A/N Kind of a short chapter, but at least it's an update! Thanks to all who reviewed, very grateful of course :-) Especially to Junaberry - I wish I could have replied! It was a really nice review, thankyou very very much :-D ( I am queen of the smilies today).

The bit in italics is third-person, and hopefully you'll see the relationship between Jesse and Suze start to change a little bit. Enjoy!

TODAY'S HEADLINE: OH, SISTER!

Hector De Silva is snapped cheating on his girl – with her sister!

Chapter Eight

The Next Day

"Why are you hiding in the library, querida?"

I don't even have to look up to see who it was. I know that nobody else called me 'querida' – it was generally 'Suze', or in the case of people who didn't know who the hell I was and just asked me to move out of the way, I was labelled 'you' – but I can't help looking up into Jesse's deep brown eyes. They seemed to offer some comfort.

"I'm not." That's my short and slightly impatient reply. Jesse sighs and pulls the chair opposite me out, to sit on. He looks at what I am looking at, which is the local newspaper, before pulling it out of my hands. I try to snatch it back but he's too quick. He quickly throws it onto another table, before frowning at me.

"Don't torture yourself, querida. It wasn't your fault." I toss him a look that can only be described as 'duh' before speaking. Somehow now I can't face his dark eyes. It could be possibly because I've remembered what happened yesterday when we were taking a break from tutoring.

"Of course it wasn't my fault," I reply, studying my nails. "It was your stupid drunk cousin." As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I regret them, but Jesse doesn't disagree. He knows as well as I do that Hector is not exactly the smartest guy on this earth.

"Last time I checked you didn't think him so stupid," Jesse says, in a low voice, just loud enough for me to hear. I look up at him in surprise, but he pretends he hasn't said it. I go back to my nails, my cheeks burning a little.

"You don't have to stay," I tell him, when he shows no signs of going away. "I've probably caused your family enough public humiliation. Go salvage your reputation whilst you still can." I didn't mean this to be funny, but Jesse laughs; a deep, hearty chuckle. I struggle to smile.

"In case you haven't noticed, querida," he says, softly. "I am somewhat of a geek. My reputation was ruined the day I passed seventh-grade math." I couldn't help smiling at that.

"Well, thank-you," I answer. "My sister won't even look in my direction. Needless to say the rest of the school is following suit." Jesse reaches forward and squeezes my hand gently.

"Don't worry," he whispers. "It'll all blow over soon." I have my doubts, and tell him so. He shakes his head. "You'll see. Everyone will forget about it soon." I cast a glance at the abandoned newspaper, and the bell rings, echoing through the quiet library. I stand up, collecting my bag, before leaving the library arm-in-arm with Jesse, knowing that I'm safe from any scathing remarks this afternoon.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Paul Slater snaps into his cell-phone.

"I – I'm sure, sir," the man on the other end stammers. "Susan and Anna Simon definitely go to Junipero Serra Mission Academy. Are you at the right school? Maybe you're at Robert Louis Stevenson by mistake-"

"Of course I'm at the right school, you imbecile." Paul's tone is harsh. "But the girls aren't here. I'm leaving now; this was a complete waste of time. I've learned now not to ask for information from a fool like you, Jenkins."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm sure it's right! Perhaps you could ask for them to be pulled from their classes, claiming to be a relative…" Paul stops listening - a slight, skinny girl arm-in-arm with a Spanish boy catches his attention. He looks down to the newspaper he had in his hand to check – and sees that the girl is Susan Simon. And with her, he is almost certain, is Hector's cousin.

Paul hangs up, not bothering to say goodbye. Jenkins did not matter now. He has secured his target.

"Oh, great," I say, turning my head so that my face is hidden from Anna's view. "There's my sister." I gesture with my hand so that Jesse can see her. She's sat at her usual lunch table, applying her make-up before she moves to next period. She's surrounding by her usual flock of girls – including the deadly Kelly and the brainless Debbie. I freeze, unsure of where to go.

"It's O.K," Jesse whispers in my ear. I feel his hot hand in mine and grasp it tightly. I see out of the corner of my eye him grinning. "You're going to be fine."

"I have to walk through that," I reply, tonelessly. "I have to walk through that and survive, Jesse." He nods, and starts walking, tugging me along. Soon Debbie spots me and nudges Kelly, sniggering stupidly. Kelly whispers something to Anna, who then looks up to see me just as I pass her. She sticks her foot out and I trip, colliding with Jesse who just a little in front of me. He catches me easily.

"You are aware that that's Jesse De Silva, right?" Anna asks venomously. "And it's not my boyfriend you're holding hands with?" I don't answer, and Jesse squeezes my fingers. I clutch them tighter than ever, getting increasingly more nervous.

"I know," I say eventually. "I'm surprised you remember his name. Everyone knows you're stupider than a sponge, Ann." Anna chews her lip furiously, before exploding at me. Even Jesse drops my hand in surprise. I reach down to find it immediately.

"I'm not the one getting a tutor in math!" she cries, flinging a hand in my face dramatically. The other smoothes her dark hair self-consciously. "Though I don't know how much tutoring the two of you actually get done." I blush scarlet despite there being no truth to that accusation, and Jesse steps in protectively.

"You know that unlike some people, your sister doesn't only have friends because she's known to be promiscuous," he retorts in a low voice. Kelly gasps, but Anna stares back blankly. It's obvious she doesn't know what promiscuous means.

"Jesse," I say, highly impressed of how he has rendered my twin sister silent. "Let's just go, O.K? I don't want to listen to this anymore."

"Sure, just go," Anna replies, who seems to have recovered a little. "Nobody cares about you anyway." I start to walk away, before I'm overcome by some sort of rage. I drop Jesse's hand and stalk back over to my sister, slapping her face hard.

"You have no right to talk to us like that," I tell her. "You're no better than me, or Jesse. You may slather on heaps of make-up to look better, but inside you're superficial enough for the three of us!" She blinks at me, and I laugh disbelievingly. "And what's more, you don't even know what superficial means. You're just a stupid little slut." I hiss the last word, but everyone around still hears me and stares at me in awe. Anna is speechless, and I begin to walk back to Jesse, who is smiling at me proudly, before Anna seizes me and pulls me to the floor, sitting on top of me.

It turns out that my victory over my sister is short-lived. The truth is, starting a fight with the most popular girl in school was probably not the best idea, considering what happened next.