"….Julie's a bitch."

I mumbled that statement over and over to myself as I reached into my bag and pulled out a cigarette pack and leaned over so the smoke would blow out the bus window.

"I completely agree Sarah." Said Lisa as she took the cigarette pack from my hand, crushed it, through it in the barf bag in front of her, and handed me a pack of gummy bears.

I growled in frustration, but accepted the gummy bears anyway.

My name is Sarah Williams. I am 21 years old, go to a college, and am one messed up person.

I was born the only child to Vivian and Luke Williams. My parents weren't poor, but they weren't necessarily rich either. They were…well off. I was one of those kids that were spoiled, but disciplined. If I wanted something, I usually got it. But if I smarted off to my mom, I got spanked and sent to my room.

I guess I had a pretty regular childhood. My mom was on the PTA and my dad was head of his division in his company. But there was one thing that set me apart from a lot of the other kids. That was Disney.

Now, I know that all kids like Disney…But I took it to an extreme. I had every single Disney movie imaginable. I watched all of them over and over until I had each line and song memorized. But no Disney movie was closer to me than Aladdin. I LOVED Aladdin. I swear, every year for Halloween, I went as a Genie. No, not Jasmine. A GENIE! I didn't want to be Jasmine, as cool as I thought she was. I wanted to be a genie.

As I said, I had a pretty normal childhood. The pre-teen years were pretty nice, too. But everything changed when I turned 13.

It was a week after my 13th birthday. I was walking home from school, ready to show my mom and dad the A I had gotten on my Math test. As I walked, I was very aware of the pressure in my ears. As a present for my 13th birthday, my parents had given me my grandmothers sapphire stud earrings. I loved them so much; I swore I would never take them off. So far, I have kept my promise.

I continued my trek to my house, happy as songbird; humming 'Friend Like Me'. That is, until I saw my front door. I was off its hinges.

Someone had broken into my house.

Being the smart little thing I was, I ran head first into my house.

The first sensation to hit my senses was the smell of blood. I looked down, and I will never forget what I saw.

There lay my parents. My father had a bullet through his head. My mother was cut to pieces. Both were dead.

At seeing my parents did, I did the only thing I knew to do…I screamed.

"Well, well, well…Looky what we have here."

I looked up to see a group of 3 men in black masks.

I was in such shock that I didn't even move when they grabbed me and forced me to the ground. While two of them held me, the third pulled out a knife that was covered in blood…My mother's blood.

He grinned sadistically as he held the knife at eye level to me.

"Come on, pretty face. Scream for us again."

I didn't make a sound. I couldn't. Anger at my 'defiance' was apparent on his face. He raised his knife and slashed me over my left eye.

I screamed then.

I don't know weather it was the pain, the shock, or both, but after that moment I passed out.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital bed. At first, I was scared because I couldn't remember anything. I remember screaming out for my Momma.

The head doctor came in and told me what had happened.

The men who had attacked my parents were drunk, high, and 'looking for some fun'. So, they chose my house to wreak havoc on. My parents were, of course, home. So, they shot my dad, tortured, raped, and then killed my mom. That's when I came in.

I passed out after they cut my eye. After I was out, the doctor told me that they raped me and were about to kill me when the police found us.

The men were immediately put in jail and I was immediately brought to the hospital.

They ran tests on me to make sure I would live.

I would.

They then made sure I was not pregnant from the rape.

I wasn't.

After that, I was still unconscious. They made sure I would stay like that and went in and preformed surgery on my eye. I would be able to see same as before from my left eye, but the scar would always be there.

After that, I still wouldn't wake up. They think I went into a comma like state due to shock.

Regardless of the reason, I was out for a month.

I had missed my own parent's funeral.

They had sold most all my stuff, except a few clothes and what was on my person, to help pay for the funeral.

I would get my parents social security. But, like all cases, it wouldn't be mine until I was 18.

I was sent to a foster family.

That's when I made sure my life was hell.

I started 'acting up'. You know…Smoking (which I eventually got addicted to), drinking…I never touched illegal drugs, though, out of respect for my parents. I made shit grades in school. My 3.5 GPA dropped to a 1.7. I would never respect the house rules of my foster homes. I would yell back and be disrespectful to my 'parents'. I acted like a bat out of hell.

I passed from family to family. I made no differentiation between them. I was bitter and scared. All these people wanted from me were the social security check. I knew perfectly well what I was doing. I knew that I was wrong. And I always felt guilty for it…But I guess I felt like if I got foster parents, and I liked them, I would be trying to replace my real parents.

Finally when I turned 16, the government put me in an orphanage permanently. This is exactly what I wanted. It was also exactly what I needed.

This is where I met Lisa.

Lisa and her twin brother, Sam, had been abandoned at birth. They had lived their entire life at the orphanage. No foster parents had ever wanted them.

It was in this life that Lisa was raised. Drugs, sex, and alcohol was an everyday thing for her. She did everything short of crack. Sam did everything.

There were only two things that Lisa found true comfort in; her brother and painting. Lisa was a beautiful painter. Whatever money she didn't spend on drugs, she spent on painting supplies

Sam dies when they were 13 from drug overdose.

Having the only one to ever love her ripped out of her life so quickly, Lisa realized that she needed to make a change. She went to rehab and gave everything up cold turkey. To this day, the only thing she still did was drink. And then, only wine on special occasion. She may have done just about everything, but one thing she was NOT was an alcoholic.

When she came back, she was not necessarily Mary Sue, but she wasn't Roxanne anymore either. She was a mentor; someone who had been to hell in a hand basket and was making it out okay.

Lisa was just what I needed. We met and became almost instant friends. She saw what I was going through and wanted to help me.

She did.

When we turned 18, she got accepted into Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts. I couldn't bear the thought of loosing her, so I spent a shit load of my parent's social security and bought my way in after her.

That's how much I need her.

She made me stop hating and taught me to love again.

She's my family now.

She made me stop smoking; something that still vexes me. While I don't smoke on a regular basis anymore, sometimes I get thrown into a situation where I HAVE to have a cigarette.

Such as being trapped on a bus for 2 hours on the way to the state Art Museum with my worst enemy.

Julie.

She was a roommate (briefly) with Lisa and me. She is a valedictorian bitch. She starts rumors, is a thief, and is just as twofaced as can be.

And now, I was stuck on a bus headed to the State Art Museum.

"I really want a cigarette." I whined as I stuffed a few gummy bears in my mouth.

"I know, Sarah. Eat your gummy bears," said Lisa, not looking up from her book.

"Gee, I love you too, Lisa."

Lisa glanced up at that and gave a sweet smile.

"Here, I have something that'll make you forget all about that damned cigarette."

"What, a Hershey Bar?" I asked in a bored tone.

"No, something better."

I perked up at this. Something better than chocolate?

Lisa dug through her splatter pained messenger bag and pulled out her portable DVD player and a familiar DVD.

"Aladdin! Yay Genie!" I squealed, suddenly hyper.

We got a few stares and heard a few people (coughJuliecough) mumble 'freaks'. But we didn't care. We had our joint obsession…Aladdin!