Chapter Text
The school bell rang. The parking lot was filling up with sweaty, hormonal teenagers. In front of a silver convertible, a couple was arguing.
"I can't take it anymore, Regina" said Aaron Samuels, captain of the football team, and soon-to-be ex boyfriend of Regina George. "I don't think this is working anymore. Maybe we should take a break."
Regina stared at him, jaw tense, eyes wide, as if she could burn a hole through him with her glare. Suddenly, every argument, every complaint she'd rehearsed in her head vanished. All she could do was stand there and listen to those words.
"Whatever. Do you really think you're the only guy in this school?" she said, her tone sharp, eyes threatening. She was hurt, but she couldn't show it. Regina George didn't cry in public. She had a reputation to protect, and she wasn't about to ruin it.
Aaron just stood there, disappointed but relieved, watching the weight lift off his shoulders as the blonde stormed into her convertible and slammed the door shut. She honked the horn twice.
"Are you moving or what?" she snapped.
He still cared about her, but deep down, he knew this was the right thing to do. With pitty in his eyes, Aaron stepped aside and watched as Regina drove away.
Regina was now crying uncontrollably in her bed, silk sheets, pink walls, posters, and framed photos everywhere. The perfect princess room for the queen of North Shore. Her heart ached, and that pain gave her enough motivation to rip every single photo of Aaron off her wall.
Just then, her phone rang. She threw herself onto the bed and snatched it up.
"What?" she snapped irritably.
"How are you feeling?" came a soft, nervous voice full of pity on the other end.
"How do you think?" Regina replied sarcastically, sniffling. "Actually, I don't expect you to understand. You've never had an actual boyfriend, have you, Gretchen?" she added, with a sharp tone meant to hurt.
Gretchen Wieners — brunette, rich, gorgeous, but not exactly the leader type. More of a follower. Regina loved her loyalty.
"I'm sorry" Gretchen said, eyebrows raised, voice anxious. "Look, there are plenty of guys out there. I could introduce you to my cousin Steve if you want. He's into sports too."
Regina groaned. "I'd rather get run over by a bus. And chess is not a real sport" she shot back.
"I wish chess was real" said a high-pitched voice on the line — Karen Smith. Definitely not the brightest, but popular enough to be part of The Plastics.
Gretchen sighed and shook her head. "Listen, we just want to be there for you, okay? Help you move on as soon as possible."
Those last words echoed in Regina's mind.
"Yeah, before you find out about Aaron's new fling," Karen added innocently, while holding her boobs, you know, to check the weather.
"What!?" Regina shouted, jumping off her bed.
"Karen!" Gretchen scolded.
"I'm sorry, Regina," Gretchen said quickly, her voice trembling. "I heard from Lacey, who heard from Amanda at lunch, that Rachel said Aaron's been hanging out with some new girl. And they look really close."
Silence. Just one deep breath from Regina.
"You know what? I don't care. If he wants to move on with some lame-ass bitch, then let him. I'm done wasting tears on him," she said, standing tall, one hand on her hip, tongue sliding over her top teeth as her expression turned cold and calculated.
A sigh of relief came from the other end.
"You're taking this surprisingly well," Gretchen said with a worried smile. "Should we be concerned?"
Regina smirked. "Absolutely" she replied before hanging up.
She had a plan. A crazy one. But she wasn't thinking straight. Heartbreak and pride rarely mix well. She wanted revenge. Because no one makes fun of Regina George.
All she needed was the perfect idiot to play along. And hopefully, survive.
The next day at school, she could feel every stare. Rumors traveled fast at North Shore. Regina walked through the halls flanked by Gretchen and Karen like guards on duty. They moved like royalty, the crowd parting in front of them as if it was a daily routine.
Her plan was in motion. Cold, calculated, controlled, like everything she did. Except Aaron. He was the one thing she couldn't control, and that infuriated her.
While lost in thought, she wasn't watching where she was going, and suddenly bumped into something tall, solid, and... kind of smelly.
Or someone.
Her eyes widened in shock. Who in their right mind didn't move out of her way?
"My ba— wow, how's it going?" said a tall guy with messy hair, smudged guyliner, a band t-shirt, black leather bracelets, ripped jeans, cheap cologne, and a stupid grin, like he'd just discovered what a girl looked like.
Cocky. She could tell from the first second.
Rolling her eyes, Regina said, "Move" trying to push past him in the crowded hallway.
The guy stepped in front of her again, tilting his head. "Didn't catch your name" he said, eyes shamelessly scanning her from head to toe with that same stupid grin.
Regina let out a sarcastic laugh. "Never. Now move" she said one last time, managing to slip past him and his raccoon-eyed stare.
"Nice to meet you, gorgeous!" he called out as the three girls walked away. Gretchen and Karen turning around, faces twisted in disgust and disbelief.
"You must be new," said a girl with even heavier eyeliner than his, wearing clothes way too alternative. She stood beside a tall guy with bright energy.
