part one



" we'll make it up to you in the year 2000 / build it up for you in the year 2000 / make it up to you in the year 2000 with - ouch!! what the - "
" laura! you stepped on my necklace! it's the n'sync on i got! arrgghhh!!! " katie jones cried in frustration.
" whatever, " laura, who was katie's twin sister, said carelessly. " did anyone call for me? "
" yeh.....some guy named greg? "
" greg......greg......oh! greg! thanks " without waiting for her sister's reply, she darted upstairs. picking up the cordless phone, she dialed the number for the local teen club, something cool. greg, who was the club's manager, answered.
" hey! this is laura....you called? "
" laura! yes, i did call. i was wondering if you could play on friday.......i know this is short notice........"
" nope, friday's fine. thanks! " laura said and hung up. she looked around her room and her eyes fell on the clock, realizing it was time for her band to practice. she got her stuff and headed out.


" where's laura? it's already 10 past three..... " samantha pike asked tapping her snare drum.
" i dunno. want me to call? " cassidy johnson replied, adjusting the strap on her bass guitar. " my cousin is flying in tomorrow with a couple friends" she said, changing the subject cause laura was always late.
" really? from where? "
" australia "
" australia? are they hot? "
" oh god..........are boys the only thing you think about? how do you know they're boys anyway?"
" no..........i dunno.....just assuming "
" guys! guess what? " laura burst into sam's garage lugging her guitar and equipment.
" what? " sam and cassy said together.
" we got a gig for friday! i didn't actually think greg would call, but he did!!! "
" greg called? yeh!!!!!!!!!!!!" sam did a drumroll. cassidy, however, was frowning.
" my cousin's are coming in tomorrow. " she said quietly.
" they're from australia. " sam added.
" so? bring 'em there. " laura suggested
" i guess so but.....see, they have a band and they've been playing for years and we've only been playing for a year and.........."
" get to the point " laura snapped
" i dunno....i'll bring 'em i guess."
" good. male or female?"
" male."
" ha! i was right!" sam cried
" about what?" laura asked
" they're boys!"
" sooooooo........."
" c’mon guys! let's play!"



alex martin pulled his old green toyota up in front of sam's garage. he could faintly hear the riffs of a silverchair song. alex was cassidy's boyfriend, but was a good friend to all three members of twilight, their band. walking up the driveway, he saw jake andrews, who hung out with laura a lot, coming to watch them too. he smiled and gave alex a little wave. alex smiled back and pulled open the door for the both of them. they stood in the back of the garage, watching silently.


' tonight's the night. i'm gonna do it. i really am. " jake thought to himself. 'what if she says no? ohhh.....maybe i shouldn't.........'
" jake.....hello? anyone home? "
jake snapped out of his little debate with himself and saw laura waving her hand in front of his eyes. she smiled and he felt himself melting.
" hey. " he said, trying to sound cool.
" hey. guess what? we're playing at something cool on friday." she smiled again
" really? that's great! " he said, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her.
" yeh. come with me to get something to drink. " she took his wrist and pulled him in the direction of the kitchen.
' it's now or never ' he thought too himself. " laura?" he asked out loud.
" yeh?" she turned around, taking a sip from the cup she was holding
" uhhh.....i was wondering if....if...you'd like to....go....out with me?"he finished quickly
laura was shocked. "uhhh....well....i...."
" i mean, you don't have to answer me now, but, later or something."
she nodded, then walked back to the garage and started playing again.
' shit....she's gonna say no..." he sighed and went back to watch.


cassidy showed up at the airport with time to kill. she went to the gift shop, bought some skittles, and sat to wait. about an half an hour later, the plane flew in, and she saw her cousin and his two friends for the first time since she was 10. she {and laura and sam} were all 18, so that was a long time.
"cassy!!!" her cousin , ben gillies, called.
" hey!! " she cried, hugging him
" this is daniel, " he said gesturing toward daniel, " and this is chris."
"there's our bags, " chris said, nodding to the baggage claim area.
"k, lets go."


