Fashion Games

[jess]

--open

"Too trashy."
"Too retro."
"Ick, too goth."
"Not bad."
"Now that's fetch."

Jessica Rey pointed at a girl as she walked by the Jessica's little group of gathered "friends." Well, to be more specific, Jessica pointed a perfectly manicured nail at the girl's outfit as she passed.

The girls were participating in one of Jessica's favorite games. The queen bee would lounge against one wall of the corridor and pass judgment upon the outfits of everyone who passed by. The most unfortunate would be teased relentlessly.

"It looks like someone's mother is still dressing them. Seriously, that might look good on, like, a seven year old."

Occasionally Jessica just snapped at someone she didn't like.

"Showing enough skin there? What's the matter, can't get attention any other way? Sl*t."

Very rarely someone actually met with approval. Generally these were people who already associated with the Rey heiress, but that was beside the point.

Currently said heiress's own outfit was at the peak of fashion. A cute yellow tank top that revealed just a sliver of skin around the navel, and a flirty pink skirt. At least half of Jessica's giggle squad wore something similar, and the other half had to have their outfits approved.

"I swear, there ought to be a dress code here," muttered Jessica as a particularly scruffy young man passed. The giggle squad murmured their agreement.

[· Rebel La'Beau.]

"Good lord, you're quite a bitch."

Rebel's voice, French accent still clinging, came from a few steps down the hall where she stood, hands on her hips and eyebrows raised. Dressed in her usual off-beat, but nonetheless fashionable style, Rebel was just waiting for the other girl to make a comment about her outfit, as she most undoubtedly would. The unique girl, who was sporting pale blue hair this week instead of her usually vibrant pink, leaned her weight on one hip as she stared down at Jessica, feeling an immediate distaste for the girl.

"You and your moche outfit 'ave no place to be talking cheri. You look like you must live in a trailer, and your attitude is definitely no better." Rebel was genuinely a sweet child, but being transferred to this school had done nothing for her disposition, and hearing an arrogant American child with no sense of dress attempting to mock the one thing Rebel had devoted her life to was obviously something that wouldn't go over well either.

[jess]

Had Rebel not had brilliant blue hair, she might have earned Jessica and her clique as her newest fans. After all, the French accent was certainly appealing, and definitely chic. In fact, you couldn't get much more chic than that. Add on the stylish outfit and you had a combination that would normally win over the hearts and minds of such shallow minded people as Jessica's clique.

However, the hair declared her a rebellious outsider, a "them" to the clique's "us." Not to mention the hostility expressed toward their figurehead, Jessica.

"You know," drawled Jessica, turning to look directly into Rebel's eyes, "just because you have an accent doesn't make you an expert. And knowing the right words doesn't either. I could teach a parrot to speak French and give fashion critiques. Oh wait!"

Jessica pressed a finger to her lips and favored Rebel a sly smile.

"I already did. That bird certainly had prettier plumage than you though," Jessica's eyes ran over Rebel's body, clearly pricing her. It disgruntled the self-appointed diva that there was little to complain about. "Tell, you what, I'll give you a bye, because you at least know how to dress yourself properly. Where did you get those shoes?"

The gaggle moved forward now, suddenly intensely interested in Rebel. Well, at least interested in her footwear. After all, rarely did anyone even get a passing grade from Jessica, let alone a display of admiration.

[· Rebel La'Beau.]

"Ah. Plumage, such a big, clever word from such a petty little morveux." Rebel never wavered, her gaze locked on Jessica as she stood before the girl and her followers with her hand on her hip and eyebrows raised.

"'Zees shoes?" The bright-haired girl offered Jessica a coy smile, cleverly delighted in the most devious sense, that she had asked about Rebel's unique shoes. "I designed 'zem myself, actually. They were Cri De Rébellion's best seller as far as shoes went." She wasn't entirely sure if Jessica would have ever heard of her clothing line, considering that it was made up entirely of boutique clothing, and judging by the American girl's outfit, she had probably never even seen the inside of a Haute Couture shop.

"I am not sure you've heard of the brand, but eet was part of my Mother's line, Couture Céline?" Now she was testing the poor girl, testing to see if she really knew her fashion. Genevieve La'Beau's clothing line was famous in nearly every corner of the world, and if Jessica knew anything about the world of high fashion, she would surely have heard of it as well.

"I could get you a pair if you like."
But nothing ever came without a price, and if the Rey Heiress wanted a pair of the designer shoes, she was going to accept that.

[jess]

For now, Jessica was willing to let the insults slide. Oddly enough, the heiress had applied herself well enough to learn several of the "important" languages. Her French wasn't perfect, but it certainly was good enough to recognize the insult.

"You design clothes?" asked Jessica, arching her eyebrows in surprise. Clearly she'd found someone who actually had a leg up on her in this realm, which meant she'd have to discover another way of gaining the high ground in the conversation.

"I honestly didn't pay much attention to Couture Céline, particularly the latest season. They had an awful season a few back and I lost interest. Rumors were that the latest line was better than most, apparently they were dead on," Jessica nodded, satisfied that she was at least on equal terms here. At the suggestion, she beamed at Rebel. "Would you like me to buy a few pairs? I'd love to support a rising designer..."

