This may not be that good, I'm always unsure with new stories. So I hope you like this. All I can do is hope!

"So, who wants the pants first this summer?" asked Bridget.

"Uh, I'll go last." Tibby offered.

"I'll go second last!" Bridget said quickly.

"I'll go third last!" Carmen said.

Lena, who was too polite to voice her unhappiness on being first, simply said, "I guess I'm first."

Carmen sensed the unhappiness in her voice. "Face it guys," she said, "Nobody wants to wear the pants anymore. They've got every kind of food under the sun on them, they're covered in mud and dirt, and they smell horribly."

"That is kind of true." Tibby said.

"Yeah." Said Bee

"I guess so," Lena agreed, "But they are the pants. They need us. We need them. But we can't wear them if they're like this. What do we do?"

"Well," Carmen said slowly, "I suppose one little wash wouldn't wash out the magic."

"Yeah." Tibby agreed, "Just one little wash. And don't have to leave them in for very long. We can pull them out whenever we want."

"Okay." Bee and Lena agreed.

2 hours later

"There." Said Bee, "That wasn't so bad! And they look wonderful! No stains, no mud, and no stench."

"And I get them first!" Lena said triumphantly.

"Oh. I'm last." Tibby said, disappointed.

The Next Week

Lena was in Greece again. She was in the same room that she had been in that first summer of the Sisterhood's separation. She felt so at home. She sat on her bed and pulled the pants out of her suitcase. She put them on. She felt hopeful, like she was wearing them for the first time. She walked to the staircase. She would go downstairs to go see her grandparents. As soon as she got to the top of the staircase, she clumsily fell and toppled all the way down to the bottom. Her grandparents must have heard the crash and ran to her aid. She wasn't hurt too bad, besides the fact that she broke her ankle. She was glad that she wasn't hurt worse, but in her head she couldn't help but wonder why the pants did not save her from the fall.

That night, Lena's grandparents had a party for her arrival. But this time, Effie wasn't there to be friendly with all the guests. It was Lena's responsibility to be friendly, something that she wasn't sure that she was capable of. She hobbled around with her crutches, smiling at people. They all looked at her sympathetically and asked her what happened to her leg. Then they asked her about the United States. That was pretty much the only conversation that she had that night.

The next morning, Lena wasn't feeling well. Her grandmother made a big fuss and took her to the local doctor. The doctor did lots of tests, and then sent her to a bigger doctor's office. There they did a few more tests, before they told her the news. Well, actually they told her grandmother the news in Greek, and her grandmother translated it.

"Lena, my lamb" she said, "You have bad diabetes. Any sugar could seriously harm you. I'm sorry my dear."

'Diabetes?' Lena thought, 'Goodbye sweets. Goodbye dessert.'

Carma,

I think that the one little wash did hurt. Yesterday I fell down the stairs and broke my ankle, today I was diagnosed with diabetes. I hope that the rest of my time with the pants is better.

Wanting sugar,

Lena

I hope that this was O.K. Please review and tell me what you thought!