First written 1997. End rewritten about 2000. Revised 4-6-02

Episode 0: Wannabe

Once upon a summer there was a girl named Tayla Carey. She had long, light brown hair that shone like a bright copper penny in the sunlight. Her hair was slightly wavy because of the braids she wore ever so often, and her bangs were long. She had light brown eyes. She would be in the ninth grade when school began, and was average height of girls her age.

Tayla had a best friend named Kenya Scarborough. Kenya had light, sandy blond hair that she wore in two pointy buns, like cat ears. Pigtails hung from them to just below her chin. She had long bangs covering the right side of her face. She had green and blue eyes; sometimes it seemed like these colors blended, making a teal, and sometimes they appeared to be separated, with blue on the inside surrounded by green. Like Tayla, she would be a freshman in high school after summer vacation ended. She was much smaller than most girls, however, and she had a tiny voice to match her tiny body.

Music was their absolute passion, and since they both wanted to be singers, they decided to try a two-person band. They sang and danced to recordings that they'd created with the help of those around them. After a few performances, they realized they'd enjoy being in a larger band; unfortunately, they didn't know anyone as passionate about music as them. That all changed with one trip to the mall.

Tayla and Kenya were walking past the fountain in the center of the mall when they both heard, very faintly, the most beautiful voice, like pure silk. They hunted for the singer, and finally found her, a girl sitting on the ledge of the fountain whose beauty perfectly matched that of her voice. She had golden blond hair, just like an angel's, and it was pulled back in a clip. Kenya approached the girl and complimented her on her voice.

The girl looked up at Kenya, surprised, and a shy smile of gratitude appeared on her face. "Oh, thank you!" she said quietly, blushing. "I was only singing to myself. I didn't mean for anyone to hear," she explained unnecessarily. They now saw that her eyes were baby blue, and she had a beauty mole on the right-side corner of her mouth. Kenya asked for her name; to add to their state of awe, she replied, "Venus." This girl was just too good to be true!

"You know, Venus, we could really use a voice like yours in our band. Would you like to join us?" At first Venus was a bit shy, but after Kenya gave her a little more information, she really liked the idea. The truth was, Venus had always dreamt of what it must be like to be in a band--now she could live her dream!

"Let's try a song now, one we all know," suggested Kenya.

"Here in the mall?" asked Tayla. She wasn't exactly as outgoing as her best friend. Venus didn't seem too thrilled with that idea either, although she tried her best to hide it.

"Sure, why not? Let's see how we sound together!" Kenya thought for a moment. "How about Spice Girls 'Wannabe'? Everyone knows that one." As soon as Kenya got the other two to sing with her, they tried to choose parts at the chorus. Kenya, with little effort, moved up to the third; Venus seemed to have some musical background herself, since she was able to reach the fifth. As they sang, Kenya's ears picked up the sound of another voice an octave lower than Tayla's. Kenya shushed them in order to hear better.

Sure enough, there was a lower voice, and it was coming from another girl sitting on the fountain ledge with fiery red hair pulled up in two buns. Short pigtails sprouted from the buns, similar to the way Kenya's hair was fixed. She was a big girl, tall and slender yet well filled-out. She continued to sing to herself in a soft, husky voice, perfectly matching each pitch whether she was trying to or not. With excitement, Kenya blurted, "Would you like to be in our band?"

The redheaded girl abruptly stopped singing and looked up in surprise. Tayla recognized this girl from school. She was a tough girl with a quick temper, and there were rumors that she had a bad attitude, but Tayla had never really noticed it herself. She couldn't quite place the girl's name, however.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "You want me to be in your band? Just like that? I don't even know who you are."

Immediately Kenya introduced herself and her two friends. "We could really use a person who can go that deep! Sorta like a bass, you know?"

The girl laughed. "That was more like a low alto, but I know what you mean. Well, I do have a little bit of experience with music since my brother's in a band, but I've never actually considered being in one myself. But if you insist then I guess I could give it a shot. My name is Madeleine, by the way--NEVER call me Maddie." The girls talked a bit more, and then tried to sing again with four-part harmony.

