Chapter 12: Start Me Up

"Everything smells great, hon," Jim Walsh smiled appreciatively at his wife. Cindy returned the smile and set another serving bowl on the table. Brenda continued setting the table, placing silverware at her father's left while keeping her eyes fixed on Kelly, who was pretending to nonchalantly linger in the kitchen doorway. Andrea pushed past her, carrying a stack of dishes, and Kelly narrowed her eyes at the shorter girl's back.

Brenda hid a smile. The three girls had been casually chatting in the kitchen since Mrs. Walsh had felt they should formally tell their father rather than have him stumble upon a campaign strategy session. Brandon had agreed and had gone upstairs to do his homework, leaving Brenda to run interference between Kelly and Andrea.

Granted, the casual chatter had mostly been limited to Brenda speaking and Kelly or Andrea answering. The two of them barely acknowledged the other's presence. Brenda knew Kelly could be cool to those she didn't like, but she was surprised Andrea could keep up the same level of nonchalance towards the blonde. Andrea was usually friendly to everyone. Brenda decided 'everyone' in Andrea's book didn't include a rival for Brandon Walsh's affection.

"Oh, thank you, Andrea!" Cindy exclaimed. "Let me take those."

"No, that's okay, Mrs. Walsh, I don't mind helping," she added, laying the plates out around the table. Brenda slid into her seat next to her father and shot another glance at Kelly. Kelly had joined the Walshes for enough dinners that she had an honorary seat next to Brenda, but Brenda knew she was hanging around waiting to claim the seat next to Brandon before Andrea could. So obvious, she thought to herself with mild irritation.

"I think we're just about ready," Cindy announced. "Brenda, would you tell your brother we're ready?"

"Brandon!" Brenda yelled, slipping her napkin onto her lap and reaching for her glass of water. Andrea set the last plate in front of Brenda and retreated to the other side of the table, and just as Kelly started forward, Andrea settled into the chair to the right of Cindy. Kelly frowned and slowly stalked around towards where Brenda was sitting.

"We could have done that," Jim scolded gently, shaking out his own napkin. Brenda pursed her lips teasingly at her father, and he smiled at her. Footsteps thundered down the stairs and Brandon bounded into dining room doorway, nearly plowing into a discretely sulking Kelly in the process. She grasped at his arm as he steadied her, and her mood instantly changed.

"Sorry, Kelly," he apologized. She licked her lips and replied with a demure smile.

"You should be more careful," she advised him mischievously before striding purposefully to her seat next to Brenda. Brenda gave Kelly a pointed look, and her friend shrugged her shoulders and flashed a quick grin back.

"So, now are you going to tell me what your big announcement is?" Jim queried, heaping a pile of mashed potatoes on his plate. Brandon and his mother exchanged amused smiles.

"I didn't even give him a little hint," Cindy declared proudly, passing her husband the gravy boat.

"Did you decide to give the basketball team another try?" Jim guessed. Brandon made a face as Brenda smothered a giggle.

"Basketball season is over, Dad," Brandon supplied, cringing at the memory of his last failed attempt at becoming a star point-guard.

"Think Kennedy, Mr. Walsh," Kelly piped up. "Ask not what your son can do for West Beverly." Brenda, though astonished Kelly had managed a correct allusion to JFK's famous speech, kicked her friend under the table, but Kelly ignored her and continued serving herself a modest portion of salad, the rest of her plate considerably bare save for a small piece of chicken and several spears of asparagus. A look of surprise registered on Jim Walsh's face.

"Are we talking about something political, Brandon?" Jim asked, his eyes alight with reserved excitement.

"Maybe," he replied evasively.

"Don't tease your father, Brandon," Andrea warned, elbowing him.

"I decided…well, technically, Andrea persuaded me to run for Student Council president," Brandon announced, watching the grin spread onto his father's face.

"That's wonderful!" Jim exclaimed, placing his fork down on his plate and bracing his hands against the table. "President! Really?" Then he leaned back in his seat, and Brandon felt his father studying his face. He nodded.

"Andrea made some good points, and it's about time that I get more involved in my school. I mean, I was all set to run back in Minneapolis…."

