Have I ever mentioned how much I love to sleep?

I just found it great. The fact that we're bursting with life during the day, then we just lie in darkness and let our bodies wind down. I had no clue how the human body manages it, and I'd paid enough attention in Science to know I never would. But it was great to just admire something, just be in a state of blissful unawareness. There were some people that hunger for knowledge and thrive on it, like Julia, but I was generally a more sort of laid back person. Something happens? Cool! I didn't need to know exactly how it happens to appreciate it.

I was starting to understand why Julia made the plans for breaking Fiona and Nathan up. She had such a better understanding of all this than I did.

And I really was grateful for the two of them being split up. In fact, I may even have celebrated with a bottle of champagne. But that didn't mean I was happy to be woken up at six in the morning by none other than Fiona herself.

I was on the verge of making out with the hot Asian guy in one of my classes whenever I was rudely interrupted by a banging on the door. Seriously. How knocks THAT loud THAT early in the morning?!

I sighed very loudly, sort of hoping that Fiona would get the message and go away. But I suppose it was a bit unreasonable to expect her to hear me through the door. So I sighed a little louder.

And the knocking persisted.

I stomped over to the door as loudly as possible, to make her aware how much this was bothering me. Then I opened the door back up to let her in.

Fiona looked a mess. Her dark hair was wildly crumpled and hangs limply round her face. Her wrinkled dress was barely covering her body and her handbag (wait. That was my Gucci handbag!) was hanging half off her shoulder. Her mascara had ran down her face and her lipstick was so badly smudged that she resembled a panda.

"Hey," Fiona said softly. "Thanks for letting me in."

And even though I hated her for doing this to me I said reluctantly, "I'll help you clean yourself up."

All I could say about Fiona's new exploits is that thank goodness Owen wasn't back yet. Although, he really should be back soon. He'd been away for ages now; so many things had happened. Fiona got a makeover, we went to that party, Julia and Harriet got attacked, Fiona wasted her first time with Nathan, Nathan and Fiona became a couple, we broke them up, and Fiona started sleepwalking in the clothes she used to wear for Nathan.

"Thanks," she smiled weakly. Then her face dropped again. "It's getting worse. Today I woke up outside the side door, and my hands were all marked from pulling at it. What exactly is happening to me?"

I sighed, because that's a question even Julia couldn't answer. Instead, I just pulled out the make up remover and started to dab at her cheeks.

***

My latest essay was slapped down in front of me. "Jessica," Mrs Austin said sternly. "Is this really your best work?"

The answer : no. I just googled the topic of the essay and copied and pasted off of Wikipedia. After all, why bother to study and to do well in tests when at some stage I would leave this place and it would all never matter, seeing as Jessica didn't really exist?

"Of course it is," I lied. "And please, call me Rosie." Mrs Austin practically bristled with anger.

"You didn't even remove the large letters in bold at the top that scream Wikipedia." She pointed out.

"Gracious, my standards are slipping," I said sarcastically. Mrs Austin sighed at me and tossed her greying hair over her shoulder.

"Can't say I didn't try," she muttered as she stalked off to interrogate another failing student.

You know what? Who gives a shit! I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. "Jessica, where are you going?" Miss Austin asked sharply. I grinned at her.

"College is optional, so me taking this class is optional, therefore you can't stop me from leaving," I explained triumphantly. Then I stalked over to the bin and ripped the essay into two, then four, then eight, until it was tiny paper shreds lying at the bottom of the waste paper bin. "You're right, this isn't my best work. But who would ever want to try their best for a miserable old bitch like you?" I blew her a kiss, and walked out the door to deafening silence, slamming it for good measure.

I was starting to feel a bit badass, and I actually thought that I was getting good at it! I was still on a high from my win, so I thought I'd put it to good use. Unfortunately Fiona was still stuck behind that door, though, and there was no way she was following in my footsteps. She could be in there for at least another hour, and I couldn't wait that long. I'd sort of got a buzzy, reckless feeling that I wanted to put into action now.

I spun around impatiently on the spot, trying to formulate a plan for getting her out. Think, think, think Rosie! I chastised myself. Come on, there must be something... I broke out into an enormous grin as my gaze settled on the fire bell. Bingo.

I'd never set one of these off before, but it looked quite simple. All you had to do is bash it quite hard. But there was a little sheet of protective glass over it, and my bare hand wasn't going to break through it all that easily. I looked around desperately for something to hit it with, but when I found nothing I sank to the floor, and to my horror, a tear rolled down my cheek, leaving an unpleasant little flutter behind it.

The implications of what I was about to do suddenly hit me. I was going so mad all of a sudden, and I just felt... Lonely. Not wild or buzzy or reckless, just alone. Julia had some class tests coming up, so she spent all her days huddled up in her room studying. Harriet and the mystery of her phone was still continuing, as she actually drove away to see whoever she'd been texting a few days ago. And Fiona was acting really weird. She was great for the first couple of days after she broke up with Nathan, but now she was acting really weird again, and of course she'd started sleepwalking.

There was just nobody around for me at the moment... I really, really needed a good friend.

"Hey! You're looking down!" I glanced up, recognising the jokey voice. I resisted the urge to fling myself straight into my brother's arms.

