My apologies for the long wait, but this was a long process. I had originally planned to publish this update as one chapter, but I ended up going overboard, so... surprise! Two chapters! In this first part, Nori has just accepted the babysitting job at Warner Bros. and she is overjoyed, but telling her mother is going to be a challenge.

"Get out! You got a job at Warner Bros.? The Warner Bros.? As in, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and all the Looney Tunes Warner Bros.?"

"That's the one."

Nichelle let out an appreciative whistle. "Congrats, Nori! Man, you're gonna be bumpin' elbows with the most awesome toon characters of all time."

"And you'll get to meet some real movie stars, too," added Jessica Bailey, who was bent double touching her toes. "Like Tom Cruise."

"Hey, the Looney Tunes are real stars. All toons are," Nichelle said as she lunged down and back up again.

Nori stretched her arms over her head, then down to clasp them behind her back, leaning forward to extend them. "Chelle's right, Jess. Just because toons are two-dimensional and made with ink and paint doesn't mean they're not people. Heck, sometimes toons can be more three-dimensional than most humans."

"You saying you'd rather date a toon than a gorgeous hunk like Tom Cruise or Leonardo di Caprio?" Jessica asked, unfolding herself and reaching for the sky.

Nori snorted as she stretched one leg behind her. "Dating? As if. I've got enough on my plate right now; I don't need to deal with some stupid guy."

"Hey! I might talk like a surfer, but it doesn't mean I'm dumb," said Trey, frowning from his squat.

"I wasn't talking about you, you goof," Nori said fondly, giving Trey a friendly noogie. "We all know you're a sweetie. I'm talking about the A-crowd guys and the wannabes who want a girl on their arm to make them feel like they're all that and a bag of chips. Either that, or they're looking for a hot time and no promises."

Nichelle chuckled from her split on the floor. "Man, you got this place pegged. Just your luck you got dropped in a pond full of frogs when you're looking for a prince."

"Whoa, back up. I'm not looking for a prince. What I'm looking for is some sanity."

Now Nichelle hooted with laughter. "Honey, this is California. You ain't gonna find it out here."

Nori gave her a wry smile. "Okay, how about this: I'm looking for a family. I've got some awesome friends in you guys, and I love y'all for it. But I haven't had a family in a long time. I'm an only child and my mom's there but not there, and my dad…" She paused and swallowed hard. "I'd just like to feel like I belong somewhere, you know?"

Jessica and Trey were quiet, gazing at her with sympathetic eyes. Nichelle pulled herself off the floor and wrapped her arms around Nori. "Nor, you belong here. We're all a bunch of misfits, remember? None of us really fit in with the rest of the A-crowd – or the B-crowd, really."

"Tell me about it. I sound like a stoner, but I don't do drugs, so I don't fit in with the burnouts," Trey spoke up.

"And I'm a cheerleader, but I'm not some dumb tramp," said Jessica. "I don't hop from guy to guy and I have an A-plus average."

Nori chuckled. "True, Jess. You're proof not all cheerleaders have their brains in their boobs."

"Yup. Though if they were, I'd be a genius," Jessica laughed, as she always did whenever her friends teased her about her double-Ds.

Nichelle gave Jessica an easy nudge. "And look at me. My parental units are Hollywood hotshots, but they didn't spoil me and I'm not some airhead who blows their money at the mall."

"And your parents are geeks, but in a good way," Nori said.

"Hey, they're Trekkies, not geeks. That's how I ended up named Nichelle and my big brothers are William and Leonard." Nichelle clasped Nori in a one-armed squeeze. "Let's face it, hon, we're all misfits no matter how you slice it. Most people are, and that ain't a bad thing. Besides, aren't you the one who's always saying not to care about what anyone else thinks?"

Nori smiled at her best friend. Nichelle was right – she usually was. "Thanks, Chelle," she said, returning her friend's hug.

"No prob." Nichelle glanced over Nori's shoulder. "Mr. and Mrs. Berkeley are here. We'd better get crackin'."

Nori immediately snapped to attention as their dance teachers strode up. Aside from English, Ballroom & Swing was her favorite class of the day. She'd taken ballet and tap in elementary school and enjoyed it, but ballroom dancing made her feel alive: the spins, the lifts, the sheer joy of feeling like she could fly. They had already mastered the foxtrot and the basic swing and were now learning the Lindy Hop, which tickled Nori to no end. Partnering up with Trey, she let herself be carried away on the music – Mrs. Berkeley had a thing for Brian Setzer – and imagined for a moment that she had wings.

