Author's Note: A huge thanks goes to Jester1979. Your feedback is awesome. Thanks, man! And...I decided NOT to make Marah evil. Instead of Marah and Lizzie ganging up against Sandy and Allie, it will be Eden and Lizzie. I just need to think of how to piece it together.

Chapter Two

Sandy stared off into space, lying in bed, afraid to fall asleep. Either that, or all of the coffee he'd drank was kicking in, and his desire to sleep had just flown away. He looked at the clock. It was seven thirty. He figured he should get showered and ready for the day, at least, before he went to see Shayne. He threw the blanket off of him, rolled out of bed and stretched. Not that he'd slept since he'd gotten back from talking to Allie, but he'd been in the same position since then, so he was having a hard time readjusting to standing up. He groaned a little as his back popped into place, and started toward the shower. After showering, he'd feel a lot more ready for the day. He let out a yawn and turned the shower on.

After he showered, he was far more awake than he had been. He looked at the clock now. He still had five minutes to dawdle before he absolutely had to leave. Not that he had to be there right when visiting hours began, he just thought that Shayne might want a little early morning company. More than likely, Marina would be there, and Josh would have spent the night, but a different face every once in awhile would do him a lot of good. He wondered if he'd see Marah, and how she would react to him if he did. He pulled on a black shirt and blue jeans, fixed his hair a little, then sat down on the couch to catch the last couple of minutes of Good Morning Springfield. Apparently, some poor soul was doing an exposé on the Spauldings, and they'd gotten an interview with everyone but Lizzie and Allie--and the children who could barely talk. He'd never imagined living as a Spaulding would be that difficult. Sure, the Spauldings all but owned Springfield, but they couldn't even have a slight family scandal without it being in the Springfield Gazette or on the nightly news.

He could only imagine what it would be like if the truth about Lizzie Spaulding came to light. He wondered what it was like for Allie, being the only seemingly normal person in the Spaulding family. Seemingly normal...every person has at least a couple of abnormalities. A couple...Sandy would give anything to get rid of most of his and be left with only a couple. He wanted to be normal...lead a normal life, with normal friends...a normal family--but that wasn't about to happen. Then, he started to think of Allie. She was beautiful, smart, funny...everything that Sandy could ever dream of in a woman. But she was also a Spaulding. What on Earth would a Spaulding want with a guy like Sandy--a guy with no friends, a messed up family and no one to talk to but an old mole puppet? He wished he could get her attention in some way. There had to be some way to get through to her, to show her that they would be at least semi-good together.

He sat back for a second, thinking about his schedule. He had a full day ahead of him. From about eight to nine, he had to go and see Shayne in the hospital. From nine to ten, he had psych class. From ten to seven p.m., he had to go to work at Lewis Oil. From seven to nine he had to go to the station and tape Sandy and the Mole. Suddenly, it struck him. That was the way to get Allie Spaulding's attention. She was a fan of the show! He could mention her on the show and ask her to call in, and then have 'the Mole' set her up on a date with him! It was ingenious! That was one of the finer points of having an alter ego that no one knew about. A grin crossed his face as he picked his keys up off of the table and he rushed outside to his car.

~~

Allie sat in the waiting room with Marah as she waited for Marina Cooper and Tammy Winslow to get done visiting Shayne. She grinned at Marah, who was talking on her cell phone with Tony Santos, patching things up, from their most recent argument. She hoped someday that she could have a relationship with someone like the relationship Marah had with Tony. No matter what they went through, they always found their way back to each other. She'd LOVE a relationship like Marina and Shayne had. They'd made it through a car wreck, a psycho stalker and plenty of emotional damage...so it was safe to say that they'd be in it for the long haul. Even a relationship like Beth and Philip would suffice. They were still friends, even after a divorce and a couple of breakups. She secretly wondered in her head if Sandy was the kind of guy who looked for a relationship with commitment.

Sandy...she was already thinking of Sandy and a serious relationship and she'd only just met him the night before. But there was something about his eyes that roped her in. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but he was so perfect. His smile, his eyes, his allure...she was charmed. She wondered if Marah knew about him, and what she thought of him. After Marah finished her phone call, Allie flashed her a curious look. "Marah..." she asked, raising a curious eyebrow. "Do you...by any chance...know a Sandy Foster?" a smile spread across her face when she said his name. "Like, as in, Sandy and the Mole's Sandy Foster?" she watched Marah's face.
Any trace of a smile depleted, and Marah's brown eyes filled with anger. "Yeah, I do know Sandy, why?" she asked with a harsh tone in her voice. "What about him?" she raised an eyebrow. "I take it you've met him or something of the sort?" she raised an eyebrow. She was becoming more and more curious with every passing word from Marah, of what Sandy had done or said.

