Dinner was definitely different than usual. Instead of sitting at the dining room table and watching and playing Cash Cab like we always did, the television remained off and for the first fifteen minutes or so, we sat in an uncomfortable silence…At least, Rowan and I did, grandma seemed perfectly content just sitting and staring at us. My cell phone went of three different times in that time and I itched to pick it up but phones were forbidden at the table so I just had to let it ring on the counter. There were a few times when I thought about saying something but decided not to a few seconds later. Rowan cleared his throat and shifted a few times like he was going to do the same but didn't and grandma just stared.

Rowan cleared his throat again and then looked at me. "So, what are you going to school for?" I was so happy to have something to talk about that if I hadn't had the tiny bit of sanity that I did, I would have hugged him.

"Well I…" I started but then grandma interrupted.

"Oh, she's changed her major so many times that its really hard to keep track. She'll tell you what she's going for this week but then next week when you go to introduce her to someone, she'll have to correct you and tell you that she's going for something entirely different." She smiled at me as if she had just told him that I had graduated valedictorian of my class.

I raised a brow and just looked at her for a second before answering the question my own way. "I'm going to be a history major."

"At the moment, dear." My grandma chimed and I felt like bopping her on the head with something.

"Picking a major can be hard. I mean, you want to make sure that you get schooling for something that's not going to bore you a few years into the practice." Rowan smiled, knowing that I was getting aggravated. "Besides, you can never learn to much."

"Right." I wanted to say something mean but refrained. "Why aren't you in school?"

He grinned. "I've already got a job." I raised my eyebrows and he went on. "That's another reason why I'm staying here, Sarah asked me to help her out with her yard work."

"A guy with the last name of Thistle is going to help her with her yard work?" What the hell did he think he was doing, calling my grandma by her first name? "That's nice."

"Actually Rowan is a tree so both names have something to do with nature." He said as if it were a joke or something.

"Did your parents hate you?"

"No, they just had an affinity for the earth that they passed on to me."

"So they were hippies then."

"Not really. Flower children perhaps but not hippies."

"Huh?" This guy made absolutely no sense ninety percent of the time, I swear.

"I have to go now, dears. I'm sure you'll get along alright. Have a good time with your sweetheart, Mia, but make sure you behave yourself." My grandma stood and began to clear the table. "I taped Cash Cab so we can watch it later. I think you'll like it, Rowan, we try to see how many of the questions we can answer." She kissed me on the cheek, grabbed her purse, and left before I could even register that she was leaving at that very moment.

"Bye." I said as her van pulled out of the driveway. Bear started barking like crazy so I let him inside and cleared the rest of my dinner into his food dish. It probably wasn't very healthy for him but he was such a skinny puppy that I didn't really think it would matter if he had a little ham and mashed potatoes. Besides, he seemed to like it since he practically dove into the small mound of food.

"She's really kind of random isn't she?" Rowan said as he looked out the window. Unlike me, all he had to do was put his plate in the sink since he had eaten everything on his plate and then some.

"You have no idea. Be thankful that you didn't go shopping with her and her sister. They are absolutely insane when they're together. I mean, they're like 'just escaped from the loony bin and have men in white coats after us' insane." I rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher then grabbed Bear, who had licked his bowl clean and was looking up at me hopefully for more, and headed into the living room. Tristan still had about a half an hour before he was supposed to be here and I wasn't really in the mood to just sit around the table and continue to have a conversation with this guy.

"Hey, where are you going?" Of course he followed me. He was like glued to my hip or something. I'm half expecting him to show up in the middle of class tomorrow.

"Away." Grandma was gone so there was really no reason to be nice anymore. Then again, he does like it when I'm mean to him…or so he said, so shouldn't that give me incentive to be nice to him? But then, he could just be saying that he liked it when I was mean to him to trick me into being nice to him because I wouldn't want to do what he liked me doing. If that made sense at all. Anyway, I started to scroll through the many DVDs that I brought with me when I moved in with grandma for something good to watch since I had little faith in what Direct TV had to offer me.

"Well, yes, I can see that." He leaned against the wall beside the large stack of movies, randomly grabbing Underworld from the middle of the stack with out even making it wobble. "How about this?"

"I guess so." I sighed as I snatched it from him. It only irked me a little that he knew the movie I wanted to watch before I did.

"You are really weird."

"Thanks." I said giving him a look that said that that had better of been a compliment. Then started the movie and got comfy on one of the couches.

"I'm serious. Are you bipolar or something?"

"Why do you think that?" Bad word choice my friend.

"First you're mad and then you're not and now you are again." He gave me a look that said get the picture.

"No, there's a difference between mad and annoyed. I'll give you one thing though, you have seen both since we've met. I was being nice to you at dinner because my grandma was there."

"And upstairs."

