Hello everyone!

I would have had this up either yesterday or two days ago, but I was a little disappointed with the word count, so I added more to it today. I got finished with it earlier, but I didn't have connection on my laptop so I decided to wait until I got home.

Anywho, welcome to the sequel to "The Only Difference" which is the sequel to "Lying is the Most Fun". I'm really hoping I can bring back the feel of "Lying" in this story, so we'll see how that goes. So far, I have a lot planned, but I'm constantly adding new ideas and I'm always open to suggestions. If you were reading when I had this jumbled mess of story called "The Definition of Not Leaving" you'll notice that my Anna Blake character is now Anna Elizabeth. I went for the change because it seemed to fit better, and I feel like it would be lazy writing if I had two characters with similar names. I had four chapters in the second half of "Definition" but I'm going to merge those together. This chapter is the first and second chapter from the old story, plus new material. I tried to give a lot of it without taking away from what I already had because I really liked what I had.

That being said, I hope you all (and by all, I mean whomever might be reading) enjoy this chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you think! [I'm about a fourth of the way through with the second chapter as you read, so it definitely won't be long to get that up if school doesn't get in the way.]

Until next time,

Sky


"Chapter 1 – Yesterday's Feelings"

"Close my eyes and move to the back of my mind where worries are washed out to sea. See the changes, people's faces blurred out like the sun spots or raindrops. Left the only worries I had in my hands away from the light in my eyes. Holding tight and try not to hide how I feel, 'cause feelings mean nothing now." – The Used

Anna Elizabeth Nicole Ragland slumped in her mother's car, her long, onyx hair hanging over her chest in ringlets to shield her from her mother and the world passing by her on the right.

She didn't even want to look at her mother at the moment. 'Hate' wouldn't even begin to cover the strong emotion she felt toward this vile woman.

This terrible excuse of a mother had ripped Anna Elizabeth from her home, her friends, and her family all because she got a stupid boyfriend.

She had no doubt her mother was jealous. Who could ever love her anyway? Laura Jean Ragland spent all of her money on breast implants, butt implants, lip injections, rhinoplasty, and obviously synthetic red hair dye, and her daughter wondered if there was any real woman beneath the plastic. She'd never even seen her with a man.

Everything about Paul, her now ex-boyfriend, was amazing, and she was certain she would never find anyone like him again.

He was tall—but then again, everyone was compared to her unbearably short stature—and incredibly handsome. He had a long, slender nose, big blue eyes, and a full head of dark hair. He was strong, had an amazing smile, a stunning build, and he was on the varsity football team.

She met him during cheerleading practice, freshman year. The gym had been flooded the week before, so the cheerleaders had to practice on the designated pole vault field, separated from the football field by the four-lane cross-country practice track.

It was her first official practice after making the squad, and the football players decided to play a joke on the new girls as part of their 'initiation.' It was tradition that the new JV members would mysteriously flood the gym so that the cheerleaders would have to practice outside. While the cheer captains were going over the first moves, the boys snuck quietly across the field. The girls were about to start their routine, and the boys rushed the final distance to scoop them up. It was the job of the new recruits to get the new girls while the others grabbed their power couple girlfriends, and Paul had effortless picked up before anyone else could. He was, perhaps, one of the fastest runners her school had seen in thirty years.

While all the other girls screamed when they were lifted off the ground, she had buried her face into her pompoms, pressing them against his chest. She stayed that way as he carried her the length of the football field and back, terrified to say anything. When he finally put her down, he asked her why she didn't scream. She kept it simple, telling him she just wasn't a screamer.

As a freshman, Anna Elizabeth had been very shy, and it was a miracle that she'd even made it on the cheer squad. If not for her overbearing mother, she wouldn't have even tried out in the first place; it was either that or go back to beauty pageants…

She had been looking down at her feet as she spoke to him, and her timidity intrigued him. When he'd seen her face, he could see how innocent she was, and had the strongest feeling that she would be undoubtedly beautiful if she learned to open up. Right then and there, he knew he wanted to be the one to help her do that, to which she skeptically agreed.

They dated all throughout freshman year, and it wasn't until their first month of sophomore year that they shared their first 'I love you.' He was her first love, and he helped her be the bubbly, lively girl she was today. She never told her mother about him, always said she was out with the squad, and he took her virginity. She felt safe with him, and he was the best thing in her life.

She'd been extremely careful not to let her mother know of her relationship with Paul since Laura made it explicitly clear that she didn't want her daughter to date until she graduated college—and even hit her with a broken Prada pump when she expressed her interest in a boy back in middle school—but she'd slipped up by texting him too frequently while around her mother. When Laura snatched her daughter's phone, she threw it to the ground and crushed it beneath Louis Viton stilettos after seeing who was on the other end.

Anna Elizabeth held no doubt in her mind that they were moving because of Paul. But Laura's excuse: it was time for her to meet her father.

What a crock.

Why had they waited 16 years to see him? Why would he even want to see them anyway? She hadn't heard a thing from him in all her years on this planet, so why even would he bother with them now?

There was a reason he wasn't with her mother.

