Helene charged through the door of the apartment, shoving Adrian, who'd let her in, roughly aside. "Well, good morning to you too," he said in surprise. "What's got your panties in a bunch?"

"I don't believe you," Helene fumed. Her eyes were narrowed and she was breathing hard. "How could you do that to me?"

"Do what?" Adrian asked, looking dumbstruck. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do," Helene nodded. "Don't even lie to me, Adrian. I know you told Daddy about Hanz. I saw him today and he told me that I could never see Hanz again!"

Adrian tried not to grin. "Well, I'm sorry. But I'm sure he was only doing what was best for you, although I never thought he'd dislike someone as much as he disliked me. That's a real surprise."

Helene rolled her eyes. "Just go back to my parents' house and tell Daddy to ease up so I can go out with Hanz again."

Adrian crossed his arms. "Now why would I do that?" He asked. "Why would I just hand you off to another guy?"

"Because you don't want me anymore!" Helene said. "You told me so yourself. You told me to go into the light so you could be with that werewolf girl. The one who's body I borrowed."

"Don't you mean, 'stole'?" Adrian asked. "'Borrowed' would imply you're just using it now and plan to give it back, which I know you don't."

"True," Helene nodded. "I'll give you that one. But don't even pretend like you still like me. I don't believe it."

Adrian sighed. "The reasons I went after Tessa have nothing to do with my feelings for you," he said. "She was my mate. Our werewolf sides picked us out for each other. But that's all. We didn't have a deep emotional connection, or anything other than our sexual relationship, and after watching my parents for as long as I have, I realized that you can't last on that. I'm lucky. I get to be with someone who I'm not only physically attracted to, but someone who made sure I did my homework and that I wore mittens and a scarf in the winter, and..."

"Let you teach her how to drive, no matter how scared she was of the thought of being behind the wheel?" Helene grinned.

"So what do you say?" He asked. "Do you want to give this another shot?"

Helene shrugged. "I don't know. Let me see..." Then, she pulled Adrian to her and kissed him deeply. He held her tight and moved his hands down her body. She moaned. Eventually, she pulled away. "Yes," she nodded. "I do think I want to give it another shot. Just do me a favor and don't tell my dad. I don't want him to think he's won anything."

Adrian grinned. "Kiss me again and I promise I won't."

Helene grinned and kissed him again. She moved her kisses slowly down his neck, and he picked her up and carried her to his bed. She was flushed and looked up at him with large brown eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

He got on the bed with her and pushed up her skirt, planting kisses on the inside of her thigh. She whimpered. She reached up and unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands over his chest. He growled and slowly pulled down her panties, putting his tongue inside her. She squirmed. "You're not goting to bite me again, are you?"

He paused for a second. "I can't. Not when my mouth is busy doing other things." He grinned, his adorable dimples showing. Helene felt her toes curl. "I just thought I'd check."

She relaxed and shut her eyes, giving in to the sensations. Eventually, she opened her eyes. Adrian was lying next to her. "Hi," he whispered, moving a strand of her dark hair out of her eyes.

"Hi," she whispered back. She sighed and leaned forward to kiss him again, but then heard the front door of the house slam. "Helene?" Hanz called. "Are you here?"

Helene screwed her eyes shut. "Oh, damn. She opened them again and urged Adrian to get out of bed and dress. "Aren't we blowing hot and cold?" He remarked dryly as he put his pants back on.

"Did you hear that?" Helene whispered. "Hanz is back!"

Adrian shrugged. "So?"

"So?" Helene whispered back. "I'm dating him! If he finds out that I'm here like this with you, it could create a problem!"

"No, it won't," Adrian shook his head. "You're a witch, remember? Can't you just, I don't know, turn him into a toad or something and then put him in a jar so we won't have to worry about him?"

"That's not nice, Adrian."

"You know what?" Adrian said, "I don't really care. I have spent the last ten years watching you be with him in my house and I've kept quiet about it because I realized that I made a mistake with how I handled you and Tessa. But now that you and I have ended up like this, I think it's time you told him that the only reason why you were with him was to spite me and that now that we're together, he can go on his way."

