Only Emptiness Remains

The Show Must Go On

Brittany wiped her mouth clean, threw the toilet paper in, and flushed. She then hastily opened the door of the stall, hoping she had misheard who she thought the voice on the other side belonged to. But there was no mistake about it.

It had been Shelby Cassidy, her former friend from the cheerleading team she used to be a part of. The very same Shelby who told her to sit with Eleanor and her soccer team instead of at the table with the rest of the squad after Brittany had been approved to go back to school following her knee injury. The same Shelby Cassidy who failed to defend Brittany against Missy Snootson or make any effort to reach out to Brittany in all this time. The same girl she used to consider one of her best friends on the squad.

Brittany's heart began to race as she felt the panic rise. Did Shelby hear her? Had she seen anything that happened before the Chipette had run into the bathroom? And if so, would she say anything to Missy or the rest of the cheerleaders? Her thoughts were racing faster than her heart was.

Shelby had always been a very sweet girl back when Brittany was still head cheerleader. But then again, so had Erika Sheridan. But Brittany had heard rumors about how much of a nightmare Erika had become after taking Missy's place as co-captain while Missy replaced Brittany as captain. Missy's influence, she was sure. But she had to wonder how much this change in leadership had affected Shelby's kind personality.

Finally, the teenage Chipette responded to her old friend.

"Shelby... hey. What's up?" Brittany softly greeted her.

"I was just wondering... are you ok?" Shelby cautiously asked, her green eyes lighting up with concern. The blonde teenager then pointed to the bathroom stall Brittany had been in.

"It's just..." Shelby continued. "It sounded like you were..."

Brittany felt as if her heart was about to stop at that very moment. Guess this answered her question about whether or not Shelby had heard her puking in there.

But the auburn-haired teen quickly regained her composure and tried to play it cool.

"Oh, yeah," She answered abruptly. "I'm fine. I'm just not feeling well tonight. I think it was something I ate earlier."

"Oh..." The young blonde's voice had trailed off.

Was she buying Brittany's story? She was having a hard time telling from her ex-friend's reaction.

"Listen," The teen Chipette said as she carried on with her attempt to seem calm and collected, in spite of her nerves. "Would you mind not saying anything to anyone about this whole incident? If my sisters think I'm sick, they're going to end this show early and force me to go home. I've been waiting forever for this moment and tonight's performance here means so much to me. So can you not tell anyone? Please?"

Shelby carefully scanned all corners of the room and tucked a strand of wavy dark blonde hair behind her ear. She seemed very reluctant, which was making Brittany practically sweat.

"Well..." The blonde girl hesitantly replied.

Brittany shut her eyes tightly. What was Shelby going to do with this sensitive information she had?

"Ok." the wavy-haired teenager finally agreed.

The Chipette's eyes fluttered open as she let out a huge sigh of relief she had been holding in. Once again, it looked like her secret was safe. But the question still stood. How much was Shelby actually aware of?

"Good." Brittany said as she forced a smile and walked off to the sinks.

The blue-eyed girl proceeded to rinse her mouth out with water. She then reached into her huge purse to search for a piece of gum to get that smell of vomit off her breath. She dug around her purse for her gum pack, as well as the makeup products she knew she would need since there was no doubt in her mind that her makeup would have to be touched up before she went back out there to face the rest of her peers at the dance.