Author's note: Hi All! I had almost forgotten about this story…but I'm excited to work on it some more. I just completed grad school, so I should have much more time for fun things like BSC fanfic! Thanks for reading.

"Stacey…come on, honey, open your eyes. It's okay," a soothing male voice said.

"Dad?" she murmured, slowly opening her eyes. It had been a dream. It had to be. What a relief, she thought, I'll never go out all night with Laine again. I'll be the perfect daughter, Daddy, I really will.

"No, it's Keith. We met in the lobby, remember?"

And then, it all came slowly back to her. The cab ride. The lobby. The overly sympathetic receptionist. Keith, the grief counselor. Her dad. Never seeing her dad again….

Stacey quickly shut her eyes again. "Go away. I don't need to see you."

"Stacey, the sooner you start to face reality, the faster you'll begin to heal."

She gritted her teeth. "Leave me alone right now. I mean it. Get out of here."

Keith slowly backed towards the door. "You've been admitted to a room, Stacey. Your blood sugar was through the roof. Stress, no doubt. Your mom's on her way up from Connecticut. I'm going to call in a doctor, okay?"

Stacey flopped over as easily as she could without removing her IV and jammed her pillow over her face. I'll never see him again, she thought as she drifted into a restless sleep.

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Claudia threw her bag down and dug into her fries, trying to scoop up every last bit of cheese. I really, really need to talk to Kristy about running, she thought as she felt the zipper on her pants strain. But at the moment, there was nothing she could do about it, so she washed her fries down with a Mountain Dew and topped it off with a Twinkie. Thank God I'm not diabetic, she thought as she looked around for Mary Anne.

She almost didn't recognize her as she sat down at the table; she was used to Mary Anne's mousy brown, limp hair. Instead, a bombshell was now sitting across from her. Mary Anne dug through her book bag, oblivious to the stares she was attracting. I wonder how much longer her shyness will last? Claudia snarked to herself as Mary Anne looked up at winked at Alan Grey.

"Claude, thanks again for all of your help last night. You would not believe the reaction I've been getting today!"

"Of course," Claudia responded. "You look hot!" Indeed, Mary Anne had even upstaged Claude that day. Ever since her recent weight gain, Claude had felt less creative than usual. She usually wore black, trying to hide her late-night donut binges and ice cream breakfasts.

"So, are you coming to Kristy's party tomorrow?" Mary Anne asked, fiddling with her food. She wasn't particularly hungry; she was too excited from all of the attention.

"Didn't even know about it. I'm guessing that I'm not invited."

"Well, you should totally come. Kristy probably just forgot to invite you. Maybe she hasn't seen you yet today?" New look or not, Mary Anne still had that overly sensitive side.

"MA, it's okay. I really don't feel like going."

"Well, you can always crash. Or I'll just go for a bit and we can hang out afterwards. I just want to get out of my house for a bit."

"Out? Don't you ever want to stay in with Logan" Claude joked.

Claude noticed that Mary Anne paled a bit but didn't say anything. "No, it's the new me, always wanting to go out!" Mary Anne replied perkily.

It's weird, Claudia thought to herself. As she watched Mary Anne soak up all the attention around them, she knew that she should be jealous. But by now, she wasn't. She had too much on her mind, from Alan to Stacey, and she was even a bit excited for Mary Anne. Let's make this work, Mary Anne. From now on, we'll be the most popular girls in this school.

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Sharon unlocked the door, quietly slipping in. She knew that no one would be home, but she wanted to make sure that no one saw her. The truth was, she had lost her job over a month ago, but she was still keeping up the pretenses that she was working every day. Her boss had called her erratic, flighty, and irresponsible; she was fired shortly after forgetting to pick up an important client at the airport and leaving her rental car keys in the mailroom.

"Girls? Richard?" she called out, double-checking. No answer. She plopped down on the couch and opened a paperback that had been left on the table. Before she could get too into her novel, she caught a glimpse of a paper out of the corner of her eye.