" what's up?" katie asked her sister, who was sitting on the couch with the remote in her hand. she had made no move to turn on the tv, as far as katie could tell. it was 10:30 thursday morning, kinda early for laura to be up. " laura??"
" yeh?" laura answered sleepily.
" why are you up?"
" dunno......that's a good question."
" are you drunk?"
" no!!"
" whatever......"
" i'm not drunk! i just woke up and i couldn't get back to sleep!"
" whatever...." katie repeated, walking out of the room. the phone rang.
" LAURA!! GET THE PHONE!" katie screamed. laura reached over and picked it up.
" hello?"
" i think i may have lost my hearing."
" cassy, aren't you used to it?"
" yehhh.....anyways....my cousin and his friends are here. they wanna meet you guys. how's noon? we can eat lunch at the mall."
" yeh, sure."
" ok? i'll pick you up."
" can we all fit in your car?"
" uhhh.....let's see...there's me, you, ben, chris, daniel, jake, sam, and alex. that's 8 of us and my car only fits 6. can we use yours?"
" yeh."
" k. so, howabout you sam and jake go in your car?"
" k, sounds good. did you know jake asked me out?"
" he did? what did ya say?"
" i told him i didn't know if i could."
" oh. he's not gonna act all weird, is he?"
" i dunno......i've gotta go. see ya at 12."
" yeh. bye."
" bye." laura hung up and went to take a shower. at noon, she was busily trying to find her shoe. she didn't hear cassidy honk her horn, so katie let her in. " i found it!!!!!" cassy heard laura's relieved cry from her room.
" found what?"
" my shoe!"
" ok......." they went outside. laura got in her car, picked up jake and sam, and met cassidy and the others at the food court entrance.


ben knew who everyone was when the all met at the huge doors in front of the mall. cassidy had sent her a picture a couple week ago. he saw alex and jake, who looked a lot alike. they both had brown eyes and brown spiky hair, except alex had sideburns. cassidy looked the same, curly brown hair, brown eyes {think: faith on buffy the vampire slayer}. sam, who was talking with chris, was running her fingers through her shoulder length blonde hair and flashing her grey eyes. he looked around.
everyone was talking with each other except daniel. he was sitting on a bench, looking very unhappy. ben cringed. but where was laura..................he remembered what she looked like, looooooong wavy white-blonde hair, blue eyes, and really pale skin. he saw her sitting on a bench {the one next to where daniel was sitting}. she had her elbows resting on her knees, with her head in her hands. ben studied her for a minute, then daniel. he had an idea..........


cassidy had already introduced everyone, so they ordered their food and sat down. everything was going smoothly until she saw laura put down the bean burrito she was eating,. she was glaring in the direction of the of the entrance of the mall. cassidy saw someone look around, then start to walk in the direction of our table.
" you know what?" laura said standing up. " i better go call...uh....katie and tell her were i am." she darted off to the phones on the other side of the food court before anyone could say anything.
" what's up with her?" alex asked, watching laura walk away. " katie knows where she is."
" uhhh...if you don't mind my asking, who's' katie?" ben spoke up.
" oh, katie is laura's twin sister." cassidy answered.
" twins? do they look the same?"
" yeh." cassy swung her gaze over to where ben, daniel and chris were sitting and started to ask them questions to make them feel part of the conversation.


laura put a quarter into they pay phone and dialed.
" hello, holland resident." a pleasant voice answered.
" hi, mrs. holland. is dexter there?"
" oh, hi laura. yeh, he's here. hold on a sec."
" hello?"
" hey, it's me. "
" hey me. where are you? it's noisy."
" i'm at the mall with cassy and her cousin and -"
" cassy?" dexter interrupted.
" she has a boyfriend dummy."
" i know........."
" ok i have to go."
" fine. i'll call you later."
" you do that."


