It was that time again. Time for Meghan to call home - and this time, dang it, she would talk to Daphne. She was dying to talk to Daphne.

Operator. One moment please. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello?"

"Mom!"

"Meghan, sweetheart! How are you?"

"Very good, thank you for asking. You?"

"We're doing well. Chinese food tonight."

Meghan groaned.

"Please, mother, can you tell me why you would put me through such torture as to disclose that the three of you will be enjoying the great and wondrous delight of this world that is Chinese food, while I am forced to sit in the misery of knowing that I'll be missing my precious sweet-and-sour chicken, instead having to dine on despicable corned beef and CABBAGE?!!"

Catherine laughed.

"Hey, be glad she's not Scottish, or else you'd probably have to eat haggis."

"You're not helping."

"Honestly, Meghan, I cannot for the life of me understand why you so dislike corned beef and cabbage. You know your Grandpa Shore makes the best in the world."

"Yeah, well, good for him."

"Whatever. Aside from that, how are things at school?"

"Er, well, I now have a private locker, a new set of P.E. clothes, and a knowledge of how to get any possible stain out of any possible piece of fabric."

"Sounds wonderful, honey. Wanna talk to you aunt?"

"Okay, if she's not busy shoving rice in her mouth."

"We'll send you a fortune cookie, okay?! Now here she is."

And so, Meghan talked to Libby, disclosing nothing more than she'd disclosed to her mother, and feeling overwhelmed with all the things she was holding back. But to Daphne, she would be more honest. If she could ever get her on the phone.

"That's good." she told her aunt, who had just informed Meghan of a recent hit performance at a wedding. Apparently, everyone had had a little bit more champagne than normal that night, but Libby had benefited greatly from it. "Can I talk to Daphs?"

"Oh, Meghan, I am SO sorry, but she's staying at Jewel's tonight. I'm afraid you'll have to wait another week."

Meghan was silent for a moment.

"Okay, lemme get this straight, Aunt Libby. You're telling me that there is yet another sleepover being held, conveniently on the night designated for me to call, and so therefore, I still can't talk to my ditsy cousin?"

"Mmm-hmm. Pretty much."

"Oh, well okay. Oh! You know what? I have to do something really quick. Can I call you back?"

"Sure, Meghan."

Five minutes later...

"Hey, Jewel."

"Meghan?! Waz up, girl! I haven't seen you in forever! Are you having fun in France?"

"England, Jewel. Can I talk to Daphne?"

"Daphne?"

"Yes, Daphne. She's sleeping over with you."

"Daphne's not sleeping over with me."

"Oh, she isn't?"

"No. What've you been smokin', Meghan?"

"Nothing, Jewel, just my aunt."

"You've been smokin' your aunt?!"

"No! I'll e-mail you later. Gotta go."

Another five minutes later...

"Hello?"

"Aunt Libby, hey! Listen, I just talked to Jewel."

"You did?"

"I did. And funny enough, as it turns out, there is no sleepover, and Daphne's not there! What do you make of that?"

"Um..."

"I'll tell you what I make of it. I think it tells me that you're a DIRTY LIAR!!!"

"Er..."

"My aunt is a big, fat, dirty liar. Liar."

"I -"

"Liar."

"Just - "

"Liar."

"Meghan, please - "

"Liiiiiiiiaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr."

"Alright! Alright! I get it. And I'm sorry. But Daphne made me do it."

"Don't even TRY to pin it on her -"

"I'm not. But she..." Libby lowered her voice. "Meghan, Daphne's afraid to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

Here, Meghan paused.

"Well, okay. Where is she though? Really?"

"Up in the bedroom. And by the way, Meghan, the first time you called - when I said she was in the shower - that was the truth. But apparently, an online chat took place since then."

Meghan felt slightly guilty.

"Please, Aunt Libby." she pleaded. "I'm begging you. Get her on the phone. Let me talk to her."

"But...I..."

"Please."

Silence.

