Arabella's POV

"I'm Arabella Hartsford, yes that's really my name, call me anything you like, it's really all the same – HEY!"

I have been around my children far too long. I'm twenty-two years old, and here I am, singing like I'm ten! Oh well. I love my job, and I guess that is just one of the hazards I have to put up with – moments of insanity and immaturity. If that comes with the job, then ill take it.

They say that behind every great man is a great woman. I have to disagree. Call me a feminist, but I'd rather be right beside him. And I am. Lucas Evans – my best friend, my sanity (and insanity), my encouragement, exactly everything a boyfriend should be. There's just one little glitch in that system – Lucas Evans is not now, nor has he ever been, my boyfriend. What can I say, he's an idiot. You know, I remember this one scene in a Harry Potter movie where Ron and Harry need to find dates to the dance, and Ron turns to Hermione and says "Hey, you're a girl." So she gets mad and leaves, and I remember thinking "Hermione, I know exactly how you feel." I repeat, boys are dumb.

See, the funny thing is that almost everyone that knows Lucas and I say that we will get married. They say that we've been together too long to not. Apparently, our story goes back to before we were even born. Our mothers say that we have some freaky, supernatural connection, and I have to say that I actually do agree. The story goes that when our mothers were pregnant, the only time that we weren't kicking was when they were together. We were supposed to both be born around the first week of April, but Lucas' mom went into labor early and Lucas was born on March 16 – more than two weeks early.

Now, when a baby is born, the first thing you want to hear is them crying (eventually, you get over that.) But according to the doctors, Lucas didn't cry right away, but he was still breathing. A minute later, he began to cry, so of course they were all relieved. But, one of the nurses later told his mom, I was as if he were looking for something, and when he didn't find it, he started crying.

Now, the dummy apparently kept crying – forever! Nothing anyone could do could get him to stop. You couldn't nurse him, or give him a bottle, so they ended up putting an IV in him; if you held him, he would just keep crying. Any stuffed animals were basically useless. Now, this crying was so intense (obviously, if the doctors had him on a breathing mask and an IV) that the doctors remember the exact minute that he stopped – April second, at ten twenty at night. Oh, and in case you're curious – my birthday is April second, and I happened to be born at ten twenty at night.

This has continued on for the rest of our lives. When Lucas was stung by a bee when he was three, I mysteriously broke out in hives. When my foot got twisted in a rope and I got a bad rope burn on my ankle, Lucas had one to match. In eight grade, Joey Lippowitski decided to give Lucas a black eye, I had one the same size the next day (and I was not in a fight.) Three years ago, when I was in a car accident, Lucas had chemical burns to match mine from the air bag.

No one has ever been able to explain it. Physically, that is just impossible, but it's been happening our whole life, and by now, we've learned not question it. So, it really shouldn't be too surprising to think that we tend to think the same way. Growing up in Sunday school, we always learned about missionaries going and helping people in other countries. There was just something about it that seemed so amazing, and anytime I looked over a Lucas, you could see it in his eyes that he felt the same way. So, once again, no big surprise to hear that we would go on mission trips any chance we got.

Come our senior year of high school, both of us, along with a few more of our friends, were working at the local YMCA, when Lucas gets this idea to invite a bunch of inner city kids to come and hang out with us. When our director found out, he got upset and told Lucas that he wasn't allowed to invite them to the Y anymore, saying that they just didn't portray the image he wanted that group to have. Lucas got upset and quit, with me walking right behind him. Within the next week, the rest of our friends joined us. While, after a lot of research and investigating, we all came to find out that these inner city kids had absolutely nothing to help keep them out of trouble, and as a result, they were getting into situations that, in theory, did not have to happen (dropouts, gangs, teen pregnancy – you name it, these kids were facing it.) So, after we graduated, Lucas went to his mom and dad and aunt and uncle and just basically anyone who would listen, and as a result, the Evans Youth Activity Center was born.

Now, the whole high school gang joined Lucas and I in working full time at the center. Lucas and I signed on as the co head directors, our best friends Peter and Brianne joined in as the assistant directors, and our other friends (Mark, Camille, David and Deborah) joined in as directors of the various programs at the center. In a desperate attempt to get volunteers, each of us brought in as many friends and family as possible. Actually, that's how Ryan and Sharpay came to join us.

