This piece runs parallel to The Music and the Mirror, which is told from Mel's perspective, but it also stands alone. If you're reading this one first, know that Cozette is Melanie's trigonometry tutor, and that Electrolyte is the name of the club where Cozette and Frankie occasionally DJ. Also, the season finale never happened.

I *may* return to Cozette's POV for alternate takes on future Music/Mirror chapters, but I haven't decided yet. This takes place roughly during chapter 4, before the recital.

As always, this is Amy S-P's world, and I'm thankful for the chance to write for it.

mid-april

So it's been almost eight months since they moved to Paradise. What a weird, delightful little town. There's almost nowhere to eat and nowhere at all to shop (Truly's store is…sweet) and on Saturday nights basically everyone parties at the same two places, but the trade-off is that everyone also knows who you are.

It's true that most people have noticed Cozette and Frankie wherever they've lived; they're the Dynamic Duo, the non-incompetent Team Rocket, Jaime and Cersei Lannister (only not gross), bestfriendsiblingsuperheroes, "Zappa tight", said Charlize Theron that one time. They do tend to stand out.

She and Frankie are a twosome against the world, which sounds really awesome if you're an only child or have some serious drama at home but it's not like they're like this because they're perfect matches for each other. They're like this because there's no other way to be. Their family is always travelling, moving from one place to another whenever Dad or Mom get a new grant or a gig or an opportunity somewhere. So Cozette has hiked in the Australian outback and she's visited the Forbidden City and she's posed for photoshoots on Hadrian's Wall and gotten very, very lost in the 19th arrondissement; one time Sarah Jessica Parker gave her hair advice at Mom's gallery opening and another time Warren Buffet's cousin's yacht got stranded off of the coast of Maine and no one would believe what happened next. Cozette knows they wouldn't, because she actually tried to tell her Buenos Aires "best friend" the story and was accused of lying.

Only Frankie has lived through all of the same crazy experiences; only he's had to put up with the constant moving and meeting new people and attending all these adult cocktail parties and events, trying to figure out if it's worth it to enroll in afterschool programs or make serious friends or try and date anyone or if they should just leave their suitcases packed.

They have a ton of money but they don't really have a home.

School is easy, dance is easy, and travelling is second nature now. But having friends is still hard. When they moved to San Francisco Frankie complained on the jet about leaving some kid named Rogier behind in London – and Frankie never complains – but Dad just lectured about opportunity and exploration and then pointed out that Facebook exists. As if he knows anything about computers except how to make PowerPoints and spreadsheets.

Like, of course they both friend people on Facebook! And then as soon as they move people seem to forget about them. The party invites keep coming for a few weeks and there's always one girl who will keep 'poking' Cozette and sending Frankie really obvious messages but it all dries up pretty fast. Cozette does the moving, but the people who stay in the same place do the moving on.

On their 5th birthday, all of Mom's arty friends came to the Manhattan loft and celebrated with a catered Ethiopian feast and lots of African tribal drumming. Cozette and Frankie danced for everyone together and Jeff Koons complimented them or something and Mom was so proud. And then she said (on video) that her children would never need anyone else as long as they had each other. And Cozette hugged Frankie and gave him a sloppy kiss and the flashbulbs went off and that photo now sits framed on Dad's desk wherever he sets it up.

And that's still really adorable, but –

Maybe it would be nice to have someone else for a while.

It's not that she and Frankie are fighting. They've been getting along great as always; he wasn't super interested in visiting their godparents in a tiny beach town at first, but when they got here he fell in love with the local architecture and started sketching everything. It only took about 15 minutes to convince him to help convince the Hoglunds to let them stay until graduation. Clearly Frankie was getting sick of all the moving too. Anyway, it's just that she's tired of it being only the two of them. In Paradise the whole town knows and cares about everyone else, even if they don't all get along.

Cozette loves Paradise. She loves the funny little coffee shop with that mean barista (he's not a patch on the locavores in Portland) and she loves the smell of the early morning air and she loves that everyone can bike or walk almost everywhere and she really, really loves Madame Fanny's studio. She hasn't enjoyed ballet so much in years. Even Jordan is funny. He's probably good enough to get into some of the big league academies next year, and that attitude that the other girls complain about is going to help. There's a fine line between being a confident diva and being an arrogant bastard, after all. Cozette is definitely not planning on going pro, but dancing Swanhilde in Coppélia here is wonderful. Dad won't be able to make the performances and Mom probably can't either, but Anne-Britt can. Maybe some of the modeling gang from SF could come up too.

Frankie hasn't really joined any clubs or anything, but he's never been a big joiner. He is doing a ton of artwork for some groups, including set design, which is not something he's ever been into before. It must be because of Ginny Thompson. Well, she does have really big boobs, and her hair is a nice shade of blonde. She's kind of a prissy bitch sometimes, though. Genevieve said her parents are divorced and that it's ugly, but that's not Cozette's fault!

Anyway, it's kind of weird how obsessed that girl is with her brother. Girls have fallen all over him before – Cozette doesn't really get it, but then when she goes for dudes, they're usually skinny blondes – but not like this chick. Ginny was kind of stalking him for a while and Cozette had to point out how weird she was acting. It's not that Frankie said he was uncomfortable, but you know. Cozette has to look out for her baby brother. Even if he's only 15 minutes younger.

Mel hinted during tutoring once that Ginny just gets clingy sometimes and that probably it'd cool down when she found some new guy to fawn over. And they kind of jokingly spent the rest of the period naming randos for Ginny to date, like the mathletes captain and the school mascot and the drama club's stage manager. It maybe got a little mean, but not too mean. She thinks.

