Author's Note: Hey I've got a couple things to say

#1: I forgot to put my disclaimer in my last chapter so here it is: I own nothingexcept Roxanne and her family, and other minor characters . The rest is, of course, a creation of J.K. Rowling's brilliant mind.
#2: For some reason my changes weren't saved to the document, so it still says that James Potter is a Seeker. That's not what I wanted it to say. It's supposed to say Chaser.
#3: Please review! Pretty pretty pretty pretty please?

Recap:

I rubbed my temples. My head had started to throb painfully. I hated change.

"Are you okay?" Jocelyn's hazel eyes were filled with concern.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just nerves, I guess."

The train began to slow. Its improperly oiled wheels screeched. It was time to see my home for the next nine and a half months. Students filed out of their compartments, chattering amiably with one another. Keeping my head down, I followed, Jocelyn right behind me. I stepped off the smoking locomotive and looked up…

Of Sortings and Scuffles

…I saw the greatest structure I had ever laid eyes upon. Silhouetted against the moon, Hogwarts, with its multitude of towers and turrets, sat upon a rocky cliff overlooking the choppy black waters of the lake. It was much more imposing than Cygnus, I had to admit, which wasn't really an image of grandeur to begin with. Maybe it wasn't such a good comparison after all.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Jocelyn whispered in my ear. I simply nodded, unable to say much of anything. "Just wait till you get inside."

"Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!" A giant man stood on the platform. He was at least nine or ten feet tall, maybe taller. I couldn't really tell in the dark. He was clad in a shabby-looking coat and a large lantern. The booming voice spoke once more. "Firs' years! Firs' years! Follow me firs' years!"

I made to follow him when Jocelyn grasped my wrist. "It's this way. Hagrid only takes the first years," she said, leading me off the platform, towards a cluster of black shapes, which, as I got closer, I identified as carriages. They were black with gold trim, stout, closed at the top, and had the shape of a half circle with slightly square sides. The elegant carriages rested on gold-rimmed wheels, whose axle was attached to two shafts. Something stirred between the shafts of the nearest carriage. I could only glimpse the faint outline of a horse, before Jocelyn ushered me inside the coach.

It was a great relief to be shielded from the bitter winds. I rubbed my raw hands together; I really wished I had my jacket with me, but no I had this flimsy cloak. It's not like I wasn't used to being cold—I lived in New York for God's sake! No, I just wasn't used to being in the cold without the proper attire! Seriously, what kind of school gives their students uniforms that don't prevent them from freezing to death?

The carriages began their ascent up the slope. I flipped back the curtains covering the windows, and gazed toward the inky waters below. Tiny boats were making their way across the lake, slowly but surely, their lanterns lighting the way. I would be freaked out, sailing across a lake. Who knows what could be lurking underneath the surface? Ever since I saw the movie "Jaws" at the age of 6, I'd been scarred for life. I hardly ever went near the water.

I had momentarily forgotten my nerves with thoughts of demonic sharks, but they had returned as I thought of what lied ahead for me. I recalled what Jocelyn had said before about the different houses. I wondered which one I would be in. I guess it didn't matter, really. It wasn't like I had ever met these people before. Each house would provide a new beginning for me, a new set of peers, new surroundings. If I had to choose, I'd probably choose Gryffindor, so I'd be with Jocelyn. But would I be heartbroken if I wasn't in her house? No, not really. I had just met her a few hours ago! Not that she wasn't cool, and everything, 'cause she definitely was—

"We're here!"

I had just realized that the carriage was no longer in motion. I exited its dark interior and stepped onto the dirt path. Hogwarts true size was made known to me as I stood, looking up towards its nearest tower. The whole structure was constructed of grey stone, and seemed to touch the star-studded sky. It was much taller than the skyscrapers in New York, if that's even possible! I felt guilty: I was supposed to be hating this place, and I was already having positive feelings towards it. I felt like I was betraying myself. Nothing was ever supposed to replace my hometown. Nothing!

But I couldn't help it. I just stood gaping at Hogwarts until Jocelyn urged forward, laughing.

"We haven't even gotten inside yet and you're already impressed! Come on!" She led me inside the great wooden doors into the entrance foyer. It was even more magnificent than the outside! Gold detailing was engraved on the high ceiling, from which hung a beautiful crystal chandelier. Torches lined the walls, occasionally interrupted by a painting or two, or a suit of armor. At the far end of the room was a marble staircase, leading up to Hogwarts' unknown contents.
Students were rushing inside a set of doors on the right side of the room. I made to follow them when I heard my name called.

