Nikki looked at her watch. It was 4:30. She and Maddie were supposed to meet at the mall at 5:00.

"Mom? Can you drive me to the mall?" asked Nikki, walking into her parents' room. Nikki really wished she had her license, so she didn't have to ask her mom all the time.

"Nikki, I can't. I have to watch Ava," said Kory.

"Mom! You always watch Ava!" complained Nikki. "What about me? I'm your kid, too, you know."

"Why don't you fly?" suggested Kory.

"Mom. Are you joking? I can't fly in front of the whole community! I think all that breast feeding has gone to your head," said Nikki.

Kory laughed. "Honey, just fly in your Nightstar costume. When you get to the mall, go to the bathroom and change."

"Or you can drive me like a normal mom," said Nikki.

"Nikki, we're not normal," said Kory.

"I wanna be normal!" said Nikki. "We used to act like a normal family, why can't we now?"

"Nikki, you like flying," Kory pointed out.

"That's not the point!" cried Nikki in frustration.

Nikki arrived at the mall five minutes later. After she got out of her costume (which is actually Starfire's old costume except Nikki wears a mask), she met Maddie at the food court.

"Hi Maddie," said Nikki.

"Hi Nikki," said Maddie. "How are you?"

"Not so good," said Nikki. "My mom doesn't care about me anymore. She spends all her time with stupid little Ava. It's all Ava this, Ava that. What about ME?"

"I see what you mean," said Maddie. Maddie has four youngerbrothers and one older sister. "I wish people paid attention to us once in a while. Why don't we do some shopping to get our minds off of it?"

"Okay," agreed Nikki. They headed into 'Bath and Body Works' to buy some body spray.

After about four hours, Nikki and Maddie had their arms so full of shopping bags, they could barely walk.

"Oh my god, this is so much stuff!" said Maddie.

"Yeah," said Nikki. "This is awesome! Nothing can spoil my day now!"

Just as Nikki said that, a college-age couple walked in. The boy was buff and had spiky brown hair and blue eyes. The girl was short, skinny, and had light brown hair with blond highlights and brown eyes.

"It's Max," breathed Nikki. "Is that his girlfriend?"

"Tiffany?" said Maddie. "Yeah. Kayla says she's not very nice."

Max looked over at Nikki and Nikki looked back. Tiffany looked at Max.

"Maximilian, why are you looking at those high school girls?" said Tiffany in a snobby voice.

"I'm his ex-girlfriend," said Nikki.

"We weren't talking to you, kid," said Tiffany. She grabbed Max's arm and strutted away.

"Not very nice? Did Kayla mention Tiffany is a total bitch?" said Nikki.

"She doesn't talk about her that much," said Maddie.

"My mom wants me to meet her near Dillard's," Nikki lied. She was close to tears. "So I have to go. Bye."

"Nikki, are you okay?" asked Maddie.

"I-I'm f-fine," said Nikki.

Maddie blinked, and when she opened, Nikki was gone.

When she got home, Nikki was crying in her room. She knew it was stupid to cry over a guy, but she did anyway.

Richard came in. "Nikki, what's wrong? I thought you were at the mall with Maddie. Didn't you have fun?"

"We saw Max and his new girlfriend," sobbed Nikki. "And she was so mean!"

"Everything is gonna be okay," said Richard, stroking his daughter's hair.

"Are you saying Max is gonna dump Tiffany and get back together with me?" said Nikki, hope in her voice.

"No, and he most likely won't. But, chances are a guy who actually cares about you will come along and save the day," said Richard.

"How do you know?" said Nikki. "What if no guy likes me? What if I'm too ugly and stupid?"

"Nikki, you're not ugly and stupid. You're pretty and smart. And I was once a teenage boy, so I know how these things work. Teenage boys like girls like you, not snobby anorexic girls with fake breasts."

"Really?" said Nikki.

"Yeah," said Richard. He kissed Nikki's forehead.

"Thanks Dad," said Nikki.

"Oh, by the way, your brother is gracing us with his presence tonight," said Richard.

"Cool," said Nikki. She turned on the TV and began watching Justice League. Maybe Ryan would stop obsessing over Crystla. Maybe he'd actually be the fun big brother he used to be.

Poll Time!

1)Who is your favorite OC?

2)Who is your least favorite OC?

3)What did you like about this chapter, and what didn't you like?

4)You get to ask me any question, and I will try to answer it if it doesn't spoil the story!

Review!

Love,

Chelsea