Poor Little Rich Girls. (PT. 1)

          "Nice dress," Kimberly Jennings commented.

         "Oh," replied her best friend, Sarah Heiler,"Thanks. My dad bought it for me today. No reason, either."

         Sarah's father, Benji Heiler, was a world-wide-known actor, and tonight was holding some kind of fundraiser. Sarah saw him saunter over to the stage and take the microphone out of the lead singer of the local band Meteor 's hand.

         "Hello, Ladies and Gents," Benji said loudly,"I'm so pleased with the outcome of this event. I'm sure all the children with Leukemia will be thanking you somewhere done the line. You are saving lives-"

         The audience applauded and Benji went on,"Thank you, thank you. Anyway, I came up here tonight to announce something to everyone; all of my friends,family, my wonderful daughter Sarah-" He smiled towards Sarah,"To say that I'm engaged! To this wonderful girl right here!" A young, dumb-looking, blonde came onto the stage and kissed Sarah's father,"You're all invited to the wedding!"

          Kim looked over at Sarah, whose mother had only died four years ago of breast cancer. "Sarah?"

          Sarah didn't reply, but got up and ran into the bathroom.

         Benji, on stage, went on,"If you haven't met the object of my affection, her name is Nolie, and she's beautiful."

         The audience awww-ed. How sick , Kim thought. Her own father had done this little routine three years ago when he married Livia, her stepmother. It wasn't even love. It was just a bunch of old men who had somehow lost their wife, divorce or death, nonetheless.

         Nolie took the microphone,"And I love him!"

         Nolie couldn't have been more than twenty-three; twenty four..., and Sarah's father was well on his way to fourty-five.

         After Benji and Nolie finished telling each other sappy love poems, Kim could feel a duet coming on, so she quickly excused herself to see if Sarah was okay.

         Kim noticed there was only one stall occupied. And adorable little red Prada shoes were showing through the bottom.

         Sarah knew it was Kim because she asked through tears,"Whose the lucky lady? "

         "Her name's Nolie Something-or-other. Your mother was so much prettier, so much nicer, so much-"

         "So much a mother to a spoiled brat?" Sarah cried through the stall.

         "No!" Kim assured her,"Your mother loved you, I'm sure of it. She's not mad at you for what Benji's doing, you know that!"

         Sarah laughed sarcastically,"Um, wrong."

          "Oh, please. Come out, Sarah."

          Sarah opened the door. Kim was shocked; Sarah had her thick, black eyeliner running down her cheeks, her lipgloss was all smeared, and her blue eye-shadow was silently trickling down her face.

          "I'm a wreck," Sarah said,"I can't go back out there and face my father and the bride-to-be. Did they say when the wedding was?"

          "I think I heard a month," Kim braced herself,"Because I heard...I heard Nolie's pregnant."

         "Wh-what? Are you kidding? Kimberly, really! Come on, how old's the little family-ruiner? Fifteen?" Kim could tell she was being sarcastic, as that they were seventeen.

          "Um, maybe twenty-five?" Kim said. She really didn't want Sarah to get upset. Kim knew what it was like to have your family torn apart and replaced with a snotty, stuckup, pregnant stepmother. As she said before, her father did the same thing. Livia and her father have a four-year-old daughter, Martina, but she's always with the nanny, so she didn't see her much anyway.

          Sarah stayed silent. So Kim went on,"I know how you feel. My Dad married Livia, and I'm not gonna lie, she's a total witch, but Martina's sweet."

          "Yeah, but you don't even see Livia or Martina! It's not like you actually live with them or anything-"

         "But I do live with them. It's my father too. You know, Livia and my Dad? Their married."

          Sarah shrugged,"Yes, whatever. But my father..., he's like a huge part of my life, you know? I can't just ignore the fact that he's marrying that woman, and she's carrying in her womb my new sibling!"

         Kim smirked a little," Hmm. I think somebody is actually excited. "

         "Oh," Sarah said a matter-of-factly,"No. You've got it all wrong, Kimberly."

         Sarah tended to call Kim "Kimberly" when she was either in a pissy mood, or she's was just really tired.


         At that very same moment, Nolie came bursting through the doors,"Are you Sarah?" She asked Kim.

         "Oh, no," Kim replied," She is." And pointed to Sarah.

          "Hmm," Nolie said, clearly looking disgusted with Sarah's makeup down her face,"You're father told me you were beautiful."

         "Hey!" Kim butted in,"She is! When do you have a right to call your new stepdaughter ugly?"

         Nolie pushed her out of her face,"Uh, since forever! And I didn't call her ugly, little girl. I just was surprised she looked like that."

         "Um, little girl? You're what? A year older?" Kim said, rhetorically.

         Nolie put her hands on her hips,"Try five."

         "Oh, wow," Sarah said sarcastically,"My stepmother is twenty-two. That's encouraging."

          All three of them filed out the door. The party was winding down and most of the guests had left. Sarah spotted her father, looking in his wallet. He was staring at a picture of a beautiful brunette woman. The photo said in neat letters on the bottom: Maryann Heiler. Sarah's mother's funeral card. Why was he staring at her, when he should be making out with his high school-dropout fiance?

          Sarah eyed her father closely. She saw one after another tear drizzle down his face. So , she thought, He missed her. At least he missed her.