Well, now Aziel will work out the answer to her last question. Thank you to both guest reviewers. I should clear up some misunderstandings, though, that I got from reviewers. I probably did make a mistake with Karen, because she just started kindergarten in the first book, but seems to skip being six altogether. Myriah's age in canon would make her twelve or thirteen – she is definitely younger than Karen, yet someone said she would be in the same grade as the other characters. She was five or six in canon, while the ninth-graders here were all seven. And someone also suggested that Margo would still know Karen, but they go to different schools and live in neighbourhoods far away from each other. Even if Stoneybrook is small, I can't imagine them associating that much.

After I'd finished my homework that night, I thought about what Margo had suggested seriously. Did I really have a crush on Jackie? I hadn't known him for that long, but I really enjoyed hanging out with him and he was great to talk to.

There was something that made me like Jackie, right from the start. Yeah, I liked talking to him, but I remembered the first time I'd seen him smile. There was only one person I'd ever seen that could make a smile that beautiful and that was a young Michael Jackson, before he got that skin infection and his skin started going all pale and patchy. Back before that, his smile was worth a million dollars, and Jackie had that same quality. It didn't hurt that he had blue eyes, a feature I'd always liked on a guy. And it helped even more that it contrasted with his red hair...

"Oh!" I groaned when I realized it, and immediately dialed Margo's cell number. No sense in making her wait to gloat. Better she did it in front of her family or alone than in front of our grade...though I suspected she'd tell Claire no matter what, since they seemed to tell each other everything.

"Aziel?" Margo picked up on the first ring.

"Hi." I said. "Um...you were right."

Margo giggled. "I usually am...but about what?"

"About Jackie." I said. "I thought about it, and I realized. I think he's cute, he's smart, he's funny, and he has the most amazing smile. I think I may have a crush on him – I mean, I realized I think more about him than I'd think about the average guy friend."

Margo laughed again. "Girl, you have totally lost it. But then again, who am I to judge who you like? Want me to talk to you for him?"

"Nah, Mean Girls told me to never do that." I said. "Not that I don't trust you, but I think he'd be more likely to tell one of the guys before one of my friends, cause he knows it would get back to me."

"Whatever." Margo said. "David Michael is in our grade, and I've seen him hanging out with Jackie before. Want me to ask him to ask Jackie? We don't talk much, especially since he moved when we were kids – I know his sister better, because she used to babysit – but I think he'll do me a favour if I ask."

"Sure." I answered. "Would you? Thanks, I owe you one."

"I'm holding you to that!" Margo teased. "See you at school, Azzy!" We both hung up, me with crush-mode starting to kick in properly, now. Maybe it was Margo's fault – she'd planted the idea, and made me overthink it so much that it came true. But that tingly feeling in my stomach told me that it wasn't just an idea any more – it was real. And honestly, I thought, I could do worse. I knew from our conversations that Jackie was a perfectly nice guy with a lot of heart. And although he had been a bit disullusioned that day his lock broke, instances when he acted that way were few. Mostly, he would have that amazing smile.

I took a week to get the report back to me. Margo had done what she said she would – she just took ages to get it done. "According to what I got, Jackie said you were cute with a good sense of humour – and that you're smart." she told me. "He doesn't think of you in potential girlfriend terms...not yet, anyway. Cute, he said, but rest assured that he hasn't thought of asking you out." A smirk crossed her face. "Well, we should change that."

Marilyn looked at me, her eyes piercing and intense. She smiled after a minute. "Got it!" she said. "OK, my house, tomorrow after school. Operation Makeover."

I groaned. "Marilyn, don't do this to me!" I begged. "I hate being stuck in a chair for hours while going through increasingly painful torture that's supposed to make me look better."

"You'll like the end result." Margo said dismissively. "We should ask some of the others in our neighbourhood for opinions. I know some of Vanessa's friends will have good ideas."

"You could always ask me." Carolyn suggested, sarcasm dripping from her tone. It wasn't cold, just teasing.

"I don't ask you because you're my sister and you have different ideas." Marilyn told her. "Unless you know Jackie better than any of us."

"No, that's your victim." Carolyn laughed. "Anyway, if you're going to ask any of the other girls, I'm suggesting Haley Braddock. She's got to have some good tips." Haley was one of the juniors. I didn't really know her, but I'd seen her around – a very pretty blonde with a heart shaped face, a creamy complexion and an infectious smile.

The makeover was pretty much how I imagined – me sitting in front of Marilyn's dresser while the other girls tried out different looks on me for an hour before they finally decided they'd found the right style and let me see what they'd been doing.

I stared into the mirror at myself. They'd left my dark hair loose, but they'd straightened it to perfection. The makeup was pretty light, really, but usually, I stuck to only eyeliner and mascara. The girls had added a little bit of blusher and eyeshadow – a gold-green colour. They'd also insisted on silver nail polish. I hated to admit it, but maybe the hour was well spent.

"Do you think Jackie will like this kind of thing, though?" I asked.

Marilyn laughed. "Are you kidding?" she said. "He's not the only one who will, either. Trust us, we know boys, and we know what they consider knockouts." She tapped the mirror. "This mirror shows us a girl that is absolutely positively Jackie Rodowsky's type. That kind of boy – the sweet, friendly, but kind of goofy type – likes their girls natural, but willing to look good."

Even Dad gave a double take when I got home, but in a good, non-creepy way. "Aziel!" he said. "You look great, sweetheart."

I grinned. "Thanks." I replied. But my parents wouldn't be the real test. The real test would be school tomorrow. All I could say was, it was a good thing the teachers at SHS didn't pay much attention to how much makeup the girls wore.

Sorry about the long wait and shortness of the chapter! I'm having some problems right now. Please review!