Mae had been acting off for the last week. Emails had trickled through slowly to Kelly's computer, not even close to matching her usual pace. Mae's face was often pale and withdrawn; she barely listened when Kelly talked to her. At first, she had thought of she let her be for a while she would get over it, but Mae showed no signs of improvement.

     "Right," Kelly announced that Saturday morning, striding into Mae's office. "Get your ring. We're going out."

     Mae stared at her friend, wondering if it was possible that she had gone mad in the last twenty four hours. It didn't seem likely, but surely she couldn't be serious? "We're dead, we have work to do and aren't allowed on Earth as we aren't Cupids. We can't just go out."

     But Kelly had decided that the very thing to cheer Mae up was a trip to Earth, and was convinced it was a wonderful idea. Kelly wasn't easily talked out of her 'wonderful' ideas. "The rules of WA don't really apply to us. After all, we were the ones who wrote them all those centuries ago."

     "But Death's condition to us running the place and taking his freshly dead was that only the Cupids were allowed on Earth." Mae protested.

     Kelly shrugged. "What he doesn't know can't hurt him. Besides, Death has a bit of a thing for me." She cocked an eyebrow, and for the first time in a week Mae laughed.

     "Alright. Gosh, I haven't worn my blending in ring in ages." Mae remarked, sliding the silver ring over her finger. Inlaid in the rings was usually a small jewel, but instead Mae's read in tiny lettering: Head of MM Department. Kelly's was similar: Head of C Department.

     The pair walked to the de-materialising room. Despite agreeing to the trip, Mae was still a little anxious about Death's reaction. He wasn't exactly pleasant. After all, he was pretty much the Lord of the Dead.

     As if reading her mind, Kelly said, "well, what can be do to us? After all, we're already dead."

***

     I had never been so excited in my whole life about it being Saturday.

     OK, maybe that was a little optimistic. I did remember the Saturday when I turned sixteen pretty well, and the party that lasted into the early hours of Sunday morning. That was very exciting, as it had been my first and last time I'd thrown a party - and without my parents even having the slightest glimmer of knowledge about it! I mean, what parents that are up to date with teenagers nowadays leave their daughter home alone on their sixteenth birthday? Oh, and of course there was the Saturday Kat announced her mega rich parents were taking me and Ophelia on a two week holiday to Australia and our flight was leaving that night. Telling a girl she has to pack in under forty minutes is a positive death sentence, but we were all so happy that we were going the to be honest we set really care. Yes, the flight itself was a killer, but Australia is amazing.

     So this was probably the third most exciting Saturday I'd ever had in whole life, afterlife inclusive.

The past full week of classes Fiona had dragged me out of bed each morning, despite my protestations about an extra five minutes. Although admittedly, with me five minutes turns into ten, then fifteen, then twenty, then... Well. You get the idea. Now, the roles were reversed.

"Fiona! Time to get up!" I said happily, whipping back the covers so fast a nice little breeze flutters past my face. That was a good bonus of waking somebody up. The heat was killing me here.

But, of course, the roles weren't completely reversed. Because I would never get up straight away, stretch out, glance at the clock and then give my waker an extremely large smile. "Morning to you too!" She replied. "You never get up voluntarily."

"Today's Saturday," I pointed out unnecessarily. "I can finally get some proper clothes!"

Fiona's face suddenly brightened to match my excitement. "And it's Nathan's party tonight!" I frowned. I felt pretty excited for a party too; it seemed like years since my last one, the one that ended my life. But the way she said Nathan's party suggested she was only interested in it because it was hosted by the boy she liked. I actually couldn't wait to meet the guy I've heard so much about from Fiona, who'd been jabbering none stop about him. It's all, Nathan is so wonderful this, Nathan is so wonderful that, Nathan is even better than telling you about all the places we need to take you nearby, Nathan is so great that I'm talking about him in every spare minute we're by ourselves, and did you know I have actually been saying this past sentence out loud with a high pitched tone in imitation of her and I'm really hoping Fiona isn't listening?

