Disclamer: I don't own the characters. The author does.

My name is Minerva Harmand. I live in a suburb of LA.

You might wonder about my strange name, Minerva. People call me "Min" for short.

My mother is a historian, and my father is an architect. They were studying in Italy, at the Temple of Minerva. That's where they first met. And things just took off from there.

I was born in Italy, and but my parents are American. My mother is half Italian, and I guess that's why she decided to study there.

When I was eight years old, my parents sold their apartment in Rome and moved everything to a LA. They bought a five-room house, in the hope of having other kids. They never did.

As the years passed, my parents got more successful in life. My father started an architectural firm, Armand Co. My mother was a leading historian and traveled a lot.

I never really got why my parents bought such a big house. My father's company was based in New York City, and my mother was always on the move. They were never with me after the resettling.

I sleep in the master bedroom. Hey, no one really cares.

My father hired a Mexican housekeeper, Maria, to cook and clean. A lady called Stephanie came to stay with me. Dad paid her with company money, passed off as a "work related cost". Stephanie's black SUV was also paid for.

Stephanie had glasses, and bleached blond hair. She lived in my parents' house and made sure I didn't get into trouble.

That meant she had to drive me places, take me shopping, pick me up from school. I thought of her as my "governess".

I was ten when I realized that Stephanie reported my daily activities with my dad. She was always a bit nosy.

Life was boring.

When I went to school, I met Nico.

Nico was a few months older than I was, and he was always quick to point that out.

He had dark hair and an olive complexion. He never really told me much about him, other than his guardian was a lawyer, he lived in an apartment, and he had an older sister named Bianca.

Nico and I were best friends. We were strange, and I guess that excluded us from the "cool" kids. He was stick thin, and I wasn't very tall.

We ate lunch together, played in the playground together and did everything together.

Well, mostly everything.

I went to riding lessons a couple of miles away. Stephanie drove me on Wednesday afternoons, right after school. My dad had probably told her that I needed extracurricular activities.

Nico went to fencing class at a fancy health club with an outrageous membership fee. I never really thought about his having money. I guess it never occurred to me why, even though he said that his mom was dead and he didn't know who is dad was.

I had never gone to Nico's house before. He always came to mine.

For my twelfth birthday, Nico brought me novelties. It was a custom, I guess. I got a Magic 8 Ball and a box of double strength, elbow length, cavity checking gloves that Nico said that he had stolen from LAX.

It was my custom to get him some collectible cards or action figures from his favorite game, Mythomagic. But over the years, he lost interest in them and I just gave him money.

When I was fourteen, things were different.

Instead of being stick thin, Nico had filled out a bit. He was fifteen. He wasn't so painfully skinny now. I guess fencing practice paid off.

Before, there were groups of girls who giggled behind their hands and yelled insults at Nico. Now, they were still giggling, but staring too. And the insults had slackened off.

As for me, I could ride a horse bareback, and jump it five feet. I guess I was still sort of my regular self, just a bit taller. My slightly wavy dark brown hair was still the same.

My parents were home less and less.

Before, my mom came home about 4 times a month, and my father came every other week. They were getting more money as the years went by, but I missed them more and more.

When I was going to be sixteen in a few months, a silver Ferrari appeared in the driveway. Stephanie told me that it was an early birthday present from my dad, to practice driving for my license.

I thought it was a bribe for being without parents most of the time.

Nico had already gotten his license. He drove an old, crappy Ford.

One day, I had gotten a learner's permit, and Stephanie was sick. I snuck out to try and drive to school by myself. I was also wanted to show off my car.

But I was scared. My mom had gotten into a car accident a few months back, nothing serious. So I got Nico to ride with me.

I got to school okay. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But during school, I was getting anxious.

Nico sensed it, but I think he chose to ignore it. I walked to my car.

As I was pulling out of the student parking lot, there was a wham!

I had slammed into Seth McGregor's new red Maserati. And he was in it. I got out of the car, to apologize, and maybe offer to repair it.

Seth McGregor was a really spoiled kid. His dad was an executive of some company, which means he's rich. And not afraid to show it. Seth had a group of cronies, and was in the popular circle. He was really mean and rude, too.

He had gotten out of his car and was now yelling at me. Nico was in the shotgun seat, staring. He started to get out.

"You stupid nerd! That was my new car!" Seth's face was getting red with anger.

I felt Nico's hand on my shoulder.

"I'll talk to him. Just get back to the car and go home. I can get a ride with a friend"

So I walked to the car and slammed the door. I was reluctant to leave, but Nico made gestures with his hands. So I drove slowly away.

I never wanted to drive that silver Ferrari again.

The next day, I drove to Nico's and picked him up. We switched seats, because I hated driving. All the responsibility made me nervous.

Seth McGregor had come to school with a black eye, and everyone was whispering about it. People wanted to know who had done that to big, bad Seth.

I asked Nico about it, but he just smiled, like the smug cat from Alice in Wonderland.

By the end of the day, Nico was getting stared at, so I guessed that he was the one who messed up Seth's pretty face.

We drove home together in silence.

The next day, it was Saturday.

Nico and I walked around town. I stopped at a motorcycle dealership.

In the display window, there was a silver and black Harley-Davidson. It had black leather and chrome. I wanted it, but it was $12,000.

I walked in. Nico tugged at my arm.

Inside there was a salesman in a slightly crumpled suit. He looked tired and his hair was messed up.

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked wearily.

"Yes, uh, I want the black and silver bike in the window."

Nico hissed in my ear, "You can't afford that thing. You get 50 dollars a week allowance!"

I ignored that. "I have the $3,000 down payment; do I need to sign anything?" I fumbled in my pocket for my personal debit card. That would probably take everything out of my savings.

"Yes, miss. It'll be $200 a month and you can pay it off no interest for two years." The man was looking livelier, probably because he got money for selling.

I followed him into the office, Nico looking angry beside me.

The salesman plumped a packet of papers, with X's by the place to sign. I signed them quickly.

Nico was looking resignedly at me. "You're wasting your money. You don't get to take it home until you pay $7,500 and if you do, Stephanie'll freak out and tell your dad. And he'd probably take it for your own safety. Besides, you don't even know how to ride one."

I glared at him. "I can learn. After all, it's probably not going to be harder than riding a horse."

With a sigh, he walked home with me.