LIZZIE'S POV

We were driving back home in the car and I felt so relieved that Isabella wasn't going back to Rome. I felt guilty when I was angry at her for calling Ben at the Airport.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier." I told her.

"That's okay; maybe I shouldn't have called him in the first place. He is your boyfriend, not mine." She answered.

"Well, I shouldn't be so selfish. It isn't a crime to be friend's with someone else's boyfriend." We grinned at each other.

My Mom had already signed some adoption papers and had gone to a lot of trouble to adopt Isabella. And she was now officially my sister. I couldn't believe it, my friend was now my sister and I had never had one before. Now we could annoy Matt together!

Isabella and I went to school the next day. We decided we had to go as we had exams coming up and we had a lot of work to catch up on and we hadn't done our homework.

I saw Miranda, Gordo and Ben at the gates and ran up to them. When I got there Ben kissed me, but when he saw Isabella, it looked like nothing else in the world mattered anymore. I sighed, but then thought about what I had said last night.

While Isabella and Ben were in their own little world, I spoke to Miranda and Gordo.

"You guys will never believe the night I had last night!" I told them.

"What happened?" Gordo asked curiously. I told them about the letter and looking for Isabella.

"Geez! I feel sorry for her!" Miranda said while lowering her voice. "So she's like your sister now?" I nodded.

"Cool! Well, not about her parents but having a friend as your sister, which would be so fun!" Miranda said looking jealous.

"Yeah, I think it will be great having a sister. Matt was really annoyed last night, but it's cool to finally have someone your own age to hang around with at home."

"And Isabella and Ben seem...really into each other right now." Gordo said while looking in their direction.

"I know. Ben was the only one she told about her flying off to Rome. I was pretty angry when I heard about it, but then I decided to let them be friends." I said.

"Well, they do seem very...attracted to each." Gordo added.

"Don't you think I know that? You don't have to rub it in...I'm not that jealous though, I don't think Ben would cheat on me. He's too sweet."

"Oh...okay." Gordo said, all of a sudden looking sad. "What would happen if he did cheat on you? Or if he didn't want to be your boyfriend anymore, would you get another one?"

"Gordo! Is this conversation necessary? I don't really want to talk about it!" I said. Why would he ask pathetic questions like that? He had been acting weird lately, and sometimes upset.

"Yeah I'm cool. See you in class." He sighed as he walked off.

"What has been his problem?" I asked Miranda.

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked me, and I shook my head. "He's jealous, duh!" She told me as if I was stupid.

"Jealous of what?" It made me feel stupid too, as she made it sound so obvious.

"He's jealous of you and Ben! Don't you remember Lizzie? Before that accident when you lost your memory, you were his girlfriend! And I felt really rejected when you didn't tell me!" Miranda said.

I gasped. "Oh my goodness, I totally forgot about him being my boyfriend! No wonder he's been down lately, he still likes me!"

"Exactly! He's just depressed cos you have a new boyfriend and you've totally forgotten about him!"

"Depressed? Goodness, I feel so bad! What do I do?" I asked Miranda desperately. I felt guilty too.

"I dunno...whatever happens, just don't make him anymore upset and angry then he already is, cos he's letting it out at me!" Miranda said.

"I'm really sorry Miranda, I-I'll talk to him, I promise."

"You better! So now do you understand the weird questions and strange behaviour?"

I nodded and looked over at Isabella and Ben who were still deep in conversation. I really did wonder if anything was going on between them two, but I trusted both of them. And even if I didn't trust Isabella, I would have to learn to since she was living with us now.

It had been one week since Isabella had been living with us and it wasn't the best ever.

"Isabella, what happened to my room?!? Where's my stereo, and my CD's? What about all my posters on my wall?" I asked when I walked into my room. It was like my whole bedroom had been transformed. We had four rooms, but the fourth one was used for a study and it was really messy and full of junk. So we had to clean it out first for Isabella to have her own room, but in the mean time, she was with me.

"Oh don't worry, there just over there." She said as she pointed to the corner of the room where all my stuff was piled on top of each other.