"Roxanne Carmichael!" I suddenly stopped and turned around. Jocelyn bumped into me.

A stern-looking witch with graying black hair and emerald green robes was rushing towards me. Her sharp nose held up square spectacles that gleamed in the light and her face was set in a very firm expression.

"Are you Roxanne Carmichael?"

"Yes."

Her eyes flickered disapprovingly towards my sunglasses.

"I'm Professor McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts. I have information that you'll be starting your sixth year here? Wonderful. What's going to happen is that we will sort all of the first years, and you'll stand outside these doors. When the headmaster introduces you, you will walk to the front of the Great Hall."—she gestured towards the pair of doors on my right—"Understand? Perfect." Professor McGonagall ignored my protests of confusion and rushed off to reprimand a student for transfiguring another's head into what looked like some sort of tropical blue fish.

"Don't worry about it," Jocelyn reassured me. "It'll be fine. Good luck!"

She gave me a hug, and, with a small smile, walked inside to what I deduced as the Great Hall.

I stood by the doors, feeling quite out of place as people filed past me, including a line of especially short kids who looked no more than ten or eleven years old. The doors shut with a bang. I was alone. My breathing echoed throughout the room, becoming louder as I realized that in a few minutes time, I was going to be an official student at Hogwarts. No longer was I a part of Cygnus Academy of Fine Wizardry, the only school I've ever known.

I made sure to pay attention to the voices inside the Great Hall. I could hear quite clearly. It was completely silent out here and inside the Great Hall, except for random snippets of names and Houses being called. I looked towards the stairs, remembering one of my dance competitions where we had to use a set of false stairs in our tap act.

"I would like to welcome our new American transfer student, Roxanne Carmichael, who will be in her sixth year here at Hogwarts."

Oh! That's me! Crap! No! I don't want to do this!


I pushed open the heavy doors, though it required quite a bit of effort, and was met with something I definitely did not expect! Thousands upon thousands of flickering and blinking candles illuminated the space of the long, elephantine room. Looking up I saw that there was no ceiling—just the night sky speckled with twinkling stars. Four long tables, running vertically from where I stood, sat in the middle, decked with golden place settings. Each was decorated in different colored banners: red, yellow, blue, and green. A fifth table filled with adults whom I assumed were teachers at Hogwarts, sat at the other end of the room facing me. But none of those things was what took me by surprise. Oh, no. It was the hundreds of pairs of eyes, all turned on me, watching me as if I was some animal in a zoo. The tables were packed with so many students! I took a deep breath and began walking to the end of the room. My heels clicked loudly against the flagged-stone floor. Each click seemed magnified a million times.

Click… … Click… … Click… … Click…

My feet brought me closer towards the teachers' table. A three-legged stool sat in front of the table, and on it was placed a ratty old hat, patched and dirty. Normally, I would've tried to figure out the purpose of the hat, but my brain had seemingly gone numb at the moment.

Click… …Click…

The students kept their eyes on me, whispering to one another, not bothering to keep their voices down, talking about me as if I wasn't there. The occupants of the table embellished in green glared at me, as if I were the scum of the Earth. It angered me how much hatred their eyes showed. Their faces were stone cold and unfeeling.

"Why is she wearing those sunglasses?"

"Maybe she has some deformity."

And on and on and on the whispers went. I would've given anything to end that torturous walk of humiliation—and I mean ANYTHING. I hated being the center of attention. I wanted to just melt into the floor.

Click… … Click…

Why did it have to be so far away? I looked at my feet and concentrated on not falling over in the heels; not wanting to see the peering faces with their eyes fixed upon me. I didn't know if I had passed Jocelyn yet. Probably, considering I was almost there, almost to the end of the room, the end of this embarrassment.

Click… … Click…

I had reached the teachers. Professor McGonagall was standing next to the stool, holding the hat. She motioned for me to sit down. I did. Everyone's eyes were still fixed on me. I shifted uncomfortably, wishing that I could just die right then and there.

Death wouldn't be so bad, I thought. At least I'd be reunited with Dan and my parents again and Iwould never have to experience this place…

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on my head, a gesticulation that caught me by surprise. What in god's name was this hat supposed to do? I closed my eyes (though no one could tell of course) and waited for something to happen.

"Well!"

I almost jumped at the sound of the voice in my ear. It seemed so close, like a tiny mosquito speaking to me right beside my ear.