daniel fiddled at his plate of food. laura had just came back from making her call. cassidy was getting mad because she knew that laura hadn't called katie, but she didn't know who she called and laura wasn't telling. everyone except laura and him had finished their lunch, so they were talking and laughing. laura was the only one who had followed him in to the heath food place, but she didn't talk to him while she ordered. she didn't talk much at all. well, neither did he but.......
" so, where should we go?"
" daniel and laura aren't done eating yet." sam said.
" i'm done," laura said as she pushed her plate away.
" so am i."
" but you guys haven't eaten anything!"
" i ate before i came." laura replied defensively.
" no you didn't!"
" sam, please don't start on my eating habits again."
" laura, you're a toothpick! you need to eat something!" laura got up, shoved her plate in the garbage, and walked off.
" god....not this again." alex muttered.
" alex, just shut up. you know laura barely eats." sam sighed.
" well, we gotta go get her..."
" fine. let's go." they all emptied their plates and caught up with laura.
" hey, sorry about that." sam said.
" it's ok......i guess." she grinned. " i really did eat before i came."
" so, where do you guys wanna go?" cassidy asked.
" i wanna go to 'the mountain'." laura said. " amy's working there. she told me to come by so she could give me my cds back." " what's 'the mountain'?" chris asked.
" it's a store that sells t-shirts and stuff." jake said.
" ohh....hey...where's the music store?"
" who wants to go to the music store. one group can go with me, and the others can go with laura to the mountain. who's with me?"
all the boys except daniel wanted to go with alex.
" yo, daniel....you coming?" alex asked. he shook his head. "ok......." they took off.
" hey laura!!!" someone behind them called. laura spun around. they saw a boy running towards them. laura rolled her eyes and continued walking. the boy grabbed her arm a pulled her around to face him.
" what do you want, matt" she said coldly.
" can i talk to you for a sec? alone?" he asked hopefully.
" no." he leaned over and whispered something to her. " no way, you creep!" she cried.
he looked unhappy. " look, just have her call me, ok?"
" yeh right. c’mon you guys." she started walking again, leaving him standing there.
" who was that?" sam hissed. "he's really hot!!"
" oh god......" laura sighed. "he's katie ex who made her totally depressed for whole week. when she's depressed, she blasts her little teeny-bopper music and takes everything out on me." she stopped talking and took a breath. she realized everyone was staring at her. " woah, sorry guys...look there's amy!" she saw her friend and walked quickly towards her.
" something's up with her and i have a feeling it's not katie." cassidy muttered.
sam nodded. " she's been acting so different lately....."


laura shut the front door of her house and leaned against it.
" no matt! hello? you dumped me?" she could hear katie screaming into the phone. " whatever!" crash! laura cringed. katie stalked into the hall.
" u ok?" laura asked.
" shut up." she snapped running upstairs.
" nice to see you too." she muttered to herself. she walked into the kitchen and found it suprisingly clean. their parents were in africa on a business trip and trusted them to keep the house decent. they hadn't been doing a very good job......she noticed the answering machine blinking so she played the messages.
" hey guys! it's kris. i'm gonna bring cherish over for a little while this afternoon, if that's ok. i have a doctors appointment and i don't wanna bring her. we''ll be over around 4. call me if there's any problems!"
beeep
" hey laura, it's greg. just wanted to tell you that you can come over about 6 tomorrow to set up and everything. see ya then!" laura sighed. kris was her older sis {she's 25}. she'd gotten married and pregnant when she was 20 and had a four year old {who is obviously cherish}. laura loved it when cher came over. she picked up the phone and dialed kris's number.
" hey kris. it's laura."
" hey!! what's up?"
" well, some of my friends are coming over this afternoon..............."
" what's kat doing?" laura heard the front door slam.
" she's not here......you know most of my friends, right? they love cher to death. it's just that cassy's cousin's are here and i dunno if they like children."
" they'll have to live with her!! oops. gotta run. see ya."
they hung up. laura looked around. ' i really oughta do some cleaning.......' she thought.
so, until four, laura took the lovely job of cleaning the house. then she quickly took a shower and dressed in purple strappy tank and wide-leg silver cords. she quickly glanced at the clock. it was 3:52. her friends were supposed to come around 4:30 which meant she had enough time to 'ahhh!! my mind is working overload!' she collapsed on her bed. ' what if jake asks again? what am i gonna tell him.........' she groaned. ' did he tell alex?' she heard the doorbell. ' yeh!!' she sprang up, ran downstairs, and flung open the door.
" lauraaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" a little voice screamed. next thing she knew she had a little body wrapped around her legs. " i feel offended." kris said stepping through the door. she smiled and handed laura a mini backpack. " i shouldn't be more than an hour or so. bye sweetie. " she said to cherish before running out the door. laura smiled, then crouched down so she was the same height at cherish.
" guess who's coming?"
" who?" she giggled.
" alex, jake, sam and cassidy!!" cherish gave a squeal of joy. " and cassy's cousins are coming too"
" can i have a cookie?" she asked sweetly. laura laughed.
" sure kiddo. c'mon." laura had settled cher into one of the living room chairs when she heard a knock on the door. " i'm gonna go get that ok? say here." cher nodded and laura went to let her friends in.


