She awoke suddenly to the sound of the door opening. She grunted and picked her head up to see. It was just Derrick. He looked ready to pass out, but she was still feeling bitter towards him, so she just turned over and tried to sleep.

"Hey McBrian, you awake?" He mumbled. She sighed heavily.

"Yes…." She managed to mutter.

She sat upright quickly when she felt him sink down into her bed. She stared at him thoughtfully.

"Can I help you?"

He looked over at her, his eyes baggy and his lips in a horrible downward slant. "Yeah…"

She raised her eyes, waiting. "Just, whenever you report tomorrow, tell them that…that I took ill. Tell 'em they got the day off." He said tiredly, slipping off his shoes.

She sighed and laid down silently pondering at the odd guy. "Alright."

She felt him get up and heard him as he undressed and got in bed. "Thanks McBrian." He mumbled.

She grunted and closed her eyes.

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"Well, maybe if you had the courtesy to apologize you would still have a job, Kelli!" Her mother cried in frustration. Kelli's head was hung low, and when she looked up she was surprised to see her mom close to tears. Truthfully, the only time she had seen her mother cry was when she talked about Grandma Marly.

"I can't handle this right now! I…. I just can't handle you!" She yelled hoarsely. She fell silent and swept towards her daughter.

She stood up quickly. "No mom, it's cool, I got it." She said coldly, walking to her room, muscles tensed up.

She had lost her job. She had finally lost her temper at a cocky sixteen year old who kept on using corny pick up lines. She had yelled at him, and threw a frapaccino in his face, after he 'accidentally' knocked something onto the floor behind the counter. She refused to apologize, and her boss fired her on the spot.

But as soon as it became the impossible, she knew she had to get that job back. She was intense and ready for it. She would do whatever it took. Not that it would be a great accomplishment, but she wanted it. She wanted to prove to everybody that she could handle it.

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She crossed her arms and slumped low in the armchair when the doorbell rang. Great, the neighbors were here. She heard her aunt scramble for it, and laugh fakely, and usher them towards the room.

"Honey, these are the Armstrongs." She said sweetly. Emmy looked up as cheerfully as she could.

"Uhm, hi, I'm Emmaline…" She said pleasantly. She scanned the family quickly. There was a father, looked like he was in his late forties, with dark thinning hair, and too-large glasses. And there was a very small girl, a blond who was extremely cute. And then she noticed the boy. She gaped silently at him. He was amazing. He had shaggy blond hair down to his ears, which seemed at least a little neatly kept, and he was tall and skinny, and had sparkling blue eyes.

Obviously she had missed something as the family looked at her expectantly. "Honey, tell them where you're from…." Her aunt said gritting her teeth, even though she kept her lips in a harsh smile.

"Oh," she declared, "Sorry, I'm from…", Blah, blah, blah…small talk, small talk, small talk… Even Emmaline wasn't very sure what she was talking about. Of course he (his name was Gary) hadn't paid any attention to her. He was focused on tickling and pleasing his five year old sister, Olivia.

"Well, dinnertime!" Her aunt said happily, leading them to the kitchen in a flurry.

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"Nice to meet ya, Miss Cadence." He said gruffly.

She looked around tiredly, "Where….Where the heck am I?" She finally asked.

Lewis laughed heartily. "One of the campus hangouts. It usually takes a grueling process to be accepted to it, but I decided to let there be an exception. Follow us." He said animatedly, leading the way into the building.

She gasped when she walked in. It was a quaint little restaurant/café sort of thing. If you've ever seen Chubby's on Boy Meets World, then you probably know what this place looks like. A comfortable little restaurant, a bunch of people having light conversations in the booths, and a radio station playing in the background.

"Welcome to the Niche." Devon said, grinning at her face. She smiled, and followed Lewis to a booth. He sat down at one, but Cadence couldn't help but notice that there was a girl in the seat next to where he sat down. Of course… It was his girlfriend, Jennifer was her name. She was a violinist.

He slipped his arm over her shoulders and grinned at Cadence, "This is Jennifer, my girlfriend. And Jen, this is the girl I drive around that I told you about. Her name is Cadence." She smiled shortly at Cadence, and then returned her gaze to Lewis, and Cadence sat down uneasily across the table and gazed at the menu in front of her tensely, as Jennifer whispered something to Lewis.

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After going to the set and telling them that there was no shooting for the day, she wandered around the area, just checking it out. After getting bored of those couple of blocks she hailed a taxi and asked him to take her all the way to the beach.

