Alexandra took the last piece of luggage off her bed and dragged it out into the hallway. Her eyes widened as she studied the row of belongings she was taking home with her. "I don't know what's worse," she thought to herself. "The thought that I have all this stuff in the first place or the fact that I can only use half the space in the car…"

She shook her head at the craziness of it all and stepped back inside for a pen. On autopilot, she filled out the break sheet that had been taped to her door. "Alexandra Stabler, Room 414, Time out (she glanced down at her watch) 12:35 pm."

Alexandra gave her room a final once-over, grabbed her coat and purse, and locked the door behind her. She dragged all of her luggage to the elevator, shoved it all in, and went in after it. On her way down, she fished out her cell phone and hit speed dial #3. His voice-mail picked up, "Hey, this is Michael, you just missed-Hello?"

"Michael?"

"Hey Alexandra, what's going on?"

"Not too much. Where are you?"

"Sitting in the car in front of your dorm. Are you coming downstairs?"

"Yeah, I'm at the door right now. Do you think you could come and give me a hand with…". All of the sudden, she heard the sound of their phone call disconnecting. "Shit," she hissed. "What the hell is the point of having a cell phone if you can never finish a damned conversation with them??"

She heard laughter behind her and turned around to see her older stepbrother, Michael Benson smirking at her. "What's so funny?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Two things," he responded, raising two fingers to drive his point home. "One, the fact that you ask yourself this almost every day and never have an answer, and two, the fact that you think your cell phone honestly cares or can even hear you. Alex, if you're gonna whine about your coverage all the time, find some cheese with ears. People may start to think," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "that you're crazy."

Alexandra and Michael's eyes deadlocked, as she pondered what he said and he smirked at the idea of being right. Finally, she sighed and grumbled, "You may be right."

"Well, of course I'm right. I'm older brother extraordinaire. I rock! I am da bomb. I'm…"

"You're helping me get my luggage into the car too, right?" retorted Alexandra, making sure he got a good look at her high heels. "Because, you should know that these babies can cause some crazy damage. Just ask that drunk asshole who was trying to get in my pants at that party in October."

Michael nodded; he had heard about that poor idiot. After that night, everyone knew better then to mess with Alexandra Marie Stabler. "Alright, come on. But, we've got to hurry or you're going to be late."

Alexandra nodded vigorously and began pushing her things out the door toward Michael, who, in turn, put them in the trunk and backseat of the black Volkswagen Jetta they shared. "I'm just so happy McDell came to his senses to offer last ditch extra credit. My grade is pretty nice in there, but there's always room for extra points."

"I know. I've heard a lot of people had some big issues with the class. I don't see why people didn't just drop. It's not a gen ed after all."

Alex shook her head as she carried out a shopping bag. "No, it's not a gen ed and most of the people in my class aren't even English majors. I don't get it either. Here, be careful with this," she said, handing him the bag.

"What's in here? Christmas gifts??" He asked, thumbing through the bag's contents.

"Yep, exactly what we agreed on, coffee mugs for Mom and Dad, a baby cheerleader outfit for Marissa, and a baby baseball cap for Adam. We've just got to wrap them once we get home. Oh, right, here's your change," she said, fishing a 5 dollar bill out of her pocket and handing it over to him.

"But...but, there's nothing for me," Michael said, giving an overdone drama queen performance. Alexandra rolled her eyes and kissed the air next to his cheeks. "Don't worry, darling. As soon as we get home, I'm taking you shopping for Christmas gifts. We'll make you as fashionable as my nearly non-existent bank account will allow."

"Needless to say, likewise."

Michael and Alexandra leaned against the car giggling for a few seconds. Then, Alex went back inside for her last bag.

"Is this it, Alex?" Michael said, throwing it into the trunk.

"Yep, that's it," Alexandra said, taking a quick look around. "Do you have my final paper?"

Michael nodded in the affirmative as he closed the trunk. "It's right on the passenger seat."

Alexandra gave him a grateful look as she noticed that it was neatly bound and printed on quality printing paper. "Thanks again, Michael. I really owe you," she said, giving him a hug.

"It was no problem at all, kiddo. I've always known that you only keep me around for the nights your printer breaks."

Alexandra gave him a dirty look as Michael felt the urge to laugh. The two of them stared each other down until Alexandra began giggling. Within seconds, any attempts to keep a straight face had disappeared. Once they calmed down, Michael gave her a gentle shove toward the car, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Michael and Alexandra got into their usual positions, with Michael driving and Alexandra in the front passenger seat. Michael turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the dorm.

20 minutes later

"Stabler, Alexandra, you're up next," Professor McDell droned. Alexandra, startled, quickly stood up, and grabbed her work out of her bag. Michael gave Alexandra a reassuring smile as took a seat on a stool in the front of the nearly empty lecture hall.

"Whenever you're ready," said Professor McDell.

Alexandra took a deep breath. "Hi, I'm Alexandra Stabler, and for the first 16 years of my life, I didn't have a mother. Sure I had a woman who provided me with half my genes and gave me life, but, other than that, my father may have well been asexual." The class's laughter made Alexandra, a shy public speaker, feel better.

She paused and went on, "My father says life is made up of constant divisions. We have childhood, being teenagers, being college students, etc. He says that his life is divided pretty clearly. There's the time before me, the time with just me and him, and time with my stepmother, Olivia, and stepbrother, Michael, who are, for all intents and purposes, my mother and brother."

"The more I think about it, the more I realize my father hit the nail right on the head. When we look at our lives in retrospective, we see lessons in things that didn't seem extraordinary when they happened. We see clear divisions where there once were blurry lines. When we view our lives divided, they seem richer and much more wonderful then if it had all been one big ball of random events."

She took a breath and looked up at the class, surprised to see everyone, including the batty old Professor McDell, tuned in to her. Michael gave her a quiet round of applause from the back of the room, which was all the encouragement she needed. She turned the page, and read on.