Okay guys, important note here. By the time that Chapter 4 comes out, my penname is changing to 'KeyBella23'. I've hated my penname for quite awhile now, probably because it was something that I made when I was eleven, sneaking on here to write fanfics, haha. So instead of seeing 'DivaGurl277' you will now see 'KeyBella23'.

Also, the website will be put up for release to you all on Saturday, February 7th, 2009. It's actually all set to go, it just has a few cosmetic changes to go through!

Here's the third chapter, enjoy!

Keyarrah

I awoke the next morning to feet in the vicinity of my face.

I opened my eyes to see Skylar sprawled out wildly on my bedroom floor, apparently subconsciously trying to give me a taste of her toes. I shoved her feet out of my face disgustedly, since it is a well-known fact that my cousin has been known to go without socks…always, even when wearing boots. I sat up with a big, somewhat exaggerated yawn.

"Happy Monday," a tired voice grumbled somewhere nearby.

I was unsure of whether it was Leanna or Anya since they both had the same early morning croak in their voices. I blinked until I found myself getting adjusted to the very familiar surroundings I was currently in.

As per the Monday morning tradition, I woke up on my bedroom floor with five sleeping people, and one, whom I still had yet to identify, that was awake. As I opened my eyes fully, the first thing I was met with was a deep violet colored wall with black crown moldings. Near the door was what could be described as a miniature-clothing mountain, made up of mostly my laundry (dirty, clean, and stuff in between), the girls' suitcases, hygienic products, and the other crap they usually brought into my room every Sunday night.

I shook my head at the mess. My messes (which there were quite a few of) didn't bother me much, if at all. It was just when other people's mess was on top of my mess that I got a little…twitchy.

In my wretchedly tired state, I turned left to see Leanna sitting up and stretching up so far that her pajama top rode up above her belly button. Her hair was messy, and I snickered at the giant tuft of brown that was currently sitting on her head. Hearing my laughter, she looked confused for a moment before she slowly brought a hand up to her head. She groaned as her fingers tangled themselves in the mass of curls. She was a sight to see with messy hair and ice-cream cone pajamas.

"It isn't," I yawned, "that bad. Besides, I guarantee you that Leslie's will look worse."

I was swiftly kicked by said redhead who turned over to glare at me stating, "I'm not asleep, you know."

I rolled my eyes at Leslie and tried my best to get up without tripping over Skylar, who wasted no time even in a deep slumber and immediately replaced her feet where my face had been not too long ago, B.V., or Anya who didn't look like they'd be getting up anytime soon.

"I'm going to the bathroom." I whispered, escaping the Leslie and Skylar sandwich I'd just been in.

Leanna nodded and Leslie rolled back over, probably about to go back to sleep. One quick glance at my friends, and I carefully tiptoed towards the door. It was cracked, so it didn't make as much noise as I widened it to make my get away.

As my bare feet dragged across the carpet, I almost made it to the bathroom when I heard a muffled, "Damnit!"

My heart sped up a little faster when I recognized his voice.

First off, let me point out that I am definitely not the fawning type, okay? Yes, while my intimate group of friends is made up of six girls whom I happen to share a lifelong connection with, no, I do not sit around giggling and curtsying and whatever else fawning girls do. You see how different I am from a fawning girl? I don't even know what they do, that's how different I am.

So while that has been made clear, I feel totally unashamed in the way that my heart started to literally skip beats, and how I let out a shaky breath that I didn't even know I was holding.

I suddenly didn't have to pee anymore for some reason, and my new destination was chosen. I smoothed down my hair a little and calmly (or at least it was supposed to be) walked down the stairs to see the one and the only, Christopher Caulder peering intently into our refrigerator.

Standing there slumped against the door with his light brown hair looking as moppy and disheveled as ever, he stood there in a plain white t-shirt, royal blue plaid boxer shorts, and white tube socks.

My heartbeat seemed to finally regain its senses and a little too much of its stride as it increased rapidly.

Obviously, if you haven't guessed by now, I have a bit of a crush on Chris Caulder. No, crush isn't the right word. I don't 'crush'. I think that what I feel is more of…an excruciating 'like'. Yes, I like him so much that I am in pain…but it's all in my head, of course, like that's normal.

Apparently, as I stood there in a self-debate the object of my affection/affliction thought it would be a good idea to turn around. Now here I am, standing face to face with the brown eyes, brunette mop hair, appealing grin, and artistic personality that made up Chris.

"Alexis," he grinned at me. "Just the girl I was hoping to see. Okay, that's kind of a lie. You're the second girl I was hoping to see. I was actually looking for your mom to come downstairs."

I was about to question why when I was interrupted by the loud grumbling that is the notorious stomach of the teenage boy. I laughed.

"Please tell me you know your way around a kitchen, Lex, 'cause I am completely clueless and completely starving." He told me sheepishly.

Laughing again, I gently moved him out of the way before opening the fridge back. Pushing aside Mom's veggie stuff, and sifting through the cans upon cans of Lindsay's liquid diet crap, I found the bacon stashed way in the back. I tossed the package to Chris, who caught it sloppily, taken off guard.

