-: It's been a while. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy this update as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's been a long time coming, but I'll try my best to update often now x :-

"Sooooo... Does this mean you'll be workin' with Minho for the next week? At his house?" Lex asks down the phone. I can hear the excitement in her voice and it reminds me of when we were little kids, eight or so. She had this crush on a boy called Stephen and wouldn't shut up about him. Just one glance at him and her cheeks would turn bright pink. Looks like I'm going to have to deal with that all over again. As if the next week isn't going to be bad already.

"Yeah, Lex. And yes, you can take me over to his every night. Okay?" I sigh.

Lex sniffs down the phone. "This isn't about Minho."

"Oh really? I thought everything was about Minho." I reply. Maybe that was a bit harsh.

"Why are you in such a bad mood? You don't understand. You never understand. I'm going to speak to Kris. See you in an hour," she snaps.

The line goes dead. I plug in my headphones and turn the music up. I hate days like these - days when nothing's going to go right, and I might as well lie in bed all day. But if I did that, my mum would lecture me on how I'm so lazy and need to get out and live my life. Sometimes I just don't care. I reach into the half empty packet of malteasers on my bedside table. Slowly shovelling the sticky balls of wonder into my yawning mouth, I'm glad my Fall-Out-Boy t-shirt's black, or there'd be way too many chocolate marks on it for me to wear it anymore. Now that would be a tragedy. My phone starts ringing. Huh, maybe Kris didn't pick up so Lex's calling me again. I pick it up, and answer without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello," I mumble.

"Indie! Hi, I was just wonderin' if your friend wants to come over later while we're doing the project. Y'know, that redhead who looks like Amber only prettier." It's Minho! I wrinkle my lip in disgust. Why can't he last more than a day without having some girl who's fresh, adoring heart he can break? Amber was one of his previous girlfriends, she dyed her hair the same colour as her name. Looks like Minho wants a repeat.

I don't want Lex to date Minho. Not ever. He's a jerk, it's as simple as that. But what can I say? "Kay, I'll ask her for you. She probably doesn't want to, just so you know. But yeah, I'll ask."

Minho sniffs down the phone. "Sure. Yeah. Okay. Well then. Right. See you then."

There is a click followed by silence. Maybe I shouldn't tell Lex, I think. Everyone knows he's a jerk, yet for some reason everyone still practically throws themselves at his feet, begging for his hand in marriage. Gross. I sigh. Oh well, if Lex wants this...

My hand subconsciously finds its way into the bright red packet again. More chocolate. Some days I think that's the only good left in the world: food. Surprisingly, I'm not actually overweight. Just a bit chubby in the face area, like an overgrown hamster. I lean back and squish my head into my pillow. Despite being fully dressed, I'm partially submerged in the depths of my duvet. It's eleven o'clock. I should probably get up, Lex is taking me to Minho's in an hour. I better not be late.

As Lex's tomato-red truck pulls into the spacious drive of the Park's prestigious mansion, I check myself in my phone reflection. Strands of unruly hair refuse to stay put, and the concealer under my eyes seems to have done absolutely nothing other than make the dark under my eyes a bit more smeary. Emerging pimples on my nose make me look like I did when I went as Rudolph to the school Christmas party. That would be a little more acceptable if it wasn't summer. At least I made a small attempt to cover them, even if it wasn't with the best foundation. Foundation about three years out of date.

Speaking of appearances, Lex sat next to me looks like Ariel. Slightly shimmery turquoise fabric is twisted round her body in the form of a modest yet elegant dress. Her hair is woven into a fishtail plait which winds its way down her spine. Glinting pearl earrings are a pretty contrast to her fiery locks. I sigh. She looks so gorgeous. I look back down at my outfit, a casually thrown on pair of jeans and my black tee. Wait, let me correct that - my tee is no longer really that black, it's really dark grey from wear. I look like a slob. Lex looks like a princess.

Opening the door, I slide myself across the seat and stand up, whacking my forehead on the door frame as I do so. Pain. This is pain. As I tenderly rub the purple bruise making an appearance on my forehead, Lex practically drags me to Minho's front door. If this were a musical, she'd be singing and jumping and clicking her heels right now. Before she can even knock Minho's there, grinning like Jaws would if he were a person. Waves of cologne stifle me, and I choke back a cough. That really stinks.

"Lex, how nice to see you!" he purrs. "I'm glad you came!"

Oh, I nearly shout at him. This performance seems like it's been performed many a time before. What with the gelled hair and the beaming smile...ew. Turning to Lex, but I almost drag her back to the car. Her cheeks are pink, and she's twirling a loose strand of hair in her fingers while she gazes at him. She's besotted. How? I know she has a crush on him but hell, how does she not see how fake this is?

Minho smirks at me. He knows he's got Lex wrapped around his finger. "Well then, you'd better come in."

I wait and watch in horror as he takes my friend's hand and leads her into his massive house. I follow them to the lounge. Everyone's there from last time other than Miya. Ugh, I forgot about that. I'm such a slinthead. Wow.

Chuck appears from the shadows in the corner of the room. He waddles up and smiles at me enthusiastically. I smile back. He's the only person in this room I wanna talk to right now. Muttering a 'hi' to the rest of the room, I disappear to my computer and set to work. Diagrams of the Killzone are scattered across the screen on the file I started last time. I pride myself on my PowerPoint skills. I already have a little brain in the corner of the page that I animated so it spins in circles. I'm so cool. Nerdy is cool. Well, it would be if I was queen. Queen Indabelle the first. My name is super posh, so I'm halfway there. Shuck, I'm getting sidetracked. I need to finish this project as soon as possible. The populars are really getting on my nerves.

