Hi guys. I am so sorry it took so long for me to update. Please don't hate me! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. My best friend Casy's birthday was this Monday. Hurray! I wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday. Anyway...

The next chapter will be the last chapter, because I am breaking down this whole story into three books. So I hope you enjot the first part of it. Please continue to read and review. It means so much to me!

Pointless Holidays

"Mark, are you okay," Roger asked Mark as he walked into the loft. Mark was sitting on the couch, curled up into a ball and very pale.

Roger made his way over to the kitchen counter, waiting for Mark's answer. Silence was the only sound that met him.

"Mark?" Roger repeated, putting his hands on the counter. "MARK?" Roger yelled. Mark suddenly snapped out of it and stared at him.

"What?" he said crankily.

Roger just shook his head and stared down at the counter.

"Joanne stopped by before," Mark said, changing the subject. Roger glanced up at him and smiled.

"Really?"

"Yea, she has a boyfriend, who has a kid. She started a law firm with him," Mark laughed picking up his camera.

"What is your point?" Roger put his finger in a small pile of coffee grain and spread it around the sorry excuse for a counter.

"She wants me to film a meeting for part of their commercial. She said she will pay me and everything, but I don't know."

"By filming, you will be giving in and selling out. What ever happened to all your determination to keep your work until you hit it big on your own? I mean, look at you, you have been tempted by Alexi Darling's offers ever since Maureen's protest and you still haven't gave in."

Roger looked up and smiled at Mark. Mark just sat there with a defeated and guilty expression on his face.

"You did?" Roger gasped. Mark just nodded and looked at the ground.

"I needed the money for your new prescription," Mark sighed. "By the way, did you pick it up at the hospital?"

Roger put his hand in his pocket and clasped it around the small envelope that contained the tube of pills.

"Yes," he said. "They took me off AZT."

"What?" Mark said, getting up for the first time. "Are they crazy? I though AZT was the only medicine to fight….."

Mark stopped. He hated using the word AIDS in front of Roger.

"AIDS?" Roger asked fiercely.

"Yea," mumbled Mark.

Roger turned on his heel and went to sit on the couch. He pulled out the envelope and stared at it.

Mark picked up his camera and began filming, "close on Roger. His prescription was changed, because he wasn't responding well to the other one. Well, he doesn't really respond well to anyone for that matter."

"Fuck off," Roger whispered.

o o o o o

Maureen walked down the street, looking for something, anything to do. Seeing Joanne again made her jealous. She was usually not used to this feeling, but she felt it. She wanted to run in and be with Mark, but he was probably with his camera. Joanne had a boyfriend and Maureen was beginning to feel as if she had no one.

She had only felt this way once before in her life. She was 10 and she had the biggest crush on the football star in her class. She was the freaky girl who always was in the plays and musicals. He never gave her one glance. One day she gathered up the courage to say, "Hi." He still didn't notice her and Maureen began to become frustrated. Everyone in her class had a "boyfriend." She finally told him that she liked him and he simply said, "You're weird." The week after that Maureen had that hopeless, lonely feeling of having no one. Then puberty started and she never felt alone.

She sighed and continued down the street. She passed by a newspaper stand and picked one up.

The headline read, "February 13."

Maureen smiled, "Valentine's Day is tomorrow."

She dropped the paper and ran home to get her money.

o o o o o

Maya was lying on the bed, writing in a red leather book Collins had just handed her.

"Keep your most precious thoughts in here," he had said, handing her the book.

She looked up and saw him sitting on the chair, reading his paperwork. She smiled and continued writing.

Tom gave me this book today. I have never really kept a diary. It is nice. I can just open up. I have only been here for about a month, but I have never been happier. I have met a great person named Mimi. She is everything I aspire to be. She has an asshole of a boyfriend, named Roger, but whatever. She has aids, along with Roger and Tom. I am really scared Tom might die. Anyway, a friend of mine at school introduced me to drugs. I have been threatened by Mimi that if I take them, she will kick me out, but I know she doesn't mean it. I just hate myself for being such a chicken about taking them. The first guy I bought them from was the Man. He got arrested though, because he was threatening Roger or something. Alright, I am getting bored of writing, so I am going to go now.

Maya

"Are you supposed to sign your name after a diary entry?" Maya thought. She wasn't really sure; she had never actually owned a diary. She sighed and closed the book.

o o o o o

Mimi stood on line at the instrument store. She kept looking behind her, as if she was expecting someone.

"May I help you?" the clerk asked. Mimi turned around and laid a dollar bill on the counter. She slowly picked up a guitar pick out of a wicker basket next to the cash register. She dug through the basket until she found the perfect color. She smiled and walked out of the store.

o o o o o

Roger sat on Mimi's bed, frowning. He needed the perfect gift for Valentine's Day. He played the same chords on his guitar over and over, but nothing sounded perfect. He could just get her flowers, but that was so plain. He needed something that would prove his love and devotion to her. He sighed and continued playing.

o o o o o

Mark turned on his camera and began to narrate. "February 13, 3 p.m. eastern standard………………..oh crap!"

He quickly shut off the camera and paced up and down.

"What I am going to get Maureen?" he said out loud. Suddenly, Maureen walked through the door.

"Oh hi," she said slowly.

"Hey," Mark said.

"I just came to get my money. I am going to get a bite to eat," she laughed nervously.

"Yea," he smiled. She quickly dashed by him and grabbed her wallet, which was mostly empty.

"Bye Maur," Mark called after the closed door.

o o o o o

"Valentine's Day is by far the stupidest holiday in the world. There is no point in it," Roger complained. He was sitting in the loft, watching Mark make coffee.

"I guess that means you don't know what to get Mimi," Mark laughed.

Roger's face clouded over. "I would get her flowers, but they are so plain."

"Thanks a lot," Mark sighed, staring at the bouquet of black and white roses he had bought at the store.

"Why are they black and white?" Roger asked, giving him a weird look.

"It represents Elsie. You remember? That cow that she sang about in her protest the year you met Mimi."

"Oh yea," Roger mumbled. He thought it was tacky and stupid, but he was also jealous that Mark had gotten Roger a gift. "That's a stupid gift."

Mark glared at him.

He wanted to get her something meaningful.

"Something that proves my devotion," he thought. "She is getting healthier though. That means it may not be her last year. I can hold off on giving her something that special. Maybe I am just procrastinating. Before I know it, it will be too late."

"You're right," Mark said.

"What?" Roger said, shocked. Had he been talking out loud? He was positive that he had kept his thoughts in his head.

"The gift is stupid," Mark said in a defeated tone.

"No," Roger said. "It's perfect." He stood up and stretched. Mark began to brainstorm and think about what to give Maureen.

There is no point to this stupid holiday.