Time After Time - 1998 - 2000: The People We Become - Part 1
Title: Time After Time
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the several dozen franchises and characters that I’ll be using throughout this story.
Summary: A love story spanning two decades, told through multiple parallel universes, and seen through the eyes of Rachel McAdams.
A/N: Well it looks like my love for Andrea Joy Cook and Katheryn Winnick has finally hit its peak, and this is the result.
A/N 2: Due to the fact this is a crossover, I’m going to have to alter some timelines and locations in order to make this work.
Story Arc Summary:
Title: 1998 - 2000: The People We Become
Fandom: Mean Girls/Student Bodies and Higher Ground
Pairing: Holly Benson/Shelby Merrick
Rating: G
Summary: Regina George moves out of Illinois and starts a new life in Canada. As she experiences her final high school years, Regina sees life both from the perspective of the quirkiness of Edison High to the troubled Mt. Horizon High School, located across the border in the Ontario wilderness.
A/N: For this story, let’s assume the events of Mean Girls, Higher Ground and season 2 of Student Bodies all took place around 1998 despite being released later. Also since Higher Ground was obviously filmed in British Columbia, we’re going to have to pretend Ontario has rocky mountains because Higher Ground without mountains wouldn’t even be called Higher Ground. I’m also pretty certain Mean Girls took place in the 11th grade, but let’s pretend it was the 10th.
A/N2: Both of these Canadian series carries a lot of sentimental value to me, and both ended unresolved. So now I feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders because I feel obliged to give both of these series a proper ending. Hope I do them justice. Just for anyone who’s unfamiliar with these two shows, Katheryn Winnick is Holly Benson and A.J. Cook is Shelby Merrick. Anyone curious to check out the series, both are up on Youtube. Here are the channels for Higher Ground and Student Bodies. Katheryn is in episodes 2.49, 3.51, 3.53, 3.54 and 3.59 while A.J. is in the entire series of Higher Ground. If I had to recommend one, then by all means watch Higher Ground.
A/N3: Thanks to all the betas that help review this chapter. There was so much that I’m sorry for not being able to remember all of you.
Fun Trivia: Although taking place in Illinois, Mean Girls was filmed in Toronto, Ontario. So if Regina was actually moving, it wouldn’t have been that far.
Part 1
1998 was quite a year for Regina George. She fractured her spine when the careless school bus driver rammed her, but she still managed to attend the Spring Fling and received the crown of queen. Okay, that was only because Cady gave away her crown, but Regina got a good chunk of it and only lost to Cady by five votes according to one of the vote counters. After her recovery and numerous sessions with her physical therapist, Regina really had a new view on life. By the time the new school year began her group, the Plastics, were no more. She was advised to join a sports team to let out all the rage and frustrations she had bottled up inside. The sport of her choosing: lacrosse. All of it appeared to be working. The Queen Bee of North Shore High School, who many of the students knew and feared, seemed to have died in the accident. It felt as if the new school year was going to be a new start for Regina, and it was, but in more ways than she had thought.
Almost one month into the new school year Regina’s mom broke the news - they were moving. So goodbye to North Shore in Illinois, and here she is now. Sitting in an airplane, looking down on the city she’s going to be calling home: Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Regina keeps mostly to herself during the car ride. She looks to the rest of her family. Her little sister, Kylie, and her mom are pretty excited to be starting a new life in a new country.
Their car pulls into the driveway of their new home. “Alright girls, let’s take a look inside our new home,” her mom says enthusiastically.
Regina steps out of the car and takes a good look at their big house. Inside, she just stands and looks at the interior of the place from the foyer. Her mom passes by her and says, “Hey, Regina I think we’ll be calling this city home in no time.”
“Can’t wait,” Regina replies back with a fake smile. Regina should be excited right now, but the thought of starting a new life in a foreign country made her nervous, especially one where she had heard that most people spoke French instead of English. There’s not much she can do now to the sudden change other than learn to adapt to it.
*****
Regina sits in the principal's office as her mom chats with the school principal, Mrs. Morton. ‘Why would a Canadian high school be named Thomas A. Edison?’ Regina wonders. ‘The people who built this place must have either been American or idolized Edison, whatever.’
Mrs. Morton reaches over to shake her mom’s hand. “We welcome your daughter to Edison, Mrs. George.”
*****
The next day Regina strolls the busy hallways of Edison High in search of her locker.
