Disclaimer: I do not own Polysporin, Band-Aid, Pixar, or The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants.

Alright, here's Chapter Four. I will try to get better at updates so Chapter 5 will be up soon. Thanks, my faithful reviewers: loonypadfoot1641, redsoxfreak01, toostupidforyou, Riza-4789, coolmarauders, Quinni, catmiester, H.J. Glory, and SilentFlight. You guys rock!

Chapter Four

Lena woke up on the floor, a little disoriented. She lay there for a few minutes, trying to answer the basic questions of where she was and how she had gotten there. When she realized she had fallen off the sofa in her sleep, she glanced at the clock.

"What the heck? 2:30 already?" she mumbled, and stood up. Last night was a distant memory. She quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Nobody was home and there was no toast left. She pulled out a random box of cereal. Raisin Bran. Yuck. As she chewed listlessly, she realized she had no plans for the day. She rinsed out her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. Then she decided to poke around for a while in the family portfolio. She unearthed many interesting things, including Effie's report card (straight B's)! Lena laughed. She lifted the report card and was silent. Lying amidst various school photos was the sketch of Kostos. Lena's eyes widened. Hadn't she destroyed this? She couldn't look. It was too painful. She shoved everything back in the box and put the box on its shelf.

She went back up to her room and called Paul on her cell phone.

"Hi, Paul Rodman here."

"It's Lena."

"Oh, hey Lena. What is it?"

"Can you pick me up tomorrow?"

"But I thought we were going next week."

"Yeah, I need to go back now. Unless it's not convenient-"

"Oh no! It's fine. But not tomorrow-does the day after tomorrow work? That's when I'll be in Bethesda."

"Okay. Sure. See you then!"

"Bye."

Lena sighed. It was like she couldn't even remember Kostos or her world would shatter.

But Paul was completely different. She didn't know if she loved him, but there was definitely something between them.

Mr. and Mrs. Rollins were at work and Catherine and Nicky were at school. There was nothing standing between Tibby and the home phone…

She lunged for it and dialled the operator.

"Hi, this is Operator Kevin, what can I do for you?"

Tibby put on her best Chinese accent.

"Hello. Is monitor necessary when buying computer?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. "Is that a serious question?"

"Yes. On e-bay they say is full computer, but does not seem to work very well. I phone helpline, they say I need something called monitor. But I think they lying to me."

"Well, then, it is ma'am."

"Good then. Thank you for your time."

Tibby hung up and let out a huge laugh. She loved torturing the operators. What should she say next? The phone happened to ring randomly. It was probably one of Mrs. Rollin's dorky friends. She decided to torture him or her.

"Hi, this is Barbie from Pizza Hut. May I take your order?"

"Oh pardon. Wrong number."

The guy on the other end hung up.

Tibby giggled. She remembered the time she called the operators to ask the meaning of life… she could do that again!

Just as she was reaching for the phone, it rang. Again.

Tibby growled and picked it up. She was just about to launch into her Pizza Hut monologue when the person spoke.

"Hello. This is Professor Jonstone from NYU. May I speak to Tabitha Tomko-Rollins?"

"This is she."

"Oh! Hello Tabitha. I've called to let you know about that project you did about a pair of pants walking around the world."

Tibby blushed.

"I sent it into a major animation studio a few months ago. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is work on the video editing team of their next feature film, entitled

'Speedy.' It's about turtles."

Tibby was silent with joy.

"Hello?"

"I'm still here."

"It does pay, you know. And it's close to the NYU campus."

"Yes! Yes, I'll do it! I'd love to!"

"Great. You start Monday. I'll send you an e-mail package."

"Thanks. Bye."

Tibby felt like dancing. This was utterly, totally fantastic! Her first real job, doing something she liked! Wallman's really didn't count.

Bridget adjusted the sound on her new iPod then slipped it in her pocket. She was going out for a run, which she hadn't done for a long time. As she launched into her warm-up routine she felt the Bridget energy crackling through her. She wanted to be on the team so badly. Her coach said she was a shoo-in. Bridget knew it wasn't true, but every time she thought of those words they made her smile. She imagined crowds of thousands cheering her on as she bent the ball into the net.

Her feet hit the pavement. Bridget forgot about everything and just ran. Everything was perfect. She turned at her regular forest trail and put the peddle to the metal. With exhilaration, she raised her face to the sky.

"This is perf-" she began.

All of a sudden she was flat on her face. Bridget's mouth filled with mud as she raised her head again and spat out the muck. This time it was not out of joy, but of fear. She rolled over and looked at herself. Apparently she had tripped on a root. There was a pretty big cut below Bridget's knee. She tried to stand up and fell back down again. Now she was scared. She had to pull herself up somehow…

Bridget grabbed a largish stick and hoisted herself up. God, it even hurt to stand on it with support! She plunged forward, taking large awkward steps. After a while she got the hang of it and thought about the injury. Tryouts were in a few weeks- it should have healed by then. But what if it was something worse than a cut? She swallowed grimly and felt a horrible taste going down her throat. The mud, she thought.

It was a long walk home, only made longer with the new difficulties. When she got home she used Polysporin and about 6 band-aids to cover the wound. After a few hours she pulled back the loose band-aids to look at the cut. It wasn't healing very fast, but it didn't hurt as much now. She wondered if they would let you into the National Women's Team if you were wounded… What if they didn't want her? She had been waiting for this since she was 3. She would just have to grin and bear it. Also ignore it. Sighing, she reached for her pyjamas, though it was only 9. There was nothing else she could do, she thought.

All of a sudden her computer made a little tinkling noise. She got up and looked at the screen. It was Eric. She switched on her webcam.

"Hey, Bee!" he said, smiling.

"Hi Eric. How are things?"

"Great. How are things for you?"

"Just fine."

"When are your soccer tryouts?"

"Two weeks. I can't wait!"

"Wow. I'll be there, Bumblebee. Anything else?"

"I've got this ugly cut below my knee."

"I can see that."

Bridget realized with horror she was sitting cross legged in front of the webcam. She lowered her knees so they were no longer visible.

"Sorry."

"How'd it happen?"

"I tripped on a root."

"Darn. I hope you get better soon."

"Thanks. What's going on in NY?"

"Nothing much. I can't wait to see you again."

"Me neither," said Bridget.

Eric appeared to kiss the lens.

"Awww." Bridget kissed the lens too.

"I have to go now, but I'll talk to you soon."

"Kay. Bye."

The conversation ended and Bridget went to bed, feeling a lot happier.

Carmen and Win sat on the patio of the yacht club. It was a lovely, clear night and the band was playing softly at the other end of the patio. Win was wearing what looked like a tux. Carmen felt conspicuous in her red slip dress. She wondered how much this dinner had cost, and didn't ask. Everything was too perfect.

"Thank you so much Win. This is lovely."

"Very lovely indeed," replied Win. But he was not looking at the band, or the view. He was looking at Carmen. He leaned over and kissed her very gently. Carmen blushed. The band stopped playing and looked at Win. Carmen stared at him in awe as he got out of his chair and knelt on one knee. This was NOT happening. She was in ecstasy.

"Carmen, you the most lovely person I have ever met. Will you…" he swallowed. Everyone on the patio was now looking at him.

"Marry me, Carmen."

Carmen was starstruck. This was huge. Win looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Yes!" she cried and gave him a bear hug. The patio erupted into loud cheers and the band picked up the music. This was the best evening of her life.