You Mean I've Got To Live With HIM?

I trailed my finger down the long list of names, most of which had already left for their rooms. My longish blonde hair fell right into my eyes most of the time, but I just kept pushing it back. Stupid hair.

"Come ON, Julia. You're taking forever." My friend's hand clamped tightly around my wrist and pulled me backward. I glared at Morgan as an obnoxious voice from behind me said "Yeah, Julia Marie. Some of us have places to be."

I'll admit it, I hate her. Sarah's the first person I'll kill when I'm the ruler of the world. MWAHAHAHA!

Ok, caaalm down. Those spontaneously evil outbursts might just be the reason I got sent toCoulie Academy, formerly for boys only. I had been going to Jenkin's Academyfor girls until Coulie put out an ad for 5 girls from Jenkin's to test out having girls in their boy’s boarding school. 5 guys from Coulie went to Jenkin's, and me and my 2 best friends got sent here, along with Sarah and some girl who...I haven't seen since last June...I wonder what happened to her.

Anyway, Morgan, Alicia, and I all got in the back of the line, and in a matter of 5 minutes we were looking at the list again. I scanned it again and this time I found my name quickly.

Julia Marie Jackson, Peter Mark Kingsley.................Room 516

Ignoring the name next to mine (A big mistake on my part), I went to the desk and asked formy key. Morgan and Alicia, who, by luck, had gotten a room together, soon followed me. At least it was only three rooms away from mine. They had room 522, and we were both lakeside, meaning the lake was right there, and every morning we could look out at the cold rippling water and sigh...

Sigh?

Oh. Right. The lady behind the counter trying to give me my key. I blushed and took it, heading over to the elevator. I stepped in next to a guy with dirty blond hair and green eyes. "Hi," I said, sticking my hand out for him to shake."I'm Julia."

He looked me up and down for a second, then took my hand. "Jake." I smiled and turned to face the door as my friends rushed inside. I looked at them with raised eyebrows as the door closed. Morgan had bright red hair that she had streaked with bright purple and gray eyes. Alicia had curly, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Me? I have bright blond hair, streaked with pink, and green eyes. The elevator moved slowly, smoothly up to the third floor before stopping. Jake and 2 other guys got off, then 2 more got off on the fourth. Alicia, Morgan, and I got off on the fifth floor and ran down the hallway to our rooms. I pulled the door open, threw my bag down onto the bed next to the door and ran to the balcony.

It was beautiful. The sun glistened, purely glistened on the wet surface of the lake. There was a dock stretching out into the water with many boats on it. I imagined how amazing this place would be a thousand times, but I had never expected it to be this...beautiful.

"Hey, you!" I spun on my heel and stared at the familiar face glaring at me. I pushed my hair back from my face in shock and looked closer. Yes, it was him.

"Peter?"I asked, looking at the dark brown hair and brown eyes I had grown to hate.

"Julia?"he asked, his eyes still glaring at me angrily. I nodded as he did the same.

Peter was the son of my parent's friends. We had been forced to spend time together as kids. He always made fun of me, telling me I was ugly and the like. That was 7 years ago, when we were 7. God only knows what he'll say to me now that we're 14. God only knows.

Of course, he probably blames me for how we got along. He probably said I wasn't girly enough. Back then, I wasn't. I'm still not. I loved to play sports then, especially soccer. He always challenged me, and guess who won? Right. Me. He was always jealous and thought he should be better than me. Hey, we were only 7! But now was different...

"Oh, snap," I said, holding my head. He was still glaring at me. "I...can't...have youas a ROOMMATE!" I yelled. Alicia and Morgan leaned over their balconies upon hearing my scream. They glanced at each other, then ducked back inside.

"I'm not any happier than you, Julia." He stopped glaring at me and focused on unpacking his bag onto the other bed. "But please, for the sake of everyone's eardrums, calm down."

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!"

I breathed heavily through my nose so as to convince myself I wasn't hyperventilating."I'm going...for a walk..." I hissed at Peter, pushing past him and grabbing my bag. "So you don’t steal anything."

I walked calmly from the room, then slammed the door in his face. I ran down the hall and knocked on my friend's door. They opened it instantly, obviously expecting this. They already had their bags over their shoulders. Am I getting predictable?

"Come on." We headed back to the elevator, riding in it for a few minutes alone. At the third floor, Jake got in. We said hi and talked all the way down.

