Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 47

"Well, that was-"

"ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS?!"

"Um, I was aiming more towards a word like...'interesting'."

"I hate that word. That word means nothing at all." I laughed, "Ok then, it had a fairly...compelling story, but some of the overall acting was..." I paused. "Interesting, for lack of a better word," Sadie sighed. I laughed and once again put my arm around her shoulders. "I want Swedish Fish. Can we get Swedish Fish?"

"Don't you want me to take you home now? It's pretty late..."

"Well, there's always time for Swedish Fish." Sadie wiggled out of my arm and took my hand, pulling me along as she skipped toward the the grocery store up ahead.

As I drove her home, Sadie turned on the radio and 'Dancing With Tears in My Eyes' by Ke$ha started playing on the radio. "Oh-my-goodness!" she yelped. She turned the radio all the way up, "I love this song!" She started singing along loudly and I laughed the entire drive to her house.

As I drove back to my new house, I knew that I was lucky. Sadie Hawkins: the best distraction a guy could ask for.

I fell asleep leaning against the bean bag Sean was sitting on. I was half-awake as he played with my hair for a minute before getting up, picking me up, and carrying me into the guest room. I opened my eyes and smiled tiredly at him as he pulled the covers up over me. "Good night," he said. I saw tears in his eyes and knew that all he saw was Dustin, but for some reason it made me feel good. Maybe Sean and I needed each other. Maybe Sean was what had been missing in my healing.

Or maybe I was just really tired.

"Good morning," Sean sang as I walked down the stairs, blinking repeatedly to try and wake myself. I smiled weakly and slid onto his couch next to my brother, who was eating a waffle with his hands. "Waffles?" I asked. Sean came up with a plate and handed me a syrup-covered waffle. I smiled, "Mmm."

"Made them myself."

"Such the chef."

"Oh yes, you have to be really professional to figure out the waffle iron." I laughed and took a bite of the warm waffle. "Can I go home now?" I asked after I finished the waffle, carrying my paper plate into the kitchen and sliding it into the trash can that I mysteriously knew the location of, (Ok, how many people do you know that don't keep their trash can under their kitchen sink?) Sean laughed, "In that much of a hurry to leave?" I smiled and nodded. He chuckled and turned off the faucet. He turned to face me, "Well, you have the possibility of leaving," he paused. "But I was thinking maybe you would want to do something with me today." I hid a slight smile, "Like what?"

"The mall?" I paused. "You want to go to the mall?"

"Well, not really, but I thought you might want-"

"No. Nope. No thanks. Something else, please."

"You don't like shopping?"

"Not with specimens of the male species."

"Aw," he laughed, smiling at me, his brown eyes sparkling, (whatever that means.)

© 2010

This is Random, But...THERE'S SO MANY PRETTY THINGS OUT THERE

Well, this post is totally unrelated to everything else on my blog, but I just wanted to tell you about my little not-so-much-of-a-journey-journey today. My mom wasn't home and she couldn't pick me up form school right away, (and I wasn't in the mood to wait,) so I started walking home. I got bored so I walked into the middle of the road, (neighborhood, not the freeway, don't worry people,) and I walked down the long road following the yellow lines and it was just the most beautiful thing, the road stretching out in front of me, the sun shining out from the clouds in the blue sky, the leafy trees bending over the street and the flowers blooming in so many different colors. At one point a man stopped and asked me why I was walking down the middle of the road, and I simply replied, "I'm just walking home." He said that it wasn't safe to walk down the middle of the road and then he drove off, so, unwillingly, I sighed and walked over to the sidewalk. Bye, bye, beauty of the yellow lines: until next time.

Be original. Don't follow the sidewalk.

© 2010

Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 46

Sadie was bouncing off the walls by the time we walked up to the theater, "Geez, what are you on?" some guy who had been walking close behind us yelled. Sadie turned around and stuck her tongue out at him. I laughed at her. "Sheesh, some people. Can't I be sugar high without being accused of being drugged?"

"You haven't had any sugar today."

"Ya well...I just get hyper sometimes." I laughed and put my arm around Sadie's shoulders, partially just because of how cool she was, and partially to keep her from literally bouncing off the walls. "There it is!" she called out louder than was necessary. I looked at the large black-wood theater in front of us and gaped. "Wow. That's..."

"Big?"

"Mhm," I replied, staring in awe at the huge theater. One of the large doors with the gold lion head handles was open. It had dark green painted crown molding and about five feet down from the roof there were gargoyles sticking out of the walls. Giant 3-dimensional theater masks hung above the doors. "This is a local theater?"