I grabbed the eggs out of the door and placed them on the counter, but not before grabbing the bacon back from Chris.

As I got the frying pan out, I let my girly side out and let myself daydream about the future. I could honestly see myself doing this well into the years of our marriage. I could see him as he was now: completely adorable and utterly useless in the kitchen. I would feed him, because that is truly the way to a man's heart and he would whisk me up and kiss me senseless.

Blinking back from 'Girly-Gaga-Land' I felt myself grimace as I thought of the one thing that stood in our way. The one thing that could not be moved. The one thing that no matter how hard I tried it just wouldn't—

"I hope you know the number to Poison Control," Ryan drawled as he hopped down the stairs, shirtless as usual. "Because you're going to need it if you plan on eating the massacre Alexis is about to prepare."

Did I mention that Chris is my brother's best friend? …'Cause he kind of is.

"I hope you also know the number for the paramedics." I countered as I cracked an egg in the pan and put the bacon into the one already sitting atop the other burner. I turned them both on and thought evil things about Loserboy, a.k.a. Ryan the Insufferable.

Ryan smirked at me, sitting down and propping his feet on the chair next in front of him. "In case Poison Control doesn't make it in time to save our stomachs?"

"No, in case Mom and Dad don't make it in time to save your face." I threw the eggshell at him with a scowl.

Chris' laughter was heard from not too far away, because for some reason he thought that our 'sibling interactions' were funny. The poor boy had no siblings, so he'd never know that we didn't have 'interactions'. We had roof-shaking battles and 'total war' inspired fights.

"So much for 'just going to pee'." Leslie shuffled into the kitchen in blue spotted slippers, a blue t-shirt and gray track pants.

She nodded at Chris and pushed Ryan's legs off the chair that she'd chosen to sit on before her head hit the table with a 'thonk'.

"Ow…" my redheaded cousin murmured.

"That's safe." The airy voice of B.V. rang, as she waltzed down the last few steps. B.V. usually wore shorts and a tank top to bed, and last night was no exception. She also has a stupid crush on Loserboy that isn't even worth going into detail about.

To give B.V. credit though, she's actually pretty discreet about it. B.V. definitely isn't the type to be caught out there, so it was of no surprise to me that she coolly nodded at him and sat down next to Leslie.

"Are you talking about Leslie's concussion or the fact that Alexis is near the stove?" Ryan asked with his eyes alight with humor.

"Uhm, both of those and the fact that the bacon's burning." B.V. said, more to me than to him.

I turned quickly to see that the bacon was indeed charbroiling. Cajun style, anyone? …Anyone?

"…is it too late to wake up your mom?" Chris wondered as his stomach growled again.

I threw the sizzling pan into the sink and went to go pee.

­After the girls eventually all got up and we ate breakfast (which yes, Mom cooked) they hung out for awhile before they began to go home. In the end it was about noon when it was only Jolene and myself left.

We'd long since showered and dressed, and we now looked more like fifteen-year-old girls than rumpled monkeys. Jolene's hair was put up into a high ponytail while mine was just messily clipped back with a barrette I stole from Mom.

With nothing left to do until Aunt Raven or Uncle Mark came to pick her up, we went into the family room and turned on Brain Splatter IV.

"So, you excited about school?" Jolene questioned, brushing her bangs out of her face as she stared hard at the television.

I shrugged, and then remembered that she couldn't see me. "Yeah, I guess. I'm not ecstatic or anything. It's just school."

I made a face. Just the thought of my summer coming to an end put a bitter taste in my mouth. The end of the July was already here and I was not pleased about it at all. The only reason to look forward to summer ending would be winter, which was far off. Winter in Amity is amazing because it's the only place in California where it snows.

Aunt Jazz says it's because of the spectral action and the fact that the ghosts lower the temperature more so at a certain time. Aunt Emma says our town just has freaky winters, but Aunt Jazz said the yearly temperature drop is just a coincidence and that it could have just as easily occurred in August. Alexis doesn't really care. She just thinks the snow is amazing.

Jolene laughed slightly and then did something weird with the controller. I tried to imitate her and succeeded in doing what her character had just done. For two girls who knew nothing about zombie killing we rocked hardcore.

"C'mon, it'll be fun. Haven't you always wanted to see the setting?"

I snorted and pressed 'X' repeatedly. "The setting of what, school? Ooh, books, teachers, social cliques. Fun."

Jolene shook her head out of the ponytail and thwapped me with her long hair. "No, the setting of the stories, dummy. Haven't you always wondered what it'd be like to walk down the hallways and be in the dorms our moms were in? To relive the stories?"

"No." I answered without hesitation. "I've been there a bunch of times for stuff involving Loserboy and Lindsella DeVil. I've seen the setting. It's old, and it's big, and it's a school."

We both jumped and cried out as a shrieking roar was emitted from the rogue Zombie Queen that appeared out of thin air.

"Way to rain on my parade, Lexie." She deadpanned mockingly, after our hearts were done racing.

I let out a whoop as we defeated the queen. "Oh, please. If anything I'm protecting you and your artistic virtue."

