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[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina looked at the girl again. She still couldn't put a finger on the face. She had a feeling that this girl had already summed her up. She also had a feeling that it was somewhere along the lines of dumb. Kristina did sometimes give of the impression she was slow, but she wasn't. She didn't like the general attitude of this new girl. Everything seemed to be forced. The girl seemed to be a bit fake maybe. Kristina didn't know and she wasn't going to label the girl before she knew her. That wasn't a nice thing to do anyways. She never really labeled people until she really got to know them. Even then she really didn't do it often. The people she didn't like she simply did not talk to or about them. That was all she had to do and it kept her from having to label people. She hated them. She sighed as she notice the girl look her over. Kristina knew she was nothing out of the ordinary so she hated it when people did that.

A look of understanding washed over her face. She was Cara's little sister. That made sense. It must be the reason why she recognized the face. She smiled at herself. She could have smacked herself. She so should have known that. Although Cara mentioned she had a sister she never said younger or older. Kristina looked at Cara's little sister in a new light. She still didn't label her. She moved her head to the side. The girl seemed to be a bit mad she didn't know who she was. Alexis didn't seem to be that nice of a person. Kristina thought maybe she was just a little shy. She didn't understand what was going on in Alexis' head. She sighed. She hated meeting new people. People that seemed to hate meeting new people also where usually the people Kristina got alone with. She didn't know what Alexis was like, but she could sort of tell they were not destined to be best friends.

Kristina forced another smile. "Oh! That makes sense. I was wondering where I have seen a face like yours before." She sighed. She was trying to be happy and not get on the wrong foot already with Alexis. "Cara and Vanessa talk about me?" It was a question. A big question. "What do they say?" She asked the bigger question. She cared what Cara had to say about her. She didn't know why it mattered it just did. It might be the fact that she is one of the best dancers here at the academy and Kristina wanted to be the best. Or it might be the fact she was an upper class man who could help her through the year. Either way Cara was a somebody. Kristina not so much an anybody important. "Your a freshman right?" She had to ask. She hadn't really seen Alexis around the school grounds so she knew she wasn't a sophomore or a dancer. "It's a pleasure to meet you also." She said in a voice she hoped was friendly and cheerful.

[Alexis Donovan]

Alexis is a girl that judges people way before she should. She likes to sum them all up upon a first glance. She got this from her mother. Mrs. Jessica McCole does this all the time, too. They think they know a person just by looking at them for less than a second. Cara hates this about her sister. She is always saying that she has to get to know someone really well before she labels them as anything. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair. She was trying to grow it out, just because she thought she looked better with longer hair. Alexis could tell that this Kristina girl was thinking about something. She didn't really know about what, but she guessed it was about her. That didn't really bother her. She kind of liked the attention that she was getting...even if it wasn't always good. But, she had always been like that. She liked the positive attention, of course, but any kind was good. Most would think that she'd be sick of all the attention, because of how much she was fussed over as a little girl.

When Alexis told Kristina that she was Cara's sister, she saw the dumbfounded look on Kristina's face. This made Alexis smirk. Everyone says that Cara and her look like twins. Both girls have light blonde hair, blue eyes, freckles, and are both also 5'0". Plus, both are rather on the thin side, so that also helps people think they're twins. Not that they could pull off a swap. Cara's face looks a little different than Alexis's, and Alexis has a different way of presenting herself. The only thing she doesn't really enjoy about looking like her sister is that most people (at first) think she is just like Cara. Sweet, nice, friendly, and cheerful. Alexis can be those things....but isn't some of the time. She's a lot more outspoken, and blunt. Sometimes more rudely than she would like, but always shakes it off. If she likes a person, she is extremely nice to them. But, if she doesn't like the person she does her best to not talk to them. If she has to, she uses a flat tone, and gives them her famous smirk.

"Yeah well, Cara and I do look alike." Alexis couldn't tell if she was going to like this girl or not. She didn't seem to have that much self-confidence. That sort of bugged her. If one wants to do well in life, one must not be worried what others are saying or thinking all the time. When she asked if Cara and Vanessa talked about her, she short of just shrugged, "I guess they do," she paused, "But not like they sit around and talk about you for hours. They aren't that bored." When Kristina asked what they said, she sighed loudly, "My sister wouldn't say anything bad about a fellow dancer, all right? She's much too sweet. Vanessa is the same way. So, really, I wouldn't worry too much about it." She shrugged again, and looked at a book shelf. "Yeah, I'm a freshman." She smiled, a real smile, "I love it here so much! I've waited to come here for two years. I was so happy when I was able to come here to act. My little sister, Tailor, will come here one day, too." She grinned, and then sort of missed her family.

