So, like I said in my Transformers fic "Kids!", I'm doing Bye Bye, Birdie in school. I don't know if I mentioned this, but I got cast as Deborah Sue. I'm basing my portrayals of the characters on the cast I'm working with, including appearances. For example, I have red hair and blue eyes, and our costume designer, who is also Kim (it's a small school), is putting me in pigtails: this Deborah Sue is a blue-eyed redhead who likes to wear her hair in pigtails.

Some names are names of actors, because they don't have actual names in the script. Um, Deborah Sue's family was named by me. And those cats actually exist, they're my babies :) Except, it's "Puff", not "Puffy".

Obviously, I don't actually own rights to Birdie. R&R, please, I'd really appreciate feedback. This story idea was bugging me for awhile, and I just started writing.

I was just getting ready for school when it happened. Or, at least, when it reached Sweet Apple, officially. I'd just tied my pigtails when I heard it.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO! AHHH! NOOO!"

By the voice, it could only be Ursula, even though we were about three-quarters of a mile. I jumped a mile, falling off my stool onto the floor. I grabbed my things and rushed down the stairs.

Mother was making Daddy's breakfast: poached eggs, I think. My mother, Clara Jane Addison-Miller, was a mousy woman with brown hair and hazel eyes. I walked by and started to make myself some toast. "Morning, Mother."

"Hello, dear, better get moving, you've got fifteen minutes to get to school. There's your lunch over there. And could you feed the cats, please?"

"Yes, Mother." I fed Puffy and Smudge while I waited for my toast. Puffy was a fluffy gray kitten with a white stomach and paws. Smudge was a black one with similar white spots, but her face was white too, except for a black spot on her nose, hence, Smudge.

When my toast popped up, Puffy jumped a mile. I laughed a little, and she glared at me, tottering over to the water bowl. She enjoyed "washing her paws", that is, she'd dip her paws in the water and splash around, then lick her paw, then do it again until she was satisfied.

"Are there any letters from Wayne?" I asked. My brother had been drafted, and sent to Vietnam, six months before. The last letter we'd gotten had been three weeks ago, a notification that he'd been wounded. It was from a buddy of his from Pumpkin Falls, Iowa.

"Sorry, honey."

I waited until my toast was cooled before grabbing and buttering it. I grabbed my books and my lunch and started out, walking past Daddy at the breakfast table. My father, Jack Miller, was a black-haired man with blue eyes who looked like a lumberjack. He sold used cars in Sweet Apple.

On the front page of his paper was a picture of none other than Conrad Birdie.

"Morning, Daddy. What're they saying about Conrad?" I worried.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it. Now, go on, you're late."

"Oh, but Daddy-"

"Deborah Sue."

"Yes, Daddy."

**
It's never a good sign when you get into Home Economics, and all of the girls in your class are sobbing.

Well, all of the girls who showed up, which was just Alice, Margie, Kim and Helen. I didn't see Penelope, Ursula, Nancy and Suzie anywhere.

Mr. Kingsley looked at me. "Miss Miller, please tell me you're not going to start wailing like a banshee too."

"Why? What happened? What's everyone so upset about?"

Alice let out a loud wail. "Conrad Birdie's been drafted!"

My vision tunneled, then got sort of normal, but it was fuzzy, like the television got when I took my glasses off and tried to watch it. I kind of saw Alice and Mr. Kingsley get up, but I couldn't really be sure it was them until they spoke. And when they did, their voices were all distant and echo-y.

"Miss Miller? Miss Miller, can you hear me?"

Everything went black.

"Deborah Sue? Deborah Sue!"