"Name?" she asked, arms crossed.
"Rodrick," he said with a friendly, naive grin.
"You're lucky you're alive," the other guy said jokingly. "Queen Bee's already pissed off enough as it is. I'm Damien, and this is Janis." He nodded toward her. "Walk with us before you get eaten alive."
Rodrick laughed. "If it's by blondie, I wouldn't mind," he said, still watching the trail The Plastics had left behind.
Damien shook his head. Janis frowned. "Don't even dream about it. You don't wanna be part of that mess," she warned. "Regina is bad news. She'll destroy you, and not in the way you're thinking."
Rodrick chuckled. "She's just a girl. Can't be that bad."
"Oh, but it can," Damien said dramatically. "Regina's not your average teenage girl. She's the devil in disguise. Wearing pink heels and designer bags. I heard she once made a girl move out of town and change her name just because she said Regina's outfit was trashy." He nodded wide-eyed.
"That's why you're better off sticking with the best people you'll ever meet. Not much popularity guaranteed, but at least we won't make you move cities or change your name. Unless, of course, you bring up Janis's dark past."
Janis shot him a look.
"Look," Janis added, "if you wanna survive your first year at North Shore, just don't mess with Regina George."
Regina, meanwhile, was walking down the hall, irritation radiating off her. That brief encounter with the messy-haired guy? Definitely not helping her mood.
"New students are getting bolder every year," Gretchen said, wearing her trademark judgmental face.
Regina didn't respond, she was too busy channeling her anger, trying not to explode right there in the middle of the hallway.
"I think he was kinda cute," Karen said with a dreamy smile. Gretchen looked at her in disgust.
"Karen, no, sweetie," she said, shaking her head. Karen just shrugged.
Regina raised an eyebrow, thoughtful.
"You think so?" she murmured, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
No one had ever had the guts to just speak to her like that, to talk to her like she was any ordinary mortal. Like a regular girl. She hated cockiness, but there was something oddly refreshing about that tall, dark-eyed mess. Maybe enough to make her plan work. There was potential, she just had to train him. And she had no idea how easy that would be.
"Then let's find out who this mysterious raccoon-eyed boy is," she said, leaving Karen and Gretchen confused and horrified, both hurrying to catch up with her.
The plan was simple: find a puppet to make Aaron jealous. Jealous enough to come crawling back to her. It had to look real, Aaron was smart enough to see through something fake, and Regina couldn't risk that.
When lunchtime came, every group sat in their socially assigned tables. Regina, sitting right in the center of hers, flanked by her two pink-sidekicks, scanned the cafeteria. Her eyes landed across the room, on two losers and her next target, walking with trays of food.
"And that's how you get free samples at Sephora," Damian said proudly.
Janis laughed. "Every time I think you can't out-gay yourself, you prove me wrong."
Rodrick chuckled. They kept walking until a voice froze them in place, right in front of the royal trio's table.
"Hi, I don't think I know you," Regina said sweetly, her smile was charming but laced with poison underneath.
Silence.
Janis and Damian exchanged confused glances, then looked at Rodrick. The tall, scruffy guy was rarely at a loss for words, but the smile of the blonde queen in front of him froze him for a second.
Regina raised an eyebrow, arms crossed, resting them casually on the table as she waited.
"Hey, yeah, um— my name's Rodrick," he finally said, glancing around with that same stupid grin.
"Robert, you're new, right?" Regina asked.
"Rodrick," he corrected immediately.
"Sure," she said, flashing a fake smile, tilting her head slightly. "If you'd like, I can give you a tour of the school. Who better than someone who knows every corner and secret of this place?" she added, leaning forward just a little.
"He's with us, so he's fine," Janis cut in quickly.
Regina didn't move a muscle, only turned her head a few inches, just enough to show she'd heard.
"You don't have to be so overprotective," she said, smiling sweetly. "I don't bite."
Gretchen and Karen exchanged confused looks. They had no idea what Regina was trying to gain by associating with that loser who smelled like an old car.
"So, what do you think, Rodrick?" Regina said, her gaze sharp and predatory.
Her lashes filled with mascara were perfectly curled, her eyes dazzling, the kind of stare that could stop traffic. Hearing his name coming out of her glittery lips was enough to make saying "no" impossible.
"Sure," Rodrick said confidently, puffing his chest a little like he'd just won a prize.
"Great. See you after school, we'll get to know each other better," Regina said, tossing him a quick look that clearly meant the conversation was over.
Rodrick didn't take the hint, but Janis and Damien did. They pushed him away like he was glued to the floor still staring at Regina.
As soon as they were gone, Gretchen turned toward Regina. "Regina, what are you doing? That guy is a walking social suicide."
Without even glancing at her, Regina replied calmly,
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
Her eyes flicked toward the other side of the cafeteria, where Rodrick was watching her, that same smirk still on his face.