I pick up my frappechinos and ride my bike back to Kennedy's house. Joe and I are now official. Are we? It was just one kiss, but it could mean the world to me and Joe. I don't want him to do things that are too fancy. That cost too much. He's a runaway and he just needs a place to stay. He has his mother's old house now, but.... I wish I could offer my place to him. I just can't afford anyone to get hurt... I don't care if I'm hurt. I'm hurt every single night. I'm scarred and I just.... I can't fix it.

If Kennedy thinks something is wrong, and Joe will soon. I know Ellie and Susan do, too. When they find out, they will blow. I will be showered with attention. I just don't like all the attention I will get. I didn't like all the attention after Mom died. I know for sure that I won't like it now.

I maneuver around the TUTS Humphrey School with my bike to make sure that to coffee in my bike basket doesn't spill. There's tons of traffic everywhere. It's Houston! Traffic is like a motto for Houston. Any time, anywhere, always traffic. Even at 2:00 a.m in the morning. Kennedy put me in danger by sending me to get the coffee! Kennedy and I are the about the same height, but she's two inches taller than me. I can't die. Or spill the coffee. Kennedy will hate me if that ever happens. Kennedy's usually the one to get Starbucks. She gets extra Starbucks for herself. Her sister works there, so she gets constant discounts. This time, it was me. I don't get the discounts, because I look so different from when I did before, I am not recognizable to Kennedy's thirty-year old sister, Kayla. I'm normally the one who's complaining about getting the Starbucks, but today, I totally loved it. I love Joe, his looks, his lips, and I totally loved the kiss. It's was like paradise for me. Our lips make the perfect collision. When our lips collided, I just felt fire rising up inside of me, and these endless sparks. I close my eyes and replay that kissing scene over and over again.

......

He cups my face with his hands. His lips suddenly press against mine. Our body heat collides at the perfect pace as the fire suddenly builds up inside of me. It's like the perfect collision between two bodies ever made. I can't believe it's finally here. My first kiss. Joe probably kissed a million other girls before me, but I chose to wait... For the perfect one.

"Two for Alli!" I hear the Starbucks lady say.

I pull away from Joe's embrace.

"I love you." Joe mumbles to me.

"I love you too." I reply.

......

"Alli! You're gonna run into a tree!" Kennedy yells.

"Sorry!" I yell in reply.

I stop my bike, just in time to safe the frappechinos. Kennedy laughs from beside me.

"How was it?" Kennedy asks.

"Great." I reply.

"Great?!" Kennedy asks, "You always complain about getting the coffee!"

"Not anymore." I reply, still fantasizing about Joe.

"What happened at Starbucks?" Kennedy asks.

"Nothing." I reply with a lie.

"Are you sure?" Kennedy asks.

Should I tell her? No....

"I kissed...." I start.

"Who did you kiss?!" Kennedy asks.

"Joe." I reply

"I knew it!" Kennedy yells.

"Knew what?" I ask.

"You two are together!" Kennedy yells while squealing in excitement.

"It was just one kiss." I mumble, hugging myself.

"One kiss! That means you're official!" Kennedy yells.

She starts dancing around in circles, squealing.

"Alli has a boyfriend!" She yells over and over again.

I put my head in my icy cold hands. What am I going to do? I have Kennedy here, who's acting like this is going to last for my whole life. I take a sip of my vanilla frappechino, playing that kissing scene over and over again in my head. It's just.... Joe's a runway, I'm abused.... We make one messed up couple. We have so many issues... How does Joe love me? He probably does because he thinks I'm normal or perfect. I'm not. If he knew about the constant scars on my back, or the belt digging deeply into my skin, he'll never love me again. He will just look at me like I'm from hell. I might be, who knows. I know Father is a hell hole. Most people don't know that, but I do. So does Mom. I constantly hear her sobs from heaven every day, crying her eyes out for me. She probably thinks I hate her. I don't. Mom died for me. She's a hero. One of a kind. She might not be born with superpowers, but she died for me. She's a hero.

"Alli?" Kennedy asks, "Are you okay?"

I nod.

"I'm fine." I reply.

"You're probably just fantasizing about Joe again." Kennedy mumbles.

I stare into her grey-blue eyes.

"Stop it!" I yell.

I playfully push her away from me.

"Hey!" She yells as she playfully pushes me in reply.

We just crack up in endless laughter. She wacks me in the face with her shoulder-length beach blonde hair.

"My hair's too short!" Kennedy yells.

We just crack up even more. Kennedy and I have been best friends for ten years. We are inseparable. We met Ellie eight years ago and became a trio. We met Susan in eighth grade. I met Susan in science class. We were lab partners and became very good friends very quickly. I introduced her to Ellie about three months after Susan and I met. Kennedy.... It took a little longer. I introduced Susan to Kennedy about two months after Susan met Ellie. Kennedy instantly bonded with Susan. Ellie did, too. The day Ellie met Susan she invited her for a sleepover. She invited me, too, but I couldn't go. I couldn't sneak out of my house in time. I had to cancel last minute. This is when Susan sensed that something was going on at home. Ellie sensed it at the same time. Kennedy.... She sensed it way before. She sensed it a year before Ellie and Susan did. She sensed my weird behaviors after Mom passed away.