[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina forced a smile for Alexis. She was beginning to think that Alexis already had her all summed up. That made her extremely mad. She absolutely hated it when people judged her. She hated with such a passion it made her skin burn. She sighed and kicked some imaginary dust. She also had the feeling that Alexis wasn't liking what she was seeing. Kristina never acted on her feeling, unless they were proven true. She usually just kept the feelings in the back of her mind. They could be examined later. Although sometimes she did act on those feelings, but that was only when the feelings were so strong they almost knocked the breath right out of her. To say the least this was not one of those times. She just pushed them to the back of her mind. They will be dealt with at a later time.

There was a lot you could tell about Kristina by simply looking into her eyes. If her eyes were sparkling, well that meant that she either had a plan or was really happy or was flirting. If her eyes were just bright, that meant that she was happy or excited. If her eyes had nothing much to them, it meant she was bored or not having the best of days. If her eyes were dull and blank that meant she was tired or depressed. Her eyes also changed shades of blue. It wasn't easy to see. Kristina's friends always noticed right off the bat though. They often told her, her mood before she even realized it herself. She always just shrugged them off and laughed at how predictable she was. Her eyes were blazing with light when she was dancing or around someone she loved. She never told her eyes to do the things they did, but she didn't mind it.

Kristina turned her know nothing special eyes to Alexis with a fake smile on her face. "I was just wondering." She said simply. She didn't feel the need to explain herself. Even if this girl was Cara's sister. She always got a grudge to people who seemed to be a bit fast. Kristina's whole body language changed. She was being told off by a freshman who may have talent, but also paid to get in. "I remember my freshman year. Everyone made fun of me for being the scholarship girl." She said with a flat tone and her eyes dulled out. Her first year was horrible. She absolutely loved it here, but the people thought themselves better. In the last week though when she finally danced for her fellow classmates they stopped teasing her. She had earned their respect. Now she just had to keep it.

[Alexis Donovan]

Because Alexis is an actress, she can read people really well. She knows all about facial expressions and body language. Her mother calls it a raw talent. She said that even if Alexis wasn't an actress, she'd still be able to tell. Not that Miss Lexi didn't agree. Her mother isn't an actress and can read people like a book. It's really pretty impressive. When Rhyan, Cara, and Alexis were little, their mother used to tell them who was a good kid or who was a bad kid. They were only allowed to play with the kids their mother approved of...unless of course their parents were friends of Jessica. Then, she didn't care at all. So, Alexis can tell when someone is being a fake or not. It really does make her smile. It's like she knows something that you don't, and just the thought of that is enough to make her give an evil smirk. So, the smirk started to dance across her pink lips.

"Now I guess you don't have to wonder." her smile changed into a happy one, and she looked at the books some more. This store really did have everything. It was amazing. She never knew that a bookstore could or would have almost every book ever written. "People make fun of people for a lot of things." Alexis looked right into Kristina's brown eyes, "Doesn't mean that it should bother the person." Her sister oddly taught her that. Alexis didn't really know of anyone that made fun of her...but if there was she wouldn't care. Cara would beat the hell out of anyone that dared to ever say a negative thing about her little sister. This made Lexi laugh out loud. "Sorry, Just a trip down memory lane." For some reason or another, Alexis thought that she should be nice to this girl. Sh wanted to start the new year off in a good way, "At least going on a scholarship means you must be good, right?" She pulled a book off a shelf and looked at it, "They wouldn't have given it to you if you sucked. Anyone can but there way into a school." This was true.

Lex also thought that maybe she should start a conversation with this girl. "I'm in here because Cara swears she has Bibliophobia." She giggled, then wasn't sure if she would know what that was, "That's having a fear of books." From a young age, Cara Nicole used to swear that books scared her. Of course, this isn't true. She loves reading them (sometimes) but going into a bookstore freaks her out. "I have no idea what she did before me!" She gave Kristina a friendly smile, not a smile she used often.

