A/N: Please review me! I have barely any reviews and it makes me sad :(
*M&M's*
Piper glanced at her watch and sighed. It had been a very, very long day. She'd spent five hours at the restaurant she was head chef at, supervising, cooking and going over the day's menu with the other chef's.
Then she'd driven to P3, as she still had business to do there. She'd been at P3 for two and a half hours, and was still negotiating with a band.
'I'm sorry, but I really don't think it's necessary for you to have 800 M&M's...' Piper said, tapping her pen against her clipboard.
'We need the M&M's if we want a good performance.' Ruby, the lead singer of the girl group 'Gem' said impatiently. Ruby's twin, Garnet, just shrugged and sipped her drink.
'800 of them?' Piper asked in disbelief.
'Uh huh. We've been through this...' Crystal, another member of the band, was drumming her fingertips on the black countertop. This may have been because she was the drummer, but who really knew?
'800?' Piper repeated.
'YES!'
'Okay, okay...' Piper muttered darkly, writing down 800 M&M's. 'Do you have a rough estimate of how many packets this would be?'
'About...' Amethyst, the guitarist, tipped her head to the side. She was the nicest of the group. 'I don't know, what do you guys think?'
'Twenty packets is my guess.' Said Sapphire confidently.
'You think?'
'Just buy twenty. It can't be more than that.'
'Try twenty five. Maxi packs. This is 800 M&M's we're talking about.' Crystal pointed out to them.
'Fine.' Piper gritted her teeth. She'd never encountered such a costly band. 'So that's 800 M&M's of all colours, a large glass pitcher of water, another glass pitcher of lemonade, and another glass pitcher of...' Piper rolled her eyes, 'Milo, and another one of Gatorade. Forty crystal drinking glasses, and seven silver bowls, filled with stargazing lilies? Can we adjust those silver bowls please? Seven? How about one?'
'One for each of us?' Crystal emphasized.
Piper rolled her eyes. At least, she reasoned, she'd narrowed down the fourteen dressing rooms to one.
'Two?' Piper reasoned.
'That wouldn't be fair.' Argued Garnet.
'I don't really think that's an issue at this point. You'll spend most of your time on stage.' Piper reminded them. If Gem hadn't been such a good band, there was no way Piper would ever have hired them.
'Look Piper...' Sapphire leaned forward. 'Our demands aren't really that high.'
'To a club manager on a budget, they are. This isn't a tour, this is one night. It's not like the MTV awards.' Piper said in annoyance.
The girls exchanged glances. 'Well... I suppose we could take a few things off the list...'
* * *
Piper yawned as she left the supermarket an hour later. She'd gotten everything the final list required, bar the 25 packets of M&M's. Instead of 25 packets, Piper had gotten 16. They didn't need to know.
She pulled up at the Manor to see all of its lights off, except for the porch light, which always stayed on, and a few lights upstairs, which were faint because of the curtains.
Piper quietly let herself in, locking the door behind her. There was a small, unnoticeable crystal on the key stand. Piper touched it and muttered a spell. It glowed blue, and whitelighter orbs surrounded it for a moment, then the glowing died.
It had been Paige's idea to place a demon-alert crystal for when they went to sleep. It would detect most demons and humans too, so it saved the trouble of an alarm. Piper crept upstairs. There was a light on in Prue and Andy's room, and the faint glow of a night light illuminated the crack under the door of James', Charlotte's and Serena's rooms, but other than that the house was asleep.
She went into her bedroom as quietly as possible. Leo was asleep already. Piper smiled at his sleeping form, before changing into her pj's and climbing into bed.
* *
For the second time that week, Melinda tumbled into Grace's room in the middle of the night, only this time, Wyatt followed.
'Gracie!' Melinda hissed, shaking the sleeping lump that was Grace.//Gracie!// she added in her thoughts.
'Wha-?' Grace mumbled. 'It's too early mom...'
'It's me Mellie! Wyatt came too.' Melinda added as an afterthought. She clambered onto Grace's bed and sat cross legged.
Grace moaned. 'What is it?'
'I was thinking we should probably try out the dream thing we're going to do.' Melinda explained.
Grace sighed. 'Okay, fine. What are we going to do?'
'Wyatt?' Melinda poked her brother. 'What were going to do again?'
'Crystal.' Wyatt answered, pulling a rough, uncut crystal out of his pocket.
'Oh right.' Melinda nodded. 'We were going to write a spell and wrap it around the crystal.' Melinda explained.
