A.N- Gwen, as in Guinevere. (Gwin-eh-veer) If you can think of a better nick name tell me.

Chapter #1 The Hairbrush

Setting: Lissa, Alia, and Gwen's apartment. Alia is out of the house, and Lissa is looking for her hairbrush, as she is about to go out on a date.

"GWEN!" Yelled Lissa in frustration.

Lissa's carefully plucked eyebrows were knotted in frustration as she stormed around the house throwing things aside in her search for her missing hairbrush. She had a date in half an hour with an awesome guy she'd just met at work. Not only was he kind, intelligent and a hard worker, he was also the best looking guy she had laid eyes on since starting her new job. Unfortunately, her hair was still a mess.

As Lissa walked into the living room, she saw Gwen sitting on the fuzzy, soft, want-to–fall–asleep-as–soon-as-you-sit-down-couch, reading "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux. Gwen had always had a strange fascination with the book, as if there was some kind of emotional connection between her and the legendary Phantom. The soft spoken lady looked up from her book and replied in a quiet tone,

"Can I help you with something?"

"Have you seen my hairbrush?" asked a frantic Lissa.

Gwen observed Lissa, and for some reason got the image of a warrior storming a castle in her mind. Her long blonde hair was all in a mess, and her face was red from the running around and turning over any thing or object of furniture in her quest for her hair brush.

"Have you checked in the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Under your bed?"

"Yes."

"Under the desk?"

"YES! YES! YES! YES! I've looked EVERYWHERE and I can't seem to find myhair brush!"

"Have you asked Alia if she's seen it?"

"No, but she's not home right now!" cried Lissa. With an exasperated groan she dropped down onto the couch.

Gwen, feeling a pang of sympathy for Lissa, said, "Well…I suppose that…"

She was stopped short though of finishing her sentence. The girls fell silent as they heard the distinct sound of a key turning in a keyhole. The mahogany door swung open with a loud creak, and they heard the voice of their room mate. "I've got to get Paul to fix that!" muttered Alia to herself, as she walked through the door into the living room.

"Hello! Is anyone home?" she called out.

"We're in here!" was the reply.

Alia walked into the apartment's small, cream colored living room. She saw Gwen on the couch, perfectly calm, and as usual, without a hair out of place. Lissa however, was a whole different case. When she saw Lissa, in her creased pajamas and unkempt hair, she erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Well this is a site to behold! What's wrong with you guys?" She asked, as she carelessly shrugged off her purse and book bag into a nearby corner, and chucked her key onto the key drawer.

"Nothing…" mumbled Lissa, sighing in a melodramatic manner. "Except for the fact that I can't find my hair brush, and I have a date in half an hour!"

LIGHTBULB!

Lissa turned to her tall, olive skinned friend.

"Hey Alia, am I one of your BEST friends?" She asked, trying to sound innocent, and failing.

"Alright, what do you want this time?" asked Alia, rolling her chocolate colored eyes. She had known Lissa for a while, and whenever she put on an innocent tone (or should I say tried to…) she always wanted something!

"Well it's just that Miss-I-have-no-boyfriend over here doesn't know the importance of having your hair look good for dates, so I was wondering… COULDIPLEASEUSEYOURHAIRBRUSH?" the last few words came out in an incoherent rush, as Lissa gazed hopefully at Alia with her platinum blue eyes.

From behind her book Gwen bit her lip and tried hard to hold her tears in…. is it my fault I don't have a boyfriend? That no one loves me, or ever will? She thought wistfully…Just cause of this stupid face of mine! whispered the much loathed voice in her head.

"Lissa!" snapped Alia, noticing that Gwen's eyes had started to water, and her lip was starting to tremble. "You've hurt her feelings! How could be so untactful?" She glared at Lissa in irritation, moving quickly across the room to put an arm around Gwen's shaking shoulders.

"You very well know why she doesn't have a boyfriend, and you had to bring it up… Didn't you?" she said, still glaring daggers at Lissa.

The color drained from Lissa's rosy cheeks "Gwen, I… I'm…I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" replied Lissa, who promptly started bursting into tears alongside Gwen.

Gwen, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes and face, pulled Lissa and Alia next to her on the couch, so that one of them was sitting on each side of her. "It's alright you guys, she said quietly in a shaky voice. "I'm okay…it doesn't matter… This face isn't going away anytime soon…"

Because unless you're stupid, you've already realized that Gwen has a deformity on one side of her face. Even though they weren't poor, Gwen recognized the fact that she would probably never have enough money to afford surgery, especially for the prices they were asking for today.

Large tear drops flowed down from three sets of eyes to drip together onto three laps, as she desperately tried to comfort them. Eventually they fell asleep on the couch, all dreaming of the happy moments...Until...