Episode 4.06

Janet, Steve and Kelly by Shari, Carly and Lexi by Val, Val and Jen by Shae, Donna, David, and Brenda by Scott, Brandon and Dylan by Heather

Lexi

Lexi woke up and found a note on her night table.

Hey Lexi, I went to work. Be back home in time for Brenda's party. I love you.

-Michael

She smiled. She looked at the new clock Megan bought for her, which was on top of her television. It was 9:50am. Lexi realized she needed to tape Rosie O'Donnel. She loved that show. She quickly pressed record on the VCR and went to take a shower. She had been dazed all morning, after a great, romantic night with Michael. She couldn't wait to go to New York.

Steve

Taylor walked into the kitchen rubbing his head. He was exhausted. He took out a bowl and joined Steve at the table for breakfast.

Steve was reading the newspaper. "Sooo. . .what time did you get home last night?", he asked Taylor nonchalantly.

"Ummm," Taylor thought for a second as he poured some cereal into the bowl, "Eleven."

Steve put the paper down. "Nice try. It was one-thirty."

"Oh, so you were up?"

"Yes, I was. Taylor, what is the point of having a curfew if you're not going to obey it?"

"So don't give me a curfew."

"That wasn't the answer I was hoping for." Steve got up from the table and put his bowl in the sink. "I have to get to the office. Janet's already there and Maddy's in her playpen. We'll talk later." Steve headed out of the kitchen but turned around when he heard Taylor's voice.

"But I have plans today!" Taylor whined.

Steve sighed. "Taylor. . .you know Janet and I only work on Sundays once a month. On those Sundays, you agreed to watch Madeline. Today is Sunday. You cannot go out with your friends today. I'm sorry. I'll call you later."

When Steve was out of earshot, Taylor mumbled, "Sorry my ass."

Lexi

By the time Lexi had gotten changed, taken a shower, did her hair and makeup, and drinken her coffee, her show was already over. She decided to watch it before she went into work. She rewinded the tape she had put in the night before and sat down on her bed and started watching it. The screen was black for a few seconds so Lexi picked up the remote and hit fast foward until something came on the screen. It was going fast now and she passed some things, but it didn't look like her show.

Just then she heard, "Oooh, Michael," coming from the tv. She looked confused and paused it. There it was, her and Michael having sex last night.

"HE TAPED IT!??!?!?!??!?" she yelled. He was really in for it this time. She stopped the VCR and didn't even bother to watch her show. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door, slamming it shut.

Donna

Donna was already hard at work when Gina entered the store.

"I'm not late, am I?" Gina asked, concerned.

Donna shook her head. "I just had a lot of work to do to get everything organised for the new season. It's not the kind of work I can do at home, unfortunately. I have to keep checking our inventory."

"Anything I can do to help?" Gina asked.

Donna frowned. "The problem is that most of the work is going to have to be done during work hours. I'm going to need to keep calling suppliers and all kinds of stuff like that. If you help me, there won't be anybody left to run the store. Even as it is, I'm going to be sticking you with running the store by yourself again and I really don't want to do that."

"I don't want you to do that, either," Gina said quickly. "How did you handle this last year?"

" Last year, I had Brenda and Clare." Donna responded. "The two of them ran the store by themselves while I took care of this. But Brenda's got her show now and God knows where Clare is. So I think we're going to have to hire some temporary help. Is that okay with you?"

"No, I want to go back to working myself to death trying to run this place by myself." Gina smiled. "Of course,it's okay with me."

"Do you want to sit on in the interviews?" Donna asked.

Gina shook her head. "Nah, I still feel kind of funny doing the whole hiring/firing thing. I'm the creative type. I'm sure you'll pick somebody good."

"Thanks. I'll make the Help Wanted sign on my lunch break. Now we'd better get ready to open up."

Lexi

Lexi walked into Sterling-Conway and immediately went to see Alicia.

"Good morning," Alicia said. "I have the paperwork ready for Jade Larickson."

"Good." She poured herself a cup of coffee. "I had a rough morning and I really need to start the ad. What time is she coming in?"

Alicia checked her watch. "Actually, she should be here right about now." Coincidentally, Jade walked in right right then.

The entire office, which contained about 25 people, froze at the site of her. She was a very pretty Aisan girl wearing a very sexy outfit. She definetely had what it took to be a model.

"Hi, I'm Lexi Sterling. You must be Jade." Lexi extended her hand.

Jade shook it. "Precisely. Now let's get to work."

Lexi nodded. "Yes. . .work. Now I have a couple of ideas for the ad if you would come to the back so Alicia and I could go over it with you."

Jade smiled. "Sure, let's go." She followed the two women into the back.

Brenda

Class of Beverly Hills was doomed! That was the only possible conclusion you could draw from these reviews Brenda decided as she put the paper down.

She looked around her trailer. Class of Beverly Hills was premiering tonight and, before she had come to work, she had picked up a copy of every newspaper she could find in order to see what the critics had to say about the show. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be anything good.

She heard a knock on the door and Traci's voice. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Brenda said resignedly. "Might as well talk. I'm not going to be distracted by having a job much longer."

Traci opened the door and took in the scene in front of her. "Oh God, you've been reading the reviews, haven't you?" Brenda nodded. Traci laughed and shook her head. "Never read the reviews. They'll just make you crazy. And, frankly, you're crazy enough." Brenda laughed. "Seriously, Bren," Traci continued, "we're on an Aaron Spelling show. No critic ever gives an Aaron Spelling show a good review. But you know something, people watch his stuff anyway. Do you think we're a good show?"

"Yeah, I do," Brenda admitted.

"So do I. And so will the audience. They're the only people you should worry about."

"Yeah, you're right," Brenda decided.

"I'm always right," Traci informed her cheerfully. "Now come on, they're going to want us on the set in a couple of minutes."

"I'll be right with you," Brenda told her. "Just let me pull myself together."

Traci nodded, went out and closed the door behind her.

You don't know it,Traci, Brenda thought to herself, but you do have someone else you have to worry about. And so do I.

Nervously, she picked up Rex Beck's column. As she had expected, Beck had torn into Class of Beverly Hills, calling it 'too frenetic and cheerful' and saying that 'it lacked the edge and darkness of true drama.' And, of course, he had torn into Traci as much as he could without making it too obvious he had a grudge against her. It was obvious that Beck really wanted to destroy Class of Beverly Hills. And he certainly would be willing to start with any cast member who was vulnerable. Like her and Traci.

Kelly

"Thank you, Doctor Safa," Kelly said as she sat down across from the doctor's desk, "for seeing me on a Sunday."

"It's no problem. My office is open seven days a week. To help you. That's our job."

Kelly smiled uneasily. This was her first trip to the doctor since her surgery that took place just two days ago.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Brandon started speaking. "So is it treatable?", he asked.

The doctor held her pen in her hands as she spoke. "Yes, it is. Nowadays, there are many ways to go about treating ovarian cancer. It's usually a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. You already had the surgery so all that is left is the chemo."

"Chemo?", Kelly gulped. "Please don't tell me radiation, too."

"No, for now, we'll just stick with chemo. Radiation usually isn't used that often. But, occasionally, it's necessary."

"W-w--will I lose my hair?", Kelly asked.

Doctor Safa sighed. "I really can't say. It is a common side effect, but it differs from person to person. Some people lose all their hair. Others lose patches of hair. And some lose nothing."

"What are the other possible side effects?"

"There are some other common ones. Like I said, it differs from person to person. Here." She handed Kelly a pamphlet that was titled 'Chemotherapy: Coping with Side Effects.' "I suggest you read it, get comfortable with the idea; get emotionally ready. And if you have any questions, feel free to call. And when you're ready, we'll schedule you're first session. It's best if we start as soon as possible. Early Febuary, the latest."

"Ok, thank you," Kelly said. She and Brandon started getting up to leave.

"Oh, and Kelly?" Kelly and Brandon turned around so they were facing the doctor again. "It's time to share the news with your family and friends."

Kelly nodded upsetly. "I will."

"Sooner, rather than later."

Jen

Jen and Noah were talking on the phone about telling Val that Noah was the father of Jen's baby.

"You gotta tell her Noah."

"I will, I will," he told her.

"No, I mean now. You said you would tell her after we did the test. Well, we did the test, so what are you waiting for?"

"Jen, I'm going to tell her but I don't want to lose her again."

"What about me? She's my best freind. She's not going to be happy with me either, but it has to come from you."

"I know. I'm going to tell her tonight."

"No, now. She's on her way to your apartment."

Valerie

Valerie walked into Noah's apartment to find him sitting at his kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal.

"Eww. Why are you eating that?" Val hated cereal.

"I'm hungry."

"Well, let's go out then."

"No, wait. We have to talk."

"Okay, good because I have to talk to you, too" Val said seriously.

"You first."

"I know."

"You know?? How do you know??"

"What? You didn't think I would find out?"

"I knew you would, but I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Well, it's okay."

"It is? How could it be okay?"

