The morning after a disastrous evening with her boyfriend Reese, Cree Bowman wonders if their relationship is worth continuing. Will a chat with her two best friends help the situation?

Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

Cree rolled over in bed and looked at the clock. It was 6 a.m. Where did the time go? She couldn't believe it. She had been up half the night doing what else, thinking about Reese.

For the third time this month, they had tried to have just one normal night out, dinner and a movie. Was that too much to ask? It seemed that every time they tried, something happened to ruin it. She hit the snooze button yet again and turned over and went back to sleep.

Five minutes later...

Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

"You stupid clock! SHUT! UP! " Cree's head screamed from under her
pillow, as she turned over and threw the clock across the room. The darn
thing was still buzzing!

She crawled out of bed and dragged herself across the room. Why me, Cree thought as she picked up the clock and shut off the alarm. "What did I do to deserve this?" She looked up and noticed that the door was ajar.

"Funny. I thought for sure I had closed that last night." She yanked the clock out of its plug and attempted to crawl back into bed but there was a knock on the door.

"Cree, are you awake?" came a voice from behind the door.

"Yes, Millie," she replied.

"Hey, Cree," Millie said to her friend, all smiles, as she walked into the room straight to the mirror on the wall by Cree's dresser. In front of the mirror she fussed over her short black hair, which was neatly styled in a banana flip. She then straightened a few wrinkles out of her metallic yellow mini skirt. Cree laughed at the short red sleeveless sweater with the words 'Catch Me If You Can' embroidered on it.

"Millie," Cree then scolded, looking at the pair of shimmering red go-go boots her friend had on, "You look like a..."

"A what?" Millie asked, taking a seat on Cree's bed and whipping out her compact.

"Never mind," Cree said, sitting next to her.

There goes Millie primping away as usual, Cree thought. Her make-up looked perfect, but then again, it always did. Millie always took great care in her appearance, too much at times.

"So, how was your date last night?" Millie asked, turning away from her compact to look at Cree.

"What date?"

"With Reese, stupid," she said sarcastically. "Didn't you guys go out? Jordon saw you leave."

Cree pulled back her wild disheveled hair. Her green eyes were unfocused, with sleepers crusted in at the corners. She was still in her nightgown, a pale yellow silk nightie that only went below her hips. She put her hands over her face and attempted to wipe the sleep out of her eyes.

"God, you look awful. Reese must have kept you up pretty late last night." Millie said, giving her a wink like a cat on the prowl.

"Millie, what are you talking about? We didn't..."

"Sure you didn't," Millie teased, sliding her tongue over her lips as Cree slapped her arm.
"God, you've got such a dirty mind. We didn't even make it to the restaurant, much less... well, you know."

"What happened?"

"Drake and his gang showed up and all went to hell. They trashed some cars, and we got blamed."
"Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Millie said, shaking her head.

"We spent most of the night at the police station trying to explain that it wasn't our fault." Cree took a short pause, and then continued, "But would those jerks listen? No. Mar and Dusk had to come and bail us out."

"That's bad," Millie said. "So did they find Drake?"

"Yeah, he got picked up on some drug charge. It's a wonder they didn't blame that on us, too. He finally confessed everything but still, the whole thing was just so humiliating."

"So, who cares what they think. Cops are stupid anyway. I want to know about you and Reese. Come on. When are you going out again?"

"We're not," Cree said, matter-a-factly. She rose up from her bed and walked into the bathroom without another word.

At that moment there was a knock at the door. "Cree, are you awake?"

Millie flew over to the door and opened it. "Oh, hi Jenny. Cree's still in the bathroom."

Jenny walked in, her blue skin shimmering in the light of Cree's bedroom with her long black hair tied in two braids intertwined with red ribbons.

She took a seat at Cree's computer desk where she bent over to pull up her red knee-high socks that had fallen down. She then tightened the matching red shoelaces of her plain white tennis shoes.

"Jenny," Millie asked. "Why do you always wear shorts, and black? Such a boring color, yuck. And your hair, you should let me do it."

"No thanks," Jenny said. "Haven't you heard the phrase, 'less is more'?" Millie just gave a huff, just Jenny stared at the bathroom door, a worried look on her face.

"How's Cree?" Jenny inquired, getting suddenly quiet. "I heard what happened last night and came to check on her."

"How did you hear?" Millie asked, plopping back down on Cree's bed.

"From Reese, who else? He's so worried about her. He said she almost flipped out at the police station and all because of Drake."

"That guy's bad news," Millie said, admiring her newly painted nails. "But on the other hand, he is kinda hot."