"My, my, a transfer…it's been years since my last one of those…"

What the hell was going on?

"My dear, I am the Sorting Hat...I can see everything inside your head…and I must say its very interesting…"

The hat stopped talking for about a minute. And then started up again.

"It is quite impressive…a fairly good mind, no doubt about that…but such potential you have, bubbling inside of you…incredible potential that even you can't imagine…"

What potential was it talking about?

"…And so much heartbreak…it is amazing how one stays sane…takes a profuse amount of courage, the death of a loved one…"

Memories flashed before my eyes--smoke, buildings crashing to the ground, Dan in a hospital bed, my fight with Mom and Dad, the gravestones showered in roses, newspaper headlines bearing the words "Terrorist Attack" —'STOP!' I screamed in my head. 'JUST STOP!' I was shaking so badly, the stool rattled faintly. I took a deep breath to steady myself. I realized my lip was bleeding from me biting on it so hard.

"…You must learn to control your emotions…they could be your downfall…"

"Hmm…most definitely…GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat suddenly shouted for all to hear. It was all over. I was now bound to Hogwarts. No more Cygnus, no more Cory and Tristan. It seemed oddly like a gang: once you're in, you're in.
The table farthest to my left, decked out in red, erupted with applause. I saw Jocelyn waving me over, the biggest grin on her face. I couldn't help but grin, too, though I was still shaken by what the hat had said to me, what it had reminded me. How did it know about those things? How could a stupid hat shake me up so bad?

I glanced up towards the teacher's table. Dumbledore was standing up, giving a speech, his long silver beard shining brightly. I recognized him from when he came to our apartment over the summer to discuss my transfer with Sylvie. When I had met him, his light blue eyes had a surreal quality about them and he seemed to be looking straight into my soul. It had been creepy and I was thankful when they moved on into the kitchen. Sylvie had accused me of eavesdropping on adult affairs when I had to get a bottle of water from the kitchen where they were congregating. After that she banned me from the kitchen. Like I had seriously wanted to listen to her stupid droning? As if!

Jocelyn elbowed me in the ribs. I turned and noticed piles of food on the golden platters. It all looked so delicious--sweet potatoes, and roasts, and turkey, and mashed potatoes. It was such fancy and exquisite food; nothing like the Chinese take out I was used to. It seemed ages ago since that last Pumpkin Pasty. My stomach rumbled, demanding nourishment. I gladly obliged and piled up food onto my plate. Everyone babbled happily with one another, and I followed suit and talked with Jocelyn between mouthfuls.

"I just knew you'd be in Gryffindor!" she shouted over the hubbub after taking a swig of what she called Pumpkin Juice. She was grinning broadly. I grinned back. It was a good thing for me—smiling. I had almost forgotten how. It was really nice to smile again, to have something that I could smile about: a friend.

I began to concentrate on food again and tried to satisfy the bottomless pit I called a stomach. Jocelyn laughs as I broke off conversation with her to stuff my face for a few minutes.

"I've never seen someone eat so much in my life, except maybe for Potter over there."

I turned to where she was pointing. A boy with incredibly messy black hair and glasses was currently stuffing his face with copious amounts of food that were heaped onto his plate. His cheeks were chock-full of mashed potatoes, which were spilling from his lips. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and pushed my plate away. I was no longer hungry.

"Yeah, it makes me nauseous, too," Jocelyn said and she pushed away her plate as well.

"Is that one of the people you told me about on the train?" I kept my eyes on him. It was fascinating how one could eat so much. Where did he putit all?

"Yep. James Potter. And see that boy on his left?"

I nodded.

"THAT'S the one and only Sirius Black."

Jocelyn was right: he WAS absolutely gorgeous (yes, I can admit it). He had longish dark brown hair that fell into his chocolate brown eyes and defined, well-structured facial features. I could see why girls fawned all over him. Speaking of which, there were a bunch of them hovering around him and James Potter, cooing compliments.

"You're drooling," Jocelyn whispered in my ear. I punched her lightly on the arm. I did NOT drool over guys.

"Am not!"

Honestly, I would never go ga-ga over a guy! Sure, I can admit that they're good-looking (I'm not BLIND!). But other than that, I've never felt like that towards anyone, except once when I dated this guy named Reid from my dance studio, but we broke up after about a month. Yes, I was heartbroken, but after a period of time, I realized that I didn't need a guy in my life to make me happy. And I've been that way ever since: independent.