In the middle of a chorus, a voice came from behind them. "Why don't they give it a rest? They sound like a train wreck." The four stopped singing and turned in the direction of the voice.

A few paces away, a group of high-class girls stood looking and laughing at them. Madeleine cussed at them under her breath. She was about to say something to them when Kenya stopped her. Kenya stood up and shouted, "Vicky! Hi! What a surprise! What are you doing here?" That was Victoria Richman-Scarborough, Kenya's older cousin through marriage. She was a tall girl of sixteen with long, dark blonde hair, arched eyebrows, and blue eyes. She stood tall and proud--a little too proud--with her nose up. She wore expensive clothes; she had a very wealthy family. Her three friends were wearing similar outfits, and all were adorned with jewelry.

"I'm allowed to shop too. I am an American citizen, after all." The girls ignored her rude response. Victoria and her friends began to look at the very expensive jewelry nearby.

"You know, we need a name. All bands have a name," said Kenya, changing the subject.

"Wannabe," said Tayla, "the song's called Wannabe."

"We mean a name for the band," said Madeleine.

"Oh," replied Tayla sheepishly, "sorry, I wasn't listening."

"That's not a bad name, though. 'The Wannabes'," Venus wondered aloud.

"Hey--that's it! The Wannabes!" Kenya chimed in. Everyone agreed that was a good name to start with. They could change it later if they felt like it.

"But there are five Spice Girls," said Tayla. "To be true Wannabes, we need one more."

They all thought for awhile. Then Kenya lit up. "I know! What about Vicky?" Venus and Madeleine remained silent, but Tayla voiced her opinion.

"No way! She's too snobby! I've met your cousin before and she doesn't like me! She'll wreck the whole thing."

"Come on, Tayla, my cousin isn't that bad. I've heard her sing--she isn't great, but she could pass. I mean, she's even got the name!" Kenya convinced Tayla to let her give it a shot, so she turned to get Victoria's attention.

She called out her name, and then walked up to her and put her arm around her.

"Vicky, Vicky, my favorite cousin-"

"Hello! I am your only cousin, you dip-"

"-whatever." ~Only on your side of the family.~ "Anyway, how would you like to be part of our band?"

The other girls stifled their laughter and Victoria made a disgusted noise. "As if."

"Aw, c'mon Vic, it'll be fun!"

"Fun? With you and your unsophisticated friends? I don't think so. If you'll excuse me…." Victoria began waking away, but Kenya followed. "No wait Vic, please, we need you!"

"Oh, darling, everyone needs me around, but not everyone can have me around. A beautiful creature like me needs--and has--a life. Read my lips: big, fat, NO!"

"Please! We're desperate! We'll let you approve all our songs." She was ignored. "We'll let you sing the melody!" Still, no reply. "Oh, come one! How could you miss out on this opportunity?! We could be admired by millions, become world famous, or even…" suddenly Kenya knew exactly what would convince her cousin, and said in a sing-song voice "…make millions of dollars."

Victoria stopped in her tracks. A tiny half-smirk appeared on her face as she turned to her cousin. "Did you say…of course I will! I mean-" the smile abruptly disappeared and she pretended to be reluctant--she didn't want to seem too easy, "alright, I guess you convinced me." Victoria's friends looked at her in disbelief. Kenya turned around and signaled to her friends that the answer was "yes". The girls at the fountain signaled "good job," and then turned the other way and made disgusted faces.

Later that afternoon, when the mall had just closed, the girls walked home together. For fun, they decided to choose which Spice girl they represented.

"I'm Baby!" cried Kenya.

"I'm Posh!" said Tayla.

"No, I'm clearly the one to be Posh," argued Victoria.

Tayla glared at her. "Fine, I'll be Scary then."

"Hey, yeah! You're Scary-Carey!" said Kenya. Tayla thought it was pretty cool. Madeleine chose Sporty--it fit her perfectly since she was obviously the athlete of the group. Venus accepted Ginger as her nickname, since it was the last one left.

"We should be more original," announced Tayla. "Let's make up our own nicknames."