"Alright."

Meghan then heard footsteps on hard wooden stairs, a door creaking open, and voices in the background, before finally, after two weeks, she heard her cousin's voice once again.

"Hi, Meghan."

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Tell me the truth, Daphne."

A long, long pause commenced.

"You really want the truth, Meghan?"

"Yes."

Daphne hesitated.

"The truth is, I'm really scared."

Daphne's staticky voice wavered.

"Well, do you want to know the truth?"

"What do you mean?" Daphne asked.

"I mean, everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything. That your grandmother went to the same school I'm going to. That her son is about to be married. That his fiancée's daughter is one of my classmates. That this classmate has been incessantly ridiculing me. That she's in love with a guy who just took me horseback riding. That this guy is actually in love with me. That I think I actually might be starting to like him back."

Daphne was speechless.

"Are you still scared?" Meghan asked her.

"Yes."

"Yeah, well, so am I."

And so, they talked. For a really, really, really long time.

Early Monday morning, Meghan and Faye marched into school as usual. Also as usual, Meghan attracted stares from pretty much everyone in the immediate area. Paying them no mind, Meghan kept walking with her companion, only to meet up with four girls standing outside of a classroom.

While Faye simply stood there, confused and still oddly silent, Meghan decided to question the method to the four girls' madness.

"Why are we standing right in front of this classroom?"

A sly, devilish grin spread across Emily's face.

"This classroom, Meghan, just happens to be the classroom that houses Clarissa The Terrible's first class of the day."

Meghan kept looking at her and the other girls who, with the exception of one, all had those strange, conniving expressions on their faces.

"And this concerns me because...?"

"Because today, my dear friend, it is someone else's turn to bathe in the Drink of the Day."

Meghan's eyes traveled upwards toward the top of the door, which was standing ajar. They rested on something gray and metallic perched at its summit.

Just as the truth registered, the bell rang. Meghan began to panic.

"What if someone else goes in there first? We'll be suspended!"

"Oh, don't worry about that. She's the teacher's pet. She's always the first one here. I know because I have this class, and I'm always the second one here."

With this, Meghan's panic grew worse. Now that the signal had been sounded for class to begin, everyone was shuffling around as they always did, and Meghan could already see the blonde witch as she rounded the corner.

Her mind reeled, unsure of what to do. She looked at mischievous Emily, Samantha, and Bridget, then at oblivious Ayaka, and then at Faye, who had a strange, stony look on her face. Then, Meghan acted.

She karate-kicked the door open. However, the mischief makers had apparently made an error in physics, due to the fact that the metal bucket they'd set on top of the door did not spill punch, but instead swung down, still full of the liquid, bashing Meghan straight in the face.

Of course, this cause the world to stop, and to turn all their attention toward her. Meghan, shocked and disoriented, held her hand to her nose, which was now bleeding.

Faye stood silent as her three friends' mouths hung open.

"Well, what have we here."

It was the teacher, who'd arrived near his classroom shortly before Meghan kicked the door open.

"Apparently, you five decided to play a cruel prank on an innocent exchange student."

The events that followed were that of Meghan's being taken to the nurse, of Faye, Emily, Samantha, Bridget, and Ayaka's being taken to the headmaster in the opposite direction, and of Clarissa's watching it all in sheer amusement.

To Christine Writer - thanks for the idea which I have now used. :)

Meghan: rhapsodyflower, why do you keep bashing me?! I'm going to end up dead!!!

rhapsodyflower: Don't worry. You won't die. I hate to kill people off, and besides, I would never let you down. Plus (cough) you're crucial to the plot (cough).

Meghan: Oh, okay. Hey, wait a minute...?!

rf: He he just kidding lol. The Meghan-bashing will end soon. In fact, the next chapter is called "The Patriot".

Meghan: ooooohhhh I like

rf: Thought you would. Now go back to sitting silent in the nurse's office. Here's a cookie.

Meghan: Yum.

-rf-