A/N: Hey, guys! I got a laptop for graduating, so as long as I'm not super busy hanging out with my friends and working, I'll have more updates for you guys this summer. 'Cause now I can use the computer whenever I feel like it, instead of having to share a desktop with my dad who is working on getting his doctorate. Which sucks for me, since he was always using it, But that doesn't matter anymore. I think I'm over my writer's block for now. So, enjoy!

Xo,

Hailee

When I walked into the nurse's room, Gerard was holding a bag of ice to his eye, and looking completely pathetic to gain sympathy from the nurse. I sat next to him on the cot and tried not to smile at him.

"Are you mad?" he questioned me, putting the ice down next to him. His eye was a little red and swollen, but it hadn't bruised yet.

"How can I be mad when you look so adorable?"

"Oh, I'm adorable now?" He grinned.

"Of course you are, Gerard."

I laid my head on his shoulder and linked my arm through his. "I didn't mean to start anything with Frank. He just pissed me off when he called you a whore."

I shrugged. "You don't need to fight battles for me."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Have you been crying?"

I sighed heavily. "Yeah, I spent all 7th period crying in the bathroom. Everything was starting to get to me."

"God, Roslyn, I really didn't mean to fight with Frank."

"I know you didn't. It's fine. Obviously something's going on with him. He usually doesn't act this way. I don't think it's just about us."

He nodded. "At least I got a wicked cool battle wound out of it."

I scoffed and gave him a look. "Really? Your mom is gonna be pissed."

"Eh, I won't tell her all the details. I can always say I ran into a pole or something. It's plausible."

"I'm sure she'll totally believe that."

"She has before…the last time I fought with Frank."

"Yeah, Ray said it wasn't the first time you guys have acted like this. I thought you guys were best friends."

Gerard and Frank had never acted weird around me before. They always seemed like really good friends. They got along well and spent a lot of time around each other. Even when they were sort of fighting over me earlier this year, they never said bad things about each other or anything like that. There was mutual respect between them. It's hard to think things had ever been bad between them.

"We are…or were. He confronted me about my drinking problems a while ago, and things got really heated on my part. Mainly because I was out of control and he was concerned about me. I don't blame him. No one wanted to say anything to my face about my drinking because they were scared of what I would do. Frank was the one who stepped up and said something."

"Yeah, that's Frank for you…"

I didn't really want to talk about Frank anymore. I was sorry I even brought it up.

Gerard cleared his throat. "So….you guys are having girls night this Friday…"

"Yep. That's pretty much long overdue."

"Are you going to paint each other's nails and watch girl movies and shit?"

"And gossip, you forgot that."

He smirked at me. "And summon demons with your Ouija board?"

I laughed. "No, Ouija boards scare me. Ghosts and demons are evil and I'm too much of a pussy to mess with the supernatural," I said mockingly.

Gerard frowned. "Ghosts are scary!"

"Okay, Gerard."

"What? They are! Especially those poltergeists. I mean, you've heard those stories!"

"Yes, and I promise not to summon the dark powers with my Ouija board, okay mommy?"

"You're mean."

"I know. It's why you love me."

He kissed me. I got that feeling in my stomach again, those obnoxious butterflies he always gave me. I guess that meant he was forgiven.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked him.

He sighed. "I don't know, are you sure I can walk in my condition?"

I shoved him lightly. "Come on, Gerard. I'm sure your brother wants to talk to you."

He groaned. "Yeah, probably. Okay, guess I better get this over with then."

He thanked the nurse for the ice pack and grabbed his backpack and we headed to Mikey's locker to see if he was there. He was leaning against it talking to Alicia quietly about something. As soon as they saw us approaching, they said goodbye to each other and Mikey walked home with us. We obviously couldn't rely on Frank ever again for a ride.

Now that I was staying with the Ways, I felt the need to contribute something to them. I know Mama Way didn't think I was ungrateful for them taking me in after what happened with my mom, but I didn't want to sit there and not contribute, either. I had some money in my savings account, and I was going to get monthly checks, but I felt like I needed to step up to the plate and start working again.

I'd had a job when I turned 16 and it hadn't been that bad, besides the fact the boss was kind of a bitch. But it had been good knowing I earned money that I could spend on myself, knowing I could do whatever I wanted with it. I failed the drug test after I'd started dating Tyler and they fired me, and I hadn't bothered to find work again. But I figured it would be about time to start looking again, now that I had bigger things to worry about. And plus, I needed some more money if I didn't get a full ride to Juilliard like I was really hoping for.

They hadn't said anything about the video I'd sent in along with my application. As in, I hadn't gotten a call for an interview, and it was making me really nervous. But, you know, it was only December, they probably haven't gone through all the applicants anyway. I was just really impatient when it came to my life goal of acting. I wanted to know if I made the cut, if I was good enough to make it in Hollywood.

Mikey and Gerard bickered about things the entire walk home. Mikey grabbed some food to eat from the cabinet, downed it really quickly while chewing his brother out, and then announced he had to go to work.