"B-but you can't just take all my stuff away! This is my roomtoo you know!" I told her. I was beginning to get really angry and I didn't realise I had yelled that loud because my Mom was coming upstairs.

"She totally gave my room a makeover! Look at it; i-it's all...different!" I said to my Mom when she asked me what was wrong.

"Lizzie! Don't be so inconsiderate! This is Isabella's room too until we clean out the study. If you two don't agree with each other, you're going to have to figure things out for yourselves since you're sisters now, okay? And what are you talking about Lizzie? This room looks fabulous! You should keep it this way from now on; you're a real decorator Isabella!" My mom said.

Isabella gave my Mom a sweet smile like she was a five-year-old. "Thanks Mrs. McGuire, it runs in my family."

"Oh, I'm your Mother now, remember?" My mom said. Isabella gasped and said a soft "oops" under her breath.

I rolled my eyes. "Well don't decorate too hard cos your gonna be moving into the study soon, remember?" I asked Isabella kindly.

She stopped and thought for a moment. "Actually, I've decided I quite like your room Lizzie. I think I'll stay here."

"W-what? Us sharing a room for like...ever? Wouldn't it get a little crowded? I mean we are getting older!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She wanted to move into my room permanently and take over? No way was I going to let her do that! I needed my privacy and she wasn't going to invade it.

"I think that's a great idea! You two can stay up all night gossiping and talking, it would be good fun!" Mom said.

"Okay then, that's done!" Isabella said.

"Hey! This is my room remember! Don't you think you have to ask me first?" I said rudely. I felt so angry like I could burst.

Isabella looked at me strangely and then asked me politely. I was about to scream "No" but my mom watched me carefully through her glasses, like she would kill me if I disagreed.

I sighed. "Fine! As long as I get have the stuff that I want in this room."

"Okay girls, well I'm just going to bake a cake cos you'll be hungry after all this decorating! See you later." My mom said and left.

I walked over to my desk in the corner and started chucking my stuff furiously into my draws. This was so unfair that I didn't get a say in this and Isabella was like my Mom's favourite now. I just felt really rejected. Isabella looked over at me.

"Lizzie, are you mad at something?' She asked me.

"No...Of course not." I said as I tried to control my temper.

That night I couldn't get to sleep. The room was too stuffy and crowded and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I wanted to open the window, but Isabella insisted that I closed it otherwise we might catch a cold. Even though it was the middle of summer.

All of a sudden I heard Isabella crying again. She must've been thinking about her parents again or missing them. This would happen nearly every night and I always felt sorry for her, but I never did anything about it.

I sat up, turned my lamp on and looked across at her. "Are you okay? I noticed you have been crying nearly every night and I don't blame you. But is there anything I can do?" I asked her calmly. I wasn't angry anymore from today, but I was still a little annoyed.

Isabella sat up too. "Oh, I didn't realise that you heard me. I can't help it! I'm always having dreams about my parents and then when I wake up, I remember that their not here anymore. I feel really scared and alone, that's why I want to share a room with you. And I don't think I can ever move on...I'm never going to take it in that my parents are really gone. I miss them so much."

"Oh. I'm really sorry I was angry with you earlier. I just wasn't...feeling well, that's all." I lied and felt guilty. "Look, there must be something I can do to make you feel better."

"Well, there is something I have been wanting to ask you." She said as she sniffed again.

"What is it?"

"You know how Ben and I get on really well with each other and have heaps of fun together?" She asked me and I nodded, not knowing what she was trying to get to.

"Well, I was wondering if...if maybe Ben could be my boyfriend instead of yours." She sounded kind of distant.

"What?" I almost yelled. I never expected her or anyone to ask a question like that.

"You guys look good together, but you don't spend much time together and don't talk much. It's like he's a friend more than a boyfriend. I really like him...well love him and I so want to be with him! PLEASE? It will help me get over my parents' death real easy." She pleaded.

I just stared at her with shock and felt like I couldn't breathe anymore.