopefully."You both get some sleep," Mrs. Garret ignored the obnoxious comment. "Goodnight, girls," she trilled and then locked the door behind her"I hate you," Blair told the other girl angrily"Ask me if I care," Jo threw back at her Jo turned to the dresser and opened the top drawer where she'd put her pajamas. She pulled out a light blue pair and tossed them onto her half of the bed. Then she climbed onto the bed herself and started undressing."Hey. What do you think you're doing?!" Blair yelled Jo turned to look at her with a frown"Getting ready for bed. What's it look like I'm doin'?"You can't just do that right here!" Blair informed her"Well, where else am I gonna do it?! We're locked in, remember?"Go into the bathroom," Blair pointed at the wall of boxes they'd set up around the area"Why don't you? Then I can change out here in peace," Jo said resentfully"Have you seen what's on that toilet seat?" Blair replied. She turned away. "This is intolerable. She can't do this to me," Blair huffed."Yeah, well, she did it, so let's just try to get through it, okay?" Jo teetered between ordering and pleading"I know you're used to slumming, but I..." Blair began haughtily"You don't know anything about me, ya stuck up, rich, conceited...!"

Jo stopped in exasperation as she ran out of insults. "Just shut up before I shove my fist down your throat!"Is that the only way you know of solving your problems? With violence?"You wanna find out?" Jo asked ominously Blair rolled her eyes and sighed, as she made her way to the dresser to pull out her own nighttime clothing from the third drawer. She looked over at Jo who was waiting to see what she was going to do"Just turn and face that way, and I'll face this way," Blair offered as a compromise"Fine," Jo said, as she scooted herself to turn away from the blonde"And no peeking," Blair added."Like you have anything I wanna see," Jo threw over her shoulder, as she changed into her pajamas There was no reply, as Blair carefully removed her clothing and pulled on her nightgown. Jo crawled under the covers of her half of the bed and faced the wall"Get the lights, wouldja?" Jo requested Blair harrumphed, but she took the two steps to the light switch and flicked it off before returning to the bed and climbing under her half of the covers With the stress of the day, the two teens were quickly as.

"We haveta what?" Jo asked, feeling sick to her stomach. Mrs. Garret finished tying off the short string around the two girls' wrists. There was barely a foot of length between Jo's left wrist and Blair's right."You girls are going to do everything together. That string is as far apart as you're allowed to get, and you can only take it off when you're in your room," Mrs. Garret informed them"But Mrs. Garret... I can't be seen like this... My reputation..." Blair said in horror."This is just like what they did to Haley Mills in The Parent Trap," Natalie supplied genially."Yeah. Hey, maybe you guys are like long-lost sisters, and you were separated at birth," Tootie said enthusiastically. Then she looked at her best friend, and they both shook their heads at the same time. "Naaaah.""Mrs. G. I get what your tryin' to do here, really, I do. But I don't think you've really thought this one out. I mean, what about goin' to the bathroom? And I got P.E.... I can't be luggin' her carcass around with me," Jo said reasonably."And I am certainly not going to have her tagging along with me when I go shopping. What will my friends think?" Blair added as though she were actually helping their case."Well, I don't know what to tell you ladies," Mrs. Garret said, though her tone sounded as though she had several choice thoughts she'd like to express. "You're just going to have to find a way to work together. Now, off you go. You don't want to be late for class.

Blair reached for her books stacked on one of the dining tables and immediately wrenched Jo's arm as she did so"Hey! Watch it!" Jo yelled, yanking her arm back and pulling Blair partially off balance, which forced her to drop her books."Ow! Mrs. Garret, look how she's treating me!" Blair complained"Work it out, girls," Mrs. Garret told them and walked into the kitchen"Lets go, Nat. We're going to be late," Tootie said."Have fun, guys," Nat told them cheekily and then followed her best friend out of the room."Oh, this is just great," Blair said to no one in particular. "I'm chained to Jonan the Barbarian and then deserted by the people I thought were my friends!" Blair yelled the last in the direction of Natalie and Tootie's departure"Well, it ain't no picnic for me either, Princess," Jo returned the sentiment. "Come on. Get yer books so we can go." Blair glared at her, but she stooped down to pick up her books from the floor, pulling Jo down with her. Jo tolerated it, but only just barely The walk to class was silent, and they found seats next to each other so that their arms could hang down between them in the aisle. Several of the students looked at them strangely and laughed, but then the teacher began the lesson When it came time to work, Blair dragged Jo's arm with her onto her desk so that she could write"Hey, it's attached," Jo reminded her, as her arm was pulled beyond what was physically comfortable"I have to be able to write," Blair responded."Is there a problem, ladies?" the teacher asked sternly, as he walked up and down the aisles to check on the students' progress"Problem? No. No problem," Blair replied sweetly and turned to Jo. "Do you have a problem? No, she doesn't have a problem.

We were just discussing the wonderful points you made, Mr. Hinkle. You're such an inspiring teacher. Mr. Hinkle eyed them"I know about your little punishment, ladies, and I expect you to keep it from interfering with your schoolwork. Are we clear?"Crystal, sir," Jo replied icily."As long as we understand each other," he said and then continued on his way to check on the other students The two girls glared at each other, but Jo finally picked up her desk and moved closer to Blair. She let her arm rest on Blair's desk and tried to ignore their proximity as she worked on her own paper The rest of their classes went similarly until lunchtime came. They finally decided to just take turns eating so that they didn't spill food all over themselves. But then they had to figure out how they were going to do their jobs in the cafeteria. As they stood behind the serving counter, they didn't have too many problems offering up the food one-handed, but once it was time to clean up, things became a little more difficult"Mrs. G., how am I supposed to clear the tables with one arm?" Jo asked plaintively, as she held up her left arm attached to Blair's right to illustrate her predicament."You're two intelligent girls. I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out," Mrs. Garret told them, as she took the leftover food back into the kitchen"Now what?" Blair asked unhappily."Just don't get in my way," Jo warned her, as she headed for one of the plastic bussing tubs.

Blair was dragged along until she stood her ground and brought Jo to a screeching halt."Wait. Maybe we should talk about this. There has to be a way for us to get this done without yanking each other's arms out," Blair said, being reasonable for once, mostly because it was her arm that kept getting yanked around"Fine. What's your plan?" Jo asked impatiently."Well, what if we do the tables together? You can grab one side of the tub, and I'll take the other. Then you can pick up the dishes, and I'll wipe up after you. Jo thought it over. She was getting the heavy work, but she didn't really mind. She always liked showing off how tough she was to the other girls"Fine. It took them a little while to get into the rhythm of coordinating their movements. First, Jo removed the plates, and then Blair wiped down the area after her, as they went around each table counter-clockwise. But by the time they were done, they were moving pretty fast, and they actually finished earlier than they normally did when they worked separately They carried the last tub of dirty dishes to the sink where Natalie and Tootie were washing them up. Normally, they were supposed to help, but neither of them was sure how they could do it."Well, don't just stand there. Start drying," Natalie scolded them, as she tossed them each a towel and then went back to rinsing the soapy dishes that Tootie gave her"Yeah. Get crackin'," Tootie backed her up"Oh, I'm sure there'll be plenty of crackin'... the dishes hittin' the floor," Jo replied sarcastically"As much as I hate to say it, Jo's r-..." She tried again. "Jo's ri-... r-, r-... I can't say it," Blair gave up. "But we can't dry dishes one-handed."Maybe we can," Jo disagreed, as she got an idea Jo picked up a dish and handed it to Blair.