Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Authors note: I give credit to my friend bunny for editing this and the previous chapter and I'd like to thank you for reading it.

I put my composition book away, and was about to go to bed when Michael called. "Hey Pete," he said, sighing.

"Hey Michael. Why are you calling me so late again?" I asked.

"Well Henrietta and Firkle need to get some things tomorrow so when they figure out what they're doing I'll call you. So there's no need to stop at my house tomorrow. Sorry I had to change our plans, but you know how Henrietta and Firkle can get after a while," Michael explained.

I sighed, "We had those plans made for over three weeks, but I guess we can reschedule…"

"Listen Pete, I'm really sorry. I already said that, I'll find a way to make it up to you tomorrow, I promise," Michael said brooding.

"Don't worry about it Michael. Just, just make sure to call me after you figure out what we're doing."

"Yeah, I will. Well, goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let your nightmares bite," he said and hung up. I held the phone for a few minutes before finally putting it down. I went to sleep, not looking forward to the next day.

…

I woke up the next day and sat around in my bed for a while before I decided to write some poetry, but when I went to reach for my poetry book it was gone. I knew instantly who had taken it. "EVANGELINE! Get the hell in here!" I screamed at the top of my lungs several times until she finally came.

"Oh, baby cousin, why have you called for me?" she asked.

I growled, "You know why."

Her expression grew into an impish smile, a real smile like I hadn't seen in forever. "Well you know what I have, and I know how important to you it is, so let me tell you what is going to happen. You're going to come with me on a double date. Since I'm visiting here that means none of my friends are here, and if you do a good job and don't get found out then you'll get your stupid diary thingy back."

I inhaled sharply, "You bitch, I can't believe you. Why the hell would I do something as demeaning as that? I won't do it. Find a real damn girl to go with you."

Her smile grew grim as the words left my mouth. "Oh, no, no, no, I've already looked for someone else, and since you're my last option, if you don't go I'll burn it. End of story. You're coming with me, now."

She began to drag me off but I slipped my arm from her grip. "You can't fucking do this to me! I'm a boy!" I yelled.

She took this chance to grab my arm again and drag me off, "You may be a boy, but, you see, you're a small weak boy. And since you're small and weak, I can exploit your weakness. And remember, I'll burn your stupid book," she threatened.

"Fine, I'll help you. Just, just don't burn it," I pleaded. The book itself was not important, but something inside of it was; it was so important that I would do anything to make sure nothing happened to it.

She sat me down in front of her vanity and pulled my hair away from my face. She applied fucking makeup in such a way that I thought I would look like a clown, but … I didn't. In fact it made me look like a damn girl. Next she pulled my hair into a high pony tail and brushed my bangs to the side of my face. I thought my hair would look dumb up, but it was just long enough to make a decent pony tail, so I could get away with it. She dressed me in a dark purple baby-doll shirt, black lace skirt, a necklace with a red pendent, replacing my bolo tie, and she let me wear my normal shoes. After she was done, she surveyed her handy work. "Well, I hoped you'd make at least a decent girl, but you seem to have far surpassed my expectations. Great, now then, try the best you can to act like a girl. We are leaving now; don't get your coat, we're taking my car."

…

As we entered the mall two tall blond boys standing next to the fountain began to wave at Evangeline; she waved back. Evangeline walked up to the taller of the two boys and began to speak, "Hey Trace, Alex, I brought my baby cousin…um…Pixie." She shifted uncomfortably, trying to think of a name.

The shorter boy, Alex, stepped in front of me and held out his hand. "I'm Alex; it's nice to meet you Pixie. I hope we can become good friends," he said, shaking my hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Alex. Yes, indeed, it would be quite splendid if we could become friends," I said, trying my hardest to sound like a girl.

We walked around the mall for about an hour, listening to the mindless babble between Evangeline and Trace. Alex spent most of the time babbling about this and that, trying hopelessly to impress me. After another half hour my phone rang with Michael's ringtone and I swallowed hard, remembering what he said yesterday. "Um, excuse me Alex; I need to take this call. I'm really sorry; can you just wait a sec?" Alex smiled at me and nodded.

I opened my phone and instantly Michael began to speak, "Hey Pete; Henrietta and Firkle dragged me to the mall. I was wondering if you could meet us there. If you can't, that's cool, though," his speech more awkward than usual.

I sighed. "I'm really sorry Michael, you know I'd love to, but Evangeline has me doing something for her now. Is it alright if I call you later when I'm free?"

I heard bickering in the background. "Yeah, that's ok Pete. I'll catch you later then," he said, obviously disappointed. I hung up my phone and put it away again.

Alex sighed and looked at the ground. "So that was probably your boyfriend, right? I'm sorry, I was hitting on you."

I chuckled under my breath without thinking; Evangeline glared at me. "I'm sorry Alex; that was not my boyfriend. That was just my friend. Really."

Alex sighed again, "You don't have to lie to me to save my feelings. I really do hope we can keep in contact and become close friends. Here's my number. So, this is a mall with lots of single girls, I'm going to go check that out. Goodbye," Alex said, walking away. Now, left alone with Trace and Evangeline, I looked at her pleadingly. She rolled her eyes and waved me off.

