Jackie snapped open the glasses case, revealing a pair of glasses that looked like they had belonged to someone's father in the 80s. Large lens with a thin frame. Simply put they were out of style and ugly. Jackie beamed, they were perfect!

She took off the black, rectangle framed glasses, seeing now how those looked far too fashionable and sleek. Putting on the old glasses, she took a step back from the full-length mirror to get the complete effect.

The frames obscured her make-up free heart-shaped face and seemed to distract from her green eyes. The old, worn shirt she wore clashed with her naturally tan skin. Her jeans were a couple of sizes too big but not in a way that looked fashionably intentional. Though they were completely intentional. She'd even put off washing her hair so her messy auburn ponytail looked unappealing.

In a single word, she could sum up her perfectly orchestrated appearance: frumpy.

Jackie almost clapped with delight. She looked perfect.

Snatching up the second-hand backpack she'd bought at a thrift store, she left her room. Her success almost had her skipping down the long hallway. She descended a curved staircase that overlooked a living room decorated in a neutral pallet, the splashes of color coming from the impressionist paintings on the walls. The wall leading to the backyard was made entirely of glass, offering a view of a furnished patio and glistening pool.

Jackie used the banister to swing herself towards the kitchen. With the house's vaulted ceiling and open archways, she could hear the voices of the talk show hosts coming from the TV.

"I know I'm not the only one who feels strange about going into this new school year," one of them said. "The newest season of Family Traits has marked the start for the last twenty-five years and a year ago they announced their final season."

"I know what you mean," the co-host said. "That show has been part of my life since I can remember. I know the conclusion of the show is something everyone is still talking about."

"Well, one of the things. I think everyone is equally talking about the absence of Jaz. We've watched this sweet girl grow up from a baby and now, poof! She's out of our lives."

"Oh! It's so true! It seems our spunky girl-next-door has left the neighborhood."

"It's been a month since there's been a peep on any of her social media accounts. Where is she? What she up to?"

Jackie strode into the kitchen and caught the talk show hosts animatedly questioning the absence of Jaz. Jackie's mother leaned against the kitchen counter, holding a mug and scrolling through her phone.

"What do you think?" Jackie announced.

Her mother took a sip of her coffee as she turned around. Seeing Jackie's attire, she nearly spit up the coffee all over her tailored pantsuit. Her mother's reaction made Jackie smile wider.

"Jasmine," her mother said. "I know that you're excited about this plan, but do you have to look so...sad."

"It's Jackie for this year," Jackie said. "Not Jasmine or Jaz. Just plain ole Jackie. And this is perfect! No one will care to look at me! I'll be completely and utterly normal and average!"

She would no longer be Jaz, the girl-next-door, the 'Oh jeez!' girl. The thought of going to places and not having people stare at her filled Jackie with absolute glee. She could walk down the sidewalk and not be stopped or bombarded. She could order coffee without hearing the whispers of the baristas as she waited. Freedom!

"Are those your father's glasses?" her mother asked.

"Yes! Aren't they great!"

Her mother took in her outfit once again and shook her head. Jackie understood the distress, after all, it had been her mother who curated her girl-next-door vibe since the very beginning. Which was only to be expected from a media consultant. One with a knack for redesigning any stars' look and making it stick.

"Oh, look at this! I got it in the mail yesterday!" Jackie said.

She tugged her backpack forward and rifled through it until she found the half-sheet of paper. She whipped it out and held it up like it was one of her Emmys.

"It's a class schedule! A real one, not one made by the prop department, these teachers are actual teachers."

Her mother's distress over Jackie's appearance, faded a bit in light of her daughter's ridiculous excitement over a class schedule. But Jackie didn't think it was ridiculous, this piece of paper was like one of millions other kids got for school. Jackie would be like all of them.

"You're really going through with it then," her mother said.

"One year out of the seventeen I've experienced where I get be normal for once?" Jackie tapped her chin in thought. "Yes, I think I am."

Her mother smiled amusedly. "Very well then. What personality is attached to your outfit?"