"Because I'm happy. I would love to work at the After Dark again."

"What?"

"Claude told me that you were nervous about asking me to work at the club again."

"He did?"

"Yeah, I know you're busy. I'll help you out. It will be good, us working together again." Valerie noticed the look on his face. "What wrong? What's going on? That wasn't what you needed to talk to me about."

"Valerie, I. . ."

Val knew this couldn't be good. "Noah just tell me"

"I'm the father of Jen's baby."

"WHAT!?!?!?"

Kelly

"Kelly! What are you doing here?", Jackie asked, suprised to see her daughter.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." She opened the door wider and kissed both Kelly and Brandon as they walked in.

Kelly headed straight for the living room. Brandon followed. "Mom, come sit down."

Jackie did as Kelly said and headed into the living room.

"Sit," Kelly said again.

Jackie sat down on the couch. "Kelly, what is going on?"

Kelly thought about what to say. "Mom, I have something to tell you."

"Oh my god!", Jackie exclaimed as she stood up. "You're getting married!"

"Mom, sit down! That's not it."

"Oh no!" Jackie exclaimed, this time with a sad tone. "You're breaking up!"

"No, mother, that's not it either. Will you please just let me talk?" Kelly took Jackie's hand. "I'm sick."

Jackie put her hand to Kelly's forehead. "Well, you do feel a little warm. Maybe you have that flu that is going around."

Kelly took Jackie's hand away from her forehead. "Not that kind of sick. Mom, I have cancer."

"What?!?"

"I had two tumors on my ovaries and they turned out to be cancerous."

"When did you find this out?"

"I first went to the doctor back in November."

"November?!?!" Jackie yelled, standing up. "And you've been keeping this from me? All this time??"

"You don't understand." Kelly stood up. "I only found out it was cancerous two days ago. TWO days ago."

"I don't give a damn when you found out it was cancerous," Jackie yelled. "I am your mother. I brought you into this world. I have the right to do know if my daughter has tumor on her ovary or if she has a toothache, for heaven sakes!" Jackie collapsed on the couch, tears in her eyes. "Kelly, you're my baby. How could you keep something like this from me?"

"I-I-I'm sorry," Kelly said and ran out.

Brandon stood up, "I guess I should go after her."

Jackie stopped him. "Brandon. You just have to understand. I'm a mother. Make her understand."

Brandon nodded and kissed Jackie's cheek. "I'll call you later."

Carly

Carly entered The Millenium Cafe, ready for her lunch with Mr. Klein. She walked up to a waitress and said, "Hi I'm with the Klein party."

"Straight ahead," she pointed.

Carly's mouth dropped open at the sight of him. She closed her mouth, not believing she would do that in public but he was the sexiest man she had ever laid eyes on. She paced herself and walked over to him.

"Hello," she smiled. "Are you Mr. Klein?" she asked before sitting down.

He nodded and started to check her out quickly, and as unnoticabole as possible. "It depends who's asking."

"Carly Reynolds," she extended her hand.

He kissed it. "Well in that case, I'm available for the next four hours."

Carly laughed and sat down. "I'm here to discuss my internship."

"Right then, let's get to it."

Carly stared at him. She kicked herself mentally. She was giving up on men. The only man she needed was her son. Zachary was everything to her.

Valerie

Valerie just sat there beside Noah without saying a word. Ne looked at her eyes and could see the tears. He put his hand on hers but she pulled away. e explain."

"Explain? Explain??" she yelled. "Explain, Noah? You want to explain how you got my best friend pregnant?"

"Yes. Val, its not the way it seems." \

"Are you kidding me? Noah you are a liar and a cheater." she said, walking to the door. As she opened it up, she said "Do you know how many people you hurt? How could you let David go through that? How can you make me go through this?"

"Valerie, I'm sorry," he said as she walked out of his apartment.

David

David was just putting the finishing touches on his latest review when Steve walked up to his desk.

"David, my man," Steve said happily. "I've got a whole new assignment for you. Get you out of that review rut for a while."

David was a little nervous. Steve grinning wasn't always a good sign. Knowing Steve, this could be something really good or something absolutely insane that would land David in a lot of trouble. You just never knew with Steve.

"Janet and I were talking about things we could do pep up the paper." Steve continued, "And we thought that one thing we could do is expand our coverage of the club scene a bit. Show the people who work to make it what it is. Give it more of a human face. We thought we'd start by publishing an article on the life of a club DJ. And, since we have one on staff. . ."

David's face brightened. That actually did sound like fun. And it would be a good change of pace for him.

"Sounds great, Steve. I'd love to do it," David told him.

They worked out when the article would run and how long it would be. Then Steve left David and went off to handle his next bit of newspaper business and David started to plan how he would open the article.

Valerie

Valerie was about to get in her car and drive away from when she saw Jen walking towards the mailboxes. Val jumped out of her car and went over to Jen and bitched slapped her.

"Who the hell did you think you are?" Val asked.

Jen held her face and pouted, "I guess he told you."

"Yeah, he told me. How Jen; how could you have slept with Noah this summer? When I was still deeply in love with him. Jen you knew I was. You were supposed to be my best freind, so tell me how?"

"Valerie it was sex; it was nothing. It was meaningless. I have no feelings whatsoever for Noah. And when I slept with him, you were still denying your feelings for him."

"You are a self-pretentious bitch." And with that, Valerie stormed away. t>

Jen

After watching Val drive away, Jen went in to her apartment. A minute later, she heard a knock at the door.

"Damn it. Go away," she shouted

"Jen. . .It's me, Noah."

She opened the door. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen Val? I tried calling her"

"Yeah, I saw her and got a slap in the face. If I was you, I would back away, because if she could slap her pregnant best friend then I'm sure she could do a lot worse to her lying boyfriend," Jen sneered.

"Just don't worry about Val. I'll fix this."

"Fix this? Honey, it's destroyed. No way repairable. What's done is done."

"No, I love Valerie. I'm not going to lose what we have because of a meaningless one-night stand that I had completely forgotten about."

"Thanks. . ."

"No, Jen. You know what I'm saying. Do you want to lose her for a friend? Because I will tell you, once Val is betrayed, she will make your life a living hell."

Jen touched him simpathetically, "Go find her. Make her understand."

Carly

Carly was at the mall shopping for a gift for Brenda. Tonight was the big preimere on of her television show. She had been in a million stores trying to find the perfect gift. Finally, she walked into Mikasa, a store that sold a variety of things like glasses, dishes, bowls, home furnishing kits, and stuff like that.

She walked around the store for a while until she found something perfect. She picked up a wine glass decorated with lines that curved from each edge. It was beautiful. She quickly decided to get it and headed over to the cashier.

Kelly

Kelly dug through her pocketbook looking for a tissue. She finally found one and used it to wipe her eyes. She cried for the whole ride home. As much as she loved him, not even Brandon could make her feel better now. No one could make her feel better when her mother hurt her.

When they got back to the apartment, Kelly headed straight for their bedroom. Brandon followed her a few minutes later. He opened the door to find her in bed, softly crying.

"We have Brenda's premiere party tonight," Brandon reminded her.

"I'm not going."

Brandon knealt down besides the bed. "Kelly. . .Brenda is one of your closest friends. You can't disappoint her."

Kelly sat up. "Did you hear what I said? I'm NOT going." Brandon sighed and went to kiss her forehead but she turned away. "Please. Just let me be."

Carly

Carly walked in her apartment after her lunch with Kevin and shopping. She stepped inside and as usual, checked her messages. She had one from Kevin. Huh, she thought? They were together not too long ago...

Hello Carly. I hope you don't mind if I call you that. I had a really great time at our luncheon earlier today. Just thought maybe we could do it again sometime with a little less business. Call me; You have the number.

Wow, Carly thought. He liked her too? Too bad she couldn't go for an oppurtunity like this. She quickly dialed his number.

"Kevin Klein, may I help you?" he answered.

"Kevin, this is Ms. Reynolds, please address me by that."

Nervously, he nodded.

"I am turning down your offer. I have a son and he is my number one priority and I have no interest in you."

Wow. That was harsh. "I see. . .thank you. Goodbye." He quickly hung up the phone.

Carly sighed. Maybe she should have given him a chance.

David

David got down to work on the story with real excitement. This should be a piece of cake! He'd just write down what he did every night at the After Dark. There shouldn't be any problem grabbing the reader's interest because he really did have an interesting and exciting job. All right, it was time to get started typing!

Half an hour later, he was still staring at a blank computer screen. Nothing was coming. He was completely blocked. He didn't get it. Why couldn't he think of anything?

Maybe he needed a little hands-on contact to stimulate his imagination. He decided to go to his booth at the After Dark to see if it would help get his creative juices flowing.

Jen

Jen walked into the Boys and Girls Center she was designated to work at for her 40 of hours of commuinty service. She never realized why this was the place the court wanted her to work at. How could the judge have seen her as someone who could set an example to others? Look at her. She was pregnant with her best friend's boyfreind. She walked up to the main desk.

