Jenny Balcom brushed her hair and she got ready for school. Her mind in a tumult over what had transpired these last few weeks.
What was going on with Lola Loud?
She was always the most popular girl in class (despite her nickname "the evil twin") always so glamorous and fun. Always the centre of attention. Usually surrounded by friends and admirers.
Jenny had hardly any friends. Oh sure, There were two kids she played with sometimes but Jenny always had to be so careful about her skin she couldn't really roughhouse or go to the park or even take a trip to dairy land.
Jenny's two friends had friends of their own, sometimes they invited Jenny along but everyone knew Jenny was pretty much just an extra.
Then Jenny got the invitation to the Loud twins birthday party! She had never been invited to the Loud house before. In fact, neither Lana or Lola played with Jenny. Honestly, she thought someone must have made a mistake but she so rarely got invited to birthday parties she didn't ask questions.
The party was a disaster. Turned out almost all of Lola's friends had other plans that day and couldn't make it and Lola didn't realize.
Then Lola got upset about the gifts and everyone made fun of her.
Then Grabby Kathy stole Lola's doll and Lola went CRAZY and nearly ran everyone over with her little pink car.
Then things got even WEIRDER. Lola suddenly started hanging out with Jenny and asking about her interests. She even said they should talk more often.
But the next day Lola practically ignored her.
And the day after that she told Jenny they shouldn't hang out at all.
And then she changed her mind AGAIN! Lola came up to Jenny yesterday at recess and started apologizing.
"Look Jenny. The truth is I do think your a smart girl and I really do want us to be friends. I just wasn't expecting Roxy to take everything so personally and I panicked. I know I hurt your feelings, saying I wanted to play with you and then turning you down. I'm sorry. But now me and Roxy have talked it out, and I think it would be great if you and her came over to my house after school tomorrow. We'll have....cookies. And.......play....dress up? You play dress up right? That's something kids our age do?"
Jenny didn't know what to say to that. She had never played dress up before and had no idea what the other kids did for fun. "I guess."
"Satisfactory. Inform your parents and meet me and Roxy out front after school. Mrs Lou-....My mom....will pick us up."
Jenny looked at herself in the mirror. The hideous red blotch on her face looked more red than usual this morning. But the blotches on her body seemed okay. She just needed to keep her face out of the sun and she should be fine. Jenny then lifted her arms and looked under her pits. No boils. That means she would be able to run around without hurting herself. But what about Roxy?
Jenny cringed at the thought. Roxy the fairy was a really pretty girl who came to school in fancy dresses and had expensive toys. She and Lola always played together. Last time Jenny met her, Roxy was really mean and said Jenny had stolen Lola from her. Jenny hated it when people were mean to her. Like in her old kindergarten class. The kids always made fun of her and called her gross. This school was better, but only because the teacher insisted on it.
"Honey! its time for school!" Jenny smeared her ointment on the red blotches, took out her big red coat and put it on. pulling the hood over her head so her blotchy mark wouldn't look so bad.
.......
Her parents dropped her off and hugged her. "Now remember sweet heart, when your at Lola's house you can have a few cookies but not too many or you'll flair up." Said her mother
"I know. I'll only eat three."
"I told Mrs Loud that we'll be picking you up at four thirty."
"Okay."
Her mother kissed her on the forehead. Jenny's parents were very nice people but because of her condition they tended to worry about her a lot.
Jenny went to her locker and put her lunch away and then went to class were Lola was about to sit down. Jenny took the desk beside her and sat.
"Hi Lola."
Lola looked at her with surprise. "Jenny! Hi!"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Lola said "you just snuck up on me a little."
"Are we still playing after school today with Roxy?"
"Of course....yes....You. Me. and Roxy."
Speaking of the devil. A loud thunk was heard. Roxy had been standing behind Lola with a look of anger on her face.
She sat down behind Lola with her arms crossed and Jenny realized too late that she had taken the seat that Roxy had wanted.
Jenny felt her face go hot. She didn't like Roxy, but if Lola was going to make an effort for the three of them to be friends than she should at least try to help.
"Hey Roxy, you can trade seats if you want. I don't mind." Jenny stood up.
Roxy gave her a look of contempt and quietly took up Jenny's offer.
Jenny sat behind Lola and Roxy immediately launched into speech like Jenny wasn't even there. "Hey Lola, did you see the episode of prison pageants last night?"
Lola gasped, "Oh my gosh! It was SO good!"
"I know!"
"and it looked so much better on the hi def television."
"Hi def? Your parents bought a new TV?" Roxy gasped
Lana Loud was sitting on the other side of Lola and overheard this. "Yeah, what are you talking about sis? We can't afford that."
Lola's eyes went blank for a moment. "Uh.....we don't?...oh yeah! I guess I thought the TV we had was hi def. My bad." She laughed.
