Disclaimer (as I forgot last time): Alanna and the palace belong to Tamora
Pierce. I own the plot, Melissa, Becca, and all Texas characters. Much as I
would like to, I don't own Pizza Hut either. And you know, these
disclaimers are really pointless. Because if the characters did belong to
me, would I be posting them on fanfiction.net? No, I would be selling them.
But that's beside the point.
Chapter 2
"Hey, Mel!" Becca called as Melissa and Alanna walked over in the team's direction. "Who's your new friend?"
With a wink, Melissa said, "This is Alanna of Trebond. She's the squire to Prince Jonathan of Conté, the heir of Tortall. I believe that's the country she's from." Melissa's tone made it easy to understand that she thought Alanna was crazy and to just humor her. "Anyone got some extra clothes for her to wear? There's a restroom nearby," she remarked, the last comment to Alanna.
"Oh, I have some clothes," a striker named Hannah said. "Are jeans okay? Size eight? The shirt is just perfect for this weather. I'm Hannah, by the way."
Alanna looked very confused to Melissa. Either this girl really doesn't have a clue what's going on, or she's extremely good at faking it, she thought. "Um, that's fine," Alanna said hesitantly. "Where's the restroom? I should probably change."
Smiling, Melissa showed her the way to the restroom. Her face may have shown that she was perfectly satisfied by Alanna's story, but inside she was anything but. If Alanna had really never seen jeans before, why was she handling this so well? * * * * * * * What in Mithros' name are jeans? Alanna wondered as she walked toward the restroom to change. Hopefully she could figure out how to put them on, but if she couldn't... she just couldn't think about it. The thought was too embarrassing for words. Looking curiously at the clothes Hannah had lent her, she discovered that the jeans looked a bit similar to the trousers sometimes worn by the horse trainers and hostlers. Perhaps the other material was a top then? It was light pink and said "Abercrombie" in script across it. And what-or who- is Abercrombie? Sighing, Alanna figured that she would figure it all out later. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Um, Melissa? How do you put this clothing on?"
Apparently Melissa now thought more than ever that Alanna was completely insane, with the look on her face. Alanna fought a grin that was threatening to creep onto her face at Melissa's expression. "You—you've really never seen jeans? Or a t-shirt?"
"Well. No," Alanna said. Was this as abnormal as Melissa was making it sound? Perhaps everyone wore these. They certainly looked comfortable...
With a giant heave, Melissa carefully explained. "Okay, so these jeans, they're like pants..." * * * * * * * * * This girl was far weirder than Melissa could have ever imagined, even in her wildest dreams. Seriously. She didn't even know how to put on jeans. So how exactly was she supposed to explain this to her mother? Because it sure looked like Melissa was going to be stuck with her for a while.
As the two girls reached the restroom, Melissa checked to make sure Alanna still knew what to do with the clothes. Satisfied, she waited outside the door for Alanna to finish changing.
When Alanna emerged, she could almost pass for someone normal. The girls couldn't do anything about the shoes, but the clothes? Much better. Alanna actually looks... pretty, Melissa realized in surprise. Clearing her throat, she said, "Can we do something with your hair? And I'm sure Becca will want to do your makeup."
From Alanna's expression, Melissa was guessing that she didn't have a clue who Becca was. Well, Melissa couldn't do much about that. And surely they had makeup in Tortall. Whatever that was. Melissa had never heard of Tortall, and obviously none of the girls on the team did, either. It was possible that Alanna was making it up, but she just didn't seem like she would be good at lying to a lot of people. Jolting out of her thoughts, Melissa remembered that she had actually been talking to Alanna. "So? Can I do your hair?"