"I had just woken up and punched you in the stomach. That automatically puts me in a good mood."

"So are you a dominatrix then? I mean you seem to like being mean." He was standing in the way of my view now and I was missing the first fight scene.

"Um, no." I rolled my eyes. "So are you a masochist? I mean you said you like when I'm mean to you."

He grinned and shook his head. "No, I'm not but for you I'll make an exception."

"Dream on." I wrinkled up my nose. "Are you going to watch the movie or go frolic in the bushes somewhere?"

"I would only frolic if you were with me." He did the wiggly eyebrow thing again and, if you've ever seen someone do a wiggly eyebrow thing, then you know that its nearly impossible to not to laugh or at least smile. Luckily, I'm a strong person and could hide such things. "And I haven't had the chance to dream yet but believe me, I will."

"You're an idiot." My mouth twitched and I thought I might die but thankfully there was a knock on the door.

"Ooh that must be your, how did Sarah put it…your sweetheart." He grinned at me then took off towards the door. "I'll get it!" I smacked my forehead, this wasn't going to end well.

From the way that I was laying on the bed, I had to look up at him from an upside down position which I did in a blank way trying to register the fact that he was seriously in my room. Didn't this guy know when to quit? What if I had been changing?! He had probably hoped for as much. I thought of all the sharp remarks that I could throw at him but the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Didn't I lock that door?".

He smiled and looked down at his feet that he was shuffling as if he were embarrassed. "I used to be a locksmith."

"Um…I locked the door for a reason." Come on brain, you can do better than this! What the hell was I talking about? I didn't even sound mad which I really wanted to be.

"Well, yeah, I kinda figured that when you slammed the door." His face turned a little red now which if I wasn't so aggravated by him, it would have been cute.

"Good, then you're not a complete idiot." Good girl! It's about freaking time!

He sat on my bed, careful not to sit on my hair that had sprawled out when I threw myself down, and sighed. "We got off on the wrong foot, I…"

"Did my grandma mention to you that I was staying with her before you went to the gas station?" I interrupted him.

"She might have done." He said, looking down at me nervously. "Why?"

"Then you must have had some idea of who I was, especially when I told you that there weren't any other young people around here." I sat up so that I was sitting on the opposite side of the bed from him. His eyes followed me and he started to look even more nervous which only fueled my growing anger.

"Look, I…"

"You knew." I was convinced now. "So why didn't you say anything? It would have made me way less aggravated…"

"Would you let me talk for a second?" He waited until he was sure that I wasn't going to say anything to interrupt. "It wasn't my place to say anything. I didn't know what to do so I started to leave but then you followed me. I thought for sure that you would figure out that something was off when you saw the van but you didn't. I suppose I could have given you the quarters since they were going to the same place but it was more fun this way." He smiled but then frowned when I didn't smile back. "What's a little harmless flirting?"

"Go away now. You've said what you needed to say and I'm not really in a socializing mood." He was doing good there until the end. Too bad, I was really starting to think that this would work out. It was bad enough that I would have to act civil to him at dinner, I was not about to suffer his presence until then. Maybe he would grow on me but for now I just wanted him out of my room.

He sighed as he stood and left the room, closing the door behind him. Only to open it again two seconds later for the last word. "I can't change who I am, you know, no matter how cute you are." Then he left for good. I could hear his footsteps as he descended the stairs. He's such a little booger! I fell back down on the bed and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. This sucked! I almost wished I hadn't told Chloe and Gavin to stay away…and where the hell was Tristan?! I let my eyes close. A little nap wouldn't hurt, after all, I think I deserve it after the day that I've had. Maybe everything would be back to normal when I woke up.

*

It became very clear that everything was not normal when I woke up because a hand was shaking my shoulder, which my grandma never did, and the voice that was calling my name was not even female. I don't wake up well…at least not when I am woken up. If I wake up on my own or if I have help from an alarm clock, I'm good but if someone wakes me up, I don't care who it is, they had better be prepared for the worst. My arm swung in the direction of the arm that was shaking me and I could feel it when my fist hit something solid because my knuckles felt like they had been crushed by a rock but I stopped myself from crying out or showing any amount of pain. Rowan, however, let out a grunt at impact and proceeded to unleash a stream of curse words when he regained his breath. This made me open my eyes because it was too humorous to miss. He was bent over me using the bed for support with one hand and clutching his stomach with the other.

"What did you do that for?!" He asked hoarsely as I fought not to laugh. Serves him right!

"Didn't my grandma warn you?" I asked innocently…or as innocently as one can when they are dying of internal laughter.

"Warn me that you would hit me? No, she asked if I would go wake you up." He looked at the door as if it had betrayed him and the inside laughter tried to pry it's way out, forcing my lips to twitch slightly.