Too soon, the class ended and the dancers came to a halt. Mr. Berkeley applauded them while his wife shut off the music. "Well done, kids! Beautiful work today. You're all taking to this dance like ducks to water."

"That's because it's fast, Mr. B," Trey piped up. "The foxtrot's great and all, but we needed a dance we could groove to."

"It's the bomb, Mr. B. Anybody would love it," said Nichelle. "Look at Nori. She acts like she's in an old Hollywood musical whenever we dance."

"Yes, Nori, I've noticed that, too," Mr. Berkeley said, while Nori tried to shush Nichelle. "You sure do have an affinity for dance, and I understand you were ballet-trained as a young child. Tap as well, right?"

Never one for the spotlight, Nori nodded a little reluctantly. "Yes, sir. I've always loved dancing, but this makes me feel like I could fly. It's like… freedom."

Mr. Berkeley gave her a smile of approval as Mrs. Berkeley came over and said, "Well, Nori, you shouldn't have any problems at the homecoming dance next month."

Nori smiled but didn't say anything in response. As much as she loved dancing, school dances weren't really her scene. In her experience, they could be awfully lonely for an event loaded with kids. "Thanks, Mrs. B," she finally said, to be polite. She couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief once they were dismissed – the last statement, well-intended as it was, was a little awkward, something Nichelle picked up on.

"You're not going to the dance, are you?" she asked bluntly as she and Nori walked out to the parking lot.

Nori's smile was sardonic. "What gave me away?"

"Your smile. Nor, I know your smiles. You wore your fake, slopping-sugar smile when you were taking Amber down earlier, and that smile just now was your yeah-right smile. The one in class, when Mrs. B talked about the homecoming dance? That was your polite smile, not your real one." Nichelle bumped Nori with her hip. "What's eating you? You don't have two left feet, so that can't be it."

Nori sighed. "I usually do more sitting than dancing at stuff like this. Not to mention most of the guys are more interested in dancing in the sheets, not the streets. Like last year, when Brandon Tyler cornered me coming out of the bathroom and tried to put his tongue down my throat."

"He was dancing like a penguin the rest of the night after you kneed him where the sun don't shine," Nichelle chortled. "I think all the guys are scared of you now."

"Good, but… not so good, 'cause that means even the nice guys are scared of me, what few there are. I mean, is it too much to ask for one guy who's sweet and smart, who's got a wicked sense of humor, and doesn't mind being challenged?"

"This is the 90s, Nori. You know the answer is yes."

Nori shook her head, a chuckle escaping in spite of herself. "I can dream." By this time, they had reached their cars: Nichelle's black 1998 Mercedes and Nori's blue 1991 Formula. "Okay, I better get home before my mama has a canary. Later, Chelle!" She waved at Nichelle's response of "Later, Nor" and slipped into her Formula. I think a canary is coming anyway, once I tell her about this job, she thought, as she started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

Traffic heading into residential Burbank was bordering on heavy, since Nori was leaving closer to rush hour. However, it wasn't so heavy that she had trouble navigating. Before taking the turnoff into her neighborhood, Nori wove through the string of cars until she reached McDonald's. Lord knows if Mama cooked dinner and I don't have time to cook, she thought, ordering dinner for herself and her mother. Better safe than sorry.

By the time Nori pulled up to the blue cottage-style house she shared with her mother, the sun had begun its downward journey and the sky was tinted a pale orange. Sunsets never changed no matter where you were, for which Nori gave thanks. For someone who'd had one too many changes in her life, one constant was a blessing. However, this new change was probably also going to be a blessing. The only curse would be her mother's reaction. Inhaling deeply, Nori hefted the drinks and bag of fast food in the crook of her arm and unlocked the front door.

"Mama?" Nori called, setting the food and drinks on the kitchen counter. For all her mother had been about getting away from the country, it still permeated their house. The kitchen was all oak floors and cabinets, while the rest of the house was done in shabby chic. The irony of her mother trying to be hip in 90s California, yet still decorating to her country roots, was not lost on Nori.

"About time you got home," Jodi Bennett drawled, gliding into the kitchen. As always, she was dressed to the nines, Clairol-dyed-red hair done up in an elaborate upsweep, lips and nails painted scarlet. "I was getting ready to call out the dogs."