Jenny leaned forward. "The Tv at my house is hi def."
"Well good for you!" Roxy said with snark, "but in case you forgot, Lola's got a ton of siblings, so her family can't afford things like that. No one likes a braggart."
Jenny slumped down in her seat and covered her face with her hood. This wasn't going to be a fun playdate.
...................
Mrs Loud picked the girls up after school right on schedule. Jenny made more attempts at trying to find common ground with Roxy but it didn't seem like they had similar interests.
And she wasn't the only one. Yesterday Lola talked to Jenny for a long time about her hobbies and interests but today Lola couldn't seem to remember any of the stuff that she had brought up.
Like she had forgotten all of yesterday.
When they got to the loud House, Mr Loud brought out a plate of oatmeal cookies and the girls took them upstairs for a fancy tea party.
"Oh. I thought you wanted to play dress up?" Jenny asked
Roxy gave Lola a look and Lola laughed. "Oh no, no no. Sweetie, when I said dress up I meant we would have a super duper makeover!"
"Oh." Had Jenny mis heard? She could have sworn Lola asked if they wanted to PLAY dress up.
The three of them had a tea party. The cookies were delicious. At first Roxy and Lola did most of the talking together but after a few minutes Lola seemed to notice Jenny sitting quietly and said, "So Jennifer, what sort of TV shows do you like to watch?
What? What TV shows?
"Lola. I watch the same cartoons that you do. Remember? Sponge Bert. Captain Crocker. Duck-tective?"
"YOU watch Duck-tective?" Roxy asked in alarm.
Lola let out a nervous laugh. "Oh yeah! I remember now. I sometimes watch Duck-tective when theres nothing on. will you excuse me a moment?"
Lola fled the room leaving Roxy and Jenny alone.
"So." said Roxy, "Do you watch My little Unicorn?"
"Sometimes." Jenny felt her feet cross nervously. Roxy was such a outgoing girl and it made Jenny feel nervous. "I don't really like unicorns. I like shows that are funny."
"My little Unicorn is funny."
"I like shows that are...more funny. Like Flopsy Mopsy! Have you ever seen that show?"
Roxy had not.
"Its really great! its about a yellow rabbit who gets these different jobs and always gets into trouble-"
"Oh right! The yellow bunny show. I think I saw that once. I thought it was kind of dumb."
Jenny felt angry. "It's not dumb. It's really funny."
"Well, I think its dumb."
"You're dumb." That last comment stayed in Jenny's mind. She didn't want to get in a fight in Lola's house.
Lola soon returned (after an angry phone call with Tatiana, who had neglected to mention all the things she had talked about with Jenny.) and the tea party resumed, albeit with a chillier atmosphere.
"Hey! Why don't we play a board game?" Lola suggested, "We could play pretty, pretty pageant queen!"
Roxy was elated. Jenny had never played this before.
.................
Roxy won the first round. Lola won the second and then Jenny made huge comeback and won the third.
"I'm bored. Lets go outside." Roxy dismissed her last loss with a wave.
"Outside?" Jenny tugged on the edge of her hoodie.
"Come along Jennifer. I want to show you my new jumprope." Lola said
"That's not my name."
"Jenny, Jennifer, its all the same really."
"No, I mean, Jennifer isn't-"
"Oh, very well, we'll call you Jenny. Now come along."
Jump rope was difficult for Jenny because of her big thick coat weighing her down. Roxy and Lola told her it would be better to take it off but she wasn't having any of it. She needed to keep her skin out of the sun.
"Well, then I guess jump rope is out." Roxy rolled her eyes.
"How about Lola tag!" Lola beamed
"Oh yay! I love Lola tag!"
"uh...I'm not supposed to rough house." Jenny hated being such a pill but if one of her sores opened up and dirt got in, it would be really painful for her.
Roxy groaned even louder and even Lola pinched her nose and sighed. But then she seemed to perk up and get an idea. "You know, Jenny, I've been a model since I was old enough to walk (true story, my first steps made it on the cover of baby magazine) and I know a few things about skin care."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You may not know this but skin needs to be able to breathe. If you stay cooped up in that big sweaty coat, its going to make your skin pasty and gross. Like my sister Lucy."
Lola raised her finger upward and pointed to a girl dressed all in black hanging upside down from the edge of the roof. "Take a good long look at her. This is what happens if you keep your skin covered up and out of the sun for too long. Isn't it just depressing?"
"I can hear you." Lucy murmured
"Yeah, I know. So take it from me Jenny. Don't be like Lucy. Take your coat off and let your skin bask in this beautiful sunny day!"
Lola reached for the hoodie but Jenny pulled the cords so tight the hoodie swallowed her face.
"Heh. Okay Jenny, there no reason to be childish about this." Lola said as she and Roxie pulled on the coat.
