AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay...I used to write a LOT (usually for the Mediator archive) but now it's been a while since I wrote a fanfic!! But as I was re-reading the PD series after a while, I felt inspired to write a mini-fic in the last few days of my summer vacation! I hope you like it! Here's a background before you start reading, though:

Mia is about to turn 21, and has finished college. Michael is 25, and lives in his own studio apartment in Mahattan, about fifteen minutes from the Loft by limo. Rocky is 6. He is currently sharing Mia's bedroom because his own is being repainted even though Mia insisted to Helen that wallpapering would, although more expensive, would be a wiser choice keeping in mind Rocky's allergy-proneness. But Helen, as always, ignores Mia's well-meaning advice in interest of her little brother, and goes ahead with the painting anyway.

I hope the story turns out well.

This story will most probably have 2-3 chapters.

Please review!! :)


Friday, June 30, 3 am, the Loft

Ugh.

Why am I even alive at this ungodly hour? Oh yeah – Rocky woke me up because, despite every ounce of effort in my body to, I have been unsuccessful in getting him to abandon his habit of kicking, punching and screaming in his sleep. Seriously, I have lost count of the number of times I have gently tried to explain to my little brother that though I understand he might be having dreams about being a partner-in-action to Jackie Chan, Jane and Uncle in kicking some bad-guy butt (yes, we are talking about the animated series The Adventures of Jackie Chan), it is not nice to kick people out of their peaceful slumber with cries of 'Haaaiiiiyyah! Take THAT! And THAT!' at three in the morning.

That boy does NOT listen.

But then, to be fair, I suppose it might be a little on the too-much side to expect control over subconscious actions from a six-year-old who watches SpongeBob Squarepants with as much devotion as I used to once watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, idolizes G.I. Joe and is convinced that Barbie is actually a troll who will eat anything with black hair and under the age of seven (i.e., Rocky Thermopolis-Gianini).

Anyway. Now that I'm up, I'd might as well use the peace and quiet of the sleeping household (an EXCEPTIONAL rarity, I assure you) to do something. Because unfortunately, I am one of those unlucky human beings who, once jolted out of their sleep, finds it fully impossible to return to the Land of Nod.

I scrounged out one of my old journals while searching for something the other day, though…one all the way back from the time I turned fifteen, in my FRESHMAN year at Albert Einstein High! You know, when that whole Rommel-tripping-Jangbu-Pinasa-the-Nepalese-busboy-at-Les-Hautes-Manger-and-costing-him-his-job thing happened, and Lilly decided to make out with him in my hall closet at my birthday party. Wow. That's pretty hard to forget, I guess.

Anyway. So I found the list of birthday presents I'd wanted for my birthday six years back, and I decided to make one for my twenty-first birthday (which is in twenty one hours!!!!!!!!!!!):

WHAT I WOULD LIKE FOR MY TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY

BY MIA THERMOPOLIS

AGED 20 YEARS AND 364 DAYS

(although a more practical list)

1) No Jangbu Pinasa-type incidents. Ha ha.

2) A new laptop (my old Lenovo is seriously acting up these days…it would so not do if it decided to auto-delete another folder like it did last week. Although thank goodness, it wasn't something THAT important…just a list of some sites I was curious to check out. I would have DIED if it was some of my writing!!!)

3) A pair of pretty, non-Doc Marten shoes I can ACTUALLY WALK IN. (Big mistake mentioning this to Grandmère without the ACTUALLY WALK IN part, though. She immediately dragged me to Chanel and forced me into a pair of black patent pumps with 4-inch heels, and made me practice walking in them while going all 'Oh, Amelia, I'm so glad you finally grew out of those hideous boots you are always lugging your feet around in!' Which, excuse me, but Doc Martens are extremely comfortable and practical. And besides, I do wear Converse high-tops, too.)