"Pretty much world-famous, but yea." I just gaped at the theater. "Wow...just wow."

"Come on!" she yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me up to the doorway. "Where do we buy tickets?" I asked, confused. "Inside." A man in a dark green uniform stood inside a glass booth. His face was dark and he smiled at us.

"What?" he asked, seeming surprised my expression. "Th-that's...Dustin," I said, not able to

let the words 'my sister' escape from my throat. Sean's eyes widened, "You're that Angela?" he

practically hollered. Wow. This guy is a little slow. I nodded. "Holy crud."

"You can say that again."

"Hol-"

"Oh my goodness, you are not seriously doing that." He closed his mouth. I put my face in my

hands. "You were dating my sister?"

"Yea."

"I can't believe she didn't tell me." I felt a loss of tears in my eyes, because usually something

like this would make me bawl, but lately I was just running low on tears. He was quiet for a

second, "She said...she said your mom wouldn't approve."

"So what? That never stopped her from doing anything else." He was silent again. "She..." I

looked at his face as I waited for him to continue, "She also thought you wouldn't approve." I

laughed half-heartedly, "Yea, well, at first sight-"

"I'm not very promising. Yea, I know. She told me that." I laughed. She would. "So what did she

like about you?" He blushed, "Um...she said...she said I excepted her. And she said I wad funny."

I nodded. He sighed, "She told me she loved me." I looked at him, seeing the tears in his eyes.

He hung his head and ran his hands through his hair, "I miss her." Now, finally, tears sprung in

my eyes. "Me too." He looked up at me and got up, coming towards me, and held me in a tight

hug. I wasn't sure if it was to comfort me, to comfort himself, or both, but it helped. He was the

first person I had met so far who really knew what I was going through, who really knew Dustin

like I did, (or so I guessed.) Even Jake, who she hung out with all the time, had probably had

about two really deep conversations with her in his entire life. Our parents seemed just to think

she was some kind of a joke, like she didn't have anything at all serious to contribute to the

world. I had been the one who had talked to her the first time she got dumped, the time she

almost got kidnapped. There to comfort her and scold her when she messed up. And she was

always there for me. I tried to remember if she had ever mentioned Sean, or started to talk

about him and then silenced herself. I couldn't think of anything. I sighed as he let go of me and

laid down on his bed. "How long were you guys together?"

"Almost seven months."

"What?!" I was completely shocked. Dustin usually dated guys for a month at most before

getting irritated with them, that is, if she was dating at all. She had only dated a few guys in her

whole life, saying that relationships were usually a waste of time that ended messily. But seven

months? How had I not figured it out? "I can't believe I never caught on." He sighed, "Yea,

sorry about that." I shook my head, "At least she died in love." He closed his eyes, "I can't

believe she ever thought I deserved her." I smiled lightly, "You must have. She would have

dumped you ages before she...she would have dumped you after dating you for about three

weeks if you weren't." He laughed, "Yea, she was always telling me that our relationship made

no sense. 'I tell Angela everything,' she said, 'I never date someone for more than a month!'" We

laughed and I almost felt her presence with us, smiling.

© 2010

No Sense (anything can happen) part 6

"I just need to do a quick, simple test. Just one shot, and the results will be almost immediate on my computer," he said, setting down his brief case and his lap top on my kitchen counter. I sighed, "Alright. But just...don't tell Jen what it is you're doing, ok?"

"Alright. Would you like me to do both of you at the same time?"

"Sure. Jen! Come downstairs, honey!" Jen ran down the stairs and Peter had us sit on the couch. "It's just a little shot, Jen," he told my daughter...sister, as he came over to her with the needle. Her eyes widened and mine filled with tears. He quickly poked it in and she shrieked in pain. He took it out and put some sort of pain-killer on her arm, applying a band-aid and smiling at her. "There. That wasn't so hard, right?" Jen frowned at him and looked back at me. "Can I go upstairs, mommy?" she asked. "Yes, of course honey." She ran up the stairs and Peter put a different needle in me. I gritted my teeth together as he repeated what he had done to Jen. He put the band-aid on and walked over to his lap top. I walked into the kitchen, rubbing around the soar spot of my arm, and said, "So?" He was staring at the computer screen intently, seeming to read something over and over again. He pressed a few keys here and there, not looking up at me. I stared down at him. He suddenly looked up, his eyes wide. "What?" I asked, my voice quavering. She shook his head, "I'm sorry, Vanessa. You're both positive."

present day

Noah opened the door to what was apparently to be my room and flipped on the light

switch. "Ok, well...I'll just leave you now, then." I frowned up at him, "What am I supposed to do

now?" He shrugged, "Make yourself at home, I guess." I looked around at the dark, musky

room. It was filled with spiderwebs and dust. "Not likely," I replied, looking back up at him.