Allie nodded, and wondered why Marah wasn't smiling. Sandy seemed harmless enough...what could Marah have so strongly against him. "Yeah, he's in my psych class and I saw him last night on that three-thirty walk I told you about. We talked a little bit and..." she stopped herself from telling Marah that she thought that she liked him, since it seemed Marah had a vendetta against him for some unknown reason. "Wait...what's the matter with him, anyway? What'd he do to you?"
Marah rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I guess I can tell you, since you need to be warned of how deceiving he really is, before you fall for him or something..." she leaned back in the waiting room chair. "Sandy and I were friends, but...he had a secret the whole time and he just, like, kept it from me. Actually, he had two secrets, one that he told, and one that he didn't..." she looked to Allie, wondering what she was thinking. Part of her knew, but another part of her also knew that you could never tell what a Spaulding was thinking.

Allie nodded and shrugged, wondering where Marah was going with this. "Everyone has secrets. I almost didn't tell you that I was a Spaulding, remember?" she asked with a slight grin. "I mean, you didn't expect him to just open up like a book, right?" she shook her head, knowing Marah wouldn't do that.
Marah shook her head and sat up straight. "No, of course not. But one of the secrets...the one he didn't tell me up until the other day...was something I deserved to know," she put her cell phone back into her purse and looked into Allie's confused eyes. "Allie, he's my half-brother..." she explained.
Allie expected some off the wall, outlandish secret that Marah exaggerated, like she did with almost everything else in the world, but this? This, she wouldn't put past a resident of Springfield. No, Springfield was definitely the center for all things weird, so she believed it. But she couldn't see why it would bother Marah to find out about a sibling she never knew about. "So...?" she asked.

Marah scoffed and looked at Allie, sort of offended. "So, you're telling me that if you were friends with Lizzie, and all of a sudden, she came out with the fact that you're sisters, you wouldn't be mad?" she asked with a disbelieving look on her face. "Come on, Allie..."
Allie laughed a little and shrugged. "Okay, that wouldn't happen, because Lizzie and I would never be friends. I do see what you mean but, if Lizzie was as nice as Sandy seems, then I'd more than likely be overjoyed to have her as a sister..." she told Marah with a slight shrug.
Marah shook her head and rolled her eyes again. "Well, that doesn't change my mind...but sure. Okay, now as for the secret that he did tell me? There isn't a Mole...like, the radio show Mole..." she blurted out loudly. "Well, there is, but...it's not human. It's not even alive..." she laughed a little as she spoke.

Allie raised an eyebrow. "What? I don't get it...where, exactly, are you going with this, Marah?" she asked, growing more and more confused with each word coming from Marah's mouth. "There is no Mole? Or...the Mole isn't a living thing? What is it, then?" she shrugged.
Marah snickered and sat back in her chair again. "A mole puppet that he's had since way back when he was young. I mean, it's weird, because Sandy does its voice, and he imagines that he's talking to the thing! I mean, come on!" she rolled her eyes and looked to Allie, who's expression was becoming the opposite of what she thought she'd get. Her eyes weren't filled with disgust. She actually seemed MORE enamoured with Sandy. "What's the deal with you, Allie? I just told you that Sandy is a weirdo...and you actually seem like you're still INTERESTED in the guy?" a confused look graced Marah's face still.

Allie was amazed. So...the Mole is Sandy...so when I said I was more of a Mole person...wow. He is...her thoughts were interrupted by Marah's rudeness, but she simply smiled and shrugged. "Well, the guy has a personality then! Just a bonus to add to an already great personality..."
Marah scoffed. "Allie, you're weird..." she stood up and stretched. "Are you coming to see Shayne, or not? Tammy's out of there, so we can go in now, since we know that nothing is going to drag Marina out of there..." she looked at the smile that was still plastered on Allie's face.
Allie nodded and stood up. "I'll come in..." she turned around for a second, hearing the door open and someone enter the hospital. Glancing at the two people quickly, she smiled as she saw Marah's father, Josh Lewis, talking to none other than Sandy.

