"Eh. My. Word!"

Nicole looked around curiously to see who had just screamed this but she couldn't see anybody. She did though, see Rebecca cringe and recoil into her tray slightly, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Rebecca Sin-kuh-lair! Is that you!"

Rebecca turned reluctantly, wishing desperately for it not to be who she thought it would. A girl with face-dominating black Chanel sunglasses was posing by the foot of the cafeteria entrance stairs, jean capri pants, monogram striped loose vest and big, chunky, Miu Miu wedges.

"Please no…" Rebecca uttered under her breath. The girl whipped off her sunglasses to reveal bright, sparkling blue eyes with eyelashes much like Rebecca's. Even though she knew who the girl was, Rebecca pleaded silently that it wasn't. Her long dirty blonde hair fanned out behind her as she rushed forwards, embracing Rebecca in a tight hug. Rebecca was totally aware almost the whole student body who had chosen to eat breakfast in the outdoor cafeteria were staring at them. Even the ones in the indoors cafeteria, the girl had screeched it so loud.

"I can't believe you're here!" Kristen squealed, "Ehmaword, puh-lease tell me that you're here until graduation!"

Rebecca glanced apologetically to Nicole. Kristen noticed this, now averting her attention to Nicole, but still clutching Rebecca's wrist like she was worried Rebecca would make a run for it.

"Are you going to introduce me to your little friend?"

Nicole couldn't help but notice how stupidly pretty this girl was.

"Nicole," Rebecca said wearily, "this is Kristen Williams." She raised her eyebrows significantly so Nicole would know it was the girl they'd been talking about the night before, "Nate's step-sister."

"You have got to stop referring to me as 'Nate's Step-Sister'," Kristen guffawed, "really, with the ever growing status I've been working on while he's at school and I'm flitting about fashion capital to fashion capital like a fashion butterfly, he should be known as 'Kristen's Step-Brother.' Anyway, Nicole did you say? Nicole what?" Kristen extended a tanned, soft hand out to Nicole. Nicole wasn't sure whether she expected her to shake it or if she was suddenly going to pull it back again and wave, Kristen was way too unpredictable.

"Bristow," Nicole answered as Kristen withdrew the hand to fix her belt buckle, "Nicole Bristow."

Kristen snapped her head up from her buckle and pulled a 'scandalous' face.

"Is this her?" She asked, poking Rebecca sharply in the arm, "Is it?"

Rebecca nodded uncertainly. Kristen was ecstatic.

"Ehmaword!" she yelled, her voice abseloutely dripping with upper-class English, "I have heard sooo much about you. From Art and the guys of course," she leaned in closer to Nicole, "Is my brother a good kisser? All his old girlfriends said he was terrible. Well, maybe he's progressed since then but…"

Nicole stared, horrified, at Kristen who was now flicking fly-away strands of dirty blonde back.

"I didn't kiss Nate, or whoever you're talking about," she said, looking desperately across to Rebecca for assistance.

"Kristen!" Rebecca hissed, "Shut up!"

"What?" she replied in the same, loud, obnoxious tone she'd used before. It seemed like Kristen had only one volume, and that volume was Extremely Loud. "She should be proud! My brother is kinda a catch! Your brother," she hit Rebecca on the shoulder, "is possibly the most gorgeous specimen I have EVER come across! Imagine if I end up marrying him! We'll be sisters!"

Rebecca smiled appropriately, but Nicole could read that smile, it was a 'oh super' grimace disguised by a teeth-flash. Kristen diverted her attention back to Nicole again.

"So you didn't kiss my brother?" She looked thoughtful, "I wonder why he said he did then. Wait, did he kiss you Becca? He said he did."

"Please, Kristen," Rebecca abandoned her tray on the slide and urged Kristen away, steering her with her hands on her back, "let's talk inside. Away from where everyone can hear your annoying loud bellow."

As Rebecca walked Kristen through the indoor cafeteria, muttering quiet curses under her breath, many heads turned.

"Woah, nice."

"There's two of them?"

"Except in my dreams where I see them by billions."

Logan watched them pass.

"That new girl that Rebecca's with," Glen leaned back on his chair, "she's almost as hot as her."

"Who are you kidding? We all know you've got the hots for Zoey," Logan dismissed, looking back at Glen now that Rebecca and Kristen had left the room.

"Yeah, I do."

"And by pulling her best friend you assume she's gonna fall all over you?" Logan teased, picking up his bottle of water. As Glen continued, Logan tuned out and instead thought back to what had happened the night before, when he'd first seen Kristen.

He knew he could've been a little more smoother than stare avidly, but he couldn't help it. He was caught off guard by her, and even though he was in the middle of a hot and heavy session with Dana at the time, he couldn't stop thinking about Kristen.

He dreamt about her too.

He thought about her when he woke up.

He was thinking about her right then.

"Will you please not go shouting about Nate in front of everyone?" Rebecca hissed after pushing Kristen into an empty classroom, "And for the record, no I didn't kiss him, but I've got a feeling the rumor mill will be churning now you screeched out that little gem. Thanks Kristen."

Kristen looked haughty.

"Well, excuse me for being curious," she said moodily, "I just wanted to know, that's all."

"Well you can start by apologizing," Rebecca began pulling her hair back into two thick plaits, "and you can finish by handing me over Zoey's Converse AllStars box. Right now."

A scowl crept over Kristen's face as she flicked a piece of hair out of her face irritably.

"How do you know about that?"

"Nate? He's like a radio, trust him with nothing," Rebecca brandished her palm and held it in front of Kristen expectantly, "but hand it over."

"No way, it's got valuable stuff," Kristen looked at Rebecca, "come on Becca. We used to die for this kinda stuff. Remember when we blackmailed Jennifer Barkley into thinking –"

"Well I've changed," Rebecca interrupted sternly, "I decided the evil little rich girl wasn't really the route for me. I didn't expect you to follow my footsteps anyway, I see you're exactly the same as I left you."

"You mean drop-dead gorgeous and willing to fight for what I want?"

"No, I mean bitter and twisted. Come on Kristen," Rebecca's voice changed from stern to sweet and pleading, "it doesn't have to be like this. The kids at PCA are different, they won't stand for your kinda crap. You shouldn't be starting a new opportunity like this."

Kristen looked down at her shoes, twiddling her feet around and chewing her lip.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Kristen shuffled and itched her arm. An unnecessary amount of fidgeting, Rebecca noticed, but then again, Kristen was never a girl who'd stand still.

"You think I should…change?" Kristen asked. Rebecca nodded. For a moment, both were silent, staring at the ground. After a few minutes, Kristen stood, and began walking towards the door.

"Well get used to the old me," she said, "cause I'm not changing for anyone." She brushed past Rebecca's shoulder and out of the door, pausing only to say,

"Don't take this as the end of our friendship Rebecca. I need you, you need me. Just take this as a warning for Zoey. If she wants her little secret box back, then she can do as I ask."

As she stalked down the empty corridor, she called behind her,

"Oh, and if she doesn't get back to me with the answer, then I'm going for the Big One. I'm sure he missed me, right?"

This was a chapter I had already written and uploaded now, I put it up shortly after putting up the previous one so I'll answer anybody's questions at the bottom of the next chapter. Thanks and pie, N x