"I don't wake up well." He gave me a look that said 'you're not kidding'. "Oh, you big baby. Now who's being dramatic?"

"I'm not, that really hurt. Where'd you learn to punch like that?" He fell over so that he was lying next to me, making the bed squeak and the mattress to bounce.

"I have a brother, enough said. Tammy's felt worse than you. She got the full force of the punch on her face. You just got a half asleep, hindered by the bed punch." Then I held up the injured hand that was now red and broken open around the knuckles. "It's not without its drawbacks but I'm not crying about it."

"You're crazy!" He said as he took my hand to get a closer look. His hands were calloused and warm and I was pretty sure that they could envelope my hand or at least come close. I thought about taking it away but I wasn't sure if I minded. This was obviously because I was still only half awake. "What did your hand look like after Tammy?" He asked, pulling my out of my observation.

"Worse." I said simply as I sat up and ran the fingers of my other hand, the one that wasn't held captive, through my hair. "Is dinner ready or something?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot." He stood up, pulling me with him since he still had a hold of my hand. "I was distracted by pain and whatnot." Whatnot? "That's why you're grandma asked me to come up here and wake you up. She said that either you came down now while the food was still hot or you would have to warm it up yourself because she was going shopping with one of your aunts tonight."

"Well, I'm up now so mission accomplished." I said stupidly. "Um…can I have my hand back now?"

"Oh! Sorry." He dropped my hand as if it was on fire and turned red again. "I was…"

"Distracted by whatnot?" I supplied.

"Yeah, something like that." He started down the stairs but stopped mid-step, turning back to face me. "Oh and somebody named Tristan called earlier."

"What?!" I was completely shocked and a little worried though I wasn't really sure why other than the fact that he could be mad at me. "What did he say? Did you answer the phone?"

"Uh, no your grandma did. I mean, it's her house and there isn't really anybody that would be calling for me anyway. She just said to tell you that he wants you to call him back as soon as you can."

"She should have woken me up sooner…or had you do it which is the wiser choice on her part."

"Nice." He said dryly.

"It's true. Crap!" I shoved past him and down the stairs like I hadn't almost died on them so that I could get to the phone. Unfortunately, grandma already had it and was right in the middle of what I could tell was going to be one of her really long phone calls. I spun on my heels and ran back up the stairs so that I could get to my cell phone and punched in the number. Then paced back and forth as I waited for him to pick up. I noticed Rowan was leaning against the doorframe as he watched me freak out. "How long ago did he call?"

"Half hour tops." He shrugged. "Is he your boyfriend or something?" He looked a little hesitant as he said the last bit.

"Yeah…at least I think so." Just then Tristan's voice came over the phone and I about died in relief. "It's me."

"I know, I'm on my cell phone." He sounded a little annoyed but I might have been imagining it.

"So, you called? I just got the message because I decided to take a little bit of a nap before dinner. Did you get my myspace bulletin?" I sounded like a rambling idiot but I was to nervous to do anything about it. Why do I have to work myself up by thinking the worst all the time?

He laughed, which I think is a good sign. "Yeah, I got the bulletin. It sounded like a party over there so I thought I'd drop in. I'll be there in an hour and don't try to talk me out of it because I know that's what you're thinking of doing in the pretty little head of yours. I just want to make sure that things are going to be alright over there, especially since you're grandma's going out tonight."

"You know about that?" My heart sank, I couldn't decided whether I wanted him to come or not but I had a really bad feeling about it.

"Yeah, she told me when I asked if it was alright if I came over for a little while. She wasn't going to let me but decided that it would be alright since we wouldn't exactly be alone." Even over the phone I could here the suggestiveness in his voice and rolled my eyes.

"You're dumb." I laughed. "Alright but you can't be here for very long because we do have class tomorrow." I looked over at Rowan who was being more than obvious in his eavesdropping. "And you have to promise to behave yourself. That means keeping your temper in check amongst other things."

"Yeah, yeah, see you soon, babe." Then he hung up. I sighed, that wasn't really a promise and I really didn't want him to be in trouble with my grandma if he happened to throw a punch. I looked at Rowan again as I slid my phone into my pocket. "Please don't do anything to make him mad."

"Why not?" He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because I don't want the two of you to get into a fight over something that could have been avoided. Please don't. I'll try to be nicer to you if you don't." What was I saying?!

"I like it when you're mean to me." He did a weird eyebrow wiggling thing which made me fight not to laugh.

"You're an idiot." I said instead. "Please."

"Well, since you called me an idiot." He sighed. "I guess I can maybe keep my mouth shut."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Mia, Rowan!!! Are you two coming down for dinner?!" My grandma called up the stairs. This time I sighed and he moved so that I could go down first.