Alanna didn't seem totally happy with the idea, but too bad for her. Once Melissa and Becca got hold of her, the two teammates knew that she would be emerging looking completely different. * * * * * * * * * Amazed, Alanna stared at the reflection in the mirror. This couldn't be her. It just couldn't be. She looked like... well, one of the leg-baring girls. It seemed that they were teammates of some sort; what team, Alanna couldn't imagine. Certainly in Tortall, there wasn't anything like this sport they were playing. But I'm not in Tortall, she reminded herself. It was hard to keep remembering this all the time. She would be constantly comparing this Texas and Tortall all the time anyway.
The corset that Alanna always wore to keep her chest flat was bothering her, now that she had a new top on. It also looked odd underneath—you could see the corset's outline beneath the top. There was nothing that Alanna could do about it at the moment, though. Maybe later, Melissa or... what was her name? ...Becca would have something different for her to wear underneath. She would just have to be patient.
"Well," Alanna said, still looking at her reflection, "what now?"
"If you want to come, the team's going out for pizza at Pizza Hut," Becca volunteered. "We always have a huge pig-out after the game."
Just when I think I've got it figured out... "Er. Well. What's pizza?" Alanna asked hesitantly. This seemed like a fact that she was supposed to know.
Becca and Melissa started laughing uncontrollably. "You're really funny, you know that, Alanna?" Melissa managed to get out between her giggles. "That's hilarious!"
"No, I truly have never heard of pizza before in my life. What is it? Tortall isn't exactly like...Texas, you know..." Alanna trailed off, sighing. She could see from the looks on their faces (showing that they weren't going to stop laughing anytime soon) that this was going to be a long wait.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Once they had gotten that straightened out, the three girls headed off to Pizza Hut. Melissa had to stifle her giggles again as Alanna looked suspiciously at her slice of cheese pizza, poking and prodding it before finally eating it.
Getting Alanna in the car had been an interesting experience as well. She made it very clear that in Tortall, everyone rode their horses if they needed to go anywhere.
Unfortunately for Alanna, she was not in Tortall, and unless she could figure out a way to get back, she wouldn't be there anytime soon. Once they finally convinced her that the car was not going to eat her and she was buckled in, she was scared to death by Melissa's sound system. Really, what's so scary about "Where is the Love?" Melissa thought. It was, after all, a very good song. Of course, Alanna probably hadn't heard of half of the things in the song, though. Terrorism, the CIA, the KKK... and that's just a few things!
All of Melissa's teammates found Alanna fascinating, although she clearly didn't know quite what to make of them. A good portion of the team, twelve girls, had come along to Pizza Hut, and it seemed that they were intimidating Alanna a little, with all their questions.
There was a brief lull in the conversation, before Kara, a defender, leaned forward. "I've been dying to know the whole time—is your prince dude, Jonathan, right? Is he hot?"
"Kara!" the team squealed. Though Alanna was obviously discomforted with any mention of Jonathan, all of the girls had secretly been wondering. Well, how could they help it?
This question confused Alanna immensely. "Hot? Well, I assume that he gets hot in the summertime, like everybody else. The palace can be very warm around then, lasting into mid-September—"
"No," Kara emphasized, cutting her off. "We want to know if he's easy on the eyes. Cute. Handsome! So? What's he like?"
Violet eyes showed that Alanna now understood what they were talking about. "Well... he's fairly tall, with black hair and blue eyes... what else?"
Hannah grinned. "Alanna, what Kara really wants to know is if he's built. You know, muscular."
Melissa was sensing some definite discomfort in this conversation; obviously, Alanna couldn't wait to get out of it. With a sigh, she stood up. "We'd love to stay and chat, girls, but I have to go home and convince my parents on why Alanna should stay with us for a while when they've never heard of her in their life! See you at practice Monday, or at school. Becca? Let's go!" Alanna smiled with relief and waved bye to the overenthusiastic and hyper team, happy that they had won.
Melissa was happy, as well, but not quite that happy. She was usually the calm one on the Pembrook Rangers; probably the reason she was team captain. Though Melissa loved her teammates, you couldn't deny that some were a little... flaky, for lack of a better word. Lea, for instance, would shout insults even at Number 8 on the Lions—never a good move, she reflected as the three girls climbed into the Saturn.