"Hi. My name is Jennifer Mancini and I'm here for my commuinty serivice."

"Oh great. I've been expecting you."

"Well, actually I wanted to know if I could postpone my service. You see, I'm kind of pregnant."

"And?"

"And I just don't think that I would be doing any help, considering my condition," Jen explained.

"Well, I think you could be a lot of help for the pregnant teens. You could talk to them and help them."

"Ummm. . ."

The women held up her hand. "Don't be shy. Come; follow me." She led Jen down a long hall.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jen mumbled.

Valerie

Valerie walked into the After Dark. She wanted to talk to David. She spotted him in the DJ booth. He motioned for her to come over there and talk to him. He opened the door.

"Hey, what's up?" He looked at her. "Have you been crying? What's wrong?"

"It's Noah."

"What??"

"Noah slept with Jen; he is the baby's father."

"WHAT!?!? You're kidding."

"David, does it look like I'm kidding?"

"No, it doesn't. Come, sit down. How did you find out?"

"He told me. I guess he couldn't hide it from me any longer. I hate him, David. I don't know how he could do something like this to me."

"Val, obviously, when he slept with her, you guys weren't even going out. He didn't deliberately trying to hurt you."

"But he did and now its over."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" He asked her, touching her chin and forcing her to look up at him.

Just then, Noah walked in to the booth. "Val, we need to talk." She doesn't respond. "Come on Val, talk to me. Lets get out of here and talk this through."

"Talk? You want to talk? Talk all you want. We're through," Valerie said, pointing her keys at him. "And you did this to us Noah; you did." She walked out of the booth.

"I'm sorry, man" David said before he took off after Val.

Valerie

David found Valerie in her car, starting it up. He walked over to the car and knocked on the window.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just going to go driving or something. I just gotta get out of here."

"Do you want me to go with you or something?" He had a feeling she might go and score some drugs.

"No, I just want to be by myself."

"Be careful, Val. Don't make the same mistakes twice." She looked at him in the eye for a second and drove off.

David

David returned to the booth still worried about Val. This was the time when you had to watch Val most closely. When things were going well for her. How many times had he seen Val really start to make some progress in her life when suddenly her demons would take her over and she'd screw it all up?

For the millionth time, he fantasized about beating the crap out of Val's father. That monster deserved a lot worse than what Val had done to him. But there was nothing he could do for Val at the moment, so he went back to the article.

He looked around at the records. Yeah, he could feel the words starting to come.

I play the very best for the customers of the After Dark. I play a wide range of music and artists. Names, newcomers, top 40, indy, classic--you name it. I want my listeners to hear the very best musicians I can give them.

Yeah, that would work. But something was bothering him about that paragraph. Something he wasn't saying. All of a sudden, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He collapsed into his chair in shock.

There was one musician that he couldn't play for his customers. He couldn't play that musician's music because that musician hadn't done a damn thing about getting his music recorded in a really long time. That musician was named David Silver.

Jen

Jen walked out of the Boys and Girls club and whipped out her cell phone. Boy, was she pissed. She hated it there and couldn't wait till she was done with that place. She dialed Michael's number, not noticing some young teen walking right into her.

"Hey! Watch where you're going. . ." Jen said, picking up her cell that fell to the ground.

"You too."

"If my cell is broken, you're paying for it. Now get out of my face."

"Bitch," The girl mumbled under her breath.

Donna

Gina was on her break so Donna was alone in the store when Rush and Ryan Sanders came in.

"Hi, Mr. Sanders," Donna said politely. "How can I help you?"

Rush smiled. "Hello, Donna. Ryan's mother's birthday is coming up so I thought I'd get her a nice outfit. What would you recommend?"

"I'll need to know her size." Donna pointed out.

"Of course," Rush said. He started to fumble around in his pockets. "I have it written down here somewhere."

Donna noticed that Ryan was looking a little gloomy. "How are you, Ryan?"

"Oh, he's fine," Rush told Donna. "He's just gotten a new toy. My new Porsche. Donna, if you were trying to impress a member of the opposite sex, would you steal your father's car? And then crack it up to boot?"

Ryan spoke for the first time. "I said I was sorry. And I said I'll get a job and pay you back for the repairs."

"But who is going to hire you?" Rush asked him angrily. "You don't know the first clue about being responsible! Who would hire someone like you?"

Poor Ryan, Donna thought. It sounded like he had messed up but was trying to make up for it. But, just like Steve always said, his father never knew when to stop the lecture. Ryan must have been feeling so bad.

"I'll hire him!" Donna said, almost without thinking.

"What?" both Sanderses asked the same time.

"I'll hire him. We're going to need some additional help for the next couple of weeks. I'd be glad to have someone as smart as Ryan as temp help."

Rush considered this for a second. "Hmm. I like it."

Ryan was in shock. "Dad! I can't work here! It's a dress shop!"

"We don't just sell dresses," Donna told him.

Ryan ignored her. "I'm a guy! I can't work in a dress shop!"

"That's the thing about money, son." Rush told Ryan. "You can't just get it from a cash machine or your old dad. You have to work for it. And you can't always pick what you do to earn it. Maybe if you actually have to suffer a little to earn your money, you'll appreciate it a little more." Rush turned to Donna. "Thank you, Donna. Ryan will be happy to accept your offer."

Rush then pulled the piece of paper with his wife's size on it and handed it to Donna. " Now, if you'll excuse us for a few minutes, Ryan and I have to go over his class schedule and work out when he can come in and help you out."

"That'll be fine," Donna assured him. "We'll be happy to work around his schedule. And I'll have something for your wife by the time you get back."

Rush nodded and took Ryan out of the store. Ryan looked like he had just been sentenced to death.

Valerie

Valerie sat in her car. She picked up her cell phone and searched through phonebook for a few minutes before she found it. Mike's number; the guy she hooked up with over the summer. She pressed the send button and it rung twice before someone picked it up.

"Hello," he answered.

"Mike, it's me. . .Valerie. You remember me?"

"Valerie. . .the girl with great lips and eyes. Of course. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could hook me up with a gram. I'll pay."

"Meet me on Central Street in 1 hour with 60 bucks."

"Thanks," she said. She drove off not believing she was going down this road again.

David

David had left the After Dark and returned to the bungalow. Donna was at the store so he was totally alone as he walked through the house. He went to the desk that he occaisonally used when he needed to write something. He sat down on the desk chair and opened the bottom drawer of the desk.

The first thing he saw was a picture of Scott and him. It had been taken at the beginning of ninth grade. He pulled the picture out and looked at it for a minute. Then he gently placed it down on the desk.

Then he saw what he had been looking for. Copies of every song he had ever written. He pulled them out and placed the pile on his lap. He sat and looked at the pile. He looked at it for a very long time.

Donna

Gina was in a breezy mood when she returned from her break.

"Anything interesting happen while I was out?" she asked Donna.

"Well, I hired our new temp help," Donna responded.

Gina laughed. "Wow, you move fast! So who's our new employee?"

"You already know him, actually. It's Steve's kid brother Ryan. . ."

Gina's jaw dropped. "WHAT?" Gina did not look happy.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked Gina.

Gina placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Donna, you have a warm and loving heart. It's what I love about you. Without it, my life would be a complete mess. But you can't hire Steve's little brother."

"Why not?" Donna asked.

Gina let go of Donna's shoulders and started to awkwardly try to express herself with her hands. "Because. . .because he's like a little Steve."

"But you like Steve," Donna pointed out.

"He's a great guy," Gina agreed. "But that doesn't mean that I want to work with a little Steve wanna-be."

"I still don't get your problem," Donna said puzzledly.

Just then, Rush and Ryan re-entered the store. Ryan's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he saw Gina.

" Wow!" Ryan said. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all! Shoulder-to-shoulder with a major babe! I can't wait to do inventory with you!" He leered at Gina in a very bad imitation of Steve's 'on-the-prowl' grin.

Gina glared at Donna. " Heh-heh," Donna said embarassedly.

Brenda

The premiere party for the cast of Class of Beverly Hills had just ended and Brenda and Traci were walking to their cars.

"Not a bad party, huh?" Traci asked.

"Mine will be better," Brenda grinned.

"I'm looking forward to it," Traci admitted. "It'll be great seeing the premiere with an audience of people who haven't spent months on the set. An actual fresh audience."

"Although they are kind of a prejudiced audience," Brenda pointed out. "I mean, they're all people who want to see us do well."

"That's the best kind of audience," Traci responded cheerfully.

Brenda laughed, said goodbye to Traci, got into her car and headed home to prepare for the party. Her earlier nervousness was completely gone. She couldn't wait to watch the premiere with the gang!

Valerie

Valerie retreated home with her cocaine. She walked into an empty apartment and went into her bedroom. She sat down at her vanity and reached into her drawer and pulled out a mirror; the same mirror she used many times in the past and dumped the cocaine on it. She was about to snort away when Noah walked in.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'Re DOING?"