"You only want to make up your own because you didn't get the nickname you wanted," snapped Victoria.

"Not true!" argued Tayla truthfully.

"Don't talk back to me, little girl!"

"Excuse me, do I look like a little girl to you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, gee, like by a year or two!"

"Excuse me? Do you think I'm stupid, addressing me in a tone like that?"

"Yeah!" Victoria and Tayla continued to fight, until Kenya broke them up.

"You should be the peacemaker, Tayla, not me!" The two giggled. Usually Tayla was the more submissive one of the two.

Everyone began to come up with nicknames for each other. Since Tayla hadn't said much besides her arguments with Victoria, Madeleine thought she should be Quiet Spice or Shy Spice. Tayla said that was insulting to her, and Kenya said that she honestly didn't know her if she thought Tayla was shy or quiet. Tayla said she wanted to be Star Spice. She thought Victoria should be Snobby or Spoiled Spice, but she didn't say it to avoid another fight. Venus became Sugar Spice. Kenya became Crazy Spice. Victoria debated over Diva or Divine Spice till she settled on Divine.

"Let's come up with a symbol for us, the way the Spice Girls have the Spice ring," Kenya said.

"That's a good idea," said Tayla. Everyone agreed.

"A hundred-dollar bill," said Victoria, half-jokingly.

"Sorry, Vic," said Madeleine. "I don't think so."

"Would you all stop calling me Vic? That is, like, a guy's name! Do I look like a guy to you?"

"Temper-mental!" muttered Tayla to herself.

Shy Venus then spoke up. "I have an idea. You know those bracelets that have a ring attached to them?"

"Venus, you're brilliant!" said Kenya. She volunteered to buy five after school the next day. They all decided that since they were more expensive and harder to find, they would all chip in with the money. Of course, they had to prod Victoria to get her to donate some.

Together, the five girls were a hit, and before you could say "Girl Power" the quintet was the hottest thing in northern Illinois since the Great Chicago Fire. They performed live at parties and big events, and they even independently produced a fourteen-track CD. As Victoria had hoped, they did make a lot of money.

One afternoon, the girls were at Venus' house practicing a song for their next concert, which was in two weeks. It was nation-wide, and they could be discovered by a major record label, so that made it even more exciting! But confusingly, Tayla wasn't there.

"Where is she?" wondered Venus aloud.

"Yeah, you think if anyone would be crazy over this, it would be Tayla," Mad said.

"Someone's going to have to call her house to see what happened," said Kenya.

"But we're all so busy," Venus said.

"I'll do it if everyone else is too lazy," announced Victoria.

"Go ahead," Mad told her. They'd be happy for that ditzy attitude with blonde hair to leave them in peace for a few minutes. Victoria called Tayla's house from the phone in another room.

"Tayla, what are you doing?" she said when Tayla answered. "You're supposed to be at Venus' house working on our song. How totally indecent of you!"

"Sorry, I can't come," said Tayla in a hoarse, scratchy voice. "I have a fever and I can't stop coughing. I would have called but my voice keeps going and coming."

"I suppose that's why you skipped yesterday, too?"

"Mm-hmm." Tayla coughed.

"You know, if you keep skipping, we'll have to replace you!"

"You can't replace me! I’m the driving force of this thing!" She coughed again. "And besides, I don't want to get anyone else sick, or make myself worse, and I can't very well sing without a voice."

"Excuses, excuses! You're probably faking. And you dare call yourself the driving force! As if. A fever, huh? Right, like I’m a spoiled snob."

"Well yeah, both those things are true." Realizing this would insult Victoria and would probably spark another argument--and, sick as she was, she did NOT want to argue--she hastily added, "Gotta book it, Vic. Tell the others why I'm not there." Victoria's receiver made a click as Tayla hung up.

"That annoying loser!" said Vicky to herself. "Call me a snob? Whatever! If only I could…but I can! She's just given me the perfect chance!" Victoria went back and told the other girls why Tayla hadn't come. She didn't exactly say the same thing Tayla did.

Soon came the night of the big concert, and the girls were backstage with some other performers about half an hour before their cue. Tayla arrived a little late, but all ready to go.