"Mama, I had dance class after school, remember? And I've got a cell phone; you can call me if you're worried," Nori said calmly, pulling her Nokia out of her pocket.

Jodi sniffed. "Doesn't do me much good when you don't answer every other time I call."

Nori fought the urge to roll her eyes. "That's because you call me when I'm in school," she said as politely as possible. "I keep my phone turned off 'cause the teachers go psycho if they ring in class."

"Well, I get that, but they should at least make some kind of exception for emergencies or big news."

This time, the eye roll came with a vengeance and Nori had to turn to her bag of McDonald's grub so her mother wouldn't see. "Mama, with all due respect, calling to tell me your psychic's latest bachelor forecast isn't worth alerting Connie Chung over."

"Don't be sassy," Jodi snapped, but said nothing in her defense. Nori inwardly smiled; she'd won that match at least. "What have you got there?"

"Dinner," Nori said simply, displaying the bag from Mickey D's. "Relax, I got you a salad and a Diet Coke."

All at once, Jodi's critical face morphed into a bright smile. "Aw, darlin', you always know what your mama likes," she said, bestowing a kiss on her daughter's head. "I've just been so swamped at work, I forgot all about dinner."

Uh-huh. Swamped usually meant staying after hours to gossip or hit on one of the men who came into the salon, but Nori held her tongue on the subject. Some things just weren't worth fighting over. "So, what's the latest from the Hairhouse?" she asked, dumping her fries onto a plate.

Jodi beamed. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than dishing on the latest gossip from her workplace, the Best Little Hairhouse in Burbank. Except her latest boyfriend, of course. "Well, everybody's going absolutely ape over the latest Y2K news. Apparently, since the computers of the world are going to crash at midnight on New Year's Eve –"

"Mama, we don't know that for sure," Nori said, taking her Big Mac out of its container and cracking open a Sweet & Sour sauce for her fries.

"It's possible, darlin'," Jodi said, her hazel eyes the size of quarters. "You know computers may not know the difference between 1900 and 2000 in that double-0 for their dates, and that'd just mess up all kinds of things."

"Like your ability to lie about your age?" Nori asked, unable to resist.

"I thought I said don't be sassy, Elinor. Anyway, since the idea is that the computers are gonna crash and cause all kinds of panic, the president might call out the troops to get things calmed down! He might actually go for the red button!"

Nori almost snorted soda out of her nose. "You actually believe that?" she asked, laughing out loud. "Mama, there's only one button President Clinton goes for, and it's the one on his pants, not his desk."

Now it was Jodi's turn to roll her eyes. "Do you have to be so tacky? I swear, you got that dirty sense of humor from your father, not me."

Nori almost laughed again. Her, tacky? That was rich, coming from the woman who ate up gossip like candy, had a revolving door of boyfriends, and spent her paychecks before they were even cashed. That last one in particular stuck in Nori's craw. Jodi's priorities weren't exactly top-notch – they included gossip, men, shopping for bling and clothes, the house, bills, and Nori, in that order. Although if Jodi needed Nori to do something for her, her notch on the totem pole went up one or two places. Which honestly wasn't saying much.

And the same woman who lapped up every juicy detail about someone's love life and repeated it in gleeful detail to others was criticizing Nori's sense of humor? Not to mention there was the dig at Dad, which stung. Dad had a wicked sense of humor and had always encouraged her to be her own person, to be strong. Lord, I miss him. "I'll take that as a compliment, Mama," she said, popping a fry into her mouth.

"All that salt and grease is going to go straight to your thighs and then how are you ever going to catch a man?" Jodi criticized, forking salad into her mouth as if to prove a point.

"Mama, I don't eat this stuff every day, and I get plenty of exercise in gym and dance. And I'm not interested in, quote-unquote, 'catching a man.' Most guys I know only want a hot time, not something real." Nori bit into her Big Mac and gave her mother an evil grin. "Besides, if the world's gonna end on New Year's Eve, what's the point?"

"I never said the world is going to end. Where do you come up with this nonsense?"

"I think a better question is, where do you?" Nori flipped the question around, grabbing her mother's copy of Weekly World News and holding it up. The Enquirer-knockoff's cover bore the headline Doomsday Countdown: The Final Days, complete with obligatory mushroom-cloud photo and a blurb about the supposed "Year 2000 computer bug." The only time Jodi ever stood in line at the supermarket was to snag the latest issues of the tabloids – Nori went for food.