Val looked up. "Noah, get the hell away form me. I thought I made that clear I want nothing to do with you."

"Why are you doing this again?" He asked, pointing down at the coke. "You're destroying your life again."

Val couldn't believe that he was angry at her. He no right to be. She shook her head saying, "Loving you was a big mistake. Such a big mistake. And you can be damn sure I won't make that same mistake twice.''

"Come on, Val. You cant do this to us."

''Do this to us? I believed in you, Noah! I believed you when you told me you loved me. I believed you when you told me you'd never hurt me! Believing you and believing in us was the mistake I made!'' Val cried. ''I guess I know to never be fooled like that again; to never trust like that again.'' She walked over to her door in tears. "LEAVE"

"I can't Valerie. I love you," Noah said.

''I trusted you, Noah. I trusted you to love me forever. I trusted you to never hurt me. And you let me down on all three counts,'' Val told him.

Noah shook his head. ' 'No, you're wrong. I may have broke your trust, and let you down, but I will always love you. I will love you forever. And it doesn't matter what happens next, I will always love you,'' he said and walked out.

Valerie didn't know what to do. She went over to her vanity, picked up the mirror and threw it at the door, spilling the coke everywhere. She collapsed on the floor and cried.

"Donna

It had taken a lot of talking, a lot of arm-twisting, and a lot of out-and-out bribery but Gina had finally agreed to work with Ryan.

"BUT, if he doesn't stop it with the How to Pick Up a Penthouse Pet come-ons," Gina warned Donna, "I'll kill him."

"I'm sure he will," Donna assured her. Then she changed the subject. "So are you coming to Brenda's premiere party?"

Gina nodded. "Sure. I don't have a problem with Brenda as long as she keeps her hands off Dylan."

Donna sighed inwardly. Oh well, at least Gina wasn't having paranoid delusions about Dylan and Brenda again.

"David's going to meet me there. He's really into this story he's working on."

Gina smiled. "I've never been to a premiere before. Should be a fun evening."

Steve

"He's still not picking up," Steve said, hanging up the phone.

Janet leaned back in her chair. "How many times have you called?"

"This one will be number 8." He picked up the phone and dialed Casa Walsh. "Damnit." He slammed down the phone.

"We better go."

"Yeah. C'mon."

Lexi

Lexi sat down at her desk, extremely tired. It had been a long, hard day and it wasn't even over yet. She still had to go and making sure everything was in order for the party. She sighed just as the the phone rang.

"Sterling-Conway," she answered.

"Hello, Ms. Sterling?"

"Yes?"

"This is Howard. I am calling from PC Richards; about the TV you rented. This was your daytime phone number on the form."

She smiled. "Yes. You have the address for delivery, right?"

"Yes, I do. It should be delivered within the hour. Where should we have it go?"

"Just go to the main office and someone there will tell you."

"Okay."

"Thank you," she said and hung up the phone. She got up and grabbed her purse. For once, she left work early. Michael had a lot of explaining to do.

Janet

Steve and Janet drove their mini-van along Hillcrest Drive.

"I wonder where that loud music is coming from. . ." Janet said. Even with the windows closed, you could still hear someone's stereo blaring.

"Guess someone's having a party."

Three more houses. Two more houses. There it was. Casa Walsh.

"Oh no," Steve said. "Don't tell me it's coming from our house!"

Steve and Janet parked the car and got out. They stormed into their home to find Taylor and 5 of his friends in the living room. Drinking. With heavy metal music blaring.

"What the hell is going on here?" Steve yelled. He stomped over to the stereo and shut it off. "What do you think you're doing? All of you out! Right now!"

Steve shoved the 5 friends out of the house. "And take your beer with you." He threw them the cans.

"Man, we out," one of them said.

Taylor walked up to Steve. "What do you think you're doing? Those are MY friends!"

"And this is MY house! Taylor, drinking? DRINKING?!?!"

"Steve calm down," Janet touched his arm.

"I will NOT calm down, Janet. Not until I get an explanation. And where is Maddy? Tell me, Taylor. Where is my daughter? You know, the baby you're supposed to be watching!"

"Upstairs, in her playpen. Chill out."

Janet ran up stairs to make sure Maddy was all right. She came down with Maddy a minute or so later. "Taylor," she said, now angry as well, "You can not leave a two year old by herself in her room."

"She was in her playpen."

"No, she wasn't. She was on the floor, crying hysterically. You do not treat my daughter this way."

"And you don't treat me this way!" Taylor started running up the stairs.

Steve got even angrier. "Don't talk to your mother that way!"

Taylor stopped and turned around. "She's not my mother. And you're not my father."

Taylor was right. She wasn't his mother and he wasn't his father. But as long as he was living under his roof, he'd abide by his rules.

Lexi

Lexi was sitting at her kitchen table, dressed for the party, with her arms folded across her chest, when Michael walked into her apartment.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late," he said. He eyed her. "You look great."

She got up and handed him the tape. "Explain this."

He looked at the tape and shook his head. "Lexi, I never meant for you to--"

"What, for me to find this? Maybe we should show this at Brenda's preimere party, to show everyone what a jerk you are! Better yet, this!" She threw the tape at the open door. It landed on the ground, smashing to pieces. "Too bad," she said.

Michael started to yell. "You want an explanation, here it goes," he said. "I had the camcorder plugged into the TV from last night when we showed Sarah, and I hadn't taken it out. I had left it on all night, so I had to charge it, which means it has to be on. I realized it taped us, and I didn't want to tell you because you would get angry."

She thought about what he said. The excuse did seem realistic. Lexi smirked. "Fine, I guess I can accept that explanation. . ."

Michael took her hand. "It's the truth. I love you. I would never do something like that." He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, reassuring her.

Brenda

Brenda dashed around Melrose Place, getting everything ready for the party. She went outside, behind the apartments, to the open land that served as a backyard. That's where the party was going to be held. She checked to make sure that the super-size TV Lexi had given her was working okay. She wanted to make sure that everybody would be able to see everything. She knew they would, the screen was huge. Almost like the screens at a drive-in theater.

God, she was so nervous. It was amazing. She never used to get this nervous when she was doing plays. She supposed that the reason for that was that there was absolutely nothing she could do about the performance now. In theater, if you saw that you weren't going over well, you could do something to fix it for the next time. Once you were on film, though, that was it. There was nothing you could do to change your performance.

Of course, it didn't exactly help that just about everybody she cared about in the world would be seeing her make her TV debut.

Everybody except Noah. He had called, very apologetic, about not being able to make it tonight. He had promised to tape the show and let her know what he thought of it. He had sounded really weird. Brenda hoped everything was okay.

But at least she'd be getting to know some people she didn't know very well better tonight. She was looking forward to getting to know Lexi's friends Megan and Ryan better. She was even looking forward to getting to know Jen Mancini better. She really felt sorry for what Jen was going through. Maybe she could figure out a way to help Jen tonight.

After being back in her apartment for only a few minutes, the doorbell rang. Brenda went to welcome her first guest.

Steve

It was a half hour later and Steve was just starting to calm down. He paced around the living room, mumbling a few choice words.

"What are going to do with him, Janet?", he finally said. "Just what are we going to do with him?"

"I don't know," she said, stroking Maddy's hair. "But we'll think of something."

"What about tonight? We can't leave him here alone with Maddy. That would just be making the same mistake twice. And we can't miss Brenda's party. And we can't bring him either. That would be rewarding him."

"I'll call Leah and see if she'll come by and stay with them tonight."

"Okay. We don't have much time before the party."

Brandon

Brandon sat on the sofa in his apartment, lost in his own thoughts, while Kelly napped in the bedroom. He wasn't quite sure how she was sleeping with all the racket going on next door. He had to smile at the thought of Bren throwing a party. She hadn't been exactly Miss Socialite since moving back to California. He was happy for her.

He rose when he heard Kelly stirring in the bedroom. He had hoped that she would sleep longer. He quietly poked his head in the door.

"You can come in Brandon. I'm awake," Kelly told him in a sleepy voice. "What is all that noise?"

"Brenda's party. Feel up to going?"

"Not really. . ."

Brandon sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. "Do you really not feel up to going or do you not feel up to seeing all your friends?"

"You always could read my mind, Brandon Walsh," Kelly said with her first real smile since she had gotten the bad news.

"Thats a good thing, right?" Brandon had to ask.

"Oh, definitely. Give me time to freshen up and we can go see who's making all that noise, okay?" Kelly asked.

Brandon leaned over and kissed her on her cute little nose, "Sounds like a plan to me."

Valerie

After hours of crying, Val took a shower and got herself together. She sat at her vanity looking in the mirror. She ran some purple eye shadow over her eyes. And then penciled black eyeliner above the lid and under. She walked over to her bed and picked up her dress. It was a blue and purple checked, long dress. She always felt that no matter how bad life sucked, dressing up made it a little bit better. Once she put on the dress, she sat back down and curled her hair. When she was done, she brushed her long brown hair and made it so it was straight at the top and curly at the bottom. She ran some lip gloss over her lips and picked up her purse. She was ready for Brenda's party.