"I know you were," Jim agreed. "And I felt badly that I spoiled those plans."

"Yeah but wasn't that only going to be for treasurer?" Kelly interjected. "This is president. Of the whole school," she added emphatically.

"You'd be a great president," Cindy grinned admiringly. Brenda rolled her eyes inwardly, keeping her disdain to herself. Yet another dinner was quickly turning into the Brandon-Walsh-Can-Do-No-Wrong-Hour. What else was new, she lamented to herself.

"I concur," Jim beamed. "My son, the president."

"Easy, guys, I haven't won yet. In fact, the other guy has had a sizable jump on the campaign. He's been working for weeks, and we've got a lot of work to do," Brandon pointed out.

"That's where I come in," Andrea offered.

"We," Kelly corrected with a tight smile, and Brandon shifted in his seat. "We're both helping Brandon with his campaign," she affirmed, taking a small bite of chicken and giving Brandon another smile. Brenda saw Andrea's left cheek twitch faintly, no doubt still smarting from Kelly horning in on what Andrea probably saw as "her territory."

Brenda continued eating in silence, trying to tune out the conversation and think of things she could do to attract the same level of attention from her parents. After several frustrating minutes of futile brainstorming, she instead let her mind wander to thoughts of Dylan. It at least brought a smile to her face.

"What do you say, Bren?"

"Huh?" Brenda's head snapped up at the sound of her brother's voice. His clear aqua eyes focused on her as he waited, expecting an answer to a question Brenda clearly had not heard. Brenda felt four more pairs of eyes fix on her, and her shoulders sagged slightly.

"Brandon asked if you were going to help with the campaign at all," Kelly supplied, raising an eyebrow at Brenda, as if she knew her friend's head wasn't in the discussion.

"Oh, I guess so," Brenda shrugged, reaching for a half-empty bottle of light salad dressing. She smacked the bottle a few times, sending ribbons of dressing scattering over the bed of lettuce as she watched her brother's eyes light up.

"Great," he exclaimed, beaming at her. "You know I wouldn't want to do anything without my sister by my side." Brenda offered another half-smile, feeling a pang of guilt that though the words had left her mouth, she wasn't entirely sure doing anything political, brother or no brother, was in her future. At this point, the only thing interesting about Brandon's campaign was the better-than-likely chance of Kelly and Andrea coming to blows over him. Brenda couldn't speak for Andrea, but she knew Kelly would pull out all the stops if it came to raising her stock in Brandon's eyes.

"I know you probably don't want your old man hanging around, but I'd be happy to join any brainstorming sessions you kids have," Jim added.

"We're going get started planning after dinner." Kelly locked her eyes on Brandon. He nodded.

"As long as Andrea doesn't need me to take her home yet," he replied.

"Um, for a little while I guess, yeah, I can stay. I do have a Spanish test tomorrow that I should study for."

"Please," Brandon laughed. "You could ace a Spanish test being absent from class for a week." Andrea blushed and looked down at her plate.

"Brenda, did you have a good day at school?" Cindy asked suddenly, offering her daughter a sympathetic smile. Brenda pursed her lips and exhaled, finding herself more irritated than comforted by her mother's attempt at including her in conversation. Nevertheless, she gave her mom a tight smile and wriggled her shoulders, pushing at her salad with her fork.

"It was okay I guess," she admitted. "Nothing as exciting as a run for Student Council to report."

"Have you heard from Dylan?" Kelly asked, and Brenda immediately shot her friend a venomous look, her eyes motioning that Kelly should never have brought up Dylan in the first place.

"Oh? And where would Dylan be?" Jim raised an eyebrow, fixing his gaze on Brenda. Brenda gave Kelly another withering look, in spite of the fact she knew her friend was purposely avoiding her eyes and twisting her napkin in her lap, guilt etched on her face.

"He went away for a few days," Brenda replied evasively, taking a slow sip of her water.

"What about school?" Cindy added, and Brenda could hear the disapproval in her mother's voice. Brenda sighed inwardly, lamenting how square her parents could be, knowing they would find any reason to judge Dylan McKay.