He shrugged again and simply stepped out of the room. "What now?" I asked no one in

particular.

© 2010

No Sense (anything can happen) part 5

Delatrix turned away from me, fuming. "Petreus. You may go." Petreus slightly rolled his eyes before separating his arms and walking in long strides towards the door. I watched as he pushed the big, almost-black wood doors open to reveal a long hallway with paintings every six feet. I gasped. Delatrix moved so that I couldn't see past her, and I glared into her strangely blue eyes. "I will take you to the third floor. Noah will follow behind and show you where you will be kept, for the time being."

"Where I will be kept? You make me sound like an animal." Delatrix snorted, "To me, Vanessa, you are nothing but a flea on a mutt." She turned away and pushed the doors once again open. My eyes widened. How could she be so rude? Why in the world could she treat me any differently than everyone else in this place? "Follow me," Delatrix called out. Noah waited for me to start walking, and when I did he followed closely behind. Delatrix led us up a twirling flight of stairs to the third floor. I stepped onto the third floor with Noah behind me, and when I turned around, she was gone. I looked down the staircase, but I didn't see her on any of the many stairs to the first floor. I looked at Noah. "Where is she?" Noah looked at me, "She is very fast."

"Why is everything here so medieval? Why are you all acting like you have special gifts or something?" Noah sighed, "Not gifts. 'Privileges', they call them. Jobs, really." He walked up ahead of me and I looked as his back, completely confused. Nothing seems to make any sense anymore. I must be dreaming.

4 years previous

"This disease seems to be sweeping across the entire continent of Africa, and spreading to the surrounding continents," the man on the news said in his perfectly calm newscaster tone of voice. I rolled my eyes, "Jen, turn that off, will you?"

"But Vanessa! I need to know what's going on in the world!" Jen shrieked. I walked over to the TV and turned it off. "What you don't know can't hurt you," I said to her with a weak smile, ruffling her hair. "This can. Its a disease. It can hurt anyone." I frowned at the dishes I was scrubbing and looked up at the mirror in front of the sink. Peter stared back from behind me. I jumped. "Peter!" I said quickly, swiveling around and turning off the water. "I didn't know you were coming today!"

"Just a check-up," he replied. I sighed, "Peter, really, whatever this strange disease is, I'm sure it hasn't spread here, and never will. The new broadcaster said-"

"Forget the news. You should know by now that they never tell the truth." I closed my eyes, "Jen, why don't you go upstairs?"

"But mom-"

"Now, Jen." Peter just stared at me as Jen ran unwillingly up the stairs. "She called you mom."

"I don't know why she does." He narrowed his eyes. "Listen, Peter, I really think this is unnecessary. All you're going to do is scare Jen, and the disease hasn't even spread to this continent yet-" Peter shook his head. "That's incorrect, I'm afraid. They found it, today, in the blood of at least five Americans. Not everyone has been tested yet, obviously, so we're not sure how far into the continent it has really gotten yet, but honestly, the five that it was discovered in were nowhere near each other. Opposite sides of the country." My eyes widened, "Oh no."

Peter sighed, "Yea, this is a bad one."

"What do you think will happen, Peter?" He looked up at me with something in his eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time. Fear.

© 2010

No Sense (anything can happen) part 4

This room was unlike any other room in the whole...town. "Delatrix," Noah said. A startingly beautiful girl with blonde hair to her chest turned around to face us. Her blue eyes seemed to penetrate into my very being. She had high cheekbones, a slight and perfectly shaped nose, and lips that were thin but not small. Her eyes were large and yet thin and her eyelashes were long. I tried desperately not to gulp. The girl smiled, "Ah," she said, her voice like a river flowing down a rocky valley. She walked towards me, smiling and holding out her hand. Noah took it and kissed it lightly, immediately pulling back as if she had stung him. She smiled at me, her eyes narrowing because of her cheeks going up. "You are Vanessa, correct?" I nodded, my eyes narrowing for reasons in no way related to smiling. "I am Delatrix. And this is Petreus," she said, turning and gesturing towards a tall man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a strongly framed figure leaning against the farthest back wall. He had a perfectly accentuated jaw and his cheekbones were only slightly lower than Delatrix. He wore a black pea coat that trailed to the ground. He bowed his head at me and looked once again at Delatrix, who narrowed her eyes at him and turned back to face me. "What strange names," I said bluntly, crossing my arms. "What do they mean?" Delatrix blinked, "Oh. Well, my mother once told me my name meant 'not what she seems', but I looked it up and found out that she had actually created the name herself."