[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina looked at Alexis curiously. She seemed to make up her mind about people quickly. She also seemed to be giving Kristina more of a chance then she gave other people. Kristina assumed it was because she didn't really want to start the school year off bad. She understood that much. The rest of Alexis was a mystery. Kristina never really had a talent for understanding people, but she was good at predicting people's reactions. She was not good at that with Alexis. That frustrated Kristina very little. Actually she kind of like the spontaneous side of people. She liked to be surprised. The joy of Alexis' unpredictability didn't over shadow Kristina original feelings. She was still cautious and was not going to be an easy boater for a friend. Mainly because Kristina had some major trust issues.

Kristina shifted her weight onto the other foot. It was a nervous habit of hers. She looked at Alexis and she tried to analyze if she was being sincere. There was no evidence that she wasn't. "I guess all that is very true." It wasn't that Kristina had no self esteem it was just that she always had to be good enough for everyone. Her therapist says that has to do with her dad trying to commit suicide. It sent the message that she was not good enough for him to want to live. Even though he didn't die by his own hand it didn't stop Kristina from feeling a bit guilty. Like if she was just a little bit better he would have never gone to that dark place. Or so says Kristina's therapist. Truth be told Kristina never consciously thought about it, if she could help it. Most of the time the evidence was in her dreams, or rather nightmares. "I guess I just kind of want people to be proud of me." She had no problem admitting that much.

Kristina smiled. "I really don't think that is a real phobia." She was studying some kind of phobias over the summer. She had to test every year to get in with a full scholarship. "And even if it was I don't see how Cara could survive this beautiful school if she had it." She winked at Alexis to show that was kidding, kind of. She sighed as she thought about the twins. Heavens knows what they would do if she wasn't around. "I know the feeling. I have twin siblings. I take care of them." She said this with a simple eye roll. She didn't know how to talk to Alexis, so she was just saying the first things that came to mind. Honestly that was the best way for Kristina. It allowed her to not edit herself. "I think that she would have to face her fears and come to a book store." Kristina's face was full of fake terror. She was hoping it would be funny, but she didn't know how Alexis would react.

[Alexis Donovan]

Alexis didn't notice Kristina's curious look. She was too busy looking at another book she just pulled off the shelf. It was on of her all time favorite books.In fact, not counting 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, it was her favorite. It was 'The Outsiders' by Susan E Hinton. The book was just an amazing story about these Greaser boys and the Socs. It was just so much like real life. How people like Cherry and Marcia really are people in real life. Also, how boys like Bob and Randy do end up trying to kill people like Ponyboy and Johnny. Alexis had read this book so many times, she can't even keep count. She ended up placing it back. She knew the story so well, she felt bad taking it away from someone who hasn't had the chance to read it yet. Plus, she knew that Cara had already read it. It was one of those Summer Reading Books or something like that. Lexi didn't think that Cara really understood the book as well as Alexis did.

"Of course it's true," Alex had this problem with sometimes being a fit full of herself, "I mean, girls in this school are killer. Aren't they?" Lord knows that she is one of them, though. She's not one to really make fun of people, but if she does then it's very little. Plus, to her, it's just a part of going to High School. Girls will be girls, and that's just how they are. "I know what that's like, " Alexis gave her a weak smile, "Trying to make people proud of me and whatnot." She was really trying to impress three main people. Firstly, Cara. She wanted her big sister, her role model, to know that she (Alexis) could do anything she put her mind to. Seconal, her mother. More than anything, Lexi wanted to show her mother that she too had a lot of talent. Just because she isn't a dancer like her and Cara, doesn't mean that her talent is any less important. Thirdly, her father. After he died, Alexis wanted him to know that she'll be ok in life. That she'll be able to make it out in the real world. She tried to shake the memory out of her head. It was a bit too much for her to think about right now.

"Bibliophobia is a real phobia." Alexis stated, and her eyes narrowed a little. Didn't she know that a lot of people in this world really do have Bibliophobia? They learned all about it last year in her eighth grade English glass. It was a great year. "Honestly, I cannot believe you thought I was making that up." She rolled her eyes a little. It may have looked playful, but it was not. But, like always, her mood changed with the wind. "I have a little sister, Tailor. She's into theater, too. I don't really have to look after her, though," Alexis looked at the shelves again, "My mom gets nannies and maids and whatever for that. Like Tailor is such a big deal. She's just a little girl. I just don't know why my mother thinks she needs and army to look after her." It was the same way when Rhyan, Cara, and Alexis were little too. She smirked at Kristina's fake terror face. It was pretty funny, really. "Maybe one day I can drag her into a book store..." The more she thought about it, the more she thought that it was a good idea. Alexis couldn't always do everything for her book related. "But...I may need the army to do that."

