The weeks passed, some slowly, some quickly. Winter faded into spring, and was getting ready to move on to summer. Coats and hoodies were traded for slip on jackets and vests, and long sleeved tops were traded for short sleeved ones. My decorating hobby had caught on, and by now, almost every girl had at least one hand decorated top. I was thinking about starting decorationg shoes. I was actually making a list when Cammie ran in, followed closely by Bex. I watched open-mouthed as Bex tackled Cammie onto one of the beds. Liz ran in thirty seconds later, and tried to pull Bex off of Cammie, but it didn't work out too well (and that's being nice). I would have helped, but they were both laughing, so I felt sure that Bex wouldn't kill Cammie.

Or at least I hoped so.

"Um, guys?" I said.

"Don't even bother. They won't listen to you."

I looked over at Liz. She blushed.

"No! I didn't mean they wouldn't listen to you. They won't listen to anyone. I don't even know what they're fighting over."

"GIVE. IT. BACK!" Bex gasped, still laughing.

"NEVER!!" Cammie cried, being overly dramatic.

"WOAH!" Liz yelled. Cammie and Bex froze. I just stood there. It was pretty shocking to hear Liz use that tone of voice. "Stop it. One of you give Val the disk." Cammie silently handed it to me. I just looked at her. "Val." I turned to Liz. "Load this on your laptop. We're trying to access Blackthorne's records, but I can't create a distraction and get the files at the same time."

"So you want me to be the distraction?"

She nodded. "And that," Liz pointed at the disk in my hand, "is the best firewall program I've ever made. Your computer will be safe."

"Alright. Now?" I asked, moving to my laptop. Liz nodded. They watched as I put it in the drive and started downloading the files. In minutes, I was logging into the Blackthorne database, with Liz right behind me. I started messing around while Liz navigated to the part of the site she needed. After a few minutes, a box popped up on my screen telling me that I had a new email.

"Uh?"

"What's wrong?" Liz asked.

"Someone on this site just emailed me."

"That's weird!" She said, looking up. "You don't even belong there."

"Yeah..." I trailed off and clicked on the READ NOW button.

From:

To:

Subject: Testing Materials

Lucy,

Rm. 228 is out of paper towels. The Gallagher girls in the class keep using them. They seem to hate getting acid anywhere near them. Babies.

Add this to their total expenses list. I want to win the bet.

--Donald

"Well that was weird..." I said, looking up.

"What happened?" Cammie asked, coming to sit by me.

"I think there's a bet going on about how expensive we are."

Cammie laughed. "Wow. It looks like it. How much is the bet?"

"No idea. Hang on." I clicked on the REPLY button, and started typing.

From:

To:

Subject: RE: Testing Materials

Donald,

Will do. How much was the bet for again?

-Lucy

Cammie, who had been looking over my shoulder, laughed. "Nice."

***

"So can you believe that they have a four hundred dollar bet that we'd spend more than the boys?" Cammie said, finishing the story. We had gathered all the girls together in the dining hall. I looked around, and saw lots of wide eyes. We had not only found out the amount of the bet, but also that the girls currently were losing by fifty dollars. While Liz had finished up getting the information she needed, Cammie, Bex, Macey, and I had come up with a plan to increase the boys' spending by a lot. We didn't want to have to lower the girls' spending, but it looked like we might have to.

"Don't leave the light on if you can help it, and don't shut off lights in the boys' rooms. Little things like that will matter, trust me." Liz said with a laugh.

"And if you can get into any guy's room, use stuff up. Like tissues. Or take a roll of toilet paper. It'll cut down on our expenses and increase theirs." Macey said with a grin.

Ten minutes later, as everyone was leaving, I looked over at Cammie. "Do you feel bad about rigging it like this?"

She shook her head, and then shrugged. "Not really. The boys probably know about it." She paused for a few seconds. "Okay, I do feel a little bad. But oh well." She laughed and stood up. "Come on. Let's go steal toilet paper."

"IT WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE!" Macey yelled, and I laughed. This could be interesting.

***

I always liked the library. It was quiet and peaceful. I could spend hours in there (it's been proven). So naturally it was the place I chose to go to when my roommates were loud. After about half an hour, things got too quiet. I sensed movement next to me, and felt someone looking at me. I turned around slowly, and let out the breath I'd been holding.

(A/N: Sorry it's short... I ran out of things to do. I'm not reading the third GG book until I finish this story. AH. So I'm going to write like CRAZY. Um. I broke up with my boyfriend. Haha. He was really mad. Oh well. Then when I went to England [IT WAS AMAZING!], he hit on two of my best friends. Sloppy seconds much? Bleh. I wanna go back to Chicago [we stopped there on our way back from England]. Reviews? Love you.)