Alicia,

"Piper Amelia Rivera," I ran my finger over her soft cheek, and she stared up at me with her big green yes.

She was three weeks and three days old.

And she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"We'll be back soon, by midnight at the latest. And we'll stop and pick up some diapers. And baby formula. And do you want pizza?" my mom asked as she put her pearl earring and had my dad put my expensive pearl necklace on.

"Mom, we'll be fine."

This morning, everything finally went through.

Piper's mom was about my age.

When her parents found out that their baby was pregnant with the star quarterback's baby, they freaked out, and they took their daughter out of school as soon as they found out, taking her on a tour of China to "find their heritage" and enjoy their last few months with their daughter before she went to college, but they were just trying to hide her pregnancy.

The problem was that Mary wanted the baby, and the father, blonde and green eyed Will, wanted Piper, too. They spent the last month fighting for Piper, but they finally realized that Piper would have a better life with us.

And it might have had to do with the fact that I pulled them aside and said that they could see Piper if they called me.

God, why was I being so…. nice?

But I couldn't help it.

Whenever I looked into Piper's big green eyes, I just couldn't stop.

It was almost like a high when I first held her.

It had worn off a little bit but not enough for me to be me anymore.

"Of course you will, Alicia and boo-tih-fuh Piper," my mom smiled at my little sister.

My mom had gone into baby-mode as soon as she saw Piper.

Which is why I was so surprised that she was going to the charity tonight.

She had been planning this Charity for three months, and she hadn't anticipated that this would be the day we got Piper. And she couldn't get out of it, no matter how much she tried.

"They'll be alright, Sweetie. Now we're going to be late if we don't leave," my father reminded my mom, taping his expensive watch and smiling as he watched the three girls in his life.

The three girls in his life.

Wow, that felt weird.

I was used to being one of the two, and, for a while, I was used to being the only one during my mom's eight month long NYC-Shopping-Addiction, when she was rarely home.

"Bye," I let out a weak wave to my parents, and I stood to let Piper wave good bye.

Oh great, I was like those dorks on facebook who post pictures of them making their dog wave to the camera.

But I couldn't stop.

Piper was a dose of LBR-LCD.

And I strangely luhved it.

"We'll be home soon."

"Mom. Leave."

"Okay, okay," my mom held up her hand in surrender.

And this time she finally did, though my dad had to drag her out of here.

Piper's nursery was all situated, and everything was here for the little baby.

Everything but her new parents…

"And I thought leaving me in my crib with a nanny while they slept was bad, they completely left you," I smiled weakly, rolling my eyes.

They'd be here for Piper, I knew they would, but I still felt something in me that wanted to come back every now and then and see that they were doing it right.

And my clueless parents would miss a lot of things if I let them because they'd think that they had it all under control since they already raised a kid. They would be dumb enough to buy H&M purses for her first day of school which would leave her teased. They would give her a credit card for her thirteenth birthday and be shocked when they saw the bill, taking it away. And they would be crazy enough not to get the unlimited plan when she got her first smart phone.

"You know, I almost had a baby once," I smiled at Piper as I got up from the rocking chair and turned on the MTV marathon of Sixteen and Pregnant.

Piper stared up at me with her bright green eyes.

"Well, I wasn't pregnant. But I thought I was. And it caused a lot of problems, too," I smiled weakly.

Piper's un-judgmental eyes kept watching me.

I knew that she was only a baby, but I had a feeling she wouldn't have judged me anyway.

"Being Alpha isn't as much fun as I thought it would be," I admitted, "I pictured it as being the queen of everything. Setting all the trends. Dating the cutest boys. Being loved by all. But it isn't easy to be loved by all…"

And I just kept going.

"I will always be compared to her, to Massie. And she comes in, and it's like, Alicia who? And, if things weren't bad enough, she took Derrington! I mean, why couldn't she stay with her perfect life in England with her quirky friends and castle and super-amazing boyfriend and everything else? Why did she have to come back and take everything from me?"

I would have kept going and going, but then I noticed I was screaming and Piper was about to cry.

"No, don't cry, Baby. I just wish I could start this summer over again."

That was the only thing I could decide on.

A few months ago, I could make decisions in an instant and trust them forever.

Now I can't decide on anything.

"Besides, why should you cry when you're the lucky one, huh? You have your entire life to find out who you want to be. I am the one who did everything to become this person and isn't even sure that this is who I want to be."