"It would be kinda hard not to listen," Fiona pointed out somewhat frostily. "If you thought I talked about him too much you should have just told me. And I really, really like him. I think I might be in love with him. He's the one. So I think that's understandable to tell my new friend/roommate about him?"

I stared at her, as if she had suddenly sprouted antennae and revealed she is an alien. "In love with him?" I choked out. No. Nonononononono. She couldn't love him, the player. Owen was the one for her and WA scientists had proven so.

At least assuming they're scientists? I never really payed attention to Science in school. Mr Housten was really, really hot. And single. Plus fresh out of his teaching degree. So you can understand why me, Kat and Ophelia did a lot more twirling hair and giggling at things that weren't even remotely funny instead of actually paying attention during that particular class. Funnily enough, my mom didn't find this an acceptable excuse to my bringing home an E, a sheepish smile and my ticket to a two week grounding. Which when I complained turned into two MONTHS.

So it's lucky I perfected the art of shakily clambering out the bedroom window, sliding down across the tiles, lowering myself down onto the garage roof, and jumping to freedom (which thankfully had a lot of grass and flowers that made for a soft landing). While wearing a dress and killer heels. I think I deserved a freaking medal for that, especially after I turned up for one party with one of mum's prized daffodils in my hair. Hey, at least I was wearing a yellow dress.

Fiona nodded, her eyes shining. "You won't know until you meet him, Rosie, but there's this quality about him. Makes a girl feel special. I can't wait for you to meet him."

I hated to break this thoroughly one sided affection up, but it was my job. Besides, I believed Owen is her perfect match. "But, he's in the popular crowd, and isn't he a bit of a player?" I said gently, half hoping her face will crumble and she would admit he might not share her interest, to save me a long winded crush break up. But that was a long shot.

"I know that, but once he's going out with the right girl, he won't be like that anymore." Fiona answered, although I wasn't quite sure whether she was just trying to convince me - or herself as well.

     "The right girl wouldn't happen to be you, I suppose?" I asked drily.

     Fiona nodded excitedly. "It is. We're the perfect match. Come on, let's go get ready."

***

"Here's the clothing shop," said Julia unnecessarily we round the corner. As I lay eyes on the four storey building screaming, 'Kate's Heaven,' a smile lit up my face.

An hour later I had finally gotten everything I need to do me for about the next month. Harriet, Julia and Fiona staggered over to the counter and dropped the clothing onto the poor girl's till, as I plopped eleven pairs of shoes on top. A girl's gotta have choice.

"Oh my gosh..." She said weakly. "I think you may just have cleaned out the entire store."

It took a good half hour before everything was bundled up in bags. Fiona nudged me. "How are you going to pay for all this?"

I whipped out my credit card. "Don't worry." WA had given me a limitless credit card, so I could shop to my hearts content. Well. That's probably not what it was intended for, but who cares. The receipt she gave me made my eyes pop - it's the longest one I've ever seen.

"Was all this really necessary?" Groaned Harriet, as we heaved the dozens of bags out the door. "I don't think I can walk back with all this."

I hailed a cab. "Hi," I said sweetly, to the driver. "Can you take these in your cab, and wait for us outside that coffee shop? Then we're heading back into the clothes shop. We'll be a few hours. I'll pay you triple what you usually charge." His eyes widened and be nodded eagerly. We deposited the bags in the car, the he parked the cab across the road.

"Is it really a good idea to go back in?" Fiona eyed the shop wearily. "I think they might chase us back out again."

"Exactly why we're going to the coffee shop first," I said, stopping at the cash machine to take some money out. I tried my best to hide my balance from the others - I'm sure they would have something to say about the number of zeros flashing up on the screen.