"And Petreus?"

"Why don't you ask him?" she smiled, seeming to laugh inwardly. I turned to the large man. "Petreus. What does your name mean?"

"Nohing. My father and mother also created it themselves." I nodded and turned back towards Delatrix, who opened her mouth to say something. I interrupted her, turning towards Noah and saying, "I once heard that Noah means peace." He smiled, but Delatrix sighed and said, "I once heard that Vanessa means 'the quiet one'." I turned back to her and furrowed my eyebrows, "I wonder who told you that? I looked it up, and it means 'combination of Van and Esther'." Noah laughed and then covered his mouth and Petreus kept a stern face, but as I looked past Delatrix and into his dark, storming eyes, I saw the slightest of smiles on the tip of the left corner of his mouth, and I was satisfied. I looked back at Delatrix, who had narrowed her eyes to their narrowest extent. "You will not back-talk me," she demanded.

"I won't? How can you be so sure?" Noah put his hand on my shoulder, as if to tell me to stop. I looked back at his warm eyes and saw worry swimming in them. I closed my mouth, but I didn't let my expression fall to fright. I kept my mocking eyes and sarcastic twist of my lips. Delatrix's mouth twitched. "So you are a glitch."

"That's what I've heard."

© 2010

Alice in Wonderland, The Dork I Fell in Love With, etc.

www.bellaswritings.wordpress.com

My other best friend's blog! Yet another young writer, and also extremely talented! Visit her blog and try to convice her to write more in The Dork I Fell in Love With instead of just ditching it for Alice in Wonderland! PROTECT TRACE AND LOLA FROM ALICE AND LEO! (Even if Alice and Leo are totally amazing too...)

Magic, Mayhem, Ireland, and Everything in Between

www.famfiswonderland.blogspot.com

My best friend's blog! She is a young author also, and extremely talented! I love her, and I'm sure you will too! (Even if she does refuse to put Sarge and Grayson together. O.o)

Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 45

This post is dedicated to my theater geek best friend. I love you, Fumf! (Why yes, her name is Fumf. Spelled Famfi, actually, but I will never spell it right because it is pronounced Fumfy and therefore should be spelled f-u-m-f-y. So there.)

"We should do something today," I said, sticking the yogurt-coated spoon in my mouth. Sadie looked at me as she dipped her spoon into the bowl we were sharing. "Like what?" she asked as she licked the yogurt off the bottom and the edges of her spoon before putting the whole thing in her mouth. "What's playing right now?" She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, dipping her spoon in the bowl again as I reached for the chocolate sprinkles and poured more of them into the bowl. "I don't want to go the movies."

"Is the pool open?" She looked at me like I was crazy, "Its february. There's snow on the ground."

"So?"

"So...you don't go swimming when there's snow on the ground." I huffed as I overflowed my spoon with yogurt, "Ok, fine. Then what should we do?" She paused, touching her spoon to her lip and putting on an expression of serious thought. I smiled. "Well, we could...we could go to Ireland." I blinked. "Um. Ireland?"

"Mhm," she nodded, dipping her spoon back into the bowl and acting as if going to Ireland was totally a normal thing to do when you're bored. "I was thinking more along the line of staying in the country, actually." She rolled her eyes and laughed, "Not Ireland the country, stupid. Ireland the theater."

"I thought you didn't want to go to the movies."

"Not that kind of theater! Sheesh! Haven't you ever seen a play at Ireland?" I raised an eyebrow, "I've lived here for under a month, Hawk," I said simply, using the pet name I had given her. She waved off the statement, "That doesn't make a difference. There's no excuse for not having seen a play at The Ireland."

"Well then, let's go."

"Alright."

"You can just go on this short of notice?"

"Well, yea, you can buy tickets at the door. Its a local theater, not Broadway."

"And they just have a play everyday?" Sadie rolled her eyes, "Of course not, stupid. They put one on every other Saturday."

"And today is that Saturday?"

"Indeed it is."

"Excellent."

© 2010

Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 44

I pulled into Sam's driveway and parked carefully. I got out and was immediately covered in snow. "Crud," I muttered. I hurried into the house with Jake's bag. "JAKE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, despite the miniscule size of the house and the fact that the entryway echoed slightly. When no one replied, I screamed again. "WHERE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER?" I heard hurried footsteps coming down the carpeted hallway upstairs. A boy about my age with blonde hair that ended just under his ears and warm brown eyes looked at me and seemed startled. "You are?"

