New story… YAY!

This one is all human, hope you like it!

Disclaimer for the whole story:

I do not own the characters; Richelle mead does

I do not own the places and story line; Jeanine Le Ny does

Characters in this story are OOC

"Lissa, I can't go with you to Bella Island. It's my dog, Rocky. He… he's come down with, um, scurvy."

Rose Mazur stared intently at her reflection in the mirror, hoping to make the excuse somewhat believable. No such luck.

She glanced back at the healthy brown mutt sprawled on her bedroom rug happily chomping on a squeaky plastic shoe. So what else was Rose supposed to say? That her parents had suddenly -at the last minute- decided that, at age sixteen, she wasn't mature enough to go on a fabulous vacation without them? Which, in all honesty, was the main point. To go without them.

Rose whirled around to lean on the white dresser attached to her mirror and let her gaze fall across the overstuffed navy duffel on her royal-blue coloured bedspread. It was all zipped and sausage-like,

ready to be lugged to the resort island where pretty much everyone from Richfield Academy for Girls would be lounging for the summer. That included her good friend Lissa Dragomir, who had invited Rose to stay at the family 'cottage' complete with maid, cook, and personal Pilates instructor.

"I can't believe they waited until this morning to tell me," Rose muttered, getting angry all over again.

It was bad enough that Rose and Lissa- and the rest of the girls at the Academy, for that matter- came from alternate universes. Rose didn't live in one of the grand historic homes of Richfield or on a sprawling estate just outside the village like her classmates did. Instead, Rose resided on Pelican Island, which was famous for, well, pelicans, and for commercial fishing, not to mention the faint stench of gutted sardines.

The thing was, Rose could survive without having the whole Paris Hilton lifestyle going on like her friends, but why couldn't she spend a couple of weeks away from her family? It's not as if Rose, aka Miss A-student-who's-never-seen-a-day-of-detention-ever, had given her parents a reason to disturb her. No, as far as she was concerned, an excuse about a dog with scurvy was far less humiliating than admitting to her parents' overprotective insanity.

"Rosie! You'd better get going if you want to catch your friend at the dock!" her seventeen-year-old brother, Mason, yelled from somewhere downstairs.

"It's Rose!" Rose shouted back. And it had been for two years, though Mason- along with the rest of her family- hadn't seemed to notice.

Rose gave Rocky a quick pat on the head before thudding down to the family's small, sunny kitchen. She found Mason standing in front of the fridge in his pajama bottoms, taking a swig from the orange juice container. His twin, Eddie, was perched on the green counter and making that annoying Ummmm, Ummmm noise as he wolfed down a huge bowl of cornflakes.

Eddie, a man of few words, glanced up at Rose and let out a belch in her direction.

"Nice," Rose commented, swiping the OJ from Mason, who smiled, then ripped one in her face. "Mmmuuuurrrrp!"

Ew. Sour juice and onions. Rose wrinkled her nose.

"Can't you guys wait until I'm gone before you release your noxious fumes?" she asked, reaching around Eddie to grab a glass from the cabinet.

"Consider yourself lucky I passed on the second helping of cauliflower last night," Eddie responded. He shoved a spoonful of cereal and began to chew. "Ummm, ummm…"

"I didn't." Mason clenched his stomach dramatically. "Uh-oh. You'd better get out of here, Rose." He doubled over "Oh, ohhhhhh…"

"You're disgusting!" Rose cried and darted outside through the side door. Hysterical laughter erupted from inside the kitchen, along with several fake farting noises.

Rose rolled her eyes, knowing this was it: this was her summer right here in all its glory. She turned to leave the house.

"Rosie, hold up." Mason opened the old screen door and stretched in the doorway. "I almost forgot. Mom and Dad want you to go by the store after you say good-bye to your friend."

"Yeah, okay," Rose said. They probably wanted to ground her for her 'attitude' this morning. But who could blame her for being in a bad mood?

"See you later," she told Mason, who released the screen door with a slam.

Rose trekked through the grass past the colourful lilies Dad had planted on the side of their house, then down a short path to the side-walk. It wasn't long before she was crossing the small concrete bridge that led to the mainland. She passed underneath the two enormous gray open-winged, open-mouthed pelican statues that could be considered either welcoming or disturbing, depending on hoe you saw the world. An arched sign poised between the pelicans read WELCOME TO PELICAN ISLAND, which always struck Rose as funny since nobody from the mainland ever traveled over that bridge and the people Pelican seemed to like it that way.

Once on the other side, Rose took a sharp right, passing the round blue-and-white Bella Island jitney ticket booth, and headed down the long crowded pier toward the ferry. She spotted Lissa in the distance, leaning casually on a rail in cute white shorts and a matching tank with her long blonde hair pulled into a sleek ponytail.

"Hi, Lissa," Rose said approaching.

"Hey, girl. My bags are already on the boat."