Jolene paused the game and turned to me questionably. "'Artistic virtue'?" She repeated. I nodded.

"Yes. You don't want to go to that school. It's yucky, and stuffy, and boring. It's not you." I explained.

"Maybe I have multiple personalities. It might be one of me!" Jolene argued. I rolled my eyes and unpaused the game only to blink in surprise as Jolene's character fell to the ground as a zombie drone killed her character.

Jolene definitely did not have multiple personalities. If anyone had multiple personalities it was me…or maybe Skylar. For some reason, I feel more comfortable pinning that on Skylar. Maybe that's one of my multiple personalities. Yes, I have a selfish, blaming personality.

I'll call her Lorraine, just because in first grade there was this brunette girl who cut off one of her pigtails and said I did it because she wanted my Fluff Cake and I wouldn't fork it over. …Stupid Fluff Cake loving skank. I got in trouble for that!

"Did I lose?" she questioned.

"Well…you have no head, so probably." I remarked, ending the game while thinking evil things about Lorraine Malevich.

"Hm," Jolene said thoughtfully. "So this is what teenage boys are doing instead of watching television? Seems like a lateral move."

"Teenage boys and Bridget-Victoria." I corrected.

Jolene and I sat down on one of our dark olive colored sofas. The family room was probably one of my favorite rooms in the whole house. My parents, or rather my mother, decorated the room to seem homey. The walls were a creamy tan color and the carpet was a deep olive color. The couches were darker than the carpet though, and they were hands down the most comfortable couches in the universe.

The flat-screen, which was held in a dark wood cabinet, was moderately sized, but sort of large compared to standard TVs, and under that sat a projector, every type of movie player you could imagine. In the final shelf sat about two hundred movies all on microscopic disks. The disks were really expensive, but we got them for free. Just a minor perquisite of being the best friends and godchildren of the creators of FolCo, I guess.

The entertainment system wasn't really the main attraction of the room though; the décor was what really brought people in. The walls were decorated with art pieces made by Aunt Ashley and a couple of virtually unknown artists. Two abstract lamps sat nearest to the glass patio door leading to the pool, and the coffee table that matched the television cabinet was engraved with intricate designs on the sides and the legs of it. The best part about this room was that it actually looked lived in.

Lindsay's fashion magazine's littered the floor nearest Jolene, Ryan's track sneakers sat near the sliding door, and besides myself being in this room, I was pretty sure that my belongings were strewn in this room somewhere.

My parents could easily afford million dollar art to decorate the walls, and we could even have a freaking fountain near the key rack, but they both felt better about having the family room literally seem like a family room, and not 'a damn museum' as Mom would say in her heated debates with Grandma Manson on the subject.

"Why are you so amped for school anyway?" I asked, referring back to our latter topic.

"It's high school. Regardless of the fact that it's a boarding school, we're still going to be freshmen, whichever way you look at it. It's like…a glimpse of normal life." Jolene persuaded.

I wasn't buying it. I gave her a pointed look and grabbed the remote to flick on the national news channel to show her what I knew would be on. There was my dad, making his speech last night, and three different journalists from three different countries commenting on it in side panels surrounding the view of him and the podium.

"I'll never have a normal life." I corrected.

I suddenly remembered something from last night. "Hey Jo,"

She didn't bother to look over from the television. From the journalists' words, Dad had just begun speaking and they were liking what he said so far. "Mm?"

"Who's Vlad?" I wondered, repeating the name I'd heard my parents fret over in the car.

"Vlad who?" she asked, looking at me.

"That's what I'm asking you. Apparently someone named Vlad is in Amity, and my parents are really freaked out about it." I explained.

Jolene looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "Maybe it's a political thing." I shook my head as I recalled Mom's words last night. My mother had even gone as far as to call Dad 'Daniel' to prove her point.

"No. My mom clearly stated that my, Lindsay and Ryan's lives were in some kind of danger, and Dad seemed afraid. You think it's some kind of ghost?" I wondered more to myself than to Jolene.

Jolene laughed. "Your dad? Afraid of a ghost? Not plausible, Lexie. Besides, what ghost would be dumb enough to come after your family?"

I gave a small laugh as I thought about what she was saying. "Yeah, true."

Both of our heads turned as the doorbell rang. I got up lazily, and stretched as I made my way to answer it. I got to the door when I noticed a tall shadowy figure through the glass pane.

"Who is it, Lex?" Dad asked from behind me. I shrugged.

I opened the door and there stood a tall, slender Latina woman in a blue sundress and heels.

"Danny!" she cried ecstatically, shoving past me to hug my father.

"Honey, who is i—" Mom stood on the bottom of the steps just gaping for a moment before she got this look on her face…a scary look.

I've known my mother all my life, obviously, and never have I seen that look before. I was positive that if Mom had powers, her eyes would be glowing furiously. And then she said the one name I'd only heard in stories.

"Paulina."

I know, it's like a game of 'Guess who's coming for dinner!'. Haha, never know who's going to pop up next. Poor Alexis has no clue about anything. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!