She locates the number. Just as she was working the locker combination, the blonde guy whose locker is next to hers, looks sideways and sees Regina. “Are you new here? I just noticed you’re occupying the empty locker next to mine.”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Just moved into the city. And you two are?” Regina returns the question back at the blonde guy and the brunette girl next to him.
“Victor Kane,” the blonde guy holds out his hand, trying to be a gentleman, she supposed.
“My name’s Fransesca,” the short brunette answers. “But people here just call me Flash, because I’m the photographer for one of the school papers.”
“Regina,” she takes Victor’s hand with her left hand and Flash’s with her right and shakes them both at the same time. “I'm wondering, do you guys know how many people in this school speak English?”
“Oh don’t worry about it,” Flash gives her the “forget it” wave. “Many people in this city may speak French, but that doesn’t mean we don’t speak English either. Besides about half the people here migrated from Ontario. You’re in the most non-French speaking school in the whole city.”
“That’s good, at least I don’t have to ace French just to have a proper conversation.”
Victor smiles. “Here’s hoping we can become good friends.”
“Here’s hoping,” Regina says, giving one of her not-so-sincere smiles. She takes her things and walks off to her class. "I’ve got to go."
“I could tell she likes me,” Victor says to Flash. She just gives him a bemused smile.
*****
“We have a new student, so everyone welcome Regina to the class,” the teacher announces. There are a few minor responses from the audience area, mostly moans and grunts. “Okay, just take a seat anywhere in the auditorium.”
Regina walks across the auditorium. Many of the boys are giving Regina weird stares as she passes them. She was less than thrilled to say the least. She then spots another blonde girl near the end of the auditorium. Slim and pretty herself, wearing nice casual clothing of the more upscale variety. “Hi there,” Regina says to the other girl.
“Hey,” the other girl responds with a small smile in the corner of her mouth.
Regina takes a seat next to her. “It’s like the boys here have never seen a pretty girl in their lives.”
“This school’s selection of decent guys is very limited,” the other girl responds. “I guess they believe if they flirt with the new students early, it somehow increases their chances. You have any actual interest in acting?”
“Nope,” Regina answers. “It beats any of the other classes I can pick though. You?”
“Kind of; I’m a part time model,” she answers. “So I should at least know how to pose and walk on a stage.”
“Makes sense,” Regina responds. “What’s your name?”
“Holly.”
“Regina,” she gives Holly a small smile.
*****
Regina steps into the cafeteria with a plastic container of sushi. Her former lunch diet of salad and diet soda had become extinct ever since the Plastics broke up. The lunch was store-bought, because Regina wanted to survey the quality of the cafeteria food the school has before deciding to try it. The lunch crowds pass by her to find a seat while Regina takes her time and examines the seating area. ‘Let’s see what kind of people we have here,’ she thinks to herself.
Regina glances around as she slowly walks in the pathway between the tables. Unlike her previous school, the group types here didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. It didn’t look like they catered to an exclusive clique either. A number of the tables appear to have students sitting down at random. She looks around and spots Holly.
“Hey, Regina! Over here,” Holly calls out.
Regina takes the invitation and moves towards her table. Holly scoots over for the new student.
“Care to introduce us to your new friend, Holly?” a red-haired friend of Holly’s asks.
“This is my best friend Kim,” Holly introduces Regina to the red-haired girl. She then directs Regina’s attention to another blonde sitting next to them, “And this is Paula. Girls meet Regina. She’s in my drama class and just moved into the city, so I figure I should try to make her feel welcome here.”
“Welcome, Regina,” Paula greets. “Where did you move from?’
“Evanston, Illinois, down in the US,” Regina answers. Regina examines Holly and her friends. This could work.
*****
The next day, Regina spends the break time in the gym, checking to see if there are any team openings. Her new self is a nicer and more humble person that tries not to do the things her Queen Bee self would’ve done for amusement, like spreading rumours or breaking up couples. However, on the sports field is where the Queen Bee still lives on. She goes through the list of girls' sport teams, and is amused when she spots one new sports team. They’re still running try-outs and one of them is today at lunch.
Lunchtime arrives and Regina steps into the area of the school where the try-outs are being held. Several girls are already practicing with the red rubber balls in their hands. Regina approaches the female coach nearby.
“So, are you still looking for girls to be part of the team?” Regina asks.