I attacked some random middle school goth kids in the mall today when I was spending my birthday dinero. We all started in Hot Topic and then I decided that I wanted to switch to Spencers two seconds after they did so I told them that I was going to walk with them since we were all going to the same place and they were like "whatever" but I think I kind of annoyed them because they were acting like I was a parasite or something. I told the that I was in college and they were like "whatever" only slightly more annoyed so then I said that they were like two and that they should appreciate the fact that I was paying attention to them at all and they were like "whatever what's your problem? Why don't you just go away!" so then I had to ask why they always had to speak in monotone and if they thought that that made them cool or something. Then the girls in the group started getting pissy and talking shit like they were going to hit me or something so I started laughing because I couldn't help it. These skinny bitches were about the height of my sister only toothpick thin and I kept thinking shut up or I'll sit on you. What made things even better was that when we got to Spencers they were all queing up to get this one hott rocker named John's attention but he was 23 which I found out later when he was talking to ME. Yeah that's right. Anyway, in the end they ended up following me to the music store and the guys were all trying to show off and talk to me after that.

P.S.

The grammar in this blog is terrible but I thought it was funny at the time it was written. I'm very tired and bored if you couldn't tell.

From this moment on…well I never really understood how people could parachute from airplanes or off buildings and other high places but even more so now. I swear, my life was flashing before my eyes, and I mean this metaphorically, because really the only thing that I could think about was how the last thing I ever saw was that guy from the gas station with a big smirk on his face rather than how incredibly dull my life was. I mean, I guess I should be grateful that the last thing that I saw was a decent looking guy but, sadly, I was just really annoyed. I suppose I should have seen my death coming from the moment I woke up this morning but apparently I'm not a very perceptive person. If I were then I would have known that, with the economy the way it was in Michigan, the chances of me getting a job would be slime to none or that a guy who immediately started flirting with me at a gas station would be the cause of my untimely demise.

All of these thoughts ran through my head in a matter of seconds and they probably would have continued the rest of the way down the stairs if I had actually fallen the rest of the way down the stairs. Instead, an arm quickly wrapped around my waist and a hand caught me just behind the neck, catching me before I could continue plummeting to my doom. My first thought then should have been to thank the guy from the gas station for saving my life or maybe phew, however, my thought ran more along the lines that I now looked like I was in the middle of a dip in a dance or something. How 'damsel in distress', if only my prince charming had bothered to show up.

"Easy there, tiger." He said, pulling me back into a standing and much less humiliating position. "If you wanted me to know that you were falling for me, you didn't have to be quite so dramatic."

What?! What?! Is this guy mental or something?! Can he get any more cheesy?! The thing that makes it worse, is that he knows he's being cheesy and he knows that it only annoys me further. Oh how I want to hit him! "Right. I'll keep that in mind, you can let me go now."

"Oh, sor…Wait, isn't it protocol for someone who has just been rescued to, um, thank their rescuer." He said, folding his arms over his chest.

"I think that if the rescuer was also the cause of the danger that the rules change. Anyway, I guess I should th…" Both Bear and my grandmother decided that they would come into this lovely picture just in time to save me from having to thank him. Unfortunately, they were both on his side since Bear only sniffed the guys leg then whined and looked up with his adorable puppy eyes and asked to be petted and my grandma simply smiled.

"Ah, I see the two of you have met." She said all innocent like as she looked up at us from the bottom of the stairs. "Well good."

"Actually, we haven't met officially." Gas Station Man said with a stupid little grin on his face as if he were expecting me to immediately offer up my name.

"Yes, officially we just sort of talked at the gas station. I can only assume that the quarters that he refused to give up were for you." I said in a steely voice.

"Well I wasn't sure if you were going to get them or not and I figured that since he offered to run some errands for me that he could get them for me. It's not your fault, sweet heart, I know that your mind is focused on school and job hunting." Thanks, grandma, now I sound like I'm too busy to help you out. "Why don't you two go ahead and introduce yourselves."

He smiled when it became obvious that I wasn't going to say anything. "My name is Rowan Thistles."

"And I'm Miss Turner as you put it earlier." I gave a fake smile and turned back towards my room.

"Uh, Mia, Rowan is going to be staying with us for a little while. This will take some adjusting for everybody but I'm sure the two of you will be friends in no time."

"On that note…" I sighed and walked into my room, firmly shutting the door behind me.

Friends? Is it normal that I have the sudden impulse to strangle my soon to be friend every time I see him? I don't think so! How could she not have picked up on the bad juju vibes that I was sending his way? I thought that it was pretty obvious and I'm sure that he did too. I wonder if he suffers from the same thought process as she does. No, would be the answer to that because what he suffers from is even worse than senility, he suffers from idiocy which seems to be common amongst men. I'm not trying to be sexist with this comment, I'm simply observing. In fact, I think I heard somewhere that there was a discovery that male embryos suffer severe brain damage with their first shot of testosterone. I'm not saying that women aren't stupid in their own ways because to be honest, we are, but we are stupid because of our emotions…most of the time. I could say that it's just young men that confuse me but mom has the same problem with middle aged men, they're just better at hiding their stupidity than the younger guys.