Grace agreed to that. 'Fine. But not right now... maybe later...' She yawned and fell asleep. Melinda and Wyatt sighed.
'Forget it. We'll do it another time.' Wyatt said, before dragging his little sister out.
* *
The next morning Melinda was perched on the island in the kitchen, with her legs tucked beneath her. She had a yellow legal pad in front of her, and as trying to write a spell.
Beside her, Grace, sitting cross legged, was writing a list of things to remember or bring for boarding school. All over the page were angry faces, and the writing was in a jagged scrawl, unlike Grace's usual angelic, round writing.
'Hey girls, what are you writing?' Paige asked, coming into the kitchen.
'A list for what I need to bring or remember for boarding school.' Grace said flatly, stabbing viciously at the page with her red pen.
'Hey, hey!' Paige protested. 'Stop that! An innocent tree died so you could stab holes in some paper? It's not the tree's fault.'
'You're right.' Grace sighed. She ceased stabbing the paper, and stroked it apologetically. 'Sorry tree. It's not your fault. It's my mom's.'
'Phoebe is only doing what's best for you...'
'You don't believe that, so why should I?' Grace demanded. 'You have no idea what it's like for me! You might have been adopted, but at least your parents kept you around! My parents divorced, and mom tried to stop me from seeing dad for four years!' Tears began streaking down her face. 'Now they're together and we can be a family, and they send me away!'
'For a good education...' Soothed Paige.
'Education! Huh!' Grace sulked. She was in a particularly bad mood that day, as early that morning her parents had dragged her to see her school.
Paige smoothed Grace's brown tresses, as she got herself an apple. 'You'll get over it.' She told her. 'You're a very mature girl Grace, you'll be able to accept it soon.'
'Yeah right.' Grace muttered. Just then the phone rang. Paige picked it up.
'Hello? Sure, just hang on one second.' She covered the receiver, 'Gracie it's for you.'
'Who is it?'
'Amanda.'
Grace perked up, and took the phone. 'Mandy?'
'Gracie? What's wrong?'
'They took me there this morning!'
Amanda gasped. 'No!'
'YES!'
'How was it?' Amanda asked in hushed tones.
'Horrible.' Grace said bitterly. There was a beep.
'I have to go, I have a call waiting.' Amanda said apologetically.
'Okay. Bye.' Grace hung up dejectedly.
*M&M's*
Piper glanced at her watch and sighed. It had been a very, very long day. She'd spent five hours at the restaurant she was head chef at, supervising, cooking and going over the day's menu with the other chef's.
Then she'd driven to P3, as she still had business to do there. She'd been at P3 for two and a half hours, and was still negotiating with a band.
'I'm sorry, but I really don't think it's necessary for you to have 800 M&M's...' Piper said, tapping her pen against her clipboard.
'We need the M&M's if we want a good performance.' Ruby, the lead singer of the girl group 'Gem' said impatiently. Ruby's twin, Garnet, just shrugged and sipped her drink.
'800 of them?' Piper asked in disbelief.
'Uh huh. We've been through this...' Crystal, another member of the band, was drumming her fingertips on the black countertop. This may have been because she was the drummer, but who really knew?
'800?' Piper repeated.
'YES!'
'Okay, okay...' Piper muttered darkly, writing down 800 M&M's. 'Do you have a rough estimate of how many packets this would be?'
'About...' Amethyst, the guitarist, tipped her head to the side. She was the nicest of the group. 'I don't know, what do you guys think?'
'Twenty packets is my guess.' Said Sapphire confidently.
'You think?'
'Just buy twenty. It can't be more than that.'
'Try twenty five. Maxi packs. This is 800 M&M's we're talking about.' Crystal pointed out to them.
'Fine.' Piper gritted her teeth. She'd never encountered such a costly band. 'So that's 800 M&M's of all colours, a large glass pitcher of water, another glass pitcher of lemonade, and another glass pitcher of...' Piper rolled her eyes, 'Milo, and another one of Gatorade. Forty crystal drinking glasses, and seven silver bowls, filled with stargazing lilies? Can we adjust those silver bowls please? Seven? How about one?'
'One for each of us?' Crystal emphasized.
Piper rolled her eyes. At least, she reasoned, she'd narrowed down the fourteen dressing rooms to one.
'Two?' Piper reasoned.
'That wouldn't be fair.' Argued Garnet.
'I don't really think that's an issue at this point. You'll spend most of your time on stage.' Piper reminded them. If Gem hadn't been such a good band, there was no way Piper would ever have hired them.