"So, where're you headed?" We asked him.

"Beach." Jake was obviously intimidated by Morgan. He kept glancing at her...HOLD ON! I get it...hmm...

"Ohhh, same! Let's go together!" I smiled at him, and he looked at me like I was scaring him halfway to heck. "Oh, Licia, I have to tell you something. C'mere."

Alicia and I walked over to this couch next to the central staircase, leaving Jake and Morgan in the Lake Lounge. "Jake likes Morgan!" I hissed, glancing at them. I've been doing a lot of hissing today. What am I, a snake or some weird hissing cockroach? I have a friend back home who got attacked by a cockroach. Those things are vicious!

"Really?"Alicia hissed back. Oh no! It’s a whole colony of hissing cockroaches...scary.

"Yes!" I hissed. God, there really IS something wrong with me. I hope I don't start attacking people! That would be awkward.

"So, is that why we're going to the beach?" Alicia hissed.

"STOP ALLTHE HISSING!" I yelled. About a billion people (Ok, like 10) looked at me like I was some freak. Or maybe a hissing cockroach!

Alicia raised her eyebrows at me. "So can we tell Morgan?" she asked in a low voice. Yes! The hissing is over!

"No! Are you insane? She'd never go near him again! You know how Morgan gets when she finds out guys like her!"

"So what happens if he asks her out?"

"He won't, at least not for a while anyway. In the meantime, we try to get her to like him so when he asks her she says yes."

"Ohhh, manipulative."

"Exactly."

"You're evil."

"No, just awesome."

Jake, thank God, was not wearing a Speedo. I was wearing a white and red halter bikini, the color opposite of Alicia's. Hers was black and blue. Morgan was wearing a sort of dress-like thing that was light purple and had white around the edges. We had my iPod out with speakers and we listening to Black Eyed Peas "Pump It." Fergie is so awesome. She's my idol. Someday I want to be able to do what she does, the dancing and singing and all that stuff. First I'd have to stop hissing. That would NOT be cool, hissing in front of like 100 million people at Live 8 or something. But it would get me in the paper! I can see it now: "Pop Star Singer Is Half Hissing Cockroach!" Now THAT would not be cool.

I was really bored. Everyone else was talking, but I was too busy imagining my life as a popstar hissing cockroach. The cockroach thing was getting a little old then, so I decided to go swimming.

I dove smoothly into the cool lake water, feeling my hair floating around me. Hey, wait a minute. Are there piranhas in here? What if there are? I've heard they can eat a cow in 1 minute! I (hopefully) am WAY smaller than a cow! Oh, SNAP!

My head burst through the surface of the lake. "Are there piranhas in here?" I screamed shrilly. Jake, Morgan, and Alicia glanced at each other than began laughing hysterically. "What's so funny?" I swam back to the floating dock and climbed up the ladder to join my friends. "This is serious!"

"No, Julia, there are not piranhas in the lake." Jake said. Morgan laughed and smacked me in the side of the head.

"What was that?" I yelled, rubbing my head.

"That was for being stupid."

"Darn you."

"Hey, hey, girls, no need to get in a catfight now." I turned and glared at Jake while Morgan blushed.

"I'll get in a catfight with you if you're not careful, Mr. Girly Man." I said.

It went on like this for a few hours, me, Jake, Morgan, and Alicia just talking and talking and talking...my throat ached so much by the end. We looked up around 5 and saw a guy waving at us from the beach. God only knows how long he had been standing there. We walked over there, me pulling on my pretty, swishy red skirt. "Good job, Jake. You and your friends missed orientation. Miss Henderson says you have to make it up eventually...along with the guys who skipped."

"WHAT?!" Alicia yelled. I've never understood this about her: She's as insane as Morgan and me, but she definitely cares about her grades. I mean, I've seen her when she gets a...B! I was like "Licia. It's a B. I get Bs all the time."She glared at me and left the room.

"Oh, snap." Jake hit himself immediately on the forehead. "I totally forgot."

"Well, you can make yourself feel better. I had no idea it was happening." I glared at Morgan like it was her fault, so instantly she hit me in the side of the head again. "I...hate it when you do that."

"Anyway, it's dinner now. Go back to your rooms; they delivered uniforms during orientation."

I stopped glaring at Morgan and glared at him. Then I brushed by him as I ran back to my room to get ready.