Helene shook her head. "I can't just do that. I have to be more tactful."

Adrian's eyes lit up. "So you are planning on dumping him? You know, if it's too hard for you, I could do it."

"No," Helene shook her head. "You're staying away. It's none of your business."

"Helene!" Hanz called again. "Are you here?"

"Coming!" Helene called. She dressed and then went out to him, hoping Adrian would be smart and not follow her. "Hi," she said when she saw Hanz. "So, how are you?"

"Good," he nodded. "Now, have you thought about what we've discussed and come to a decision?"

Helene opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get any words out, she was interrupted.

"She has come to a decision," Adrian's voice was cold. "And the answer is no."

Hanz looked at him. "Why don't we let her just answer for herself, shall we?"

"All right," Adrian nodded and they both looked expectantly at Helene, waiting for her to say something. She looked back and forth at their identical cold gazes and shut her eyes, muttering under her breath. When she opened her eyes again, both Adrian and Hanz were frozen solid. Grunting, she moved their bodies to a closet and then sat down beside it, trying to think about what she would do next.

Helene wasn't the only one having bad luck in the romance department. Roxie seemed to be losing out as well. Ever since the arrival of the mousy girl, she hadn't seen much of Vince at all.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Charlie said when they were smoking out behind the school after lunch. "Why would he be interested in a girl like that anyway when he's got you?"

"I know, right?" Roxie pulled out another cigarette. "Could you give me a light?"

Charlie nodded and Roxie took a deep breath and blew out a plume of smoke. "Do you think I should kill her? I think I might just kill her."

"No," Charlie shook her head. "That wouldn't be smart. If Vince does like her, it would only drive him away if you killed her."

"Then what am I going to do?" Roxie whined.

"I think you should let it go," Charlie advised. "If she's a human, and I think she is, he will get bored with her and come back. He's just sowing his wild oats."

Roxie frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that he could be seeing what's out there before deciding whether or not he wants to make a commitment to one girl. That's not atypical for guys."

"Oh, yeah?" Roxie looked at her friend. "Has Tony ever felt the urge to sow his wild oats?"

Charlie scoffed. "Oh, hell no. But he and I have established a relationship of trust and understanding along with our wild sexual attraction, so we feel no need to interfere with anyone else."

"So just so I'm clear," Roxie said. "I'm not allowed to kill Agnes. What the hell kind of name is Agnes anyway? Sounds like the name of an old lady."

"Well, you could kill her," Charlie said. "But in the long run, I think you'll regret it if you do."

Roxie sat down on an overturned garbage can. "So you're saying that I should just sit and watch him gallivant around with her."

"No," Charlie shook her head. "I said you couldn't kill her, but there are plenty of other ways to stake your claim. You just have to find her weak spot."

"But how do I do that?" Roxie asked.

Charlie thought a moment. "We change partners in chemistry next week. Just tell Miss Brock that you want to be with her and pretend you're her friend. Then you can get stuff out of her, and no one will have any reason to be suspicious."

Roxie stood up. "I could do that," she said. "But I have another idea that will take a lot less time and be a lot less painful. For me, at least."

The next day, Roxie ran into Agnes and Vince just outside the lunch room. "Hi," she said to them. "Did you two have good mornings?"

Agnes nodded. "I know I did. And thank you so much for picking me to be your partner in chemistry. Not many people would be so sweet to pick the new girl."

"Oh, psh," Roxie grinned. "It was nothing. You and I are going to have such fun together. You want to sit with me too? At lunch, I mean?"

Agnes' eyes widened? "Really? You want to sit with me? My goodness, first a very good-looking guy wants me to tutor him and then a popular girl wants me to sit with her at lunch! My life is finally starting to turn around!"

She scampered off to a lunch table while Vince looked at Roxie and hiked up an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Doing?" Roxie asked. "What makes you think I'm doing anything?"

"Why are you inviting Agnes to sit at your table? You haven't let anyone new sit at your table...ever."