"He's with his father in Mexico," Brenda continued, watching more displeasure creep into her father's eyes. If Dylan was a sore subject, Jack McKay was pure poison. She knew her father thought Dylan's father was the lowest form of life, though she had never fully grasped the ins and outs of business ethics that Jim Walsh was always ranting about whenever Dylan's father's name surfaced.

"Oh," was Jim's only reply, his voice flat and tinged with condemnation.

"Brandon, I think we should get a professional to do your campaign photos," Kelly interrupted, redeeming herself slightly in Brenda's eyes as she swiftly changed the subject.

"Photos are expensive, Kelly," Andrea piped up before Brandon could mull over the blonde's suggestion. "I'm sure we can do wonders with a regular roll of film, or maybe we can even get one of The Blaze's staff photographers to throw us a bone…"

"I don't know Andrea," Brandon sighed. "You heard how Beth reacted when it came to you writing about the campaign when you're clearly campaigning for me. Somehow I don't think begging favors from our co-staffers will go over any better."

"I guess you have a point," Andrea admitted meekly, ignoring the triumphant smirk on Kelly's face. Brenda heaved another inward sigh and stabbed absently at the lettuce in her salad bowl again. Watching Kelly fawn all over Brandon was definitely an appetite suppressant.

"I know plenty of photographers from Jackie's modeling days," Kelly continued, smile widening. "And I'd bet at least one of them would be willing to help her daughter out for next to nothing."

"Cheap is good," Brandon nodded.

"As long as they're good," Andrea shrugged.

"Please," Kelly waved a hand absently. "As if I'd consider anything but the best for Brandon." Brenda stifled a snicker and took a quick sip from her water.

"Sorry, went down the wrong pipe," she lied convincingly.

It was at that moment the shrill ringing of the phone interrupted the chatter. Brenda leapt from her seat, napkin fluttering to the floor as she cried, "I'll get it." At this point, even listening to the drone of a telemarketer was preferable to Campaign '91. Of course, a tiny quickening of her pulse reminded her she was longing to hear Dylan's voice.

"Hello?" she breathed.

"Hi, my name is Mary Clemens, and I'm with the Beverly Hills Monitor. Our records indicate that your household is not currently subscribers, but we can change that now." Brenda exhaled and felt her hopes deflate.

"We're not interested, thanks," she replied, not waiting for the chipper woman to plead her case further. Brenda replaced the receiver with an irritated smack and slowly strode back to the dinner table, willing the remainder of the meal to go as quickly as possible. After all, she had a phone to wait by. He'd call sooner or later, she assured herself, crossing her fingers it would be sooner and not later.

***

"Okay, so, where do we begin?" Brandon drummed his fingers against the coffee table, leaning forward to glance up at Andrea, who was standing with her arms crossed in front of the fireplace. Kelly had immediately positioned herself next to him on the couch, and he could smell the spicy sweetness of her perfume from her close proximity.

"I think the biggest concern we're going to have from the get-go is funding. It's not cheap to make fliers and posters and buttons…" Andrea began

"You just have to know how to exploit your resources," Kelly interrupted. "I mean, why pay for fliers to be run off at some copy place when someone probably has a parent who has copier access right at their office."

"Oh, I think my dad will happily agree to that," Brandon laughed. "You heard him at the dinner table."

"And I already told you I can take care of the posters no problem," Kelly added. "I'll see if my mother has a particular photographer that she liked or owes her any over-due favors. But really, shouldn't we be focusing first on getting Brandon's name out there?"

"Michael Miller declared his candidacy over three weeks ago. He's probably assuming at this late date that he's going to have a clear path to the presidency," Andrea agreed grudgingly. "So we have to make a statement that you are entering the race, and you are serious about your campaign."

"I have an idea," Kelly piped up. "After Brandon hands in his petition tomorrow morning, he should ask if he can make an announcement over the P.A. system, and then we can also try to get some air time for him on the radio station." She smiled, clearly pleased with herself for the plan.

"Not a bad idea," Brandon mused, nodding his head in agreement. Kelly flashed him a brilliant smile and cut her eyes towards Andrea, as if awaiting a rebuttal.