She couldn't even talk to Paul before they left, and now she wondered what he was up to. She tried to be rational about the breakup. He was a senior, so he would be going off to college soon. His dream was to play for the Patriots, so there was no doubt he'd go to a school in New England if he got a scholarship.

So now she had a house with her mother in Glendale—where her dad was nowhere to be found—and she was on her way to a prestigious art school that her mother had given a hefty donation to in order for her to attend. She did research on the school the night before they moved, and students had to audition to get into the school. While she wouldn't have minded showcasing off her paintings, especially the ones that she could craft in short amounts of time, she was glad that she didn't have to go through with the whole pageant ordeal again.

For some strange reason, her mother had given her the option of going to Hollywood Arts or going to a different LA based high school, but she would have to go back into beauty pageants if she chose the latter.

It was almost as if her mother knew which option she'd choose…

She kept trying to look on the positive side of her new situation: this would be unlike any other high school since it offered some traditional classes as well as acting, dancing, singing, and any other artistic thing she could possibly think of. She wouldn't let her mom see how excited she was to attend this new school, so she reminded herself that no matter how great the school itself was, she wouldn't find anyone like Paul.


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


By the time the Darla and Jensen West-Oliver reached middle school, they had already made their own names for themselves. Their parents had enrolled them in the Hollywood Arts' middle school branch that opened in 2017, and they quickly had to separate themselves from their legendary parents' good names.

Jensen lost the majority of his hearing by age twelve, so he kept to himself most of the time to stay away from the hassles of everyday conversation. He was never really able to perfect his speech, to pass off as a 'normal' boy, so he stuck to sign language when he could get away with it. He grew to be snarky and reserved just like his mother, but he was always respectful to the adults in his home.

He wasn't entirely a bad boy, but his mother's terrifying reputation preceded him, giving him the relaxingly sequestered façade. And though he couldn't hear well, he became very interested in tech production and behind the scenes work. He began working on tech production when he was thirteen—with the help of his mother's cinematic friends—and was able to produce top quality results by the time he auditioned to get into the high school branch, making his mother's history and wealth irrelevant.

If anything, Beck and Jade expected Darla to act like her mother. Instead, she adopted her father's laid back style and grew up to be one of the boys. She kept her hair short and took up skateboarding by the time she was thirteen. She refused to wear dresses and was a very outspoken, charismatic girl who proudly showed off her inherited parents' acting genius as well as her own drumming talents.

Like her father, Darla had nothing short of a positive outlook on life, always ready to greet the day. Unlike her brooding brother, she readily showed her excitement to start junior year. She was ready for her classes, to see her friends, to have fun.

And for her, having fun means hanging out with her skater friends at the mall before school.

Because of his hearing, Jade never felt comfortable with her son driving by himself, but her daughter was a bit rebellious and would always ride a block away from home before getting out and heading off to the mall.

As per usual, she sped to the mall to meet up with her closest friends, Jordan, Tyler, and Connor. By the time she got there, the boys were already doing tricks on the railings and flying off the stairs, much to the disappointment of other mall patrons.

Jordan spotted her first and waved her over, picking up two differently sized cups of coffee before gliding down the handicap ramp to meet her halfway. "Hey, D," he greeted as he skidded to a stop in the parking lot.

"Mista J," she returned with a nod, wink, and click of her tongue. (When she was eight, she found her Uncle Robbie's collections of comic books…and other things little girls should never see…and her eyes landed on the Batman collection. She fell in love with the villain Harley Quinn, quickly taking her on as an idol for her carefree attitude, crazy life, and quirky mannerisms. It took Jordan a while to get used to the nickname, but he probably would have let her call him anything.)

He handed her the bigger of the two coffee cups, beaming at her bright smile as she took it. "Tall mocha, extra mocha," he announced. "Plus one pack of sugar sprinkled on the whipped cream." Her favorite.

"Yum," she hummed, taking a sip. She marveled in the rich flavor, savoring every drop. Her brother hated coffee—and nearly broke his mom's heart—so he would put up a fight every time she wanted to go through the drive-thru on the way to school. And like her mother, her day gets a little better with each sip. "You didn't have to get it for me."

Jordan shrugged, taking a sip of his own coffee. "I figured 'why not?'" he waved off. He held up his wrist to check the time. "We got twenty 'til meltdown and Tyler's dad is going out of town for the week, so the shop's closed."

Tyler's dad owned the big instrument shop in the mall where the four of them met. Tyler had been working one summer when the others decided to drop by. His dad had a 'Play Before You Buy' policy, so he encouraged Darla to try her hand at the drums when he caught her admiring the finest set in the store. Seizing his opportunity, Jordan snatched up a base guitar and started strumming away as she played. Tyler and Connor followed suit, picking up an electric and rhythm guitar, respectively. For ten minutes, they put on a show and received a hefty amount of applause.

Since then, they spent their afterschool hours practicing until they were ready to drop out of school and start an international rock band.

"I like boarding anyway," Darla smiled, kicking off and speeding past her friend.

Jordan quickly turned around to skate after her. Once he reached the steps, he stomped his foot onto the back of the board, sending it flying into the air before catching it effortlessly and joining her as she sat on one of the large plants in even larger marble, square pots and crossed her legs. Setting his board and coffee down, he ran a hand over his buzzed ginger hair. "So you wanna do something this weekend?" he asked quietly, not sure she even heard him.