Sandy looked up and saw Allie standing right before his eyes. A smile graced his face as they exchanged glances. She was definitely beautiful. He gave off a subtle wave, then went back to talking to Josh and sat down in a chair beside him, talking about Lewis Oil or something.
Allie waved back before he looked away, then went with Marah in to visit Shayne. Marina looked up at her two best friends and smiled a little. "Hey guys..." she spoke, still looking drained. "What's going on?"
Marah sat on the other side of Shayne's bed and smiled at him. "Hey, bro...how are you feeling today?" she asked with a smile as Shayne smiled back. "I'll take that as a positive sign..."
Allie leaned against the doorframe and smiled at Shayne too. "I can almost guarantee that in a couple weeks, you'll be talking again, man..." she sat in a chair across the room. "And then a couple more weeks after that, you'll be up and walking again."

Marina nodded in agreement. "And then it'll only be a matter of time before he's back playing baseball again. We talked about this with Tammy a couple minutes before you guys got here..." she picked a baseball up off of the table and put it in Shayne's hand. "He's already practicing pitches before he can even throw them. He's holding them and everything..." she laughed a little.
Marah grinned and laughed. "He's destined to play baseball, it's as simple as that..." she leaned her chin on the bed and sighed. Shayne was doing a lot better, but there was still quite a ways to go.
Allie glanced back outside again, her eyes falling on Sandy and a smile playing upon her lips. He was so gorgeous. It was almost as though she was destined to move to Springfield and see him in psych class that day. She turned her head quickly back to Shayne and flashed him a smile, too. "You know, maybe you could teach me some of the finer points of baseball, too. I really suck..." she laughed.

Shayne blinked once, signifying a yes answer. Then, Marina looked to her and grinned. "You'll be learning from the Cubs number one draft, man! Not to mention the best looking guy in the entire universe..." she winked and kissed Shayne on the cheek, causing a grin to spread across his face.
Marah laughed and looked at Allie. "You know, you could at least find a guy that deserves your attention! I mean, Marina found Shayne! Don't waste your time on Sandy Foster!" she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I mean, I found Tony, Marina found Shayne...keep looking! Don't stop just because you've found someone you think you like! You're not even sure yet, are you?" she asked.
Allie glared at Marah, an angry look in her eyes, but before she could speak in Sandy's defense, Marina was already doing that for her. "Sandy seems like a really nice guy, Marah. You said yourself that he's one of the greatest guys you know..." she looked to Shayne, who was looking toward the computer on the table, urging Marina to move it in front of him, so he could type something to Marah.

After she did so, all three girls moved over to either side of Shayne to see what he was typing. Slowly, he moved around to the letters, 'Marah, you should accept sandy.' When he finished, he turned his glance in Marah's direction, to see her reaction. Allie looked to Shayne with a smile, then looked to Marah. "Shayne's right, Marah. I mean, he is your brother, you know?"
Marah looked at Shayne, a sigh on her lips. "Shayne, I know you've accepted him and everything, but I don't know. I mean, he didn't keep it from you in the way he did from me. We were so close, and then he just came out with that one day?" she sighed.
Marina interjected with her point of view. "I'd be overjoyed if Sandy came to me and said we were related in some way! Regardless of whether or not he kept it from me, for however long. He's a nice enough guy, you know? I mean, give him a break!" she flashed Marah a friendly smile.

Marah went silent. Apparently, what they had said was making Marah think. Allie grinned and looked at Shayne, giving him a slight thank you for the help in turning Marah's thoughts of Sandy around. Shayne is an awesome person. Marina is lucky to have someone like him...she thought as she glanced back through the window at Sandy, who was sitting alone now, waiting for someone to come out of Shayne's room. She figured, she'd see him in class anyway, so she looked at Shayne, smiled and waved a goodbye, then looked to Marina and Marah. "You guys, I'm gonna head out. I forgot my psych paper on the table at home, and I have to go get it before class. I'll see you later, right?" she looked at Marah. "Are you and Eden August still gonna hang out at my place tonight?" she asked.

Marah nodded and waved a goodbye to Allie. "Yeah, I'll call Eden to see if she's still coming. Let's hope she can part with Bill long enough to just come and hang out with her friends..." she joked.
Allie laughed. "Yeah, I'll see you later, then..." she looked to Marina. "I'll call you later, okay? We can hang out tomorrow sometime...you need a little break from the hospital..." she flashed Marina a concerned glance.
Marina nodded and looked at Shayne, who seemed to agree with Allie. "Shayne has been urging me to take a break too, so we can hang I guess. Later, Allie..."
Allie waved and turned to leave, looking at Sandy as she saw him look up. "You can go in now, Sandy..." she grinned at him. "See you in psych later..." she waved at him as well.
He waved back. "Later, Allie..." he watched her leave, then turned to go into Shayne's room.