Dylan,

"Think about it, Dylan. CW wants you. They want you on a show, a serious TV show. A drama about the new girl in the modeling school, and they want you to play the star, Bre!" Georgia smiled, and I stared at her across the table.

Josh had left about thirty minutes ago, but it felt like an eternity.

"That's an amazing offer," I tried to play coy, but I was freaking out inside.

I could be the next Allie Abbot!

No, I could be better than Allie Abbot.

This was her show, I guess, but Bre could be the next star.

I was already America's Sweetheart.

Give it a year, and I could make my character just as loved as Allie's Sara.

"Wonderful, Darling! I'll just get Allie on the phone. She's in New York City with her friends for the weekend, and I'm sure I could get her here before she leaves for LA for shooting-"

"Wait, what?" I stopped, and Georgia stopped from pressing the send button on her iPhone.

"You don't want to meet Allie? Well, you'll get to know her well in LA, I'm sure. And, since you'll be playing her new roommate, you'll have to work together a lot. So, I guess I just thought you would want to meet her now-"

"No, no, you said shooting. Why would she be leaving now?"

"The new season starts shooting in two weeks."

I froze.

"What?"

"Didn't I tell you that?" Georgia shrugged, getting another glass of Sweet Tea from the pitcher, "I could get you in the up-in-coming apartment building that all of the stars are dying to get into, and you could pick something out later. But you'll need something at the beginning of shooting, and you won't be there long before we get on a plane to Paris for six months after Reilly runs away to France because she thinks she is pregnant-"

"Paris? Six months?"

"You have a problem with it?" Georgia knit her eyebrows in confusion.

She hadn't even thought that I would have a problem with it.

A few months ago, I wouldn't have.

By this time, I would be in a car driving to NYC to meet Allie Abbot and send Brenda searching for the perfect apartment in California.

But now?

I had my friends and I had Josh. And I didn't want to give that up…

"Paris? And LA? In a few weeks? I mean, that's pretty sudden," I pushed my hair behind my ear.

"Dylan, this is the big break you've been waiting for forever. And you want to give it up because you have plans at the end of the month?"

"Georgia-"

"Dylan, I love you and I love your Momma. That's why I fought so hard for your benefit. I want you on this show as Bre Quinn, a small town girl in the big city of LA to follow her dreams and become a model. Isn't that what you want?"

"Can't I just have some time to think about it?"

"Listen, we start shooting soon, and they need someone cast to replace Trixie O'Donald after she left to make that horror movie. We want you, but, if you take too long, we will choose someone else."

I stared at Georgia and she smiled apologetically.

"That's life, Baby. I wish it was nicer, but this is Show Business."

"How long do I have to think about it?"

"Seventy-two hours. Then the deal is off the table."

"Seventy-two hours?"

"Dylan, we need an answer, Baby. I want you for the role, but, if you don't take it, I will give it to someone else."

Someone else.

By someone else, she meant Alexis.

Alexis had been America's Sweetheart before me as the star of This Is How We Do It, a soap opera that she had been on since she was thirteen. When the Pilgrims (Alexis's family's name on the show) left the show for a while on an agreement that they could always come back for a big soap opera return, Alexis tried to be a film star.

We both went after the same movie as our first role, and I got the part.

Ever since then, we had been enemies, trying to see who was better.

"Alexis Noah," the words felt horrible coming off my tongue, and I began to worry that I would vomit all over Georgia's light blue business suit.

"She wants the part, Sugar, and I tried to get you in it. But, if you take too long, Alexis will be Bre, you understand?"

Her southern sweet accent made me want to vomit any more.

Somehow, her voice made it sound sweet, but she was really threatening to give the best offer I had ever gotten to my worst enemy.

"I'll think about it," I finally told Georgia, and she smiled.

"Well, Darling, I've got to get to the City by dinner. Chess and I are going out tonight," Georgia smiled, and she pulled her sunglasses to sit on her nose instead of being used as a hairband to pull back her blonde curls.

Georgia looked like the actresses she recruited for her shows.

She had long curly hair that looked like gold in the right light. She had silky navy blue eyes, and she had gotten the perfect body from playing tennis with her superstar tennis player fiancé Chester Tyler. And she never had a moment of imperfection.

Whoever she had as her stylist, I wanted them.

"Goodbye, Georgia."

She let out a cute little wave before letting herself out the front door.