ben watched cassy knock on laura's door. he stepped back to look at her house. it was pretty big, considering her parents were never there. it was just her and her sister. cassy, sam, and jake lived pretty close to her. alex was up the street more. sam had told them that they had lived there all their lives, and that they had always been best friends. she told him that when laura'a parents started going away when they were 11, she and katie had either stayed at cassy's or her house. when they started getting older they got left alone. then sam thought for a minute. then she continued by telling them about their band, twilight. ben snapped out of his little faze and went inside with everyone else. they stood in the hall for a bit and talked. cassy was telling laura something when a little girl ran into the hall. she stopped when she saw me, chris, and daniel, then ran over to laura. she thrust up her hands and laura picked her up.
" guys, " she said, " this is cherish, my niece."
cherish leaned over and whispered something in laura's ear. laura laughed, then asked " where'd you hear that word?"
" on tv. " cherish said matter-of-factly.
about an hour later, kris came to pick up cherish.


the next morning, daniel went downstairs, ate breakfast, and found himself with nothing to do.
" daniel, wussup? u busy? " cassy asked, plastering a huge smile on her face. he slowly shook his head. " good!! i need you to do me a big favor. could you go wake up laura and tell her to meet us downtown at 12:30?" she paused. " yeh, that should give her an hour and a half to get ready. thanks, daniel. you're the best!" she smiled at him again and ran upstairs.
' oh great.....' he thought, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. what id he saw something he wasn't supposed to? like, what if her thought laura's room was the bathroom and went in....... 'stop it!' he scolded himself. ' you're just being paranoid. ' he gingerly pushed open her front door and looked around. it was completely silent. he took a deep breath and walked upstairs. after peeking into the first few rooms, he began to get nervous. looking into the fourth one, he saw that it was no doubt laura's. the walls were a deep purple and there were posters of metallica, guns 'n roses, and korn. he wasn't that suprised when he saw his own band above her desk. their were clothes and cds everywhere. but no laura. that's when he started to freak out.
' wait , ' he said to himself, ' maybe she's on the couch or something......yeh, that's it.'
he walked downstairs and looked in the rooms. he stopped in the doorway of the one with the tv playing silently. there was a couch with a small table at either end. he couldn't see who was on it though, cause it was facing the tv {{ NOTE FROM ME: picture a room with the tv in the center, facing the door, and the couch facing the tv }} he walked around it. sure enough, laura was lying there. as he looked closer, he gasped. she was paler then last night, and she looked really fragile. he was afraid that he touched her, she's crack or something. he spotted a phone on one of the tables and grabbed it. he punched in cassy's number.
" 'lo?"
" cassy, " he said shakily, " there's something wrong with laura. "
" what??"
" please come here."
" ok....i'll be right there."
daniel paced in from of the couch, watching to see if laura woke up. she looked really skinny, ever skinnier then he did when he couldn't eat. it scared him.
he heard the door slam and cassy ran into the room.
" what wrong?" she asked.
unable to speak, he pointed to laura. cassy ran over next to him. when her saw her, her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.
" oh my god........i didn't think.....i........i........what if she........we have to wake her up. " she said frantically. she knelt down beside her and carefully shook laura. laura's eyes fluttered open and she moaned.
" laura, can you hear me?" she weakly shook her head. " can you stand?"
" i.." she stopped and breathed. " i don't think i can......." she moaned again and shut her eyes.
cassy looked up at daniel " she's f***** cold. call the hospital or something. "
daniel numbly nodded and fumbled as he called the local hospital. after a few minutes of talking he announced, " there's an ambulance on the way." cassy nodded. " the lady said not to touch her." cassy nodded again.
" i....i......better tell the others......" daniel noticed she was shaking. she stood staring at laura, not making a move for the phone. they heard the front door open and someone call, "hello?"
" in here....." cassy's voice was faint, but what the paramedics needed. they gently lifted her weak body onto the stretcher.
" which one of you is riding with her?" the guy asked. daniel and cassy looked at each other.
" i am." cassy answered quietly.
" all right. follow me. "
" get the others." cassy ordered and left.
daniel stood there for a few minutes until it registered what he was supposed to do. he ran to cassy house and flung open the front door. " guys?" he called. no answer. he did a quick search of the bottom floor. no one. he knew everyone was here......running up the stairs, he opened the first door he saw. they were all huddled in a tight circle. " guys?" he asked again. " oh, daniel. hi. where have you been?" she asked, tossing her hair out of her face.
" you didn't see the ambulance?" he asked.
" the ambulance? no.......what happened?"
" laura's in the hospital." he whispered.
" she is? why? what happened?" alex asked pushing sam aside.
daniel shrugged. " lets go."
" right. uh...daniel, why don't you go." she dug in her pocket. "here's my keys. see ya." she shut the door in his face. ' drive? how am i supposed to drive here? ohhh god............................and why aren't they coming?'