"Okay," Becca started the instant they were in the car. "To get Alanna into your house, Mel, you need a story. And this story needs to be good. It can't be just some little thing that you make up while pulling up your driveway. So. Here's your story, Alanna. You were visiting from New York—just wait—"she said, at Alanna's confusion. "—and got separated from your family. All of the flights they could afford were completely booked for the next three weeks, and so Alanna was going to stay with her aunt Rosalie. But Rosalie got sick and couldn't possibly have Alanna with her, so could she please stay with us, Mom?" Becca said the last part as if she was the one making the case to Mrs. Peikmik. Melissa gave a little laugh at how Becca thought she would approach her mother. Giving Alanna a wink, Becca returned to her speech. "Cause Melly, you know that I am the expert at sucking up to people. And your mother will be pushed over by the same techniques that cause everyone from the principal to the cheerleaders to the flutists to the artists to love me."
"You forgot about the people who hate you, Becca... let's see. The tennis players, 'cause you screwed the team into the ground last year, our math teacher, 'cause you're smarter than her, our Language Arts teacher, because your compositions aren't as good as last year so they aren't as good as mine—"
"Hey!" Becca interrupted, looking at Alanna for help. She didn't get the response she was looking for. With a sigh, she let "Melly" continue.
Melissa cleared her throat. "Then, there's the cafeteria monitors, because you like to start food fights, and oh, how could I forget? Samantha Walgid, only the most popular, prettiest, and richest girl in this school—second to you, of course. Also, and most importantly, my name is not 'Melly'!"
Both Alanna and Becca were wincing at the end of the speech. "Melly—I mean, Mel," Becca meekly whispered, "you know that Samantha is a lot more popular than me. The rest—well," she laughed suddenly, "how could I deny it? The tennis team hates me, Mrs. Peterson and Mr. Likenim can't stand to be in my presence for more than the time they're paid for, the cafeteria monitors have no sense of humor, and Samantha Walgid gets jealous too easily. After all, she doesn't have a best friend like Mel to keep her in line!" The last part was directed at Alanna. "So, Mel, do you want me to make a case for you before you drop me off? Or are you going to try it on your own?
Pursing her lips in consideration, Melissa flicked on her blinker to turn right. "Ah... I guess you can come and tell Mom your fascinating story about the girl from New York, whose parents are dirt poor... Alanna, is there any resemblance? Just kidding, Becca!" * * * * * * * *
These girls might be strange, but they're very nice, Alanna thought to herself as they pulled up to what Alanna took to be Melissa's home. It looked odd to Alanna, but the whole road of houses all looked the same. Certainly a change from the palace! A sudden bout of homesickness came along with this thought. Pushing it away, she stepped out of the car after Becca and Melissa. Once inside, a woman that Alanna took to be the housekeeper greeted them. Alanna stared in awe, looking at this large, plump woman with the light brown hair similar to Melissa's and flowing, loose trousers in black. This lady was wearing elegant pearls around her neck and an ivory shirt that resembled a tunic. Her hair was swept up on the back of her head and was kept there with a large pearl clip, matching her necklace.
"Hello, girls!" the lady called jubilantly. "How was the game? Sorry your father and I couldn't make it, darling. These silly deals! Surely the Antigonis can go a day without coming up with a ridiculous new requirement." Sighing, she turned to Alanna. "And who's this, honey? A new teammate? Must be very talented, to make the Rangers mid-season."