I left as fast as I could, heading for the one place in the mall I thought I would never run into Michael and the others, but on my way I ran into someone else who was very undesirable: Mike Murkowski. Mike stepped in my path and proceeded to spew nonsense from his douchey vampire mouth, "Hey there girly, I've never seen you before. What's your name? Ever thought of being a vampire? Or at least going on a date with one?"

I laughed at the stupidity of his suggestion. "My name's Pixie and I disdain, abhor, loathe, and hate fucking vampires. So go jump on a wooden stake, Mike," I said accidently, forgetting I didn't know his name.

He looked at me quizzically and I rushed off as fast as I could in the direction of the Gap. As I was about to enter the Gap, a hand grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. Fearing it was Mike, I froze. The person grabbing my shoulder turned me to face them and, to my surprise, it was Michael. He held on to me and took out his phone. He only pressed two buttons and several seconds later my phone went off with his unmistakable ringtone. He grinned and began to look me up and down. "So, Pete, why the hell are you dressed like a girl? New hobby or something?"

I breathed out hard and sharp. "I told you, I was doing something for Evangeline. I had to help her on a date or she was going to burn something of mine, which I couldn't let happen, so here I am," I explained.

Firkle joined Michael in looking me up and down and began to chuckle. "Pete, Pete, Pete, I thought the peach hair made you feminine looking, but this takes the fucking cake. Are you sure you're not a real girl?"

I gave him a death glare, "Get stuffed Firkle."

Henrietta snickered at this. "Well Pete, as long as you're here and no longer bound by the demon known as Evangeline, why don't you walk around with us for a while? We're going to F.Y.I., and by "why don't you," I mean you're coming." At that, Henrietta turned around and she and Firkle began to lead the way across the mall. Michael let go of my shoulder and grabbed my hand dragging me along with him.

"Hey Michael, let go of my hand. I get it, I'm fucking coming," I whined, uncomfortable with the contact.

Michael peered down at me, his eyes clear and sharp, lids half closed. "No, you don't fucking get it, do you want some random guy to hit on you like Mike did earlier? Yes I saw that. It's best to appear you have a boyfriend if you don't want that to happen again… If you're a girl we can't go calling you Pete so what the hell do we call you?"

My face flushed at the mention of my earlier encounter, but reddened further at the mention of Michael pretending to be my boyfriend, giving me an uncomfortable feeling. My heart sunk, knowing what Firkle would do when I gave them the name Evangeline bestowed upon me with earlier, "Pixie… Evangeline decided my name would be Pixie…"

Firkle and Henrietta stopped, simultaneously turning around to grin at me. "Pixie?… How perfectly suited to you that is," Firkle chuckled. I ignored him.

We continued on to F.Y.I. and when we got there Henrietta picked out two Skinny Puppy CDs and Firkle bought a movie for us all to watch together at a later date. While they were checking out, Michael and I waited outside the store. As we stood there, waiting, the second most unfortunate person walked by: Alex. He stopped in front of us and looked Michael over. "So Pixie, I guess this is your boyfriend, right?"

Before I could answer, Michael did. "Do you have some busyness with my Pixie? You know, isn't it overly obvious to you who I am?" he said, almost pretentiously.

Alex looked taken back. "Oh, I'm sorry; I should have introduced myself and not have ignored you; that was rude of me. It is quite obvious, but I was just making sure before I jumped to a conclusion." He frowned.

I sighed, if only to myself. "Alex, this is my… this is Michael. Michael this is Alex. I understand that it is ever so rude of me to be saying this, but Alex could you please go? We were having a very important conversation right before you came and I think it's exceedingly important for Michael and I to continue it."

Michael looked down at me with a hurt look I couldn't grasp. Alex looked at Michael's hurt expression and seemed to be able to understand what I could not. "Why yes, I seem to understand what you're talking about now. I'll get in touch with the two of you later then," he said, instantly taking his leave as the final word left his mouth.

Michael's expression never left his face, and his face never looked away from mine. "Michael, what's the matter? I don't get what I did." From behind me came Firkle's voice, who had evidently been standing there for quite some time,

"You never understand,

You've never really seen,

You've built a wall around your heart and your mind,

You've built it so thick

You don't see what's before your very eyes:

Someone standing outside your wall

Repeatedly trying to tear it down.

When he removes one brick

You replace it just as fast,

But still he stands

Waiting

Waiting for the day you forget to rebuild

Waiting to show you what's so palpable

Waiting for his feelings to reach you."

This shocked me, Firkle, who never read poetry, saying something so poetic. I wanted to taunt him but I kept my mouth shut feeling the tense atmosphere.

Henrietta walked over to me and clicked her tongue. "Let's go get smoothies, your brain needs some rest from all that task some thinking you're doing before you burn it out" she joked, beginning to walk toward the food court.

Michael held me still for a moment and whispered in my ear, "You're blind; so very, very blind."