And I finally met myself think of what just happened.

Eh. Ma. Gawd!

Kristen,

"You're home," my cousin stared at me, giving my outfit a once over.

When she moved back in for the summer, I had spent most of my time elsewhere.

For the last two nights, I slept on the futon in Bay's office. And, last week, I stay a while in Layne's house, but the neon had eventually started giving my headaches. After a fight with my cousin though, I was about to dial up Dylan and ask if I could stay in one of the guest rooms at her place, even if that did mean cameras all around me.

Today, I had to borrow some of Bay's clothes, but I tried to make it unnoticeable.

I wore a belt with the polka dot tee shirt to help make her c-cup shirt work with my b-cup chest. My blue skirt was mine, and I had to borrow a pair of Bay's sandals since my Nikes were still in the wash after going for a jog in the rain. My short hair had been curled by Bay with a braid pulling it out of my eyes, and I had borrowed Layne's leather jacket.

It wasn't really me, but it was better than wearing a sweaty tee shirt and jeans all day.

"Yeah, came to get some clothes. I was staying with Bay," I told her, and, though she had never met any of my friends, she knew them from GG.

Sometimes I could swear she was fifteen…

"Sure, Bay," my cousin nodded, rolling her eyes, and she reached into her hot pink prada bag.

I narrowed my eyes at what she was implying.

"Listen, I found thes in the mail. They're addressed to you," my cousin handed me the packages as if she was carrying a bomb.

I made a mental reminder to find someone else to stay with tonight.

"Thanks," I rolled my eyes and put them in my leather tote as I quickly darted up the stairs and into my room.

When I got into my room, the mail was the last thing on my mind.

I quickly shucked off the borrowed clothes and turned on the shower.

I took my time scrubbing the hair spray out of my blonde hair, and I took even longer to wash Layne's make-up off my face. By the time that the hot water was cooling down, I turned the shower off and reached for a towel.

While I was wrapping the towel around me, my gaze lingered on my back, where I had a tattoo of a soccer ball.

For my eighteenth birthday, my friends and I all went out, and we were feeling a little crazy. A few drinks had helped us along, and Anna and I were laughing about how funny it would be to get a tattoo. We kept talking about it, and, by the end of the night, we were yelling at each other about whose idea it had been to get the tattoo as the pain began to set in.

Soccer….

I had to admit that I missed it.

I pulled a cute orange dress on and forced my hair into a ponytail, and I was about to start packing up some clothes to get away from my cousin when I came across the mail again.

"Right… the bomb," I rolled my eyes, and I tore open a random envelope.

I gasped.

We would be delighted if you would join us this fall….

"Ehmagawd!" I hugged the paper.

I'm in.

The best college in the state of New York for medical research.

They want me!

I kept reading through, and I looked to the bottom, smiling even wider.

"On scholarship for the soccer team!" I began to laugh I was so happy.

I could worry later how I would tell my mom. For now, I just wanted to enjoy the high that came with knowing that I got into my dream school. I had applied to others in case, but this was the one I wanted more than anything.

I didn't pay much attention as I reached for the next letter, knowing that it was probably from another college or something.

I opened it slowly, mentally thinking about what the letter from the college had just read.

"Eh-ma-GAWD!" I smiled as I read through the paper, feeling my heart race with every word.

They-they want…. me.

Me!

One of the best soccer teams in the world wanted me, right here in New York!

I looked through the rest of the package, still skimming over the letter.

A brochure on the team. A little booklet full with numbers that I may need to call to learn more. A picture of the current team, and a bio of every player that had accepted to play with them this year.

I felt like a giddy school girl as I ran to my cell phone charging, and I fumbled with the iphone, searching for my mom's contact.

I was about to press the button and was planning how I would tell her the wonderful news when I suddenly looked back and saw the other letter.

From the college….

Oh God, I-I forgot.

I put the phone back down and stared at the two letters.

Which one did I want to take?

And I only had two weeks before I had to make a decision…

By then, they would take my silence as a decline, and I would be completely screwed.

I moaned and threw a little sculpture of cupid to the wall, sending it breaking into pieces.

"What was that?" my cousin had to yell for her voice to be heard from the kitchen, and I quickly slid on my shoes and shoved clothes and the letters into a bag.

"Nothing! I've got to go!" I quickly ran down the back stairs so I wouldn't have to see her.

Claire,

I licked my ice cream cone as Cam reclined into the bench and stared at the band practicing.