Speaking of siblings, Cozette can't figure out what the deal is with the Segals. Charlie seems like a genuinely cool dude; he likes a lot of great music and he has decent style. She's in some AP classes with him and he not only does the reading, he has pretty interesting stuff to say about it. Sometimes English is basically a discussion between him, her, Henry Osborne, and Ms. Glass while everyone else sleeps. Cozette mentioned Charlie after rehearsal once and Genevieve asked if she was, like, interested. Not really. He's cute enough, but honestly his girlfriend Stacia is much hotter. She just likes discussing books and movies with him.

And, you know, Cozette also likes discussing books and movies with Mel! Why don't those two ever talk about these things at home? They're never in the same room if they can help it. And when they are, they just yell at each other. The insults are sometimes hilarious, but like, it's so strange. Why not just be nice? Maybe it's because they never had to rely on each other like her and Frankie.

If Cozette had to pick between the two Segals, she would have to go with Melanie, though. Charlie's great but he's really serious most of the time. Mel is funny. She doesn't take anything seriously except for the classes that she's struggling in, and it's obvious that's only because her parents make her. She's a good dancer because she doesn't care that much about being perfect, so she looks more graceful and natural than even Sasha sometimes. She did kind of suck at roller derby at first, but she was starting to get really good and Cozette was so upset for her when Mel banged up her shoulder and had to quit.

At least she came to their gig at Electrolyte, though. Mel looked really hot in that dress.

It's weird that Charlie and Mel look a lot alike but that she's so much more into Mel than Charlie. And Cozette totally likes guys! Her last serious relationship was with this guy Javier in San Fran. He was the one who first took her out on a Vespa, and now she rides hers everywhere, all over Paradise and the neighboring towns. Once or twice on the weekends, Mel's come too.

It's funny that Cozette is both really into Mel and also really jealous of her. She'd much rather like her own brother than hate him, but on the other hand Mel has had the same best friends forever and she can actually remember stuff about her classmates from back when they were 12 and 8 and even 4. She has an attic full of old books and toys and photos and school projects. (Cozette throws almost everything out each time they move; they could afford storage somewhere but Dad doesn't like clutter.) Mel is a lousy driver, but she gets to practice on quiet streets instead of in a bustling city. Mel has never been to a Broadway play, but she's seen every Rudolph Valentino film at least twice. Mel can't sing at all, but that doesn't stop her on Karaoke Sunday at the Oyster Bar (once a month, half off on all cocktails and 75% off on all fried foods). Mel kind of dresses like a hobo or a farmworker when she's not in dance clothes or going somewhere fancy, but it still looks good on her somehow. Even the grungy bandanas work well against her really pale skin.

And Mel's parents work a lot, but they usually make it home for dinner. Their offices are less than an hour's drive away, and they always come to her performances and bring her elderly grandfather too. (Cozette's mom broke off with her parents when she moved to New York at 19, and Dad's parents died about a decade ago.) Mel complains about her dad once in a while, but the Segals clearly care a lot about raising their kids right and making sure they go to good schools. That's why they're riding Mel so hard about her trig grade: obviously Mel could get into some college that doesn't care about math scores, but Mr. Segal said several times when he met Cozette that Mel deserved to get into the best university in the state, like Charlie, and that she damn better work for it. The Segals are both proud alums of UCLA. Mr. Segal went there for his MBA too.

Dad is a professor at Stanford (currently on book sabbatical) and he's never ever said anything about making sure Cozette got in, even though he obviously could. He hasn't even asked her plans for after graduation. Frankie mentioned something about the Peace Corps once and he just said "Sounds good, I bet you two will have an interesting time," and changed the subject back to Professor Steiner's research. Mom didn't go to college, not really – she took several photography and art history classes at The New School as a guest student while she was modeling, but she never got a full degree. She didn't need it. Frankie will probably do something similar; he does fine at school but he doesn't enjoy learning like Cozette does.

Anne-Britt asked last week if Cozette wanted to do a college tour this summer – she offered to drive her around the Boston schools, since she and Martin would be up at Martha's Vineyard anyway. That was really sweet, but it seems kind of weird that her godmother would care more about Cozette's plans than her own dad. And Anne-Britt doesn't really have the time to do the whole applications thing; she just meant she could help for a few days at the end of August.

Cozette would really like for someone besides Frankie to care about her, just a little, for longer than a vacation or an exam week or a pas de deux or a club night's set list.

Mel seems to care.

Mel is so freaking cute.

Mel is acting really strange lately.

Sometimes she wants to hang out all the time and won't stop texting or emailing and Cozette gets kind of excited and hopeful, but then sometimes she'll pull back randomly and they won't talk for three days.

Mel is dating Dez. Mel is dating a boy. Mel is probably not gay.

Mel never talks about cute girls, after all.

Then again, she almost never talks about her boyfriend either. Cozette kind of thought the whole point of dating someone is to talk about them all the time. If she were dating Mel, she'd never shut up about her.

Cozette would really like to take Mel by the shoulders after tutoring one day and ask her what the hell is going on; is she completely oblivious or is Mel just screwing with her? Because Cozette is starting to go crazy with all this half-flirting.

She really wants to make out with Mel.

A lot.

Cozette wants to do everything with Mel: show her SF, show her LA and Napa Valley and Yosemite and Baja; roadtrip with her all the way to Manhattan and visit the Met and Alvin Ailey and ABT and the New York City Ballet, and hell – why not take her to visit Dad in Australia and Mom in Paris? Cozette wants to show Mel the whole world that she hasn't seen yet; travelling would be so much more fun with a good friend. With a girlfriend.

They could also just stay in Paradise and it would still be great: they could cheer on the horrible basketball team and go see Ginny in her silly musical and drive over to Las Virtudes to go shopping or clubbing on weekends and have lazy picnics on the beach and go to prom together with rose petals and all those Nicholas Sparks and Meg Ryan clichés…

But also she really basically wants to make out.