"Jake's brother. I mean sister." The boy nodded and turned to face the hallway again. "JAKE!" he screamed, matching my volume. I smiled. Well, at least I didn't need to be self-conscious about anything. "WHAT, SEAN?" Jake screamed back. I was surprised by how easily Jake used an angry tone with someone else's older sibling. It wasn't like him. When Max's older brother, [or sister, to be quite frank, (which is a weird expression,)] yelled at him like that, he shrunk like a snail in its shell. "THERE'S A CHICK HERE FOR YOU!" I laughed outright, imagining my brother's reaction to that statement, (and wondering if he had honestly not heard me scream a minute ago.) "What?" Jake said, calmer and in a surprised tone. "Your name?" Sean asked me. "Angela," I replied, smiling at the scene. "CHICK NAMED ANGELA IS HERE FOR YOU, DUDE!" Sean screamed back to Jake. "Oh," Jake replied, quieter now, "that's just my sister." Sean lowered his volume too, "Just? No respect, man, no respect." Jake came onto the staircase then and punched Sean in the arm. "Hey, sis," he said. I smiled sarcastically and held out his bag. "Thanks," he said, smiling at me as he came quickly down the stairs and took his bag. "Dude, this is weird," Sean said, studying my face and then looking back at Jake. "What is?" Jake asked, turning his back on me to face Sean. "You guys being brother and sister."

"Why is that weird?"

"Well, 'cause she's hot, man, and you're not." Jake ran up the stairs and punched Sean in chest. Sean laughed. I would have blushed, but I was having one of those act-like-Dustin days, so I simply replied, "Jake's hot, too, man." Sean looked at me for a second and slowly smiled. He ruffled his hair through Jake's hair playfully and said, "Yea, he's ok. Nothing special."

"Shut up," Jake replied, pushing Sean and going back down the hallway to Sam's room. Sean walked down the stairs slowly, (and dramatically, geez,) "I'm Sean," he said, smiling at me. "I noticed," I replied, forming a bubble of my gum in my mouth and popping it as he got closer to me. "And you are?" he continued, seeming to be nervous but trying to look confident. "I think we went over this," I said with a tilt of my head and another sarcastic smile. He blushed slightly and looked out the window, "Holy crud." I looked out, "What?" I saw that the light snow had turned into a storm and I groaned. "Looks like you're snowed in," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I'll go hang out with Jake," I replied, hurrying towards the stairs. He came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, "No, its ok, you can hang out with me." I blinked and he walked up ahead of me into the hallway. "Come one, my room's this way." I followed him slowly, suspiciously. He opened the door and stood by it, seeming to invite me to go in before him. "Ladies first," he said after a moment. I shook my head. "Nope. How do I know you won't lock me in?" He laughed and walked in first. I walked in behind him and he sat down at a desk and opened his lap top. He glanced back at me with a shy smile. "Could you close the door?" I narrowed my eyes and he chuckled, "Its just a pet peev."

"You can deal with it."

"Touch-y!"

"You can deal with that, too." He laughed and shook his head. "Alright. But at least sit down. You're making me nervous." I shrugged and sat down on his bed, "I do that a lot."

"That's humble."

"Hey, you said it, not me." His smile got bigger and he just looked at me for a minute. "What?" I asked after a minute. He shook his head, "Nothing...its just...you're cool. And...you kind of look like my old girlfriend."

"Wow. That's a great pick-up line. Remind me to write it down." He laughed, "No, seriously. Here, let me show you a picture." As he reached into a big drawer stuffed with papers and photos and envelopes, (with more photos sticking out of them,) he said, "She was really cool. You would've liked her."

"Oh yea? So she ended it, then?" He was quiet as he pulled out a photo and held it so that he could look at it. I looked at his face as he was silent. "Um...no. She...passed away." I gasped, "Oh, I'm so sorry." He sighed, "Yea, its ok. Its just...I really loved her, you know? And the thing is, she hadn't even told her family that we were dating by the time she died." He held up the picture and I gasped. I looked at the picture for a second and then stared at his face in shock.

In case you haven't figured it out already, it was her.

© 2010

Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 43

Talking to Tyler had been refreshing and surprisingly not awkward. But after we got off the phone, I realized we had made no plans to get together. I had sat there staring at the phone for a moment and finally decided that maybe I should give myself some space...some time to get it into my head that (even if he could visit, unlike Dustin,) he wasn't here anymore. I could deal with it.