She hooted in excitement, her eyes locked on Connor as he landed a 360 spin off the stair railing. She turned to Jordan, taking another sip of her coffee. "What did you say?" she asked with an inquisitively raised brow that mimicked her mother's.

He shook his head. "Nothing," he replied, trying to play it off. His face jumped into a static smile as he tried to think of a way to change the subject. He pointed to one of the walls blocking off a set of large Dumpsters. "Hey, I dare you to do a Caballerial backside off that wall. If you live, I'll buy you lunch for the next week."

She smirked and stood, setting her coffee down where she sat and letting her bag drop to the ground as she slipped it off. Confidently, she placed her left foot on her skateboard, preparing to push off with her right. "Prepare to lose your lunch money," she challenged as she kicked off. Her board rattled slightly as she rolled down the stairs, the feeling she loved. She circled around the wall briefly to gain momentum. When she was ready to perform the trick, she skated as fast as she could toward the wall. She jumped off the board, pressing all her weight against the back of it to get it to flip, towards the wall. Her foot briefly touched it and she bounced off it back onto the board as it was about to hit the ground.

But as she tried to stick her landing, she lost her balance. She flew forward and managed to turn her body to literally save face as her back smashed into a parked car yards away. She bumped her head and held it, groaning in pain as she clenched her eyes shut.

"Are you okay?" presumably the car's owner asked worriedly as he slammed his door and ran around the front to see her.

She groaned again, this time softer, and nodded. "I will be," she answered. "Sorry about your car." She opened her eyes to look at him and froze. Everything around him seems to melt away as she took in his presence. He was the first incredibly gorgeous Asian boy she's seen since she met South Korean pop star T.O.P. after he worked on a movie with her mom two years ago. His light brown hair was short, but his blond-frosted tips spiked in the front, making his daring green eyes shine just a little bit brighter. Even hunched over and knelt in front of her, she felt she could accurately distinguish his very tall and delightfully muscular—at least in the arm department—stature. If she could take her eyes off his face, she would notice his T-shirt with her favorite band, Dead By April, plastered on the front.

He smiled down at her warmly. "How about you make it up to me by letting me take you out for breakfast?" he suggested as he offered her his hand.

She giggled slightly, her mouth falling into a goofy shape, as she took his hand and he pulled her up. "I have school," she told him softly.

With a small smirk, he kept his eyes locked onto hers. "Lunch, then. Has anyone told you that you have the most intriguing eyes?"

She blushed slightly and looked away. "Y-yeah," she answered meekly. She looked back to him in shock. "A-about lunch. Not my eyes." She looked down in embarrassment to find that she was still holding his hand. She snatched her hand back and shoved it into her pocket. "Sorry."

"D, let's go!" Jordan called from the steps. He waves her skateboard over his head. "We're gonna be late."

"I…have to go," she reluctantly said, turning back to the handsome man in front of her. She grabbed the pen clipped to the neck of his shirt and grabbed his hand again. "Text me and we'll figure something out for lunch," she said confidently as she scribbled her first name and number onto his arm. She clipped his pen back to his shirt, quickly stealing another glance at his gorgeous face.

"Come on!" Jordan shouted.

She waved goodbye and rushed around him to meet her friend without another word.

"Were you flirting with that guy?" Jordan questioned as he handed over her book bag, coffee, and board.

She laughed as she pulled her bag on, stepping onto her board. "Jealous?" she taunted as she pushed off after Tyler and Connor. She and Jordan turn back to the guy who now leaned against his white Sedan with his arms crossed coolly. She smiled to herself, trying to mask her excitement.


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


Erica Michaels sat with her cousin Hector in the Asphalt Café with her legs crossed and her pencil tapping her notebook rhythmically. "What about her?" she asked in a thick Australian accent, pointing the pencil at a blonde at the other end of the Café laughing with her friends.

"Too small," Hector passed off. "Giselle has to look bold. She's a fighter and a queen. That girl barely looks like a princess."

His cousin pursed her lips, trying to think of someone else. Scanning the crowd of students, she spotted a group of dancers practicing by the stairwell that led to the elevated stage at the center of the Café. "What about Jenny Halpern?" she asked, pointing her pen at a brunette in the middle of a backflip. "Dancers are fighters."

"Not pretty enough," he disregarded, following Erica's gaze.

"We're never going to find anyone if you keep being so picky," she pointed out tiredly.

"I have to pick the perfect girl!" he cried dramatically, slamming his hands down on the table. "I can't have some amateur ruining my movie!"

She rolled her eyes. "Then pick someone," she spat. "We'll never meet the deadline at this rate."

Determined, he looked around the dining area, his eyes falling a petite girl with long, curly black hair walking into the Café as she looked down at the books she carried in front of her waist. She looked up, scanning the crowd, and he gasped. "Her!" he exclaimed, discreetly pointing to the girl. "She's perfect!"

Erica rolled her eyes. "What happened to 'she's too small; Giselle has to look like a fighter and a queen'?"

