A/N: I apologize for any confusion in the last chapter. Just to clear things up: Emmaline is staying at her Aunt and Uncle's house. It's Win's brother. Obviously, Win and his brother did not get along very well. And just in case it doesn't come up later, Eugene, the Uncle, is Win's half-brother. The same mother. Obviously Win's father did not have the same standards as Eugene's.

She yawned widely as the alarm clock clanged. She reached over and hit it, knocking it off the nightstand, and onto the floor where it made even more noise.

"Dangit…" She muttered, rolling out of bed. She turned off the alarm and stood up, and looked for her new dresser. She hadn't arrived the last night until close to one o'clock, and her roommate was already asleep. She looked at the other bed. Obviously, she had already left.

Channing looked at the paper on the wall, and looked for her room number. "312…. 312…. 312…" She muttered, running her finger down the list.

"312!"She exclaimed, excited to have finally found it.

"Harrison, Derrick…." She looked down for a moment, confused. How cold she be rooming with a guy? She double-checked, then triple-checked. She definitely was.

"Whoa….Wait till Emma here's bout this…." She mumbled, slipping into the Pants and a plain t-shirt.

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"Okay….And… Richman, Kelli." She stepped forward as they introduced her. An 'experienced' player is what they called her. She grunted, and shook her head.

She was definitely a little more than an, 'experienced player'. She thought as she walked towards her would-be team of 8-year old girls.

Her and an older coach, Coach McDonald was his name, went over to the benches. They had the rink today, for a good two hours.

About fifteen minutes later the rink was empty as the girls put on their equipment. "Okay, we're gonna start with a little getting to know each other." He said lightly, gliding around in paces across the ice.

"Now, who's our goalie this year?" He asked, pointedly.

One of the more timid looking girls stood up, and walked towards the ice.

"What's your name?" He asked, a little less scary sounding.

She looked down at her skates. "Beth Roswell…." She mumbled, so that Kelli could barely hear her.

"I don't think they heard you." The coach grumbled in her ear.

"BETH ROSWELL!" She shouted suddenly, causing the coach to jump backwards. She blushed and looked down again, as if it hadn't happened.

"Alright…Then… Bethany, go get in goal…" He said a little more quietly.

"Okay, now, when I call your name come up and tell me why you wanted to play, and what your favorite thing to do other than hockey is." He let it all sink in for a moment.

"Heather and Leslie Scroggins." He said, looking to the twins sitting on the bench. They got up and walked over to the coach.

"I like to play hockey 'cuz I can beat people up." She said in a high-pitched voice. She was a little shorter and pudgier than the other twin.

"And you are….",a pause, "Leslie." She finished for him.

Heather grumbled something. "What?" the coach asked politely.

"I play because I like to go fast…" The coach smiled, and patted her on the back.

"Good."

They went through a bunch of girls like this, and by the time they were finished, Kelli had come upon the decision that there were four types here.

The drama queens—your truly 8 year olds, who make a big deal out of the slightest hit. Not good for defense.

The devoted ones—the few girls who actually care about the game

The twirl girls—the girls that are just here because they needed some type of ice training in the summer, and there only hope was hockey. Even though they would rather be doing those dumb, "triple-axles", or whatever.

And the ones who just didn't care…..

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Emmaline had stayed up late the night before, writing in her journal, and just plain old stewing on her night's experiences. What was the man's problem anyway? She grunted and looked down at the eggs she had been playing with for the last fifteen minutes.

"I'm gonna go out for a lil." She said matter-of-factly.

"Nope." Her Uncle said, not looking up, and didn't even bother to stop chewing.

"Excuse me?" She asked politely.

"I want you to meet our neighbors today." He said, as if it were inevitable anyways, so why not get it over with.

She sighed and returned to her food, pushing it around with her fork.

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Cadence had had a horrible day. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She lied there in bed, not moving at all. She had been in this position ever since she got home from classes at two o'clock.

She tried to remember where it went wrong. She laughed when she noticed none of it went right.

She got up and walked over to her nightstand and took the cordless phone back to her bed. She dialed a number and waited as it rang.

"Hello?" Kelli's voice said quietly.

"Hey Kel…" She said into the mouthpiece.

"Cadence? What's the matter?" She asked immediately, noting her tone.

She sighed and explained her not-so-great day.

She started off the day with accidentally running into Lewis, with his girlfriend, and knocking him over.

Then there was when she didn't answer a single question correctly in Musical Theory.

And then lunch…. Has there ever been a worse one, than the one she just experienced? She had sat down at a table by herself, not really knowing anybody, when a girl had come and sat by her.

"Hi, I'm Audrey." She had sad sweetly. Cadence had let herself return the smile.

"Hello…I'm Cadence." She had willingly replied.

They had talked for a while, when the girl suddenly asked, "You see that guy over there?"

Cadence followed the girl's gaze, and her eyes fell on Lewis. "Um, yeah, I know 'em." She had replied, pondering at the girl.

"Did you know that he was here on scholarship?" She asked laughingly.Cadence took a minute to reply. She chose her words cautiously.

