Is this real life?
it's 1:30am & I've JUST got it proof-read and everything's perfect!
well it might not be perfect as I wrote it ...
but still! I'm tired and it's took me ages to write this!
I hope you like it!
also, I'm very very tired, so it might not make sense ... treat me as if I'm not in top set for English (even though grammar isn't my thing)!
now PROCEED TO READ!

The shadow above me grew colder and colder, but something didn't feel right. The pain wasn't there. I looked up from my hands to Jo, who was sat opposite me, smiling at the person who owned the shadow above me. Smiling. I turned my head around wearily to find James. Phew. Panic over. The pretty boy looked at me, straight in the eyes, and repeated 'What's coming to get you, Kendall?' The room suddenly span around, I was trapped.

I needed to tell someone. But could I do it now?

'Erm..' I muttered 'It's nothing. But why are you here?' I changed the subject, hoping he wouldn't bring it back up. James blankly stared at me in the face 'Dude, you're not at the party' he said sarcastically, tilting his head to the side 'and being one of the party kings of Hollywood, you need to come back!' He smiled. This is why I liked James. He easily deflected attention away from things which were difficult to talk about and he didn't even realize it! 'Yeah, I'll be back in a bit!' I replied, smiling up at the tall boy. He smiled and turned around, spinning into the Jennifers, who pushed him into the pool before strutting off.

The brunette boy squealed as he hit the strangely clouded water, making a giant splash. As he re-surfaced into the real world, something didn't seem right with him. Something had changed. He shot out of the pool and waddled towards us, clutching his arms and shaking, his face was slightly red. 'Hey, J-J-Jo' he shivered 'do you have a m-m-mirror on you?' This wasn't surprising. After all, he was The Face. 'Yeah, I'm guessing you want to borrow it?' She smiled, trying not to laugh at the tall boy, who nodded frantically. Jo then reached into her pocket, revealing a small circular mirror, with a faded pink plastic back. The taller boy took the mirror out of her hands, and stared deep into it, with tears forming in his eyes. 'This can't be!' He whispered, trying to fight back the tears. 'What?' Me and Jo asked in sync, looking up at the pretty boy, worryingly. 'Dry skin!' He exclaimed, whilst burying his face in his hands, trying to flee the scene as quickly as possible without anyone noticing the salty tears streaming from his eyes.

It seems the reason why the world's greatest pool was quiet was because there was too much chlorine in the water. I had failed to notice the giant yellow signs hanging around the pool saying 'KEEP OUT: CHLORINE LEVELS DANGEROUSLY HIGH'in big, bold, black letters. The chlorine had reacted with his skin making it really, really, really dry. 'We're not going to hear the end of this for weeks.' I thought, trying not to laugh.

I stood up and bent down, retrieving Jo's mirror. I sat back down in my chair and handed it to her, gently brushing my hand past hers in the process. 'Thank you!' She smiled. I couldn't do anything but smile back. She made me so happy it was untrue.

We had completely forgotten about the text and were talking like we did earlier when we were shopping. Except this time there were no distractions, everything was calm and peaceful. We just sat there, laughing like kids, and everything was perfect. Nothing was wrong in the world. Nothing was wrong when I was with her. It's like I was a different person when I was with her. Not to say that I didn't like myself when I was with my best friends in our apartment, but something was different. Something felt different.

I checked my phone, and glanced at the time highlighted across the screen. It had been fourty minutes since I left the party, and a worried look smeared across my face like butter on toast. I looked up from my phone and stared into her dark brown eyes which widened as she frowned slightly. 'Do we have to go?' her eyes seemed to say. I nodded slowly. We rose from our seats and left the pool, making our way back to the apartment, holding hands. As we left, the joy from the pool disappeared and it was like we was never there.

We left the lift, walked down the corridor, and arrived at the front door of my apartment. We walked inside to find it just as lively, bright, and exciting as it was before. Everyone was laughing and joking without a care in the world. Even little Shane was running around with other kids his age, mainly his cousins, laughing and playing as if nothing bad had happened at home and life was good.

A smile appeared on my face, larger this time. Life was perfect. It might not be like everyone else's but I'm surrounded by people who love me. I may be haunted by my past and the mistakes I've made but I was in a room full of love and the love which was in my heart grew, pushing some of the pain and sorrow out. No one may have known that the pain went away, or that it was even there, but it doesn't matter that no one knew. For the first time in years, I didn't have to think about the man or worry about my family, everyone who meant something to me was happy.

Well, everyone except James, who was sat in the corner looking at his reflection in the mirror, slowing watching his flawless skin become dry for the first time since we were kids, when the cold got to him when he was playing hockey. But even still, he was happy. It may not have been the conventional happy, but he was away from his family, and anything away from the suffering his extended family gave him, which his parents tried to hide him from was good enough for him. LA was his safe place. So was everywhere else which was over a five mile radius from his family.

'This perfection won't last forever. I must make the most of it.' I thought, walking deeper into the sea of people, and hiding from the truth for just a little bit longer

the first thing I must do is say KUDOS ONCE MORE TO BECKY! The pool bit was her idea!
well, the chlorine bit was my idea, but still, JOINT EFFORT 2K11!
Secondly, Waddya think?
Did you expect it to be James?
What do you think will happen next eh?
You like?
You no like?
REVIEW AND TELL ME Y U NO LLIIKKKEE!
(also, this story has got nearly 1000 hits ... it may not be a lot to some people, but omfg I love you all more than life3)
(and omg I only put the 8th chapter up today & it got 4 reviews ... YOU DON'T REALIZE HOW MUCH THIS ALL MEANS TO ME!)
TTFN
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