Alright folks...decided to do Monica's story next. Hopefully this won't be too long. Her story runs parallel to Chandler's and Phoebe's so obviously everyone makes appearances.

September 1976

She had dark hair, perfectly divided into two pig tails, curled so lovingly at the end. Her eyes crystal blue and skin pale white. She sat in the corner of her first grade classroom, holding a doll. She had decided the doll would be named, Emma. The name of her future daughter when she got to be a grown up. There were children laughing behind her. They were playing games, talking about stuff six year olds talk about but none of that interested the six year old, interested only in making sure Emma was comfortable. She had found a pink blanket and wrapped the baby doll up and rocked her in her arms. She carefully ran her fingers through the doll's brownish hair.

"Go sleep, Emma," the little girl whispered gently. "Go sleep, now."

She wished the noises behind her would stop. She wished the other children would be silent so Emma could fall asleep. It was too noisy in this classroom.

"Monica."

She looked up at the tall skinny woman grinning down at her. Mrs. Gold looked nothing like gold. She was bony, looking like jagged puzzle pieces that someone had jammed together. She was pointy in all the wrong places. Next to her stood a little girl with long brown hair, skinny as well and looked to be a very pretty girl with a very prominent looking nose that looked way too prominent to be on the tiny featured face of a six year old.

"Yes, Mrs. Gold," Monica said.

"We have a new student today...and I was wondering if you would like to play with her and make her feel welcome?" Mrs. Gold asked.

"Okay. Hi, I'm Monica," she said looking at the girl standing next to Mrs. Gold who was staring straight at Monica.

"I'm Rachel."

"Hi, Rachel. You wanna play with me?"

"Okay."

"Rachel, Monica will be a good friend to you and she'll make you feel right at home," Mrs. Gold said as she gently pushed Rachel forward. Monica watched in anticipation as Mrs. Gold walked off, leaving Rachel standing there in front of her.

"Do you like babies?" Monica asked.

"Yeah. I have a sister who's three."

"Oh. I have a brother. He's six and in the second grade. His birthday is in October and mine is in March and sometimes we have the same age."

"That's weird."

"I know. Do you only have one sister?"

"No. I have an older sister. She's nine."

"Oh."

"What's her name?" Rachel asked, pointing at the doll in Monica's arms. Rachel knelt down next to her and peered at the wrapped up bundle.

"Emma. When I have a daughter, I'm gonna name her Emma."

"That's pretty."

"What are you gonna name your children?" Monica asked.

"I'm six. I am a children."

"When you're a grown up."

"Oh.. I don't know but my mommy told me once that it's better to marry someone who has lots and lots of money and then you can buy children."

"You can buy children?"

"Yeah, on an island right by Kentucky."

"Wow. No, I don't wanna buy my children. I wanna have a billion of them."

"That's a lot."

"I know...and I'm gonna have a really cute husband, too. His name is Matthew."

"You've named your husband?"

"Of course. You have to plan for these things, Rachel. You can't just let it happen. My mommy said that only crazy people let things happen," Monica explained, her eyes widening, "okay, Emma's finally asleep." Monica stood up and walked towards a tiny plastic, pink crib and placed Emma in it. She placed a blanket over her and stroked her hair, leaning in to kiss the doll on the head before looking at Rachel who was staring at her, giving her a curious look. "Okay, come with me. I'll introduce you to all the kids and then you'll have lots of friends."

"You will?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you. You're nice, Monica."

Monica grinned at her as she grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her up. She led Rachel around the classroom, stopping at each person to introduce them to the new girl. Monica beamed as Rachel stood beside her and followed her from kid to kid. Monica was determined. She would keep this friend. So many times, she had been the designated person to introduce the new kid to everyone and then that new kid would soon dump Monica. No, Rachel would be different. Rachel would be her best friend. That was all there was to it.

Lunchtime soon came and Rachel and Monica sat across from each other on the playground. Rachel's lunch was filled with all sorts of healthy things, carrot sticks, salad, even her sandwich was healthy. Monica's was quite the opposite, filled with Twinkies and cupcakes.

"Your lunch looks yummy, Monica. My mommy and daddy always say that my lunches are oranganic."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if you eat a lot of carrots, your pee turns orange."

"Ewwww. That's gross."

"I know."

"Why do your mommy and daddy want you to have orange pee?"

"I don't know. What is that?" Rachel asked, pointing to the Twinkie in Monica's hand.

"It's a Twinkie."

"Can I try? I've never had one."

"You've never had a Twinkie?"

"My parents say it's bad for you."

Monica looked at Rachel, puzzled. That seemed like such nonsense. She looked down at the Twinkie and handed it to Rachel. She ripped opened the cellophane packaging and took a bite as Monica grabbed a cupcake out of her lunch. Rachel looked amazed.

"Whoa," Rachel said.

"I know," Monica said.

"Fatty," another girl said as she approached them. Monica looked up and saw Sharon, Nancy and Mindy standing in front of them.

"Oink, oink, piggie pig," Mindy said.

Monica's eyes darkened as she looked at Rachel who simply looked confused. Monica was by no means a small or slight child. She was heavy, very heavy and it was a fact that did not go unnoticed by her classmates, especially by Mindy, Sharon and Nancy. They never missed an opportunity to pick on her.

