Here it is, folks. Numero dos. Part two. The sequel.
And just like I'd hoped, we've got a few more readers along for the ride. Since last week's TLF blog-off, we've made a believer out of Isabel, who in turn converted Carrisa, Operation Pink Herring, and May. All four combed through the archives and finished part one this week, which is no small feat considering how long winded both lil' Frema and Adult Frema are. If you have time, go back and read their comments and encourage them to keep it the hell up.
Big, hearty thanks are in order to David, Silly Hily, and Molly for participating in the contest, and a special congratulations to Hilary, who gone done scored herself the first season of 90210 on DVD. All three can relive their synopses through their limited-edition copy of the Tragic Love Friday Original Mixed Compact Disc Soundtrack, featuring music--well, not inspired by the story, exactly, because the story came first--but a play list that leads you through an appropriate "musical narration," if you will, songs that inspired deep, meaningful conversation between Hilary and me on Google chat. Prizes will be distributed in April because dudes, we so shot our budget for March.
Anyway....
Before we delve into the next chapter in our friends' tragic lives, I need to give you some backstory on how the sequel came to be. If I remember correctly, I don't think I actually planned on writing one. Love, Betrayal and a Baby was conceived (no pun intended) during my last two months of eighth grade and wrapped up sometime over the summer. Once finished, I just kind of sat on any residual thoughts while I prepared for and acclimated to attending high school at an all-female, Catholic institution, coming to grips with things like wearing a uniform and making sure you have change for the bus and wondering if any of the other girls had come from a place where throwing textbooks out of the math teacher's third-floor window was a commonplace occurrence.
By the time October rolled around, I was itching to write again. I knew these characters still had some life left in them, had even more self-absorbed, catastrophic moments to share. Plus, I was so proud of being able to come up with such an enormous plot all on my own, even if it was filled with countless holes, and I came to love Jenna, Kayla, Cassie, Michael, and David--oh, David, you poor, dead bastard--like they were real people. I wasn't ready to let them go.
After writing a brief outline of the major plot points that would provide the foundation for part two, I just ran with it, picking up nine years after Jenna's final narration, which means everyone except Cassie (yes, yes, the bitch is back!) clocks in at thirty-two years of age. Cassie is one year younger.
You're dying to see what they look like, aren't you? I thought you'd never ask.
To refresh your memory, here's the teenage cast:
And here they are all growed up and adultish:
Just like our sister soaps aired on that fancy gadget you call a television, sometimes the characters who originate a role aren't necessarily the ones who see it through. In part two, Kayla changes her appearance just enough to put Christie Clark out of a job, and Daphne Zuniga was too upset over her lack of "screen time" in part one to consider joining us for the sequel. But Toni Collette will do just fine.
Look at the smirk on Kristian Alfonso's face. Jenna better watch out, is all I'm saying.
But this story isn't just about the adults. Because now they're parents! With children! Who are just as crazy as they are!
Which brings me to the most popular ailment plaguing daytime: the Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome, commonly known on message boards as SORAS. This is the method used to replace all those love children who in reality would be no older than six or seven with sexually aware teenagers determined to peddle their romantic wares around town, just like their mothers and fathers before them. Obviously these aren't the actors and actresses lil' Frema was thinking of back in 1994, but adult Frema thought it best to fill roles based on how well each person matched the mental pictures dancing in her head. She is fully aware that AMC's Alexa Havins is really twenty-five years old and in no position to play Katherine for Lifetime's adaptation, and Jared Leto could never pass for fourteen, and Daniel Radcliffe is all tied up with Harry Potter (Julie Marie Berman is probably OK; I'm not sure what she's doing on General Hospital these days) but hey, Gabrielle Cateris got away with playing a high school junior at thirty, so DON'T NOBODY JUDGE ME.
One more thing. (I know it seems like I'm dragging this out, but really, you want to hear this.)
Part two is a little more...tragic than part one. It's still cheesy as hell, make no mistake, but the storylines are quite intense at times, and some of the scenes are a little graphic. But this isn't surprising, is it? I was a teenage soap opera junkie who spent all three middle school years devouring every book V.C. Andrews ever wrote. That shit was bound to crop up sometime.
