Yippee! Finally posting my Martin Mystery fic! Enjoy!

"Diana!"

"Oof—" Diana lurched forward as someone pounced on her back, a feminine voice squealing in her ear. "What—Laelani?'

"What up?" Laelani giggled, stepping back and grinning excitedly. Her brown hair was cut into dramatic, punk-like layers, falling in slight waves down to her mid-back. It was naturally a light brown, almost blonde, as Diana had seen over the summer, but was now dyed a darker shade. She'd added bright red streaks, as well. Her bangs were long and choppy, angled slightly to the left and falling into her blue-green eyes. The ends of her bangs were jaw-length, framing her face. Her skin retained just a hint of a tan from the summer California sun.

"W-what are you doing here at Torrington?"

"Duh, I'm here for school, silly!"

"Wait—What?!"

"You heard me."

"I can't believe it!" Diana gasped.

"Neither could I when Dad recommended it."

"Your dad did?" Diana asked, surprised.

"Yep!" She quipped, popping the P. "Kaila is traveling, since she graduated early, and

Dad thought—"

"Lae?"

Laelani turned around at the sound of her nickname. She beamed when she saw Martin standing behind her, looking entirely befuddled.

"Hey, Marty! How's it hangin'?" she grinned.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was actually just explaining that to Diana. See, my twin sister, Kaila, is traveling,

and, as twins, we've never been apart for more than a few days. So, school was going to be super weird for me this year, and Dad suggested that it might be easier for me to adjust to high school without her if I went abroad. He's not ready for two daughters overseas, though, so he sent me to Canada instead. Different country, different scenery, different environment and people, but same continent," she giggled.

"I didn't know you had a twin sister," he said.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Martin," she laughed. "We've only spent a grand total of, like, a week together."

"Yeah, I guess. Whatever," he shrugged dismissively. "Hey, if you're twins, then why are you still in school but she's not?"

"She took a lot of summer courses and graduated early," she explained. "I spent my summers relaxing on the beach, messing around, and sleeping."

"She sounds like Diana," he said dryly.

"Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" Diana glared at him.

Laelani laughed again. "I guess it might sound that way, but Kai just wanted to get out ASAP."

"I guess I'm with her on that, but I prefer your way of doing things. I wouldn't mind seeing you on the beach again," he said suggestively, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Laelani giggled and wrapped her arm around his waist. She turned her head away and looked up at him coyly, flirting.

Diana watched in horror as her friend flirted with her stepbrother. She could've sworn Laelani was even blushing! The world was falling apart, until Laelani made her next move.

"You wish," she said, pushing him away.

Diana let out a sigh of relief as Martin pouted and Laelani giggled and patted him on the head, like he was a dog.

"Y'know," Laelani said, suddenly serious, "you're never going to get a real girlfriend if you're constantly flirting with everything with boobs."

"Huh?" Martin looked at her, confused.

Laelani was silent for a moment, looking away.

"Never mind," she sighed. "Hey, Diana, come help me find my room!"

She grabbed Diana's hand and bounced away, back to her usual peppy self, leaving behind a very confused Martin.

As Laelani chattered away happily, Diana couldn't stop pondering the way Lae had blushed when Martin had put his arm around her; she definitely hadn't imagined it, and she was fairly certain it hadn't been faked. She normally wouldn't have given it much thought, but the image burned into her brain left her no choice—the sad look on Laelani's face when she had told Martin he wouldn't get a girl by flirting all the time. She couldn't get the image out of her head.

Pretty please review! :)