I turned back towards Sirius and James. They (between heaping mouthfuls) were talking and laughing animatedly with each other and two boys across from them, whose faces I couldn't see. Occasionally, they would pay attention to the girls hanging from their arms, but more often then not they would completely ignore them. Everything about them screamed cocky, from the way they would fix their hair, to their facial expressions to their hand gestures, to the way they would just brush off the obsessed females. I hate cocky people.

Filled with new disgust, I glanced around the tables. Everyone was starting to slow down and practically forcing themselves to eat just one more spoonful. Droopy eyes gazed at empty plates, and mouths once full of chatter stretched to form yawns instead of words. I was quite tired myself and rested my head on my hand.

Dumbledore stood up once more. "Now, before we head up to the dormitories for a good night's rest I have a few announcements. First off, Filch the Caretaker would like me to remind you all that 'PlayWizard' magazine is STILL banned and that any copies found will indeed be confiscated." A murmur went through the student body. Titters and gasps echoed through the hall. A small smile played across Dumbledore's mouth, indicating his slight embarrassment at mentioning the magazine 'PlayWizard'. Professor McGonagall's mouth, however, was pressed in a thin line at her disdain of the subject. "You may also see the list of banned items, now up to number two-hundred and seventy-six, outside the door of his office."

My eyelids were quite heavy, and I struggled to stay awake. I could vaguely hear the rest of the announcements.

"Second…Forbidden Forest…not allowed…telescopes…last year…no repeat…"

Conciousness was slipping away from me, as my mind cleared itself of all other thoughts unrelated to sleep.

"Fourth! Quidditch tryouts will be held at the end of September. See the Quidditch Captain of your House for precise tryout dates."

My eyes snapped open and I was no longer sleepy. Quidditch? No! Quidditch can't be here! It just can't!

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Jocelyn was leaning towards me.

"Your body got all tense when Dumbledore mentioned Quidditch. What's wrong?"

Flashes of Dan with IVs weaving through him overtook my mind. I shook my head in attempts to rid myself of the lingering memory.

"Nothing. It was nothing. Just…bad childhood experiences…"

"Oh!" She turned back to Dumbledore who was now finishing up some announcement about detentions.

Why did they have to have Quidditch here? I have enough reminders of my past as it is! Of course there was bound to be Quidditch at Hogwarts, what wizarding school doesn't have it? But the fact didn't really sink in before, even when Jocelyn mentioned James being a Chaser on the train. Then a new thought reverberated within the confines of my head:

Are you going to try out?

No, of course not! I was terrified of flying ever since Dan's accident. I could never bring myself to get on a broomstick anymore. Not after what Quidditch did to my brother.
But I missed it so much! And I was good! It was so much fun! I suppose trying out wouldn't hurt… No! I can't! I just…can't…

When we had finally been dismissed everyone rose from their positions on the benches and filed out the doors. I trailed behind Jocelyn as we made our way up a series of staircases, making sure to make a note of my surroundings. It seemed so easy to get lost.

All of us had gone up the stair together as one giant mass, but now the different Houses separated, leaving only the Gryffindors with their red and gold ties (except for me of course). Before I knew it we had stopped in front of a portrait of a fat woman in a frilly pink dress.

"Password?" Her voice was nasally and quite snobbish.

A student nearby, obviously leading the shortfirst years said, "Abraxan" to the fat woman. Now, I was really confused as to the reason why a mythological horse was of any importance, much less to a painting, but I soon learned, as the woman's portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole, through which my fellow Gryffindors began climbing through. I, however, was hesitant to go inside.

"Oh, come on!"

Jocelyn grabbed my hand and pulled me inside, the portrait closing behind us. I was inside a large room, completely embellished in red and gold. A large stone fireplace with a fire already blazing sat the center wall, providing a very cozy atmosphere. The rest of it's wall was covered in large floor to ceiling windows framed in red curtains. Several low mahogany tables were scattered around the room along with a multitude of very cushy-looking armchairs. Across from the fireplace were two spiral staircases.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room!"

"It's amazing!" And it truly was. It looked so incredibly comfortable. I couldn't wait to curl up in one of those chairs and read. Perfect for rainy days!

"Come on. I'll show you to your dorm. Since you're a sixth year, you'll be sharing with me and my other roommates!" I followed Jocelyn up the spiral staircase on the right, obviously the one for girls, as the boys were ascending the staircase on the left. The sound of boys whooping and hollering faded as we entered a long hallway, where doors were marked with numbers indicating grades. We passed 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and so on and so forth, until Jocelyn stopped at 6B (A/N: Yes, I am making this part up as it doesn't specify any of this in the book so bear with me here!). She knocked on the door seven times, and a girl with brown hair bearing blonde highlights opened the door. Her head looked like a zebra.