"I was thinking Nerdy girl Abby from season fifteen. You know quiet, bit shy and kept to herself."

Jackie saw how this piqued her mother's interest. After all most of her job had revolved around Jackie's acting career.

"Seems like a challenge for you," her mother said. "I remember you making friends with the Italian interviewers when you were eight."

Jackie shrugged. "It will be good to have a challenge. It can be a real immersive character study opportunity." 

Jackie walked to the back door, pausing at a sleek, narrow cupboard. She opened it and selected a set of car keys that hung amongst five others. As Jackie opened the door to the six-car garage, her mother followed her, leaning against the doorway. 

"By the way," her mother said. "Do you know what that is?"

She pointed to a compact car with faded paint and years out of style.

"It's called a Toyota," Jackie said, giddy.

"I'm aware but why is it in our garage?"

"I can't show up to Vally High School in my Mercedes. It would stand out. So I bought this! It's not even new, it's pre-owned."

"But it's clean, right?"

Jackie laughed, heading to the car that stood out amongst the five other sleek vehicles. "It's cleaned. I'm off! I don't want to be late on my first day."

"Then I'll say something I never have. Have a good day at school, honey. Make good choices."

"This is the best choice!"

The car made more noise than Jackie thought a car could make as she turned it on. But somehow even this detail excited her. She'd fit right in. She backed the car out of the garage and down the winding front lane to the house gates. Their security guard eyed Jackie's new ride but only waved goodbye to her.

As Jackie turned into the high school parking lot, she paused. To her, it felt like an establishing shot to a cut scene in the middle of the school hallway. But there was no cut, she had to pull into the lot and find an open spot. What wonders!

She turned the key and the engine quieted with a small rattle. Taking a deep breath, she peered at her reflection in the rear view mirror. She narrowed her eyes.

"You are Jackie Harlow, super average girl, shy, quiet, unimportant."

With a nod, she climbed out, sliding her arms through her backpack straps. She gazed around at the other students that stepped out of their cars, greeted their friends, walked while texting, and wanted to savor it all. These weren't extras on set, they were actual students. Knowing she couldn't gawk, she hooked her hands around her backpack straps and walked towards the front steps.

As she went, she altered her strides, not long and confident, but a bit small, more of a shuffle. With force, she dropped her eyes, keeping them at waist and ground level. Slipping into the character of a quiet nerdy girl felt like putting on a different pair of shoes. They fit but it took some adjusting.

When Jackie entered the school hallway, she froze. Real. It was all real. The hallway stretched out longer than she'd imagined. There was a roof! Not just lighting rigs. And it smelled! Like conflicting body washes and some BO.

She knew she was too excited but her whole life had been incomplete rooms with one wall missing, microphone booms hangings overhead, sets connected to each other. A teacher's office neighboring a classroom that neighbored a living room. But here was a real school, not just disjointed sets.

Someone knocked into Jackie, breaking her from her reverie. The person didn't even glance at her or apologize. This was amazing!

"You're blocking the door," someone said.

Jackie glanced back then ducked her head. "Sorry."

She shuffled forward, clinging to her character even as she wanted to gape at everything. Halfway down the hall, she realized she had a locker and should find it. One more thing that made her want to smile. It took five minutes of scanning locker numbers to find her own. She took hold of the handle and tried to open it. But nothing happened.

For a second, she stared at the locker completely baffled why it didn't open. Then she grinned. Her locker's lock was real. Of course, it was. On set none of the lockers needed combinations, it could ruin a take if it took too long for a character to put the exact combination in. Instead, they just pretended to put the combo in. Jackie had made hers a mix of her birthday and her favorite numbers. Now she would have to remember the exact combination. Amazing!

As she read over the combination on the slip of paper that had come with her schedule, a boy approached the locker next to hers. She looked at him. He stood a few inches taller than her with short, wilded light brown hair, glasses, a plain face, a nose that was a bit out of portion with his features, and a slim build.

A real, normal boy! Not an actor that was dressed down to look average but actually average. Jackie had worked with extras before but even then they looked above average. But this boy looked just like any boy that might be seen on the street.