As you may have already picked up, I am NOT in a good mood. I am angry with that guy who brought the bad news, I am angry with myself, but most of all, I'm angry with Peter. You see, I have a no-fail system to take all my problems to their root:  Peter, of course. You see, if he had not made me so mad, I wouldn't have come down here to the lake, thus not missing orientation. IT'S ALL HIS FAULT! I opened the door to my room, and speak of the devil, there he is. Oh, right. His room too. I think too much. I should stop that.

"So, I need a debriefing. What happened in orientation?"

"I don't know." He had just inspired very disturbing images in my mind.

"Weren't you there?"

"Uhm...no. Just shut up, will you?"

Peter was sitting in the adjoining room, the one with the TV and the 2 couches. I could hear The Simpsons blaring from inside. Normally, I love The Simpsons. But watching TV with Peter...I'll pass.

"Is this mine or yours?" I asked, leaning into the room he was in.

"It has a skirt."

"Well, I wasn't sure, I mean there are a lot of gender-confused people out there."

"Ah, shut up." I could hear Peter snort from the other room. I slipped into the bathroom and pulled off my tank top. (I had put on the really swishy skirt and a top) I then dressed in my school uniform. I noticed that Peter was already in his as I walked out. My skirt was a plaid (with a blueish tint) pleated one and my collared shirt had blue cuffs. They had given me a tie (a TIE!) but...ok, so I don't know how to put on a tie. Shut up!

"Peter?"I asked softly. I decided to go with the vulnerable girl begging for help strategy.

"Yes?"

He had definitely changed in 8 years, I saw as I looked at him. He still had extremely chocolaty brown hair and expressive dark brown eyes. I'd heard he kept playing sports, his muscles made it kind of obvious. Hmm...wonder if I can still kick his butt at soccer.

"I can't tie ties." You said, smiling softly. So far, so good. He was totally falling for it. Oh, right. Did I forget to say I had a main part last year in our school musical?

"Aren't girls supposed to know how to do stuff like that?"

"We both know I'm not your average girl." I said, arching an eyebrow at him.

"Fine. But don't expect this ever again. Memorize it."

"Right..."I watched his hands tying the tie around my neck. Up, down, through the hole...like I'm gonna remember that crap. As he finished, he left it kind of loose around my neck so it looked ok, as good as you can get a school uniform to look. That's really hard to do. In head: Thank you Peter! You made up for...beating me in basketball! But I have way more psychological damage than that, so you better work hard!

"You can tighten the tie by pulling on this." He showed me the strip of cloth on the inside of the tie.

"Thanks."

"PETER?!"Sarah yelled from the door.

"Sarah?"Peter and I said at the same time. We glanced at each other, then at Peter'shand, which was still on my tie. Both of us jumped back about a foot, causingboth of us to crash into something. I crashed into the wall, while Peter fellover his bed. I was a little dizzy, so I staggered around the room for a minuteuntil I fell over his bed too, falling right on my face next to him. I rolled over,lying on his bed about a foot from him. He sat up immediately, then I did.Sarah was wearing an ugly purple tube top and a really, really short jeanskirt. Ugh, tube tops...

One time, Iwent out to hang out with my pervy cousin and my mom made me wear this totallyugly neon green tube top. I was just talking to him and I had to pull it up,and he was totally trying to angle himself to see down my shirt. It was ahighly scarring experience. I never visited him again.

At dinner, Isat with Morgan, Alicia, and this guy they met on the way to dinner. I was like"Wow. You guys meet, like, everyone." His name was Danny, and he wascool. He actually had friends who came 10 minutes after dinner started. Dannyhad dyed black hair and green eyes. Alex (one of his friends) had natural redhair and blue eyes. Kevin had electric blue hair and brown eyes. They werenice, but Alex and Kevin were flirting like hell with Alicia. Danny was just happyto sit there and talk to me. He was nice, really nice. He wasn't reallyflirting with me, just sort of embarrassed. I mean, his friends were trying toget my friend to...um, anyway, in the end, Morgan, Danny, and I left Alicia toher admirers. As we walked away, Alicia gave us that 'don't leave me' look.

We walkedthrough the parlor and sat on the porch outside of it. There were already twosilhouettes outside, the moon illuminating them. I walked up to them. They were2 guys: one had light brown hair and the other had shaggy black hair that camedown past his ears. He seemed to be wearing black eyeliner.

