So, my best friend introduced me to the wonders of k-pop and…..I'm hooked.

New favorite songs!

Lightless by B2ST

Perfect for You by SNSD

Both have been added to my GrooveShark and I can listen to them on loop for hours. I would post up the lyrics…but I haven't gotten around to learning Korean – yet. ): Shame. Anyways! On with the chapter! Enjoy!

You think I'm pretty without any makeup on,

You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong

I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Reid lay in bed, watching as the red digits turned from 4:29 to 4:30 and Vivian's aPod lit up, vibrating on the nightstand besides Vivian. Reid hadn't been able to sleep that night, she had shrunk back and fled to class twenty minutes before lunch ended. After Shira's horrifying message, Rebecca's thunderous expulsions and Vivian's predicament yesterday, she had chickened out and switched her aPod off for the rest of the day – hoping to not receive any messages from Darwin. After all, this was better…right? To be at the same school with him – even if they barely talked – than to spend a lunch with him and then get herself kicked miles away. She'd never see him again if she got caught. So play it safe. Right?

She still wasn't sure. She had finally dared to turn her aPod back on at midnight and closed her eyes before deleting all the messages in her inbox. She didn't think she could handle any questioning messages from Darwin. She had spent the entire night stressing over it and not being able to sleep – at all. Finally giving up after counting over seven-hundred, eighty-four sheep, reciting the alphabet backwards at top speed, whispering Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in Spanish, and completing her art project that wasn't due in a week, she had simply stared blankly up at the stars for the rest of the very long night. She blinked again at the digital clock. 4:30 AM. Vivian's aPod was still vibrating insistently and Reid wondered if she should just get up and wake Vivian herself.

In precisely two seconds, Vivian's hand shot out from beneath her mess of blankets and yanked her aPod off the nightstand.

"Oh, shut up," grumbled Vivian to her aPod as she switched off the alarm and tossed it onto her pillow. She straightened up and caught sight of Reid's open eyes.

"Someone's up early," Vivian commented.

Reid shrugged. She wasn't about to say, Oh yeah, I just ended up thinking about Darwin the whole night and did I mention I chickened out and didn't meet him?

"Yeah," Reid said simply, "Couldn't sleep."

"Well, at least you don't have to get your ass up at four freaking thirty to smooth the ice at the rink," Vivian shimmied off her bed and grabbed a few clothes from her closet before stripping out of her PJs and sliding on a violet skating dress and zipping up a navy hoodie over it. Snatching up a black hair elastic she headed out the door.

"Hey, want to come? You look kinda…..depressed," Vivian asked.

Reid hesitated for half a second.

"Sure!" She was up for anything that would take her mind of Darwin even if it was just for a brief morning.

Vivian gave Reid a brilliant smile and headed out into the cold crisp air of the morning with Reid following behind.

"So Shira made you clean the rink every day for punishment?" Reid asked. Vivian had told the rest of the Taylor Swifts what happened between her and Shira last night but Reid had only understood a part of it. What was a Zama-something anyways?

"Mhm," Vivian nodded as they took the path towards the Amphitrite Rink. "Smooth the ice every morning with the Zamboni, stay away from Taz, lay off on the parties, no spa sessions and I have to land my triple flip by October."

Reid nodded while biting her lip as she followed Vivian's clear strap gladiator sandals. Why why why why why why did just by looking at colorful flowers reminded her of art which in turn reminded her of Darwin?

She just couldn't get him out of her head, couldn't she?

"So what's going on between you and Darwin anyways?" Vivian asked as if she had read Reid's mind. "You two looked pretty cozy at the party."

"Uh-um," Reid stalled as Vivian inserted a gold card into the slot of the glass double doors of the Amphitrite Rink to unlock it.

"Well, we're just – friendly," Reid managed to choke out. "Yeah, friendly. Friends. Like friendly friends."

Oh god. She could have smacked herself in the forehead. Friendly friends? She knew she always had a tendency to babble like an idiot when under pressure but that was ridiculous. How more retarded could she get? At least it was Vivian. Not Darwin. And Darwin just had to pop up in her mind again, didn't he?

