I won't respond to any reviews this chapter, since they all made the same point. That moment when you realize everyone wants a seven year old girl to have her face beaten in...


(Janet's POV)

Today was Sam's birthday.

It was mutually agreed that I hand out all the birthday invitations. So, at school, I randomly handed out invitations to anyone within arm's length of me. For the most part, I didn't really think about it when I handed out the invites.

Until I saw her.

It was Alyssa Geraldine. I noticed that her face was still bruised after Amanda punched her and knocked her on the ground the day before. She was lounging about, away from the crowd of kids.

Good for her. She deserves to be ignored after hitting Sam.

But, I look at her eyes and... is she crying? My gosh, she looks sad...

No, Janet! Keep a hold of herself! You have to hand out the invites to everyone for Sam's birthday party. But, Alyssa's one of the only people not getting invited...

Stop it! For goodness sake, Janet, keep your niceness in check and ignore her!

...Okay, that's it. Just turn around, and forget you ever saw her crying...


"Hey, Alyssa, you want to come to the party this afternoon?" I asked Alyssa as I handed the invitation to the younger girl.

Gah! Why did I just do that! Janet, sometimes you being overly nice can be such a BAD thing!

Alyssa looked shocked, as I was that I'd just given an invitation to Sam's bully. "Um, thanks," Was all she said.

Oh my gosh, what will Sam do when he finds out I invited Alyssa to his birthday party?! Okay, Janet, don't freak out, Sam will understand... but then again, I've known Sam for less than a month. Sure, he's part of the family, but we technically haven't spent much time together. Who knows how he'd react when he finds out that-

I was suddenly picked up from behind. I nearly broke out into a scream.

"Janet, who is it?" I recognized Isabella's voice, and I calmed down. Isabella didn't put me down, though.

"Uh, this is Alyssa," I introduced. "She and Sam haven't been having the best luck with each other, so I invited her to the party."

Isabella set me down, and I turned to face her. She had an unreadable expression, but that said a lot. I'd been able to recognize that whenever Isabella's face went blank, she was planning something, which usually wasn't a good thing.

After a while, Isabella broke into a smile and said, "Okay, Alyssa, you can come to our party. Have fun, and you'll make a lot of friends."

Without another word, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the hallway.

I wasn't sure about Isabella. Something seemed fishy about her. But hey, it was just an innocent birthday party.

What could go wrong?

(End POV)


"I can't believe I'm nine, today!" Sam shouted to David and his parents in Janet's room, which Sam shared with her. The other three smiled for him.

"Yeah, and the party's starting in, uh, let me see," Felix said and looked at his watch. "It's starting in about ten minutes."

Moments later, the door opened, and Isabella slunk in, a smile on her face.

"Hey, guys, can I talk to Sam, alone?" She asked innocently. The other Barrets nodded and left the room. The moment they were gone, Isabella sat down on the bed next to Sam.

"You didn't tell me your bully was a girl," Isabella said, causing Sam to fluster from embarrassment. Isabella went on.

"Oh, it's all right," She reassured. "It can be hard to deal with a girl bully. But, remember what I told you. Don't let her gender make you step down, that'd be prejudiced."

"Yeah, Bella, I know, but she is still seven," Sam said.

"Who cares?" Isabella asked, and Sam thought he heard a note of bitterness in her tone. "That girl is a brat, and she needs to be taken down a peg!"

Sam gulped a bit as he thought it over, but those thoughts were sidetracked when he heard the bell ring downstairs. He and Isabella walked downstairs to see who had come to his party.

It was Amanda.

"Hi, Sam!" She said as she hugged him and picked him up. "I can't believe you're nine, now!"

"Yeah, now I'm your age!" Sam commented happily. Amanda paused for a moment, then set Sam down, saying, "No, you can't be. I'm turning ten this year."

Sam chuckled, and then, another family arrived. Followed by another. And another.

Quicker than expected, the house was packed with those invited, as well as their family members. Sam guessed the reason why they'd all come so quickly was because he was the somewhat-famous mirror boy who saved the city nearly a month ago.

The thought of that made him think of Mirror Isabella, and he remembered that her scheduled visit was tomorrow. He wished she could've come on his birthday, which seemed more fitting.

David snapped Sam out of his thoughts. "Hey, punk, you going be part of this thing or not?" He asked. Sam put his thoughts about Mirror Isabella in the back of his mind, and joined the rest of the party.


For a half hour, the partygoers ate cupcakes, junk food, and drank Kool-Aid. They played videogames in the living room and watched movies upstairs. Sam was able to sign autographs from some of his younger fans.

Isabella, during the whole party, had been sitting on the stairs and chatting with her friends, Ophelia and Pandora. Secretly, though, she was stalling, waiting for when Alyssa Geraldine would show up. She'd told Janet not to bring out the birthday cake until she came, reasoning with her that everyone should be there when the birthday cake was brought out.

It'd been a half hour already, but everyone was so occupied with their partying that they hadn't noticed. Isabella was beginning to wonder if Alyssa would even show up, but eventually, she came.

Alyssa showed up, totally alone, without her parents or anyone else. She had a smile on her face, but Isabella noticed a hint of doubt in it. But what Isabella also noticed, was that Alyssa had a tiny birthday present in her hand.

This was the moment. Isabella flew down the stairs and walked over to Janet, who was playing a videogame with her friends.

"Janet, Alyssa is here," She said. "Go get the cake."

Janet obeyed and set off to find the cake. Then, Isabella soared over to Alyssa.

"Welcome, Alyssa," She greeted with false enthusiasm. "Good to see you."

"Where's Sam?" Alyssa asked bluntly. Isabella pointed Sam out, as he played the videogame with the other children. Alyssa shoved past Isabella and walked over to him, stepping in front of the video screen.

Isabella secretly chuckled when she saw the look on Sam's face when he saw Alyssa at his party. This was definitely going to be a party to remember.

"Hey, Sam, I guess it's weird seeing me here," Alyssa said awkwardly, while Sam continued to stare at her in shock, his video player falling out of his hands with the game still on. His jaw was dropped in utter disbelief.

"Your sister invited me here," Alyssa added, and Sam's expression changed. He grimaced at the thought that Janet would do something like this to him.

Alyssa held out toe present for him. "This is for, Sam," She said, forcing a smile.

Sam got up off the ground and stared at Alyssa, then looked up at the stairs. Isabella was staring at him from the stars, and she slammed a fist into her palm as a silent signal.

Sam bit his lower lip as he thought of what to do. He had two options here: trust Isabella or Alyssa. The former was his older sister, who cared for him, and who always looked out for him, even if she was often in the wrong. The latter, was a girl who'd picked on him for days.

In that split-second, Sam made his decision.

And it would be one that he would regret.


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