OK. Here we go. As always, spelling errors remain intact.
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Love, Betrayal and a Baby 2
PART ONE
PROLOGUE - KAYLA
My body shook with excitement as I stepped off the plane. I stared at the many trees, long stretches of grass as far as the eye can see, small houses scattered along the dirt road, and let out a sigh of happiness. [Did the plane land in someone's yard?] My years of searching hadn't been for nothing. Next to me, my 14-year-old son Kyle looked around and shrugged his shoulders. "Why are you so happy, Mom? Cedar Springs, Iowa doesn't look half as great as some of the other places we've been to." I laughed and hugged him. "Appearances can be deceiving. I think we're really going to love it here." I glanced at Cassie. She had tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong, Aunt Cassie?" asked my son. She smiled. "Nothing. I'm just happy that this is going to be the place we can settle down in."
"You mean we're gonna be staying here for good?" he cried [isn't living in Iowa every boy's fantasy?]. I nodded, and he grinned. "That's something to be happy about," he said, "although I can't imagine why you guys chose this place."
The three of us picked up 3 suitcases and went to the car I'd rented in advance. My car and the rest of our things would be coming by U-Haul trucks from our old home in Sacramento, California, in about a week.
[What? U-Hauls are the best way to transport a car!]
My mind was spinning as I followed the directions that led to our new home. "What's the house look like?" asked Kyle.
"I don't know," I replied. "My real estate agent picked it out. I'm sure it'll be fine for us, though. She said it's perfect for a family of three." [All y'all who fret over things like home inspections and personal taste are just too big for your britches. Make your agent earn her keep and pick your house for you!]
"Where will I--?"
"Kyle," interrupted Cassie. "Stop asking so many questions and enjoy the scenery." I could tell she was nervous by the way she kept folding her hands. I felt the same way. As a matter of fact, I'd had knots in my stomache since I had received the phone call from my private investigator 3 weeks ago.
"I've located your daughter, Ms. Hart," he'd said. "Her and the adoptive family, the Spencers."
I had burst into tears as soon as he'd said that. Mr. Johson [should've been Johnson, but I was too lazy to try and squeeze in the "n"], the investigator, had said more, but that first sentence was enough to start me and Cassie packing with Kyle. Finally, after 14 years, I would be able to see my daughter again.
I can see the day I gave up Katherine Marie so clearly in my mind, it's like I'm reliving it all over again. She had only been a year old at the time, and I had been in prison. I hear her babyish voice screaming "Ma-ma! Ma-ma! No-no-no-ma-ma!" as she was taken from me. That had truely been the worst day of my life.
I sighed and glanced in the backseat at my son, who had fallen asleep. Kyle wasn't Katherine, but he made up for so much in my life. It saddens me that someone so dear to me had been created in such a hideous way.
It was about a month after Katherine had gone, and at that period in time, I was depressed, which made me vulnerable. Two security guards realized this, and one day, they came into my cell. They cursed at me, stripped me of my clothes and spat on me. I was brutally beaten and, when I was nearly unconcious, raped repeatedly by both men. I ended up with a head concussion [like a wise Rachel on Friends once said, if it's not against a headboard, it's just not worth it], 2 cracked ribs, and a fetus.
Still, people refused to believe I was raped. All they did was transfer the security guards to a different wing in the prison. I was told by everyone I had "asked for it." [Cracked ribs as foreplay? Next Oprah.]
My parents had not taken Katherine in when her year in prison with me was up; that was why Jenna and Michael had adopted her. I had no one who would take care of her for me, and I knew she wouldn't have a good life with me. But I just couldn't give away another child; Katherine had been one too many losses for me. I told my parents the circumstances under which Kyle had been conceived, and they took care of him until I was released from prison.