"I don't know about your homerooms, but no one in mine even bothers to listen when the P.A. chimes go off. You really think an announcement would be effective?"

"If it's done right, it would be," Kelly sniffed.

"Well, P.A. system or not, I think the radio station could be a good idea," Brandon piped up. "Almost everyone listens to the radio."

"Not during homeroom," Andrea noted. "It would have to be done first thing in the morning, when kids are driving in or after-school, when everyone's heading home."

"Yeah, but what about the kids who ride the bus?" Kelly tossed her hair and turned towards the fireplace. "Like you Andrea. How do we reach them?" Brandon cringed inwardly at the little dig Kelly had directed towards Andrea and watched the brunette stiffen involuntarily. He met her eyes and gave her a wink of sympathy, which he wasn't entirely sure Andrea even caught.

"I say we do both, then," Brandon said firmly, ignoring the tension that was rapidly building in the room. "Chances are the kids who ignore the P.A. are the ones we can catch using the airwaves, and we'll just make the announcement twice."

"I guess that's feasible," Andrea replied flatly, settling down in a chair and scribbling in her notebook. "Morning or afternoon?" Brandon thrummed his fingers thoughtfully and felt Kelly shifting next to him, subtly inching closer to him.

"They only make morning announcements," Kelly pointed out coolly. Andrea smirked.

"I meant the radio," she replied as Kelly's cheeks flushed pink. Andrea returned her gaze to Brandon.

"Morning?" he suggested.

"What about the lunch periods? The quad always has the station playing, and if you make the announcement during homeroom, there should already be a good buzz going around, then we drive it home again at lunch?" Brandon nodded enthusiastically at Kelly's suggestion.

"I like it," he approved.

"And that's what counts, I guess," Andrea replied, the corners of her mouth curving upward in a smile directed at Brandon. It earned her a death stare from Kelly, but she deliberately ignored the blonde's icy stare as she jotted a few more scribbles on the paper. "So we'll get to school a few minutes early and see if we can't persuade Mrs. Teasley to let us jump on the end of announcements." She made a check mark with a flourish in her notebook. "Kelly, you want to deal with securing some air time on the radio while Brandon and I handle the announcement?" This was the Andrea with whom Brandon was so familiar, delegating responsibility the way she did so authoritatively at the Blaze staff meetings. He also knew she had been quick to marginalize Kelly with the suggestion, insuring she'd be doing something else. And not with Brandon.

"I guess," she replied, avoiding Andrea's gaze, plucking at an imaginary thread on her shirt.

"Brandon, would it be out of the way for you to pick me up tomorrow morning?" Andrea asked.

"It would be out of the way, but certainly not a problem," he smiled. Beside him, he sensed Kelly's lithe frame tense, and he slid his eyes towards her. She was staring at her hands, wringing them absently. Cutting his eyes back to Andrea, he saw what could only be described as subdued triumph shining in her eyes.

"Good, cause most days my bus isn't on time, and this way, we can get to the office with time to spare to talk to Mrs. T," she concluded. He exhaled and flopped back against the couch. He had a bad feeling that a much larger battle than his campaign was already being waged.

***

"So you were pretty quiet at dinner," Mrs. Walsh said softly, handing Brenda a dripping dish. Brenda shrugged and took the dish from her mother's hands, rubbing a towel absentmindedly around the edge of the plate.

"I wasn't really part of the conversation," she replied pointedly. Cindy plunged another dish into the soapy water and gave her daughter a compassionate smile.

"You don't think it's exciting that your brother's running for school president?"

"No, no," she sighed, placing the dish onto the drying rack and wiping her hands. "It's exciting, and I'm happy for him…"

"But…" Cindy prodded. Brenda managed a half-smile. Cindy smiled back. "I knew there was a "but" in there somewhere. Mother's intuition."

"No, there's no "but" Mom," she lied smoothly, not really wanting to press the issue. She had really had enough of talking about her brother for one day.

"Then what's bothering you, honey. It's not like you to be so quiet at dinner, especially with Kelly here."

"I don't know, just stuff I guess," she replied evasively, drying another dish, this time with more care.