"Friendly friends?" Vivian raised an amused eyebrow at Reid while the corners of her lips curved up in a smile. "Just keep telling yourself that, girl." She pushed down on the gold handle of the glass doors and let it swing open with a click.

Reid slid through the doors and paused in the bleachers. Without the extra flashing lights, the decorations, the blasting music, the partying alphas, the rink looked huge, empty and oddly scary. A few clicks let bright white light flash and light up the entire rink. From Reid's point of view, it was at least Olympic-sized – unless it was bigger. Light reflected off the gleaming surface of the ice and a simple water dispenser near the door where Reid stood. Instead of the basic plastic bleachers, they were a shining gold and snack bar lined the right wall on the far off side – stacked with healthy snacks, of course.

"Want to learn how to drive the Zamboni?" Vivian's voice called out from the other side of the rink. Reid's brown eyes grew huge. Vivian's dark hair was barely visible on the top of a gigantic vehicle – which looked like a street sweeper truck to Reid. Wait. Drive it?

"Drive the – what?' Reid shouted back.

"The Zamboni!" Vivian yelled back from across the rink laughingly. "Come on!"

Vivian's enthusiasm was contagious. Reid hurried over to the other side of the rink and stepped onto the ice besides the machine and stare up. "How am I supposed to get up there?"

She stared up at the monstrous bright gold and silver machine. Even the Zamboni was shiny gold here. Looking like a huge shiny street sweeper, the Zamboni stood at the edge of the ice with Vivian handling it expertly.

"No street shoes on the ice!" Vivian called down. "But since I'm smoothing it anyways, it doesn't really matter. Climb up!"

Reid's wide brown eyes grew huge and she only hesitated for a brief second before grabbing onto the silver ladder and hauling herself up to sit beside Vivian. The two girls were both skinny enough to let them fit on the velvet seat that was made for one person.

She watched in slight disbelief as Vivian handled the Zamboni with the confidence and calmness of a professional. Where did she learn to drive that thing?

"I dated a guy who's brother was the Zamboni driver," Vivian answered. Reid must have spoken that thought aloud. "Besides, my sister's boyfriend is all into cars and bikes so I learn a thing or two about it."

Vivian drove the Zamboni carefully and slowly across the smooth surface of the ice, leaving a wide trail of freshly smoothened ice behind the Zamboni. Reid shook her head in amazement. Just a few months ago in May, she had been stuck in boring old math class while her teacher droned on and on. Now, she was on top of a Zamboni with a girl who was destined to win the Olympics. It was crazy. Alpha Academy was crazy.

"So…..wanna tell me about what was bothering you this morning?" Vivian glanced over at Reid. "I'm not buying that "friendly friends" thing about you and Darwin. Come on, girl. Spill." She turned the wheel of the Zamboni slowly to the right and let it glide forward.

"I…..," Reid had no idea what to say. Spill her guts about everything? Confessing to a friend would feel so much better – but she didn't really know Vivian that well.

"Yeah?" Vivian waited for Reid to continue.

"You know how we talked at the skating party, right?" Reid paused, unsure where to start.

"Oooooh yes. You two definitely looked cozy," Vivian smiled slyly, making Reid blush in slight embarrassment.

"We were talking about art and he asked me to meet him by the lake the next day," Reid explained ducking her head and waiting for the inevitable Ohmuhgod!

She didn't have to wait long. Vivian's dark eyes grew huge and her mouth opened in slight amazement. "OhmuhGOD! No way! He asked you out!"

"Um, yeah," Reid looked over at Vivian.

"So what's the biggie? You didn't have fun? No chemistry?"

"I….didn't go," Reid cough-confessed.

"You what?" Vivian jerked her gaze off the ice and turned to face Reid. Dark eyes bore into the chocolate brown ones. "Why?"

"I was scared of Shira! I didn't want to get expelled," Reid burst out, her emotions getting the better of her. "I mean, if I got kicked out – I'd never see Darwin again!"

Vivian looked at Reid in silence, contemplating Reid's dilemma. "You should expain, though" Vivian said quietly. "To him."