By the time I had served 3 years of my 6 year sentence, I was free to go. [Way to go, Illinois!] Cassie only had to serve a year and a half of her 3 year sentence, but they made her serve the 2 years at the women's Sanitarium. That meant I had been out of jail for six months before she got out. She moved in with me and Kyle, and soon after we began our search for my daughter. The search was important to Cassie, too. She's Katherine's aunt. [We know, honey. Just like Bastian in The Neverending Story, we were right there with you!] Her brother, David Donovan, is--was--my daughter's father. I use the word "was" because David's dead. He was murdered by Cassie and yours truely. Actually, murder is such a strong word. We didn't mean to kill him. It was Jenna's guts we wanted splattered all over the street, not his.
I guess everyone makes mistakes.
[Can you tell I also read a lot of Christopher Pike? I was totally channeling his sarcasm.]
I'm 32 now, and it shows. I have faint wrinkles around my eyes and mouth, and I'm a few pounds heavier than I should be. [Dude, when your portrayer is Hope from Days of Our Lives, you've got no business complaining about your weight.] I changed my last name from Evans to Hart, cut and started dying my golden blond hair to dark brown right after I left prison so Michael and Jenna wouldn't recognize me, when/if I discovered their whereabouts. I didn't want to send them packing and never see my daughter.
[Didn't you know? Hair dye also renders your facial structure completely unrecognizable! At least, it will in Iowa.]
It was only last year when I could afford to hire a private investigator. I didn't have a steady career; neither did Cassie. We moved around too much. Instead, we each took on 2 or 3 low-paying jobs to pay the rent. Between the two of us, we even managed to send Kyle to private schools at times. He's an extremely bright boy; he's a year ahead of himself at school. He could even be brighter, if we didn't move so much. The longest we've stayed in one place is one year; it was in New York, and only because Kyle wanted badly to graduate with the kids he'd manage to stay a whole year with. He cried for weeks when we'd moved from there to Calif. It was one of the few times he'd allowed me to see him cry.
Kyle has no clue as to the reason we move so much. [Um, neither do we! Apparently your maternal instincts are about as reliable as a ham sandwich.] Cassie and I tell him that you only live once, and that we want to make the most out of life. There are many things he doesn't know. He doesn't know Katherine exists, and I will never tell him the truth about why he was born. [Which means of course he will learn the truth about why he was born.] He thinks his father is a man who left me when I was pregnant because he was scared of fatherhood. I otherwise created a nice father figure for him to look up to. It would shatter him to know otherwise.
[I actually started laughing the minute I typed "pregnant," because poor lil' Frema really had no clue. "Kyle, even though your father is a coward who would rather flee the state than be a part of your life, he was a stand-up guy. You would've loved him! You both like the same video games!"]
As far as Kyle is concerned, Cassie is my sister and his aunt. A child needs family in his life, and I really can't give him any. [Except the grandparents you forced him onto!] And Cassie loves him like he was her real nephew. That's all that matters.
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The DRAMA, it has started anew.
Also, in case anyone asks, I did not spend all of last night and part of this morning working on this post. That would be totally embarrassing, right?
Yay 'Lil Frema - such a great intro into the pain and suffering to come.
I'm rooting for Kyle and Katherine----incest! Yay!
Posted by: VirginiaGal | March 23, 2007 at 09:22 AM
OK, who's already thinking that Cassie and Kayla have some lesbinum (to quote Ben from Friends) tendencies? Anyone? Anyone? :)
Posted by: Jessi | March 23, 2007 at 09:40 AM
Wow! And Yay! And OMG! And Oh Snap!
I HEART TLF!!!
Posted by: Margarita | March 23, 2007 at 09:43 AM
I put up a link on my site the other day. All people must read TLF or be forever left out. I'm hopelessly devoted to TLF...yes, I'm 36 years old, why do you ask?
Posted by: CPA Mom | March 23, 2007 at 09:59 AM
Eeeee!!! The Sequel!!!
For the first time, I feel sorry for Kayla. I'm sure that won't last long because she's up to her batshit crazy ways again with batshit crazy Cassie, but still, right now? I feel sorry for her. When you first mentioned Kyle I was all, damn Kayla you went from one night stand with ex-boyfriend to prison hussie. But poor girl was raped. That makes me very sad. You weren't kidding about this one being more graphic. And yeah, I see the incest coming a mile away.