"Um, yeah…" She had then stood up suddenly and made an excuse for having to leave, and when she 'ran' into Lewis again, he caught her milk carton.

"Thanks…" She'd muttered, before walking head down all the way back to her room.

"Wow, you're day was almost as bad as mine." Kel then explained another stressful day at Starbucks, and about her blowing up at a 78 year old man when he couldn't decide what kind of coffee he wanted.

Well, maybe tomorrow will go better…

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Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She glanced at the clock as she sat up. Only 3:26? Wow, time doesn't fly while you're lying in bed, obviously. She went to the door and opened it, not caring that she was in her pajamas.

She opened her mouth slightly s if to say something but, didn't. "'Ello Cadence." He said, inviting himself into her room.

"Uh, hey Lewis." She replied, as he walked over to a painting on her wall she had hung up earlier that day.

"Who draw this?" He asked, looking at it interestedly. She took a deep breath.

"My mother. She signed it Lena Kaligaris though. She wasn't married yet when she painted it. It's oils and pastels." She said, walking towards it, putting on a jacket, having noticed she was wearing her pajama pants and a tank top.

"It's amazing… My father was a painter." He said smiling at the picture thoughtfully.

"That's cool…." She said, stepping closer to the picture. They both looked at it for a moment.

"So, how was your first day at James?" He asked. James was the name of the academy. 'James Academy'.

She grunted. "Not what I was expecting…" She mumbled. He grinned, glancing over at her momentarily, and then returning his gaze to the painting.

"A little harder?" She nodded, "People not as nice as you thought they'd be?" She nodded, "Cafeteria smell like a bloody piece of crap?" She laughed.

"Didn't think of that one." She replied, finally glancing over at him. She noticed that he had shaven since she had last seen him.

Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and bolted towards the door. She resisted slightly, but figured it was no use. He opened the door quickly.

"But I'm not dre-" He put his hand over her mouth.

"Come with me." He said opening the front door to his car, waving her in. She sighed and hopped in, zipping up her sweatshirt. He jumped in next to her, and smiled over at her.

He revved the engine and took off. And Cadence, already paranoid about driving, was secretly freaking out. He was swerving and going at least 65 on a 40 street. He took a sharp turn left, and parked in front of a stranded building.

He stepped out and walked around the car, opening her door for her. She stared at him is disbelief.

"Follow." He said shortly, walking towards the door to the rugged place. He knocked on the door and it opened, music streaming out.

He pulled out the person who was standing in the doorway. It was a tall guy, looked about 17 years old, and he came over and shook her hand.

She stared at him blankly, and her hand felt limp when he finally let go of it. "I'm Devon." He said, smiling. He had a nice smile. His face scrunched up a little, and he looked like a little 8 year old boy.

"Um…Cadence." She said, still not sure what was going on.

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"Coffee." He said gruffly. She stared at him in indignation.

"What?" She asked stupidly.

He looked down at her from his high seat. She suddenly noticed the name on the back of his chair. 'Derrick Harrison'. She raised her eyebrows in surprise when she noticed what it said above…

He was the director.

"Uh, go get me a coffee." He said sassily. She stood there, and stared at him, getting slightly annoyed.

"I'm an intern."

He grunted and said with one eyebrows raised, "Yeah, I know, I can read," he said pointing at her black shirt, stating that she was an intern, "and intern's get me coffee. No whip, extra sugar, no cream, hazelnut."

She shook her head and turned around. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like him very much. Not to mention he looked awfully young to be a director.

He was very skinny, yet somewhat lean, and his short brown hair was matted to his head, as if he hadn't touched it since he pick it up off his pillow. He was dressed sloppily in a baggy green t-shirt and a pair of too-big khaki shorts. Not to mention the extra large sunglasses he wore, and the huge grey sweatshirt.

She walked smugly over to the concession table and poured a cup of coffee, adding sugar, not adding whip, and not adding cream, and then putting in the hazelnut flavoring.

She walked back over to him and handed him it, and he looked at her name on her shirt. "Ah," he said suddenly, "the roommate." She raised one eyebrow.

"Um, is this all I do this summer? I'm just your little butler?"

He smirked. "Hm, I like that idea. Good job, McBrian."

"So you mean I am going to spend my whole summer getting your coffee?"

He considered this. "And the occasional donut." he replied seriously.

She grunted. "I thought I was going to learn something this summer, that's what interning is, right?" He laughed sardonically.

His face took a sudden seriousness, "You thought that jut because daddy designed a stupid little game, that you would get expert advice and counseling? Do think that that is how I got to where I am by the age of 20?"

She grunted and turned around, walking away. She heard jump off his chair. "I don't want you to sass me, McBrian. Im your boss, you listen to me, or you go back hjome to daddy and the dragons, got it?" He said, turning her around by her shoulder. She peeled his hand off her shoulder.

"Got it." She muttered, heading towards the café for a snack.

B/N: Jeez, sorry it took so long. My PC has been all crappy lately, and I got frustrated and stayed away from it for a while…I was afraid I might throw it out of the window if I fought with the beast any longer…LOL, sorry, rambling…R and R!