You didn't even know that I had a mother did you? Well, you didn't know that she was alive and kicking. She is, by the way, and we are very close but I wanted to get away from my siblings and I guess, in a way, I wanted to get away from my dad, who is also still living. I wanted to get away from my siblings for obvious reasons but my dad…well divorce is and ugly thing and this also falls under the category of "men are dumb". I'm not saying that my father wasn't intelligent career wise or academic wise because he's really smart in those areas, especially math, but he is a complete idiot when it comes to feelings or women. I guess he thought that lying to my face wasn't going to hurt me and sever the "daddy's little girl" lifestyle. I guess he thought that bringing his new girlfriend instead of mom on a vacation with us when we didn't even know that mom and dad were separated would be a big deal either or that we would suspect that something was going on…that I wouldn't suspect that something was going on when I saw them leave the same room at my aunt's house. I guess he thought that I wouldn't be upset when I found out that his girlfriend said I was an ungrateful slob and that I didn't deserve his attention or that I wouldn't be upset when he chose her over me time and time again. I guess that that explains a lot about why I don't understand guys or why I have such a low thoughts about them, huh…not that I would give up on them and turn to my own gender. I don't have a problem with homosexuals, I mean one of my best friends is one, it's just not my kind of thing.

Anyway, I decided that I should let my friends know all of this good news. My real friends, mind you, not the other one, through the myspace grapevine that would eventually lead to a group chat on MSN messenger. I would have to tell them eventually and, other than my thousands of books and decent collection of cds, there really wasn't anything else to do in my room.

Deep down…well maybe not too deep down…but part of me knew that this information would trigger Tristan's temper. The worst case scenario would be Tristan coming over here and kicking Rowan's ass and I was perfectly fine with that, I reasoned with myself, but then, Tristan could also decide to get mad at me and we would break up, another part of me argued. After several more minutes of debate, I shrugged and decided that it was to late to do anything about it. I would just have to deal with Tristan when the time came.

Cool_Beans22: OMG! Gavin and I will be there in 20 mins tops!!

Chloe's message popped up on my screen as the first response since my post. The fact that it had been nearly ten minutes late only made me slightly nervous.

GypsyQueen88: I don't think that's such a good idea.

3leggedmonkey: So anyway, we might be a little later than that because Chloe forgot that I need to take a shower. Is he hott?

ColbyJack: Very good question, Gavin, we should have asked earlier. Spill, Mia.

GypsyQueen88: He's really annoying and almost killed me. I find him irritating above anything else.

3leggedmonkey: Yeah but is he hott? Some of us aren't taken!

GypsyQueen88: I guess he isn't horrible.

Cool_Beans22: That's code for he's hott!

ColbyJack: I would join you guys but I have drama practice.

ANTM7: Hey, I just read the post on myspace!

Cool_Beans22: Hey, Hope, want to join us?

ANTM7: Can't, Aaron's coming over.

GypsyQueen88: They shouldn't be coming over either. Things are weird enough as it is and we all have classes tomorrow….and Chloe has work!

Cool_Beans22: That's true and I forbid you to see him without me, Gavin, I'll hate you forever.

3leggedmonkey2: No you wouldn't.

Cool_Beans22: You ho!

3leggedmonkey2: I gotta go take a shower but I will wait until tomorrow so that you can come with me.

Cool_Beans22: Cool beans, I'm out.

ColbyJack: I have to get ready for drama.

ANTM7: I have to go too sorry.

Then I was once again alone. Where the hell was Tristan? That's who I was worried about and he didn't even log on. I checked my phone but there were no messages of any kind. Maybe I should call him…I was directed straight to voicemail. Now I was seriously getting nervous. Damn it! I was going to go crazy! I was expecting at least an angry break up message or something! I bit my lip and put some loud music in my stereo and cranked it before falling back on my bed. What next?

"I love this song." How the hell did he get in my room!!!!!!

(This chapter is full of description...sorry. I would also like to let my people know that I used some of you as a character and left some of you out. If you do not see a character that sounds a lot like you, it does not mean that I love you less because I love you all it simply means that I didn't want to have too many characters and yours just didn't fit or was too complex for me to put in the story. For those of you that I did use, some of your character traits may be a bit exaggerated like a cartoonist would exaggerate a physical feature. If you are offended, I am sorry and I love you.)