"Just what are you all dressed up for, Tayla?" asked Victoria, or Divine-Posh.

"Are you all there, D-P? Tonight is our big night! Wait, let me word that so you'll understand: Tonight is, like, our big concert thing, and we're, like, kinda in it, ya know?" Tayla said with a snide, sarcastic tone. She got a glare from Divine-Posh. "By the way, you're supposed to call me Star-Scary."

"Aha! No, I don't think so!" said Divine with a laugh. "You weren't at the final meetings the past week--but Jaxi was. She's your replacement, you indecent little twerp."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me about the meetings?!"

"I thought about it, honey, I did, but I figured you'd skip those too. Your 'friends' felt the same."

Tayla stared at her for while, bewildered. "So where is this 'Jaxi' person?" She was getting annoyed with this stupid, prissy snob.

"That's Savvy-Scary to you. She's around the corner, practicing with the rest of your group. She's totally awesome at it. I think she'll be your permanent replacement, Tayla." Divine-Posh turned and walked down the backstage hall around the corner to where they were practicing. Tayla followed and searched for this new girl. And, lo and behold, there in her spot, doing her dance, singing her parts, was Jaxi. She was a tall, thin African-American with fuzzy black hair and a wild taste in clothing, making her the perfect Scary Spice. The others seemed to really like her, too.

"But-but that's not fair! I'm Scary, not her," said Tayla to herself. She had mixed feelings of anger, jealousy, rejection, and great disappointment. This was the night of her life, what she had dreamed of, what she'd dedicated herself to, what she had worked so hard for. No one but another true music lover could understand how significant an event this was in her life. Just the thought of not being in it anymore made her want to disappear into dark solitude and never be heard of again.

The girls took a break after they finished the song. Jaxi had seen Tayla glaring at her and walked up to her. "Are you that kid I had to replace?"

"Apparently so, Jaxi," Tayla said distastefully, slightly emphasizing her name.

"I believe you're supposed to call me Savvy-Scary."

"I wouldn't call you anything-Scary if my life depended on it." ~Great! Why'd I have to say that?~ thought Tayla.

"Excuse me, but why have you decided to take your problem out on me? First you watch me practice like you're gonna kill me for it, now this? What'd I ever do to you?"

Tayla, very touchy at this moment, just exploded. "You took my life away from me, that's what! You took my friends, my career, everything that was important to me!" ~Crap! Why can't I shut up?!~ Tayla felt the tears stalling.

"Well, don't yell at me! It's not my fault you didn't keep in touch with your group! Boy, Divine was right; you do pick a lotta fights!"

"I'm not picking any fights. I-" Jaxi began to walk away. Tayla didn't bother to finish her sentence. She walked in the opposite direction, and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Sexy, hi! Long time, no see! Have you changed your mind?" said Kenya, or Crazy-Baby, excited about the night.

~Changed my mind? About what?~ Tayla just looked at her sadly.

"Hey, are you ok? You look like you're crying."

"Oh, what do you care? You don't want me anymore. You like Jaxi now. Go talk to her. Go practice. I don't want her messing up my parts."

"But aren't you going to practice?"

"I'm not even going on stage."

"But…don't you wanna be our Scary Spice?"

"Well, I was Scary Spice, but obviously you found someone you like better: Miss Savvy-Jaxi-what's-her-face." Tayla started to get tense and loud. "You guys didn't have to go behind my back and start training someone to take my spot the second time I didn't show up! You could've just told me-"

"But Star, we did-"

"No you didn't! I didn't get anything from you guys! I haven't even seen you for the past week and a half! You were probably out with Jaxi-"

"Star, wait-" Tayla, ex-Star-Scary, was beginning to cry.

"What am I, not good enough for you? Did you have to be so sneaky and give my career to someone else?! You know, this whole thing was my idea-"

"Star! Tayla! Listen!!"

"-if I hadn't started this, none of you would be where you are now!! You're all a bunch of selfish-"

"Tayla!"

"-conceited-"

"Tayla!!"

"-narrow minded little brats! With friends like you, who needs enemies?!"

