"Come on Jill!" Lexi called out. "Get out here already." The dressing room door opened as Jill nervously stepped out. "That looks great on you."

"I don't know," Jill replied, rubbing her bare arms nervously. She was used to wearing jeans and wool shirts. She only wore dresses on special occasions like church and family events. And she had never worn something with such short sleeves before. "What is this called again?"

"Peasant Chic," Lexi explained. "It's just a hip version of old fashioned peasant wear."

"I still don't know. I don't really wear stuff like this."

"That's the point. You're in a new town with new people; it's the perfect time to try something different. Plus, it's a hell of a bargain."

Jill looked at the price tag again, shocked she had found something so fashionable in the clearance section. "Okay, I'll get it."

"Perfect. You go change and pay for it while I look for something for myself."

Lexi searched through more shirts, holding them against her to see if they were long enough, when her phone buzzed with an incoming text from Cassidy.

Cassidy: Hey, I hear your clothes shopping with Jill Turnlington.

Lexi: Yeah. How'd you know?

Cassidy: She's been pretty much live tweeting everything since you invited her to Sasha's party.

Lexi let out a chuckle over the girl's enthusiasm, finding it infectious rather than annoying. She deserved to get excited over something after being bullied since September.

Cassidy: I just got here with Roger. Why don't the four of us meet at the food court?

Lexi sighed in annoyance, not wanting to have to see Roger. But she didn't want to say something and cause another fight between herself and her best friend. "Okay, sure."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Babe, come here," Jeff called out.

"What?" Annie called as she came into the living room.

"Come look at this." He beckoned her over to the laptop and pointed to the real estate page he had been searching through. He clicked on a picture of a brown house with red brick walls and started scrolling through photos. "It has four bedrooms, so Lexi can have her own room and we'd have a spare we can turn into an office. Or use as another bedroom if we end up having another kid down the line. It also had two full bathrooms and a half bath, a dining room and a decent looking kitchen, and a den."

Annie smiled a little private smile as she looked through the pictures. When she had first suggested they start looking at houses after she became pregnant, Jeff had been less than thrilled. She'd practically had to drag him to the first couple of houses they looked at. But eventually he started to become more enthusiastic about owning a home. While she had no doubt of his commitment to her and their family, knowing he wanted to find a house to raise their kids in gave her a warm bubbly feeling.

"So what do you think?" Jeff asked.

"It looks good from the pictures, but we'll have to look at it."

"Obviously," he said, ignoring the scoff she threw at him. "I'll call the realtor and see if we can set up a tour tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, over here," Cassidy called out, waving Lexi and Jill over to the table. The two girls made their way through the food court before joining Cassidy and Roger. "Hi, I'm Cassidy. And this is my boyfriend Roger."

"Sup girl," he exclaimed, causing Lexi to roll her eyes.

"Hello, it's nice to meet the both of you," Jill nervously said.

Cassidy took a bite of her sandwich while nodding her head towards their shopping bags. "Find anything good?"

"I bought a cute top that will go great with my skinny jeans," Lexi said as she stole a few fries from her friend's plate. "And Jill found a really great peasant dress to wear to the party."

"Oh, can I see it?" Cassidy asked, trying to make the younger girl feel included.

"Yea, okay," Jill said as she pulled the dress out.

"Hey, that's really nice. Maybe I can borrow it sometime, since we seem to be about the same size."

"Yea, sure," Jill said happily.

"I don't know, I like girl's outfits that show a bit more skin," Roger replied.

"No one asked you," Lexi quickly said, causing Cassidy to give her a look.

"Hey, I just said what I was thinking." He slumped down in his chair and pulled the sunglasses from his shirt collar before putting them on. "I just got these from Urban Outfitter. They make me look hella good, right?"

"I think those are women's sunglasses," Lexi replied.

"No, they're unisex. The salesperson said so."

"Whatever," Lexi said with barely masked contempt.

Roger loudly slurped the rest of his soda before pushing his chair back and getting up. "I'm going to go to Abby to find a new outfit for tonight. You coming?"

"In a sec, I'll meet you there." Cassidy waited until Roger was gone before looking at Lexi in annoyance. "I thought you were going to give him a chance."

"I am, but he keeps acting like a moron. I mean, who calls Abercrombie & Fitch Abby?"

"Okay, yes, that's stupid. But he's a decent guy."

"He's a douchebag who only cares about looking cool. I keep telling you, you can do so much better."

"Well I like him," Cassidy sternly said before getting up from the table. "I've got to go. I'll see you later tonight."

Lexi groaned before looking over at Jill, having forgotten she was even there. "Sorry about that. It's just…we have a difference of opinion on her boyfriend."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie looked up from her laptop as the front door opened. "Oh, hey Lexi." She got up and walked over to the two girls. "Hello, I'm not sure if we've met before."

"Oh, sorry. Annie, this is Jill. Jill, this is my stepmom Annie."

"Nice to meet you," Jill said politely. "Oh, I see you're expecting." She started moving her hand towards Annie's stomach before pulling back. "Sorry, I should ask first before I manhandle you. I bet you're tired of people always touching your stomach, huh?"