He glanced at Jackie but quickly looked away. Nothing. No reaction. No double-take. No narrowing of the eyes as he tried to remember why she looked familiar. Nothing. Jackie wanted to bounce around, he didn't know who she was!

Fighting back a pleased smile, she twisted in her locker's combination. When she pulled on the handle this time, it still didn't budge. She spun the combo in but again the locker wouldn't open. Using both hands, she tried to pry the handle up.

"Here," the boy next to her said. "Sometimes they get stuck."

As he leaned in to help her, the handle gave and Jackie jerked her hands back. The door flew open and smacked into the boy's forehead. He yelped and stumbled, clutching his forehead.

"Oh jeez!" she said. "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded and inspected his fingers.

"No blood, we're good," he said.

Jackie sighed. "I'm really sorry about that."

The boy focused on her and he blinked like this was the first time he was actually noticing her. Jackie fidgeted and this time it wasn't because her character would. She feared close appraisal would be the end of her attempt at normalcy.

"You know," the boy said. Jackie swallowed. "I think my dad has those same glasses."

Jackie let out a breath. "Oh...really?"

"Yeah," he said. "You're new here, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"I would have noticed someone who wore the same glasses as my father before. I'm Adam."

He stuck out his hand and Jackie shook it wanting to squeal at the fact that she had to introduce herself. It felt like she'd gone through her whole life with people who had seen her grown up or people who had grown up alongside her. It meant that she'd never had to introduce herself ever. Usually, it was other people eagerly saying her name, wanting to confirm it was her.

"I'm Jackie," she said.

"Jackie," Adam said, experimentally. "I like it. Do you know where your first class is?"

"No, but I have a map."

Again something Jackie had been enthusiastic about. This school was big enough it needed a map made for it!

"Where's your schedule?" Adam asked.

Jackie handed it over and he studied it.

"The first one is easy," he said. "We both have English for first period, so I can walk you there."

"Thank you."

Jackie closed her locker. She didn't have anything to put into it yet, she'd simply wanted to explore the magic of opening a locker. It seemed that magic had helped her find Adam. The complete normal and average boy who was going to walk her to class. Right then from where she was, she was looking down on cloud 9.

After stowing something in his locker, Adam picked up an instrument case and pointed down the hall.

"We're this way," he said.

Jackie stayed close to Adam as they walked. There were so many students it was impossible to walk without bumping into someone every few paces. So strange, there had never been enough extras on set to have this experience.

"What do you play?" Jackie asked Adam, motioning to his case.

"Trumpet. I'm in marching band."

Marching band. Edwin Harris's character, Reynolds, had played in marching band but Reynolds had also been discovered to secretly be in a jazz band that was slowly sweeping the underground seen. Jackie figured this wasn't the same for Adam. He was simply in marching band. Was there anything cooler than that! Jackie didn't think so.

When they stepped into homeroom, Jackie had to stop and take it all in. Rows of desks like there'd been on set, but these desks looked worn. The posters pinned to the walls looked faded. The windows showed a quad with sparse trees and a few benches. A view of a quad!

"Hi there," a plump woman at the front said.

The greeting drew Jackie out of her thoughts and she realized Adam had found his seat and Jackie was standing there like a lost duck.

"You must be new," the woman said.

"Yes," Jackie said.

"I'm Ms. Wilson."

"I'm Jackie."

"You can find a seat wherever you like."

"Thanks." Before Jackie headed off, she leaned into the teacher. "You're not going to introduce me to the class, are you?"

This would not be good if she did. She didn't know how much students would care but any attention at all wasn't what she wanted.

"I don't have to if you don't want me to," Ms. Wilson said.

Jackie smiled in relief. "Please don't."

"Of course."

Jackie found an open seat towards the back and not too far from Adam. She watched as more students filed in. Some were grouped while others walked alone, eyes glued to their phones. Some were better dressed than others and some looked like they hadn't given a thought at all to what they wore. The bell rang and Ms. Wilson called the room to quiet down.

