How to survive Middle School (Sanders Sides Middle School AU)

Chapter 3: And you know, you know, this could be beautiful

TW?: Remus being Remus. that's the TW for the whole book I guess

It's been another week. I've sat with the Light Sides at their table. All. Week. I hate it, but I've noticed I've been getting picked on less and less.

"So, what's the dirt on the Lights?" J-Dee asks after school.

This is the one day I was able to get out of hanging out with the Light Sides after school. I don't understand what they like so much about the mall. 

"Roman acts like a total b all the time, not just at school," I say.

Remus snorts.

"Not surprising,"

"I'm pretty sure Logan is the only reason they've made it so far, practically everything he says is either 'no Roman, that's stupid', or 'Sure, go for it Roman'," I say, "And Patton is fairly normal. But I'm pretty sure he would do anything for the other two, so you guys should watch your backs,"

"We've been watching them since 5th grade," J-Dee says.

"Just a warning," I say.

"Thanks," Remus says, "So, do you guys want to see my latest dish?" 

Seeing as his last 'dish' was a barely edible 'cake' that I'm pretty sure was just flour, eggs, and water dyed brown, I'm not excited for this.

Remus holds out a plate of what looks like actual worms. He picks one up and eats it.

"Ew," I say.

He shrugs. He squishes one, and it bursts a little.

"Oh crap, that one was real," He says.

J-Dee and I laugh as he tries to pick out the real worms from the fake.

---

The next day after school I'm with the Light Sides. It's Friday, so we can stay out a lot later.

"Come on, Charlie Frown! It's time you get a makeover!" Roman says.

I sigh. I just hope he doesn't wash out my purple.

"Now, no offense, but you dress awful. No style whatsoever," Logan says.

I scowl.

"But you do look nice. Under all the drab," Patton adds.

Roman walks in with a hairbrush, a million bottles of who knows what, and a few bags from the mall.

"And you know, you know, you know, this could be beautiful~" He sings.

Patton scrambles for his phone, putting on the matching music.

"Mascara, maybe some lip gloss, and we're on our way~" Roman continues, unpacking the bags.

"Get this boy some blush, and Logan I need your brush~"

Logan hands him a blush brush and a hairbrush. I'm not sure which I dread more.

"Let's make him beautiful~" Roman sings.

The other two join in.

"Let's make him beautiful, let's make him beautiful, make him beautiful~"

"Ok?" Roman asks.

Like I have a choice. Also, I don't want to go along with the song, so I just nod instead of saying anything. Ha.

---

They've moved on to singing Popular now. Seriously, what is with people at this school and singing?

"We're gonna make you pop-u-lar~" They sing.

After what feels like hours, but was really only a half-hour, they're done.

I look in the mirror. They washed out most of my purple and dyed it black, instead of my dark brown. They kept the tips purple. They wiped away my pale foundation and gave me eyeliner and some pale pink lip gloss. They also did something with my eyelashes. I don't really know.

"Now it's time to go shopping! We need to get you some real clothes, Hot Topic," Roman says.

Last I checked, my clothes were not an illusion.

We drive to the mall. I hate shopping unless it's at Hot Topic. That place actually has clothes I like.

Five stores and half a musical number later, we grab some cinnamon pretzels.

"Four cinnamon pretzels please," Roman asks.

"That will be $15.32," The cashier says.

Roman nods, handing them some cash. After a few minutes, we get our pretzels. I tear into mine, halfway done when I notice the look the others give me. I stop chewing and set mine back in the bag. I don't know what I was doing but I guess it was wrong.

"So are you excited for your new wardrobe?" Patton asks, "I think you'll look amazing!"

"Thanks, Patton. I gotta admit, we should come here more often," I say.

No. No, we shouldn't. But I want them to trust me. If they do, they'll keep the bullies away. Then I can keep them away from J-Dee and Remus too.

Eventually, we finish our pretzels, meet back up with Roman's mom, and drive back to his house. I'm pretty sure they got me an entirely new wardrobe. 

Back in Roman's room, I open up the first bag. It's a pale purple shirt. I immediately hate it. I look through the rest of the bag, to find 90% if the clothes are purple. Great, I guess they want me to ditch the black and grey.

"Is purple like, my color now?" I ask.

"Yep. Mine's red, Patton's is light blue, and Logan's is dark blue,"

"Navy blue," Logan corrects.

Make Patton yellow and Logan green and we have the Heathers. 

"Oooh, I think this one looks perfect!" Patton says, holding up a dark purple shirt.

It's got a repeating pattern of little storm clouds. I like it the most out of all of them.

"Now Monday is going to be pastel, so make sure to wear that," Roman says.

Why. Just why.

"Make sure we don't have darker colors on Wednesday," Logan adds, "We have gym,"

They have some strange rules for being in this group, not going to lie. I think I like Patton the best out of all of them, he seems to be the most supportive. Or at least he doesn't straight up insult my style. He got me a few darker clothes. He even avoided the neon purple stuff, which I appreciate. I mean, we still got some neon purple because Roman insisted.

"So, Roman, have you noticed anything going on with the other groups lately?" Patton asks.

"Not really. The Darks seem to be keeping a much lower profile than last year. Incredible Sulk, have you met the Dark Sides? Remus and Janus?" Roman asks, turning to me.

Is Janus J-Dee's real name? God, no matter what he's still a theater character. But a realization hits. They've seen me with the 'Dark Sides'. They know I hung out with them.

"Yeah, I mean I think. They seem pretty ok," I say, not wanting to insult my friends.

"Oh, really. Well, I don't really like them. No one at school does," Roman says.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I look at the time.

"Well, thanks for the makeover guys, but I need to get going. My mom hates it when I'm late," I say, getting up and grabbing some of the bags.

She doesn't really hate it, I just hate more social interaction than necessary, which has been happening a lot lately. 

Hi, I need some sleep but I'm still gonna post. Since it's a little late for me I'm probably going to regret everything I've established in this chapter. Oh well. Leave some thoughts or feedback in the comments if you want and have a great day/night you magnificent peep!