Kelly

Once at the party, following Brandon's lead, Kelly walked over to where David and Donna were sitting by themselves, having a frozen margarita.

"Hey guys. . .," Brandon said casually.

Donna looked up. "Oh hey!!! Oh my god, Kel, have you been crying?"

Kelly didn't answer; she looked down and fidgeted with her purse.

"Listen," Brandon began, "Can we talk to you two alone?"

"Sure, man," David replied.

The two couples headed into Brenda's apartment. They were expecting to be alone, however, there was at least 10 people in the living room. Wanting privacy, they went into Brenda's bedroom and sat down on the bed.

"So what's up?" asked David.

Brandon decided to start off for Kelly. "The other day, Kelly and I didn't go away because I had a conference. And we didn't go away to have some time alone. We went to San Francisco for Kelly to have surgery."

"What are you talking about?" Donna seemed to be very confused.

"Donna," Kelly said softly, "I have cancer of the ovaries."

"Oh my god."

David's eyes were open wide. "When did you find this out?"

"We didn't know for sure until we went away, but my doctor discovered the cysts back in November. Please don't be mad at me for not telling you sooner," Kelly pleaded, her eyes had little tears in the corners.

"Hey, hey. Come here." David pulled her into a hug. "We're not mad. We could never be mad. We understand. We just want you to get better."

Kelly sniffed and nodded.

"Hey, where's my hug?" Donna asked with a grin. Kelly laughed and left David's arms for Donna's.

David got up and stood next to Brandon. "I can't believe it," he whispered.

"Neither can she."

"How did Jackie take it?"

"Not well at all. It's eating away at both their hearts."

Janet

"Taylor! The pizza is here!" Leah shouted up to his room.

"I'm not hungry!", he shouted back.

"Well you have to eat, so come down here."

"No!"

"Fine. Stay in your room." She walked into the kitchen. "Starve for all I care."

Kelly

Kelly, Brandon, Donna and David rejoined their party. There was still 15 minutes until Class of Beverly Hills began and Kelly wanted to be able to enjoy it. The other three managed to round up the gang while Kelly waited by the chairs that were set up in front of the huge television screen.

Within a few minutes, all of the gang came and sat down on the chairs, all facing Kelly; all knowing she had something to tell them.

When everyone was quiet, she began speaking. "Well. . .um," Kelly wiped her eyes with a sleeve, "I guess there's no easy way to say this. . .but. . .um. . .Recently, I found out that I have cancer. I have ovarian cancer."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Kelly thought she was going to wail out right then and there. But then her friends came though.

"You'll beat it," Dylan said.

Janet smiled, "It doesn't stand a chance against you."

"It's a walk in the park," Gina added.

Kelly didn't feel like crying any more. She knew the cancer might get the best of her. But her friends would be there every step of the way.

Dylan

Dylan squeezed through the crowd in the yard, trying to find a good place to watch the show. He wasn't sure why he had come; he hated crowds. Actually, he knew why he was there. . .because Brenda had asked him. He had tried to talk to her but she was constantly surrounded by people wishing her luck.

She deserved this. Dylan hoped that the show would be a success. From what he had seen at the meeting, it would be. Not that he really cared for himself. It was all about Brenda. This had been a big step for her and he wanted it to be a success for her.

Dylan settled into an empty chair to watch the show for the second time that day. He smiled when he saw Brenda's image come across the screen. He glanced over at Brenda and was surprised to her looking at him. He gave her a wink and she smiled back. Feeling better, he turned his attention back to the show.

Janet

During a commerical break, coincidentally, Janet & Steve and Donna & David all went up to get drinks. While getting their drinks, they made small talk.

"So Steve, did you hear who Donna hired to help work in the store?" David asked.

"No. Who?"

Donna smiled, "I hired Ryan."

"Uh oh. Big mistake."

"What?? Why??"

"Ryan. Working in a ladies boutique. Dealing with women. Oh yeah, that'll work out well."

Donna laughed uneasily, "Heh-heh."

Valerie

Once Valerie got to Brenda's apartment, she made herself scarce. She didn't want to start anything here. She wanted to be happy for Brenda, but she couldn't bare the thought of even congratulating her and accidently spilling the beans. That was Noah's job. Instead, she went over to Kelly.

"Hi Kelly."

"Hey Val."

"I'm really sorry." Valerie was referring to Kelly's cancer. "If I can do anything for you, I will. Take care of yourself."

"Thanks," she said, noticing how sad Val looked. "You know what? There is something you can do for me."

"Really? What is it?"

"Take care of yourself, too," she smiled.

"I'll try," she said, giving her a fakest smile.

Janet

Leah knocked on Taylor's bedroom door. Without even waiting for a response, she opened the door and walked in. She set down on a tray on the desk.

"Who knew when you last ate, and I realized that I couldn't let you starve, so Maddy and I managed to save a slice and some soda."

Taylor put his CD player aside. "Thanks, I guess."

Leah wandered around the room. She walked over to the window seat, looked at the books on the shelf, and then finally sat down on the bed.

"You know," she began, "Two girls lived in this room before you."

"They did?"

"Yep. Valerie was here for a few years, and before her, it was Brenda's. She and Brandon grew up in this house."

"How do you know this?"

"Usually, when I come here to babysit, Janet's not ready yet so Steve tells me stories from the past."

"He never told me any stories."

Leah got up and headed towards the door. "Maybe he never thought you'd be interested," she said before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Carly

Carly walked into Brenda's apartment a little late. She had to drop Zach off at a friend's house before coming to the party, so she missed Kelly's big announcement. Not to mention, the beginning of the show.

After getting a drink. she went over to Kelly. "Hey Kel."

"Hi. . ."

"Is something wrong?"

"I have to tell you something, Carly."

"Ok."

"I have cancer." There was a long pause. "The doctor found two tumors in my ovaries, and they were proved to be cancerous."

Carly was shocked. "Oh my god. Kelly I am so sorry," she said, pulling her into a hug.

Kelly nodded. "Thanks."

"Come on, the show is back on." Wow. She thought she had problems. They were nothing compared to Kelly's. It made her appreciate what she had. Especially Zach.

Lexi

During another commerical break, Lexi was eyeing Valerie.

"I wonder what's biting her," Lexi said. "Maybe, I'll go find out." She smirked and walked over to Val.

"Hey Val," she said.

Valerie gave her a dirty look. "Leave me alone, Lexi."

"Why would I do that?"

"That's right; I forgot. Annoying bitches like you don't go away."

Lexi laughed. "Not until we get information. So how are things with Noah?" she prodded. Inside, she was laughing hysterically, knowing this would get Val pissed.

"Go to hell," Val yelled.

"Gladly," she said and walked away. She loved getting to people, especially Val.

Brenda

Everything was really going well, Brenda thought. The show was almost over and everybody had been reacting exactly the way they were supposed to. They were laughing in all the right places and were obviously moved when they were supposed to be. They were even spellbound by scenes neither she nor Traci were in, a really good sign. Then, all too soon, the end credits were rolling. The silence was suddenly filled with heartfelt applause. Not knowing what else to do, Brenda took a bow. So did Traci.

Just then, inside Brenda's apartment, the phone rang. Donna was closest to the phone so she picked it up.

"Hello." She suddenly broke into a big grin. "She's right here." she told the person on the other end. Donna had someone go retrieve Brenda. When she got there, she handed her the phone. "It's the President of your fan club," she explained.

The president of her fan club? "Hello?" Brenda said into the phone.

"Hi, baby!" It was her mother. "You were so brilliant! I'm going to start dusting a shelf off right now for your Emmy!"

" You saw the show?" Brenda asked, surprised.

"We saw it on Satellite TV."

"What time is it over there?" Brenda could never remember what time it was in Hong Kong.

"Don't worry about that. This was worth a week of schedule juggling. Your father and I are so proud of you! He'd like to talk to you now."

"Sure, put him on."

The next voice Brenda heard was her father's. "Hi, baby! I loved the show."

"Thanks," Brenda responded to him.

"That father of yours, he's a real doofus isn't he? Kind of makes you feel better about your old man, huh?"

Brenda cracked up.

After she talked to her parents for a few more minutes, she hung up the phone and started to mingle with her guests.

Lexi

Not long after her conversation with Val, Lexi walked in to her own apartment. Jen followed her in.

Jen shook her head. She finally turned around to face her. "Where the hell do you get off?"

"Excuse me?"

"What's your problem?" Jen shouted. "Leave Val alone. Give her a break; she just got out of rehab."

Lexi seemed to think about it. "Nah, no thanks. And since when are you fighting Val's battles for her? She may be a bitch, a slut, and a number of other things, but she is perfectly capable, Jen."

Jen laughed. "You are a cold-hearted bitch, and you wouldn't understand friendship if it kicked you in the face."

"Like you're the expert," Val said and walked away from listening at the door.