I was scared for Kyle's life for a minute though. When he started asking a question and Cassie was all STOP ASKING QUESTIONS. I can just see her being all "Don't make me cause another 'accident' boy."
And YAY! 90210. I'd like to thank the academy. I'd like to thank God and my family. But most of all, I'd like to thank you. You! The readers of TLF..thank you for voting for me. Without you, this would have never been possible. (Okay, without Frema it wouldn't be possible but you get it.)
Finally, The Neverending Story was (and still is) a favorite of mine.
Posted by: Silly Hily aka The Hilarazzi | March 23, 2007 at 10:20 AM
I am soooo glad TLF is back!!!!!!! Um, yeah, Kayla and Cassie? They got issues. Serious issues!! I cannot wait to find out how they manifest themselves this time!
The u-haul thing? Isn't the whole point of a u-haul that YOU HAUL your shit your damn self? WTF? I guess Kayla and Cassie just got it like that.
"I ended up with a head concussion, 2 cracked ribs and a fetus." Holy crap! I don't know why that stuck out for me but it did. She loves that boy, but, uh, she still refers to him as a fetus?
Ready and waiting for next week!
Posted by: Rachel | March 23, 2007 at 10:24 AM
Oh and Hil, did you not hear the music? Your speech was waaay to long! LMAO!
Posted by: Rachel | March 23, 2007 at 10:27 AM
woohoo! It's back!
Posted by: Katie | March 23, 2007 at 10:30 AM
Hmmm... why do I get the feeling that Kyle will see Katherine at school and fall in love with her not knowing that she is his sister?
And I'm surprised Kayla named him Kyle and not David. Guess she didn't love him as much as we thought!
This is really going to suck having to wait a week between TLF's. Reading them all at once was just too good.
Posted by: Carrisa | March 23, 2007 at 11:03 AM
Woohoo! TLF! I'm doing a happy dance in my dark basement cube.
Also, I totally recognize some of the Pike and Andrews stylistic elements. And yes, Katherine and Kyle are totally going to do it.
Posted by: MLE | March 23, 2007 at 11:41 AM
"Actually, murder is such a strong word. We didn't mean to kill him. It was Jenna's guts we wanted splattered all over the street, not his."
Wow. That is a bloody awesome line! And what maternal instincts, lie to your son, move him cross-country on a regular basis to find his half-sister that he doesn't know existed and is bound by fate to have incestual relations with. And maybe a baby too.
Frema, if part 1 of Love, Betrayal, and a Baby wasn't tailored made for a Lifetime original, this one surely is!
Posted by: David McNelis | March 23, 2007 at 11:42 AM
I know I don't comment on TLF nearly enough, but I am just as addicted as everyone else. I am SO excited it's back!
First of all, am I seeing things, or is that Mr. Hotty McHottypants himself, Dean Cain, playing Michael? If it is, then you just made 14-year-old Audrey's day, Frema. He was my number one celebrity crush when I was in Jr. High.
Second, Cassie and Kayla are just screaming LESBIAN to me. Think about it: Kayla falls in love with the sister of her dead lover. It's just crazy enough to be completely logical in TLF-land.
And finally, I love Carrisa's theory about Kyle falling in love with Katherine at school. I don't see how it could happen any other way.
Posted by: Audrey | March 23, 2007 at 11:49 AM
It's back, it's back!
TLF readers are good. Good, I tell you.
I did NOT think about Kyle and Katherine hooking up. But you totally know that's coming up. And will they really do it, or just make out a little and know that it feels "wrong"?
And as for Cassie and Kayla being lesbians, I think it makes sense. But I'm not sure that Lil Frema would do that. But wait, Lil Frema went to an all girls high school? Maybe that's exactly what Lil Frema would write about. Hmm. The plot thickens.
As always, the parents are idiots. Why would Kayla's parents take Kyle but not Katherine?? Was it because Kyle is such a smart kid? (Although rumor has it he would have been even brighter if his Mom and her lesbian lover didn't drag him all over the country, for NO GOOD REASON!)
And also, wouldn't it have been much cheaper then a PI to just look up Michael and Jenna on classmates.com or myspace? I'm just sayin'.