Lissa slid her enormous black sunglasses to the top of her head and spied Rose's empty hands.

"Where's your stuff?" She searched behind Rose, probably looking for a porter or something. "I have some bad news Liss." Rose took a deep breath and spilled it. "Abe and Janine changed their minds. I can't go."

"What?" Lissa gasped. "But we have the whole summer planned. Pilates every morning, tennis and Tuesdays and Thursdays, pool hopping and the beach club every other day… and how am I supposed to flirt with the hotties from Berkley Prep if I don't have my best friend to back me up?" she asked, swinging her shiny ponytail over her shoulder for emphasis.

Rose loved the fact that Lissa had no clue about how gorgeous she was and that every boy with a pulse at Berkley probably had a crush on her.

"Somehow I think you'll manage," she replied. Lissa shook her head.

"It's not right. You're going to miss everything. Why did your parents change their minds?"

Rose briefly considered the scurvy excuse. "Does it really matter why?" she said instead, which, she had to admit, came out sounding rather mysterious and cool.

"I guess not." Lissa sighed and sagged her shoulders. "This is so unfair. Maybe I could talk to them." she brightened. "You know how good I am with the guilt."

This was true, but Rose knew better that to pull the manipulation tactic on her parents.

"No thanks. It'll only make things worse, believe me." Lissa twisted her ponytail around the finger of her right hand.

"I don't even want to go without you, but Mother's expecting me. I'll bet she makes me hang out with my cousin, Muffy, all summer now that you won't be around," she added with a slight pout. "She doesn't like to subject strangers to the torment, but she has no problem making me have to suffer through it."

Lissa had a tendency toward the dramatic, but Rose zeroed in on the cousin's name. "Tell me you're kidding. Your cousin's name is not Muffy!"

She laughed.

Lissa laughed too. "No, no. Not really," she admitted. "It's just my personal nickname for her."

"Oh?" Rose asked. "Do I want to know why?"

"See for yourself," Lissa remarked and nodded down the pier.

As if on cue, a girl about their age with curly blonde highlights twisted into a bun on the top of her head bounced down the planks, her baby pink tennis skirt flicking side to side.

"Oh, hi-yeeee, Lissa!" Muffy cried, waving. Rose watched Lissa's cousin quickly buzz in and around the crowd like a hyperactive bee as she made her way toward them. Lissa was so casual and easy going, it was hard to believe the two were even related.

"She's definitely energetic."

Lissa replied by heaving another sigh just as Muffy reached them.

"Hi, girls!" Muffy sang. "Hope you've been practicing your tennis if you want to win a game this summer, Lissa." She put her hands together and did a little mock swing, then gave Rose a friendly wink.

Lissa plastered a fake smile onto her lips. "Sure have cuz."

"Awesome!" Muffy said enthusiastically. "Well, I guess I'll beat you to the window seat. See you on the boat! Byeeeee!"

"She's sooo hyper," Lissa complained. "I think I need a nap."

"I feel for you," Rose said, watching as Muffy bounced and chatted her way to the boat.

"But I still don't get why you call her…" And then, as Lissa's cousin turned to step onto the ship's entrance ramp, Rose noticed it. From the back the bun kind of made the poor girl's head resemble a gigantic banana-walnut muffin.

"Ahhh, I see… Shouldn't you say something to her? I mean, she is your cousin."

"I've tried," Lissa admitted. "But apparently the Muffstress saw the hairstyle during Fashion Week in New York and convinced that I just don't want her to look good." She rolled her eyes. "And don't let that bubbly exterior fool you. The girl is completely fake. And seriously competitive. About everything. Ugh! This summer is going to reek!"

"Tell me about it," Rose added, thinking back to her brothers and how they'd pretty much turned teasing her into a team sport.

The ferry horn sounded and Mr. Oliveri, a weathered deckhand who lived around the corner from Rose shouter, "All aboard! All aboard to Bella Island!"

As the crowd of polo-shirted men and women is straw hats pressed forward on the entrance ramp, Lissa gave Rose a big squeeze.

"I'm going to miss you so much!"

"Me too." Rose hugged her back. She really was.

"Promise to call or text me as soon as anything juicy happens?"

"Totally," Lissa said racing up the ramp and boarding the boat just in time. "You too, ok? She called. "See ya!"

Rose nodded and waved as she watched the jitney start its two-hour journey across to Bella Island. She stood there long enough for the pier to clear out and the din to fade except for the squawking of a few stray pelicans circling above the water, looking for breakfast. Now what? She wondered.

She must have seemed pretty pathetic standing there by herself because old Mr. Oliveri came over to console her.

"Don't worry kid," he said patting her shoulder. "Bella Island is only a ferry ride away." But to Rose, that ride might as well have been a transatlantic cruise.

Is it good? I am typing the next 2 chapters at the moment but I need to know if I should continue or not.

Please let me know by your reviews! :P

~Leah