"That girl is stunning," Hector breathed, keeping his eyes on her.

"She looks like a freshman."

"Doesn't matter…"

"Look out!" Darla shouted as started to make his way to the mystery girl. She sped through the gate into the Asphalt Café, frightening the girl. Terrified, she fell back as Darla bumped into her. While Darla just stumbled to a stop, her board crashing into a nearby table, the small-framed girl landed in Jensen's lap, knocking his sketchbook off the table.

She looked up at him with frightened eyes and quickly regained her composure as laughter began to rise around them. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized with a hint of a Southern accent. "I swear I didn't mean it."

At first, he narrowed his eyes to focus on her lips to make out what she said, and then he nodded after catching only the last three words. "It's fine," he told her lowly, thankful he could speak somewhat normally. It's easier if he doesn't talk too loud. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered with a sweet smile, her face reddening.

As he turned to pick up his sketchbook, the bell rang and she gasped. She quickly gathered up her stuff, bouncing slightly as she prepared to leave. "Sorry again!" she apologized once more. But because he wasn't looking, he didn't hear her.

After waving goodbye to her friends and retrieving her skateboard, Darla tapped her brother on the shoulder. Sketchbook in hand, he looked to her with a raised brow and scowl, just as his mother would. Shifting her stuff around, she signed 'class' and pointed to the school's back door. He gave her a lazy thumbs up and shrugged on his bag, following her inside.


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


Like always, Darla made sure to be one of the first to get to class so she could get a good seat. She's not one to sit in the front, but she hates being in the back of the classroom. She claimed a seat in the middle of the classroom where she was sure the teacher would see. As other students filed into the room, she caught a glimpse of the tiny raven-haired girl that she bumped into earlier.

Excitedly, she raised her hand. "Hey, girl I knocked over!" she called. The startled teen, among other students, looked at her in confusion. A grin plastered from ear to ear, she waved the girl over. "Come sit with me! Promise I won't knock you into my brother again." She bats her eyelashes and the girl laughs, walking over to join the young West-Oliver girl.

"Hi," the new girl greeted in a sheepish, deeply Southern voice.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Darla apologized, toning down her smile a bit. "One of my friends was trying to be funny and made me trip. It was lucky that I dropped my coffee before I ran into you."

The girl beside her laughed. "I always keep a change of clothes in case something crazy happens," she announced.

"Practical," Darla nodded sharply. "I like that. What's your name?"

"Anna Elizabeth," she answered.

Darla's face lit up. "Two first names?" she repeated in surprise. "I'm liking you even more!" She offered Anna Elizabeth her hand. "I'm Darla."

"Did you say that was your brother?" Anna Elizabeth questioned, cutting to the chase while still taking her new friend's hand.

"Twin," she corrected with a nod.

Anna Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise. "I…never would have guessed that," she announces suspiciously.

"I look more like our dad and he's practically the spitting image of our mom," her new friend explained. "We're mixed."

Anna Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "He's a really good drawer," she complimented.

Darla smiled. "He's been doing it since we were ten," she announced. "He got in for tech production, but he also wants to go into set design."

"What did you get in for?" Anna Elizabeth questioned.

"Acting," she answered. "But I'm also the drummer for a band my friends and I are trying to start."

The smaller, raven-tressed teen gasped. "That's so cool!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I got in for singing, but I don't think I'd be ready to be in a band just yet."

Her friend shrugged. "A little bit of nervousness is good sometimes," she offered. "Right now, we're just a group of four playing in the back of a music shop. But if you're interested, you should come to one of our rehearsals and sing for us. We're kind of playing with the idea of having two lead singers."

"Like Mayday Parade," Anna Elizabeth mused breathily, her face alight.

Darla scrunched her face in confusion. "Who?"

Anna Elizabeth shook her head. "Just this old band my mama showed me a few years ago," she responded. "But I guess I could try it out."

"Great!" Darla cheered as their teacher entered the room and ordered attention. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "We'll talk about it more at lunch. Meet me at the stairwell in the Asphalt Café."

"The what?" Anna Elizabeth hissed back in confusion.

"Where I bumped into you," Darla whispered back in a fluster.

"Kay, kay!"


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


"This is Anna Elizabeth," Darla announced as they took the last remaining seats at the table that Jensen, Erica, Hector, Jordan, Tyler, and Connor had already claimed. She put her stuff down to sign as she spoke. "She just moved here from North Carolina."

"That's quite a way," Erica gaped, her eyes slightly bulging.

Anna Elizabeth shrugged. "Mama just wanted a change of scenery."

"It's a good thing she did," Hector quipped from beside his cousin, trying to flirt.

"Where's Tony?" Darla questioned and signed as she looked around.

"Probably looking for some gringas," Hector jested under his breath, picking at his pizza.

Erica rolled her eyes. "You're barely half Spanish," she reminded him.

"And you're only half American," he sneered back.

Darla loaded a grape from her fruit salad onto a spoon and catapulted it at the sophomore. "Play nice you two," she admonished. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and her eyes brightened, much to Jordan's visible dismay. The ginger looked on in jealousy as she furiously clicked away at her touch screen. "I'll see you guys later." She quickly gathered her stuff and slunk off to the gate of the Café. Making sure no one was looking, she unlocked it and slipped through the opening, putting the lock back in its place.