We then headed into the shop. It was a cool little cafe, with lots of lights and pop music playing in the background. It was full of springy little chairs and low down coffee tables We took a small seat by the window and ordered. Fiona kept nudging me excitedly - she'd been raving about this place all week. As I sipped my steaming hot chocolate with whipped cream perched perfectly on top, mini pink and white marshmallows scattered over it, I had to admit she had a point. This was seriously good.

"I feel SO sorry for Owen," Harriet said. "The funeral's over and he's still not back. I reckon it's hit him pretty hard. It was quite unexpected."

Swirling around her cappuccino in a calculated manner with a dainty teaspoon, Julia nodded. "In high income countries, seven in ten deaths are among seventy year olds or over. He shouldn't have had to deal with this for a while yet. Of course he wasn't expecting it." She agreed very matter of factly.

Fiona suddenly grabbed my arm tightly, her fingers digging into my skin. "Oh my goodness! It's Nathan!" She hissed, and I angled myself round a little so I could get a clear view of him.

A tall boy was entering the shop. He had blonde hair that flopped into his eyes, which were the colour of melting chocolate. He had tanned skin, and an easygoing look about him. Several heads in the coffee shop turned towards him, girls suddenly short of breath. I rolled my eyes. Sure, he's hot, but I've seen better. And the way he winked at one girl, making her squeal excitedly, confirmed the fact I'd known all along. He's a player.

He was surrounded by other members of the popular crowd. A few more gorgeous boys, and girls dressed so inappropriately I was surprised they hadn't been arrested for indecency. There was one with beach blonde hair, tanned skin, her skirt hiked up so far that the bottom of her lacy, hot pink pants are on show. Her white shirt was unbuttoned, showing off her matching bra. She shrieked in laughter at something Nathan's said. "Oh babes, you're hilarious!" She called out so loudly that half the street turned to stare through the window.

"Daphne Garson, at your service," Harriet murmured under her breath. I felt sick as Nathan leant in to kiss her in front of all the customers, his hand snaking down to places that I definitely wouldn't want to be touched in. Daphne snatched his hair as if it was the only thing preventing her from a very painful death, pushing her chest up against his. "I feel really put off my coffee," Harriet remarked. Then she turned to Fiona. "What the hell do you see in him? He's a player. He doesn't even look at you."

Fiona jutted out her bottom lip stubbornly. "He will. Tonight. Then he'll dump his silly girlfriend."

Harriet humphed. "If you can even call her that, considering the number of girls he gets it on with." The display had now gotten even worse, and I looked away making vomit noises. "Get a room."

"I'm a celebrity GET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEERE!" Julia yelled unexpectedly and crashed out of the shop. All eyes turned to her, and the it couple themselves even dragged their lips away from each other long enough to turn to stare at her like she'd painted herself blue and was running naked through the town. I wouldn't put it past her.

"She loves doing that," Harriet groaned. "I knew we shouldn't have dressed up as Ant and Dec last Halloween. C'mon, let's follow her."

Fiona smiled shyly at Nathan as she walked out. "It was great to see you." She told him in a squeaky voice.

He took one look at her geeky outfit before scoffing and going back to drooling all over Daphne. However, Fiona didn't seem to be going anywhere, as she gazed wide eyed at him, waiting for his reply.

Me and Harriet exchanged a look. "One, two, three," we said in unison before grabbing an arm each and hauling her out of the shop.

Haha, this is probably my favourite chapter so far. I really love Julia and Harriet, with the geeky facts and the somewhat mean exterior. I can't believe those two guys are best friends, and I keep getting mental images of them two dressed up as Ant and Dec. Too cute! Anyway, some of my family are in Florida on holiday and they went shopping. One person cleaned out nearly the whole Gap store and the size of the receipt is ridiculous! So I modelled Rosie's shopping trip on it. I'm putting a picture of it below, so think of Rosie's as a similar size, if not bigger! Please drop me a comment and if you like it, vote!

Zoe xxx