4) Contact lenses (I do not know why I don't have these already, actually. How I hated that day a year and a half back when the doctor told me, 'Princess Mia, the reason you've been having these headaches since the past few weeks which, er, make you, as you say – wobbly, is because you need glasses.' Plus it's super inconvenient to have glasses when Michael and I want to make out, because they get in the way of our kissing but if I take them off then everything goes blurry)

5) A copy of The Da Vinci Code. (I am absolutely dying to know what adventure Robert Langdon has next after Lilly forced me to read Angels & Demons but NONE of the three bookstores I've visited so far has a copy! Of the bestseller by Dan Brown!)

6) ???

OK, wow. I ran out of steam at just six. Guess there's nothing I really want…

OH! Another one –

6) End to world hunger.

Alright, I know that that's pretty much exactly as impossible for me to do single-handedly as it was when I was fifteen, but I COULD talk to Dad about a donation to UNICEF so at least a few more poor homeless kids like Johanna – the orphan Grandmère arranged for me to sponsor as my fifteenth birthday gift – get a decent meal and a set of clothes on their back. That would give me some peace.

I'm going online. I know that chances aren't bright of anyone I know being online at this time to IM me, but it's worth a shot.

Oooooo, I was right – it was totally worth a shot!!!! Michael's online! He just IM-ed me!

SkinnerBx: Hey Mia. What's up? How come you aren't sleeping?

FtLouie:Rocky decided to karate-chop me in his sleep again so here I am. What about you?

SkinnerBx: I guess it's a manifestation of my experiment.

Oh yeah…I'd totally forgotten about Michael's experiment to stay awake as long as he can and see how much time that would be. He managed to stay up for twenty-nine hours – which he says he isn't proud of, but I think that's really amazing – and then consequently slept for seventeen hours straight. So I guess he's wide awake now with that much sleep under his belt.

FtLouie:Ha ha. Well...I wish I could say the same. About being wide awake, I mean. But I'm not. Because, you know, I've only gotten about three hours' sleep.

SkinnerBx: Oh. Well, are you awake enough to pick between silver, black and orange?

FtLouie: Huh? What for?

SkinnerBx: Just pick.

FtLouie:Um, orange, I guess? That would match with Fat Louie's fur. Ha ha. What is it for, though?

SkinnerBx: You'll see.

FtLouie: Nooo! Tell me!

SkinnerBx: You'll see soon enough. Anyway. Do you have any plans tomorrow?

FtLouie: Yeah...Tina's taking me shopping. Apparently she saw the most gorgeous stretch-satin spaghetti-sleeved Nicole Miller dress at SoHo and says it would be an unforgivable sin if I didn't wear it for my birthday dinner. (A/N: This is an actual dress! If you wanna see which one, go to this link: .tv/nicole%20miller%.) Ha ha. Why, though?

SkinnerBx: Hmmm...whatever that is, I bet it'd look gorgeous on you! ;)

Awwwwwwww!!! He is SO sweet! I have the best boyfriend EVER!

SkinnerBx:I was asking because there's this new Chinese restaurant downtown which apparently serves dim sum as good as Number One Noodle Son. So I was wondering if you'd want to grab some lunch there. But it's okay if you have plans with Tina. We can always go next weekend.

Although the claim that anyone can sell anything better than food from the Number One Noodle Son (there's a REASON it's called NUMBER ONE Noodle Son!) is pretty hard to swallow, it's quite a steep claim to make...Tina and I decided it's worth investigating.

FtLouie:Oh, me and Tina were planning to go there for lunch tomorrow! I think Boris is coming too. Why don't you come, too? It'll awesome!

SkinnerBx: Sure! I'm in. What time?

SkinnerBx: Mia? Are you there?

SkinnerBx: Mia? Is everything alright?

SkinnerBx: OK...I guess you fell asleep after all. Anyway. Goodnight. I love you! Call me tomorrow about the time. Bye.

Well, how was it? Please review! I shall update soon :)