"Hey," she greeted with a warm smile as Mason—the guy whose car she fell against at the mall—climbed out of his car.

"Hey, yourself," he returned. His face fell when his eyes fell on the fruit salad in her hands. "It doesn't count if you bring your lunch."

She gawked at him for a moment, and then her face exploded with realization. "I was…I—"

"It's fine," he laughed off. "I can get something and take you to the park if you want."

She pursed her lips skeptically. "I'm not really supposed to be leaving campus," she told him uneasily. "I could get in a lot of trouble."

"Come on," he urged, "We'll be back before your lunch period is over. I have a class at one anyway."

Still unsure, she looks back at the gate. No one will miss her that much, right? After all, she just introduced Anna Elizabeth to her friends; she can keep them company in her absence. Her Auntie Cat told her all the time how her mom would skip school and come back without getting caught. It'll only be this once.

She would be back before anyone realized she was gone.

"O-okay," she stammered out.

Mason stepped over to open the passenger's door for her and she climbed into his Sedan with a slightly embarrassed smile. He quickly jogged around the hood to get in the driver's seat.

"This is a really nice car," she complimented quietly as he pulled away from the safety and security of Hollywood Arts.

"My parents got it for me as a graduation gift," he told her.

"What do they do?"

"My dad's a doctor and my mom's a museum curator," he answered somewhat boastfully. "I'm going to school to be a doctor like him."

She turned to him, slightly confused. "You haven't thought of doing anything else?"

He shrugged. "I'll be doing good in the long run," he assured her. "I'm not really good at anything unrelated to science, so why not?"

"That's an interesting way to look at it," she said, turning back to the fruit salad she clung to in her hands. She kept her lips pressed shut out of fear of her unnerving nervousness threatening to make her puke all over the leather interior.


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


Over the course of the lunch period, Jensen practically strained trying to figure out what everyone was saying. It wasn't common knowledge that he couldn't hear, and he was somewhat grateful that he could hide his cochlear implant beneath his hair. He wished Tony was there to sign for him, but God knew where that kid was.

Everyone just thought that Darla signed when she speaks because she's really interested in the language and wants to continuously practice.

In a way, he hated that Anna Elizabeth was so popular among everyone at the table. It sucked that he couldn't keep up with the conversation and that he had to take a few extra seconds before he could answer a question she threw at him. And she seemed to be asking him a lot.

Where the hell did his sister go?

After half an hour of trying to make it through the discussion at the lunch table, Jensen got over it and refused to put up with his unintentional exclusion any longer. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair to calm down.

It always ticked him off when he felt left out.

"I'll be in the Black Box," he announced as he hoisted his bag onto one shoulder. He scooped up his lunch in one hand and left without another word.

Dejectedly, Anna Elizabeth looked on after him. She'd been the last one to speak before his outburst. "Was it something I said?"

Everyone else at the table laughed at her apparent joke and went on with their conversations. And from that point on, she simply sat nervously in her seat. When someone tried to talk to her, she'd give quiet, concise answers. Eventually, everyone but Hector—who couldn't help trying to flirt with her even though she turned down his movie proposal—gave up on trying to talk to her. She was glad that Erica was there to keep the boy in line. She hated that she'd made this boy so upset today; she had never made a bad impression on someone before, and her years of pageant work hadn't prepared her for it. She felt like a failure and she couldn't stop herself from reaching under the table and sliding her dress slightly above her knee to scratch at it, a maladaptive habit she picked up when she first started doing pageants.

She kept wondering where her new friend was; she wanted to talk about Jensen since Darla was technically her only friend, but she was virtually alone at the table.

More than anything, she wished she had Paul.

Five minutes before lunch ended, she gathered her things and muttered a defeated goodbye before leaving the group. She needed to stop thinking about him, so she would busy herself with excavating the school for her next class and a good seat.

"Anna Liz!" Darla called out as she ran up to her tiny friend. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna go wait for class," she answered in a slightly off-put voice. "We weren't really hitting it off." She mentally scolded herself for indirectly talking about Jensen instead of the entire group of people, but luckily her friend wouldn't know.

Darla locked her arm with her new friend. "It'll just take some time," she assured her. "Sorry I ran off like that; I kinda had a date."

"Ooh," Anna Elizabeth gushed in her high pitched, Southern voice as the girls headed back into the school. "A date with a boy?"

"Yes, ma'am," she answered with a bright grin. "I met him today."

Anna Elizabeth wiped one of her eyes with a small laugh. "My, oh my," she breathed, "You're gonna make me cry." She sighed softly, fighting off a sniffle. "Sorry. I just moved here, and I had to leave my boyfriend back home and I've been trying way too hard to not think about him."

"Aww," Darla empathized, "I'm so sorry. I guess that's pretty hard. If it makes you feel better, I've never had one before. So if all goes well, he'll be my first."

The fourth period bell rang and Anna Elizabeth jumped slightly before pulling her schedule from her purse. "I have Acting with Ms. Connolly next," she read.

"That's the last door on the right," her friend announced.

