Fran's Perspective that same day…

After yelling at Mello and trying to hold back frustration tears, I started walking down a random hallway inside of the orphanage. I can't believe I had friends for a day and then I lost them before 24 hours were over. I knew that I would have to eventually tell them about my very much alive mother, I just had to wait: I had it all planned out.

It would be Christmas morning and a package from my mother would arrive. We would all open our gifts together and someone would ask where I got mine.

"'My mom sent it to me,' I would say. 'I think they are cookies!'"

"You have a mother?" someone would ask (presumably Mello.) "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? She could have sent us some cookies." Then we would all laugh together and never bring the topic back up again. Why couldn't it have worked out that way? I thought to myself as I continued down the corridor. Up ahead I saw a bunch of people sitting on a bench, I got closer to see who it was.

The bench lineup was this: Matt was playing his PSP on the side farthest from me, next to him was BB- who wasn't doing anything, then came an expressionless Near, and lastly Joan was lying across the laps of all three of them. I tried to duck into another hallway so they wouldn't invite me over, but Joan called me over before I could even get to the escape corridor.

I humbly walked over to them giving a weak 'hey guys.' Joan told me to sit down; but there was no room so I stood awkwardly in front of them. Upon hearing Joan clear her throat, Matt moved over slightly and I sat down next to him. Why does she keep wanting me to be with Matt?

"So," Joan began. "Is Mello going to come in and kill you? Or have you two chicklets settled things?"

"I don't know what you mean, but he just kind of yelled at me for a little bit and then ran off," I explained in a soft voice.

"Oh that's good, he probably went into town to blow off some steam," she replied in a hopeful voice.

"What about the rest of you guys, do you all hate me?" I asked quietly.

Matt hummed a 'Notuh.'

Near hummed a 'Notuh.'

BB hummed a 'Notuh.'

I looked over at Joan puzzled.

"They said 'No,' and why would they not? It's not like you're a traitor or something," Joan explained. I smiled and thanked them, a few seconds later I realized how hungry I was. I announced that I was going to go an eat, when Joan sprang up from the bench as I got up.

"I'll come with you!" she said in her perky manner. A little weirded out, I just gave her a smile and we started heading our way down the hallway. Along the way there, my stomach made very loud noises, it was almost embarrassing. We talked about Mello and whether or not he had a major grudge against me or anything.

"Knowing Mello, he will probably act as if nothing happened. Really, I wouldn't worry about him," Joan assured me. We went and got our food at the cafeteria, at that moment it occurred to me that I would never get to choose what we would eat for dinner.

"Are there any restaurants in this village?" I asked as we were eating.

"Well, there's this little village guesthouse, and a nice Italian place called 'The Pisa Plaza.' But other than that, there's really nothing except for a candy store, and you know how we love our candy." My expression must have spoken for itself. "Ohhhh, you don't know about that yet, do you? Well, I won't spoil it for you now, but I probably should advise you that you should pick out your favorite candy."

"Umm, ok?" She laughed at me, and I was just completely clueless. An odd shaped shadow came over my head, before I could turn to see who it was, the figure spoke.

"Upon seeing Mrs. Martin's hair, I will have to speak with you later on tonight. Please come by my office around 8 o'clock," L's voice came. I felt sadness and shock wash over me, as I thought that I was in trouble.

"Alright, I'll see you there," Joan said happily. Feeling relieved, I smiled at her mischievously. "What?" She demanded, "Zinerva Francesca Rosalba O' Hearney, if you have something to say, you better say it."

"Oh, it's nothing," I smiled at her. "I just remember Matt telling me about your little crush on L." Joan looked shocked, as if I had just insulted her.

"I'm sure you must have simply misheard what Matt said, because if you didn't then he is going to die tonight."

"Whaaaaatever," I rolled my eyes at her. "That reminds me, why do you keep trying to put me and Matt together? I mean, it's not like I…" My voice trailed off, I was never good at gossiping on girly things like this.