"Ooo, I want a pair too!"
"Me too!"
"We should all wear 'Coater Saline!'"
All the giggle squad glared at the one who butchered the name, and she blushed darkly in embarrassment.

"Oh!" Jessica raised her hand to her wide-open mouth, "I don't believe we introduced ourselves. I'm Jessica Rey, of the Texas Reys."

Counter-test, clearly.

OoC: cut me a little slack on the fashion thing, I don't know all that much. *mutters about having to go study now*

[· Rebel La'Beau.]

"I did design clothes. I'm here taking a bit of a vacation." It was a classic Rebel-move, to move about her sentences so carefully, to call something like a 'punishment', more of a 'vacation.' She wasn't trying to hide anything, but at the same time, she wasn't about to give away any more details about her life to someone like Jessica with her sugary smile and smug eyes.

"Of course you're welcome to buy a pair or two chéri, but they are fairly pricey, and while I 'ave no doubts that, being a member of the Rey family and such, you could afford them." Rebel of course, had never heard of Jessica's family before, considering that she was from an entirely different continent altogether, but that of course, would never stop her from posing civil.

"However, I could get you them for free."

[jess]

Now Jessica was face with a bit of a dilemma.

Free shoes were fabulous. They would always be fabulous. And free shoes from the actual designer of said shoes would be all new levels of fabulous. Being able to parade in front of everyone in gorgeous shoes that you didn't pay for because you knew the high class designer? That was something simply wonderful.

But in order to do so, Jessica would have to swallow a bit of her pride. The best way for her to throw her weight around would be to pay for the shoes, simply because she could.

Really though, Jessica still had the upper hand here. And Rebel had acknowledged her family. It looked like she could accept the boots and keep her status.

"That's sounds fabulous!" chirped Jessica. Her beaming smile was turned upon Rebel, with a half a dozen replicas just behind her. "Could you really get me a free pair? I mean, I'd hate to put you out."

There, taking the free stuff and looking good. Jessica was just brilliant!

[· Rebel La'Beau.]

"Not at all cheri" Rebel smiled with all the sincerity in the world, despite how inwardly, she was cringing and crying. Playing sugar-sweet was something the French girl dabbled in only when it was absolutely necessary, such as whenever she found herself in the presence of royalty, religious figures and when she really, really needed to get into a club that didn't have her name on the list. Regardless, the Almasian couldn't stand the other girls false niceties. Not only that, but she found the other accent nothing short of offensive to her ears.

"I can 'ave 'zem here in a few days, no problem." The other reason Rebel was cracking a bit on the inside was simply because she was imagining her beautiful creations, her hand designed footwear, on such an ungrateful little brat. Though, the wild child did find comfort in the fact that she had somewhat of a plan worked out, to east the stress that the Rey heiress was causing.

"It's been fantastic meeting you Jessica, but I 'ave really got to be going." She took a few steps back, feeling the need for fresh air overtake her senses. "I'll find you when those boots come in." She smiled, and there was a touch of honesty to the expression as something dawned on her.

"Oh! I never introduced myself." Rebel grinned, already trying to interpret how Jessica would feel about her namesake.
"I'm Rebel LaBeau."

[jess]

It would take a few days? Clearly Rebel didn't have the pull that Jessica did. This only confirmed Jessica's suspicions about the other's social status. Poor thing was trying to look presentable in front of someone truly magnificent. It was sad, really.

"Leaving already?" asked Jessica. She cocked her head to the side and grinned at Rebel. "Shame you can't stay around. I'm sure we'd love to talk to you some more."

The gaggle contributed several affirmative noises, each one trying to be louder than the last.

"Do find me," insisted Jessica. "I'm not hard to find, after all."

She winked, then turned. She faced Rebel again as the other girl went "oh."

LeBeau? Well, f**k, that would be Jessica's luck. But from the looks of things, Rebel was living up to her name. Probably didn't have any more status than Jessica, even if her name had slightly more pull. And Jessica clearly still had the advantage here.

She was safe.

"Paris LaBeaus, right?" she clarified, smiling. "Nice to finally meet one of you. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

And with that, Jessica considered the conversation over.

[· Rebel La'Beau.]

"The one and only." Her smile was nauseatingly sweet in the face of Jessica's recognition. Something flickered in her eyes, most likely amusement, as she wiggled a few fingers at the other girl in some semblance of a retreating wave.

"I'll see you around," and with that Rebel turned around, heading back down the corridor and outside, desperately needing fresh air, and more importantly, a cigarette. Exhaling slowly, the blue-haired girl pushed her purse back up on her shoulders as she tried to keep from grumbling out loud. Her mother had sent her here to clean up their name, and she knew that the older woman would appreciate her daughter advertising their buisness while disguising it as a good deed. Plus, as much as it disgusted her it think about it, Rebel was already sure that whatever Jessica was wearing, would be copied. Part of being idolized was being imitated; and for some sick reason, someone had crowned that southern trailer trash queen bee.

Rebel made it a personal goal then and there, to take the crown and shove it Jessica's her throat before she left.