Jenny tried to look shocked, but ever since she came to the school several months ago, she had learned to not be shocked by anything Millie did or said anymore.

"Oh, my god, Millie! What did you do to your nails this time?"

"Nothing," she said. She had them airbrushed with tiny American flags.

"Hey, the fourth of July is coming up. I'm just trying to be patriotic."

"Bull shit," Jenny fired. "You're just trying to impress Jordon Demsey! Everyone knows how into American history he is, but Millie, I don't think you're going to impress him with your nails."

"Who says I'm trying to impress him. He's just another guy," Millie said, getting up from the bed and making her way towards the bathroom. She banged on the door several times. "Hey, Cree, are you going to live in there?"

"Take your time, Cree," Jenny called from across the room. "Millie and I are having a little discussion."

"Oh, no, we're not," Millie fired back, swiftly walking over to Cree's computer desk where Jenny was sitting and pointed a finger at her. "Listen up, blue girl. The subject of Jordon Demsey is off limits."

Jenny just laughed at her. "Oh, really. Well, Millie, if you don't like him why are you getting so freaked out. After all, he's just a guy."

Millie could talk more than anyone she ever met, which would have easily driven anyone else crazy, but Jenny had just accomplished what until now had been thought to be impossible. She left Millie speechless. No one had ever been able to do that before. In spite of that, Jenny was her friend anyway.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Cree said, walking back into the room.

"Now, that's much better," Millie said, walking towards Cree. "You looked awful before."

Thanks a lot," Cree said, lightly punching her in the arm.

Cree had to admit that she did look better. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a plain blue top with butterflies embroidered along the bottom.

Her wild strawberry curls were now in a ponytail, and she had washed the sleep crust from her eyes. She put on some make-up, but not nearly as much as Millie did. Most times, Millie looked like a circus clown, but that was just part of her personality.

Jenny never wore any make-up at all. She joked all the time with her two friends that the make-up companies didn't make a product for her skin type. Even though she said it in a joking way, Cree knew deep down it really hurt Jenny that she didn't look like every other normal girl. Cree always told her that she was beautiful the way she was. She even commented that she was a little jealous, because Jenny had never been plagued with acne.

With her light blue skin, dark lips that were almost black, and eyes that were the color of rich rubies, it was hard for Jenny to walk the streets without getting stared at. Most people were afraid of her but to her two best friends and all the other kids at the school, she was just plain old Jenny, an ordinary normal teenager girl.

"Hey, Cree," Jenny said, standing on the other side of her. "I heard what happened last night. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said, trying to act as if nothing was wrong. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Reese told me you ran up to your room crying last night. He's really worried. I think you should go talk to him."

"What for," Cree said, sitting back down on her bed. "What would be the point? It's obvious this...thing, isn't going to work out. We're just too different. Besides, Reese is..."

Cree could not go on as a tear formed in her eye, which she tried to flick away before either of her friends saw it.

"Come on, Cree," Millie said. "It's so obvious that you're totally in love with him, and he worships the ground you walk on. Do you know what I would give to have a guy fall all over me?"

"Not just any guy," Jenny teased. "Only if he were Jordon Demsey."

"Shut up, Jenny," Millie fired, while Jenny chuckled at her expense. She wore a serious look on her face when she added, "Besides, this ain't about me. This is about Cree. Remember?"

"No, it's not," Cree said, rising from her seat on the bed and heading for the door.

She had her hand on the knob when Jenny spied something on the dresser and said, "Hey, what's this?"

"Woah," Millie said with a grin and snatched the object from Jenny. "A red rose. I wonder who this could be from."

"Maybe this will help solve the mystery," Jenny added, picking up a lavender envelope with a rose imprinted on the flap. She smelled it. "Could this be Cree's favorite perfume?"

Both girls giggled, while Cree just put her hands on her hips and threw them both an annoyed stare. She walked over to the dresser and snatched the envelope out of Jenny's hand.

She turned it over to find her name written on it. It was Reese's handwriting, alright. Only he would write her name as if it were a piece of art.

"It's from Reese, isn't it?" Millie asked, smelling the rose."Of, course it is, stupid," Jenny said. "Who else would leave roses in Cree's room?" Cree ignored her two friends as she opened the envelope and pulled out a card.

On the cover were two squirrels. One squirrel was giving the other a nut. It made Cree smile. She opened the card to see a handwritten message.

Dear Cree,

Sorry about last night.
Please, say we can try again.
Friday night?

Reese

She closed the card quickly, not wanting her friends to see it. She turned around to the door leading into the hallway when Millie spoke up."Hey, what did it say?"

"Nothing," Cree said and exited the door.