"Thanks," she breathed with a warm smile. "See ya later, alligator." She unlocked her arm from Darla's and skipped down the hall as other students begin to fill the small space.


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


Anna Elizabeth sighed as she crossed her legs, tapping her pencil lightly on her desk. She stared out the window to her left, grateful she was able to get the window seat in the front of the classroom.

As much as she tried not to, she kept thinking about Paul. She wanted him to hold her again, to kiss her again, and to even make love to her the way he used to in the back of his pickup.

She didn't think it would happen so fast, but Jensen took her mind off him for the briefest of moments. But then she did something to make him upset with her—whatever it was—and now her mind was back on Paul.

When all the other students piled into the classroom, she lowered her head and shielded her face with her hands as Hector sauntered in. He was starting to become a pest, but she was too nice to tell him to buzz off.

Luckily for her, though she didn't see, Jensen intercepted him before he could take the only seat beside her. With a small scowl, Hector skulked off to the other end of the room to get as far away from the intimidating West-Oliver boy as possible.

"Hi," Jensen greeted as he sat down.

Bewildered, her head snapped up and she looked to him. She gasped and quickly covered her mouth to stifle it. "Hi," she returned after she dropped her hand, lowering her eyes to the notebook in front of her. Her hand slid beneath the table of her desk and she began to scratch her leg above the fabric of her knee-length blue dress again.

"Sorry about lunch," he apologized, trying to speak faster than his normal, mild-paced speech. Hopefully he wouldn't trip up.

"It's fine," she waved off, keeping her gaze on the notebook. He struggled to read her lips, but said nothing. "I didn't expect to make a lot of friends."

"Are you busy after school?" he asked, hoping to change the subject to make up for what he missed.

She looked back to him in slight confusion, and his face softened when he could clearly see her mouth. "Not really," she answered skeptically, "But I wanted to find the art studio and see if they'll let me set up some of my stuff, and then your sister wants me to come to meet her band."

He fought back an annoyed sigh, a little miffed that the commotion around him distracted him and made it difficult to catch everything. "What do you do?" he asked, hoping the question made sense with the topic.

"Paint," she answered with a smile.

"Can I see sometime?" he questioned, his face lighting up slightly. Undoubtedly, he loved girls that were interested in art.

Her face fell slightly. She'd never let anyone see her paintings, and Paul never really asked about them. Her mom bought all of her supplies, but she never once asked to see any results outside of what she showcased in pageants either.

"S-sure," she stammered out. "Can you show me where the art studio is after school?"

With a small smirk, Jensen nodded. "Meet me by the Café."


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


She couldn't stop thinking about him.

She noticed the way his eyes watched her mouth move when she spoke, and the determination in his gaze implied that he wanted to kiss her. She wasn't sure, though; she was kind of bad at reading a boy's body language.

He didn't talk to her that much at lunch…he didn't talk to her at all, really. But then he decided he wanted to talk to her in class? What if that was something douchebags did? Paul told her how most of the guys on the team would be nice to girls in private while practically shunning them in public.

Did a classroom setting count as public? Or did 'public' mean 'in front of his friends?'

As the minutes ticked away in her culinary class, her hand slunk down to her leg and she started to scratch again. What would she say to him? Should she get Darla to come too? Why do boys have to be complicated?

When the final bell rang, Anna Elizabeth jumped in her seat. Slowly, she gathered her things and stood. She crossed her arms as she walked, scratching the bottom of one of them as she made her way to the entrance of the Asphalt Café.

As she rounded the corner, she spotted Jensen leaning against the wall looking for her. Suddenly, she wasn't ready to talk to him anymore. Her worries from earlier had returned, but she had to trust Darla right? She seemed nice enough, so she would have said something if her brother was a douchebag, right?

He scanned his radius, his piercing blue eyes flying over her, and—for once in her life—she was glad for the four-foot-eight stature that made her shorter than everyone around her. Unfortunately, the tall boy that blocked her verged left and Jensen raised his hand to wave coolly at her.

She plastered on one of her pageant smiles to hide her unease as he shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered up to her. He smiled back to her, and it looked legitimately genuine. Hopefully this wouldn't end badly.

"I have to stop by my locker first," she announced as she turned around to lead the way. Holding in a sigh, he wanted to ask her to repeat what she said, but he knew how annoyed people could get and he'd hate to see her get angry with him—even though he doubted she knew what that emotion was.

Slightly confused, he wordlessly followed her. When she started to lead him down a corridor that increased the distance between them and the art studio, he stopped. "Where are you going?" he questioned loudly.

Anna Elizabeth turned around with confused and narrowed eyes. "I said I needed to go to my locker," she repeated, her voice slightly filled with hurt. "Weren't you listening?"

Slightly embarrassed, he looked away from her.

"Jen!" Tony called, running up to his friend and saving him from further embarrassment. Once beside his friend, he gave Anna Elizabeth a quick once over before turning his attention back to the blond. "I've been looking for you all day." He also signed as he spoke.

"Can you cut that out, Tony?" Jensen urged with a pointed stare, hoping he would take the hint. "Darla isn't here."