Oh, those two. They are actually very much like Lucas and I, except, well, they're twins! I have known those two since they were born, and they have become almost like my little cousins. Lucas and I just always felt like it was our job to protect them. You see, those two are very talented, but they seem to have a natural knack for the arts. Music, dance, drawing, whatever – they were great at it. More than anything though, they were amazing when it came to the theater.

From before the time they could walk, their mother had them enrolled in almost every single acting, singing, and dance class known to man. Not that they didn't have the talent – they did. It's just that they also never really got a chance to be kids. Any chance we got, Lucas and I would go and kidnap the two of them and take them to zoos, museums, parks, libraries, even just out to go get ice cream. Anything to attempt to keep them normal.

"Why didn't you get the lead?" "Why didn't you get straight A's?" "That's not good enough – you're not good enough." Poor things, that's all they ever hear from their parents. Never a "great job!" or "I am so proud of you." Nope, no a thing. In fact, not that their parents noticed, but when the twins found out that they didn't get the leads for twinkle town, they didn't go home for a week! Ryan went and stayed with Lucas and Peter, and Pup stayed with Brianne and me.

Oh, pup. I can't help but feel sorry for her. I mean what were her parents thinking what they named her. Do they even know what a shar-pei is? Not Sharpay, a shar-pei. A Chinese shar-pei. It's a dog! And not a very cute one either. Well, ok, it's kinda cute, but still, it's a dog! Now, every once in a while, when I'm exhausted, the amount of effort it takes to say some ones full name is exhausting, so I come up with nicknames. Well, I wasn't about to call her mutt, but pup? That was actually kinda cute. All though, I think Lucas and I are the only ones allowed to call her that, and every once in a while Peter and Brianne. She doesn't even let Ryan call her that! But anyways, that's how that came about.

You know, their parents didn't even go to any of the performances for this musical. Once they did find out that their star twins didn't get the lead, they didn't see any point in going. Needless to say, Lucas and I were there at every performance – all four nights! And one matinee! So, considering how much time we had invested into those two, it should come as no surprise that once we got the center up and running, we drew them in. It didn't matter that they were only twelve years old – we wanted them there. And they have been there ever since, working right along side us, even working almost the same hours as us. They come straight after school, and stay till almost ten o clock every night. Even on Saturdays, they get there at seven or eight in the morning, and usually end up leaving at about seven or eight at night. The only day that they aren't there all day is Sunday, and even then they still come in from about noon to six. Since the musical, they have really been trying to spend time with some new friends from school. Oddly enough, they have yet to bring any of them around to the center, but hey, they have their reasons.

Oh, that school. Now, keep in mind that I never went to East High. We all went to New Mexico High. Yes, I know, very original. But anyways, East High. They first contacted us about six months ago, letting us know about the new graduation requirement and asking if we would be interested in being one off the places that their students could volunteer at. Now, just my two cents on this – I think that it's a great idea. I know about everything that happened during the winter musical, and I really do believe that if the students weren't quite so obsesses with how they appeared to others, maybe the "situation" wouldn't have been a "situation" at all. Volunteering might be just the thing they need to be a little less self absorbed.

My only issue was when they tried to force the twins to volunteer an additional hundred hours on top of what they already do. They have no time! Well, the two of them were so stressed out about it that I actually had to go to the school (in a dress!) and speak to the principal about the situation, and convince him to see my way (and eventually, he did). So, after that, they were completely normal and were looking forward to spending the rest of the lunch period with their friends. So of course I'm a little surprised when I haven't even been gone for ten minutes and now I'm getting a phone call from Pup, begging me to come and get them.

That was part of their punishment for not getting the leads – they lost thier car. Not that their parents would notice. They happen to be vacationing in Europe at the moment, for the fifth time in the past six months. They'll be back, eventually, and then it's off to Hawaii! Yes, they are pathetic. They think that since their children are seventeen, they can take care of themselves. Grr. Yes, I growled. Grr. So anyways, I'm on my way to pick them up and head off to the center, but I am more than curious to see what's going on.

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Yes! It's finally up! And as a special treat to all of you who had to wait so long, be looking for the fourth chapter by Monday!