"I know," Reid nodded. "But…..I'm – scared, I guess," she said in a soft voice.

Vivian nodded slowly. "Explaining things are always hard," she agreed. "Twenty questions?" she suggested lightly to break the quietness. She turned the wheel of the Zamboni again making the turn as they reached the end of the rink.

A bright smile lit up Reid's face. "Ok, favorite color?"

"Purple," Vivian answered immediately. "You?"

"Yellow," Reid answered. "First crush?"

"Javier Ramirez," Vivian shrugged, "Hockey player. You?"

"Uhm. Darwin, actually," Reid admitted. "But it was more of a celebrity crush."

"Really? That's so cute! It's like fate," Vivian laughed. "Best friend?"

"Ally Lane, we were kind of geeky back then," Reid said with a slight smile.

"Really? I would never have guessed," Vivian tilted her head to the side as she regarded Reid. "You would look really different in glasses…."

"Oh I did. My yearbooks pictures were disasters," Reid laughed. It was way easier to get along with Vivian that she had expected. Vivian wasn't as intimidating as she seemed. The pretty, cool, partying ice-skater was just a regular girl like Reid and everyone else. "Who was your best friend?"

"Meggie Chang," Vivian replied promptly. "In five years we're going to be on the USA Olympic figure-skating team and fighting each other for the gold." She sounded assured and confident in that fact.

"So she's an ice-skater like you?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, but she's a goody-goody like you," Vivian smirked back.

Reid laughed easily. "Any sisters?"

"Karolyn Dresden, age 19. Model. Dancer. Cheerleader," Vivian smiled proudly. Of course Vivian would have a glamorous older sister. Glamour and beauty seemed to run in families, thought Reid wryly.

"Lucky you," Reid said in slight envy. She had always wanted an older sister to gossip with, to paint her nails and the whole sister bonding experience. But she had always been the only child.

"You don't have a sibling?" asked Vivian as she turned the Zamboni again, letting it glide close to the rink's edge. It was definitely something different. Usually, Reid would have been talking to her old BFF Ally during a sleepover and here she was, chatting with Vivian while sitting on top of a gigantic Zamboni

"I wish," Reid sighed. "Craziest thing you've ever done?"

"Party-crashed the high school's varsity hockey team's party in eighth grade and lip-kissed a really hot sophomore guy," Vivian giggled.

Reid's eyes grew huge. "You crashed a party? Crazy!"

"That's the whole point. Craziest thing you ever did?"

"Coming to Alpha Academy?" Reid said it like a question. "That sounded lame compared to you."

Vivian tossed her head back and her silvery laugh rang out through the rink. "Ever dyed your hair?"

"Nope, you?"

"Yep," she smiled "A hot pink streak that lasted for an entire year. That was back in eighth grade. Meggie thought I was crazy but Jamie went along with it and got a bright neon green streak and Andie got a purple streak in her hair, then we convinced Meggie to put an electric blue streak in her hair. It was crazy." She shook her head and laughed.

Vivian finished driving the Zamboni over the entire surface of the ice and drove it carefully back into the storage room besides the rink before turning it off and hopping off.

"Come on, down!" she called up as Reid slid down carefully.

They hopped over the railing and onto the bleachers, being careful not to step on the freshly smoothened ice. Back at the bleachers, Reid watched as Vivian kicked off her sandals and slid her feet into the ice skates before snapping the skate guards off.

"Hey, I need to go back to the house to change and ask Hazel something, okay?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, sure," Vivian nodded vaguely. Reid quickly understood that when Vivian's skates were on and she was on the ice, there was nothing else besides herself and the ice. She wouldn't want to break Vivian's concentration.

"Bye!" Reid called out as she headed towards the glass double doors of the rink. The last thing she saw before leaving was Vivian gliding out onto the ice and building up speed as she speed-skated around the perimeter of the rink to warm-up. Her long dark hair was loose and flew out besides her and the violet skirt of her skating dress was visible underneath her navy hoodie.

