Wow it took me a long time to update. Kind of. Sorry about that. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Oh, and for some weird reason the lines aren't working. There's supposed to be one here:

Chapter Nine- Again?

Hayleigh glanced at the empty suitcase that was thrown haphazardly across her pastel duvet and sighed. Her class was going to Wolf Mountain tomorrow. And they were staying for an entire week.

Mostly this would be a chance to get excited. What could be better than hanging out with her friends? Plus, Matt and his friends would probably hang around them too. Giving her an excuse to see Tyler.

And she wasn't one of those girls who were afraid of bugs either. Bugs, fish, frogs-they were fine with her. So was sleeping in a cabin, waking up early, and wearing warm but not very nice looking clothes all the time.

So she should have been excited. She just wished packing were a lot easier! "Hmm…" she muttered, studying the packing list that had been sent home with the permission slip and then pile of clothes on her pink carpet. "Four pairs of sweats? Check. Two T-shirts? Check. Four long-sleeved shirts, sweatshirt, hiking boots, flip-flops for the shower? Check."

Hayleigh absentmindedly pulled her little black and grey puppy, Gracie, into her lap as she thought. The maltese/yorkie's tail wagged enthusiastically.

"I think you are almost as excited as I am," Hayleigh commented, before returning to her mental checklist.

"What about your square dance?"

Hayleigh jumped as the high female voice reached her ears. Then she remembered the new power she had discovered. She could talk to electrical appliances. Although this power gave her the creeps at first, she had come to love her new, strange friends. The voice was her gossipy and fashion conscious laptop, who she had named Jaime.

"Good idea. I'm not wearing sweats!"

Hayleigh threw everything except for her hiking boots into the suitcase. Then she grabbed a pair of jeans from her closet. She paired the jeans with a pretty, brown, long-sleeved shirt and chestnut UGGs.

"Perfect!" She threw the stuff in her bag along with a hairbrush, hair ties, and a large bag of cosmetics.

The doorbell rang, and Hayleigh zipped her suitcase closed and rushed to answer it, preceded by her wildly barking dog. Standing outside her door was a very worried looking Julia.

"What's wrong?" Hayleigh asked immediately.

"The portal behind my house opened again…"

"Oh." Hayleigh was rather relieved. "Well that's no problem. Let's go close it right now!"

"Wait!" Julia said sadly. "I'm not done! Grace went through it! My mom hasn't noticed yet, she thinks Grace is still napping. We've got to hurry!"

Hayleigh's eyes widened and she stuck one finger in her mouth, nibbling at the nail. It was a nervous habit of hers.

"Hold on, I'll make an astral drop." With a flash of pink light, an exact double of Hayleigh melted away from the original.

"Okay good, now let's go!" She dashed after Julia, who had started running the second she said 'okay'.

In a few minutes, they had reached Julia's house. Creeping around the garage, they joined the other three girls in the strip of trees behind the trampoline. They were all gathered around a circle of sapphire lightning.

"I called everyone else," Julia explained. "You wouldn't pick up though."

Hayleigh nodded and extended her hand. The heart of Candracar appeared, glowing with pink light. "Guardians, unite!"

Colorful orbs spun around the girls. Lacey's orb was fiery red and orange. Pure energy burned all around her. Her powers made her forget her difficulties at home, and her trouble with schoolwork (particularly math). She was a confident, she was strong, and she was beautiful. She landed crouched on the ground and straightened up.

Her friends had already landed. Hayleigh studied the portal for a second before stepping into it. Lacey, Julia, and Kelsey followed without a thought. Mandy, however, stood stubbornly.

"I will not…" Before she finished her sentence, Julia had grabbed her arm and dragged her through the portal. She landed on the other side with a thump.

"Thanks a lot!" She glared at Julia, who shrugged.

"We have to find my sister!"

"And quickly! Look where we are!" Hayleigh gestured to the fine marble floors and jewel covered walls that surrounded them. "The palace! We're in the throne room, I think."

Julia looked down at the dark marble floor. A little trail of mud led out of the room. She started to follow the trail, not even thinking about her friends anymore.

"Wait up Julia!" Lacey called, racing down the hallway off of the throne room. Julia was already turning into another small room. Lacey chased her, pursued by the other girls.

Grace was sitting quietly on the floor playing with her princess doll. Julia almost grabbed her and ran off, but then she saw what was behind her sister.

Nerissa was sleeping soundly on a velvet couch. Her dark hair was thrown over her face and her chest rose and fell softly with her breaths. But Julia was sure that any second now she would wake.

"Julia did you find Grace?" Lacey said rather loudly, running into the room. Then she stopped short, seeing Nerissa. Hayleigh almost plowed into her.

Julia was creeping slowly towards her sister. When she was in reaching distance, she grabbed her sister and ran. Her friends were quick to get out of her way and sprint towards the portal.

"Guards! Trespassers!" They heard Nerissa shouting and ran all the more quickly. A foghorn sounded throughout the castle.

Hayleigh and Mandy were already through the portal by the time the guards reached the throne room. Kelsey was halfway to Earth. But Julia was still a good four yards away, and carrying her sister made her run slower. Lacey stopped. She could not run away while her best friend was in danger.

"Take that!" she yelled, throwing a huge fireball right behind Julia. The guards backed up a few steps.

Julia smiled gratefully and dove through the portal, cradling her sister protectively. Lacey shot out another stream of fire and jumped after her.

On the other side, Hayleigh lifted the Heart of Candracar. The portal disappeared. With another flash of light, they were all back to normal.

"Well then," Hayleigh said. "See you all tomorrow!" She sprinted to her house and threw open the door, barely managing to reach her room without meeting her mom.

"Astral drop!" The clone flashed with pink light and then vanished. Hayleigh sighed with relief. Then she realized how tired she was. After pulling on a pair of pajama pants and an oversized T-shirt, she climbed in bed.

I don't think I'll ever have a normal day again! This thought echoed through her mind until she drifted off to sleep.

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