Jackie felt a giddiness come over her. She was going to experience a real school day. For her, 'school' had been a slew of tutors that spent mornings with her before she had to be on set. Now she would see what it was like to go through hours of school at a time.

Before Ms. Wilson could say anything, the door opened and a boy walked in. But it wasn't just an average boy. This boy had caramel skin, black curls, deep, soulful brown eyes, and a well-built physique. He was in one word: beautiful.

At the sight of him, Jackie felt like she was going to be sick.

Her nausea was not shared by the rest of the class. Someone let out a surprised shriek, a lot of students gasped and half of them leaned towards friends whispering furiously. Zeke surveyed the buzzing room and smiled. A smile that had earned him the title of teenage heartthrob. Jackie sank into her seat, praying Zeke didn't notice her. He was not supposed to be here!

"Welcome," Ms. Wilson said. "Zeke, right?"

Zeke continued to smile. "That's right."

"Why don't you find a seat and we'll begin."

Zeke headed down the rows towards the back and Jackie dropped even lower in her chair. It was a mistake, the action snagged Zeke's attention. He glanced at her and was about to look away when his gaze snapped back. His eyes widened and Jackie shook her head before bending over to get something out of her backpack. She dug out her phone and furiously typed out a message.

'What are you doing here?!'

When she straightened, Zeke had found a seat and his neighbors were all saying hi and leaning towards him. Zeke pulled out his phone and lifted his head, finding Jackie. But she looked away.

'Good to see you too Jaz. Thought you might have died.'

Jackie wanted to throw her phone at him. This day had been nearly perfect until he showed up.

'After class. Bathroom.'

'Can't wait.'

Jackie had to keep herself from glaring back at him. Her annoyance lasted through class and she hated that, she'd missed her first lesson because of Zeke. When the bell rang, she jumped out of her seat. She met eyes with him then took off. The first bathroom she found was a boy's bathroom but she didn't care, she pushed inside. Luckily, it was empty. It also smelled. And this wasn't something that improved Jackie's mood.

When the door opened and Zeke walked in, she slammed the door behind him and locked it. She spun on him, hands planted on her hips.

"Zeke what are you doing here?" she demanded.

Zeke lounged against the sink, eyed the surface then stood, seeming to decide it was best not to touch anything more than he had to.

"I'm going to high school, same as you," he said.

"Why?"

Zeke seemed to see the real frustration in Jackie because he dropped his easy grin.

"You talked so much about your plan of going to a real high school and seeing what it was like that I wanted to do that too." He let his eyes travel over her. "By the way, why do you look like that?"

"Because I don't want people to know me."

"Why? It's so great!" Zeke spread out his arms. "I've been here for less than an hour and already people have invited me to five different parties."

Jackie understood why he would feel this way. He'd come onto the scene only four years ago. He'd been an extra on set but because of one small line, the world had taken notice. For the last three seasons of Family Traits, he'd been a strong secondary character. And Jaz's on-screen love interest. Fame was still exciting to him. It hadn't been his entire life like it was for her.

"That's great, Zeke," she said. "But I need you to not say anything about who I am. I don't want that." Zeke looked at her like she was crazy. "Please."

The edge of his mouth curled upward. "But what if the Bad Boy." He pointed to himself. "Falls for the nerdy girl." He pointed to her.

He was just as much a bad boy as she was a nerdy girl.

"Bad boy? You literally dated KeKe for two years before she had to move back to Canada."

"New school, new persona. Which it seems you've decided on as well."

"I have, so please Zeke, don't say anything," Jackie said, staring him down.

The bell rang and Zeke held up his hands. "Fine, my little jazz player, your secret will be safe with me."

He unlocked the bathroom door and slipped out, voices rising in volume in his wake. Jackie didn't care about the germs, she pressed her forehead into the door and moaned. Her totally normal high school life was not going as planned.

***********************************

Hey there Doodle!

What do you think?

Personally, I think Jackie's excitement is adorable. I'm actually think of writing this one as a novella. My sisters have been writing them lately and I kind of want to see what it's like to write a short book.

I hope you think it's something worth reading!

Vote, comment, follow!