The coach gives Regina a good hard look. White fancy dress pants, a black sweater with a large v-neck that exposed a light pink button-down shirt, which was opened enough to show off a gold necklace. The designer ensemble had the coach questioning the new girl.
“You sure you got the right place?” the coach asks. “This is the dodgeball try-outs.”
“Oh, I know,” she responds confidently. "I’m not too late, am I?”
“No, you’re right on time,” the coach says, expecting Regina to be a spoiled rich kid who doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into. Regina gives the coach a smirk.
The coach waits a short while for more people. After a few minutes, the coach blows the whistle to start. "Heads up, girls. Game's going to begin soon, so stop what you're doing. First things first, gather all dodge balls and place them in the centre of the gym."
Many of the girls do as instructed. The coach continues, "Once you're finished with that, grab a coloured bib from the bin over there near my office." The coach points to where the bin is located. "It's a choice between red or green this time."
Regina casually walks to grab a bib. She pulls out a green one. The bibs are in the shape of a tank top meant to be worn over your clothes. Regina instead opts to shoving the bib into her pocket and let it hang out of her pants.
After the girls have picked a colour, the coach goes on. "Okay red team to this wall, green team to that wall," she uses her arms to point to the corresponding spots.
Once the girls have gathered, the coach decides to give a few words about the game of dodge ball. Regina isn't really paying much attention to the coach's little speech; she just wants to slam some balls into girls' faces. After those few minutes, Regina hears the words she's been waiting for. "Okay let’s get this game going," the coach says and the whistle blows again.
Many of the girls rush to the centre. Regina just stays where she is, away from the centre, watching with her arms crossed. She watches stationary as the other girls get eliminated one by one.
The coach notices that Regina is the only one not diving for a ball. She shakes her head at the new girl, expecting her not to be into sports. Only trying out for the team for some other purpose, but then she notices the expression on Regina’s face. It’s the look of someone who’s confident and not the least bit intimidated. The coach then looks at the game and watches as Regina is easily outlasting all the other girls by simply standing there. She can’t decide if Regina is smart or just full of herself.
Once about half of the girls who came have been eliminated, Regina finally makes her move. Calmly, she moves closer towards the centre.
Three girls on the other team were watching Regina throughout the game; two of them with dodge balls in their hands. “Why look, she’s finally moving,” one of the girls comment.
“Hey, Carol, should we knock down Barbie over there?” one of the other girls, named Rena, asks.
“Who gets to do the honours?” questions Carol.
The third girl, Mary, makes a suggestion, “You both have dodge balls, why don’t you see which of you two can hit her first?”
“I like that idea,” Rena replies.
“So do I,” Carol adds.
Regina notices the two girls rushing towards her. Carol throws first, followed by Rena a second after. To their surprise, Regina catches Carol’s ball, and uses it to block the second incoming ball. With Carol eliminated, Regina swiftly tosses the dodge ball at Rena. It strikes the girl with such force, that Rena gets knocked onto the ground.
Mary drops her jaw at the sight. Regina turns her head to Mary then grins while slowly walking backwards.
The game progresses and Regina continues to go strong throughout. Both Mary and Regina rushes for free dodge balls towards the centre line. One of the balls is rolling towards Mary while the closest to Regina is stationary. Mary gets to her ball first. She bends down to fetch the dodge ball, but Regina quickly gets into a kneel position and scoops up her dodge ball with one hand. Instead of trying to stand back up and throw the ball like her adversary, Regina throws the ball hard into the hardwood floor. The rubber ball rebounds against the ground and clocks Mary underneath the jaw.
Mary collapses on her back and lies on the floor for a bit, seeing stars. “Can’t believe I got beaten by Barbie.”
Before they know it, the whistle blows. “Victory to the green team,” the coach announces. She walks over to Regina and another girl on the team, “Looks like these two ladies are the last ones left. That’s enough for today girls. Any new people remember to leave your names on the sheet that’s on the table over there near my office. We’ll continue more tomorrow.”
The coach compliments the other girl before she leaves. “Good one, Jessica.” She then faces Regina, “What’s your name new girl? Anyone who can do that well and look nice at the same time deserves extra props.”
“Thanks,” Regina says and flashes a smile. “It’s Regina.”
“I got to say, Regina, if you’re serious about joining this team, I can easily see you becoming the team captain.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Regina comments.
“Well enjoy your lunch while you still have time,” the coach finishes.
for other chapters:
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