Talking with Vivian had made Reid feel a whole lot better. Not only did she get to know her roommate more, there must have been something about chatting that makes girls feel better. Was it some kind of scientific discovery? Whatever it was, she was glad she had gone to the rink with Vivian Dresden this morning. Walking back towards the Taylor Swift house with a new spring in her step and some sparkle in her eyes, she resolved to make up things with Darwin and somehow find a way to explain to him about her no-show yesterday.

Now, if only that was as easy as it sounded.

X-X-X

"I heard that Vivian Dresden paid Shira a hundred million dollars to let her stay,"

"Sabrina said that Vivian's been expelled!"

"No, Rebecca threatened to sue Vivian for spraining her ankle!"

"Whatevs, Rebacca was such a beta,"

"At least the party was fun,"

"Puh-lease, like you even skated!"

"Why does Taz even like Vivian? She's not even that pretty!"

The last comment was from Sara Wilkes. A girl with a major in modeling and a Sabrina Benson follower.

Ali rolled her eyes as the Michelle Obama girls gossiped about Vivian a few feet away from her as she browsed through the racks of Sparklicious, one of the cute boutiques at Alpha Academy. She had received her first progress report – Alpha Academy styled, of course – and had gotten enough A's to buy herself some new cute outfits. After all, just because she had to wear uniform during class hours didn't mean that she couldn't wear other outfits any other time. Since Shira had threatened Vivian, Vivian had been a skating machine, spending her entire day at the rink and would rather have an individual session at the rink with some robotic skating machine that analyzed her movements instead of coming to shop with Ali.

She had asked Summer to hang out with her after classes but the blonde singer had been struck with inspiration for a new song. She had no idea where Alice was but assumed that the actress wouldn't have liked another Sabrina Benson run-in. Alice had gone into the lunch strangely quiet and when Ali asked about her acting class with Class-A biatch, Sabrina, Alice had said nothing except for "Sabrina's never going to win."

Reid had rushed off to the lake after lunch muttering something about "explaining" and Ali had just looked on in confusion as the rather quiet girl fled out of the Pavilion like the rabbit in Alice In Wonderland who always happened to be late.

Ali flipped through racks of silver and shimmery gray mini dresses before giving up and moving off to the mini skirt selection. Sparklicious was known for its sparkly apparel and sequined tops. Vivian had sported the new peacock blue sequined skating dress this morning for her skating class and had suggested the small boutique to Ali if Ali ever needed something cute and sparkly. Deciding on a copper shimmery babydoll top and a pair of kitten heels with the straps encrusted with gold dust, she moved over to the silver machine that bore a striking resemblance to an ATM machine. She inserted her gold Alpha Academy ID card and scanned her two purchases before the machine spat out her card and her receipt slid out from the slot.

"Can you, like, hurry up?" a girl behind Ali tapped her foot impatiently.

Ali slid her card and receipt back into her pocket and turned to face Isabelle Martin, a Michelle Obama with an Alpha Track in art. Ever since Rebecca had been expelled, the Michelle Obamas – led by Sabrina Benson – had been nothing but nasty towards the Taylor Swifts. Even Gwen, an alpha girl with an Alpha Track in writing had been rather cool towards Summer.

"Can you, like, just not talk to me, like, yeah?" Ali mimicked Isabelle's nasally voice as she glared at her. Ever since the night of Vivian's party, Isabelle had been hanging all over Dingo like an unwanted piece of dirty laundry. It had annoyed the heck out of Ali especially when Isabelle had giggled every five seconds behind her hand in that disgustingly high-pitched nasally tone of hers.

"Oh shut it, Ryan," snapped a voice from behind Isabelle. Sabrina Benson emerged from behind the racks with her arm full of clothes and pushed her way over to the check-out machine. Why did that girl always have to show up?

"Shut yourself, Benson," shot back Ali as she walked right out the door. She didn't need to deal with Sabrina right now. Isabelle Martin was enough. She had immediately hated that girl since the skating party. The way that Isabelle had hung all over Dingo was –

"Ugh!" she vented in frustration as boarded the bubble train back to the Taylor Swift house to dump her new clothes in her wardrobe.

"Bad day?"

Ali spun around so fast she nearly banged her head on the ceiling of the bubble train. As luck would have it, it was Dingo Brazille himself in the compartment with her. With his mischievous eyes and joking grin intact.