Jodi shot her daughter a glare but didn't reply, pursing her Revlon-red lips together. Privately psyched that she'd won again, Nori lay the tabloid aside and returned to her dinner. Swallowing another bite of her burger, she brought up the good news. "We had visitors at school today. Dr. Otto von Scratchansniff and Slappy the Squirrel… from Warner Bros." Nori watched as Jodi froze with her fork in her mouth. She knew mentioning the name of a revered studio would catch her mother's attention. In between salon hours and dates, Jodi was forever hoping to be "discovered," as the old adage went. Her latest boyfriends were all aspiring actors or agents themselves, and none of them had been successful in their attempts to launch her into stardom. "They offered me a job."

Jodi's eyes widened and the fork fell from her mouth. "You got a role in a movie? Oh, darlin', this is wonderful!" she gushed, seizing Nori in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, I just can't wait to tell everyone at work about my little girl, the movie star! And the premiere! I'll get to wear Gucci and Stuart Weitzman! And I can say I'm the mama of an actress!"

Nori gasped against her mother's python grip. "You're gonna be the mama of a dead body if you don't let go!" Once Jodi released her grip, Nori gratefully breathed deep. "I hate to burst your bubble, Mama, but this isn't a movie role. It's a babysitting job."

For a moment, Jodi looked confused, and then the smile reappeared. "Oh, I get it! You're going to be nanny to one of the stars! Who is it? If it's Harrison Ford, you've got to introduce me! That man is such a stud…"

"Chill, Mama. I'm not babysitting for any of the stars. I'm gonna be watching three toons."

Now Jodi's jaw hit the floor. "Toons? As in cartoon characters?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, they're the toon kids who busted out of the WB water tower back in '93." There was no way Jodi wouldn't know about this. Her favorite supermarket rags had blared it from the front pages.

"Those three? Didn't they almost destroy the studio back in the 1930s? I heard they were jealous of the Looney Tunes, and that one of them threatened to kill a higher-up."

"As if, Mama. Toons threaten to kill each other 'cause they can't get hurt. They've got an honor code when it comes to humans, so they don't even threaten to hurt us. That's probably some ugly rumor." Look who I'm talking to; she thinks rumors are holy word.

"You never know. What if something does happen to you on this job?"

Nori froze. Was she hearing things, or was her mother actually worried about her? Did she really care about her that much? "Mama, are you really that worried?"

"Yes, darlin'! If something happens to you, where would I be? You take care of everything around here. Why, I'd just be lost without you!"

And there it was. Nori felt a stab of pain hit her heart. Jodi didn't care if Nori herself was gone. She cared about losing her live-in maid. "Thanks, Mama," she said flatly, jamming a few fries into her mouth. "The job is every day after school, starting tomorrow, so I won't be home until late."

Jodi's fake concern was quickly replaced by sheer panic. "What? But what about dinner? Who's gonna make it?"

"You know how to work the microwave and you know where Mickey D's is, and you know how to cook. You're more than capable of fending for yourself, Mama," Nori said, not caring by now if she was being blunt.

"What about the house? What if it's a mess when I bring a date home?"

"Make sure it's clean before you bring anyone over. I don't know why you're so worried anyway." All they ever see of it is your bedroom.

"Well, darlin'…" Jodi's eyes became imploring, signaling the start of a guilt trip. It wouldn't work, though. Nori had wised up to her tricks long ago. "I'm working all day and I'm just exhausted when I come home! It's not easy providing for a teenager with so many needs, you know."

Please. The only need I have is a normal life. Nori bit back these thoughts, gave her mother a plastered-on smile, and said, "Good to know you're such a responsible adult" in a bless-your-heart tone: sarcasm wrapped in honey-sweetness. "I'm gonna finish my dinner in my room, and I've got a ton of homework. I'll be home late tomorrow night," she said, grabbing her plate, her Coke, and her backpack and hauling tush to her bedroom, ignoring Jodi's stammered buts. Once inside, Nori set her drink on her nightstand, slung her backpack to the floor, and flopped on her bed with her plate. "God Almighty, help me," she prayed under her breath before taking a bite of her Big Mac. "She's seriously worried about me babysitting three toons? It can't be any crazier than babysitting my own mother. I swear, the world really will end before she ever acts right."