"S-sorry," the other boy stammered, slightly taken aback. "I'm just…so used to helping Darla practice." His eyes shifted to the tiny black-haired girl when she turned to open her locker and Jensen nodded. Tony nodded in understanding, making sure his friend could see his mouth before speaking again. "I haven't seen you all day. Thought you finally said screw this and dropped out."

Jensen faked a laugh, catching only part of what his friend said. "I was just going to the studio," he announced.

Tony nods. "Well, can you stop by my place later?" he asked, trying to act normally. He had the urge to speak slowly and over-enunciate since he was forbidden to sign, but he learned that it's harder for Deaf people to follow when someone does that. "Hector wants us to be in his stupid movie."

"He asked me about that," Anna Elizabeth piped up as she closed her locker, holding a large cardboard roll. "I think he was just trying to flirt with me, though."

Tony scoffed and crossed his arms. "He tends to do that," he announced. "You should humor him; he's trying to get into the directing program here and he wants to go ahead and put his submission in."

"I don't know," she retorted apprehensively, "I'm a little camera shy."

"I don't see why," he responded coolly. "Hector only flirts with pretty girls." He clapped Jensen on the shoulder, making sure he faced the taller boy. "Catch you later, man."

"Later," Jensen bid as the Kerrigan boy walked around him to leave the school.


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


Anna Elizabeth wasn't sure what she expected from Jensen. To be honest, she thought he was a little…weird when he spoke to her. He seemed to be a bit self-absorbed, but he was trying to relate to her at the same time.

She was a little off put by the way their conversation kept rising and falling, mainly because he kept skittering around the topics and constantly changing them, so she was utterly ecstatic when they finally get to the art studio.

"I talked to Mrs. Langdon," she announced as she carried her artwork to the back of the room. "She said I can leave my stuff here on an empty easel and I can practice whenever." Keeping her back to him, she pulled out her paintings from the cardboard roll and started to clip them one by one onto an easel. "I saw one of your sketches, and I was thinking we could draw together or something sometime."

She turned around with a shy smile. "O-only if you want to," she added nervously.

In a fluster, Jensen nodded and held his breath, hoping he said yes to something good. He gave a small, content exhale when her smile widened. "I like that one," he announced, gesturing to the painting of a beach with his eyes in the sky.

Her face alight with excitement, Anna Elizabeth turned her head to see which painting he was talking about. "I did that one last month," she gushed. "I went to the beach with my—" She stopped midsentence, thinking about how Paul had taken her to the beach on the last day of summer last year and she'd made it for him, even though he never saw it. "M-my mom," she finished quickly as she turned back to face Jensen with wide eyes.

On alert, he shot around, expecting her mother to be behind him—or worse, his mom. When he took in an empty classroom, he turned back to Anna Elizabeth with a confused expression. She eyed him skeptically, and he tried to fight off a blush as he realized that wasn't the appropriate response to whatever she said.

He looked down at his feet, wringing his hands behind his back. "Where did Rocky say she wanted you to meet her?" he asked quickly, slightly stumbling over his words as he changes the subject.

"Who?" she repeated, scrunching up her face. "I'm gonna need you to run that by me again."

Catching her final word, he looked up. He forgot that most people don't know Darla's middle name, and he didn't take into account that she wouldn't know her by the nickname, especially considering that they'd only just met. "My sister," he clarified. "Where are you meeting her?"

"The Coffee Cavern," she answered with a goofy grin and a slight bounce. "Wanna come with?"

Blatantly trying to hide his disdain, Jensen shrugged. "Could be fun."


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


"I don't know," Anna Elizabeth breathed skeptically, clinging to a green tea Frappuccino. "This doesn't seem like a good audition place to me; there are so many people around and it's really loud."

"If you ever want to be a singer," Darla began, grabbing one of her friend's hands, "In our band or on your own, you gotta be able to sing in front of people. You need to take the spotlight wherever you can get it, even if you have steal it in a place where no one's giving you the time of day."

Anna Elizabeth crossed her legs and looked at Tyler and Connor with unease. Jordan stood at the counter buying food and Jensen sat at her side, working on a drawing as he actively ignored the water beside his sketchbook near her. At nearly full capacity, teens and middle aged adults bustling around while they try to get their overpriced drinks plagued The Coffee Cavern.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "You said it could be anythin'?" she clarified.

"Just make it good and loud," Tyler instructed, taking a bite of his chocolate cheesecake.

She took in another deep breath, clenching her eyes shut. Her mother never once asked her to sing, and she never had to do it for any talent portions. Her hand slid under the table and she began to scratch her leg above her dress as she started to sing.

"And honestly, I have been begging for answers

That you and only you can give to me.

My voice crying loud,

I've been crying for days now.

And as I start to run, I stop to breathe.

And I was nearly scared to death

Of what you left in paragraphs.

The words were nearly over us.

You stop and turn and grab your bags.

And I'll be here by the ocean

Just waiting for proof that there's

Sunsets and silhouette dreams.

All my sand castles fall

Like the ashes of cigarettes,

And every wave drags me to sea.

I could stand here for hours

Just to ask God the question:

'Is everyone here make-believe?'

With a tear in His voice

He said, 'Son, that's the question.'