The ride there was a long one, but the scenery kept her occupied. The tall palm trees, the enormous blue sky, and the expansive road, with the occasional driver riding on by. She took quite a few pictures, and before she knew it the driver was opening the door for her by the pier.

She stepped out of the car and looked around happily. She found her way to the nearest surf shop and bought herself a bathing suit with the money her aunt and uncle had given her before leaving. She went to the beach and laid out her towel and laid down on it, and stayed that way for a good half hour before turning over. But it had only been five minutes on the other side when she heard someone sit down by her.

"Hello silly." She sat up. It was a little girl. Looked like she was probably only five years old. She looked around for the girl's mother.

"Your tummy gets really red if you stay on your back that long." She said simply. Maybe this girl was a little older. Maybe eight, or nine? "My name's Shelly, what's your name?"

"Uh, I'm Channing. But you can call me Chan." Before she could say anything else the girl jumped up and ran over to a woman who looked like she had to be her mother.

"Get in the car!" The lady whispered harshly, and spanked her. The girl scowled and limped towards the car, her bottom lip hanging out sadly.

"I'm so sorry, she doesn't know her manners. I try to keep her under control." She said quickly, turning around. Channing stared at the disappearing woman in disbelief.

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The minute she opened the front door she just knew something was wrong. She had left the house immediately after her fight with her mom.

"She's your daughter!"

"What the hell do you mean by that, Eric? You most definitely helped!"

She heard something fall. "I don't know, Bee, I just don't think I can handle this."

She crept through the hallway, trying to peer in at them. "Is that you, honey?" Bridget called out. She bit her lip.

"Yes, mom." She called out hoarsely, backing up towards her bedroom. She plugged her ears, as if trying to push out the sound of her heart throbbing. She tripped absentmindedly over something and turned around, taking a mad dash to her room.

"Honey, wait, you know I can run faster!" Her mother cried out from downstairs. She quickly closed and locked her door. She changed furiously, and slammed onto her bed, forcing her eyes shut, not daring to let one single drop of water come from her, that would be too easy.

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After a nice little splash in the water she went back to her place in the sand, hopping slightly because of how hot the sand was. She put up her umbrella, feeling tired of the hot sun, and laid down under it, pulling out a novel she had started reading. Just when she had gotten past the third word someone sat down beside her. She tried to put on a smile, but it came out as a grimace.

"Why the long face, McBrian?" Said the young voice next to her. She moaned and looked over at him.

"Hello, Mr. Harrison." He laughed straight from his belly.

"Mr. Harrison…. You crack me up, kiddo." She glared at him and looked back down at her book.

"Look, I'm trying to catch up on some reading, could you leave me alone, for like, five minutes?" She said, glancing at him coldly. He laughed.

"Hey McBrian, if you ever want to do more than bring me my coffee, you gotta learn how to suck up a little. Play your part convincingly." It was her turn to laugh.

"I don't suck up for anybody, sorry." He didn't laugh this time, just stared at her harshly.

"Look, I've been in this stupid business long enough to know that sometimes you have to answer to people. You gotta do you don't wanna do if you wanna get what you want. I'm sorry, but that's how is in the real world. You can keep on saying you don't do anything under anyone, but that'll get you by yourself in the garage apartment and your mom's house, flipping burgers at the local Burger King."

She stared at him in disbelief. "What? You thought I sat at home and wrote stories to get where I am? No, I was an intern at this place four years ago, and they treated me just like I treat you, sorry, but I need small things like coffee from you, so I can focus my genius on me job instead of my coffee."

She nodded and smirked. "Alright, so, decaf, or what?" He chuckled.

"I like you McBrian, you just have a little too much sass for me, young grasshopper."

She raised her eyebrows. What was that supposed to mean? She sighed and lid back at the same time he did and watched the seagulls fly around aimlessly.

"Hey, so what was wrong with you last nite?" She immediately regretted asking, his face turning sorrowful almost instantaneously.

"That," he said coldly, standing up, "is none of your business, McBrian." He walked away briskly, slipping on his flip-flops on the way.

Well there goes a good chance of sucking up… She thought bitterly.

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Emmy711: You mean this guy, the guy you sleep in the same ROOM as, is even REMOTELY cute, and FIVE years older!

Chansplansi guess….

Keller2killer:god chan, you suck

Caysdayswell, just don't sleep with him unless you consult us first…

Chansplans:omg, I cant believe you just SAID that, cay! Jeez, sick….lol :sniggers:

Keller2killerhaha, I heart u cay, you crack me up. and what bout u Em! whats this I hear about a cute guy?

Emmy711: lets just say hes just a lil TOO interested in another girl…AKA his lil sis!