"No! The sun will make my skin worse."
"You'll be fine! Trust me!"
"No!"
Finally Roxy had enough. She shoved Jenny hard in the chest and she fell backwards into a mud puddle. Jenny opened the hoodie and looked at her mud soaked coat.
"Jenny? Are you okay?" Lola reached out her hand
Jenny sniffed and tears started to form. "You guys did that on purpose."
"No. it-it was an accident.-" Lola babbled
"Why'd you invited me over if your just going to be mean to me!" and then Jenny started to cry for real.
Rita Loud came outside. "What's going on out here?"
"Lola pushed her friend into the mud."
"Lucy, get off the roof."
Lucy hissed like a bat and scurried up to her bedroom window and Rita turned to Lola. "Lola? Is this true?"
"It was an accident. We were just trying to help. Her coat was making her hot." Lola said looking downcast.
"Well if Jenny doesn't want to take off her coat, you shouldn't push her. come on Jenny, Come inside we'll get you cleaned up."
Jenny sniffed and spent the next twenty minutes getting the mud wiped off while Lana collected the leftovers.
"I don't see what the big deal is. This is primo mud!" Lana said as she smeared it all over her face.
"Do you want me to call your mom Jenny?" asked Rita
Jenny shook her head. She knew her mother wouldn't be free until four thirty.
"Alright. Your coats going to have to go in the washing machine. If you want we can do it here really quick."
Jenny shook her head again. She didn't want anyone to see how gross she looked underneath.
Jenny couldn't understand why Lola was acting so weird. She was so...grown up, when they talked at school but now she seemed like a completely different person.
...................................
Meanwhile, Lola was sitting in the yard asking questions of her own. Why did Tatiana feel the need to keep being friends with this girl?
Jenny's not a bad sort but she's so...off on her own. She's not the type Lola would bring home on a normal day.
Roxy was waving her plastic wand around at random. "Sooooooooooo, is there a reason you like Jenny?"
"Uhhhhh. Well she's.....nice....when you get to know her." Truth was, Lola didn't know Jenny at all.
"Too bad she can't be nice AND fun to be with." Roxy muttered as she twirled. Her wand flew out of her hand and flew over the wooden fence to the yard behind them.
Roxy ran over to the fence and looked in between some of the planks. She could see the wand lying just a few feet away.
"Lola! Can you help me get my wand?" Roxy explained the situation to her.
"No problem Roxy. I know exactly what to do... LANA! CAN YOU HELP US GET INTO THE OTHER YARD?"
After Lana used her hammer to remove two of the boards, Roxy and Lola squeezed through and toddled over to get the wand.
"Is this Mr grouses yard?" Roxy asked
"No. He owns the yard over there. I...actually don't know these neighbours."
Roxy bent down to pick up the wand when she heard a growl.
"Roxy....look..."
Roxy raised her head slowly and peered into the face of the biggest, scariest looking dog she had ever seen.
The dog barked.
The girls screamed and ran back through the wooden fence as fast as their little legs could take them. Lana saw what happened and re closed the fence.
"Don't worry guys. He's not getting through-" and the dog smashed right through the wood like it was made of cardboard. Lana's eyes went wide with terror. "Run sis! He's got a craving for pageant queens!"
The two girls ran around the yard in terror with the big dog chasing them. When a big puffy red coat dropped onto of the dogs back and began riding him around.
The dog reached around and ripped Jenny off of him and tore her coat right off.
Jenny fell down in the mud again with the dog bearing down on her.....
.....And then the dog fell over and went to sleep. A big needle was sticking out the side of his neck.
Lisa Loud walked into the yard and removed the dart and reinserted it into her gun. "Excellent. I needed a test subject." She hoisted the dog into a wheelbarrow and dragged him inside.
"Uh, Lisa? I think he belongs to the neighbour." Lola said.
"The neighbour will get him back....eventually." and Lisa shut the back door behind her.
Roxy ran over to Jenny who was holding up her shredded coat.
"Oh Thank you! thank you thank you thank you! " she squealed as she hugged Jenny so tight she couldn't breath.
"Ow. My sores."
"I can't believe you jumped onto that dog, that was so incredibly-...what the heck is that?" Roxy backed away in alarm.
Jenny's skin was exposed for all to see. The red blotches extending from her face down across her arms and her tummy. "It's my condition." She said glumly
"Ew." Roxy cringed. "I didn't know you had it...all over...."
Lola felt like puking. Lana on the other hand was poking Jenny with curiosity. "Please don't" Jenny said as she smacked the hand away.
"This isn't just a bad rash is it?" Lola asked
"No. I told you guys, I have a skin...actually its my blood." Jenny looked down. She had never told anyone this. "My blood has some kind of deasise that makes my skin all gross. I get boils too. See?"