"Hi."I said.

"Hi."They said.

"Myname's Julia. You can call me Julie, most people do."

"Casey.And this is Nick." He nodded at his friend, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I'mMorgan and this is Danny," Morgan said.

"Nice."

I smiled athim. He was polite, and reminded me somewhat of a whatchamacallit...agentleman. He had a nice smile.

"Do yougo to school here?" I asked, tilting my head to one side.

"No, ourparents teach here. We're home schooled, but we help out around the place.Pay's not great, but the people are nice and the place is beautiful. I know itlike the back of my hand. You go here, as your uniforms clearly say."

"Yeah. Ididn't know my uniform was so eloquent."

He laughed. Iwas kind of glad to hear him laugh, like those plastic bag commercials. Don'tget mad, get glad! Yeah. How weird is that? As weird as me, or weirder? If itwas weirder, I was afraid for the sanity of humanity. Hey, that rhymes! When Iget back to my room, I'll put that in my notebook of randomosity. I'll explainthat thing later. In the meantime, I was still talking to Casey, and God onlyknows what I'll say if I'm spacing. I'd probably say that Nick looks like adruggie (which he does), or something worse. When will my brain be back?Hopefully before tomorrow, otherwise I might fail my classes.

Anyway, Ilooked around at the grounds. Casey wasn't wrong; it was beautiful, morebeautiful than anything I'd ever seen. The dark lake was reflecting ashimmering twin of the moon high in the sky. The silvery light lit up thenight, joining the golden light emanating from the rooms. It was amazing.

"This isamazing," I whispered, though loud enough so that everyone could hear me.

"Itis." I looked up at Casey. His eyes were a deep blue that reminded me ofthe ocean in a big way. How sappy is that? I can do better. It's just thatlooking into his eyes, it's like I was hypnotized. I couldn't move, I couldn'tthink, all I could do is stare at him, yet somehow I knew that this wasn'tright. I pulled away, looking to my left at my friends who were staring at melike 'I knew she was insane, but not THAT insane'. I walked back over to themand shook my head.

"I haveto go." I turned and walked away from the pair, knowing that my friendswere behind me.

Once insidethe school, I sighed and collapsed on a couch. Morgan pulled me immediatelyback to my feet, pushing me into the elevator. She jammed her finger at thenumber five button, just waiting for Danny to get in too before pressing thedoor-closed button. She pushed me into Danny, and he picked me up bridal style.

"Whathappened to you out there?" she yelled. I could tell she was worried aboutme. Alicia was always the one to jump into a relationship. I waited a while,and Morgan was waiting for the right guy. It's not like she's never gone on adate, she's just had a little heartbreak in the past. I looked at my friend.

"I haveno idea, but I don't think it's natural."

"Meneither." Danny carried me out of the elevator as Morgan walked ahead ofus. She took my keys and unlocked my room. Danny placed me on my bed.

"I haveone question." I raised my eyebrows at the pair.

"What?"

"Why areyou acting like I can't walk?"

The next fewweeks passed in a kind of a blur, basically because nothing happened. At all. Iignored Casey, even though he tried to talk to me a couple times. I made Peterreally, really mad when I told him he snored, I made Peter mad when I stillcouldn't tie my tie, I made Peter mad when I watched Saturday Night Live everySaturday when he was trying to sleep, and I made Peter mad when I woke up inthe early morning and turned on MTV. It was fun to make him mad. I was kind ofaddicted to it. Not that he ever made me mad. He made me mad as much as I madehim mad. It was a bad relationship. However, there was one thing we both agreedon. Sarah should stop trying to spy on us and stop getting keys to our room.

So it waslike, 2 days before Halloween, and in traditional Jackson fashion I had no ideawho I was going to be for Halloween. Peter said, every time I told him that,that every year the school did something special for Halloween. I think he saidsomething about karaoke.

So there Iwas, sitting in breakfast. Oh, did I say how awesome the breakfast was? There'sthis giant buffet with all this bacon and pancakes and waffles and fruit, it'samazing.

So there Iwas, just eating breakfast. Then, out of the blue, our guidance counselorhanded a piece of paper to me. It had a space below my name for a picture ordescription. There was a blank below it. On the back were instructions.

"HelloJulia. Please put a picture of your favorite singer in the space below yourname. Write their name in the blank below. Thank you for complying."