"LISTEN!!!" screamed Kenya.

"WHAT?!!" Tayla screamed back.

"Now, I don't know what you're talking about, but we did try to contact you! Vicky told us not to worry, that she'd take care of telling you each time, and just because you don't like her doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to her or anything! You were probably just ignoring her, so you don't have to blame something that you did on your friends! We never meant to hurt you, ok? So you have no right jumping to conclusions or blaming us, and you don't need to yell at me!"

"You mean you-"

"If you ask me, you're the selfish, narrow-minded one!"

"Crazy, look, I-"

"Just go away! I’m not speaking to you !" Crazy stormed away and sounded like she was going to cry too. Tayla was very confused, not to mention depressed. Kenya's side of the story completely contradicted what Victoria had told her, and she knew for a fact that Victoria had never once told her anything about any meetings. She even told Tayla herself that she hadn't bothered to contact her! So she must have lied to the others, too. Tayla needed to have a nice, long talk with Victoria.

"Where are you going?" Jaxi asked Tayla as she walked past.

"Do you know where Vicky is?"

"You mean Divine Spice? Honey, I know where she is, but you just gonna hafta find out yourself!"

"What's your problem? I just asked you a simple question!"

"I asked you a simple question last time and you had a spaz. So go away, Taylor."

"That's Tay-LA!"

"Whatever! Don't you talk to me that way, girl. Go away now!" Tayla narrowed her eyes and didn't budge. "Hello? Are you deaf? I said go away!"

"I’m not going anywhere till you tell me where Victoria is! I need to have a very important conversation with her!"

"And what would this important conversation be?"

"For your information, she's been telling you guys stuff about me that isn't true and I need to straighten some things out with her."

"You suggesting she's a liar?"

"Oh, I don’t know, what's the definition of a liar? Hmm…someone who says stuff that isn't true--wait! Isn't that what I just said?" Tayla said with sarcasm.

"Go away! You're getting on my nerves!"

"First tell me where Victoria is!"

"I don’t know where Victoria is!"

"Then why didn't you say that in the first place?" said Tayla calmly.

"Get out of here, girl, you don't belong backstage!. You ain't a 'True Blue Original' or part of any other performance tonight."

"True Blue Original?"

"The name of our band! Duh!"

"You changed the name without me too?" Had everything gone wrong with Victoria around? She knew that girl would be trouble right from the start. Where'd they get "True Blue Original" from? Opposite of "Wannabe"? Was there anything that hadn't changed? Actually, maybe there was! "Hey, you're not one of us if you don't have our group symbol."

"They said it didn't matter since I'm new."

"I'll bet you don't even know what it is!"

"So? Show it to me."

Tayla took off her ring-bracelet and waved it in Jaxi's face. Bad idea to make a big show of it. "Tada! Here it is, this is our symbol-"

Jaxi snatched it from her and waved it in Tayla's face, who failed in trying to snatch it back. "Uh-uh, now I have your symbol!"

"Who do you think you are snatching stuff off of me! You can't do that!"

"Oh yes I can! Want me to do it again?" She took away a rose that was placed in Tayla's hair. Tayla complained that she'd had it just the way she wanted.

"What's going on here, girls?" Divine had heard Tayla and now came to see what the commotion was--not to defend her, just to enjoy the delight of seeing her tortured.

"First, this girl here says you're a liar."

"Tayla, is this true? Why would you think I’m a liar?!" asked Victoria in false astonishment.

"You told my friends I quit, and you went out of your way to keep me out of my band!"

"And you're blaming me? Listen honey, they're the liars. They wanted to kick you out because they like Savvy better. Do you seriously think I would lie to you, Tayla?"

"That's all you’ve been doing lately."

"Second of all," began Jaxi, "she shouldn't be wearing any of this stuff. She's not a True Blue Original."

Divine studied her head to toe. "Hey, you're right. You mean like this necklace?" Victoria held it, then yanked on it. It broke in half and she pretended it was an accident, letting it drop to the floor.

"Hey! Victoria!" cried Tayla at the unexpected action.