The rasp of chair legs being pulled across the floor signals the arrival of Chuck. He slumps down next to me. "Indie," he moans, "what the shuck? Why are you looking at pictures of brains? Are you, like, a part time zombie?"

Rolling my eyes dramatically, I grab his chubby face. "Braaaaaiiiiinssss," I wail. He giggles and slaps my hands away.

"The shuck is going on back there?" It's Minho. I yell back that nothing's wrong, pulling a face that only Chuck can see. I guess I'm not really like any of the others girls who ever come round here. The populars are used to swooning, giggling girls in skimpy dresses who're pouting their lips. Then one day they have a jean wearing, barely caring girl who doesn't lie in puddles so that they don't get their feet wet. Not that anyone's ever done that. I think. But, as you can imagine, being here I feel like...well, like an ugly duckling, I'm that out of place. However, unless puberty performs some miracle, I'm not gonna be a swan.

I can hear the conversation from the other room. They're going on about how weird some kids in our year are. One sec, did someone just say Frypan's name? I start to listen.

"Yeah, him and that other guy, Winston, they're so gay," starts someone, I think it's Kizzi.

Another, probably Ben, agrees. Harriet chips in to say that 'there's nothing wrong with being gay, slintheads'. She then adds something about how someone fairly popular isn't straight, and that no one thinks that's a problem. Good on her.

Suddenly Teresa aims the conversation at Lex. "You're friends with those guys," she sneers. "What's their deal? Are they gay?"

I can practically hear the tension in the air. Lex's reply is so quiet I can barely hear it. "Umm, well, y'know, like, I'm not that closeto them. But yeah, hah, probably."

"Why are you even friends with them? How do you manage?" Minho asks cruelly.

"Friends? Ahah, yeah, they're kinda my friends, but, like, I prefer you guys." Lex replies. My eyes sting. Why would she say that? How could she...what?

I can feel my shock bubbling into rage. Like some demon monkey, I fling myself out of the chair, storming passed a wide-eyed Chuck. Past the snickering populars I go, right up to my 'friend'.

"Ooh, Lex, I'm sorry but I think I must've heard you wrong. What was that about your 'kinda friends'? What was that about Frypan and Winston? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" I scream in her face.

She looks up at Minho for an answer.

I'm done here.

Seething and unable to work my vocal chords, I storm out of the mansion. I keep walking out of the drive until I'm out of sight. I collapse into tears. Trembling, I take my phone out of my back pocket and open my contacts.

When Frypan arrives to pick me up, he's on his parents' Dominoes Pizza moped. He practically drags me off the verge and deposits me on the back of the bike. He plants a helmet on top of my disheveled head of hair. "It'll be a stuffed crust tonight, I'm guessin'." I don't think anyone could say anything more comforting right now.

Did I over react earlier? I dunno. Probably. Pizza makes everything better, I've learnt over the years. Today is no exception. Sinking my teeth into the squidgy cheesy crust, I sigh as I watch strings of yellow stretch like tightropes from the pizza to my mouth. Next to me are Frypan and Brenda, on top of us is a blanket, and in front of us are pizza boxes and Finding Nemo. Frypan's brother's obsession is catching.

I still can't honestly believe Lex. She literally disowned her own best friends. I mean, maybe she didn't mean it that way, but that's how I took it. One half hour with the populars and she's already wishing she never knew her own friends. My list of insults is growing inside my head by the second. Frypan called Brenda because he thought she'd be comforting. As it turns out, we're both just seeing who can think of the most descriptions for Minho. If I tell you that the nicest ones are bad enough to shock the kids that hang out in the allies with beers and cigarettes, I think you'll be able to work out how bad the worst ones are. Damn Janson. One homework assignment, and here I am, pitifully cramming food into my mouth and reciting every line from a Disney movie I haven't watched in years.

"It's all cool, Indie. Tomorrow Lex'll come and apologise, and it'll all go back to normal. She was just being stupid. Blame Minho. I swear he poisoned her. That's why she was bein' so rude. Yeah, I bet he drugged her." Brenda reassures me.

I snort. "You and your conspiracy theories. Not everyone is part of a soul sacrificin' cult."

Brenda shoots me a very serious look. "Ya never know, Indie. My uncle Jorge is in the Secret Services. It's best to keep an open mind."

I gulp back the laughter. Last time any of us laughed at Brenda's superstitions, she forced us to watch five hours of YouTube videos about secret cults and organisations.

"I'm not sayin' that the populars are a cult, by the way. Actually...oh my gosh. What if they are? They could be! Maybe that's how they-"

"Right, Brenda, Indie, I think you'd better head home. It's gettin' late. The films over. My brother'll be sleepin' and I don't want ya wakin' 'im up. Shoo. I need my beauty sleep." Frypan interrupts.

"Awww, lil Ketchup!" Both me and Brenda coo simultaneously. Ketchup is Frypan's brother. That was his first word, ketchup. It was hilarious how miffed Frypan was. In his eyes, ketchup ruins the flavour of all good food, and using ketchup on anything other than chips is an insult to the chef. To be honest, that's kinda why we call him that.

Taking the hint, me and Brenda hug each other and Frypan, then leave for home. It's funny how when friends are what's bugging you, the solution is friends.