[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina watched as Alexis picked up a book. She read the title and rolled her eyes. It was one of those books that didn't pull you away from the real life and more like in it. She loved books in which she could lose all sense of reality and feel like she was apart of this magical and fictional world. The kind of books where love triumphed over everything. She didn't really believe that love was that strong, because if that were so her dad wouldn't have been the way he was. He would have been happy with his children and wife, but he wasn't. She shook her head lightly. She watched at Alexis put the book back. She didn't if Alexis put it back because she didn't like it or if she had read it before. Kristina really didn't care that much. She never really like to pry into other people's business.

Kristina shut her eyes. It was then that she usually wanted to punch someone in the face. Of course she wouldn't know how it felt. Her stomach fell to floor. "I know it's true. I just forget sometimes." She said this honestly. She didn't how to word the next thing to pop into her head. She tried to analyze and maybe not say it, but she didn't do any of that. "Yeah you wouldn't know how it feels. You wouldn't know how it feels to have someone you love want to kill themselves all the time." She growled out. As soon as it came out you could read the shock on her face. She didn't mean to say and not in that tone. She gasped lightly. "I am so sorry Alexis. I didn't mean to say that. It just sort of came out of my mouth." She blushed a deep red color and looked at the floor. It was a hard thing to deal with and she never mentioned anything about it. At least she tried not to say anything.

The feeling of wanting to punch Alexis came back in a hurry. "I didn't think you were making it up. I just thought that it was something that wasn't you know proven." She sort of hissed it out. She had patience with some people but not people that assumed they were better and that was the vibe she was picking up off of Alexis. She rolled her eyes as she heard of the maids and such. She would give anything for something like that and like most of the rich people she knew Alexis just took as a right and not a privilege. She was still shaking with anger from the first comment and that shaking increased as she continued to talk. Alexis had no idea how hard it was to watch a child. "It is a hard thing to do. To watch a kid I mean. They are very demanding." She said in yet another hiss. Her fists were clenched to her side. She didn't want to fight with Alexis, but if she kept up this attitude it was going to go down. "Cara would more then likely need more then an army." She said with a slight smile. She was still pissed.

[Alexis Donovan]

When Kristina said she forgot sometimes, Alexis snorted. "Sometimes?" She rolled her light blue eyes. Honestly. The girl seemed like she couldn't even remember her own name half the time. Well, ok. Maybe a little less than half the time..but still. It always bothered her when people that were older than her were knew less than she did. Even Cara knew more, and that was saying something. It was when Kristina said she wouldn't know how it felt, Alexis' eyes filled up with fire. "I will have you know," Alexis said so coldly she thought it might start to snow, "That my father did die." She didn't think that her eyes could narrow anymore. "He died when I was just a little girl and I never even got to know him." She started to shake with anger. How dare this...this girl tell her off? She didn't know a thing about the Donovan/McCole house hold. But, she never wanted her to know. No one ever needed to know a thing about her home life until she was a famous actress...then they could all watch it in E!. Her firey eyes cooled down a little. Not very much, though. Her eyes weren't narrow anymore, though. Kristina did say she was sorry....but that didn't mean much to Alexis. Sorry is just a word. You have to own up to the word.

"Are you still on that?" She laughed out loud. "Good lord, that's so sad." She shook her head and smiled an evil smirk. "Of course it has been proven you idiot. Why would I have known about it if it wasn't proven?" She thought back to the time when she first learned about the weird phobia. It was one of those memories that she was glad she still had. When Cara and Alexis took Tailor to the bookstore (followed closely by a nanny or two) Alexis had joked that Cara would have to be careful that the books didn't eat her. It was then the lady who owned the bookstore asked Cara if she had Bibliophobia. Cara and Alexis had no idea what that was. The lady told them that it was a fear of books, and from that day- Cara has told people that she indeed has Bibliophobia. The memory alone made her burst out into a fit of giggles. It wasn't her evil laugh, but a little girl giggle. Her mother loves it when she laughs like that. It was her baby giggle.