"You're finally back!" I exclaimed, in part relief and part worry. Although Fiona wasn't in a relationship, and she wasn't chasing after Nathan anymore, she still didn't look at Owen in that way, and I hadn't had time to change that.

Then I saw who was standing beside him, and my breath caught in my throat. "Kat?"

The girl in front of me was tall and slender, wearing a pair of high waisted shorts and a glittery t shirt. Her eyes were bright blue and her trademark gold chain hung casually round her neck. I suppressed a groan when I see her hair. I really admired her hair, as it was a gorgeous coppery colour, but she'd dyed it pink. PINK! And without me to help tame and straighten it, it was a curly mess, which made her hair somewhat resemble candy floss. "Kat!" I repeated in delight. What was my best friend doing here?

Kat wrinkled her nose. "How do you know my name?" She retorted feistily. "Are you after me? Do you want my money? My father would have a lot to say about this..."

"Relax," Owen broke in, placing his hand gently on her arm. "There's nothing to be worried about. This is just my friend, Jessica, but she likes to be called Rosie."

"Rosie?" Kat hissed, sending flecks of spit flying into my face. "You do not deserve that name! You are not good enough to take her name! She was special!"

"It's alright," soothed Owen, "it's alright." He shot an apologetic glance at me. "Sorry, Rosie, but me and Kat have some things to sort out. I guess I'll see you later."

Before I even had a chance to ask him what on earth Kat is doing here, he was gone.

***

Fiona finally walked out of class, along with a crowd of other students. I grabbed her hand impatiently and started to lead her back up to our room.

"Whoah," Fiona laughed. "What's the emergency?" I turned found to face her, in all seriousness.

"Owen's back." Fiona visibly brightened.

"He is?"

"Yes. And he's brought a high school girl back with him."

"Wait, what?"

"So I just have one question. How do you feel about this?" A slow blush began to creep up Fiona's neck. "Ahah!" I pounce. "I knew you liked him!"

Then Fiona began to laugh. She bent over and laughed so hard that tears poured down her cheeks. I stood for several seconds quite confused before she sobered up. "Oh, Rosie. You do come out with the funniest things."

"What's so bad about you liking Owen?" I asked, puzzled. "After all, he's in love with you." For a second she looked like she was going to laugh again, but then she stopped and looked at me in a very serious manner.

"You're really serious, aren't you?" She mused. I really wished she would begin to shed some light on the situation, because I was completely in the dark. "I thought you were joking, but you really don't know. Oh, Rosie." She said again, but this time lacking her earlier lightheartedness. "I guess I had better explain a few things to you..."

"Don't bother," another voice cut in, as Kat stepped out of the stairwell into the hallway in which me and Fiona were standing. She leant against the wall, looking completely superior to us even with her strange hair, but this time a friendly smile was on her face. "I'm sorry about earlier. It's just, a dear friend of mine has recently passed away, and she had the same name as you. It rather riled me up; I can assure you it won't happen again." She promised.

I hadn't thought of Kat's way of speaking as odd before, but I guess I'd just gotten used to it. But now, her posh accent and very proper way of speaking seemed out of place. "Speaking of matters to do with names," she added curiously, "how did you know mine? I thought it quite peculiar. You may not be aware, but I come from a very rich family, and for a moment I thought that you were a common thief checking it had the right target. One again, I apologise for my behaviour. I should have known that Owen would not associate with that type of person; I jumped to conclusions."

"Don't worry about it, honestly." I replied, while racking my brains quickly for an excuse for knowing her name. "And, why did I know your name?" Kat nodded, with a little twirling of her hands that I can only think meant, 'Carry on.' "Well, I, uh... I mean, I know your name because of... Teen Vogue!" I said excitedly, formulating the perfect explanation. "I saw you on the cover for it, with your parents, because of their business. I love that magazine; if I could, I'd marry it."

Kat looked at me sharply, and I squirmed a little. Ophelia, although she was still one of my best friends, was naive and gullible. I could lie to her all the time and she would believe me, no questions asked. This was hilarious at times, but at others I just wished for her to at least one challenge me. It didn't help that I was extremely sarcastic, either, because she would always take what I said to heart and not pick up on my sarcasm.

However, Kat could always see right through me, just like an x-ray. Although she'd been brought up to be a respectable young woman, that didn't mean she wasn't feisty and at times downright terrifying. And that was what I liked about her. That I could always expect the unexpected. Kat was so much better a friend, mainly because she was so much like myself. We just clicked. We understood each other. Okay, Ophelia was good fun. But she wasn't on the same level as us two, and she never would be.

"You know my Rosie used to say the exact same thing about marrying the magazine?" She stated, while I silently cursed my words. She fixed me with a stare so intense I wondered if she actually knew it was me. "Why don't we go get something to eat?" She finally suggested. "Then I can tell you my story."

Yay! There was a stage when I thought I'd never be able to introduce Kat, but I'm glad I've powered through my writer's block and finally brought her into the story. If anyone's still reading this, thanks for your continued support. I'm on holiday at the moment, and I've finally connected to wifi so it's great to be able to upload this. My mission this summer is to finish Cupid, so I've got quite a lot of work to do. I'd better get back on track with regular updates!

Zoe xxx