Roxie put her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe I realized that I wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world on her first day and I want to make it up to her. Why are you all suspicious all the time? It's really unattractive."

"Thanks for the advice," Vince said, rolling his eyes. "I'll be sure to log it away."

"Good," Roxie grinned. "You do that."

Vince began to walk away, then he turned and gave her a severe look. "If you're using her for some reason, you should be ashamed of yourself. She's a sweet girl and she doesn't deserve any of your crap."

Roxie scoffed. "You're accusing me of using her? What about you? She's about as plain as they come. What is the deal? Have you promised to screw her so that she'll get you top marks in bio? I bet that's not difficult. Mousy types like her are susceptible to flattery."

Vince growled. "She's not mousy," he said. "And maybe I am sleeping with her. But it's not your business, is it?"

"You are not!" Roxie called back as he turned and walked away. "You're just saying that to make me jealous!"

He grinned. "Maybe. But you'll never know, will you?"

"He's sleeping with her, I know he is," Roxie was sitting with Charlie on a bench outside their house, biting off strands of licorice very quickly.

Charlie took the bag away from her. "He's a good guy. He wouldn't do that. He's just messing with you. You know, if the two of you sat down and had an honest conversation, stuff like this wouldn't happen."

"What's the point of that?" Roxie asked. "If I tried to have a conversation with him, he would just accuse me of being jealous and feed me a bunch of BS."

"But you are jealous," Charlie said. "Admit it, you are. You're like my mom on a smaller scale...right before she tried to kill me."

"How could you remember that?" Roxie asked. "Weren't you like, three years old?"

"Well, yes," Charlie nodded. "But Dad's told me the story countless times."

"My mom never tried to kill me," Roxie said. "She just tied me to the top of her car when it was raining."

"Why?"

Roxie shrugged. "I was being a smart ass." She locked eyes with Charlie. "So, do you think he's sleeping with her? She must be good in bed. I don't see other reason why he'd want to spend time with her."

Charlie shrugged helplessly. "Look, I don't know." She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her boyfriend Tony approaching them on his bike. "I have to go," she said. "But call me tonight and we'll talk some more, okay?"

Roxie groaned. "Okay, goodbye."

"Cheer up," Tony grinned. "What is it with everyone today? First, Vince had a sourpuss and now you."

"Don't ask," Charlie whispered. "I'll tell you later."

They drove away and Roxie glared sourly after them.

"So tell me," Tony said after he parked his bike a safe distance away from the house. "What's the deal?"

Charlie ran her fingers through Tony's dark, spiky hair. "You tell me first: What did Vince tell you?"

Tony shrugged. "He just said Rox's been giving him grief about this Agnes chick he's been tutoring. I think she's jealous and if Vince isn't careful, he's going to make her do something he'll regret."

"I do too," Charlie said. "I think we should get them to talk to one another. But they can't know that the other one is going to be in the same room, or else they're not going to agree to it. We need a cover story."

"Well, isn't Vince's birthday next week?"

"It is!" Charlie's eyes widened. "This is perfect! We can have a party for him at that club downtown that has the karaoke night!"

"That's a great idea!" Tony said. "I've been waiting for an occasion to show off my superior pipes."

Charlie nodded. "And Roxie wouldn't dare fight with Vince on his birthday. She knows better than that."

On the night of the party, Charlie knocked on the door of Roxie and Vince's house for nearly ten minutes before Roxie answered. She was clad in a pair of purple silk pajamas and she looked tired. "What do you want?" She asked grumpily.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Charlie asked, charging into the house. "Have you forgot about Vince's party?"

"I'm skipping it," Roxie replied. "I don't give a damn about whether he turns another year older or not."

"No, you aren't," Charlie said, dragging Roxie up to her room and pulling a pair of stylishly torn black denims from the bottom of her closet and throwing them at her, along with a white and black sparkly bikini top and a white shrug with a black ribbon and two buttons on the right side. "Put those on and then we'll do your hair."

Roxie went into the bathroom and dressed and then Charlie grabbed some hair gel and tousled Roxie's hair so that it was in stylish disarray. "There you go," Charlie grinned. "Just like a rock star. Which is good, because I expect you to sing a song tonight."