I had to deal with it.

After giving my mom's paperwork to Mr. Massachusetts and assuring him that I couldn't help him in anyway because I honestly had no idea what the papers said, I hurried down the dangerous stairs, waved to Frank, and left the strange building. As I was driving home, I missed the chance to pass an irritatingly long stop light. I sat there staring at the red light, waiting for it to change, and my phone rang. I put it on speaker and set it on the dashboard. "Hello?"

"Ang?"

"What's up, little brother?"

"Where's mom?"

"Who knows?"

"You don't?"

"Obviously."

"Oh. Well...could you do me a favor?"

"Yea, sure. What do you need?" I watched as the snow piled up on my front window and I sighed as my halfway-broken windshield wipers gave me about ten inches of sight onto the road. "Could you bring my my bag? Its in the living room, I think I left it on the coffee table."

"Ugh. Fine."

"Thanks, sis!"

"Yea whatever, if I get in a crash in this stupid snow storm , I'm totally blaming you for my death." Jake was quiet and I closed my eyes as I realized what I had just said. "Um...ok. You don't have to bring it. Its ok. Just stay home, please."

"Naw, Jake, I'm just being a jerk. I'm already drving anyway, its no problem."

"But you should get off the roads as soon as possible-"

"I'm bringing you your bag, Jake. I'll be fine." He was quiet again, and the light finally turned green. Luckily for me, my windshield wipers decided to start cooperating again after about a block of my driving about four miles an hour. "Alright. Be careful."

"Always am."

"Yea, right." Jake hung up and I chuckled as I reached out and pressed the end button. I swirved dangerously on the snow as I drove over a patch of ice. I gritted my teeth and pulled more carefully into my driveway. The snow wasn't too bad now, but I knew it would get worse, so I hurried into the house, grabbed Jake's bag, and hurried out to the car again.

© 2010!!!

HAPPY 2010 EVERYONE! I JUST REALIZED THAT I HAVE TO TYPE © 2010 NOW! HOW EXCITING!

Have a fabulous 2010, everyone! :)

Broken Glass, Broken Hearts part 42

The temperatures in this building were always weird to me. The main room, with the entrance doors that opened; letting in the freezing wind from outside, was warm and pleasant. The next room in, the 'Meeting Room', as it was referred to, (which was full of long desks that could be used for meetings but never were,) was a lower temperature than outside itself, (which was the most likely reason why the meetings always ended up being held in personal offices.) I walked quickly through the meeting room and into the, as I liked to call it, 'Do You Have an Appointment Room', which remained unnamed by the actual owners of the business. (Another thing I didn't understand about this building: the architecture/arrangement. Why wouldn't the Do You Have an Appointment Room be the first room you step into after the the entryway room? So many pointless rooms, in so many strange places, with so many different temperatures. A building I would never cease to marvel over. "Awe," said the assistant whom I knew well by then to go by Frank, but was actually named Francois-Alexander-Lament (first name only.) "Do you have an appointment?" I smiled as my name for the room was proven to be rightfully appointed. "Yes," I said, walking up to Frank's desk and handing him the fat yellow envelope I had carried through the rain to get here. Frank furrowed his brow, "Awe, Angie, its you. Why in the world are you so wet?" He had a tendency to say 'awe' a lot.

"I walked here."

"With no umbrella?"

"Umbrellas are for wimps."

"Not even a hood?"

"My hoodie was in the wash."

"You have only one hoodie?!"

"How many do you have?" I replied, not answering his question. Frank shook his head, 'tisking' me with his tongue. "Alright, Angie. Upstairs, take a left, the first one in-"

"The third row with the clear door labeled 'Massachusetts' even though we're not in Massacusetts because Mr. Massachusetts was unfortunately born into a last name that is also the name of a state. Yes, Frank, I know. Thanks." I smiled and and walked briskly over to the swirling completely glass staircase with no banister. I was careful to look only ahead as I walked up the stairs, knowing that if I looked down and saw the floor directly beneath me through the clear glass stairs I would freak out and most likely trip and fall to my doom.

© 2010

Juvy part 9

"So what'd you do, Girl?"

"Excuse me?"

"What'd you do that got you in here?" Juvy asked, once again playing with my hair, (a habit of his.) "I don't know if that's any of your business." He put on a hurt face and said, "Excuse me? Are you saying we're not close enough to be sharing secrets?"