Watching a kid was hard to do? How hard could it be? You just sit them down in front of a nanny and then walk away and do whatever it was you needed to do. Alexis said this, "It isn't hard to watch a kid. You just take them by the hand and lead them to a nanny." She smiled. "Then, bam! The kid is being watched and you can do whatever the hell it is you need to do." She yawned. "I can't be wasting *my* life watching Tailor when my mother and step-father pay people to do that." She did make a point, and she loved that. When Kristina made the joke about the army, Alexis raised her eyebrows. She didn't need to say anything, she facial expressions said it all.

[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina fists clenched even more. Her eyes were cold. She was not in the best of moods lately and then Alexis comes in with an attitude. "All have you know that I went through 14 years of my dad being suicidal." Her jaw clenched as she tried not to yell. "All because I wasn't able to prove myself worthy of him." She took in a deep breath. "All to have him die from the alcohol he drank and the pills he took and the cutting he did. All because I wasn't good enough for him he had a heart attack and died." She blinked back the tears. She would not cry over something that happened so long ago. It still gave her nightmares to this day, but it wasn't something she should and would not cry about. Her dad died in October. September, October, and November where always hard months for Kristina. The memories would not stop during those months. "So all have you know that I was cleaning up my dad's blood and such before I was in kindergarten. And in the end it made no difference my efforts where in vain." She growled this out. "He still died because I was not good enough."

"I am not an idiot you bitch." She said the sentence and for once she did not feel bad about it. This girl deserved it. She had no reality of how other people felt. "It is a very rare and not a commonly known phobia." She tried to calm down, but every time she tried her anger would just flare up again. "It's not sad I was trying to make myself clear but obviously you just assume you know everything about me before you even talk to me." She took in a deep breath that was supposed to calm her. It did the exact opposite. With every breath she took she just wanted to beat the crap out of this girl. She knew it would not be the best thing to do, but it was sounding really good. She normally never resorted to violence, but this girl had a thing or two to learn. She smirked slightly as she pictured herself punching Alexis right in the nose. She was going to end up doing it. Somewhere in her subconscious she knew it.

"That's not how you watch a kid!" She yelled. Then she looked around and lowered her voice. "You are supposed to be the one to feed the child and hold it's hand when it cries. You are supposed to be the one to hold it all night when it has nightmares. Not trade it off to someone else so the person can raise it. Just because you can afford to." Her voice was now shaking just as much as she was. "That is the lazy and irresponsible way out. When you make the decision to have a kid you should take care of it. Letting a nanny or a maid to it is just lazy and stupid. I hate people that do that." She took in a deep breath. "The people that do that are lazy and irresponsible and shouldn't be having kids at all. I feel bad for all those children that don't know their parents but rather know their nannies and maids so much more." She took in another breath. "It really sucks when you have to actually raise twins because your mom is to busy sulking to take care of them! All the while you are trying to hide all the pills and knifes in the house." She glared at the girl across from her. "You are just a little spoiled princess that had to live without a daddy." She glared even more. "While I was raising kids I didn't choose to have and trying to save my daddy from killing himself. You have the nerve to act like you are better then me. You are nothing more then a bitch."

With the last word still coming out of her mouth she took a step forward and put all her weight into the punch she just delivered to Alexis' nose. She could feel it brake beneath her knuckles. She tackled the girl to the ground and just went at it. She was punching her in any available piece of skin she could find. She actually knew what she was doing and she liked the way it felt. She had so much rage and pain and hurt that she was just letting go on this bratty little girl. She knew she would regret it and their would be hell to pay but right now she didn't care. She continued to punch the girl. She was not weak with it either. She knew that the girl had to be in pain. She was a dancer after all. It wasn't like they were weak. She didn't care what Cara was going to think. In fact she had forgotten that Alexis was related to Cara. They were nothing alike. She delivered a good punch to her eyes. She wound up to throw another.