They got on Charlie's bike and headed to the club. When they got inside, it was already full of people. Charlie sat Roxie down at a table and went to find Tony. "Is Vince here yet?" She asked. "I brought Roxie."

"No," Tony shook his head. "But he said he wouldn't be late, so he should be along in a minute."

He arrived a few minutes later with Agnes on his arm. Roxie was drinking a beer and she choked on her sip when the two of them went past the table. Agnes had straightened her hair and put make-up on. She was wearing a white dress that would look more appropriate at a wedding than a club, but even Roxie had to admit she wasn't completely unfortunate looking.

"Okay," Tony got up on stage as soon as Vince and Agnes sat down. "Now that our guest of honor is here, I believe we'll start the singing. Would you like to have the first song, Vince?"

Vince stood up, grinning. "I sure would," he said and strode up to take the microphone from Tony. He went up to the DJ and whispered a song. "Do you have that?" He asked.

The DJ nodded. "Of course."

Vince grinned and went back to the center of the stage. "I would like to dedicate this song to a very special girl," he said. "Someone who I think fancies herself the queen of the world. Well, Roxie, here's a song from your humble jester."

Soon afterward, the intro to "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," by the Spin Doctors: "Been a whole lot easier since the bitch left town. Been a whole lot easier without her face around..."

Roxie watched him sing and her eye began to twitch. A growl began deep in her throat. She had nursed a few beers by then, but it wasn't until the end that everything went wrong.

Vince was grinning as he finished the last chorus: "Little Miss, Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, ain't nobody gonna bow no more when you sound your gong. Little Miss, Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, watcha gonna do to get into another one of those rock'n' roll songs?"

The song ended and he took a bow. Then, Roxie stood up unsteadily and rushed the stage, knocking Vince to the floor and wresting the microphone from him. Then she stood up and faced the stunned crowd. "Don't listen to him," she slurred. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. I have a song for him that I would like to sing too. Just to say 'Happy Birthday'."

She whispered her song choice to the DJ and he started it up. As she sang Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know", Roxie's voice shook with quiet fury: "You seem very well, things look peaceful. I'm not quite as well, I thought you should know. Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity, I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner." And then her voice rose: It was a slap in the face, how quickly I was replaced, and are you thinking of me when you FUCK HER?"

After that, Tony and Vince dragged Roxie off the stage, while she complained vociferously about not being able to finish her song.

"I think you're more than done," Tony said. "I think I'll have Charlie take you home. And I'm going to take this beer away too." He tried to take it away from her, but she held it tight. "No, it's mine. Get your own!"

Tony sighed. "I'm sorry about this," he said, looking at Vince. "We thought this would be a good way for the two of you to talk."

"And if he hadn't cheated on me, it would have been," Roxie said.

"I'm not cheating on you," Vince said. "I just brought Agnes so she could meet some people, okay?"

Roxie stood up. "That wasn't a very nice song you sang about me."

"I'm not going to apologize," Vince said.

Charlie took Roxie by the arm. "Come on, let's get you home."

Roxie pulled away. "No, I'll walk by myself, thank you. I remember the way."

Charlie rolled her eyes and let Roxie go.

She left, and several minutes later, Agnes said she needed to go to the bathroom. When she didn't come back promptly, Vince and Tony looked around for her. They found her laying outside the bathrooms, woozy and bleeding. "We need to get her to the hospital," Vince said. He looked down at Agnes. "What happened to you?"

"Roxie," Agnes said quietly. "She came...she...hurt me..." Then, she fainted dead away in Vince's arms.

They got her to the hospital in time and she recovered, but everything changed for Vince and Roxie after that. He stopped paying attention to her. But he soon learned that when he did that, he suffered too.