"Because that boy has never had a girlfriend, and if he turns gay on us, then there will be a lot of brokenhearted girls because of him."

"Then why don't you go out with him, since you don't like L?" Joan looked a little surprised at this offer.

"Because I'm too old for him! Trust me; if I were younger I would be all over him."

"I'm probably too young for him anyways," I protested.

"You are only a year younger than him, so don't even try to play that card." This fact shocked me, it meant that Matt was 19, he certainly didn't look it.

"If Matt is nineteen, then how old are the rest of them?" I asked curiously.

"Well, Mello is also nineteen- but his birthday is coming up, Near is fifteen, and I don't know about BB. If I had to guess I would say he's twenty," Joan looked puzzled.

"NEAR IS FIFTEEN?" I yelled a little too loud."

"YES! NEAR IS FIFTEEN!" Joan yelled back at me. "FIFTEEN COMES AFTER FOURTEEN, BUT BEFORE SIXTEEN. FIFTEEN IS DIVISABLE BY-"

"Gosh, cut it out! I was just surprised, that's all," I cut her off. She started laughing at me, and I pouted a little bit. The rest of the day went by nicely; we rejoined the others- who were still on the bench. As we sat around Mello came and joined us, he acted as if nothing had ever happened. It was so pleasant, I felt bad when I left to go to sleep at 8 o' clock. I wanted to stay longer, but my body just couldn't handle it and I knew that if I didn't go to sleep soon, I was going to crash. Somehow, I just didn't feel comfortable falling asleep surrounded by four other guys and no Joan.

When I got to my room, Lena was already sleeping. I felt bad and figured that she must have been in worse shape than I was- getting drugged and whatnot. Then I spotted her iPod thrown into the trash, using the last bit of strength I had left, I brought it over to Matt.

"Hey, I think that you should put all of her songs back."

"Why?"

"Because I feel bad for her, besides, if you really still want her to suffer, you can always bring out Barbie again. That way, she'll think she's going crazy if you alternate between her songs and Barbie."

"Sure, I guess and I trusted the iPod into his hand. Starting my way back I called for him to just drop it off in our room. That night I slept for 12 hours straight, a feat I thought could never be possible. At least for me.

Joan's Perspective

Leaving the group to go see L, I quickly ducked into another hallway to study them for a second. They all seemed to get along together so well, but I could tell there was a disturbance in the group. There are 2 major things that have happened. 1. Fran 2. Lena.

Fran is adorable and funny and just about every guy's dream girl. It's no surprise that the guy's are acting all charming and whatnot, even BB is being oddly sociable- in his creepy, Count Dracula sort of way.

Then there is Lena, she is rude, temperamental and witty, yet Near and BB seems to like her. If they continue to follow her around and such, that it might cause a disturbance from Matt and Mello. I don't think Fran would mind at all, but if Near and BB cause the group to split, Fran might be blamed.

It seems that the best solution would be to have Lena join our group, it would take a lot of effort, but it would be better than losing anyone.

I tried to come up with a scheme that would somehow force Lena to be accepted into our group as I skipped along to L's 'office.' His 'office' was actually just a spare room where L kept all of his criminal files and books. Under his authority, he declared it to be his little makeshift principal's office. I bounded into his room; it seemed to be filled with more books than usual.

"Hey L," I sang as I sat down in the chair opposite from him. "I need your help."

"I called you in so we could discuss your atonement for Mrs. Martin's hair," L began. I ignored this, like I usually do.

"Seeing as how you are supposed to be the smartest person in the world, do you think you could come up with a plan that would somehow make Lena become friendly and a part of our group? I'll put it into smart person terms for you: To maintain equilibrium in my group, I need to allow Lena to infuse with us. Do you have any genius plans that could make this happen?"

L grabbed a small tea cup next to him and started stirring it with his spoon. After about 4 rotations of the spoon, he pulled it out and waved it at me.

"I can give you two viable options, one involves at lot of effort from everyone and the other is more secretive. In one of the plans, you can ask everyone of your 'posse' to be polite and friendly toward Mrs. Martin."