Dear Mom, Mary Ann, and Richard:

By the time you've found this, I've already left. Please don't try to come after me. Ever since I came back to Stoneybrook, I realized what an inconvenience that I have become. It's hard enough to make a marriage work without having to worry about stepkids as well. I'm going to stay with a friend, and I'll give you a call to let you know I'm okay. Mary Anne, I'm sorry for all the problems I have caused. Please just let me go for a while, and I'll call you soon.

Love,

Dawn

Sharon whirled around the room, panicked. How could Dawn leave her again, so soon? Why was she always leaving? She reached for the phone, frantically dialing Richard at the office. Of course, he was in a meeting. She called Mary Anne's cell phone, but it just rang, signaling that she was avoiding her calls. Sharon began to dial the police, but something stopped her. She place the receiver down and grabbed Dawn's note, frantically shredding it.

If I get rid of this, no one will know what's wrong. I'll just say Dawn had to go back to California. Picking up the crumbled pieces, she tossed them in the garbage and made sure to put the bag outside in the yard.

If Dawn doesn't want to be around anymore, fine. At least Mary Anne will never leave me. She smiled to herself, making sure that she would hold onto her remaining daughter forever.

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On Saturday morning, Kristy woke up early to squeeze in a run. Shannon had slept over the night before, and she and Sam had kept Kristy up all night. Still, Kristy felt energized and vigorous as she lapped around the neighborhood, barely breaking a sweat.

Back at home, she found Sam sprawled out in his normal chair at the table, eating an omelet. "Where's Shannon?"

"She left. She had to clean a park or something," Sam mumbled, a bit of egg in his stubble.

"Gotcha. So what do you need me to do around here?" Kristy asked.

"Eh…nothing really. Maybe just clean one of the bathrooms. This place is pretty clean."

"Anything I can get from the store? Food, snacks, etc.?"

"Nah, I think Shannon's going to make a food run. Just sit back and relax."

Relax, mused Kristy. Not something I do a lot. She poured a glass of milk and stood at the counter making toast. Sam put his plate in the dishwasher and affectionately rubbed her head. "You're a good kid, you know that?" Sam asked.

Stunned, Kristy smiled to herself as Sam left the room. She wasn't used to this sort of display of affection from him, but she liked it. Maybe Sam had changed for the better.

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All morning, Mallory had been avoiding Jessi's calls. Jessi had been cast as Clara in The Nutcracker, and she was begging Mal to go. But Mal still felt awkward around Jessi, and besides, she couldn't jam up her phone line in case a publisher from New York called. Jessi would have to wait.

Mal dug through her closet, trying to find something to wear. She didn't own any labels like Stacey, but she thought that she had some great choices nonetheless. Today, she was stuck between her Blossom hat and stirrup pants or her Misty of Chincoteague sweatshirt with her jeans from the day before. She had washed them especially for the party, especially after Shannon had complimented her on them the day before.

Ah, Shannon, Mal thought to herself. Now that's who I should have practiced kissing on. She couldn't believe her luck when she heard about the party at Kristy's tonight. Of course, it must have slipped Shannon's mind to mention it to Mal on the way to school the day before. As soon as she had woken up, Mal had left three messages on Shannon's voice mail to ask if she could bring anything to the party. So far, she hadn't heard anything back, but she figured that Shannon was just being a good friend and didn't want to bother Mallory so early in the morning.

Mal did a little twirl in front of her mirror, admiring her frizzed-out curls in the mirror. She had been reading Vogue since the night before, and she really admired the high-fashion photo shoots. Apparently, fluffy hair was in, according to the Gucci shoot. Well, Mal had plenty of big hair, and with a little work, she had teased it into a nest of curls. She knew she looked just like the photo spread.

Tonight is going to be the best night of my life. I get to hang out with my friends, and maybe I'll even become best friends with Shannon Kilbourne. Her boyfriend is so hot. Maybe he'd be into me, and we can all hang out.

What Mal didn't realize what that she should have just stayed home. But at this point, she was too enticed by the idea of new friendships and the chance to manipulate others that she knew she had to get in, however she possible could. Best night of my life, she reminded herself as she sat down to practice her makeup.