"Alright, Juvy, you want to play that game? What'd you do."

"None of your business."

"Hey!" He laughed as I took a whack at hitting his head and he dodged my hand. He pulled up close to me, clenching my hair in one of his fists and pulling my head close to his with the the other. He placed his lips right by my ear and whispered, "I like you, Girl." I smiled and turned my head so that I could see his eyes, "I like you too." I pulled his face close to mine and pressed my lips on his cheek. When I pulled away, his face was empty. Expressionless. I watched as his eyes slowly softened, revealing an unexpected emotion...misery. "What's wrong?" I asked, pulling away farther, taking my hands off his cheeks. He sighed, "Nothing."

"What is it?" He sighed again, heavier this time, and stared off at the trees outside the fence. "Its just...I feel like at any moment, you'll be gone. Like you could slip through my fingers at any time."

"Why would you think that?" He furrowed his eyebrows, "I say it out of experience," he replied, almost angrily. I wanted to ask what he meant, but I thought it best not to. I put my hand once again on his cheek and said, "I'm not going anywhere." He laughed, "Well, yea, until your sentence is over." I laughed too, "Sentence. You make me sound like a murderer." He furrowed his eyebrows again, looking at the ground. My heart stopped. "What?" I choked out, my throat suddenly closing up. "Nothing." He smiled up at me, "Well, see you later, Girl." He walked away, and I just watched him, trying to look calm as my body was overwhelmed by the strongest sense of fear I had ever felt in my life. My hands were sweating, and I felt heat run up my spine. What was that about?

What had Jude done to get here?

© 2010

Devyn part 4

author's note: I recommend listening to 'Two is Better Than One' by Taylor Swift ft. Boys Like Girls while reading this entry :)

It was freezing on the night Devyn and I met. The only reason I even went into the theater was because I was freezing. I remember pulling the side door open in one fast, swift motion, feeling warmth fill my cheeks. I stepped inside and then quickly closed the door behind me, pressing it into place. All around me, kids in costumes or practicing lines quietly ran around, frantically trying to stay quiet while getting ready. "No, Abby! You have to be here NOW!" a boy hollered into his phone. All the theater kids turned and shushed him at the same time and he rolled his eyes and flipped his phone shut. I remember watching him and wondering how I had never noticed him before. He was extremely good-looking, maybe even better-looking than my boyfriend-of-the-moment Bradley Stephens. "Can anybody here sing?" he asked frantically. All the theater kids rolled their eyes at him, (in unison, I swear.) He sighed, "Anyone here know the lyrics to 'Two is Better Than One?'"

"By Taylor Swift?" I asked. The boy caught eyes with me, "And Boys Like Girls," he agreed. "Yea. I know that."

"Really?! Oh, that's great! Can you sing?"

"Um..." I started to say no, but Mary-Ann Jameson, also known as Raggedy Anne, interrupted me, saying, "Are you kidding? Justin is a fabulous singer!"

"Perfect!" the boy looked flushed with relief and excitement, "Will you sing with me?"

It was a simple, five word question, and yet it led to so much more than I knew I was agreeing to. Of course, I will never regret agreeing to it, seeing as Devyn has been my best friend for over ten years now, but I kind of wish we had met differently. Maybe then, he would have never fallen for me in the first place. But we didn't meet differently. We met onstage, singing a love song, and it was all downhill from there.

"Hey, Justin, you were great out there!"

"Thanks, you too," I said, smiling warmly and fluttering my eyelashes slightly. I might have had a boyfriend, but it wasn't as if we were really serious, and this guy was a serious catch. "So...um...do, uh, do you have a boyfriend?" I smiled at his nervous stuttering and that he was asking me this particular question, which was always a good sign...except in this particular situation, in which it was incredibly unfortunate for my young self that he happened to ask it. "Um...well, yea, actually. Bradley."

"Brad. Brad Stephens?"

"Uh, yea, that's the one."

"The quarterback?" I paused when he asked that, and then slowly replied, "Is there another Bradley Stephens?" He just laughed, "No, I guess not, it's just kind of funny."

"What is?"

"You dating him."

"How is that funny?" I asked, now slightly on my guard. "Well, he's the quarterback in the football team, and you're his gorgeous girlfriend with the fabulous singing voice. Sounds like something I've heard before." I blushed at this comment and then, embarrassed, waved goodbye and headed toward the doorway, where I had seen my older brother leading his girlfriend out the large doorway. "WAIT!" he hollered. "I didn't get your name," he said, smiling slightly. "Justin," I said, still blushing. His eyebrows raised, "Oh. Well then, that changes things." Now my eyebrows raised, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're not cliche anymore." I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn't know what to say, and he had already waved and headed off in the opposite direction anyway. I didn't even know what his name was.