"Well, you don't want to make it any worse, do you?" Ali's face relaxed into a smile as she faced Dingo's cheerful face. There was no way that boy was ever unhappy.

"Course not, m'dear," Dingo faked a ridiculous accent which made Ali break into a light laugh. "What's up?"

"A blue sky," answered Ali in mock seriousness.

Dingo grinned. "Really? I hadn't noticed. Last time I checked, it was green. Maybe the sky-coloring machine turned out wrong,"

"A sky-coloring machine," Ali raised an eyebrow. The train lurched forward and began moving forward.

"You haven't heard? It's the newest invention to hit Brazille Enterprises. I'm going to be the new Thomas Edith! Turns the sky neon green as well as hot pink."

"You mean Thomas Edison?"

"Same thing. The light bulb dude," he shrugged. "Whatever the inventor muse said."

"You take inventing?"

"How else would I come up with those incredibly brilliant ideas for pranks without my trusty machine of horrors?"

Ali hoped that he really was kidding.

She tucked a strand of light brown hair behind her ears and her green eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Well, you could always dig into your trusty encyclopedia of terror," she flipped her hair over her shoulder carelessly. Was she flirting with Dingo? Nahh, more like just talking, she thought.

"Ugh. Reading. There is no way you'd get me to read," Dingo made a face of disgust, "Only Sydney and Darwin actually read."

"Nice to know," Ali smiled as the bubble train slid to a smooth stop at the Residences. "See you around!" she flashed him her brightest and most charming smile before hopping out of the train and heading down the pebble stone path without a backward glance.

Swinging the door open, Ali slipped into the Taylor Swift house to find Vivian collapsed against the couch with her skating bag discarded by her feet and an exhausted look on her face. No wonder, the girl had been skating in circles the entire day at the rink with only a short break for food and water.

"Hey," said Ali cheerfully.

"Hi," Vivian sat up and smiled at Ali, "Someone's in a good mood today."

Ali merely grinned. "Let's say I had a good day,"

"Just a good day? No run-ins with a certain Brazille boy?"

"How did you know?" Ali laughed.

"I'm psychic," Vivian yawned and threw her head back onto a pillow in the couch.

"And dead tired, too," added Ali. "Did Tori work you too hard?"

Vivian threw an arm over her face and groaned. "No. The stupid training machine did." Even after class, Vivian had been excused from Spotlight Training and all those other classes with the excuse that Shira had ordered her to work on her skating. She was bruised all over from falling multiple times from the triple flip jump that she been attempting. Vivian had always been incredible with her spins, spiral sequences and artistry but when it came to triples – that was when she needed to stop falling on her ass.

Ali nodded in sympathy. She knew what it was like to push herself to the limit. She had spent her entire life riding and racing herself as well as Eli just to win a simple gold medal. It sucked butt during the entire training process but she knew that the one thing that set herself and Vivian apart from the losers was the fact that they had worked themselves nearly to death just to achieve a simple jump or shave off a mere half a second on the time.

Ali had spent the entire morning with yoga in the Zen center improving her overall physique just to get a better form when riding. Also, the fact that she hadn't eaten anything with more calories than a granola bar had to factor into the list of things she had given up. After all, Ali and Vivian practically lived on vegetables and salad. She had been desperately craving gummy worms ever since second grade.

"So spill. What's up with you and Mr. Dingo Brazille?"

Ali smiled despite herself. Thinking about Dingo's cheerful personality, good-natured attitude and jokester personality always made her smile. He was like a cheery pill for her – always able to make her smile and laugh no matter how horrible her day was. Exhibit A: today.

"He's fun," she said.

"Just fun? No swooning about his dashing good-looks or anything?" Vivian smirked.

"Fine!" Ali threw up her hands. "He's funny, hot, cool, hot, nice, hot, cheerful and did I say he was hot?"

"Only about a few hundred times," Vivian said nonchalantly while trying to suppress her laughter.

"Shut up!" Ali laughed and threw a pillow at Vivian who ducked to dodge it. She sat down cross-legged on the rug and glanced up at Vivian.

