What have I got myself into? I had the PERFECT chance to not attend this party but I let Logan's words get to my head. Now, I'm walking out of the gym, letting his cousin take me to the school bus, to her house and lastly to the party.

We take the back seats of the bus and as the journey starts, I make it clear that I don't want to talk to her so she obeys and stares and goes: TAP!TAP!TAP! on her phone. Unfortunately, this awkward silence doesn't last for so long.

"...So, tell me about yourself," Lara says, searching a way to break the discomfort amongst us.

"What do you want to know about me?"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No, it's just Mamma and I."

Oh no! I completely forgot about my Mum. I click the power button and finds her message:

Can't wait to hear about basketball practice.xxx

Guilt pricks my stomach like a thorn. I send:

Soz, Mom. Was invited to a party that is happening tonight. Tell you all about it when I get home. Thanks

"I'm the only child too! There's Mom and Dad and also Auntie Meg, Uncle Jonah, Logan and Maria, who live a few blocks down."

"How many people are going to be at the party?"

"It's Rihanna's birthday bash so...-."

"There's going to be the whole senior year."

Rihanna is the most prettiest, popular and coolest girl in our year and everybody wants to be her 'friend'(more like a minion).

"Time to get off."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------American houses are big. Right?

WRONG!!!

American houses are massive!!! And...one of them is where Lara lives!

The massive front garden is full of a variety of flowers from prickly roses to bright daffodils to popular daises to terrific tulips to vibrant sunflowers to the strong scent of jasmine that tastes of Mamma's tea and the lavender that is used like a lullaby to help go to sleep.

"Nice flowers!" I say as the compliment leaves a sour aftertaste on my tongue.

"Thanks! We grow fruit and veg in the back garden too."

Lara leads me to the porch, where a grand oak door stands and she raps her knuckles against the wood. Through the oak door, I can hear the tap-tap of high heels against what seems to be a polished floor leads to the sound of the key turning in the lock, revealing Lara's mum.

Wow! Do you know the phrase 'like mother like daughter'? Well, the resemblance between Lara and her mum is the extreme level. In front of me, stands an older version of Lara, with the same blonde haircut tied into the same messy hairstyle, the same ocean blue eyes, the same thin eyebrows and the same nose. If it wasn't for the blouse and skirt Lara's mum was wearing, I would have discovered identical sisters. It's kind of freaky!

"For goodness' sake Lara, just a little harder and you would have knocked the whole house down as well as the door off its hinges," Lara's mum says, turning straight to her daughter and then finally noticing me, changing her tone, "Oh hello, dearie."

A wave of timidity washes over me.

"Hi, Lara's Mum," I squeak quietly that I'm surprised that I haven't transformed into a little mouse.

"Call me Abigail. That is if you don't copy the way my daughter knocks on the door," Abigail chuckles.

"Ahem! I am right here, you know! And I don't think Luna wants to hear your whole collection of Mama jokes," Lara speaks up after being ignored, shifting from one foot to the other, awkwardly.

"Teenagers! Never want to show love towards their Mums in front of their friends," Abigail sighs as she allows us in.

"Oh, Luna's not my friend. She's just..."

"A teammate of Logan," I finish Lara's rushed sentence.

Abigail smirks.

"Ok...well, do you want a snack? I fixed an incredibly healthy muffin recipe. Apple and mushroom muffins," Abigail offers, strolling towards the kitchen.

"Healthy but disgusting. Trust me, I tried one a month ago and I still have the bitter taste on my tongue," Lara whispers with a face of disgust," No thanks, Mum. Luna and I shared a Hershey's bar on the school bus."

I struggle to contain my laughter at Lara's fluent lie.

"You've already spoiled your own diet, Lara! Don't spoil Luna's too!"

"Yes, Mum!" Lara chants robotically. Straight after, she stuck her tongue out at the back of Abigail's head.

We giggle together, while she leads me up the stairs, across the decorated landing, to her bedroom.