"Victoria!" Jaxi mimicked as she pulled Tayla's pigtails out.

"Not my hair!" The two continued to rip helpless Tayla apart. An astonished crowd began to form around them. ~Why isn't anyone helping me?!~ Tayla screamed inside her head.

Divine picked up a giant pair of scissors from a cart nearby. "Tayla loves her hair, for it's so beautiful. Wouldn't it be a pity if it were ruined?" she said to Savvy with a smirk. Savvy though she was going a little overboard, but didn't mention it.

Tayla was facing the other way. From across the way, Kenya saw her begin to turn around as Victoria brought the scissors closer. ~She's going to cut her in the face! She'll have a huge ugly scar, just like…~ Kenya was too far away to stop them in time. Before she could even finish her thought, she screamed to the crowd, "Somebody stop her!!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Tayla heard from a deeper, unfamiliar voice. She turned around, and a tall figure stood in her way.

Victoria was startled by the man who had suddenly grabbed her arms. He was tall, handsome, about thirty, and definitely angry with her. "If you can't act like responsible teenagers, you're not performing on my stage! Neither of you," he said to Jaxi and Vicky, "are going to be on that stage tonight, so you'd better find your band and tell them how you let them down!" He let go of Vicky but took the scissors from her, and she and Jaxi walked away. Now Jaxi was mad at Vicky for acting so stupid.

The man turned to Tayla, and the first thing he noticed was her tear-stained face. "You ok, kid?"

"Yeah, I think so." She sniffled.

Kenya ran up to Tayla. She hugged her. "Oh Tayla, I’m sorry I was mad at you. I thought it out and things didn't make sense. It must have been Vicky all along." She paused. "We go on in fifteen minutes. Think you'll make it?"

"I hate to break into this precious moment, but I don't think you'll be able to make it on stage either," said the man to Tayla.

"Why?!" ~I didn't do anything--I shouldn't be punished, right?~

"Well, excuse my words, but…just look at yourself!"

Kenya looked at Tayla. Her hair was messed up; her jewelry was gone; her outfit was ruined; and her face! Red with crying. Her eye makeup had come off and black tears stained her cheeks. "He's got a point, Tayla." Tayla agreed. But she'd never forgive Victoria for ruining her night.

"What do you mean 'either'?" Kenya asked the man. He told her that he forbade Vicky and Jaxi from performing. He didn't realize they were all from the same band. "There's no way I'm going to stage with just two other band members, or without Tayla," announced Kenya. A cancelled band performance disappointed audience and band members alike that night.

The next afternoon, Kenya, Tayla, Venus, and Madeleine sat on the ledge of the fountain at the mall.

"This is our first meeting place, where it all began," said Tayla.

"Beginning of our friendship," said Kenya.

"The beginning of our band, " spoke Madeleine.

"The beginning of our career," added Venus. There was a long pause.

"What happened?" they turned to look at Tayla, the speaker.

"What do you mean?" asked Madeleine.

"It all ended so fast. What for? Why?"

Kenya spoke. "Just because we kicked Vicky out and missed our big performance doesn't mean it's over, Tayla. But I wish I had listened to you in the first place. Huh! Never put two people who hate each other in the same band!"

They chuckled at Kenya's truthful joke. "But seriously…" began Tayla. She didn't want to put the others down so she kept the rest of her thought to herself. ~No matter how much we try, we're gonna fail, I can feel it as sure as the sun sets. We're not gonna make it, not unless something drastic happens.~

"Were you gonna say something, Tayla?"

"Nevermind."

"Well, we've still got us. That's good," said Venus.

"Why don't we treat ourselves with some ice cream?" They all loved that idea, so they got up and enjoyed the rest of their mall outing. They even sang Wannabe in full harmony all the way down to the ice cream booth for the passers-by.

Roku's ideas: Mad and Venus replace Kate and Patsy forever--in this story.

They meet at the fountain rather than just pick each other.

WHEW!!! That was looooong.

If I change them to mad and venus:

No need for dropouts or searching for new ppl.

No enhtusiastic kate, and how do mad and venus know each other? Oh yeah, they all meet at the fountain O.o