When I had gotten out of my shift at work, I was about to call Todd since he was borrowing the car to go somewhere with Blaire, but then Cam came out from a music shop with his guitar. And, like Cam, he hadn't noticed that I was trying to avoid him, had come up to me.

When he asked me to go to a cool band playing in the park, I had caved and agreed to come.

It actually wasn't as bad as I had assumed when I got here.

But I hated that I hadn't at least had a chance to change out of my sherbet jeans.

"So, whatever happened to your band?" I nudged Cam, and he shook his head.

"Let's face it. We practiced once a year and just sat around laughing and playing video games the rest of the year."

I began to laugh, and I nodded in agreement.

"You're horrible."

Cam smiled, and I rolled my eyes.

"So, what do you do know?"

"What?"

"I mean, without practice. We broke up when the band split."

That was the easiest way to describe how he had chosen Layne's side over mine, claiming that he didn't know who I was anymore or did he want to know.

"I don't know. I focused on soccer, started working at the store. And, when I started dating CeCe, she was so demanding that free time became an old memory."

I hesitated.

I knew that we would probably have to talk about CeCe and Erik later on, but I didn't expect it to be this early.

"Why did you start dating CeCe?"

Cam, shocked, looked up at me, and I tried to seem more interested in my ice cream cone than what we were talking about.

But I was so interested it that it almost hurt.

Why had he gone to her? Why had he stayed with her?

And why did he never even think about trying to reconcile me after all those years together, even though he really hated CeCe?

"I don't know. She was pretty, and she as a cheerleader. And all of my friends dated girls like her," Cam shrugged, knitting his eyebrows in confusion as if he was still trying to figure it out, "Why Erik?"

"I don't know," I shrugged.

But I did know, but I wasn't sure how to tell him that I had to get away from Cam by dating Erik.

"He was there. And he was nice. And he was good to me, and things were great between us. So," I shrugged, "it just happened."

That wasn't exactly it, but it was pretty close.

Well as close to the truth as I would ever tell Cam.

"Yeah," he nervously ruffled his hair, "I get there. He's a nice guy and everything. I just… you know, wish I hadn't…. ruined it for you guys."

"It wasn't just you, Cam. It was… well, it was us."

"Don't you remember, Claire? I kissed you."

"No, no, we kissed. You didn't…" I trailed off as the memory hit me, "Ehmagawd."

"Yeah," Cam shook his head, "You remember now. And you hate me now."

"No, no, I don't. I kissed back."

I wasn't lying.

It didn't change anything in that manner.

But why had he kissed me?

As I looked back at him, suddenly I saw something else.

Actually, I saw our romantic comedy flash in front of my eyes.

It was something that I would go to see.

Where the couple were together since they were young, and they broke up on a fluke. They went along dating people to try to get away from each other, but they couldn't, no matter how much they tried. They went along for a few hours becoming friends, but then a big moment would happen that would lead them to get back together.

And then they would live happily ever after with three kids and a cute little house in the country club.

God, was Layne right when she teased me about me and Cam?

Actually, was everyone right when they teased us?

Could Cam and I end up together at the end?

Had everything worked the way it did so that we could get back together?

All that pain, all of it.

Maybe it was worth it.

"I'm going to grab another ice cream. Do you want another one?"

I shook my head as I kept licking at my chocolate ice cream, and I couldn't help but watch Cam go to get an ice cream cone, though I tried to make it look like I was watching the band.

How could I have been so blind?

Cam was the perfect guy all along.

Though I felt silly for doing it, I began to imagine what I would tell our kids.

That we had dated as middle schoolers?

Or that we had fought for years before realizing it was love?

But then Cam reached in his pocket and brought out his cell phone.

His face fell, and his jaw tightened as he began to talk to the person.

He slowly started walking to me, and I could only hear what he said before hanging up.

"Fine, I said I would come, okay?" he pressed the end button and put his phone down on the bench, trying not to seem as angry as he looked.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I just-I just," Cam looked around for an excuse, "I forgot napkins, I will be back in a minute."

He quickly started towards the ice cream cart again, and his phone began to buzz.

I didn't pry, I really didn't.

But his phone had a preview of the text pop up.

You better come, Cameron.

But my eyes were stuck on the contact.

I gasped and looked back to him.

"CeCe."

Maybe it isn't like that, my anger began to grow, We're just friends, if that.