[Cara Donovan]

It had been so long since Alexis left, Cara was getting really worried. It was not like Lexi to take forever doing something. That was herself. She was the one that always took forever and a day to do one simple thing. Even walking her dog, Ballet, took Cara an hour to walk from her house to the beach-which really was only a five second walk. This was only because she'd stop every half second to think up a new dance move. It was exciting, really. To be able to think of something so amazing in a short amount of time. Plus, Ballet didn't really like to walk. She liked to be carried. She's such a Princess. Anyways, Alexis typically only took three seconds to do one thing. That always left Cara in awe. She didn't know how someone her same size-and younger- could do that. Oh well. She did have to admit that her sister was a really cool chick, and could basically do anything she wanted to do with her mind set on doing it.

Cara wondered what bookstore that Alexis would even go into. There were a few to pick from. She guessed that she'd try the first one- Rainy Day Books. Just the thought of going into a bookstore made Cara's feet crawl. It was not something that she really did like doing. It just made her feel overwhelmed. To this very day, she could not tell you why. It does not have to do with the cramped spaces- because Miss Cara Nicole is so used to that. It is not because she doesn't like books-because she does read them...so the feeling of why is totally unknown. Jessica McCole, her mother, said that it just might have something to do with the fact that Mr. Donovan, Cara's father, took Cara to a bookstore a few days before he died. That made sense, but Cara didn't even remember that day. It happened way to long ago to even still be in her memory. She had to shake her head. She did not want to think about her father at a time like this. She didn't want to start to cry or anything. That would have just been too embarrassing!

As she walked into Rainy Day Books, she thought she heard someone that sounded like Kristina Sylvia. Well, at least she'd have someone to talk to if Alexis wasn't there. As usually, Cara would most likely get sidetracked and end up not going to find her little sister. That was just how she was, though. Play then work. It was the way she was brought up, and the way that she is still today. The noise was coming from an aisle that seemed to be a down toward the end. She looked around for a second. On the floor were a few bookmarks. They had pictures of cats on them. "They're so cute!" She said, and picked them all up. She didn't want to have the store be messy. That would not be fair to whomever owned the bookstore. That would make Cara feel terrible. She placed them all back where they belonged. She smiled to herself. She wondered how they even got onto the ground in the first place? That was just something that she didn't mull over for very long. She knew that she'd never know the answer.

She walked down toward the aisle that she heard the noise coming from. She could not freaking believe what she saw. Her little sister was on the ground, getting beat up by Kristina Sylvia! Cara's mouth dropped to the ground. How dare this dance student do this to her littler sister...her best friend!? "Oh my God!" She yelled, and ran over to the two girls. She looked over at Isaac, and wondered why he didn't do anything. She didn't wonder long, and pulled Alexis off the ground. She seemed to be ok. ((Traci I'm sorry...but I'm not having Alexis have a broken nose.)) "Alexis Victoria Donovan! What the fuck is going on!? Why is she hitting you?" She looked over at Kristina, "What the hell? What's going on?" Her bright blue eyes were dancing with fear. She had this little feeling that Miss Alexis had started it...but she didn't care at that moment. She wanted to -and needed to- know what was going on.

[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina stood there after Cara had pulled Alexis out from under her and tried to catch up with herself. She tried to calculate all that had happened in her brain. It gave her quite a headache. She looked at Alexis and this burning sensation stabbed her in the heart. Kristina's eyes narrowed. She realized that Alexis was the first girl she had ever hated. She looked to Cara and her heart melted. She didn't know how this was going to work out and she kind of feared the answer. She also came to the conclusion that although her mind lagged behind her actions she was happy she beat Alexis up. The girl started it with her attitude. She walked around like she owned and knew better the everyone. Probably judging them before she even got a good look at them let alone actually talk to them. Kristina glared at the girl again as her heart sent another heat wave through her body.

Kristina slowly came to realize what month it was. It made the reason she got so upset that much clearer. She straightened out her clothes and hair as she thought about what she was supposed to do now. She knew that fighting was wrong. As much as she might have enjoyed punching Alexis in the face it was the wrong thing to do. She sighed. She was trying to think of something to say or do. Alexis had deserved it. She knew this. She also knew that it wasn't smart for a scholar ship student to fight with another student. She cringed away from the idea that the school might kick her out. She couldn't go back now. Not at this time of year anyway. Her mom would be a wreck. Her eyes started to fill with tears. She couldn't survive at home not without him there.

