THE HOUSTON HOUSE WAS SHAKING WITH THE LOUD, trudging steps thudding down the wooden stairs, intent on leaving the house. To an observer passing by, the scene could easily have been mistaken for the tremors of an earthquake.

"You make a hole in those steps, you can kiss the money goodbye!" a nasal voice announced from the end of the steps. Mrs. Houston was indicating the money for Aerosmith tickets.

"Sure, mother" Tara Houston rolled her eyes, knowing that her mother wouldn't do that because of the love she held for Joe Perry and Steven Tyler.  As a boy with a growing mullet continued wreaking havoc upstairs, Mr. Houston decided to put an end to it and leave the women alone.

"You're going like this?" Her mom asked, pouring herself a coffee, indicating to the yet another band shirt - starring Fleetwood Mac.

"What, you don't like Mac now?" Tara huffed, already knowing the direction the conversation was going. Tugging on her Nike Cortez, she stood up from the chair.

"Ain't saying that, just that Shavonne is dressing diff-" Mrs. Houston softly grabbed her daughter's hair, bringing them up to see how it would look in a ponytail, to which Tara responded by lightly slapping her hand away.

"Well too bad Shavonne ain't your daughter" Tara replied, rummaging through the bowl with the keys.

"All I'm saying is, back in the fifties we used to dress nicely for picture day and the last days of school. Now it's band shirts! The worlds turning" Mrs. Houston sighed, slapping a tablecloth on the counter.

"Yeah, yeah... The world's going to shit, Satanic music's rising, and drugs are everywhere. You sound like Mrs. Dunne every time we come from Mass." Tara preached, making her mom laugh. She stood up and went to fix her hair in the hallway mirror.

Having been waiting for her younger brother for almost fifteen minutes, she had enough of it. Every damn morning was the same. She had recently gotten her driver's license and was on little brother duty. She didn't mind but she also wasn't exactly keen on having to be late for class every morning because Tommy couldn't get his hair right.

"Where is that guy... Tommy! I am leaving!" She sighed and yelled. Tara picked up the keys to her car knowing that he would show up at the sight of his ride leaving. Her father trudged down the steps and patted her on the back, saying that he was coming.

"Goodbye Tara!" her mom cooperated with her.

"Tommy! I'm in the car!" Tara yelled again, scoffing and opening the old Datsun 240's door.

"I'm coming!" Tommy yelled back, from his bedroom window, rolling his eyes.

"No, you're not! I'm leaving without you! Hitch a ride with Burnett!" she snapped back, shutting her door. She checked the glove compartment if her license was there, along with her grinder ( which she shoved further in upon seeing the silhouette of her sibling ), sunglasses, lighter, and a Polaroid pic of her and Jodi.

"Go, go, go!" Tommy jumped in the car and patted his sister's arm to get going.

"Oh I know you did not just usher me!" she grunted annoyed. Tommy leaned forth to the side mirror to fix his hair yet again.

Tara grabbed him by the hair, "You're in my blind spot dickhead" and laughed upon annoying him.

"Not the hair man!" he groaned leaning back into the blind spot.

"Why do you smell?" Tara giggled, stopping at a stop sign.

"I don't, if anything, I smell good" he snapped at her, taking a whiff of himself.

"Relax, who are you trying to impress, loverboy?" she drove on, emphasizing. She chuckled at her little brother's facial expression. He was confused by how she could be aware of his intentions.

Reaching Junior High, Tommy got out of the car with his friends already waiting. He took out his backpack and closed the door.

"Remember to clean out your locker today doofus,  and don't try to outrun the paddles. Track isn't your best sport" she said.

"Not if I get grounded I won't" he pointed back at her and walked towards Mitch and Carl who waved to Tara, and she returned the gesture. They so had a crush on her.

"This is Rock Radio, and you're listening to Top 10 Tracks of This Summer! Number Four... Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith!" the radio echoed. Tara grinned at the irony, letting the windows down and turning the radio up as she pulled out of the Junior High parking lot.

The ride there was hectic. A lot of traffic, a lot of kids praying their asses wouldn't be bruised by the end of the day, and there were the older kids, who couldn't wait to be cruising for a bruising.

Upon arriving she parked right next to Pink's car. She got out of the beat-up Datsun, wondering how it had survived to that day. Tara slammed the door a little too harshly, grimacing.

An arm hooked around her elbow, taking her by surprise. She turned her head to her right to find Shavonne.

"What did Didi ever do to you?" referring to Tara's car, which held countless memories. Tara laughed but quickly changed the subject.

"How are things with Don?"

"I don't know... I guess from what I saw she was coming onto him" She sighed sadly, with a glimmer of hope.

Two days ago Shavonne had caught Don with another girl, only that she was all over him, they hadn't kissed or anything but it seemed wrong. The worst part was that Don isn't really capable of doing some things such as apologizing to a girl he really likes. So when he did that, he messed up which made Shavonne even more upset.

Tara on the other hand was over with boys, literally. Don, Benny, O'Bannion? Man Whores.

They talk this big game on how you're the one and the next thing you know, you're walking out of the bathroom stall and he's making out with a girl, with two guys cheering him on.

"Oh yeah, sorry for talking so much about him, how are things with you and Benny-"

"There is no such thing" Tara huffed, rolling her eyes. "We were never together, and he's a dick. I couldn't care less"

"Okay, let's leave boys, let me tell you how my morning went" She changed the theme and raised her voice a bit more.

"How did your morning go?" Jodi asked as she and Kaye joined, hooking their arms with the girls. Kaye held the door open for them.

"Wanted to put on The Who shirt, it was dirty. Wanted to put on the jeans we bought last week, Tommy fucking accidentally painted a bit of them orange while doing some art project. Accident my ass" Shavonne stifled a laugh.

"Don't laugh, mom likes you better than me. And don't think that was the end. Wanted to wear the hoop earrings and Dad said he'll rip'em off my damn ears!" "Earrings are for parties". She imitated him, stopping at the staircase so Jodi could fix her shoe.

"Damn," Shavonne remarked, smiling.

"Damn right. I'll give him something to rip" Right after she said that, Darla and Simone could be heard at the bottom of the stairs. They quickly picked up their pace.

"If I hear any more of Darla's screeching, I'm going to pour water on her" Jodi complained.

"Hopefully she'll melt," Kaye complied, bumping into Jodi.

A noise was heard down the corridor when their classmates rounded the corner. Darla and Simone caught up to them, with boys trailing behind. Unlike them, the girls went to the first few periods.

"Ladies!" Don interrupted.

Shavonne rolled her eyes, making her way toward the classroom with Kaye. The girls shared a look.

"So, whatcha doin' later girls?" Melvin voiced their thoughts.

"Later as in?" Jodi asked. Don and Pink began friendly wrestling.

"You skipping class or not?" Benny asked and unsurely stood next to Tara. The latter sent a look of annoyance to Jodi, not wanting to be near him.

"Nah, well, maybe," Jodi spoke up unsurely. She looked to Pink to save the conversation.

"So, Tara, y'all coming to Pickford's party, right?" he asked, which she confirmed.

"What's up with O'Bannion?" Tara asked as she noticed his frustrated figure looming down the hall.
"He, um... he flunked," Benny said.

"Hey, guys what's up! Y'all ready to smack some ass ?" Fred says walking by them, all hyped up.

"Yes, he's very upset," Tara said sarcastically.

- ramona speaks!

heeeeyyy! this book is officially back in motion and most importantly hehe IM BACK BITCHES! also yeah this chapter was short but there will be more!