Becca flashed whom Alanna now had decided was Melissa's mother her brightest smile. "Actually, Mrs. Peikmik," she began, "This is Alanna Trebond, and Alanna's not on the Rangers. She's had the most terrible luck recently. You see, her parents and she were visiting her aunt Rosalie over in Fort Worth. They flew all the way here from New York! Spent their entire savings. But Alanna, poor thing, had to go to the restroom and as a result, missed the plane! You see, the Trebonds had to go ahead on the plane and leave Alanna, because how else would they get back? The family resources have been running dry. And Alanna here was going to stay with her Aunt Rosalie, but Rosalie came down with pneumonia! Her aunt Rosalie is elderly anyway, and is now going to have to stay in the hospital for a while. So poor Alanna has nowhere to stay until her parents scrape up enough money to send her home—and who knows how long that will take."
Mrs. Peikmik's hand flew up to her chest. "Oh, poor dear! Would you like to stay here with us until your parents can send you home? You can call them tonight, don't worry about paying us back."
Alanna gave Mrs. Peikmik a small smile. "Thank you for your generosity in our troubled time, Mrs. Peikmik."
A small look passed between Becca and Melissa. Inwardly, Alanna smiled. Surely they hadn't expected her to be such an accomplished actress and liar. Why, she had been lying for over half a decade now!
"Well, I'm sure it'll be pleasant having a teenager with manners in my house, Alanna. Please, call me Madeleine, not Mrs. Peikmik. After all, you will be a guest in our home. I'm sure Will won't mind."
Smiling gratefully at Madeleine, Alanna suddenly remembered. "Oh! We need to take Becca home now, don't we?"
Madeleine sighed. "Actually, since the Rangers just beat the Lions, Becca, why don't you spend the night? The three of you can go out to the movies, all right? There's a new movie that you've been wanting to see, isn't there, Melly?"
Becca could hardly repress her giggles at hearing Madeleine call Melissa "Melly". Alanna, too, was having trouble keeping from laughing. "Alanna," Becca managed to get out, "I think I need to tell my mom that I'm spending the night. Come with me?" Nodding, the two girls raced out of the room.
Behind them, they heard the distinct sound on Melissa's voice. "Mo- ther! My name is not Melly!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: Thank you so much to Robinwyn, my first reviewer! I hope this chapter isn't too 'stereotypical', and that you enjoy it. WoD- oh yeah. Longhorns and Tex-Mex—best of the best. Please review everyone!
Chapter 2
"Hey, Mel!" Becca called as Melissa and Alanna walked over in the team's direction. "Who's your new friend?"
With a wink, Melissa said, "This is Alanna of Trebond. She's the squire to Prince Jonathan of Conté, the heir of Tortall. I believe that's the country she's from." Melissa's tone made it easy to understand that she thought Alanna was crazy and to just humor her. "Anyone got some extra clothes for her to wear? There's a restroom nearby," she remarked, the last comment to Alanna.
"Oh, I have some clothes," a striker named Hannah said. "Are jeans okay? Size eight? The shirt is just perfect for this weather. I'm Hannah, by the way."
Alanna looked very confused to Melissa. Either this girl really doesn't have a clue what's going on, or she's extremely good at faking it, she thought. "Um, that's fine," Alanna said hesitantly. "Where's the restroom? I should probably change."
Smiling, Melissa showed her the way to the restroom. Her face may have shown that she was perfectly satisfied by Alanna's story, but inside she was anything but. If Alanna had really never seen jeans before, why was she handling this so well? * * * * * * * What in Mithros' name are jeans? Alanna wondered as she walked toward the restroom to change. Hopefully she could figure out how to put them on, but if she couldn't... she just couldn't think about it. The thought was too embarrassing for words. Looking curiously at the clothes Hannah had lent her, she discovered that the jeans looked a bit similar to the trousers sometimes worn by the horse trainers and hostlers. Perhaps the other material was a top then? It was light pink and said "Abercrombie" in script across it. And what-or who- is Abercrombie? Sighing, Alanna figured that she would figure it all out later. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Um, Melissa? How do you put this clothing on?"