Kristina took in a big shaky breath. "I am so sorry." Her voice broke several times in that small sentence. "I don't know what came over me." Something told her though she knew why she did it. It was simple to she did it because she never let her true colors show. "It's just she was talking down to me like she was better then me and calling me stupid in the harshest of ways. I just couldn't take it anymore." Her fist clenched again. The tears rolled down her cheek. She didn't want to get in trouble but even the memory left a sour taste in her mouth. She took in another big shaky breath. "I stepped out of line. There is no excuse for what I did. I am truly sorry." She had to admit she was wrong because she knew she was. She couldn't be a lier. She let another tear roll down her face. "It's just I am a bit touchy around these months. My dad died around this time of year." She sighed. "But that is no reason for me to act like that." She looked at the floor. "Even if my dad was suicidal." She mumbled to herself so the others wouldn't hear her.

[Alexis Donovan]

"Bitch!" Alexis screamed right after Cara pulled her off the ground. This was not the first fight Alexis has been in, and would be betting a zillion and seven dollars that it would not be her last. If she didn't have such an ostentatious attitude, it wouldn't be this easy for her to be in the middle of a fight. She couldn’t count to the number of times she’d either thrown a punch or have gotten one. Pompous was another one of those words you could use to describe her. Alexis does tend be very snobbish and acts like she knows everything about everyone. Sometimes, she really does though. She always seems to be one step ahead of you at all times. No one that she knows of likes this about her at all. “You’re a crazy insane bitch! How dare your disgusting hands ever touch me, Miss Alexis Donovan!?”

Alexis looked over at her sister. “Cara, that nutty bitch just attacked me! I didn’t even do anything! She just punched me.” She pouted, and gave her sister a hug. She always did this when she wanted something, though. It was sort of her thing. She knew that Cara always gave into the hug. Well, ok…so not always. But Alexis liked to think that it did. But as she got older, she had to try and rely on Cara less and less. It was a hard habit to break, though. She had been doing it for fourteen years, and now she had to stop? It was harder than she thought it would be. “She’s lucky that I don’t report her! How fucking dare she hit me? You can get kicked out of school for that!” Lord knows Alexis knows this. When she was in the seventh grade, she had kicked the crap out of this girl. If her mom and dad hadn’t paid all the money they did to the school, she would have been dropped in a heartbeat.

“I don’t care if your father died!” Alexis was still screaming, “Mine did, too!” Hey, this was true. Kyle did die, but a real long time ago. About ten or so years now. Right? Maybe a little less. “And I bet he killed himself for a reason.” That was a bit harsh, but Lexi did have a pretty big mouth, and was not scared to speak her little mind. Even if did this mean getting whacked or something. “Go complain to someone who cares.” She crossed her arms, and stepped away from Cara. "Oh, and I do not forgive you."

[Cara Donovan]

Cara was never one to say anything before she thought about it. She wasn’t really too sure why. Rhyan, Alexis, and Tailor were all ones to scream out the first thing that popped into their heads. That got really annoying, to tell you the truth. She was always the one that had to cover up for them. She was their mom half the time. Well, not Rhyan’s. He was old enough, but since Jessica was rarely around growing up…and there was no way in hell Cara wanted a nanny to be her mom, she took to the motherly role. It was a hard job, but one she did not mind doing. “Lexi,” Cara said and looked at her little sister, “Don’t call Kristina a bitch. That isn’t nice. Honestly, grow up.” She whacked her head, and gave Kristina a sad look. She was sort of torn here. Firstly, this girl beat up her little sister. Her best friend. She didn’t know how that was going to sit with her. Then again…she was willing to bet her whole life’s savings that Alexis started it. In fact, she was willing to bet all that and her life.

Still, she was torn. It was so hard to pick a side. “Alexis,” She said after a moment, “Did you start it?” But her question was answered by both Alexis and Kristina. Of course Alexis started it. Without waiting for an answer, Cara looked back over to Kristina, “You shouldn’t have beaten her up, though. That wasn’t very nice, either.” Again she played the motherly role. Was she mad? No…not really. She understood. Sometimes people do things without thinking. That was just the way things were from time to time. “Alexis, you can’t carry yourself that way.” She sighed loudly. Why was she always forced to do this? “You have to be modest and not be boasting about everything. That’s showing poor manners and mother and fath—Daniel taught you much better than that.” She nodded, and couldn’t help but hug Lex back. She was her sister after all…

Cara was about thirty seconds away from smacking both of the underclassman girls. Why did they do this to themselves? Talking about people they loved passing away. It was such a sad topic, and in the middle of a bookstore? How foolish. She was shocked that they hadn’t been thrown out yet. “You two need to stop this right now!” She rolled her eyes also, “Alexis and got forgiving someone is also very childish.”