As Lara opened the door, she revealed a gorgeous room. The wallpaper was half light blue, half polka-dotted with a small circular mirror hanging above her headrest. On her bed, laid cute, pink pillows and white and pink laced covers and beside it, was her blue bedside table with her pink lamp on top. On the floor were two beanbags and a colourful rug that was laid on the wooden floorboards like a finishing touch.

"I love your room!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"Me too. But we can't stay long. We're running late as it is as someone took an eternity to make up her mind," Lara states, pointedly glaring at me.

"You're going to regret saying that once you see me walk out of the door."

"Whatever."

Lara walks over to her fancy wardrobe, opens it and searches through hangers with t-shirts, hoodies, dresses, skirts, sweaters and more. She suddenly stops at one particular party dress. It's a short, black, sparkly, off-shoulder dress. Not my type. I hope that's not...

"What do you think? I was thinking of you wearing this," Lara asks, showing off the dress, the sun making the sparkles glitter.

"Um...do you have I-don't-know like anything less girly?"

"Girly? Soz only my t-shirts and hoodies."

"The truth is that none of your dresses are my type."

"Please, Luna. I think this dress will look amazing on you. Try it on and see what you think."

I sigh heavily. Reluctantly, I say, "Fine."

"You can go change in the bathroom if you want privacy."

"Thanks," I mumble as I take the dress and walk across the landing and lock the door after me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, I'm walking out of the bathroom, shuffling in the dress and into Lara's bedroom, who's staring at her reflection on her wardrobe mirror.

She's wearing an off-shoulder, light blue, two-piece dress.

As soon as Lara glances at me in the mirror's reflection, she stops fiddling with her appearance and just stops to stare at me.

"Does it look that bad?" I chuckle.

"No. It's the complete opposite. Look," Lara squeaks, moving away from the mirror and pushing me to be the attention.

It's me. Well, it has to be me, obviously...but I look different. Who would have guessed the girl in the mirror would be the same tomboy. I smile to myself. There are lots of different parts of you that makes you, you. Now, I've just discovered a new, unexpected part of me that has been hiding away for my life, waiting for the moment to reveal its inner beauty.

"Hair and makeup time!!!" Lara exclaims as she pulls out her beauty bag.

"My hair is fine," I defend myself, tensely.

"Fine if you're going for the basic and not the party look."

I reluctantly take a seat and Lara gently styles my hair.

"What's your fav style?" Lara asks, fiddling with strands of my hair.

"Honestly, I don't do complicated styles and I don't have a fav."

"Don't worry. I'm a magician and I'll work my magic on your hair just like with my other customers."

"Where's the wand?"

"Magician's secret. I won't be a great magician if everyone knew how my magic works," Lara whispers, her index finger held to her lips.

Well, it's hard to admit but I guess Lara must possess some kind of magic because after my hair is done, I look even brilliant than before. She's scooped my curls in a messy high bun along with a black bandana and large, silver hoop earrings to top off the look. Lip gloss has been applied neatly to my lips, mascara to my eyelashes, dark purple eyeshadow on my eyelids and eyeliner to the edges and corners of my eyes.

Lara has taught me how to apply make up and my client is her. I have to admit it's ok and my client smiles when she sees her pretty reflection in the mirror.

"Now we need shoes," Lara says, "What do you think?"

She's chosen blue high-heeled sandals.

 I do a thumbs up, secretly hoping that Lara won't expect me to wear shoes with the same amount of heel. As a tomboy, me and high heels don't get along.

"Great. Now yours."

"I'm guessing you're not the high heel kind of girl so you can wear my Vans."

I nod in satisfaction. They're Vans Old Skool Glitter Black State Shoes. Perfect. Just. For. Me. We're. Now. Ready.

"Mum! We're heading off!" Lara calls out as we descend the stairs.

"Ok! Remember your curfew, sweetie!"

"K," Lara replies, as she opens the front door for me.

"How are we getting there?" I ask as we step out onto the porch.

