A/N I messed up my back on Monday and therefore have been houseboound - the result of not warming properly before Hockey, let that be a lesson to all of you! - and so you're in luck. An update! Thanks for all the reviews, I think last chapter was the most popular yet!

For Megan. :-)


TODAY'S HEADLINE: THE OTHER WOMAN SPEAKS OUT!

"It was just an honest misunderstanding!"

Chapter Nine

Detention

"Stay there, both of you. Don't move until I get back."

Detention.

That is what you get for fighting with your sister on school grounds.

I sit slumped in my seat, pulling my notebook out my bag so that I can doodle. Anna is the other side of the classroom, blowing bubbles with her gum and scowling at me. As soon as Sister Ernestine was out of earshot, she came to sit at the desk in front of mine.

"I can't believe you broke my wrist." She gestures with her bandaged hand. "Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be now to paint the nails on my right hand?" I roll my eyes at her, and she checks the door to make sure that Sister Ernestine isn't coming back. "What were you doing holding hands with Jesse anyway? Are you two going out now or something?"

"We're not dating," I assure her. "He was just the only friend I had – I have. You turned the whole school against me; no-one else would even look in my direction. Not that many people paid attention to me in the first place anyway." Anna looks thoughtful.

"You don't like him at in that way?" she asks. "Jesse, I mean. Not at all?"

I chew my lip. "He's nice enough," I answer. "I mean, he's smart, and he's caring. But he just doesn't have the looks that… well, that Hector has." I blush at the reference to my sister's boyfriend, and she looks furious. But not for the reason I think.

"Are you crazy?" she demands. "He's the spitting image of Hector – he even has the same scar!" I think now and realise that she's right. "Only Jesse's scar is bigger. It's from a dog bite – this huge dog attacked Hector when he was a kid, and Jesse tried to help and ended up getting just as hurt." I laugh slightly at Jesse's heroism. Anna shakes her head. "You know, if I didn't love Hector so darn much I'd try to make a play for Jesse. God knows Hector hasn't got even one working brain cell."

I look up from where I'd been staring at my desk. "You love Hector?" I ask, surprised to realise that my heart isn't sinking at all. She nods, and then smiles sadly.

"Sorry, Suze," she says. "I know now that it was really unfair of me to make a move on him after you'd adored him for so long. I guess I kind of thought that I'd make you feel like crap after the years that you made me like that." My mouth dropped.

"What are you on about?" I asked, standing up indignantly. "It's been you – Little Miss Popular – making my life hell since sixth grade, when you first discovered kohl and bras. That was when you became Queen of the School, and I was left behind as your dowdy little sister." Anna's eyes were wide.

"No, Suze!" she cried. "I may have been superior to you socially, but you never had Mom asking you 'Why can't you be more like your sister?' every time you brought home a test with a big fat F on it. You never ever got an F! You might need tutoring in math, but I need tutoring in everything. Unless I pass Geometry, English, Math, World Civ… I'm not going to graduate, come senior year. God, the only thing I'm passing is Gym, and that's because Sister Mary Margaret is as blind as a bat." She blinks at me. "Are you getting this now?"

Before I could answer, however, Sister Ernestine comes back into the room. "Miss Simon!" she yells, and both of us and jump and ask 'What?'. Sister Ernestine sinks back into her wooden chair and corrects herself. "Miss Anna Simon. Get back to your seat." Anna rolls her eyes but heeds, her high heels clacking on the floor as she moves across the classroom.

"We'll talk later," I mouth.


"You know, I wish we could have talked like this years ago," I say, digging a spoon into my frozen yoghurt thoughtfully. "We could have spent so many years being… sisters instead of enemies. Don't you think?"

"Yes," Anna agrees, tucking into her own frozen yoghurt. "And who would have thought Hector would be the one to bring us together?" I laugh. "So, are you going to get with Jesse?" I blush.

"Anna," I say, embarrassed. "I don't know how I feel about him yet. I mean, this morning he was just my friend. It's kind of moving a bit too fast for my liking. I'm happy with the way things are."

"You mean with your unrequited crush on my boyfriend?" Anna asks, teasingly. I shake my head.

"That's definitely over," I assure her. "I think I've realised over the last couple of days that whatever I felt for Hector wasn't real. I was just in love with each and every one of the characters he played. In real life he's as dumb as a doorknob." I glance at my sister. "No offence."

"None taken," she replies. "He's stupider than me. But he makes me feel beautiful – a movie star. And he makes me look smart." We giggle girlishly. Anna suddenly sobers, and she lowers her voice. "There's someone behind us – don't look. But he's been following us all the way from the school. I kind of recognise him."

We stop and sit down at a little table, chucking our empty yoghurt bowls into the trash can. I pretend to scoop my hair to the opposite side, trying to sneak a look at our supposed stalker. At the sight of him, I suck in my breath.

"Ann," I whisper. "That's Paul Slater." She frowns at me.

"The news guy? From Vedette?" I nod.

"The one and only. Why do you think he's following us?" Anna shoots me a look that can only be described as 'duh'. "He still wants a story?"

"Well of course!" Anna exclaims. "It's all your fault for making out with my wasted boyfriend." I scowl at her and stand up. She does the same. "Good idea," she says. "Let's run. Where we heading?"

"The car," I decide, and we start running towards the parking lot. I check behind me to see that Paul is following – still walking, but faster than he had been before. "Ann, he's still following."

"We'll take a short cut," Anna mutters, and turns a corner. I chase after her trying to warn her.

"That's a-" We come to a stuttering halt. "-dead end," I finish. Anna turns to look at me in horror. But she's doesn't get the opportunity to say anything.

"Hello, ladies," Paul says smoothly. "Why the rush?"