[Kristina Sylvia]

Kristina looked up at Alexis and glared with all the hate she felt for the girl. "You know what Alexis I don't care! Go ahead and do what you please. At least I am a big enough person to admit I did something wrong." She snapped out. She didn't like being mad. It was such a strong and horrible feeling. She felt the muscles around her knuckles flex her fingers into another fist. This time she had restraint. She wouldn't strike again. She felt a little bad about the first time. Not enough to where if she could do it again she wouldn't hit her again, because she would. She closed her eyes and tried to block out what she said. "You Alexis are not that much better then me so get over yourself and take a bite out of reality." She said it calmly but you could her the ice behind the words. It was tone Kristina never really used.

She opened her eyes when Cara started to talk. She felt bad for her. She knew how it felt to have to play mother. "Yes she did start it. She may not have thrown the first punch but she threw around enough insults to get one." She said it honestly. Why else would someone hit someone if the other person didn't deserve it? Well OK so people fought all the time over stupid things, but why would someone that had everything to lose do something that stupid unless they were provoked. "I know it wasn't right, but Cara I just couldn't stop myself. It was like someone else took over my body." She shook her head in shame. Fighting was never something she had planned to do. In fact she hated herself for falling into such a violent act. That was she hated herself until she looked at Alexis, then all she could feel was the hate she felt for her.

Kristina gasped as all the air escaped her body. Alexis had said the one thing that Kristina feared. It wasn't that she didn't agree with it, it was that she could have stopped it. That feeling that you could have stopped someone you love from dying and you didn't never goes away or even fades. She fell to floor and curled up into a ball. The tears were streaming down her face as her lungs had seemed to become like swiss cheese because they weren't holding any air. She gasped for the breath she didn't feel she was getting. She knew he didn't kill himself, but he should have. It was the same thing. The doctors all said that if he wasn't so sad and such an alcoholic he would have made it through. "I know!" She sobbed out. "I should have done more and he would still be here." She was now hyperventilating. She held herself responsible for the death of her father and she couldn't take it when someone confirmed the way she felt.

[Cara Donovan]

She didn’t really know why she was getting this annoyed with the two young underclassmen. It wasn’t like this was any of her business. They needed to sort it out for themselves. They were both getting older, and needed to learn how to argue without physically hurting themselves or another one. When she thought of a fist fight, she thought of a few seventh graders. Or maybe even younger. Cara was well aware that cat fights happen, she has had to witness one or more than she would have liked to, but still thought it is was a dumb thing to do. You should always just use your words. Then again…she knew that a lot of people used the argument, “Actions speak louder than words! So, that was always a pain in the ass to deal with. Cara wished that she had brought some aspirin or something to get rid of her headache with. She ran a though her blonde hair. She didn’t know how much more of this she could handle. It was one thing to deal with someone she was used to…but to deal with someone she didn’t know too well, that was hard. She didn’t want to seem mean or bossy, so she tried to say as least as possible.

“I’m sure that Lexi is sorry that she started trouble. I know that she isn’t typically like this with people such as you…” She looked at her little sister and sighed. “I just hate it when I see people fighting. I really do not like it when people hate each other or say hateful things to each other. I swear it ages me…” Of course this wasn’t true. But like it or not, hearing people fighting made her feel like she was forty-six and not sixteen. She didn’t have to hear many fights when she was little. Rhyan, Alexis, and Cara really did all get along. Of course the two girls got into little fights sometimes or had playful fights with their brother but that was very rare. It was when Tailor came along that the fights became something regular. Not that Cara blamed her little sister, but she did have something to do with it. “Alexis, please act your age and not your shoe size, ok?” She looked from Kristina to a Alexis then back again.

“Oh my God! Kristina!” Cara tried to calm her down by telling her that everything would be ok. Of course, this wasn’t working too well. Plus, she knew that it was a hard thing to calm down about. Kyle died in a freak car crash; it was no one in their family’s fault. Jessica made it VERY clear that they were not to blame themselves. Cara looked over at Alexis, who was just muttering to herself.