"Oh, good, it's you Jocelyn! We thought it might be those dreadful second years. You know, they knocked here four times, asking if this was their room? Honestly, can't they read?" She ushered us inside. It was a circular room containing five canopy beds, each with a night table and a trunk at the end of each. I glimpsed mine with silver writing on it at the foot of the bed farthest to my right.

"You're Roxanne. I recognize you from the feast. You were kind of hard to miss." The girl had finally noticed my prescence and acknowledged it with a hint of disdain in her voice. "McGonagall told us you'd be rooming in here. I'm Gwendolyn Capewell. Everyone calls me Gwen." She held out a perfectly manicured hand.

"Roxanne Carmichael," I introduced myself, shaking her hand.

"This is Lily Evans." She pointed to a girl with flaming red hair and bright green eyes who was unpacking her trunk. "She's a prefect." Lily paused from taking out her underwear and waved.

"I'll just pretend like I know what a prefect is."

Jocelyn laughed from across the room. "I'll tell you later."

"That girl over there, the one painting her toenails, is Tina Abernathy." Tina had blonde hair and was slightly shorter and morestout than the other girls.

"Hello," she said from where she perched. She had a sort of high-pitched cutesy voice, but it wasn't an annoying kind of voice. It was more natural than the high-pitched ones you usually hear. It suited her well.

Tina wiggled her gold toenails. "Your bed is next to mine. And the bathroom is right through that door over there."

"Thanks." I left Gwen's side, though I could still feel her eyes on me, and sat on the edge of my bed. It was extremely comfortable. I sighed, and looked out the window. It was silent outside, no rattling trees or whispering wind, no noise to speak of. Just sweet serenity, unfortunately. I wanted to go home so bad! I missed all the city noises that had acted as my lullaby for the past fifteen years of my life. What would I do without the familiar squeal of brakes and honking of horns?

I let out a deep breath through my nose.

Jocelyn walked over to me. "Are you okay?"

I really hated her sympathy. I didn't like people caring about me like that.

"Yeah, I…I just miss home…" I felt like a weakling, an emotional baby, and it was a bit embarrassing to be on the verge of going to pieces, but I couldn't help admitting it to her. She was just so easy to talk to, unlike Cory and Tristan some of the time. Maybe it was that whole internal bond thing between females. I wouldn't know—I never had any female friends before.

Jocelyn sat on the end of my bed. It dipped down.

"Don't worry. It'll get better. You'll like it here. Trust me." I just nodded, and decided to just not talk about it anymore. This openness stuff was starting to scare me. I rose from the bed, opened my trunk, grabbed my pajamas (green pants with white polka dots and a white tank) and headed to the bathroom. I noticed that Gwen, Tina, and Lily had been talking in hushed whispers, obviously talking about me. Did people in this damn country have no sense of common courtesy? I rushed into the bathroom positively fuming at the nerve of the people in this school.

I wanted to scream, tear my hair out by the roots. My new roommates were giving each other makeovers, giggling incessantly about boys and fashion and make-up. It was driving me to the point of insanity, though I was grateful at the fact that they hadn't asked me to participate.

"So, what do you think of the Marauders this year, Gwen?" Tina applying a light green face mask to Gwen's face. I winced at the thought of that gunk being on my face!

"Still as good-looking as ever! I swear Sirius gets hotter every year!" Gwen laid back with cucumbers over her eyes and sighed. "I seriously think I'll get my chance with him this year. I can feel it."

"Sorry, but you say that every year, Gwen," Jocelyn interrupted. She hadn't talked to me in awhile now that she was around her other friends. It didn't really bother me.

Gwen pouted and furrowed her brows, deep in thought.

"Speaking of chances, Lily, what are the chances you're going to say yes to James Potter this year?" Tina turned towards the red head who was now plucking her eyebrows.

"One billion to none," she spat with venom. "He is such a prick! I can't stand him and his stupid over-sized ego—argh!" Lily had accidentally poked herself with the tweezers.

"Lily, James isn't that bad, actually," Tina defended.

"Especially since he's friends with Sirius," Gwen added in a dreamy voice. Okay, seriously, she really needed to get a grip on this Sirius obsession.

Tina rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to talk about that son of a—I just don't want to talk about him!" Lily massaged the area of skin below her left eyebrow where she had stabbed herself.