Jen

After Val ran off, Jen left Brenda's apartment. She looked around the courtyard and made eye contact with Val, then looked down. The person who she wanted to go to the most, hated her. She didn't know what to do. She went over and sat by Michael.

"Hey what's wrong," he asked.

"Life," she smiply said. Just then, she saw Noah's car pull up. "Oh no. This isn't going to be good."

Donna

Donna finished congratulating Brenda and wandered over by Gina.

"He's taking a long time to congratulate Brenda, isn't he?" Gina asked her.

Donna turned around. Dylan was busy talking to Brenda. Presumably, he was congratulating her.

"They've known each other a long time," Donna said quickly. "They're probably just remembering other parts that she's had."

Gina snorted. "Yeah, right." Then Gina smiled a really disturbing smile. "You know, I know a little bit of trivia about Class of Beverly Hills that may interest Brenda. It's about how they finance the show. I think I should go tell her now."

Donna suddenly got really worried. She didn't know what Gina wanted to tell Brenda but she had the feeling that it was nothing good. She followed Gina over to where Brenda was standing.

" Brenda," Gina said in a very casual voice. "there's an interesting bit of trivia about your show that I think you should know."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "Hold that thought," Brenda told Gina. "I'll just get that and then I'll be right back."

"Oh, I can wait." Gina said, smiling.

Brenda went to the door and opened it. Noah was standing there.

Brenda

Brenda was happy to see Noah.

"Hey, stranger. Good to see you. You missed the show but. . ." Brenda faltered when she saw the expression on Noah's face. He looked like a man in torment. "What is it, Noah?"

Noah spoke slowly and painfully. "There's something I have to tell you. I was wrong to keep it from you but at least I can tell you now before you find out some other way. While we were dating, I slept with Jen once. But once was all it took. I'm the father of Jen's baby."

Suddenly, it was like Brenda wasn't even there any more. She was floating on some other planet where none of this was happening. The only sound she heard was Donna's voice coming from a million miles away. "Oh no," Donna was saying. " Not again."

Then suddenly, Brenda came back to Earth with a thud. She screamed, "YOU BASTARD!" She slapped Noah fiercely. "I TRUSTED YOU! I broke up with you because I thought you deserved a woman who would give you total loyalty in her heart! But I never cheated on you and I never would have! At least when Dylan cheated on me, he did it with Kelly! Somebody I could respect! But you, you cheated on me with the town tramp! Ms. Open All Hours!" Brenda turned to Jen. "And you! What, were you up to the H's in the phone book? When Kelly first kissed with Dylan, she was in agony! She started having feelings for him. For you, it was just another notch on the bedpost!" Brenda moved to strike Jen. Suddenly, somebody grabbed her arm. It was Val.

"You can't do it, Bren," Val told her quietly.

"What do you mean, I can't do it?" Brenda yelled. "You should want to hit her more than I do! I barely know her! She's your friend and she stabbed you in the back! You should want to clobber her!"

"I do," Val admitted. "But she's pregnant. You can't hit a pregnant woman."

Brenda said nothing for a moment. Then she sighed deeply. "Yeah, you're right."

Donna

Brenda just stood there for a minute. Donna thought Brenda looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Would everybody mind just leaving?" Brenda said calmly. "I really need to be alone right now."

"Of course," Donna said. Brenda really did need some alone time now.

"Are you okay?" Traci asked, concerned.

"No," Brenda admitted. "But I really shouldn't be around people right now."

Traci still looked worried. Donna gently started to pull Traci out of the apartment. "There's nothing you can do for her right now. There's a lot of stuff going on that you don't know about. I'll explain it to you somewhere else."

Reluctantly, Traci started to head for the door.

Suddenly, Brenda called out. "Gina." Gina turned to face her. "There was something you wanted to tell me about the show before. Something you said I should know. What was it?"

Gina started to say something then stopped. Then she waved her hand dismissively. "It was nothing. You really don't need to hear it tonight."

Brenda nodded and turned away.

Gina walked up to Donna and whispered to her. "You are way too good an influence on me."

Donna had no idea what Gina was talking about but she had the odd feeling that she should be very proud of her sister.

Valerie

Jen turned to Val and said, "Thanks for defending me."

"I shouldn't. Brenda was right," she said looking at Brenda. "You're supposed to be my best freind." She turned to Noah and put her hand up. "And you; don't even say anything." She was about to walk out of Brenda's apartment.

Brandon stopped her. "Valerie are you okay?"

"No," she said, fighting back the tears. She sucked it up and said, "But I will be."

Kelly walked over to Brandon. "How is she?"

"I don't know, but she's strong. She will get through it. Just like I know you're strong and you will get through it, too."

Jen

Jen took off, out of the apartment after Valerie.

"You know what? This is not right. Why are you pissed at me? I didn't do anything to you."

"Jen, I'm not going through this with you."

"YES, YOU ARE," ahe screamed.

"No, I'm not. If you don't see why I'm pissed, then you have some serious problems."

"What?"

"You knew I was still in love with Noah and you slept with him anyway. When you knew he was the father, did you tell me? NO! Jen, I haven't had the most friends, but i know they aren't supposed to do this or make you feel the way I feel!"

"Valerie, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? It's going to take a lot more then a 'sorry' to clear this one up."

"Val, please talk to me."

"I'm sick of people asking me to talk to them. Talk is cheap and guess what? So are you."

Jen

By this time, everyone was outside and had witnessed the fight between Jen and Valerie. Jen stomped away, but her brother ran up to her.

He touched her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"No. No I'm not."

"It will be okay, Jen. Don't worry."

"No, it won't be okay, Michael. I'm pregnant and I'm alone. It's not supposed to be like this. Not even close. It's times like these I wonder if I made the right choice by keeping this baby." Now in tears, Jen ran into her apartment.

Brenda

Everybody had left the apartment and Brenda was alone.

God, all of a sudden, she was back in high school again. All the pain, all the hurt, all the feeling of betrayal--it was all back.

She had wanted to say more to Kelly before she left, to comfort her more about her cancer. But right now, she didn't trust herself talking to Kelly. She was afraid that before she realized it, she'd say something to Kelly about the past, about events she'd forgiven Kelly about long ago but that Kelly didn't need to think about right now.

Just then, her phone rang. She didn't feel like getting it. Her answering machine clicked on. After the machine delivered its greeting, Brenda heard a familiar voice. Beck's voice.

"My congratulations, Ms. Walsh. It would seem that your show is a hit. A fact that further illustrates the incredible lack of taste of the American public. Of course, you realize that there will now be a far larger market for scandals related to the cast of Class of Beverly Hills. I'm going to need a juicy one quite soon. I would still prefer it to be about Ms. Locke but you'll do quite nicely, if necessary. Soon, Ms. Walsh. Soon."

The machine clicked off and Brenda flopped down on a chair. The capper to a perfect day, she thought to herself. Well, Beck, I hate to disillusion you but right now, I really couldn't care less about what you want to do to me.

Kelly

Kelly was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed, and having a conversation with Brandon. He was already undressed and in bed, waiting for her. "Thanks for convincing me to go tonight, Brandon."

"That's what I'm here for. To make sure you don't miss out on the good times."

Kelly didn't respond. Instead, she continued taking off her makeup. What was he trying to say? That she might not have many more good times so she better enjoy them now? The thought sent chills up her spine. She got in to bed with a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Janet

"So how were they?", Steve asked Leah as he handed her a $20 bill.

"Thanks. Maddy was a little angel, like always, and Taylor was. . .well. . .Taylor. Not too friendly. But I guess that's understandable considering the fight you guys had."

Janet walked into the foyer carrying a cup of hot chocolate. "Did he come out of his room at all?" She took a sip of her drink.

"Nope."

"Good," Steve said. "That must mean he had a miserable night, just like I did."

Janet looked at Steve. "What are you talking about? You didn't have a miserable night."

"Yes, I did. Between thinking about Taylor, finding out one of our best friends has cancer and watching Brenda's show, I would say I had a miserable night."

"How did watching Brenda's show make you miserable?"

"Honey, the show sucked," he said as nicely as possible.

"Steve!!"

"I liked it, Steve," Leah said.

"I just don't think a show with 20-something year olds playing high schoolers is realistic. Or interesting."

Janet made a face. "Look who's talking. . .you're a 27 year old who still watches Sesame Street."

"Only with Maddy."

"Oh, please Steve. You watch it whether she's there or not."

Leah laughed. "As much as I'd like to stay and chat, I've got to get home. Goodnite."

"Nite Leah."

"Nite."

Dylan

Dylan was up early, looking outside every few minutes. Gina walked out of the bedroom, her hair a mess.

She yawned and stretched, "Whats going on? Why are you up so early?"

"No reason."

"Sure," Gina said and sat on the couch.

Dylan saw the paper boy coming down the street and he ran outside to greet him. He grabbed the paper and brought it in. He spread it open to the Entertainment section and looked for the review. Gina stood behind him and read over his shoulder to see what it was he was looking at. She should have guessed.