"Oh come on, you are a genius and that was one of your better plans?" I interrupted before he could speak again.

"In the other, you could fabricate a letter by Fran apologizing for everything, and vice-versa for Lena. That way, they would both think the other is on good terms with them," L sounded so serious about his plan, that I couldn't help but giggle at it.

"That sounds like some kind of scheme a bunch of teenagers would use in a lame sitcom. I guess I'll have to go with choice number one; at least that one seems almost achievable. So, is there anything new I should know about?"

"I find it depressing that you take my schematics so lightly, but I suppose I could tell you what is going to happen," L whined at me. I sat up in my seat and leaned in closer to him.

"Ooohh, what's the new scoop?" I tried not to blush as his face was merely inches away from mine.

"Watari has left to pick up two new arrivals, they should be here next month," he sat back and starting nibbling on his finger.

"Really? Are they girls or boys? Are they really smart; is my position on the line? How old are they?" I suddenly got excited hearing about this new information.

"They are both girls, according to my information; they should both be very smart but not enough to be in the top letters. One is seventeen, and the other fourteen. They are not biologically related, but they call themselves sisters. When they arrive, they will occupy the room that is adjacent to yours. Does this information satisfy you?"

"Yes, and I am just so satisfied, I think I'll go to sleep right now. I shall see you in the morning, Au Revior!" I called as I ran out of the room as fast as I could. I knew that if I stuck around any longer, I was actually going to get punished.

I skipped down to my room, on the way there I ran into the remainder of our gang. Matt had his laptop again and was doing something to a familiar iPod, Near and BB were sitting on the bench being silent and Mello was pacing back and forth.

"Hey guys," I called as I walked up. They all looked so tired as they greeted me. "What's up? Whatcha all doing?"

"Matt is being a bitch," Mello snapped.

"I am NOT! Your being a bitch, you and your girly mood swings, besides, I'm a million times nicer than you," Matt defended himself in a pansy manner.

"Your being Fran's bitch, you're doing everything she tells you to!" Mello accused him.

"So according to what I've gathered so far, Fran is a pimp, Matt is her bitch, and Mello is a pimp-less bitch. How did I do?" I asked.

"Sounds like you got it all right," Near called over.

"Alright then, the next question should be: Why are you Fran's bitch?"

"I'm not!" Matt cried angrily.

"Yes he is! Just a few minutes ago, Fran came in here with Lena's iPod and asked him to put back all of the songs that we took off. The best part was that he didn't even try to protest, he just took it and she ran off back into her room," Mello yelled.

"I see, so Fran came in here with Lena's IPod, and tried to make amends with Lena by asking Matt to put the songs back onto her iPod," I restated. "Please go ahead and correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it sound like that maybe Matt just wants to make Lena's life a little easier?"

"It's nothing like that," Matt began. I smiled mischievously at him, he was getting frazzled and I was onto him.

"Oh, then what is it like, Matt?" I pressed him.

"You really are stupid, you know that? All of you think you got it figured all out, well I'll you what it's like, and I helped Fran and Lena out because they are new. Did you ever consider that maybe I just felt bad that they are new and they've both had living hell as their first two days?" Matt ranted on and on, I was trying to suppress many giggles, and I could tell I wasn't the only one. Eventually, Matt got sick of us and walked away. After laughing awhile with Mello and Near smiling, I realized that I was actually really tired.

I set out to my room and then something crossed my mind; Why is it that Mello is more upset about Fran not being a real orphan? Yet, Matt is doing everything so that she feels good here. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Matt's parents were murdered before his eyes, you'd think that he would be madder on the subject.

I dismissed the further string of questions that were going through my mind as I plopped down onto my bed. I could hear Lena snoring, and I could barely see Fran fast asleep in her bed. Finding the snoring to be slightly hypnotic, I fell asleep quickly. But just before giving into my sweet, romantic dreams, I thought about how weird it was that I found Lena's snoring was actually pretty sleep-inducing.