"So….. I wonder if Alpha Academy has anything like winter break," Vivian said thoughtfully. "I kinda miss Colorado." She glanced out the window wistfully.

"Winter break?" Ali frowned in thought. "I'm not sure, would Shira even let us leave the island?"

"No idea," shrugged Vivian.

Vivian would never admit it but she desperately missed Colorado Springs, she missed her old friends like crazy and would give almost anything to skate with Meggie again and hear the criticisms of Natalyia as well as the cheering of Andie and Jamie during Regionals, or even screaming for Meggie when she won the gold at Lake Placid.

She frowned to herself. She really needed to stop missing home like a little girl and get used to Alpha Academy. Wishing and dreaming would never get her anywhere. Neither would missing her past. She simply been messing around and having fun during the first few days of school. Now, it was time to get serious, like the warm-up before a competition. Time to take down the competition and win. Suck it up and skate through her life just like another program.

X-X-X

From: Reid Dame

To: Tammie Duong

Subject: A favor

Hey, um it's Reid Dame, Vivian's roommate. I was wondering if you could somehow disable the cameras near the lake for at least two hours? Please?

-Reid Dame

Reid: Meet me by the lake? I need to explain.

Darwin: I'll be there

Reid hurried through the path as she made her way through the tropical forest to the lake in the heart of Alpha Island. She had found Vivian during Nutrition Break at the rink – where Vivian seemed to be spending her entire existence – and confessed her entire plan to talk to Darwin. She had begged for help and Vivian had suggest that she talk to Tammie Duong, the alpha with an Alpha Track in inventing, who had helped Vivian with the security cameras during the party. Lucky for Reid, Tammie was one of the nicest girls on the planet and easily agreed to switch off the cameras near the lake for her – on the condition that Reid would take all the blame if her plan somehow failed.

She needed to explain everything to Darwin, about how she had chickened out yesterday and left her waiting as well as all those unanswered messages on her aPod that had been sent straight into the trash without a single glance.

She broke through the tangle of plants, ferns and palm trees to an open area with a clear lake rippling in the sunlight. The sight of it nearly took her breath away. There was no beach, but smooth pebbles paved the shores of the lake and Reid could see the clear water lapping at the rocks the gentle early evening breeze caused the surface of the lake to ripple with the smallest waves. The sky was streaked orange and pink with the light of the setting sun. Most of the birds had quieted down and the majority of the alphas were at dinner in the Pavilion.

"Hey," a soft voice announced Darwin's entry. He met Reid's gaze as her emerged from the edge of the forest.

"Hi," Reid answered. She slid down and took a seat on the rock at the edge of the water, letting her bare feet dangle in the shallow water. "I needed to talk to you."

"Yeah, you kind of said that," Darwin's eyes gave nothing away. Reid had no idea whether he was angry at her no-show yesterday.

"I….I wanted to apologize," Reid's voice sounded different to her ears, her throat seemed to close and she fought the urge to run from the unwavering gaze. New Reid didn't run. New Reid wouldn't be scared. Channeling her inner Vivian Dresden, she met his gaze. "I wanted to explain why I didn't show up yesterday."

"Why didn't you show up yesterday?" Darwin asked in a steady tone. His face is expressionless and practically impossible to read. Even Reid – who had always had a thing for being able to read people's expressions – had a hard time deciphering Darwin's hard gaze.

"I – I – I was," Reid hesitated before gathering her guts, "I was a coward," she admitted. "I didn't want to get expelled for talking to you, you know that your mother forbid us from talking to you and the rest of your brothers."

"That's it?" Darwin asked. "You were afraid of my mother?"

"No!" Reid cried. "It's just…."

"Just what?" challenged Darwin.

Reid didn't reply. It was as if her lips had become glued together. She managed to open her mouth but no words came out.

"I get it," Darwin said. "You just don't want to get in trouble and ruin your entire good-girl reputation."

He turned away and started to walk away from Reid. No! She needed to make him understand.

Reid's lips seemed to move of their own accord.

"Wait!"

"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing for you to say. I get it. You don't want to see me, you can't talk to me and you don't want to."