"Well, how are you getting there?" Gerard asked.

"Frank," Mikey responded, and left before Gerard could say anything more.

I cleared my throat. "Well…." I said, not knowing really what else to say.

"He got a ride from Frank…guess that shouldn't bother me since they can still be friends even if he and I aren't…"

"But it still hurt 'cause you're his brother and you and Frank aren't exactly on best friend terms anymore?"

"Yeah. But I still got you, right? Frank doesn't like either of us at the moment. I guess we can live in a non-Frank bubble or something together."

"Sounds good to me."

"And soon he won't have to rely on Frank for rides. I've been saving my paychecks up to try and find a used car I can buy. And then I can just take him to work."

I grinned. "Is this just so you can show up Frank, or were you already planning this?"

"I guess now it's a little of both."

I shook my head. "Well, you might have to add taking me to work on your list if I get a job too far away."

He looked at me. "You're getting a job?"

"Well, yeah. I don't want to say here and just selfishly take everything from you guys. I want to offer something to this."

"Roslyn, my mom's not looking for your money; that's not why she's letting you stay here."

"I know. But I would just feel better about it if I can give her a little cash now and then for the extra groceries and stuff."

"Okay. Whatever you want."

He turned on the tv to some random channel while I opened up my English book and started reading the second act of Ibsen's A Doll House, the play we were reading in class. So far I didn't like any of the characters or the misogynistic view they had, but it was homework and it was the class I was doing the best in.

That night over dinner, I told Mama Way about my plan to put forth some money in exchange for letting her live here. She had the same reaction Gerard did, assuring me I didn't need to feel pressured to give her money and she would do just fine without taking anything from me. I told her that I wanted to, not just for her, but for me too. Mikey said he could get me an application for Barnes and Noble if I wanted to work there, and Mama Way offered to give us the car this weekend to go job searching if we wanted to. I took them both up on their offer.

By the middle of the week, nothing else as dramatic as the fight between Gerard and Frank had happened amongst our group of friends. People still whispered about me, which was my fault, since I had that breakdown in Pre-Calc, but it didn't bother me so much anymore.

Alicia and I were in the school lunch line getting food when we overheard some of the obnoxious, self-righteous jocks laughing their heads off at something. Anytime they do that, it always makes me suspicious that they're making fun of some innocent person or they're planning to beat some kid up, neither of which was good news.

"I don't think you need to buy that lunch you've got there, Jamie," one of them said. "I mean, aren't you big enough? You don't really need to eat all that, unless you plan on being a cow for the rest of your life."

"Seriously," another one of the lettermans chimed in. "How much do you weigh? It's disgusting."

"Yeah, just starve yourself!" another input.

I left my tray of food where it was sitting and walked over to the group of jocks all circled around a girl. She had her food at the register, trying to pay for it, and hugging her arms around herself, trying not to cry. Once I recognized it was Jamia they were picking on, I got even madder. I didn't really know the girl, but she had been nice to me the other day, and no one deserved to be called fat and taunted by these pompous jerks.

"Wooooow. Really? Telling a girl to go starve herself, now are we? I think you should take your own advice. How many pounds have you gained these past months? 15, 20 pounds?"

"Hey, muscle weighs more than fat!" he barked at me.

"Oh, I didn't realize your flab was considered muscle. My apologies, dickhead."

"What are you even doing here, bitch? Did all your little emo friends decide to kill themselves so they don't have to see your face every day, just like your mommy?"

I clenched my jaw, and could feel my face burning red hot. They didn't know shit. And they weren't going to get away with this.

"Shut the fuck up, this isn't about me. You just told her she's fat and to starve herself just because she's not a stick thin model. You don't have any right to tell a girl that. First of all, she's not even fat. Second of all, I'd stop shooting my mouth around if I were you before some girl like me goes around telling people things that you don't want others to hear."

"Bitch, you don't know shit about me."

"Oh, don't I? You forget I have friends who are guys. You might not know they exist, but they sure know you do. It's so easy being in the invisible part of high school. Makes it simple to hide and listen in on other people's conversations and find out about other people's medical conditions, you know?"

His eyes grew wide as he stared down at me. He towered over me, trying his best to look threatening. "Before this year is over, Monroe, you're gonna be sorry for this."

"I'm sure I will," I said back sarcastically.

He and his posse left to go sit at their table in the lunchroom.

I shook my head and looked at Jamia, who was still huddled in on herself.

"Here," I told the lunchlady, paying for Jamia's meal. I picked up her tray, put an arm around her, and led her out of the cafeteria, glaring at the jocks who were still staring at us with their own amusement. I sat her down at an empty picnic table and sat down across from her.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She shook her head.

"They had no right to call you fat!"

"They're right," she whispered.

"What? No they're not. Don't listen to them. I think you're a perfect weight."

"Coming from someone who is skinny."