"Alli!" Kennedy yells, "Time to swim!"

We throw off our clothes like we don't care and I do a cannonball into Kennedy's big monster sized pool.

"Alli!" Kennedy yells again.

I burst into instant laughter. Kennedy does a cannonball and makes a big splash, covering me with a wall of water.

"Hey!" I yell, playfully splashing Kennedy back.

Kennedy and I burst into laughter for the thousandth time today.

"Why do we laugh so much?" I ask.

Kennedy just shrugs. I shrug in response to her shrug. Kennedy laughs a bit. I swim the breast stroke down deep, at the bottom of the pool. I open my eyes in the water, and see a foggy version of the crystal clear water, surrounded by the constant chlorine in the water. I see the bottom of Kennedy's bright red water slide, which is enclosed and dark inside. The water rushes into the pool at a very fast speed, making a big splash.

Splash!

I finally swim up to the top of the water and take a breath of the dirty, polluted, air around me. My eyes flutter open. I watch Kennedy do a handstand in the pool. Her feet splash me on my neck with water.

"Hey, Alli!" Kennedy yells, "Did I do okay?"

I nod.

"I can't do any gymnastics on land or water. To me, who's clearly not a professional, it looks sick." I reply with a clearly noticeable smirk on my face.

Kennedy gives me a thumbs up signal five seconds after my reply. I give her a real smile, this time, showing my white-ish teeth for the first time in forever.

"Oh my God." Kennedy mumbles, "Your teeth are so white. How do you do that?"

"Years of.... Doing everything myself." I mumble.

"Like what?!" Kennedy yells.

"It's nothing, Kennedy." I mumble.

"Nothing, Alli?! Nothing?! Seriously, Alli, you give me one teeny tiny hint about your mysterious home life, and you don't tell me more?! I've been waiting since your mother died for this moment Alli. But, thank you. Thank you for telling me this. It makes me... Now, I know more about you, Alli. It makes me feel a little better." Kennedy says.

I nod. I feel something soft against my face. It bounces off my face.

"Hey!" I yell to Kennedy.

"Sorry! Just looking for a prank!" Kennedy yells.

I shake my head, laughing inside my head.

"Can you stay for a sleepover?" Kennedy asks.

I shake my head.

"Family events. Sorry, Ken. Can't make it." I say.

"What a shame!" Kennedy yells.

I shrug.

"Lunch time!" Kennedy yells.

"What are we having?" I ask.

"What about grilled cheese? Swiss?" Kennedy asks.

"Oh my God, Kennedy!" I yell.

"What?" She asks, completely baffled about why I yelled at her.

"YOU KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I HATE SWISS CHEESE, KENNEDY! YOU KNEW THAT EVER SINCE YOU MET ME!" I yell.

Kennedy laughs.

"Oh." She mumbles, "I forgot."

We burst out in laughter, again, for the one hundredth time today. I put my hand on my braid. It's all messed up, wrinkled and crinkled, all over the place. Kennedy and I take baby steps as we walk into her house, dripping drips of pool water, every time we take a step. We take bigger steps as we stroll into the kitchen. Kennedy runs straight to the fridge and pulls out the cheese. American cheese. If it was Swiss, I would turn this room into the vomit land of Kennedy's house.

"I don't know how to make them." Kennedy mumbles.

"I do." I reply.

"Really?! Are they as good as the ones at your Dad's house?" Kennedy asks.

I nod.

"I think so." I mumble in reply.

I turn on the hottest flame on the stove. I place the cheese sandwich on the stove. I let it soak in the oil on the stove.

......

After I'm finished making both of our grilled cheeses, Kennedy runs, taking massive steps to where I am. She is the first one to take a bite.

"Oh my God, Alli!" She yells.

"What?" I ask in reply.

"This is the best sandwich ever!" Kennedy yells.

"Woop, woop!" She continues, running around her circles.

She stops after about ten circles and gobbles up her grilled cheese. I take a couple bites of mine. I stare at Kennedy. She looks into my dark brown, almost black, eyes, returning the stare.

"Can Susan come over?" I randomly ask.

Kennedy nods. I call Susan on her cell phone. Bring! Bring!

"Hello?" Susan asks.

"Hey, Susan, it's Alli." I reply.

"Hey!" Susan yells with excitement, her voice muffled through the speakers of the phone, "How are ya!"

"Great. How are you?" I ask in reply.

Susan takes a deep breath into the phone.

"Great." Susan replies.

"Would you like to come over?" I ask.

"OMG yes!" Susan yells into the phone.

"Bye! See ya!" I yell into the phone.

I hang up. This is going the be one of the most fun moments ever. This is going to be fun.