Notes : Wow, I cant believe I've reached chapter 10. Thank you to everybody that has reviewed, It means a lot that you take the time to read and comment upon this.

Allison arrived home a little past four. Walking through the front door, she strolled past her dad who was sat on the sofa, ignoring her as per usual. Her mom was still at work. Allison's mother worked as some sort of supervisor in the local supermarket, or at least she did the last time anybody bothered to tell Allison anything. Heading toward the kitchen she kicked off her shoes, poured herself some juice and sat down on one of the hard chairs.

Her hair fell in her eyes and she blew it out the way smiling to herself at the action. The hair band that was controlling her hair had fallen out hours ago, and her well thought out outfit was now creased and splattered with paint. On Allison, it was impossible to keep any outfit looking decent, it was a good thing she didn't spend much on clothes. She looked at the clock, 4.15. It was hours until she could justify going to bed, she had done most of her homework in her free period and hadn't yet summed up the courage to call Andy. Which was ironic, she thought, considering how she had jumped him this morning on the lawn. As she thought about it, her cheeks blushed slightly in embarrassment, it was so out of character for her, but a change was long overdue. She had been alone long enough, although now, as she heard the front door slam signalling her Father had left, it would appear she was still alone, with no place to go and nothing to do.

She took her juice into the living room and sat down on the floor, her back against the couch. Grabbing the remote, she began flicking through channels absentmindly. She didn't venture into this room very often; it was the domain of her parents, so as such she didn't really get to watch a lot of TV. She preferred to lose herself in music instead. Her current favourite record was the prince album she had 'borrowed' from a teacher's locker on Saturday. She and Andy had found it whilst they were out getting cokes. Allison grinned as she remembered finding it, she had turned to Andy and said "You know this means? It means their human." Andy's face was a picture.

Turning her attention back to the TV she settled on watching a Spanish soap opera without subtitles. She often found it more amusing to watch these things and imagine what was going on without understanding a single word. She was really into an argument concerning two characters she had christened Carlos and Ramón (Ramón had slept with Carlos's wife from what Allison could tell) when she heard the phone ring.

She tore herself away from the argument and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Er hi. May I speak with Allison please?" It was Andy, Allison suppressed a giggle.

"Andy, It's me"

"Oh hey. Listen do you want to hang out? I mean I understand if your busy but.." Allison cut him off

"I'm not busy"

"Great" Andy paused, unsure of what to suggest doing. He had a feeling Allison was the type of girl that wouldn't be content to just hang out at the mall. Allison spoke first,

"My parents have just gone out, can you come over?"

"Yeah sure, give me a half hour?"

"Great, see you soon" Allison hung up the phone and let out a small yelp. It wasn't the first time he had come over, but now that school was out of the way, she was looking forward to some alone time with Andy, and a chance to maybe find out where this was going. Remembering her messy outfit, she headed upstairs to get changed, however she was only half up when the phone rung again. She went back downstairs and picked up hoping it wasn't Andy again calling to cancel.

"Hello?" She answered slowly

"Allison, is that you?" The voice said

"Claire? Are you okay?" Allison immediately grew worried, last she knew Claire had gone home and was supposed to be resting , but she knew something was wrong from the tone of urgency in Claries voice. Claire didn't respond straight away, and straining to hear Allison could make out muffled sobs.

"Claire?"

"I'm here" Claire responded.

"What's wrong, you sound awful!"

Claire managed a small laugh "Gee thanks.."

"No, I.." Started Allison, horrified she might have upset Claire further

"It's okay," Interrupted Claire "Can I come round? Only there's some stuff going on here and I need a friend"

Allison was torn, she had her heart set on an evening with Andy, but he was Claire's friend too, and she knew he wouldn't want to leave her when she was like this. Whatever had happened to her.

"Of course you can come round, but Andys coming too, is that okay?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to disrupt anything" Claire sounded hesitant.

"Its fine, do you know where I live?"

"Vaguely, I'll find it," Claire paused "And Allison, Thanks"

Gently putting the phone down Allison exhaled. Having friends was exhausting.