Posted by: Isabel | March 23, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Damn! Now THAT'S the way to kick of the sequal! Frema, I have to apologize for my absense in recent TLF happenings, I was in a time warp.
Oh yesyesyes, I see crazy ass written all over the place!! Before you gave the description of how Kyle came to be, I really was straining my brain to do the math on that one (so, she was in prison, a woman's prison, he's 14, and she was in prison... oye- it was like the word problem to end all word problems... then I entered counseling, where my therapist told me it's okay to let go of the facts, because it's a soap opera, and all soaps operate on the same premis that time, space, reason, and finances are never a barrier to the storyline-- NOT EVEN DEATH!-- but alas, before I had the chance to find inner peace, you filled in the blanks that had been giving me a complex:) I'm finished now, btw.
So yes, I am with everyone else where I see serious Kyle/ Katherine action-- that will be a story for the kids... "well, you see, son/ nephew..."
Good going Frema! I can stop taking the medication that has gotten me through the last two weeks in TLF's absence:)
Posted by: Sant | March 23, 2007 at 12:45 PM
I would also like to note Kayla's stunning remorse for the crime she committed-- I see that the system must be working.
PS- I thought she had asked Jenna and Mickey to adopt Katherine because the two of them had become bosom friends again, no? I'm sorry, I was just thrown by "Jenna's guts spilled across the parking lot" some 15 years later.
Just something to think about. That is all.
Posted by: Sant | March 23, 2007 at 02:12 PM
Sant: Even though the girls are fine NOW, back then Kayla was pissed as hell at Jenna for stealing and becoming impregnated by her man, remember? That line was intended to reflect her former feelings, Christopher Pike-style.
Posted by: Frema | March 23, 2007 at 02:24 PM
I'm with Sant. That part confused me also. Thanks for explaining it.
And if she had asked them to adopt her baby, wouldn't they have stayed in contact? Or something.
Posted by: Isabel | March 23, 2007 at 02:44 PM
Isabel: Not necessarily. Even if they ended on peaceful terms, a lot of shit still went down, you know? I mean, Jenna and Michael didn't plan on letting Katherine know she was adopted, so they certainly weren't going to take her to the state prison for a visit, and Kayla's hands were full, what with the rape and second illegitimate child and everything.
At least, that's how lil' Frema decided it would be for them. Adult Frema might have allowed for a couple of letters, just to throw Kayla a bone.
Posted by: Frema | March 23, 2007 at 03:07 PM
I must make a "for the record" statement.
I don't think Cassie and Kayla are going to be full fledge lovers or anything. I think they are best friends. Best friends that kind of make you think something might be going on but that is never fully disclosed. Think Idgie and Ruth in Fried Green Tomatoes. That's how I picture Cassie and Kayla. And I guess Kyle can be little Buddie Jr. (only with two arms).
Posted by: Silly Hily aka The Hilarazzi | March 23, 2007 at 03:27 PM
Just gimme a second to clean up the Weight Watchers ice cream bar I just spit all over my keyboard when Silly Hily said "Buddie Jr, Only with two arms." Holy Shit! Hahahaha
I absolutely love the cast of characters you have going on this time. It's awesome to see faces right out the gate.
I never saw Kyle coming, but I'm curious to know if Kayla spent some time in the South after prison, with the trio of K names going on. Poor Kyle, who would have been smarter had they not moved around so much. That'll teach em to stay in one place. I can't wait til he kisses his sister. Eeewwww!
And Kayla's thoughts on Jenna's could-have-been death? Yowza. Nothing like pleasant feelings for the woman who spends her days raising your child in the place of the one you killed.
Can't wait for more!!
Posted by: Molly | March 23, 2007 at 04:06 PM
"I did NOT think about Kyle and Katherine hooking up. But you totally know that's coming up. And will they really do it, or just make out a little and know that it feels "wrong"?"
It could totally be like in Back to the Future when Lorraine kisses Marty and she says it feels like she's kissing her brother.
Posted by: Katie | March 23, 2007 at 04:18 PM
I could sit and read these comments over and over and over.