Oh, howhelpful. Now I had to figure out who to be. There was Fergie, Kelly Clarkson,P!nk, Gwen Stefani, or that girl from The Pussycat Dolls. I don't know who topick! Hmm...I really like Kelly's outfit in one of her photo shoots. Yeah, I'llbe her for Halloween. Yay!

Wait.Peter...plus karaoke? OH CRAP! Ok, breathe, breathe. I could just run screamingfrom the room if he tried to pick up the microphone. Yeah. That'd work.

So about 4hours later I was in my room on my Apple laptop. I typed into Google"Kelly Clarkson" and it brought up the picture. I clicked print and afew minutes later it came out of my printer. Peter, who had just walked intothe room, pointed at it and yelled "It's giving birth!"

"Oh, ha,very funny. Real mature." I said scathingly. I reached over and grabbedthe picture. I taped it onto the sheet.

"You'rewearing that for Halloween?"

"Yeah.Don't worry, I'm sure Sarah'll wear something slutty."

"Oh, I'mnot worried."

"Sowho're you going to be?"

"Notsure."

"Well, wehave to give them our sheets at dinner, so you have, like, 7 hours, 4 of whichare classes."

"Yeah, Iknow."

"You knowwho you're going to be."

"Ofcourse I do."

I glared athim and shut my laptop. "Do not touch my computer." I left himstanding there, looking extremely confused. Or skeptical. I can't tell.

Is that sad?No.

I walked downa hall, humming softly. I had been listening to Kelly Clarkson online.Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into a sidehallway. I looked into familiar brown eyes.

"Casey!Let me go!"

"No! Ihave to apologize!"

"Forwhat? Using your freaky hypnotic powers on me?"

"Yes! Imean no! Maybe?"

"Maybealways means yes!"

"No itdoesn't!"

"Yeah, itdoes, dude."

Another handpulled on my other arm, gently pulling me away from Casey. Jake was standingthere, getting me away from Casey.

"Who areyou?" Casey asked. This was all very confusing.

"Jake!Omigod, thank you so much! He has freaky hypnotic powers!" Jake looked atme with that familiar look. You know, the 'why-am-I-friends-with-you-you're-insane'look.

My life wasreally weird. Peter leaned out of our room. "Why are so many peopleyelling? Are you fighting over Julie?"

"Yes!They're all fighting over me! But I have to get to class!" Jake let go ofme and I ran off towards my class. Jeez, guys are weirder than my life.

That night Icouldn't sleep. Peter knew it too. It was a Wednesday night but I was watchingComedy Central at midnight. About halfway through the South Park episode, hestumbled into the room and collapsed on the couch. I kept sitting on the floor,aware he was watching too.

"Theyshould disconnect your cable."

"But mycable is your cable."

"Goodpoint."

I fell asleepon the floor, at 2 AM. I woke up the next morning in bed. Peter was in his bed.He must have carried me to bed! Aww. He has a soft side. Wait, what am Isaying?

I tiptoed overto the alarm and turned it off. Today I'm waking him up my own special way. Iwonder if he'll ever get used to me.

I grabbed mypillow and stood next to his bed. I pointed my remote at the stereo and pressedplay. Panic! At the Disco's "But It's Better If You Do" blasted outof the speakers. Peter sat up, hitting his face into my pillow. He fell backonto his bed and said, in a muffled voice, "I hate you."

"And Ihate you too."

Later thatday, I came back to the room to find Peter opening a box labeled 'Julia MarieJackson'. Wait...his name isn't my name...Omigod! He's SPYING on my mail!

"What,should I open all your mail too?"

Peter started.Apparently he had been too busy looking at whatever was in MY package to noticethat I was back. What a weirdo.

"So...canI have that now?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Fine!"he yelled, and threw the box at me, knocking me onto the floor. I had a prettyheavy box on top of me and I couldn't get up. Damn that Peter and his impulses!

"Peter...damnyou and your impulses...I can barely breathe..." I could, actually, but Ifelt like creating guilt. I purposefully made the box not move up and down sohe would believe me. He rolled his eyes and took the box off my chest."I'd thank you but it was all your fault in the first place." I tookmy box and looked inside. It was the costume for Halloween! It was so pretty! Ilove the sweater, and I know everyone does. Right?

Anyway, Ilooked at Peter and asked, "Why were you looking in my mail?"