Apparently Melissa now thought more than ever that Alanna was completely insane, with the look on her face. Alanna fought a grin that was threatening to creep onto her face at Melissa's expression. "You—you've really never seen jeans? Or a t-shirt?"
"Well. No," Alanna said. Was this as abnormal as Melissa was making it sound? Perhaps everyone wore these. They certainly looked comfortable...
With a giant heave, Melissa carefully explained. "Okay, so these jeans, they're like pants..." * * * * * * * * * This girl was far weirder than Melissa could have ever imagined, even in her wildest dreams. Seriously. She didn't even know how to put on jeans. So how exactly was she supposed to explain this to her mother? Because it sure looked like Melissa was going to be stuck with her for a while.
As the two girls reached the restroom, Melissa checked to make sure Alanna still knew what to do with the clothes. Satisfied, she waited outside the door for Alanna to finish changing.
When Alanna emerged, she could almost pass for someone normal. The girls couldn't do anything about the shoes, but the clothes? Much better. Alanna actually looks... pretty, Melissa realized in surprise. Clearing her throat, she said, "Can we do something with your hair? And I'm sure Becca will want to do your makeup."
From Alanna's expression, Melissa was guessing that she didn't have a clue who Becca was. Well, Melissa couldn't do much about that. And surely they had makeup in Tortall. Whatever that was. Melissa had never heard of Tortall, and obviously none of the girls on the team did, either. It was possible that Alanna was making it up, but she just didn't seem like she would be good at lying to a lot of people. Jolting out of her thoughts, Melissa remembered that she had actually been talking to Alanna. "So? Can I do your hair?"
Alanna didn't seem totally happy with the idea, but too bad for her. Once Melissa and Becca got hold of her, the two teammates knew that she would be emerging looking completely different. * * * * * * * * * Amazed, Alanna stared at the reflection in the mirror. This couldn't be her. It just couldn't be. She looked like... well, one of the leg-baring girls. It seemed that they were teammates of some sort; what team, Alanna couldn't imagine. Certainly in Tortall, there wasn't anything like this sport they were playing. But I'm not in Tortall, she reminded herself. It was hard to keep remembering this all the time. She would be constantly comparing this Texas and Tortall all the time anyway.
The corset that Alanna always wore to keep her chest flat was bothering her, now that she had a new top on. It also looked odd underneath—you could see the corset's outline beneath the top. There was nothing that Alanna could do about it at the moment, though. Maybe later, Melissa or... what was her name? ...Becca would have something different for her to wear underneath. She would just have to be patient.
"Well," Alanna said, still looking at her reflection, "what now?"
"If you want to come, the team's going out for pizza at Pizza Hut," Becca volunteered. "We always have a huge pig-out after the game."
Just when I think I've got it figured out... "Er. Well. What's pizza?" Alanna asked hesitantly. This seemed like a fact that she was supposed to know.
Becca and Melissa started laughing uncontrollably. "You're really funny, you know that, Alanna?" Melissa managed to get out between her giggles. "That's hilarious!"
"No, I truly have never heard of pizza before in my life. What is it? Tortall isn't exactly like...Texas, you know..." Alanna trailed off, sighing. She could see from the looks on their faces (showing that they weren't going to stop laughing anytime soon) that this was going to be a long wait.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Once they had gotten that straightened out, the three girls headed off to Pizza Hut. Melissa had to stifle her giggles again as Alanna looked suspiciously at her slice of cheese pizza, poking and prodding it before finally eating it.
Getting Alanna in the car had been an interesting experience as well. She made it very clear that in Tortall, everyone rode their horses if they needed to go anywhere.
Unfortunately for Alanna, she was not in Tortall, and unless she could figure out a way to get back, she wouldn't be there anytime soon. Once they finally convinced her that the car was not going to eat her and she was buckled in, she was scared to death by Melissa's sound system. Really, what's so scary about "Where is the Love?" Melissa thought. It was, after all, a very good song. Of course, Alanna probably hadn't heard of half of the things in the song, though. Terrorism, the CIA, the KKK... and that's just a few things!