……………………………………….

Claire put down the receiver and stood up. She had been in her closet for almost an hour now. After much debating she'd called Allison. She couldn't rely on Ruth or Amanda for some advice and friendship. Any friendship she had with those two was purely superficial and she could see that now. She hadn't known Allison for very long and she was so different from any girl Claire had ever hung out with. Yet Allison, for all her problems and eccentricities had a wise aura about her. Claire didn't feel threatened or intimidated around her and that's the way a friendship should be, she thought.

She stood up and walked out to the top of stairs, she could hear her Mom talking on the phone. Relieved that the shouting had finally stopped Claire went back into her room. It was there she caught sight of herself in the mirror and if she hadn't been so horrified she might have laughed. Her hair was stuck up like something from a horror movie, black mascara trails run down her cheeks and her clothes were crumpled beyond recognition. She decided, that although she might have lost practically everything, her dignity wasn't going to be on that list. Even though things were far from fine, shit happens, and it's no excuse to not look your best. A proper Standish mantra if ever there was one.

Fifteen minutes later Claire was feeling slightly better. She had taken a quick shower, the hot water and steam comforting her worries away temporarily. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and got dressed in what was record time for Claire. She threw on an old college sweatshirt of her brothers and some jeans not bothering to apply any make up, after all who was she trying to impress? She gave her hair a quick brush and then headed downstairs once she was satisfied she looked presentable.

Reaching the kitchen Claire quietly grabbed the keys to her mother's car. Praying that her mother wouldn't notice, Claire crept out the back door and headed for Allison's.

……………………

Allison sat nervously on the couch. She didn't know why she was nervous, after all, it was only Claire and Andy coming round right? She suspected the nerves and butterflies were Andy's doing, and speaking of the devil, the doorbell rang.

Allison paused at the front door taking some deep breaths, and then she opened it. Andy stood there confidently and burst into a broad smile when he saw her. They stood there for a moment grinning like idiots at each other until Andy spoke first

"Can I come in?"

"Oh," Allison blushed. Andy smiled to himself, she was so cute when she did that. "Sure," Continued Allison "Just in here"

She moved to let Andy in and shut the door behind him. She sat down the couch and motioned for him to join her.

"Where were you at lunch today? I waited" Asked Andy sitting down.

"With Claire," Allison responded, she noted the surprised look on Andy's face "I know, but it was okay. She was kinda upset because she and John had had a fight already"

"I saw john" Said Andy frowning

"How was he?" Asked Allison

"Trying to act tough. But he told me what happened with him and Claire and I think I convinced him to talk to her, but I don't know if he found her or not."

"I'm guessing he didn't" Said Allison

"Why?" Asked Andy

"She went home after lunch"

"Because she had a fight," Said Andy disbelievingly "That girl is such a drama queen"

"Don't say that"," Allison leapt to Claire's defence "You didn't see her, she looked bad. Don't be mad at her, she's coming round any minute."

"Coming here?" Said Andy

"Yeah, she phoned just after you, and she asked to come over. I could hear her crying." Allison looked at Andy, studying his face. There was a few moments silence whilst he appeared to thinking something over.

"What time did she say she'd be around?" Asked Andy finally

"She didn't"

"So," Said Andy, leaning in towards Allison, "We might have a couple of minutes?"

Allison smiled and leaned in toward Andy, their lips met and brushed together softly. Andy moved closer toward Allison, brushed some of her face gently out of her face and kissed her again, this time with more urgency. Allison shifted slightly so she was leaning back against the arm of the couch and Andy moved so that he was practically lying on top of her, their lips never parting. Allison could think of nothing more divine than this. One of Andy's hands was running through her hair, the other slowly making its way up under her shirt. It felt so good she didn't think to ask him to stop, besides he wasn't really touching anything yet, just stroking her torso. His hand began to move a little higher however and Allison felt her heart pounding. They continued kissing passionately and Andy had almost reached her bra when the doorbell rung.