I laughed. "Okay, I am not skinny. I just wear clothes that make it look like I am. Weight is all relative anyway. Who cares how much you weigh? I think you're beautiful, and I think your weight suits you just fine. Okay?"

She smiled a little at me. "Okay. Thanks for stepping in. No one's done that before."

"Ugh. That makes me sick no one will stick up for anyone else around here. It's so stupid."

"I guess they're all too afraid."

"Well, I'm not. I could care less what those assholes think of me. And besides, you were really nice to me on Monday. The least I could do was return the favor."

Her brown eyes smiled at me, and I realized just how much I wished I had met her sooner. "So why haven't our paths crossed before this? How come we haven't sat down and gotten to know each other yet?" I asked her.

Jamia shrugged. "I don't know…I just transferred here not too long ago. And I figured everyone else already had their cliques and friends and didn't want to talk to me."

"Jamia, can I let you in on something?"

She looked at me a little confused. "Okay."

"It's my first year here. I didn't know anyone, and I have the best group of friends anyone could ever ask for. Sure, they were all friends before I came along, but now I'm just part of the group. It's almost as if I've been friends with them my whole life. There are people out there who are going to accept you. You've just got to go out and find them, that's all."

She nodded.

"In fact, why don't you hang out with me and a couple of friends this Friday? We're having a girls sleepover night, and they aren't going to mind if you come along."

"Oh, I don't know. What if they don't want me there? Or they don't like me? Or if they feel awkward around me?"

"Don't worry, they're both really nice. You already know Alicia from class. It's going to be me, her, and Christa Henderson."

"The Student Government Christa?"

"Yeah. She might seem a little intimidating, but trust me, she's one of the nice ones. She's dating one of my best friends and she's really been there for me lately."

"Well….only if you're sure they aren't going to mind."

"They won't. I promise."

Jamia nodded. "Okay then."

I smiled. "Cool. We're going to Christa's house after school. Since we have last period together, we'll just meet up with Christa at her locker."

"Okay. That sounds fine. Thanks, Roslyn."

"Ah, it's no problem at all. You actually seem like someone I want to get to know, so it really isn't any trouble at all."

Just then Alicia slammed two trays down on the table and plopped down right beside me. "Roslyn! Do you know how hard it was finding out where you were? And you just left your tray there in the middle of the line and everyone was getting mad at me because I didn't know where you were! And I had to pay for your food, so you need to pay me back, because I'm almost out of lunch money. What happened to you?"

I coughed at how utterly dramatic Alicia was making everything sound. She made it seem like I walked out of in the middle of performing heart surgery on a patient.

"Calm, down, Lish. Jackson and the guys were being really rude to Jamia, and I stepped in."

Alicia looked at Jamia now, just now realizing she was there. "Oh," she said, frowning. "Sorry."

"I, uh, invited Jamia to girl's night with us, too."

Alicia grinned. "I was so hoping you would. She looks like she could use a dose of fun time with Alicia Simmons. I make everyone's day seem brighter."

Alicia grabbed a roll from her tray and shoved it into her mouth. She chewed quickly, swallowed, and started launching into a tale about this guy from her French class. We all ate our food and listened to Alicia talk until the bell rang for 5th period.

"Is she always like that?" Jamia asked me as we were walking back to class.

I chuckled. "Uh, yeah, pretty much. But you'll get used to it."

"Well, this is my stop. I'll see you in 7th?"

"Yep. Bye, Jamia."

"Bye."

I smiled as I walked to my class. Jamia was kind of like me, in a less depressed and screwed up way. She was that kind of shy new girl who I knew had a lot of fun and personality waiting to come out when she meets the right group of people. She belonged to her group. And more importantly, I think it was good to have another girl around besides Alicia and Christa. It would be fun to get to know someone else for a change, someone more like me. It could benefit both of us.

In 7th period, Alicia and I worked on our classwork with Jamia until our teacher told our class we were all being too loud and make us work separately.

Once we all got back to the Way house, and Gerard and I were in his room all snuggled up on his bed, he asked where I was today. "I haven't seen you at all today," he complained. "You missed lunch with us."

"I'm sorry. It's just the jocks were bullying this girl I kind of know, and I ate lunch with her instead."

"That was really nice of you."

"Yeah. Well, she was kind of really nice to me the other day when she found out about my mom, and I didn't want to see anyone get hurt by those guys. Anyway, I invited her to Christa's on Friday. I think we can actually become friends."

"Yeah, until she meets all of us."

"Hey, if she can handle a whole night of Alicia, I think she passes the test."

"Maybe. Guess we'll have to test that theory."

I smiled at him. "Well, look at you, inviting more people into our group."

"Well I am definitely not Vampire Guy anymore who shuns people he doesn't know anymore. Meeting you changed that."

"Stop making me blush, Gerard."

His hands moved to my waist, pulling me closer, and put his lips onto mine. "Never," he whispered.

And then he kissed me again and again until I couldn't think about Jamia or anyone else any longer. We wrapped ourselves in each other again.