All of Melissa's teammates found Alanna fascinating, although she clearly didn't know quite what to make of them. A good portion of the team, twelve girls, had come along to Pizza Hut, and it seemed that they were intimidating Alanna a little, with all their questions.
There was a brief lull in the conversation, before Kara, a defender, leaned forward. "I've been dying to know the whole time—is your prince dude, Jonathan, right? Is he hot?"
"Kara!" the team squealed. Though Alanna was obviously discomforted with any mention of Jonathan, all of the girls had secretly been wondering. Well, how could they help it?
This question confused Alanna immensely. "Hot? Well, I assume that he gets hot in the summertime, like everybody else. The palace can be very warm around then, lasting into mid-September—"
"No," Kara emphasized, cutting her off. "We want to know if he's easy on the eyes. Cute. Handsome! So? What's he like?"
Violet eyes showed that Alanna now understood what they were talking about. "Well... he's fairly tall, with black hair and blue eyes... what else?"
Hannah grinned. "Alanna, what Kara really wants to know is if he's built. You know, muscular."
Melissa was sensing some definite discomfort in this conversation; obviously, Alanna couldn't wait to get out of it. With a sigh, she stood up. "We'd love to stay and chat, girls, but I have to go home and convince my parents on why Alanna should stay with us for a while when they've never heard of her in their life! See you at practice Monday, or at school. Becca? Let's go!" Alanna smiled with relief and waved bye to the overenthusiastic and hyper team, happy that they had won.
Melissa was happy, as well, but not quite that happy. She was usually the calm one on the Pembrook Rangers; probably the reason she was team captain. Though Melissa loved her teammates, you couldn't deny that some were a little... flaky, for lack of a better word. Lea, for instance, would shout insults even at Number 8 on the Lions—never a good move, she reflected as the three girls climbed into the Saturn.
"Okay," Becca started the instant they were in the car. "To get Alanna into your house, Mel, you need a story. And this story needs to be good. It can't be just some little thing that you make up while pulling up your driveway. So. Here's your story, Alanna. You were visiting from New York—just wait—"she said, at Alanna's confusion. "—and got separated from your family. All of the flights they could afford were completely booked for the next three weeks, and so Alanna was going to stay with her aunt Rosalie. But Rosalie got sick and couldn't possibly have Alanna with her, so could she please stay with us, Mom?" Becca said the last part as if she was the one making the case to Mrs. Peikmik. Melissa gave a little laugh at how Becca thought she would approach her mother. Giving Alanna a wink, Becca returned to her speech. "Cause Melly, you know that I am the expert at sucking up to people. And your mother will be pushed over by the same techniques that cause everyone from the principal to the cheerleaders to the flutists to the artists to love me."
"You forgot about the people who hate you, Becca... let's see. The tennis players, 'cause you screwed the team into the ground last year, our math teacher, 'cause you're smarter than her, our Language Arts teacher, because your compositions aren't as good as last year so they aren't as good as mine—"
"Hey!" Becca interrupted, looking at Alanna for help. She didn't get the response she was looking for. With a sigh, she let "Melly" continue.
Melissa cleared her throat. "Then, there's the cafeteria monitors, because you like to start food fights, and oh, how could I forget? Samantha Walgid, only the most popular, prettiest, and richest girl in this school—second to you, of course. Also, and most importantly, my name is not 'Melly'!"
Both Alanna and Becca were wincing at the end of the speech. "Melly—I mean, Mel," Becca meekly whispered, "you know that Samantha is a lot more popular than me. The rest—well," she laughed suddenly, "how could I deny it? The tennis team hates me, Mrs. Peterson and Mr. Likenim can't stand to be in my presence for more than the time they're paid for, the cafeteria monitors have no sense of humor, and Samantha Walgid gets jealous too easily. After all, she doesn't have a best friend like Mel to keep her in line!" The last part was directed at Alanna. "So, Mel, do you want me to make a case for you before you drop me off? Or are you going to try it on your own?