"Ithought it was mine."

"Yeah,I'd like to see you wear this."

"Maybe Ishould."

"NO!MINE!" I yelled, turning away. Suddenly from outside came a loudthunderclap. I shook for a second afterward, and then ran to the balcony. Itwas pouring out there, and I loved it. I poked my arms out into the rain andfelt the freezing cold water falling gently onto my forearms. Peter came outonto the balcony and stood next to me, watching the rain.

"If youdon't want pneumonia, I recommend you stop trying to get it."

I glared athim, but stepped back and dropped my arms. I changed into my swishy silkypajama pants and my pink tank top, and then climbed into bed. I fell asleep tothe sound of rain and Mind of Mencia in the next room.

The nextmorning, I woke up to the sound of the TV in the next room. Peter was watchingsomething. I don't really know what it was, because I immediately ran in thereand turned it off.

"Why didyou do that?" he whined.

"Becauseit's Halloween!" I yelled, jumping up and down.

"It'salso 5 AM." He sat up and looked sadly at the blank screen.

"Look, Iknow I turned off your best friend, but think about your brain! If you don'tcelebrate Halloween, you'll always forget it, and Pagan minions will come toget you."

"I doubtthat, but I'll get up. That is, if you leave me alone."

"Fine!"

"Oh, bythe way, wear your costume. No classes today."

"Yay!"

I walked outof his way, and the TV turned back on. I sighed heavily, but changed into mycostume/outfit. It fit perfectly! I was ecstatic, so I bounced out of my room.As my very close friend once said, "The happy Julia is screaming, jumping,and can't stop smiling." How cool is that? I mean, it's just awesome! Iran down the hallway and knocked on my friends' door. Morgan answered. She wasdressed up as some guy singer, probably some weird rocker one. Don't get mewrong, I love rock. But Morgan as a cross-dresser is not something you want tosee in the morning. I ran into their room to see Alicia as Shakira from Hips Don'tLie. We all grabbed each other's hands and jumped around in a circle. We ran tothe elevator and ran out, down to the first floor where breakfast was held andran in, screaming. Everyone was dressed up, and we weren't the only onesscreaming. We hung out until Peter's group entered. Somehow, we ended upsitting with them. I think Jake pulled in Morgan and we followed her orsomething. Anyway, I sat next to Peter and Jake. Peter had shocked me. He wasthe lead singer of Panic! At the Disco.

"Peter! Ihate you!"

"Iknow..."

"You knowI love Panic! At the Disco!"

"So maybethat's why I did it? So you'd stop playing the CD?"

"Never!"

"I tried,at least..."

I stuck mytongue out at him and he stuck a marshmallow on it. Not expecting this, I spitit at him. He turned his back pointedly and I saw that the marshmallow hadstuck. I laughed out loud, and made everyone stare at me. It's nothing new.

Later, afterrunning around bothering people all day, it was 7 PM and we were gathered inthe Parlor. There was a microphone on stage and speakers set up around theroom. "This is going to be so awesome!" I yelled. Almost everyone inthe room turned and stared at me. I shrugged and glanced around the room.Everyone was watching me. I blushed slightly and sat down on the floor near thestage. The lights dimmed, and someone called my name. I stood up again.

"MissJackson? If you will grace us with a song?"

"Umm...sure!"I said, stepping onto the stage. Next to it, there was a giant stack of CDs. Iscanned the sides and found Kelly Clarkson's Thankful. I put it in the stereonearby and put it on Miss Independent. I ran back onto the stage as the trackstarted. Everyone was watching me, so I guess it's a good thing I'm used to it.I started to sing.

As I lookedaround, I saw some people starting to nod their head to the beat. My friendswere already up and jumping. Peter looked confused.

By the end ofthe chorus, over half the crowd was on their feet. Sarah was still sitting, andso was Peter. I was totally enjoying this.

This was so awesome! I loved singing. Over three fourths of the crowdwere on their feet now, Peter was still sitting, so was Sarah. I loved this! Itwas like I had fans!

Peter hadfinally stood up along with everyone but Sarah. I raised my arms and smiled as bigas possible. I was laughing as I walked off the stage and sat back down. Morganand Alicia hugged me and we sat and waited.

Almost at theend of the show, Peter took the stage.