Posted by: Margarita | March 23, 2007 at 05:08 PM
Yeah, I don't buy that Katherine and Kyle will just "feel" like it's wrong when they make out (or "do it", whatever their fate will be).
They will LIKE IT, damn it.
And that is where it all starts. The years and years of therapy. Not to mention WHAT WILL THEY TELL THEIR BABY:
"We're sorry you have 3 eyes and two bunger holes. We couldn't stop ourselves. We were young and in love and didn't realize we were BROTHER AND SISTER!"
I'll shut up now.
Posted by: Isabel | March 23, 2007 at 05:54 PM
Holy Shit! Isabel said Bunger Hole!!
Bwahahahahahahaha!!!
Posted by: Molly | March 23, 2007 at 09:10 PM
Ah, our author returns with yet more adventures for the Tragic Love Friday enthusiasts. Friday is not over, and our Frema has 24 comments.
Although I am not a real author of a real story, today begins the sequel to my first blog, Spring of the White Robin. You can visit at the sequel Return of the White Robin.
Posted by: mjd | March 23, 2007 at 11:44 PM
Your TLF stories make me sad because I used to write stories all the time when I was younger. I typed them on our old DOS computer, and then it crashed, and all of my [what I thought would surely be] novels were lost. I would love to go back and read them and laugh my head off at myself, but I can't.
I guess I'll just have to continue living through your TLFs.
Posted by: Brittany | March 24, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Young Kayla and older Kayla are two different people. Younger is Carrie and older is Hope
Posted by: Brooke | March 25, 2007 at 01:48 PM
It's back! And this time, it's PERSONAL!
Man, I love TLF.
Posted by: Fraulein N | March 25, 2007 at 05:05 PM
Oh, Brooke, you just announced to the whole world that you don't read TLF! I talk about the use of the different actresses in this very entry.
You have cute kids, though, so I'll forgive you. For now. :)
Posted by: Frema | March 25, 2007 at 05:55 PM
Hey! Just to give you an even thirty, I'm back to comment! I'm very excited about the sequal, but I hope there is less (baby) popping in this series:)
More TLF here we come!
Posted by: Sant | March 26, 2007 at 12:33 PM
Is it Friday yet?
What! Only Monday?
Shit.
Posted by: Silly Hily aka The Hilarazzi | March 26, 2007 at 01:31 PM
I love that you put pictures to the character's faces! Clever, clever. ;)
Posted by: Matron of Honor :) | March 26, 2007 at 07:59 PM
Wooooooo! TLF is baaaaaack!
ANYONE who's read VC Andrews KNOWS that kyle and katherine are going to make out.
Still laughing at the line "and I ended up with 2 cracked ribs and a fetus". I don't know why I think that is so funny. Maybe I'm just wacky.
Posted by: Stacey | March 27, 2007 at 09:34 AM
Okay, I've never read any VC Andrews. Incest, really? It sounds like it's best that I stay away from him/her.
(and now I'm off to google this VC person.)
Posted by: Isabel | March 27, 2007 at 06:55 PM
Here comes the incest! Woohoo! It's not a real soap until a long-lost sibling pair unwittingly falls in love, forgets to use protection, and then finds out about their parentage when the chick is already knocked up.
Dude, on Passions, Teresa slept with her True Love's father and then pretended the baby was her True Love's to get him to leave his wife. One time she also locked him in a garage and refused to let him leave until he had hot, sweaty sex on the hood of a car with her. That was awesome.
Maybe you could work those things into the pre-quel? THERE WILL BE A PREQUEL, right?
Posted by: Pink Herring | March 28, 2007 at 04:19 PM
My request is to work "hot, sweaty sex on the hood of a car" into every post.
Please.
Posted by: Isabel | March 29, 2007 at 02:33 PM
Yeah, TOTALLY embarassing! :-)
I can't believe Kayla was raped!! That was a pretty brutal scene for lil Frema, even though it only lasted a few sentences. But then, I remember the angsty phase well. I love TLF. Now that I'm caught up on last week's, I'm on to this week's!!! Double the TLF, Double the fun.
Posted by: Lindsey | March 31, 2007 at 10:22 AM