I sighed and circled my arms around the knee I had cradled against my chest. So far I had absolutely no reaction to my long list of complaints about the day, especially the several concerning the guy from the gas station. We, and by we I mean mostly me, decided to hold an emergency meeting at Tony's Ice Cream Parlor since it was half way between them and me and it seems that I am the only one with problems. We were seated at a round table in a dark corner at the back of the parlor for privacy…that and it was our regular table…and we were completely mind-numbingly silent.

Hope blinked her eyes several times and took a bite out of the cookie she was holding in her hand. "So this guy wouldn't even give you two of them for a dollar?" She took another bite out of her cookie and looked at me with what I can only assume was a serious expression. She has to be one of the skinniest people I know but she's always constantly hungry. She's always munching on something whenever I talk to her or she's complaining that she wants something to eat. I love her though even if she doesn't gain a pound and is pretty much flawless. Her hair is straight like mine only hers is short, golden brown, and looks good on her. Especially when she puts it in pigtail braids like today. She also had pretty blue green eyes framed with long dark lashes that didn't really need mascara to stand out and a wonderfully ditsy personality.

I sighed and let my forehead rest on my knee. "No and he kept flirting with me in such an annoying way that I wanted to smack him. Anyway, what I really need help with is references for a job."

"Don't worry about him, babe, I'll take care of him." Tristan said as he rubbed my back with one hand and took a spoonful of my untouched cookie dough blizzard that was sitting in front of me with the other. He was gorgeous, as I believe I've stated before, with a curly blond halo of hair, bright blue eyes, and the cutest dimples in the world. He could easily pass for an angel or cupid or something like that. He also filled out all of his clothing very nicely, not that that matters…just kind of a bonus. However, he did rely a lot on his strength rather than his mind or his humor and that was his definite downside.

"To be perfectly honest, Tristan, I don't think him holding on to quarters is grounds for beating the hell out of him." Riley said, rolling her lovely blue eyes. She was definitely the biggest tomboy of our group and sometimes acted more manly than the guys did. She used to have really pretty long black hair until she decided to chop most of it off. She donated it, which I guess was the charitable thing to do but short hair just doesn't look the same as her long hair did. "Besides, we can just go on a quarter search later."

"That's not the point. The guy was being a total…"

"Look, its okay. Honestly, I don't even really care that much about getting the quarters. Grandma will be a little upset but that's fine. I just really needed my people today." I cut Tristan off before he could say anything mean. "You know how people are about those stupid collectables. First it was the beanie babies and now it's the state coins."

"Yes bu…"

"If you're mad because he was flirting with me then you don't have anything to worry about. I'm not a skanky whore like some people we know."

"Oh, I love it when you stab at Tammy. Stupid bi…"

"She was going after Mister New Guy from the sound of it." I cut Riley off before she could go further and anger Tony with the B word. That was the only word that he absolutely forbid his customers to say and you only received one warning before you were banned for at least a month. That's a long time when the amount of things to do around here could be counted your fingers.

"Well maybe he'll go after her and leave you alone." Hope said as she rummaged in her bag for another cookie.

"I was under the impression that he wasn't all that interested in her. I mean he didn't say anything about her until the second time I mentioned the bank." I said. "I don't know, maybe I'm wrong."

"Hmm." That was all she said before going back to her cookie search. Did she suspect something? What?

"Maybe someone should go home with you just in case you run into him again." Gavin offered, shaking me out of my thoughts. Though from his tone and the look on his face, you could pretty much tell that he was hoping for it. He definitely had the Gay Pride thing going on and he wasn't afraid to share his thoughts…about guys anyway. He was really tall and towered over most people but he was so girly and lovable that he wasn't exactly as intimidating as his height would lead you to believe.

"I'm going to have to agree Gavin on this one." Chloe said with a small giggle. She was a very down to earth person and she was fun to be around since it was impossible to catch her without a smile on her face…at least, I never see her without one. Her dark purple hair was a bit of a dye job accident but she rarely complains about it and if don't think its all that noticeable. She kind of reminds me of Buddha, or the little figurines of him, because her slightly rounded figure only seems to warm her aura further and makes her appear even more jolly than her silly giggles that can make even the stoniest of people. It wasn't really surprising that she agreed with Gavin because they are practically inseparable….Like Karen and Jack from Will and Grace only Gavin was a little less girly and Chloe was a lot less skanky.

"I volunteer." Tristan said, pulling me closer suggestively.

"Yeah, that would make my grandma happy." I said sarcastically as I shoved him away playfully. "Really, guys, it's not that big of a deal. I think I can handle some random jerk."

"Well yeah, you deal with Tristan all the time." Riley snickered, which made me grin slightly. "Besides, if anyone should go home with you to scope out this new guy, it should most definitely be me."

"Like hell! I want some new guy action! He could be bi, hello!!" Gavin started waving his hands around frantically and Chloe was giggling by his side.