Jenny lifted her arm, indeed little white pustules were starting to form underneath. Lola grabbed her mouth.
"The boils really hurt. I have to see a doctor every week and if my skins really bad he has to poke my boils with a needle and then inject me with medicine and clean them. It's really gross. I hate it..." Jenny sniffed.
Roxy and Lola looked at each other. They felt terrible about treating this poor girl so badly.
"I'm sorry." said Roxy. "I shouldn't have pushed you into the mud."
"But you know..." Lola started to say as she picked up the shredded coat, "...this thing REALLY isn't doing you any favours."
"But I don't want people to see my body!" Jenny complained "Whenever people see what I look like its all they talk about! At least with the hoody they think its just my face. Not something...more serious."
"Uh huh. Insecurities. I get it." Lola dismissed, "Thing is though, this coat is going to make your skin sweat like crazy, which will make the boils even worse. Your skin needs to BREATHE or your not going to get any better."
"Well, what do I do?" Jenny looked despondent
Roxy and Lola traded looks. "Makeover!!!!!"
...................................
Jenny sat up in Lola's bedroom like a statue. Roxy and Lola pulled out outfit after outfit and piled them high in front of her. How could one kid have this many clothes?
"Alright Jennifer, theres two ways to deal with bad skin. You can cover it up (which you tried) or you can sell it, work it, and OWN it! Lets start by finding your colour."
Lola held up a red dress next to Jenny. "Nope."
Roxy held up a blue dress with polka dots. "Nope."
A green dress. "Ew"
A white one. "definitely not."
A black dress. "hmmmmmm. Closer. What do you think Lola?"
"Dark colours are too warm. she needs light colours right now. But I think tone wise we're in the right ball park. What about...."
Lola held up a dark purple t-shirt and skirt with buttons on it. She brought it close to Jenny's rash arms. Lola smiled.
"Yeeeeees. That's your colour."
"It is?" said Jenny
Roxy nodded. "Specifically, its your rashes colour. Lets try it on."
They spun her around and changed her clothes in an instant. Jenny looked at herself in the mirror. "Hey....that doesn't look too bad actually."
"Are you kidding, its gorgeous!" Lola squealed, "I knew plum purple would work. It blends in with the colour of your rash making it look....well....less rashy. Now you can wear this in public and your condition will blend in."
"not to mention it looks am-aye-zing!" Roxy yelled.
Jenny twirled around in her new skirt. "Could I try some others?"
And thats how the rest of the afternoon was spent. When it was over Jenny left the house with four new outfits, three of which looked good.
The last one was a bit of a disagreement.
"Jenny....that REALLY doesn't look good." Roxy shook her head
"But yellow is my favourite colour! and my mom's always saying I need more T-shirts."
"I don't want to hurt your feelings but it really doesn't-"
"I think it looks great."
Lola cringed at the sight of it. Even SHE didn't like wearing that T-shirt. It was a bad decision she made a long time ago. (or maybe it was a hand me down? she couldn't remember.)
The shirt in question was bright yellow with black streaks all around it in a pattern. It was supposed to look fierce, but it actually looked like someone peed on an ink blot test.
But with Jenny's skin...
"She looks like a mushy old banana." Roxy whispered to Lola, "I didn't think it was possible but it makes her skin look EVEN WORSE!"
"I love this!" Jenny danced with glee while looking in the mirror. "I look so cool!"
Lola sighed. "Oh you SO do. Your like one of those big cats with the spots on it. A leopard? or is it a jaguar? OH! JAGUAR!"
Lola grabbed Jenny's shoulders. "That's going to be your knew nickname from now on. Jenny the rash girl is dead, from now on, say hello to Jenny the Jaguar!"
"Wow...." Jenny admired herself in the mirror.
Roxy leaned over to Lola. "Liar."
"Sometimes, being a friend means you have to tell them they look ugly when no one else will." Lola whispered, "And sometimes being a friend means telling them their beautiful even when they aren't."
Roxy nodded her head. "You know what would go great with that shirt? Blue shorts. Come on Jennifer, Lets throw some on and take a picture."
"Its Genevieve."
Roxy looked up. "what?"
"My name. It's Genevieve. Genny. With a G. Not a J."
Lola's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Its my fault kinda. I didn't elaborate when I first came to school and now no one pronounces my name right."
"Genevieve. That sounds..."
"French."
Lola gasped, "I love France...."
...............
When Genny (with her name now permanently corrected) went home with her parents they were shocked at the little girl who got in the car with them carrying four whole new outfits with her and a big smile on her face.
She completely forgot to bring her big red coat with her.
And the next day, The three of them sat together at lunch. The first of many times afterward.
To be continued.....
............................
Hope you enjoyed that. As always, leave a comment if you could.