Lulu groaned and sat down on the couch. She couldn't believe she had to stay home for the summer while all her friends were in Europe. "It's not fair," Lulu said and glared at her older sister. "We had a deal. I get a B average and I get to go backpacking in Europe." Lulu pointed at Carly, "It's not fair of you to renege on our deal."

Carly laughed, "Nice try," Carly said.

The one person immune to Lulu's persistence was her older sister Carly, and that was because she was just as persistent.

"Our deal was that you get all B's or better and you get to go to Europe," Carly said.

"I got two A's!" Lulu said. "My GPA is above a 3 point!" Her sister used to be the coolest sister, now she wasn't so sure. The Carly she used to know would've done everything she could to make sure she went to Europe. But now - these past few years, Carly was acting more like a parent than her sister.

"What about that C-?" Carly asked. "Your history grade?"

"I got an A+ in math," Lulu said. "And an A in English, that cancels out my history grade."

"That wasn't our deal," Carly said. "I specifically told you all B's. We wrote it down. Want me to go get the paper? It's in my office."

"Carly!" Lulu pleaded. "Come on, don't you remember what it was like to be 17? You got to go. All my friends are going. Dad would've let me go." The minute the words left her mouth she regretted them. She wasn't the only one that lost her parents, Carly did too. She loved Carly, she was grateful that Carly had been old enough to take care of her. If she hadn't been, they could've been separated. And as much as she resented her sister right now, she loved her no matter what. It was just the two of them, the Spencer sisters against the rest of the world. All she needed to do was convince Carly to let her go to Europe with her friends.

"It doesn't matter," Carly said. "You're not going. I'm the adult, I'm your guardian and what I say goes."

Lulu opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it when she caught the look on Carly's face. "It's not fair," Lulu said. "What am I supposed to do all summer? All my friends will be gone." Since she had transferred to a private school upstate, she barely had any friends left in town.

"Make some new friends," Carly said. "Because you are not going to Europe this summer."

"Is it about money? It shouldn't be. We have more than enough money," Lulu said. "I have my own money."

"Yeah, you do. You're also too young to touch that money. That money is for college and to help you get started on your life after you graduate from college." Both of them had sizable trust funds, plus whatever assets left to them by their parents. She had more than enough money to cover Lulu's expenses without having to dip into her trust fund. "Don't even think about putting it on a charge card, I just got off the phone with the bank - "

"You canceled my credit cards?" Lulu asked. "That - that's just mean! That's got to be cruelty or - "

"No, I didn't cancel your credit cards," Carly said. "You did get above a 3 point - I just had them put a new spending limit on your cards. Any purchase over a hundred dollars has to be approved by me. Oh, and just in case you get any ideas about going to Europe to meet up with your friends, I've taken your passport."

"My passport?" Lulu asked. "You took my passport? Carly!" Lulu glanced at Johnny as he walked into the room, "Did you know she did this? Come on Johnny, don't you want some alone time with your wife? If I'm in Europe for the next two months, I'll be out of your hair for the summer - and you two can do whatever it is you two do when you're alone."

Johnny laughed, "You made a deal with your sister," Johnny said. "All B's and you get to go. You got a C- so you're not going."

"Traitor," Lulu mumbled and grabbed her things from the living room. "I thought you were on my side." Lulu glared at Johnny and left the room.

"He's my husband!" Carly said. "He's on my side."

"Were you like this when you were seventeen?" Johnny asked. "Because, I'm starting to rethink this whole baby thing."

"I was ten times worse than Lulu," Carly said. "She'll get over it. She'll make some new friends, maybe get a job or volunteer to keep busy. She starts classes at the end of August so she better enjoy her summer."

"She's a good kid," Johnny said. "Maybe she's a little temperamental and loud, but she's a good kid."

"I know," Carly said. "I just want to make sure - " Carly paused and closed her eyes. Their parents had died in a car accident five years earlier and since then she'd been raising Lulu, she and Johnny were the only family Lulu had. She and Johnny had been married less than a year when her parents had gotten into a fatal car accident. They hadn't even started thinking about starting a family yet when they were suddenly raising a teenage girl. It was hard finding the balance between parent and sister. Carly opened her eyes when she felt Johnny's hand on her knee.

"You're great with her," Johnny said. "She's a little upset now, but she loves you Carly."

"Both of us," Carly whispered. "She did do well in her other classes, maybe I - "

"You had a deal," Johnny said. "Lulu's smart - she's really smart, but she slacked off."

"I know, it's just - "

"You both lost your parents," Johnny quietly said. "A trip to Europe isn't going to make up for it."

"I know," Carly said. "Is it wrong that part of me is glad she's not going? She's my baby sister - she's growing up so fast. She's starting college in a few months. I don't want her gallivanting across Europe the whole summer. Who knows what kind of guys she's going to meet?"

"Didn't you go to Europe the summer after you graduated high school?" Johnny asked.

"I did," Carly said. "I got all B's." That was the deal she had made with her parents, get all B's and she'd get to go to Europe. She made the same deal with Lulu, only Lulu hadn't lived up to her end of the bargain.

"And what kind of guys did you meet in Europe?" Johnny asked.