By that time,I was totally relaxed and had given in to the fact that I'd have to hear himsing sometime. It was almost the end, and I was sitting on the floor withAlicia and Morgan, and we were on a concert high. We were hyper to the fullestextent of the word. There had been some bad performances, some good ones, andsome nicely in between. As Peter took the stage, I stopped talking, freakingboth of my best friends at the same time.

"I haveto go." I stood and headed for the door, however I only got halfway therebefore my friends grabbed both my elbows. But I was a girl on a mission. I keptwalking, dragging them behind me. I turned the corner and pulled them down thehallway to our right.

"Wow,Julie, I had no idea you could have to go to the bathroom so bad!" Morganwheezed.

"Shedoesn't," Alicia said. "She was getting away."

"And,once again, Alicia wins the award for being super-smart." I panted,leaning heavily against the wall. "You guys wanna sneak out?"

"Sure,"they said at the same time. We crept down the hallway to the door and sneakilyopened it. As soon as we were in the free night air, we ran through thegrounds, giggling uncontrollably. After all, that was what we did. As soon aswe felt tired, we collapsed on the ground. While we were lying there, laughing(or, by now it was more like wheezing. Again! I mean really, we've been doing alot of that lately…how weird.) I started to think about just how much myfriends mean to me. We get along better than anyone I know, other than me andmy sister, Talia. There's none of that sibling rivalry that you hear so muchabout, even though Talia's the classic perfect big sister/daughter. Really,there are SERIES written about a petty girl who's uber-jealous of her big sis.It's not like that, not at all. Sure, Talia's smarter than the average16-year-old girl, and she's extremely pretty. She has way more friends thananyone would ever ask for. Even our gay cousin (who hates everybody's guts, dueto discrimination) thinks she rocks his socks. I thought only GIRLS talkedabout socks. But anyway, even though she's pretty much perfect, I love her andI'm not jealous of her. I'm good at stuff too, like...um, I can't think ofanything right now.

But while wewere growing up, just mom, her, and me, there was no room for that type ofthing. Mom was usually at work, being a lawyer, making tons of cash, andignoring the fact that we were left alone in the house with just Peter's familythere. And there you have it. My childhood in a nutshell. My sister and I hadto stick together or Peter would eat us. He was always threatening to do that.It was very scary.

But I gotalong with her only a little better than my friends. I couldn't have asked fortwo better friends to get stuck in testosterone land with. So we were lying onthe ground, wheezing our lungs out. I looked up at the moon, glisteningbeautifully in the sweet-smelling night air that hung around us. This would bejust about the perfect night to meet a cute guy and kiss him under the stars tothe gentle sounds of guard dogs snuffling around the ground for teenagersbreaking the rules...hold up...

GUARD DOGS!

"Youguys! Do you hear that?" I whispered hysterically. In the not-too-distantdistance we could just hear the whines of the dogs. We jumped up and rantowards my room, all signs of wheeziness gone. I jumped for the closest balconyto the ground, but it was too high up. "You guys!" I said again.Alicia, being a ginormus person, had me bend over. Bend over, so she couldreach it, then pull me up, then pull Morgan up. She got it, and I easilygrabbed the hand she offered me. Then we both leaned over the railing to getMorgan. However, I don't know if I mentioned that Morgan is at least 3 inchesshorter than me. She only just reached my hand, so we were all crowded onto onesmall balcony.

Alicia reachedthe next one as guard dogs ran up beneath us. They were huge black and browndogs, with very large teeth. I gasped and stared until I felt Morgan tug on mysleeve, so I turned to see Alicia's hand dangling down. Why do all three of ushave to be on the fifth floor? At least we were lined up with my room. Aliciapulled me up to the second floor and we got Morgan. It all went pretty smoothlyuntil we reached my room. By then the concert was over, and people were movingback into their rooms. Alicia and I were standing on my balcony. Morgan wasstanding below, reaching for my hand. But she couldn't reach it. I almostscreamed with frustration. Just then, a voice came from behind. "So,girls, back, are you?"

I spun around.So far this night was not fun. And seeing Peter raising his eyebrows at me inthat way that obviously meant he thought he was better than me was not helping.I narrowed my eyes at him and turned back to the Morgan problem. From behindus, I could hear Peter muttering something not understandable. He touched myshoulder, lightly, but enough that I could feel it. I turned around and glaredat him before angrily asking, "What?"