"'Beverly Hills Show a Hit'," she read aloud. "I should have known."

"Quiet," Dylan told her, reading through the article. Most of the reviews were published the day before, but some newspapers liked to review the show after the pilot aired. He skimmed the article quickly. He knew that the show would be a hit, but he was looking for something else. There it was, 'Newcomer Brenda Walsh captured every scene with her naive, innocent, out-of-towner act as she played newcomer to Beverly Hills, Hayley.' That's no act, Dylan thought to himself. He smiled to remember innocent Brenda Walsh's first day at West Beverly. No wonder he had fallen head over heels for her.

Lexi

Lexi and Michael had just boarded their plane at the airport. The flight was just about to take off.

Michael looked around apprehensively.

"What's wrong?" Lexi asked.

"Uh, nothing. I think I just need a drink." The waitress just happened to be passing by. "Uhh, can I have a beer please? Coors Light, preferably."

She nodded. "I'll be right with you sir. Anything for your companion?"

Lexi nodded. "I'll have a club soda with lemon."

She nodded and walked away. Within a few minutes, she came back with the drinkd, as the captain announced something.

"Attention passengers, the flight will be taking off shortly."

Michael gulped down his beer quickly, and the plane was already about to take off.

"What is your problem?" Lexi asked him.

"Nothing. . .I'm just a little. . .nervous."

She laughed. "Michael, I can't believe this. You are such a baby! You're scared to fly aren't you?"

He smiled uneasily as there plane took off.

Steve

"And just where are you going with that?", Steve asked Janet.

Janet was heading out of the kitchen carrying a tray with eggs, toast, and juice on it. "He may be grounded, Steve, but he can still have breakfast."

"Yes, he can. In the kitchen. Janet, you called him twice and he didn't come down. He must not want breakfast that bad."

She place the tray on the island counter. "Whatever you say."

Brenda

David and Donna were pulling themselves together and getting ready for the new day.

" So," David asked. "Are you still going over to Brenda's?"

Donna nodded. "She's had her alone time. Now she needs to vent to a friend. Otherwise, she's just going to crawl deeper into herself and never come out. Remember how long it took her to get over Kelly and Dylan?"

David remembered. Sometimes he had wondered if Brenda ever would. He was glad that she finally had but he knew as well as Donna that the scars would always be there, waiting for something to rip them open again.

"You know, she's probably not going to want to let you in," David pointed out. "And you know how stubborn she can be."

Donna grinned. "And you know how stubborn I can be," she pointed out.

David laughed and nodded.

"Gina's covering the store so I can wait for as long as it takes," Donna told him. "Val also wants to come by and talk to her later so, if I'm still waiting outside when Val gets there, Brenda will have to deal with both of us!"

" Yow!" David said appreciatively. "Even Brenda would think twice about crossing that team!"

Donna laughed. "And what will you be up to today?" she asked.

"I'm going to finish that article on the life of a DJ," David said casually.

"That's nice," Donna said supportively.

But that's not all I'm going to do, David thought to himself. I am going to sit down and figure out exactly how I can get back the momentum I've lost on my music career. David Silver, the musician, is making a comeback!

Carly

Carly was working at the Peach Pit and it was a busy morning. Things seemed to be simmering down slowly, though. She had just finished taking an order when Kevin walked in. Carly was shocked to see him.

"Hello," he said coming up to the counter. He took a seat on a stool.

"Why are you following me?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "I'm not following you. Lawyers have to eat, too."

She smirked and poured water into a glass. "Look, Kev--Mr. Klein," she corrected herself, "I'm really busy and I don't have time to chat."

"I'm not asking to chat. I'm asking you to come on a date with me."

"A date?" He nodded. She laughed. "Maybe, I didn't make it clear. I have no intention of dating anyone in the near future. My son is the only man in my life."

He laughed. "We'll see about that."

Janet

Janet crept down the hall towards Taylor's room. In her hands, she carried the tray that held his breakfast.

"AH-HA!" Steve jumped out from the hall bathroom and scared her.

Startled, Janet dropped the tray, sending bits of food everywhere.

"I know you too well, Janet. What did I tell you? If he wants breakfast, he can come downstairs."

"Well, he won't be having breakfast now, thanks to you." She looked down at the mess that was just created.

Taylor's door opened. "What's going on? I heard a noise."

"Well if it isn't Mr. Grounded. . ." Steve said sarcastically.

A look of hurt appeared on Taylor's face. He went back in his room and closed the door behind him.

Donna

Donna pulled her car into a space near Brenda's apartment. She parked the car and turned it off. She started to rummage around in her car for her supplies. She thought she could get Brenda to let her in pretty quickly but,just in case she couldn't, she needed to be prepared. Traci had said that Brenda wasn't filming today so Brenda could hold up in her apartment all day if she wanted to.

It was a good thing that Ryan wouldn't start working at the store for another couple of days. Gina had agreed to cover for her at the store until she was done with Brenda but Donna had the feeling that she should probably be very present for Ryan's first day of work. Otherwise, she might have to post bail when they arrested Gina for murder. She was sure Ryan would work out but it might take a few days. . .

Donna put her supplies in her bag, got out of the car, locked up and headed for Brenda's apartment.

Kelly

Kelly walked out of her bedroom wearing a silk robe. She saw a figure sitting in the kitchen. If Brandon was at work. . .who could it be?

She walked closer and saw that it was her mother.

"How did you get in here?" she asked.

Jackie turned around and faced her daughter. "Brandon let me in."

"Oh."

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry!" Jackie stood up and walked closer to Kelly. "I never should have reacted the way I did."

"That's right. You shouldn't have. But I'm sorry, too. I should have told you a lot sooner than I did."

Jackie pulled Kelly into a hug. "How about we call it even?"

"Deal!" "Now why don't you tell me the whole story of how this all came about."

"Are you sure want to hear it?"

"What kind of mother would I be if I didn't?"

Kelly smiled. Her mother may have overreacted yesterday. But it was only because she cared.

Brenda

Brenda had woken up in a really bad mood. Life stunk. She couldn't trust anybody, doing the right thing was going to get her career trashed by a crazy gossip columnist and she had acted like a complete lunatic in front of every friend she had in the world.

She didn't want to talk to anybody. She just wanted to watch something crappy on TV and sneer at it.

She heard a knock on the door. "Go away!" she yelled to whoever it was.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Donna's voice came through the door. "You've been alone long enough! Now you are going to talk to me and vent! You are not going to crawl inside yourself this time! I am going to sit right out here until you let me in!"

"You're going to get awfully hungry," Brenda told her. "I'm not leaving this apartment today!"

"That's okay," Donna replied. "I' ll have my breakfast out here!"

How in the world could Donna have breakfast outside, Brenda wondered. Curiously, she opened the door. Donna was sitting on the ground with one of those little boxes of Cheerioes like you got in diners. She also had a little packet of milk and a plastic spoon. She even had a book to read while she ate.

Donna looked up at her and grinned. "I thought you'd be curious."

Brenda laughed for the first time since Noah had turned her world upside down. "Tell me," she asked Donna " what if I hadn't opened the door?"

"Val's coming by later," Donna said complacently. "Believe me, you don't want to get into playing head games with her. She would have gotten you to open the door."

Brenda nodded. "Probably. She always was pretty good at getting what she wanted." She motioned Donna to stand up. "C'mon in. I'll get you a bowl for your cereal."

"You have to have breakfast too," Donna told her. "Comfort food is very important when you're dealing with bad relationship news."

Brenda grinned. "Okay," she said.

Okay, Brenda thought. So life doesn't stink.

Steve

Janet walked into the living room, where Steve was watching television.

"Sesame Street is on already?" she joked.

He gave her a sarcastic smirk. "Very funny."

"Listen, I just got off the phone with Todd. They're having some advertising problem and need you to go down there. He said it shouldn't take long."

Steve sighed. "Guess that's what I get for being the boss man."

"Pick up some lunch on the way back. That's what you get for being the husband."

"Oh, yay!" Steve sarcastically said. "I'll be back soon."

Kelly

"My poor baby!" Jackie exclaimed, holding Kelly in her arms.

Kelly had just finished telling her everything that had happened during the past few months. From feeling sick to traveling to San Francisco. Her mom now knew it all.

Jackie stroked Kelly's hair. "I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through what you're going though. And you've already endured so much!"

Jackie went on. "You'll get through it though. You've gotten through so much already."

Kelly thought about what her mother said. She had been through a lot already. What if her body couldn't take any more? What if she couldn't get through it?

Steve

Carly was still working at the Peach Pit when Steve entered.

"Hey," she said. She handed him a bag full of food.

"Thanks," he said.

Carly eyed him strangely. "Steve, is something wrong?"

He sighed. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to have a child? One that is 15 years old, nonetheless! He is ridicoulousy vindictive and antagonistic. He doesn't listen to a word Janet or I say, and to top it off he won't leave his room. Now, is there something wrong?"