Massie,

"Why did you come to the pool without a swimsuit?" Derrington asked as he took a drink from his fruity drink and pulled his raybands off to look at me.

"I'm wearing a swimsuit," I rolled my eyes as I flipped the page of Elle to some story about a new up-in-coming artist.

"No, you are wearing a cover-up. Girls don't actually come to the pool to swim," Derrington told me as if I should have already known this.

"They don't come to the swimming pool to swim?"

"No, they come to show off. There are two times when a girl can dress like a slut and no one can say anything. Halloween and when they go to the pool. Look around," Derrington motioned to the crowded Country Club pool.

I had to admit that he was kind of right.

There were probably three girls in the pool and triple that flirting with boys outside the pool and even more tanning in their barely-there bikinis.

And who do you think was leading the action?

Skye Hamilton, the one who made this pool the best hangout during the summer.

And she seemed to have moved on from trying to steal James to taking Derrington away from Maggie.

Derrington didn't mind, actually he loved it.

Maggie, on the other hand, stomped off after calling Skye a few choice words.

Maybe it was the mimosa's working or maybe it was just trying to show up Skye after our little spat a last summer, but I wriggled out of my purple sheer cover-up to reveal the bikini that I had to hide from James when I left since he was still upset about Derrington seeing me in my underwear.

And Derrington's eyes widened.

It's not like it was anything he hadn't seen before, but he had had a few drinks now and didn't have to worry about James killing him for staring.

And was it wrong that I liked that he was staring?

I brushed off the thought and reclined back into the chair, happily noting that Skye's jaw had dropped as she looked at me.

Funny what a few tennis lessons can do, huh?

I would have told her that, but that would require moving, and I was perfectly comfortable where I was.

"Tsk-tsk, John would have a heart-attack if he saw you like this."

"For the millionth time, his name is James."

"James, John, same thing."

"They are two completely different names-"

"So, does the rebel want to get in the pool?"

"No, I'm fine right here," I reached for my mimosa, and I was about to take a leisurely sip of it when I suddenly felt Derrington wrapped his arms around me.

I was so shocked that I couldn't even make out a scream as Derrington threw me into the pool.

I pulled myself to the surface and started splashing at him as he laughed.

"Derrick! You little son of a-" I was cut off by a mom putting her hands over her thirteen year old daughter's ears, who just rolled her eyes.

Derrington laughed harder.

So I did what every other girl would do.

I wrapped my hand around his ankle and pulled him in.

"This is a brand new watch!" Derrington pointed to his wrist.

"And these were brand new lowlights!" I pointed to my hair, which had once been a perfect curly ponytail and was now a wet mess.

"You can always get your hair redone!"

"You can always buy a new watch!"

Derrington opened his mouth to keep this going, but he just started laughing instead.

And I don't know what it is about Derrington's laugh.

Maybe it was the way his teeth were just as perfect as the rest of him. Or how cute his little chuckle was. Or how he held his stomach, doubling over as he laughed. Or maybe it was just because he was so hot that you loved everything he did.

But it warms you heart and quickly becomes infectious.

So, without meaning to, I started laughing at him laughing. And he started laughing at me laughing. And then we just kept laughing at each other until we started splashing.

Well, then we started laughing because we were acting like six year olds.

Had Derrington always been this fun?

Or had he gotten more fun as he got more handsome?

I wasn't sure, but I had to admit that I liked being around him.

"Too bad you're taken, Block. We are absolutely perfect for each other," Derrington kept laughing, and I was laughing to.

But then I began to think about it.

We actually were.

I loved how different James and I are, but I'm so similar to Derrington. We understand each other, our alpha ways.

Wait, I couldn't possibly be comparing Derrington to James?

I loved James!

And not that teenager kind of love where you swear that you'll love him forever but hate him two weeks later.

This was real love, and I would never give that up.

Especially not for a heartbreaker like Derrington.

But then what was I feeling for him?

Was this what I told James it was?

A brotherly love that came from being so alike?

Or was James right and it was something more?

No, it couldn't be…

"Come on, Block, let's go grab some sushi. I'm starving."

"Let me guess, I'm paying?" I laughed as I raised my eyebrows.

"See, you know me so well!" Derrington let out a wide smile.

Will Dylan leave or stay?

And is Alicia growing soft?

By the way, I started posting some of the outfits on Polyvore under HAWTgeek12345. So please check it out.