"Are youand Alicia, like making out on our balcony? Cause it'd be nice if you did yourlittle lesbian thing somewhere else."

I slapped him.I could tell it stung, probably not only physically but emotionally as well. Herubbed his face and sighed. "Random guess is that's not it."

"Oh, yourgenius is showing." I growled. God, there's something wrong with me. Whymust I resemble animals? Why? I mean, there was the cockroach thing, and nowI'm growling like some sort of rabid dog.

Peter pushedpast me and looked down to see Morgan, still jumping up and down for Alicia'shand. Peter sighed and reached down himself. Morgan easily grabbed his hand andhe pulled her up almost effortlessly. As soon as she was up, Morgan and Aliciaran off towards the door to get to their room. I was glaring at Peter.

I shook myhead and walked to the closet with all my clothes in it, along with my duffelbag. I grabbed the bag and started shoving my clothes into it. I shoved all Icould fit into it, then walked into the bathroom to grab my hairbrushes,toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, straightener, straightening gel, and mostimportantly, my makeup. I pushed that into a smaller bag and walked back out. Igrabbed my computer in its portable bag and started to walk out of the room.

"I'll beback for the rest of my clothes later."

"Whereare you going?" Peter asked.

"To staywith my friends."

"Why?"

"Why?Why, he asks. Because, Peter, I can't stand to be in the same room as you, letalone sleep next to you." I saw him smirk and thought about what I hadsaid. "And that's ONE reason why." I dropped my stuff, walked over tohim, and slapped him hard across the face. I stalked back to the door, pickedup my bags, and left.

"Morgie?Licia?" I used my nicknames for my friends that I reserved for when I wassad, upset, or very mad.

They silentlyopened the door and led me into their T.V. room. There were blankets on thecouch and a nice, fluffy pillow. I sat down and found on the table next to me aChocolate flavored Coollatta with whipped cream from Dunkin Donuts, whichhappens to be my most favoritest drink ever.

"How'dyou get this?" I asked before taking a big gulp of it.

"Turnsout Room Service can bring Dunkin Donuts." Morgan sat down next to me andAlicia sat on my other side. I knew they cared about me, and I've never been sograteful for such great friends.

"Youguys, I'm really tired. Is it ok if I go to sleep now?" I asked. I didn'twant to be mean, but I really was tired. They nodded and left the room, so Ifell asleep almost immediately.

In themorning, I was woken up to the sound of some people in the outer room. Itsounded like Casey, Morgan, Alicia, and someone I didn't recognize.

"Casey, Iwant you to take these girls on a tour of the school."

"Butdidn't they go to orientation?"

"No, theymissed it."

"So youwant us to go with him on a tour?"

"Yes,girls, that would be nice. Oh, and Casey?"

"Yeah?"

"There'sa new girl downstairs waiting by the central staircase."

"Right."

"I'll goget Julia, then shall I?"

"No!"said Alicia and Morgan at the same time. "Uh, we mean we'll tell her, sir.No need for you to use your time more on us."

"A goodidea. Casey, remember, the new girl's name is Talia."

"Ok."

There was thesound of a door opening and closing, then Morgan appeared in my room."Julia, we gots to go."

"Ok,"I said, and jumped off of the couch. I wasn't wearing my uniform, (I was stillwearing the Kelly outfit.) so I looked at Morgan.

"Oh,yeah, you don't have to wear the uniform." I could see that, since she waswearing a black tee with "rock this way" written on it and a shortjean skirt. I walked over to my bag and pulled out a rose patterned tunic-typething, cinch leggings, and a white boy tank. I put the tank on under the tunic,and walked away from my bag of delia*s clothes. I love that store!

Alicia waswearing a heart patterned boy tank over light denim jeans with a dagger on theback. I smiled and we all headed out to the lobby. As we turned the corner Isaw a girl wearing sunglasses on top of her head and a white sweatshirt withthumbholes. She was wearing a short white jean skirt and flip-flops thatmatched mine. I waved to Casey, and he waved back. That was when the girl turnedaround so I could see her face. Both of us looked at the other for a minute,then I screamed and ran over to throw my arms around her.

"Rox!"I yelled, jumping up and down. She hugged me back briefly and pushed me offher. I looked Talia Roxie Jackson up and down as she did the same.

We had onlyjust started to greet each other in that way sisters do when Casey rudelyinterrupted by stating the obvious: "You two know each other?"