'Look Piper...' Sapphire leaned forward. 'Our demands aren't really that high.'
'To a club manager on a budget, they are. This isn't a tour, this is one night. It's not like the MTV awards.' Piper said in annoyance.
The girls exchanged glances. 'Well... I suppose we could take a few things off the list...'
* * *
Piper yawned as she left the supermarket an hour later. She'd gotten everything the final list required, bar the 25 packets of M&M's. Instead of 25 packets, Piper had gotten 16. They didn't need to know.
She pulled up at the Manor to see all of its lights off, except for the porch light, which always stayed on, and a few lights upstairs, which were faint because of the curtains.
Piper quietly let herself in, locking the door behind her. There was a small, unnoticeable crystal on the key stand. Piper touched it and muttered a spell. It glowed blue, and whitelighter orbs surrounded it for a moment, then the glowing died.
It had been Paige's idea to place a demon-alert crystal for when they went to sleep. It would detect most demons and humans too, so it saved the trouble of an alarm. Piper crept upstairs. There was a light on in Prue and Andy's room, and the faint glow of a night light illuminated the crack under the door of James', Charlotte's and Serena's rooms, but other than that the house was asleep.
She went into her bedroom as quietly as possible. Leo was asleep already. Piper smiled at his sleeping form, before changing into her pj's and climbing into bed.
* *
For the second time that week, Melinda tumbled into Grace's room in the middle of the night, only this time, Wyatt followed.
'Gracie!' Melinda hissed, shaking the sleeping lump that was Grace.//Gracie!// she added in her thoughts.
'Wha-?' Grace mumbled. 'It's too early mom...'
'It's me Mellie! Wyatt came too.' Melinda added as an afterthought. She clambered onto Grace's bed and sat cross legged.
Grace moaned. 'What is it?'
'I was thinking we should probably try out the dream thing we're going to do.' Melinda explained.
Grace sighed. 'Okay, fine. What are we going to do?'
'Wyatt?' Melinda poked her brother. 'What were going to do again?'
'Crystal.' Wyatt answered, pulling a rough, uncut crystal out of his pocket.
'Oh right.' Melinda nodded. 'We were going to write a spell and wrap it around the crystal.' Melinda explained.
Grace agreed to that. 'Fine. But not right now... maybe later...' She yawned and fell asleep. Melinda and Wyatt sighed.
'Forget it. We'll do it another time.' Wyatt said, before dragging his little sister out.
* *
The next morning Melinda was perched on the island in the kitchen, with her legs tucked beneath her. She had a yellow legal pad in front of her, and as trying to write a spell.
Beside her, Grace, sitting cross legged, was writing a list of things to remember or bring for boarding school. All over the page were angry faces, and the writing was in a jagged scrawl, unlike Grace's usual angelic, round writing.
'Hey girls, what are you writing?' Paige asked, coming into the kitchen.
'A list for what I need to bring or remember for boarding school.' Grace said flatly, stabbing viciously at the page with her red pen.
'Hey, hey!' Paige protested. 'Stop that! An innocent tree died so you could stab holes in some paper? It's not the tree's fault.'
'You're right.' Grace sighed. She ceased stabbing the paper, and stroked it apologetically. 'Sorry tree. It's not your fault. It's my mom's.'
'Phoebe is only doing what's best for you...'
'You don't believe that, so why should I?' Grace demanded. 'You have no idea what it's like for me! You might have been adopted, but at least your parents kept you around! My parents divorced, and mom tried to stop me from seeing dad for four years!' Tears began streaking down her face. 'Now they're together and we can be a family, and they send me away!'
'For a good education...' Soothed Paige.
'Education! Huh!' Grace sulked. She was in a particularly bad mood that day, as early that morning her parents had dragged her to see her school.
Paige smoothed Grace's brown tresses, as she got herself an apple. 'You'll get over it.' She told her. 'You're a very mature girl Grace, you'll be able to accept it soon.'
'Yeah right.' Grace muttered. Just then the phone rang. Paige picked it up.
'Hello? Sure, just hang on one second.' She covered the receiver, 'Gracie it's for you.'
'Who is it?'
'Amanda.'
Grace perked up, and took the phone. 'Mandy?'
'Gracie? What's wrong?'
'They took me there this morning!'
Amanda gasped. 'No!'
'YES!'
'How was it?' Amanda asked in hushed tones.
'Horrible.' Grace said bitterly. There was a beep.
'I have to go, I have a call waiting.' Amanda said apologetically.
'Okay. Bye.' Grace hung up dejectedly.