cassy looked at laura laying in the hospital bed beside her. it had taken the about 15 minutes to hook her up to these tubes that carried milky white stuff to her body. she was already starting to look better. a couple minutes daniel walked in, looking messy and frantic.
" is she ok?" he asked softly. cassy nodded.
" sit down." she said. he did. "where is everyone?"
" at your house."
" why the hell aren't they here?" her voice was drained of emotion.
" i don't know." the door opened and a nurse from the ER appeared.
" well," she said rather loudly, " she should be waking up and minute now.....which one of you is filling out these forms?"
" i am." cassy whispered.
" all right, did you call her parents?"
cassy shook her head no.
" why not?"
" they're in africa."
" did they know they're daughter had a problem?"
cassy glared at her. " how they f*** should i know?" daniel stared at her in amazement. he'd never seen someone talk to an adult like that...
the nurse was suprised too. " well......you just fill out those forms. if she wakes up, press this button, ok honey?"
cassy nodded.
they'd been sitting quietly for about 20 minutes when laura groaned. cassy stared at her. laura's eyes open, closed then opened again. she opened her mouth, then closed it.
since cassy was just staring, he pressed the button for her. a few minutes later, a doctor appeared.


" why aren't we with laura?" alex shouted at sam.
" we can't" sam replied nastily.
" chris is fine! he's just hungover. he'll wake up and go back to sleep again! it's not a big deal. meanwhile, laura is in the hospital......"
" shut up! why don't you go?"
" fine, i will."
" can i come too?" jake asked.
" of course. c'mon. we can leave sam to her love." alex said bitterly before stalking to his car.
" are you sure chris was just hungover?" jake asked.
" i don't care about him."
" i think i know what's wrong with laura."
" you do? what is it?"
" well, i called her last night around midnight and she didn't sound so good. i asked her what was wrong and she said that she didn't feel good. i asked her what she had eaten lately."
" what'd she say?"
" that i sounded like sam."
" then what?"
" she hung up on me. i couldn't sleep. i kept debating weather i should go over there or not. i should've."
" it's not your fault......"
" yes it is! if i had gone over there and fed her something, she wouldn't be in the fuckin hospital!" he cried, his voice getting louder with every word.
" maybe this was for the better."
" how could it be for the better?" jake screamed.
" jake, clam down. she'll get help. we've all tried to help her, but it was no use. trust me, she'll be ok."
that seemed to calm jake down until they got to the hospital. when they got the room number, jake ran to her. he flung open the door. there was a doctor talking to cassy, laura in a bed much too big for her, and daniel, who was sitting there staring at his hands.
" excuse me, young man," the doctor said, eyeing jake and alex. " you'll have to wait outside."
" what? are you crazy? laura needs - "
" what she needs is rest." the doctor said firmly. " the waiting room is down the hall."
" but -" jake began. alex tugged at his shirt.
" c'mon." glaring at the doctor, jake went to the waiting room.


" laura, hon, how do you feel?" laura heard cassy's voice, but couldn't see her. instead, she saw a large pink goat.
" cassy.......why are you a goat?" she murmured.
" what? i'm not a goat.........uhhhh........when do you wanna try to walk, sweetie?"
" walk? but i can't......you're a goat." she saw the goat laugh.
" maybe daniel can walk with you."
" daniel?" she turned her head slightly. she saw a big blob, then everything went black..........


" daniel?" laura asked. she turned her head a little, then her body went limp. cassy gasped. she pressed the nurse button several times.
daniel had been sitting in the same position since he had got there. his eye fell down to where laura's hand was dangling listlessly of the side of her bed. daniel unclasped his hands and touched one of hers. it was freezing. he sandwiched it between his two warm hands.
" daniel?" laura repeated. she was talking in her sleep.
daniel moved his chair closer to her.
" noooooo.." she moaned. daniel froze. she yanked her hands from them {cassy had been clutching laura's hand since he'd arrived} and wrapped them around her stomach. cassy began to press the button more frantically. a nurse calmly walked in.
" yes?" she asked.
" she..." the nurse saw laura and fled from the room. a few minutes later {which seemed like eternity}, the nurse returned with the doctor cassy had been talking to earlier.
the nurse told them to go home and come back in the morning, which set jake and cassy into a rage. alex , who daniel had guessed knew this was going to happen, quickly grabbed them before they could start shouting profanities and dragged them to their cars.


part 2
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