"Really cute ones," Carly said. "There was this one guy, I can't remember his name. It was something exotic, I met him in Spain - "

Johnny threw a pillow at Carly, "And you better not remember his name," Johnny said. He gave her a quick kiss. "I have to stop by the warehouse for a little while. Meet me at Luke's later?"

Carly frowned, "I probably should stay here. I have to work on the budget for the hotel renovations and Lulu has only been home a few days," Carly said.

Lulu walked in the living room, "Am I allowed to leave or am I on house arrest?" Lulu asked.

"Depends on where you're going," Johnny said.

"Kelly's," Lulu said.

Carly nodded, "Fine," Carly said. "I want you back by eleven - "

"I'm seventeen!" Lulu said. "What was your curfew when you were seventeen?"

"Ten," Carly said. "Kelly's closes at ten. The Pizza Shack closes at eleven. I want you home by eleven."

"I'll drive you," Johnny said. "It's on the way to the warehouse. I'll send a driver out later. Do you have your phone?"

Lulu sighed and walked into Kelly's. She hated this town. Port Charles was boring and there was never anything to do. Everyone knew each other and there was never any interesting people to talk to. Lulu glanced around the diner and smiled when she saw the guy sitting at the counter. He was definitely cute and looked interesting. More importantly, he was alone. Lulu gave a small wave to a few people she knew and walked over to the counter and sat down, "Hi," Lulu said.

"Hey."

"I'm Lesley Lu," Lulu said. "But, my friends call me Lulu."

"What about me? Do I get to call you Lulu?"

Lulu smiled, "That depends," Lulu said. "Do you want to be my friend? I mean, I don't even know your name."

"Milo," he said.

"So now that we've got that out of the way, why don't we go grab a slice of pizza or catch a movie?" Lulu asked.

Lulu smiled at Milo, "You know - this night didn't start off that great for me, but I had a lot of fun tonight," Lulu said. She knew that she had just met Milo, but she felt like she'd known him forever. As much as she would love to hang out with Milo all night, she knew that Carly would kill her if she missed curfew and Johnny would kill Milo. Lulu glanced at her watch, "I should get going. I have to call my ride - "

"I can take you home," Milo offered.

"I'd like that but - " Lulu paused. "I'm not exactly grounded right now, but I don't want to make my sister angry right now. Her husband - well, he's kind of overprotective. He doesn't think I should be dating." Johnny threw a fit when she had her first date, but thankfully Carly had agreed that she was old enough to date. Heaven help their daughter, whenever she was born. She was going to have a hard time navigating her way past her father.

"So this was a date?" Milo asked, smiling.

"Movie? Pizza?" Lulu asked. So maybe their date had been a little impromptu but anytime dinner and movie was involved, it was a date. "Does any of that ring a bell?"

"Yeah," Milo said.

Lulu reached in her purse and grabbed a pen, she grabbed Milo's hand and scrawled her number on his palm. "Call me," Lulu said. She reached in her purse for her phone then rolled her eyes when she noticed one of Johnny's cars across the street. "I have to go - bye."

"Thanks," Lulu said as she was dropped off in front of the house. She started heading straight to her room when she noticed the living room light was still on. "Hi." Lulu walked into the room and sat down next to her sister.

"You're in a better mood," Carly said, setting down the contracts she was going over.

"I'm a brat, I know," Lulu said. "Thank you for putting up with me. You're right, I didn't live up to my end of the bargain. Maybe this summer won't be so bad after all."

Carly smiled and put her arm around Lulu. "I love you," Carly said. "What's with the new philosophy on life? Not that I'm complaining, but - "

Lulu glanced towards the doorway to make sure Johnny wasn't in hearing range. "I met this really cute guy tonight," Lulu said. "He's so nice and he - he just really listened to me." She wanted what Carly had. Johnny worshiped the ground Carly walked on, and she wanted to meet a guy like that. She wanted to meet a guy that looked at her and only her. And maybe, just maybe Milo was that guy. "He's really sweet."

"Tell me more about this guy," Carly said. "What's his name?"

"His name is Milo," Lulu said. "He's just - I don't know. I really like him."

"Like him enough not to sulk the whole summer?" Carly asked.

"I think so," Lulu said. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. You know, that Dad would've let me go." Her dad probably would've let her go. Their mom was the disciplinarian in the family, but their dad spoiled them. But her dad wasn't here, neither was her mom and Carly was. Carly didn't have to give up her life to raise her, but she did. The older she got the more she fully appreciated what her sister did for her.

"I know," Carly said.

"I just - " Lulu paused and shook her head.

"It's okay," Carly said. "Really, it's okay. Johnny had a few things to take care of with a shipment, he won't be home until later. Why don't we watch a movie? You can tell me all about this guy - "

Lulu smiled and turned to face her sister, "Carly, he's so cute," Lulu said. "He's kind of shy, but I think it just makes him cuter." Lulu proceeded to tell Carly all about Milo, from the moment she saw him at Kelly's to her fingers brushing against his in the popcorn. The more she talked about him, the more she thought that maybe this summer wouldn't be so horrible after all.

THE END