September 15th

Hi, my name is Lily Levin. I'm 13 and am going to be a freshman in high school next semester. Speaking of which, the junior high school is having some major remodeling and is having to merge with one of the local high schools for the time being. Can you say "headache"? But between the 6 of us in the house (both parents and us four kids), I think the ones who are most irritated by it are my parents. When I told them, Mom froze and my dad said "Are you serious?" then Mom asked, "Why?" I explained why. Mom sighed and shrugged, then said, "There's no other junior high in town, so I can see why." Dad looked at her with a raised eyebrow and just nodded. I knew they would be talking later. They can read each other's minds and give silent signals. They are that connected. My mom and dad are lovebirds in my opinion, which is a good thing since they're married. Married couples should be lovebirds. They've been married for a while and within that course of time had my older siblings and me. Yes, I'm the youngest of the family. I'll tell you about my siblings. In order.

First off is Ethan. He's the most serious one of us all and the quietest. He's also the one who most resembles Dad. If you want advice, go to Ethan. He's 17 and a freshman in college. He graduated from high school early. He's a whiz in mathematics and algebra, and geometry. He's going to MIT online for as long as he can. He wants to be an engineer and he will. He's so good at what he does. There are a few reasons why he wants to stay here at home with us. One, he just does. He loves us all and is only 17, so who would give him a full-time job in Mass? Two, there's a certain girl whom he really, really, really likes. Her name is Aurora Daniels and is 16 and a senior is high school. She's really nice and shares Ethan's passion about engineering, which is why she's a senior and not a sophomore or a junior. She's beautiful too. Long, platinum blonde hair and big blue eyes. Ethan's known her his whole life and calls her Rory. He's pretty much the only one who gets away with calling her that. You can't separate them. She comes over and they're discussing all sorts of things concerning engineering and each other. I think Aurora's good for Ethan because she's more outgoing and gets him out of his comfort zone. She's sweet, considerate and encouraging. Mom really likes her and asks Ethan when he's going to ask her out. Ethan always says "I'll wait till she graduates." Funny, because last year it was, "I'll wait till she's in her senior year." I think he's just trying to get the guts to ask her.

Now for the second eldest Kelly. She's beautiful, smart, and looks like Mom with black hair. She just turned 16 and will be a junior in high school next year. I think she's more beautiful than I am. With her long, silky but think, black hair and her big green eyes that can see right through a person and makes the boys go crazy. I've seen it happen. Especially when prom, homecoming or a dance comes up. She should keep tally marks on how many boys ask her out. Dad can be so funny sometimes, even though he tries to be serious. Every time Kelly tells him there's a dance, prom, etc., Dad has that, "Oh, boy" look on his face making me wonder what he plans to do with any boy that tries to come to the door. I find out later. He normally does one out of three things. 1, he tells the boy to come in saying he wants to have an interview with them. 2, he tells the boy off if he knows that he's is a player. Or 3, he acts real friendly with him saying if he was going to go out with Kelly he and my dad should become good friends. More times than not, this isn't what the guy has in mind so he leaves Kelly alone. Sometimes I wish I looked like her. I have red hair (the only Levin kid with red hair!) and brown eyes. The only thing I can compare my red hair with are tomatoes and my eyes mud puddles (even though Kelly calls them "chocolate eyes." and my hair a "beautiful red rose."). Her hair can be compared to a soft raven's wing and her eyes two emerald gems. (I'm not the only one who thinks they're gems either!) I told this to my friend Stephan Daniels (Aurora's younger brother) about this and at first, he just shrugged as if he didn't care if my eyes were brown or colorless. Boys! But then he turned and said to me, "I like your brown eyes the way they are. They remind me of chocolate." Chocolate again! I guess I should be glad he likes them instead of wishing they were different. But sometimes, I wish I were different.

Last but not lest is Devlin. He's the most outgoing member of our family. He makes friends really fast, is the joker of the family and just the sort of guy you like hanging around with. Like Kelly, he's got jet black hair and green eyes. (Ethan's got black hair and brown eyes. This is why I say he looks the most like my dad. Dad's got the black hair and brown eyes. Mom's got the red hair and green eyes. Red hair looks good on her because of her green eyes. She can so pull it off. I can so not pull it off because of my brown eyes!) But Devlin doesn't have any enemies that I'm aware of. Except, of course, Alice Morningstar. She's nice, but she and Devlin got off the wrong foot and pretty much stayed that way. I don't think they hate each other. They just don't like each other. I wonder if they want it differently? There are times when they do get along, but it's like they notice it and remember that, for whatever reason, they're not supposed to be friends. So they go back to business as usual. I think, on her part, she just doesn't trust men. That's due in part to her dad. He's not the best sort of guy. But what's to fear about Devlin? Really. But still, one experience can ruin something forever.

Earlier, I overheard Mom and Dad talking about the merging of my school with the high school. I was on the stairs when I stopped when I heard my name being mentioned. It was my dad.

"I'm a little worried about her," he said.

"Why?" Mom asked him.

"Because of the particular boys that tend to go to that school," Dad asked, "Except our own of course."

"Oh," Mom said, "Yeah, I can see why. Now that you mention it, I'm a little worried about it too."

What kind of boys go to that school?

"You see the kind of boys that come after Kelly," Dad said, "during her first year there-when she was 14, we had 3 seniors after her."

I heard silence on Mom's part and knew she was either taking it all in or nodding. Probably both.

"I see what you mean." I heard her say.

"We don't need 17 year old boys after our 13-year-old daughter! She looks just like you, so there's going to be trouble. I can feel it."

"Well, she has your brown eyes," Mom said, "That'll be enough to make them stop and stare."

"Mixed in with your red hair!" my dad said, "That's a dangerous mix for dangerous flirts to take notice. There are those at that school. I'm not talking about your average few either. There's more than just a few now. They still come after Kelly, even if they're in college or living in their parents' basements with a fast food career in their view."

I don't know what they're worried about. I've already pointed out that I'm not beautiful. And I never heard Dad raise his voice like that before. I knew he wasn't angry-he was truly concerned. As much as I like the fact he gets concerned and that he cares, I don't think he has anything to worry about. Well, speaking of which, I have to go to bed. The weekend is finally here so I can sleep in.