It was Saturday night and this time, Roxie was coming home to an empty apartment. How pathetic am I? She thought to herself. Charlie and Tony had invited her to come bowling with them, but she hated the idea of feeling like a third wheel.
Sighing, she threw her book bag against the breakfast bar, stripped to her underwear, and got out a carton of chocolate ice cream, then sat on the sofa and flipped through the channels That was boring. There was nothing on.
She finally decided she was so desperate she would play a board game by herself. But what to play? She went to the game cabinet and began rifling through the games. She pulled out Scrabble. It would be so much easier to play by herself. Vince spent all his time seeing how many rude words he could get on the board before she got angry and threw tiles at him. Last time, she'd left a mark.
She had just finished the word "plethora" when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," She called. The door opened a second later and she was sorry she'd said anything. "What do you want?" She asked Vince, who was standing against the doorframe. "I thought you and the Princess of Lame had a study date."
He shrugged. "I was bored, so I skipped it." He looked her over and grinned. "You look good."
Roxie nodded. "I know I do. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my game."
Vince came over to the table. "What are you playing? Scrabble?" He looked at her tiles and grinned. "If you put down 'sex,' you can get a triple word score."
She looked up and frowned at him.. "You've clearly lost your hero demeanor. So what did you come back for anyway? I haven't seen you all week."
"I came back for you," he said. "I've missed you."
He pulled her to him and ran his hands over her. "You feel so good."
Roxie gave him a look. "You're acting like you haven't done anything or anyone all week. What's the matter? Is Agnes a prude or something?"
Vince scoffed. "No. She says she won't give up her 'precious gift' until she's married. We're mates. That's kind of like being married."
Roxie's eyes widened. "Don't you even say that. It just cheapens everything."
Vince gave her a look. "Why are we standing here talking when we could be in bed?"
Roxie shook her head. "I'm mad at you. You abandon me all week and then expect me to just jump in your arms because you have an urge?" She scoffed.
"Come on!" He whined. "That's what you usually do!"
Roxie went and found her clothes, dressing again. "I feel like making you work for it tonight," she said, dumping all her scrabble tiles back in the box and ordering him to pick up seven. "Play this game with me," she said. "Then, I'll think about it."
Vince gave her a look. "Let's make it more interesting. How about every time I make a word, you have to take off some of your clothes and every time you make a word, I have to take off some of my clothes?"
Roxie looked aghast. "Are you proposing we play strip scrabble?"
Vince nodded. "You got it, sister."
Roxie groaned. "Fine, but you have to put intelligent words on the board sometimes, not just lame boy words like 'sex' and 'fart'."
Vince heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose I can agree to that."

They played for awhile, and Roxie was impressed that Vince knew words like smarmy and vapid. She even humored him and stripped. He watched her intensely as she did so. Finally, when she was about to strip off her panties, he tossed the board aside sending tiles spinning all over the living room, and knocked her flat on the living room floor, removing her underwear himself as he planted kisses on her neck and stomach and sucked on her breasts. She gasped and unzipped him, stroking him slowly. He groaned and moved her hand, slowly pushing into her.

She moaned happily and put her arms around his neck. "Can I bite you?" She asked.

He mumbled something, groaning as her teeth went into his neck. She swallowed and he took some that had stayed on his neck and put it on his finger, letting her suck it off. "You taste so good," she whispered and kissed him deeply again. He drove into her this time, making her scream.

Finally, they were both worn out. He hugged her to him and she snuggled against his chest and closed her eyes.

Helene opened the door to the house and saw the angry woman standing on the other side. "What did you do with him?" She asked angrily, striding into the house and looking in all the doors, throwing coats and board games all over the floor. "Where did you put my brother?"

Helene pointed. "Check that closet. You can take him, by the way. I've moved on. I don't need him in my life anymore."

Myna looked sour. "What do you mean?"

Helene shrugged. "I pick Adrian," she said. "Hanz was just a rebound guy."

Myna pulled Hanz' frozen body out of the closet. "Well, are you going to turn him back?" She asked.

Helene shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "At least not right now. You have a good day."

Myna growled and Helene magically opened the front door for her. "Goodbye."

Myna held Hanz and marched angrily out the door. Once she was gone, Helene called out, "Adrian, you can come out now!"

Adrian came out grinning and took her in his arms, kissing her again. "You picked me," he said. "I knew you would."