© 2010

Devyn part 3

"Um, hi, Erik, I was just calling to, uh...well, I think I might have maybe left my...pen..or um, my, journal- at your house. I mean, its mostly empty, but, I just...kind of want it back. Ya, its kind of cheap and I haven't really written anything in it, but you know, it was a gift...kind of. And, uh, so, yea, I was thinking maybe I could stop by and, you know, pick it up...or...uh...you could, you know, drop it off here, or something. I guess you should just call me back...my number's probably on your caller id, but I don't know if you know how to find the caller id thing in your landline, so I should tell you my new number, probably. Ok, its 131-"

"BEEEEEEP."

"Crud." I filled the entire capacity of the message. Great, that's a perfect desperate ex-girlfriend for you. I sighed and put my phone back on the hook. I sat down, sighing, and picked up my coffee, taking a long sip. I glanced over at the phone and then looked away. I glanced again. I glanced a third time. "Ok," I said out loud to myself, "I need to stop. He's not going to call back. I should just get up, go downsta-" The phone rang. I lunged for it. "Hello?" I practically screamed into the receiver. "Jeez, someone had too much red bull today," Devyn said in his usual tone. I heard him sip his own soda on the other side of the line. I sighed, "Hey Dev."

"Hello."

"Hi."

"You're expecting a call."

"What makes you say that?"

"From Erik."

"What? Why would you think-"

"He's not going to call, Justin." I sighed. I knew he was right. How he knew what I was thinking, I would never know, but I knew he was right. "Yea. I guess you're right."

"As always. So anywho, I was thinking maybe you would want to go to the mall with me and-"

"You? The mall? That sounds iffy."

"I was going to say and Annie, if you would have let me finish."

"Why would I do that?" Devyn chuckled, "Alright, I can't handle this psycho duck without you. Meet us at the Promenade in ten."

"Psycho duck? Where'd you come up with that?"

"See you, goose."

"See you, turkey."

"Gobble gobble."

"Quack."

"Geese don't say quack."

"Turkeys don't say gobble."

"Yes they do."

"Nuh-uh. They make this weird noise that sounds kind of like this 'aowuh'!" I hollered the random turkey-like noise that came out of my throat and Devyn laughed, "How do you know what turkeys sound like?"

"I don't. I just made that up."

"Freak."

"See you in a minute!" I smiled and hung up. I could always count on Devyn to loosen up a moment.

"Justeo, Justeo, wherefore art thou, Justeo?" Devyn said, putting his hand on his heart and raising his eyebrows dramatically. "Shut up."

"As you wish."

"Stop it."

"Why?"

"You're going to make me go crazy, and then I'm going to blow up like a gorilla and you won't want to hang out with me anymore."

"It is true, my good opinion, once lost, is lost forever."

"I hate you."

"What do you have against classic romances?"

"You consider 'The Princess Bride' to be a classic romance?"

"But of course!"

"And you put it on the same level as Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice?"

"Well, ok, maybe not."

"Why do you know quotes from classic romances anyway? Aren't guys supposed to hate cheesy romances?" Devyn rolled his eyes, "Oh please. Those are NOT cheesy."

"True, but most ordinary guys would consider them to be."

"I am offended."

"By my lack of faith in the male perspective on classic romantical literature?"

"No, that was pure fact. I am offended that you called me ordinary. And romantical is not a word."

"Well aren't you the little genius."

"Why thank you. Honestly, how do you think I got all those girlfriends in high school?"

"Your incredible good looks?"

"I'm flattered, but no. Any girl will go out with a guy who can quote their favorite romances."

"Touche."

Through all this, Annie just stood there, staring at us. When we paused for a minute and glanced at her, she said, "Can we go shopping now?" Devyn smiled, "As you wish."

"Now that's just creepy. She's your sister."

"You are an offense to females all over the world."

"Including yourself."

"Shut up and let's go shopping." I smiled and whispered, (loudly enough for Devyn to hear,) to Annie, "Notice how he does not deny it and then after his non-denial continues to suggest that we shop." Annie laughed. "I hate you. Why did I invite you?" Devyn said with a scowl as we walked. "Because you love me?"

"Because I love you," Annie replied. I smiled and swung my arm around her. Devyn sighed, "Women!"

"Where to first? Victoria's Secret?"

"I'm going to the food court."

© 2010