Does this deafening silence mean nothing

To no one but me?"

When she let out the first note, Jensen—who had been furiously shading in his sketch book—looked up in shock. Like her stature, he expected her singing voice to be small, especially since she was somewhat quiet when she spoke. But the power in her voice amazed him, and he couldn't believe how clearly he could hear her. He couldn't exactly make out every word she was singing, but he could hear her melody all the same. Her voice captivated him, as well as everyone in The Coffee Cavern as they stopped what they were doing to look her way, and he wanted her to sing forever.

As she opened her eyes once finished, her heart started fluttering nervously and she kept her eyes on her drink, afraid of what would happen next. For a moment, the entire coffee shop remained silent. Coming out of his awe and to ease her discomfort, Jensen rubbed his knee against hers, inadvertently knocking her hand away. Her head snapped to him to see him smiling at her proudly.

Then, the coffee shop erupted with applause.

Shocked, Anna Elizabeth looked around to see everyone staring and smiling at her. People set their drinks down on tables and wide chair backs to applaud her. Darla beamed brightly at her while Tyler and Connor stare on in awe. Jordan, at the register, dropped his drink to start clapping, hooting and hollering as he did so.

A wild blush raged across her face as Darla grabbed and shook her hand, rattling her Frappuccino. "We have ourselves another singer!"


Today I've wasted away, for today is on my mind.


Anna Elizabeth sighed as she makes her way to her front door after thanking Darla for the ride. She crossed her arms, scratching one of them slightly. She didn't call her mom to tell her she'd be late coming home—as if she could since she didn't have a phone. Her mother probably waited at school for her and then came back home in a rage. If she had control of the car or her phone, this would have been a different issue.

Regardless, her mother would be livid.

Once she stepped up to the door, her mother ripped it open. At 5'5" and a heart-shaped, cherubic face, her mother didn't look like she would harm a fly. Her long, red ringlets that trail halfway down her back, her dark blue eyes, and the obvious plastic surgery on her nose and chest—and latent surgery on her lips—suggested, however, that she had a cold bone or two hidden beneath her ivory skin. The crazy stare in her gaze also sent a chill down her daughter's spine.

Her hand snapped out to Anna Elizabeth's arm, yanking her into the house as her French tips dug into the younger girl's skin. "Where the hell have you been?" she shouted in a more prominent accent than her daughter's as she slammed the door shut. She pulled Anna Elizabeth further into the living room and threw the smaller girl onto the couch. "I told you I would be there at exactly three o'clock and that you should wait out front. What part of that didn't you understand?"

She grabbed her head, her French tips like claws resting above her crimson tresses, as she clenched her eyes shut and bounced with anger. "You know you're supposed to call and ask me before you go anywhere," she reminded in a calmer voice.

"I'm sorry," Anna Elizabeth apologized meekly. "I-I would've called, but you broke my phone."

"And you know why?" her mother exploded, her eyes shooting open and her arms slamming down on her sides. "You keep running around with little stank boys! You see this house, Anna Elizabeth Nicole? I didn't get this house by messing around with boys! You are the only thing I have left in this world, and I'm not going to let you ruin your life by being a stupid little girl."

"But what about my dad?" she questioned, "Don't you have him?"

Laura sighed and crossed her arms, drumming her fingers against her lips. "I spent all day working on things," she announced. "I haven't told your daddy that we're here, but I'm gonna tell 'im soon." She balled the hand against her lips into a fist and narrowed her eyes. "We both coulda seen 'im today if you woulda kept your ass at school where it shoulda been!"

She stormed over to the couch, her heels thudding on the beige carpet, and grabbed her daughter roughly by the back of the head. Anna Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to make a sound. "You make me sick," she snarled through grit teeth. She pulled her daughter over to the stairwell and threw her, face first, against them. "Get your ass to your room and stay there!" she screamed. "You better hope you got somethin' to eat up there, 'cause I ain't making you dinner. I don't wanna see your ugly face until I take you to school tuh'mar'uh."

Without another word, Anna Elizabeth scampered up the stairs after pulling herself to her feet and ran to her room. When she got there, she gently closed the door because her mother hated hearing doors slam. She walked to her bed slowly and collapsed onto it, bouncing slightly before lying on her back. Her hands slid to the hem of her dress as she stared blankly at the ceiling and she pulled it up beneath her chest. She moved her hands to her stomach as she closed her eyes, feeling the small welts still present from the previous night. She traced them with her fingers as she took in a deep breath. Letting the air out slowly, she drug her nails against clean skin above her navel.

She breathed staggeringly, trying to think of anything but her mom. She hated her mom. She never thought she would hate someone, but it didn't make sense that someone could be as awful as her mother. Whoever her dad was—if they ever found him—he'd run away whenever he got the chance. How he could even stand her mother enough to get her pregnant?

What if her mom was just a one night stand?

That would explain so much, honestly. Why anyone would want to be around her Laura Jean Ragland was beyond her. She would love to have anyone else as her mother, someone who would actually act like a mother, but she can't live in her fantasy.

Maybe if she met her dad, he would whisk her away from that god awful beast that gave birth to her.

Maybe she would be happy again.