Carly looked at him bluntly. "I'm sorry Steve, is there anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I better go give everyone their lunch. Thanks Carly."

She smiled. "Bye, Steve."

Brandon

The L.A. police continue to be stumped by the case of the recent cancer. . .

Brandon stopped. He hadn't meant to type cancer. He had meant to type carjackings but cancer was what had come out. Brandon sighed. He couldn't get his mind off of Kelly and cancer. It still made him sick to his stomach to even think about the two being connceted. He had thought that he could come get some work done. And with Jackie stopping by, he felt it would be best to leave the two alone. Still, he couldn't help but to be overly concerned. He really was scared to death. . .

Don't think death, Brandon, he thought to himself. She's going to be fine, good as new. The medical field had made amazing advances in oncology in the past few decades. His rational mind knew all this but he still didn't want Kelly, the love of his life, to have to go through chemotherapy. He knew enough that often the treatment made you sicker than the actual cancer. Not that they had any other options.

Brandon was surprised when a tear fell onto his hand. He reached up quickly and wiped his eyes. God, how he loved her. Brandon found himself praying for her and the strength for both of them to get through these next few months. He had a feeling that they were going to need it.

Janet

Being that Steve was out of the house, Janet figured this was a perfect opportunity to make ammends with Taylor.

She knocked on his door. After hearing him say "Come in," she opened it and sat down besides him on the bed.

There was a long silence before Janet got the nerve to say something. "Taylor, listen. We need discuss what happened yesterday."

"Fine."

"We both made some mistakes. You broke curfew. I got mad. You didn't watch Maddy. I got mad. You drank an alcohoic beverage. I got mad. Do you see a pattern here?"

"Yeah. Everything I do makes you mad," he said sadly.

"No, Taylor. You're misunderstanding. Those things you did were wrong. But I was wrong too. I was wrong for getting mad. Instead of talking to you nicely and rationally, I got angry."

"Not as angry as Steve."

"True. But I was still burning inside. And although I didn't show it, I felt it. And that was wrong. I should have dealt with it in an appropriate manner."

"How about we make a deal?"

"What do you propose?"

"I won't break the rules. And if I do, you can get mad. But we'll talk about it and not let it get this far."

"Sounds good."

"Good."

"Now how about giving your pretend mother a hug?"

"Janet, you may be my pretend mother. . .But I wouldn't mind you being my real mother."

Janet felt tears form in her eyes. Happy tears. Warm, loving tears. She pulled Taylor into a hug and held him tightly.

Carly

After her shift, Carly headed home. She was fumbling around for her keys while walking up the steps to her apartment. She didn't realize where she was going, and bumped into Kevin.

"Oh sorry, Kevin," she said. She stopped and realized what she said. "KEVIN!?!?"

He smiled. "I just keep popping up on you today."

She looked at his smile and her body froze, getting weak in the knees. It took her a while to respond. "Kevin, I told you, I am not interested in you."

"Oh really?" he asked. "Well your son seems to be."

She froze again. "What were you doing with my son?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing, I just saw him stop by here with his friend to pick up his gameboy and we had a little chat."

She finally got the door open. "Look, Kevin, please just leave."

He stood by the door. "Fine. . ." he said. She smiled her thanks and closed the door.

Steve

"Janet. . .I'm back!!" Steve set the bag of food from The Peach Pit on the island counter.

Within a few minutes, Janet walked in to the kitchen. "Smells good. Nat is an awesome cook."

"Tell me about it."

The two sat down at the kitchen table and began to eat their lunch. A few bites into the meal, Taylor appeared in the doorway. He paused and then walked in further. He looked in the bag from The Peach Pit and pulled out some food.

"Thanks for getting me lunch, Steve," he said quietly. He sat down at the table, across from Steve.

"Umm," Janet got up from the table quickly, "I. . .uhh. . .think Maddy's crying. Yeah, that's it! Maddy's crying!" She abruptly left the room, leaving Steve and Taylor alone.

Wanting to avoid the silence, Taylor asked Steve to pass the salt.

As he passed it, Steve started a conversation. "You know, Ryan had to have his stomach pumped once."

"Why?"

"Because he drank too much."

"Steve, it won't happen again!!"

"Let me finish. As I was saying, he drank too much. He couldn't handle his liquor and the main reason for that is that he was underage and hadn't had much experience with drinking. But I let him drink. I didn't really say yes but I didn't say no either. It was my fault."

"What are you getting at Steve?"

"Maybe it was my fault you drank. I never said you couldn't."

"But you never said I could," Taylor said logically.

Steve repeated what he said before, "I never said you couldn't. I never said you couldn't have friends over. I never gave you guidelines for watching Maddy. There was a lack of communication, and that was my fault."

"I knew when my curfew was. And I broke it."

"That, you did do. And that, was indeed your fault." They both laughed for some reason, even though it wasn't really funny.

"I'm sorry, Steve."

"I'm sorry too. But you did break curfew. So you are still grounded."

"Okay, I understand."

Steve made a face; like he came up with an idea. "I think I'll ground myself, too."

"Okay. No Sesame Street for Steve."

"Would you guys stop with that already? Jeez."

Again, both of them laughed. But this time there was a reason. It was funny. But either way, it didn't matter. Reason or not. They could laugh. That's who they were. That's what their relationship was. A good friendship. Full of laughs.

Carly

After a few minutes, Carly looked out her blinds, truly hoping Kevin was still there but he wasn't. She sighed and sat on the couch. He was always trying to meet her unexpectedly, kind of like a stalker. But for some strange reason he didn't come off that way. He seemed like someone who really liked her. Not the kind of guy who followed her every move. The kind of guy who would be there for her when she needed him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Gina."

"Hey, what's up?"

"I was just calling to let you know I'll help you supervise Zach's party next week."

She nodded and smiled. "Great. Thanks."

"Bye."

Carly hung up the phone and turned on the television.

Lexi

Lexi and Michael were exiting the plane hours later. "See was that so bad?" Lexi asked with a smirk.

Michael shook his head, obviously anxious to get off the plane.

"So what are we doing first?"

"We can go over to baggage claim and then we'll go to the rental cars."

"You had this all planned out, didn't you?"

"Only the best for my best girl," Michael said and kissed her passionately.

Janet

Janet walked into the living room and saw Steve watching t.v. again. But he wasn't alone. This time, Taylor was on one side of him and Maddy was on the other. Janet sat down and placed Maddy on her lap.

"Steve, I'm impressed! You're not watching Sesame Street."

"Thank you."

Taylor leaned over. "He grounded himself."

"Ohhh," Janet said. "I knew there had to be a reason."

"Besides that," Steve said, "It's not on at this time, anyway."

Valerie

Val knocked on Brenda's apartment door.

"Come in," Brenda said.

Valerie walked in. "Hi."

"Oh, hi Val. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Noah and I broke up. But I guess you figured that you," She said, letting a tear fall from her eye.

"Come here," she said, embracing Val in a hug. "I really do understand how you feel. Come sit down." She pulled Val towards the couch and they sat down.

"I almost did coke again," she admitted.

"Don't let them do that to you. Don't let them have that effect over you," Brenda told her.

"Jen was my best friend. I already lost a best friend, not too long ago. And now a boyfriend"

"I know how you feel. But I did forgive Kelly."

"But did you really, Brenda? I mean, like how can you?"

"To tell you the truth, even though Kelly and I can laugh and talk and be cool, when I look in her eyes, I can still see that day she told me she was with Dylan over the summer. We will never get that friendship we shared before that day back. But she was a good friend to me and she was truly sorry and that was the reason I could forgive her."

"And Dylan?"

"Well, Dylan was my first love. I guess I will always be drawn to him. Do I trust him? I do. . .with my life. Why? I don't know but I do. And if you can honestly say that about Noah, then you should go back to him. But if you can't, then you made the right choice."

Val thought about what Brenda had said. Trust Noah with her life. Hell now. She didn't even trust him with her 3 speed blender. She stood up. "Thanks for everything Brenda. I know Noah hurt you, too. I'm sorry"

"Thank you"

"I'll see you later," she said picking up her purse and leaving.

Jen

Jen woke up to the knocking on her door.

"Hold on. Keep your pants on." She opened the door to see Val's tired face. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Of course."

"Well I wanted to bring you this." She took graham crackers and choclate syrup out of her over-sized purse.

"Thanks."

"Well, I'm going to go now. . ."

"Wait. . ."

"Yeah?"

"Does this mean. . . you forgive me?" she asked.

"I'm going to try to." Val gave a small smile and left the apartment.

Lexi

Lexi and Michael had rented their car and gotten their bags. They rented a red BMW Z-3. "Ok, okay it's a little unposh but I like it," Lexi said. "Well you better for the amount of money it cost me!" Michael said as they pulled into the parking lot of the Plaza Hotel. They got out, and got their room key and went up to their floor. Lexi and Michael walked into the room and Lexi gave Michael a kiss. "What was that for?" "For being everything I want," she said. Michael smiled and kissed her back. They got on the bed and started to make love.