Tina Palmer scrunched up her eyes, as she felt the light pouring in from the window. She rolled over onto her side, and pulled the covers over her head.

"Tina, wake up!" Maddy squealed at her.

"Nooo," Tina moaned. "And be quiet. That screech of yours is ultrasonic."

"Martina Palmer, if you don't get up right now-"

"Shut up Maddy!" Tina yelled, as she felt Maddy jump onto the edge of her bed. "It's the crack of dawn."

"It's eleven o clock."

"Same difference" Tina muttered. She felt Maddy get up off her bed, and felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach. All of a sudden the covers were ripped off of her, and water was drenching her face. "Aughh!" she screamed, as she bolted up. Maddy laughed as she ran out of the room, water gun still in hand. Tina ripped off her comforter, and raced after her roommate, catching up to her in the bathroom.

"You're up," Maddy stated happily. Tina jumped into the shower, grabbed the nozzle, and turned on the water to high, sending it straight at Maddy.

"Tee don't!" Maddy squealed. I already did my hair, and I don't have time to redo it." Tina reluctantly turned off the water, for the sole reason that she didn't want to hear the ionizer on Maddy's straightener anymore this morning. She smiled at her roommate.

"You're lucky I love you."

"I know," Maddy agreed.

A half hour later Tina was ready, and the two were standing outside Chandler Mansion with Danni. They had only been at school a couple of months but the three had already formed a close bond. In some ways Tina felt closer to Danni than to Maddy. Danni was quieter, more reserved, and less impulsive than Maddy- she was much more like Tina herself. But Tina knew she also envied Danni- she had the perfect life. Her father was a doctor, and her parents were happily married. She had a twin brother and the perfect grandparents (and Grandma Ruth made the best oatmeal cookies- that Tina could personally attest to).

"Why is Colby at home?" Tina asked. The three had come to see Colby about possibly pledging in her sorority next semester. Also, they totally wanted the gossip.

"Her Uncle wasn't feeling well, so she came home for the weekend," Maddy explained. "It's stupid I know, but Stuart really likes it when she's there, so she came."

Finally, someone answered the door.

"Hey Winnie," Maddy greeted the maid, winking at her. Winifred HATED that nickname.

"Hello Madelyn," Winifred responded, smirking right back at Maddy who hated her full name. "Colby will be right down. She said you could go out to the patio."

"Thank you," Danni said, as the three filed through the foyer and living room, to the backyard patio.

"This house is amazing," Tina breathed, taking it all in.

"The Chandlers like to think so," Danni replied, somewhat derisively as they sat down on the patio chairs. Tina gave her a questioning look.

"Martins and Chandlers don't really mix," Maddy explained. Tina nodded.

"So how's Ren?" she asked Danni, hoping to cheer her up.

"Annoying as ever," Maddy answered, not getting that the question was for Danni. "I went over there the other day to see Dave and he wouldn't let me inside. It was so weird."

"Stop crushing on my brother," Danni said in a bored tone.

"Stop making out with my cousin," Maddy shot back. It was an old routine with them. She turned to Tina. "How's Ben?"

"You'd know as well as I do," Tina answered her. She knew her eyes had clouded over just a little bit, but tried to recover quickly. She wasn't quick enough.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Maddy asked softly.

"Nothing really," Tina told her. "Just, I've been helping him with calc right because he totally sucks at it. And so we're spending all this time together, and it's always really awesome, but then he'll start talking about you. Like, he obviously only thinks of me as a friend." Tina's voice had gotten accusatory at the end of her speech. She hadn't meant to. She knew it wasn't Maddy's fault, and she also knew Maddy didn't like Ben like that. But she also knew part of the reason she sometimes liked Danni better than Maddy was because of Ben.

"I don't know what to say," Maddy said, looking truly confused and somewhat stricken.

"It's not your fault," Tina said quickly.

"I'll talk to him-"

"No!" Tina cried. She looked at Maddy desperately. "Don't."

"Is that a Martin in my house?" a male voice called from the garden side of the patio.

"No, it's a Martin outside your house JR," Danni answered sweetly.

"Get out," JR told her coldly.

"I am out," Danni replied. "That was kinda the point."

"Your kinds not allowed here," he said. Tina looked at this man. Superficially, he was beautiful, but his eyes had this hatred about them that scared her.

"You mean the decent kind?" Danni quipped.

"I mean the-"

"Don't say it JR," Colby warned her brother, stepping outside. "These are my guests. Just go inside. Uncle Stuart's looking for you." JR stared at Colby for a minute before shuffling past her.

"Don't mind my brother," Colby told them, as she sat down. "It's been a rough day."

Danni snorted. Colby shot her a threatening look.

"I may not hate Martins Danni, but I love my brother, and I won't tolerate anyone speaking harshly of him even if he is being a dirtbag."

"Okay," she said softly.

"Hey, but can I ask," Tina interrupted, "when did you get so feisty?"

Danni grinned. "Chandlers bring it out in us." The girls laughed. So Colby, you gonna tell us what's bothering you?"

"Nothing," Colby answered quickly.

"Col, my mother's a psychiatrist and I've got about fourteen doctors in my family," Danni told her. "Knowing when something's wrong is in my genes. So what's wrong?"

"It's Peter," she said simply.

"Your boyfriend?" Tina asked. She had only heard about him once or twice, but from what she gathered he was a real prick- probably something like JR had just been. Of course, all her information on the guy had come from Maddy- and Maddy hated his guts because her brother was hopelessly in love with Colby. Colby of course, was the only one who couldn't see this.

"Yeah," she replied. "We got in a fight. Chandler Enterprise is taking over this other company, that Cortlandt tried to buy, so Palmer and my dad are really going at it, and Peter got drawn into it, and it just dragged up all the old crap between our families. Like, I don't understand why he can't get that just because your families don't get along, doesn't mean you're doomed."

"Yeah, look at Greenlee and Leo or Kendall and Ethan," Maddy added.

"Look at his parents," Danni supplemented.

"Seriously," Colby fumed. If Palmer and Opal, if Tad and Dixie if anyone in those families had listened to their relatives, where the hell would they be?"

"Um Colby? Perhaps that last one? Not such a good example," Maddy said simply, staring in the direction JR left. Danni and Colby looked that way too.

Tina was utterly confused.