"Logan's friend's sister is dropping us, Logan and his friends," Lara explains pulling out her mobile.

After being on call for a few minutes, she puts her phone in her purse and says that they're on their way.

"So ...tell me more about yourself," Lara says.

"Didn't I tell you enough already?"

"Yeah but you haven't told me where you're from. It's obvious that you're not from America. You have a different accent."

I sigh. Talking about my past is probably one of my weakest points.

"I was born and grew up in a small town in southern Italy. Papa was from that same town. Mamma was on holiday when they met each other so they married and bought a nice house. A year later, they had me but our lives weren't as happy as we wished they were. Because Mamma is black and I'm mixed, our family weren't treated well.

"That must have been hard," Lara comments thoughtfully.

"Yeah. The only friend I had was Gabriella, who I called Ella, because she was Romanian she understood me. We would play basketball together and we both shared the same dreams: to play basketball in WNBA.

"That's great. Does she still live in Italy?"

"No...," I pause as my voice starts trembling and tears prick my eyes,"One evening, we had been playing basketball until it started getting dark soElla walked home with me because my house was on the way to her. We said 'seeyou tomorrow' and while I was unlocking the door, Ella was crossing the roadand the next thing I hear is a...scream. I turn around and a car has stopped andElla was lying on the ground, blood coating her skin. I run to her while the driver calls an ambulance and she's talking to me in Italian, saying: Luna don't forget me when you play on the basketball court in a huge American arena. Make our dream come true for me, my best friend. That's when she stopped clutching my hand and closed her eyes and...she died," I finish, bursting into inconsolable sobs.

That's when Lara does something unexpected.

She hugs me and suddenly it feels so good to have someone's shoulder to cry on that isn't Mom's. Bringing up Ella with Maria would always be so awkward as she wasn't close to my best friend. However, when Lara's hugging me, I feel not a single hint of awkwardness in the atmosphere.

"That's why you fell out with Maria and always argued with Logan," Lara whispers.

I nod.

"But do you know what is probably the best advice I've ever received?" Lara asks.

"What?" I question, parting from the hug.

"That tragedy can either break you into a million of pieces or make you stronger than ever."

 "Well, I'm certainly not stronger because I'm the girl who's standing on the porch and crying onto the shoulder of another girl, messing up my perfect makeup and looking like a weirdo."

"Wrong! You're the girl who manages to mention her dead best friend's name without bursting into tears. You're the girl who, even though it was an emotional battle for you, is playing basketball, the sport that you and your best friend was passionate about to even want it for a career. You're the girl who is fulfilling probably the hardest wish you've ever been asked to achieve, coming from your best friend seconds before she died."

"I haven't played for the WNBA yet."

"True but you will one day and fulfil Ella's wish."

"I cant. Playing basketball is one thing but playing it for the WNBA is on the whole next level."

"Yes you can, Luna. Life isn't about surviving each day. It's being able to learn, achieve and be able to do the things you love so that every night, you go to bed, feeling satisfied of yourself."

Suddenly, a car horn rings in the air as Lara and I watch to see a car full of teenagers, including Logan, pull up by the sidewalk.

"I understand if you don't want to come to the party. I'll ask Mom to take you home," Lara states, her face full of understanding.

"Yeah. Opening up about Ella makes me just want to stay at home in my pyjamas. Thanks, Lara. You know, about listening to my crying and understanding."

"No problem. I'll go tell Mom to take you home," Lara says as she unlocks the front door and enters the house.

When she exits, Abigail accompanies her, clutching her car keys.

"See you around, Luna," Lara greets as she jogs as fast as she can with her heels.

I watch the confusion build up on Logan's face as he sees Lara jogging alone; disappointment is written on both of the cousins' faces as the reason for me not coming is explained and the car starts its engine.

From personal experience, I've seen that look directed too me many times: by Mamma, Maria, Logan and now Lara.

However, I've never disappointed Ella.

"Ready to go?" Abigail asks, unlocking the car doors.

"I won't let Ella down."