A moment of silence passed among the group. I glanced at my feet. I noticed that Ihad Dad's feet (I also had his heavy walk).

"Roxanne." I jumped a little. It was the first time my roommates exchanged words with me since I had arrived in the dorm.

Tina was turned toward me, her round face plastered with a white smile. "You should join in with us." Her eyes suddenly brightened up. "Oo! Let me give you a facemask like Gwen's! It does exfoliation wonders!"

I looked at her warily. "No, that's alright."

"Come on! It's girls' night! Let me just remove your sunglasses so I can put this on you. She indicated the small jar in her hand.

Remove my sunglasses?

Flashback


"Mooooommm! We're hooome!" Dan led me inside the apartment. He had picked me up from my first day at Cygnus Academy of Fine Wizardry. I was seven.

"Hello, how was your day?" Mom walked out of the kitchen, toweling off her powder caked hands with a blue rag. She was making bread, as she did often. "Roxy, honey, why are you wearing those sunglasses?"

I looked up from the floor, tears in my eyes. It had been an awful first day. I had asked Dan if I could make a quick stop at Walmart. He had bought the sunglasses for me without question. I was extremely grateful. Maybe the othe rkids wouldn't treat me different anymore.

"Take those ridiculous things off, Roxy."

"I can't," I said quietly. I pulled away from my mother as she moved forward.


"Why not?" Her forehead creased as she raised her eyebrows. That often happened when she was worried or annoyed.

"They'll make fun of me again."

"Who will make fun of you?"

"All the other kids. They laughed at me because they said I was weird." I scuffed my foot against the carpeting. Dan was still holding my hand. I loved that brotherly gesture.

"Oh, babygirl, why would they think that?" My mom was now kneeling in front of me. Her brown, graying hair was escaping the bun atop her head, falling into her face.

"Because my eyes are different." She pulled me into a hug. "They wouldn't play with me. They don't play with freaks."

She held me out at arm's length and looked at me in surprise.

"You can't wear those sunglasses for the rest of your life, Babygirl. You have to forget about what other people think and embrace who you are." My mother made a reach for the sunglasses, but I dodged past her and ran into the room I shared with Sylvie and Dan, slamming the door.

I hated who I was. I hated being different.


End Flashback

Tina was now attempting to grasp my sunglasses as my mother had eight years ago. I rolled off the other side of the bed to elude her and put my hands up in defense, palms facing outward.

"No, no, no, no, no! I'm not taking them off." Tina walked to my side and I crawled across the bed in an escape. The other girls thought I was completelyinsane.

"Why not?"

"I don't want them off."

"So you wear them at all times?" Lily had entered the conversation.

"Yes."

"Why?" Gwen's obnoxious tone filled the space.

"Because…" They all looked at my expectantly. "…Just because."

"That's not a very good reason." I wanted to gouge her eyes out for her rudeness. "In fact, that's not a reason at all."

"Too bad," I shot back. I had reached my wit's end. Gwendolyn Capewell was now on my Pain List. Yes, I did have a Pain List. At the top was Sylvie, followed by Laila Windsor and her gang, and now Gwen took Lucky Number Three, though I was itching to move her up a couple rankings.

"What do you have to hide?"

More than you know…

"I seriously don't think that it's any of your business, Gwendolyn." I tried to stay calm, though I was struggling to keep my voice from growing bitter. I didn't need an enemy here already.

"Drop it, guys!" Jocelyn interceded and I went over to my bed and wrenched the hangings shut. I was unbelievably annoyed.

A small shattering sound filled the room, followed by the strong aroma of flowers.

"My perfume!" I heard the scampering of multiple pairs of feet.

"I told you not to put your perfume on the edge of the dresser, Tina!" Lily sounded as ticked as I was.

"I didn't!"

"How else would that have happened?"

"I don't know!"

Lying on my side, I took off my glasses and placed them on the nightstand, next to the cross that had hung in my parents' room before I had snatched it, among other things, from Jocelyn's clutches. She was going to pack it away. Apparently, she thought having the stuff around would cause me to have an emotional breakdown.

I stared hardat my reflection in the mirror. The violet eyes stared back at me. I narrowed them, and turned on my other side angrily.

I hate them, I hate them, I HATE them…

Please please PLEASE review! I want your input and critiques: what you like, what you don't like, words of encouragement, things you want to see happen, any ideas for the story, ANYTHING! I would greatly appreciate it!

Lovleelady