"I've been through this before, I don't need someone to come home with me. Believe me, if I do find that this guy is too much for me to handle, I will let you know." I checked my watch and sighed. "I've got to get going or my grandma is going to smoke herself to death."

"I could drive you home." Tristan offered.

"That would be silly because I drove here." I told him as I stood and threw the strap of my messenger bag over my shoulder. "Bye." I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss before rushing out of the door. I loved them to death but sometimes my friends could get a bit boy crazy.

I turned off the car engine and sat there in the driveway for a moment to collect my thoughts. I probably shouldn't have called the meeting in the first place because grandma was expecting me to come straight home after my classes and job hunting or at leas should have called and told her that I would be late. I really needed my friends though and they did release some of my stress even if they didn't exactly help in the job department. I ran my fingers through my hair as if to let go of all the negative energy that I had collected throughout the day, put a smile on my face, and stepped out of the car. Grandma would be able to help me with the guy issue, at least, because she knows everything that goes on in town before it even happens.

"Grandma, I'm home!" I called out when I noticed that she wasn't in her usual spot at the dining room table or the long couch in the living room, both of which were viewable from the entranceway. Bear came up to me, barked several times, twirled in a few circles, then took off toward the stairway that led upstairs. "Is she up there, boy?" I asked as I followed him. "Grandma?!" I called at the bottom of the stairs before I started up. "Come on, Bear, you can help me find that crazy lady."

I checked my Uncle Dan's old room first, which was on the landing to the left, but she wasn't there. Then I checked my room, which was the room that the stairs led up to, still nothing. Well, if she was in my Uncle Denny's room then she was probably just getting some paper towels that she kept in stock in there or something. I guess I'll have to talk to her later, I thought as I shut the door to my room and turned to go back downstairs.

"Your grandma went into town for some groceries or something and said she would be back as soon as she could." A voice said from the direction of my Uncle Denny's old room, which made me jump and spin towards it so quickly that I lost my balance on the step and felt myself falling backwards toward the steep steps that would probably kill me.

(Okay guys, this is my first posting of my new story. If you have any name suggestions...title or character... or any criticisms please message me. I can handle the tough love. Know that this is to my best writing or my favorite but it's new and I don't want to put something up here that I'm actually planning on publishing.)

Wow, today sucked. How many times can you be turned down for a job application in one day?? Seriously, I can't even get an application for a gas station because no one is hiring. Even if I found a place that was hiring, they would want someone with work experience not some freshman in college who's never had to have a job before. Where am I supposed to get work experience if no one will give me a chance, I ask. No where, is the answer. At this rate, I won't have a job until I'm thirty and have been through a thousand years of college because of the amount of times I've changed my major. So yeah, today really, really sucked.

Before I get to far ahead of myself, my name is Mia Turner and I'm almost nineteen, I have long brownish black hair that is so incredibly strait and dull that its sad and silvery blue eyes. I like to play soccer and basketball but other than that I'm completely lazy, I am in college to be history major at the moment but that will change in a semester's time, I have incredibly weird friends whom I adore, a gorgeous boyfriend named Tristan, and I like to think that I have a nice figure. I live in Michigan with my grandma in a four bedroom house when it is only just the two of us and my miniature Doberman named Bear. I hate seafood and Chinese and Japanese and Asian food in general. Actually, I'm just really picky with what I eat period. The last but best thing about me is that I love to sing but only to myself and my family. I have issues with confidence…at least when it comes to my singing. Part of my brain tells me that I could be one of those clueless people that go on American Idol who think that they are the best singers in the world but are really very toneless.

I sighed and walked into yet another gas station, only this one had already turned me down for an application and also housed one of the many people who knew my grandma in this small town. Just inside the door, I bumped into a solid figure that grunted slightly with the impact.

"Uh…sorry." I blushed and looked up into the most extraordinary green eyes I have ever seen perfectly set behind long dark lashes that blinked in confusion. I cleared my throat and got a look at the man that went with the eyes and I have to say, that wasn't terrible either.

He grinned, flashing incredibly perfect teeth stepped back. "Would you like me to turn around so you can see the other side too?"

"I…" I started weakly then shook my head and crossed my arms. "I was just shocked that someone new would be in town. Are you lost or something? People don't exactly visit this place on purpose."

"I'm…" He cocked his head to the side which forced his reddish brown curls to shift. "I just moved in with a friend."

"By choice?" I wrinkled up my nose. Who would want to live here out of choice besides all of the old people that inhabit the area?

He smiled again. "Yes, by choice. My friend said that I could crash at her house for a while until I could get things worked out with….until I could find another place to stay."

"Yeah, well I would find a place fast. The youngest person here besides me would have to be my cousin Jonathan and all he does is farm all day. Seriously, my friends have to travel at leas ten miles to see me or vice versa."