"Rachel, you wanna play with us. You don't wanna play with Piggie because she'll eat you," Nancy said.

"Oh...um..." Rachel said.

"You can be in our secret club," Mindy said.

"Mindy," Nancy said, looking upset.

"Sorry," Mindy said.

"I'll...I'll play with you. I wanna be in a secret club," Rachel said, standing up. She quickly grabbed her lunch, glancing at Monica. "I'm sorry."

"No, her name is Piggie," Nancy said, grinned.

"Okay," Rachel said as she gave Monica a sad look as she walked off with Nancy, Sharon and Mindy leaving Monica alone. Rachel had not finished her half of the Twinkie. Monica reached for it and took a bite. It was happening again. She was alone. She was always alone.

Even at home, she was alone. Her brother, Ross was clearly the star of the family. After school, she walked to the kitchen to get a snack as Ross sat between his parents showing them something he had done at school. She didn't care. She opened the fridge and grabbed a big chocolate cake that her mother had baked to celebrate Ross' achievement at some junior science fair thing, she wasn't quite sure. She grabbed a fork and a napkin and walked outside. She sat by a tree and ate, one spoonful after the other, taking special pleasure in eating the parts that said, "CONGRATULATIONS ROSS". She kept eating, no one there to stop her, no one there to pay attention to her. Each bite felt so good, so warm and friendly. Food stuck with her, that's why she was so fat she had heard her mom say once. Food was the only thing that never left her.

"Monica Elizabeth Geller."

Monica noticed her mom staring at her as she stormed across the yard towards the her. Monica knew she was in trouble. She braced herself as her mom grabbed her arm and immediately began to spank her. Monica let out a cry as her mom smacked her bottom. She tried to wriggle free, she would continue eating the cake. She didn't care. The cake always made her happy. When her mom was done spanking her, she pulled Monica off her lap and stared at her, Monica still rubbing her bottom and sniffling.

"Why did you eat Ross' cake? That wasn't for you. That was for your brother."

"I wanted cake."

"Why do you have to ruin everything for him?" Her mom asked.

"I wanted cake," came Monica's reply as her mom grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the house.

"You are going to your room, no dinner. You are not going to ruin your brother's night."

Monica began crying as her mom dragged her up towards her room and sat Monica in a chair facing the wall.

"Time out," her mother said.

"Noooooo...I hate Ross," Monica cried.

"I wish you were like Ross," she heard her mother mutter before storming out of her room and slamming the door shut. Monica cried and sat facing the wall a bit longer before getting up and walking towards her rows of dolls. Her baby dolls never left her...just like food. When she was a grown up, she would have babies of her own and they would never leave her for Mindy, Sharon and Nancy. She would have a husband who would love her too. A husband that would like her more than her stupid brother. She picked up one of her dolls and looked under her bed where she grabbed a box. She opened it and grabbed a Hershey bar, unwrapping it and taking a bite. She walked towards her window. Climbing on her bed, she stared out the window, still crying. One day it would be less lonely. One day.

Although that one day would not be today or the next. The next day at school, Rachel was sitting with Nancy, Sharon and Mindy. They were giggling and Monica felt alone although, Mindy, Sharon, Nancy and Rachel seemed to make sure Monica didn't feel alone. Every time they saw her, they'd say something. It killed her inside. Twenty four hours earlier, Rachel had been her friend. Now, nothing.

"Elephant, elephant...walks like an elephant," Sharon said as she, Rachel, Mindy and Nancy passed by Monica on the playground. Monica sat brushing the hair of one of the dolls in the classroom, her name was Paula and she had a nightmare so Monica took Paula outside and was tending to her when the four girls took that moment to tease her.

"Piggie and smells like one too," Nancy said.

Monica looked over at Rachel and thought she could see a hint of sadness in Rachel's eyes. Monica wondered if Rachel felt sad. Rachel quickly shook her head.

"Monicow. She's Monica and she's a cow. Monicow," Rachel said. Mindy, Sharon and Nancy all stared at Rachel, grinning.

"That's good," Sharon said.

Rachel smiled as Monica's eyes filled with tears. She stared at Rachel who suddenly looked alarmed. Suddenly, Nancy, Mindy and Sharon raced off, all three yelling to anyone within earshot that Monica's new name was now, "Monicow". Rachel stared at Monica.

"I'm sorry, Monica."

"Leave me alone. I hate you."

"No, don't hate me. I don't want you to hate me. We can be secret friends? That's better. Then we get to share more secrets? Will you be my secret friend?" Rachel asked.

Rachel looked sad and Monica shrugged her shoulders. She wiped the tears away from her face as she stared at Rachel.

"I guess," Monica said.

"Rachel, get away from Monicow," Nancy yelled from across the playground.

"I have to go," Rachel raced off towards Nancy. Monica continued to watch from the sidelines as her classmates continuing taunting her with cries of "Monicow". She stared down at the red haired doll in her arms and craddled her. Paula was scared, she could tell. She would concentrate on Paula, not on the others. They didn't understand. They were mean. They called her names. Paula wouldn't call her names, Paula just wanted to feel better so that's what Monica focused on, hoping that she would feel better herself.