Pursing her lips in consideration, Melissa flicked on her blinker to turn right. "Ah... I guess you can come and tell Mom your fascinating story about the girl from New York, whose parents are dirt poor... Alanna, is there any resemblance? Just kidding, Becca!" * * * * * * * *
These girls might be strange, but they're very nice, Alanna thought to herself as they pulled up to what Alanna took to be Melissa's home. It looked odd to Alanna, but the whole road of houses all looked the same. Certainly a change from the palace! A sudden bout of homesickness came along with this thought. Pushing it away, she stepped out of the car after Becca and Melissa. Once inside, a woman that Alanna took to be the housekeeper greeted them. Alanna stared in awe, looking at this large, plump woman with the light brown hair similar to Melissa's and flowing, loose trousers in black. This lady was wearing elegant pearls around her neck and an ivory shirt that resembled a tunic. Her hair was swept up on the back of her head and was kept there with a large pearl clip, matching her necklace.
"Hello, girls!" the lady called jubilantly. "How was the game? Sorry your father and I couldn't make it, darling. These silly deals! Surely the Antigonis can go a day without coming up with a ridiculous new requirement." Sighing, she turned to Alanna. "And who's this, honey? A new teammate? Must be very talented, to make the Rangers mid-season."
Becca flashed whom Alanna now had decided was Melissa's mother her brightest smile. "Actually, Mrs. Peikmik," she began, "This is Alanna Trebond, and Alanna's not on the Rangers. She's had the most terrible luck recently. You see, her parents and she were visiting her aunt Rosalie over in Fort Worth. They flew all the way here from New York! Spent their entire savings. But Alanna, poor thing, had to go to the restroom and as a result, missed the plane! You see, the Trebonds had to go ahead on the plane and leave Alanna, because how else would they get back? The family resources have been running dry. And Alanna here was going to stay with her Aunt Rosalie, but Rosalie came down with pneumonia! Her aunt Rosalie is elderly anyway, and is now going to have to stay in the hospital for a while. So poor Alanna has nowhere to stay until her parents scrape up enough money to send her home—and who knows how long that will take."
Mrs. Peikmik's hand flew up to her chest. "Oh, poor dear! Would you like to stay here with us until your parents can send you home? You can call them tonight, don't worry about paying us back."
Alanna gave Mrs. Peikmik a small smile. "Thank you for your generosity in our troubled time, Mrs. Peikmik."
A small look passed between Becca and Melissa. Inwardly, Alanna smiled. Surely they hadn't expected her to be such an accomplished actress and liar. Why, she had been lying for over half a decade now!
"Well, I'm sure it'll be pleasant having a teenager with manners in my house, Alanna. Please, call me Madeleine, not Mrs. Peikmik. After all, you will be a guest in our home. I'm sure Will won't mind."
Smiling gratefully at Madeleine, Alanna suddenly remembered. "Oh! We need to take Becca home now, don't we?"
Madeleine sighed. "Actually, since the Rangers just beat the Lions, Becca, why don't you spend the night? The three of you can go out to the movies, all right? There's a new movie that you've been wanting to see, isn't there, Melly?"
Becca could hardly repress her giggles at hearing Madeleine call Melissa "Melly". Alanna, too, was having trouble keeping from laughing. "Alanna," Becca managed to get out, "I think I need to tell my mom that I'm spending the night. Come with me?" Nodding, the two girls raced out of the room.
Behind them, they heard the distinct sound on Melissa's voice. "Mo- ther! My name is not Melly!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: Thank you so much to Robinwyn, my first reviewer! I hope this chapter isn't too 'stereotypical', and that you enjoy it. WoD- oh yeah. Longhorns and Tex-Mex—best of the best. Please review everyone!