"Socks" Nyx said. "Check" looking down into her case, doing an inventory check.

"Do you want breakfast?" Skye said, peeking into her room.

"In a minute-what is it anyway?"

"Toast, eggs and sausage" Skye teased. Nyx was about to remark and half gag on how much cholesterol was in that. "Just Kidding-Cereal"

Nyx laughed. "OK-cool-I'll be there in a few" She finished wrapping the last parcel in the comic newspaper, and folding the last of her robes. She put her hands on her hips and sighed confidently.

*

"Mail Call" Audrey yelled. "Nyx and Riles" Handing Nyx a very important- looking letter and a package to Riley.

"Oh crud" Nyx groaned.

"What is it now?" said Riley, not even averting her gaze at the letter inside the box from her mother, who was in India.

"I failed" she replied.

"AGAIN!-we helped you study for this one!" Skye shrieked.

"What is this? The 6th time you failed your driver's test?" Lelani asked.

"9th" she grumbled back.

Nyx wasn't very normal, her mother gave her monthly driving test-written and physically. The first time she was 10 she smashed into a letterbox in Glendale, CA, the second time, she caused a back-up on the 405, the third, she freaked out when she thought she was going to run into a bee, and crashed into a stoplight, so on and so forth. She had the car replaced several times, her mom, always giving the banged-up ones to the poor.

"So what did you do this time?" One of them said with a mouthful of food.

"I hit the curb on 4th street while parallel parking" She had to admit, she was doing better.