"Well, I think I could live with being the only young guy around here, it thins the competition."

"Competition for what? Like I said, there are no young people around here."

"There's you." He grinned and a blush blossomed on my cheeks. What the hell did he think he was doing?!

"Right…well…goodbye." I shuffled around him and up to the counter. "He's obviously from out of town."

"Good morning, Miss Turner. You shouldn't be so hard on him, I think he's a nice boy. Thirty again?" The tall gas station attendant asked me. He's the type of guy who was probably really good looking when he was younger because bits and pieces of his face still held the charm. However, at about fifty years old, he just really wasn't my type.

"Until the gas prices go up again and I can make that decision for myself." I gave him the cash and grinned at him. "Thanks, Benny, see you around." I started to turn then stopped myself. "You wouldn't happen to have the new state coins would you?"

"Actually, I gave the last four to that young man. You know how fast those things go around here. People got nothing better to do but collect coins and exchange gossip."

"Crap. Thanks again, Benny." I trotted out of the store and after the guy. "Wait up a second." Lucky for me, I had to be quick in order to make the soccer team at the school and had been training all summer.

"Yes?" He turned around with an incredibly smug look on his face. "Couldn't get enough of me, huh?"

I pretended to laugh. "Yeah actually it was about the quarters that you just bought."

"Oh, these." He held out his palm to show the shiny new state coins.

"Those would be the ones. My grandma is a serious collector of these things, I mean it's almost freakish, and you got the last four so I was wondering if I could give you a dollar for those."

"I would, gorgeous, but the friend that I was talking about earlier has the same problem."

"Um, well you could go over to the bank and I'm sure that they would give you some new ones."

He smiled. "Why can't you just do that?"

"It's a really long story." I sighed.

"I don't mind waiting." He leaned against a van that looked alarmingly like my grandmas. Whatever, to each his own. If this guy liked driving minivans, who was I to judge.

"Well, me and the people at the bank don't really click." That was the understatement of the year. Tammy loathed me and she was the teller at the bank. She would rather swallow the quarters after they had been dipped in arsenic than give them to me.

"I guess now's your chance to make amends." He tossed the quarters into the air and caught them in two fluid movements, gave me a parting grin, and got into the van.

"Please, my grandma will throw a fit and complain for ages if I don't get her those quarters and everyone else has them." I said, catching the door before it could close.

"Sorry, I really…well I guess I'm not completely heartbroken…but I'm trading these coins and some other of my skills…" He winked. "…for room and board for the next couple weeks."

"Yes but you could get those same quarters from the bank." I couldn't keep the small whine from my voice.

"No, because I already tried there and the lovely young teller told me that they were all out."

"You don't need all four do you? I could give you a dollar for two of them, that's twice what their worth." I tried to sound convincing. "Oh, and Tammy doesn't count as young or a woman."

He raised his eyebrows. "She seemed like a woman to me."

"You only say that because you haven't really talked to her. She is most definitely a bisexual man who holds sex above everything else, including friendship."

"Ah, so this is about her stealing your man, huh?" He got that smug look on his face again.

"That amongst other things." I don't like her because she went out with the guy that I wanted but she hated me because of a certain outcome of a certain party that she was having where I may or may not have had a few too many drinks.

"Sorry but I can't help you. Now run along and do whatever it is that people do around here for fun." He made a shooing motion with his hands which was both ridiculing and incredibly annoying.

"You're being overly difficult."

"Goodbye, Miss…Turner wasn't it?" He ripped the door away from me, not unkindly, and waved goodbye overenthusiastically before driving away. I sighed, it was time to make an emergency phone call to the greatest people in the whole world. If anyone could help me out of this terribly crap predicament it would be Tristan and my lovely pals.

I was chased by a mouse this morning. I had just gotten out of bed and I stumbled into my bathroom. The first thing I see is a brown field mouse running across the floor. No biggie right? I was going to pick it up and put it outside but then it started running directly at me. That's a little unnerving, I don't care who you are. Anyway so I started running away....it kept following. I thought 'well maybe if I turn it will keep running straight' (because what mouse chases someone on purpose?). When I turned, however, it did too. It was literally chasing me!!! So I had to have my brother pick it up with the wastebasket and take it outside.

At least I wasn't hiding in the shower like my mom and sister.....

Mmmmmmm.......there's nothing like soggy fruit loops in the morning. My dad is supposed to be coming over AGAIN today. That will most definitely be intresting. For anyone who doesn't understand write me and I'll explain. My sister is planning her 12th b-day and I'm making plans to stay elsewhere. I mean, come on....there is no way that I would be able to handle a bunch of CHEERLEADERS for a day and a half. Oh yes my friends my sister is a cheerleader. Very sad.