"If I got expelled I wouldn't be able to talk to you again! Isn't it easier if we were at the same school instead of me being kicked all the way back across the continent? At least we could still see each other! It's not like I don't want to talk you!"

She tried desperately to make him understand. Even coming to talk to him was already a gigantic step for Reid. She never would have gotten the courage to talk to Darwin before Alpha Academy. She would have rushed home and wallowed in misery. She had never been the one for confrontations, but now, here she was yelling at Darwin to make him understand. Vivian and Ali would have been proud of her.

"Oh." Darwin's gaze softened slightly. "But my mom wouldn't expel you."

"Why not?"

"Because I won't let her," he said simply, like it was just a fact. He had no idea how warm he made Reid feel, no idea that Reid had gotten those feelings that screamed "cuhh-rushh!"

Reid blushed and looked down.

"Thanks," she said softly.

There was a beat of silence before she felt his arms wrap around her in a comforting hug. His cinnamon scented enveloped her and her insides were literally screaming "Oh. My. GODDD!"

They stood hugging each other for a few seconds before Reid broke away gently before her heart jumped out of her chest. They stood closely together for a few seconds for Darwin bent his head towards Reid.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!

Reid's eyes slid shut as she felt his soft pillowy lips press gently against hers. Ohmygod!

They stood there for a few seconds, with their arms wound tightly around each other and their lips pressed together. Their two shadows blended together as they stood silhouetted against the setting sun which seemed to dip right into the lake as it sank down in its descent.

Reid's insides were twisting with warmth and another feeling that she couldn't identify. Her first kiss! With Darwin Brazille! At Alpha Academy!

It was a picture perfect end to a day. She bonded with Vivian over twenty questions and a Zamboni and she made up with Darwin AND kissed him by the lake during the sunset. It was like a movie. She smiled up at him when they broke apart.

"I forgive you for making me wait," Darwin murmured as he traced Reid's lips with his finger. "I think it was worth it."

Awwhhhh.

X-X-X

Ashley Bell swallowed hard as she watched Darwin kiss that girl from the Taylor Swift house, Reid Dame. Jealousy swarmed over her and stung like a swarm of anger bees that wouldn't go away. She had liked Darwin ever since she had first saw his picture in the tabloids and it killed her that Reid Dame, an insignificant girl who could barely say "Boo" to a bird had already won over his heart in a matter of days. It was so unfair.

And Reid? With her sweet innocent exterior, no one would have suspected that she was going behind Shira's back and lip-kissing one of her sons. It had been hard for Ashley to handle Reid's sugar-sweetness and innocent friendly outlook the entire, especially in art. Smiling fakely to the girl who had stolen her crush had made Ashley green with envy and red with anger like a freakco Christmas special the entire day. It was time to change Reid's perfect reputation and she had the perfect way.

She had seen Darwin walking through the forest a few minutes earlier and had ditched her painting to catch up and talk to him – and saw him locking lips with the Reid girl. She grabbed her aPod and tapped in Shira Brazille.

Shira,

One of the Taylor Swift girls, Reid Dame was kissing Darwin today. And she had been texting him the entire day and they have been meeting each other in secret.

~Ashley Bell

She held up a camera, snapped quick photo of Reid and Darwin for proof and sent it along with the message to Shira. Hopefully, Miss Reid Dame would be gone for good in a matter of days.

Pretty pretty please,

Don't you ever feel,

Like you're less than,

F*ckin' perfect

Well? Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?

Review! Come on guys! Let's hit 40!

Come on! If you've been reading this all the way since the first chapter, you can't just NOT review! Just five minutes of typing up simple feedback that will make my day? Come on, I KNOW, you've been reading. So review!

Can you believe the entire story has around 40,000 words already? OhMyGosh!

As for Reid and Darwin, well I basically suck at writing that lovely mushy stuff...so um. Yeah. Criticisms?

Oh and one little question, should Alpha Academy have a winter break where the alpha girls get a chance to go home? I'm really not sure, since Lisi Harrison hasn't gotten that far in her own series….

I don't have a beta so all the mistakes are mine.

-The Lovely Psyche