Chapter 2

"Luca! Luca! SPEAK TO MEEEE!" Stacey cried at the first hospital bed she came across.

"Stacey, that's not Luca," Mallory corrected, gesturing to the shaken old man lying in the cot.

"Well, either way he's pretty hot," commented Claudia, tossing her inky black hair to allure him. She was so cool.

"You are DISGUSTING, Claud," Mal spat acidly, barely able to repress her intense annoyance. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but back at Stacey's house...she had agreed with everything Maureen had said.

"Oh, go shove a pike up your arse, Pike!" Claudia retorted testily. "You need to grow up and start showing some attraction to guys. After we visit Luca, we're going straight to the mall to buy you a new wardrobe."

"Please slanty, you are so not going to take me. I want Stacey's help and Stacey's help only," Mal retorted, running after Stacey's retreating figure.

Soon, the three girls reached Luca's room and had positioned themselves around his bed. Luca had a few bruises and cuts on his face. His normally silky brown hair was scraggly and disheveled.

"Luca? Please, babe, it's me, Stacy McGill, formerly of New York City", Stace whispered softly in his perfectly-shaped ear.

Mallory decided to finally find out if she was attracted to guys. She silently counted to three and then pressed her lips to Luca's chapped ones.

"Mallory, what the fuff are you doing? That's my boyfriend you're frenching!" Stacey screeched, grabbing Mallory's shoulder.

Woah, am I actually frenching? I'm so advanced already, Mallory thought to herself, exploring Luca's mouth. This is...fun.

Although Mal was having such a great time frenching the Swiss hottie, she couldn't get Jessi's beautiful face out of her mind. The more she thought about Jessi's hot bod in a tight black leotard, the more she enjoyed frenching Luca. I can't believe I ran out on Jessi like that. She was my first best friend, Mal thought in her head. But I need to move on with my life. I NEED to be as sophisticated as Stacey.

Finally, Stacey wrenched Mallory away from Luca's mouth and gave her a little smack on the face.

"If you want to be in my posse, you need to find your own chicos," Stacey growled at Mallory's shocked face.

Mallory hung her head, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Anastasia. I-I wasn't thinking."

Stacey flinched. "What did you call me?"

"Uh, Anastasia?" Mallory managed to squeak, looking at Claudia for help.

"Let's get one thing straight. No one calls me Anastasia, except when I'm in trouble with my parents. So if you ever call me that again, I'll kick your butt straight to Antarctica and back again. Oh and you'll never see that bow tie again," Stacey finished with a smug smile.

Mallory took one look at the three faces around her and sped out of the room. She didn't stop running until she reached her house. She threw open the front door and locked the bolt.

"Hon? Is something wrong?" Dee asked, concerned for her unattractive daughter.

"Nothing! God, why must everyone hate me? Am I an ogre or something?" Mallory demanded to know.

Margo crept into the room, enjoying every minute of Mallory's cries for attention. "Hey, Mal Pal, what's wrong?" she asked, a smirk on her small face.

Mallory looked at her sister and gave a shriek of rage. She ran over and started strangling her with a random scarf.

"SCARF ATTACK!" Mal screamed, pulling the striped scarf tighter.

"Cool!" Adam shouted as he entered the room. "I'm betting on Mallory to win!"

Margo's face began to turn blue as Mal continued tightening the scarf around her tiny neck. "Heh-heeeh!" Mal cackled maliciously. She knew her little sister was starting to suffocate, but somehow...it brought her...joy...

"Mallory, stop it!" Byron cried, bursting over. "You're KILLING Margo!"

"I DON'T CARE!!" Mal shouted with sadistic glee. "THIS IS ALL I'VE EVER WANTED!!"

Jordan ran over to his two sisters and, using his ripped muscles, wrenched the scarf out of Mal's hands. As he did so, Margo flopped to the floor like a helpless paper doll, sputtered to fill her lungs with air once again.

"Mallory!" Adam whispered, tears running down his youthful cheeks. "What's wrong with you?"

"Geez, guys, can't you tell I was just kidding?" Mallory replied, trying to act casual. "Can't you take a joke? It was only a game."

"A game that I don't want to play!" gasped Margo, clutching her now-bruised throat. "I'm never speaking to you ever again!" With her brothers' help, she limped from the room, whimpering.

Mal was now all alone in the room. She stared down at her hands, disturbed by her own feelings. Why had that felt so good? Did it have anything to do with her strong urge to hold Jessi in her arms? If the triplets hadn't been there...she would have killed Margo. She just knew it.

Dee entered the room and stared at Mallory with a touch of fear on her face. "We need to talk about this."

"You do what you want because I'm not what you wanted!" Mallory shrieked at her mother, tears streaming down her face. She started cutting her wrists with the spine of her diary.

Dee rolled her eyes. "Stop that! What do you mean you're not what we wanted? Besides your looks, you're practically the perfect daughter."

"Well, I'm sick of being the perfect daughter! I want to be sophisticated like Stacey McGill!" Mallory yelled, staring her mother down with rage.

"That slut? I never wanted you to be friends with her. She has nothing to offer you," Dee replied.

"Except everything!!" Mallory screamed. She flung herself facedown on top of Vanessa who was calmly writing a poem about totem poles.

"Mallory, please get off, for soon you'll surely start to cough," Vanessa told her older sister.

"Oh, you were never a good poetess! And you never will be. Freak!" Mallory exclaimed, spitting on Vanessa in the process.

"Mallory!" Dee said, shocked. "Never speak to your sister in that manner! You know that we're counting on Vanessa to make us more money with her poems."

"Well, they suck. Always have!" Mallory responded with venom in her voice.

"You're just jealous that guys look at me when they must and don't fall over in disgust," Vanessa retorted, calmly eyeing her sister.

Mallory jumped on Vanessa and started to beat her up with loathing. "I've always abhorred you! You and your stupid poems!"
Vanessa didn't even try to fight back. Instead, she waited for Mallory to finish with the abuse, not even flinching once.

Dee also waited. She believed in raising her children in a liberal way. Finally, Mallory tired herself out and lay on her bed, panting.

"Mallory, if this behavior continues, I'm afraid we'll have to put you into a psychiatric ward," Dee told her insane daughter, watching to see Mallory's reaction.

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. I'm not a basket case. And besides, you know that you can't get along without me. You count on me for free baby-sitting! You can't afford to have me gone!"

Dee sighed. "Actually, we can. Your father has a new job. One that might change the way we live forever."