"Kelly certainly seems enthusiastic about helping Brandon," Cindy observed. "I have to admit I'm a little surprised. It's something I'd expect to see Andrea doing, she and your brother being such good friends and all, but I didn't know Kelly was involved with Student Council."

"She's not," Brenda answered dryly. "I guess she felt like she needed a new hobby or something." The last thing she wanted to do was discuss Kelly's crush on Brandon with her mother. She shuddered and placed the dish on the rack again.

"Because of the time you've been spending with Dylan?" Brenda's head snapped up, and she met her mother's eyes with surprise. Cindy smiled knowingly and wiped her right hand on the dish towel before she placed a reassuring hand on Brenda's shoulder. "Don't look so surprised, sweetie. I was young once, and I remember what it's like when a good friend starts seeing someone new. In fact, I was on both sides of the coin quite a few times," she chuckled softly.

"I've tried to make time for Kelly and Donna."

"I know you have," she smiled. "But I also know how great it is when you have someone new, and no matter how hard you try, it seems like the guy always wins out."

"I really like Dylan," she replied quietly, her pulse quickening at the mere thought of him.

"I know you do," Cindy nodded.

"And I know you and Dad aren't his biggest fans," Brenda continued.

"I can't speak for your father," her mother said. "But I actually do think Dylan's a very nice guy. There are just some thing I think any parent would be wary of…he's not like the boys you'd bring home in Minnesota." Brenda hid a grin. Understatement of the century. Maybe because the boys in Minnesota were just that. Boys.

"This isn't Minnesota, Mom, remember?"

"I know," Cindy laughed, exhaling. "I keep reminding myself of that, but sometimes I still feel like we're on an extended vacation and it's all going to end. Do you feel that way?"

"Not at all," Brenda replied. "Dare I say this is actually starting to really feel like home."

"So why did Dylan feel the need to go down to Mexico?" Brenda groaned and replaced the towel over the bar on the oven and walked around to the other side of the counter, settling on one of the stools. Here comes the third degree, she grimaced.

"He just wanted to spend some time with his dad, I guess."

"And his father conveniently forgets that his son is in school and can't come up here for a visit?"

"It's complicated, Mom. I don't really try to understand the relationship Dylan has with his father." Brenda knew this was the aspect of Dylan's life that her mother found it most difficult to understand. In fact, she knew her mother would be horrified if she knew most kids in Beverly Hills seemed to have absentee parents, whether it be literally or emotionally. Or both.

She leapt off the stool as the phone jangled loudly behind her, stumbling over her own two feet to grab it before it could ring a second time.

"Hello?"

"Hey, beautiful." Brenda gripped the receiver tightly and felt her knees turn to jelly at the sound of Dylan's voice.

"Hi," she whispered softly, her stomach fluttering. She chided herself for acting like a schoolgirl, but she felt her giddiness rising in spite of it. This was why love made people so crazy, she reasoned. "Can you hang on for a moment?"

"Sure." She set down the receiver and pivoted, meeting her mother's eyes.

"Yes, I'll hang it up when you get upstairs," Cindy grinned. "Go."

"Thanks, Mom," Brenda called, already sprinting towards the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her.

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Author's Note: Okay, so it's been awhile, huh? Real life got in the way, and honestly, writer's block was so severe I just didn't even feel motivated to touch any of my stories until a few weeks ago. But sound the trumpets, I guess I'm back!

It was encouraging to continue to see a few reviews and lots of story alert sign-ups in my in-box during my little hiatus, so I hope that most of you who are on alert for my stories will go ahead and leave some feedback. This chapter took quite awhile to write, especially because it was hard to get a decent balance between the Kelly-Andrea rivalry stuff and not having Brenda come across too whiny about it. I really hated the way the writers dealt with it in the real episode, which is what partially inspired this story in the first place. I'm trying to keep her real, with a healthy blend of jealousy and support for her brother, and as promised, she's going to channel her feelings in a much better way than that stupid stand up/move out thing.

So…I've left you hanging. If you want Brenda's telephone call with Dylan, Andrea's ride home with Brandon, and some devious David plotting, you know what to do…click that green button and motivate me! Thanks for reading. ~Court~