"You just won some major points in my book," Annie sincerely said.

"Can I use your bathroom? I've had to go since before we left the mall," Jill asked.

"It's down the hall over there. My bedroom is the one at the end. Meet me there afterwards and we can try on our outfits," Lexi said.

"Yea, sure," Jill said.

Annie glanced at the younger girl as she made her way to the bathroom. "I don't remember you talking much about her. Have you two been friends long?"

"Not really. She just moved here and has been having trouble fitting in, so I thought I'd invite her to Sasha's party and help her meet people. Oh, can I borrow those cat earrings of yours for tonight?"

"Sure, that's no problem."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"And we're done," Lexi told Jill as she put the make-up brush down. "Take a look."

Jill looked into the mirror, shocked by what she was seeing. Her face looked clear again, before puberty had hit her with a vengeance. "I'm beautiful."

"You always were. Now there's just nothing from keeping others from seeing it." Lexi sat on her bed and pulled on a pair of boots before looking at herself in the mirror. The top she had gotten looked great with her jeans, and the boots pulled the whole outfit together. "This works."

Jill fluffed her hair a bit before turning to the side, seeing how she looked in her new dress. "You think this is going to be a fun party?"

"It should be. The last one Sasha threw was really fun. Just stick with me and you'll have a good time." Just then Lexi's phone buzzed with an incoming text. "Come on. Cassidy's here to take us."

They walked out into the living room, where Jeff and Annie were watching TV. "Bye guys."

"Have a good time you two," Annie told them.

"Be home before midnight," Jeff stated. "And have fun. Just not too much."

"Thanks Dad," she said good-naturedly

"It was nice meeting the two of you." Jill told the happy couple. "Thank you again for having me over for dinner."

"No problem. Bye."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The ride to the party was tense, at least for two of the four passengers. Cassidy was still annoyed at Lexi for earlier, and neither girl said a word to each other the entire way over. Jill was too excited to notice, and Roger was more concerned with playing DJ with the radio then comforting his girlfriend.

"Is that it?" Jill asked as Cassidy parked the car in front of a large white house with a wraparound porch.

"Yup, that's Sasha's place," Lexi told her.

Jill bounced in her seat and let out a squeal of joy before getting out of the car with the others. The four of them walked up the pathway, Jill leading the way.

It looks like she's coming out of her shell, Lexi thought as they walked up the steps and she rang the doorbell. They only had to wait few moments before the door was opened by Sasha. "Hey, glad you could come. Come in, come in."

The group stepped into the foyer, admiring the lavish décor (no matter how many times Lexi and Cassidy came here, they were always impressed by how well off Sasha and her family were.) They spotted some people by the slab stone fireplace in the living room and could hear more down the hallway in the den.

Lexi looked over at Jill, almost laughing at the wide eyed look on her face. "Sasha, this is Jill. Since she's new here I figured this would be a good place to get to know people."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Sasha told her as she pointed towards a fishbowl on the table near them. "Alright, you know the drill. If you drove here and are going to drink, keys go in the bowl. And you either get them back tomorrow or when a sober person takes them to drive you home."

"That's good because I'm gonna get hella ripped," Roger announced as he and Cassidy dropped their keys in the bowl.

"You didn't even drive here," Lexi groaned.

"I'm just being safe," he said. "Where's the beers anyway?"

"They're in a cooler on the back porch. Just go through the kitchen door," Sasha pointed.

"K, later bitches," he yelled as he made his way to his destination

"You really like being with that jackass," Lexi exclaimed, unable to hold it in anymore.

"I think I can use a drink," Cassidy announced as she followed her boyfriend, completely ignoring Lexi.

Fine, hang out with that idiot. What do I care? Lexi thought. "So are your brother and step sister just going to hang out in their room?" she asked Sasha.

"They're actually not here. Some friends of theirs got last minute tickets to a concert and they went to that. So we've got the whole place to ourselves."

Lexi frowned as she absorbed this piece of news. She wasn't sure if her dad would react well to her being at a huge house party with just people her own age. She briefly contemplated leaving. But then she thought about Jill, and how that would affect her. If she took Jill with her the girl would miss out on possibly meeting people and making friends, and it wouldn't be right to just leave her here when she hardly knew anyone.

Screw it, she thought. I'm already here, and I technically didn't lie. I honestly thought Sasha's brother would be here when I asked permission. So I really can't get in trouble for staying.

"Anyway," Sasha said, breaking Lexi out of her thoughts. "Like I said before, beer is outside on the back porch. And there's liquor and soda in the kitchen."

"What are you drinking?" Lexi asked Jill as they made their way to the kitchen.

"I'll just have some soda, thank you. I don't drink."

Lexi took two plastic cups and poured some coke into each one. She started reaching for some rum to add to her cup when she pulled her hand back, figuring she could enjoy a party without drinking for one night. "Here's, to a fun night."

"To a fun night," Jill said as they clinked their cups.