StephaniesStoryBook.com

Genre: Drama

It was December eleventh and Dunbar High was having it's very last pep rally before Christmas break. Mercedes watched in aw as Tina lead the cheerleading squad in the school cheer. "Hey Sadie! didn't expect to see you here" Bonita said. "Yeah the home schooled kids are allowed to attend school events if they can" Mercedes said. "Cool you'll get to see the step teams new routine" Bonita said as she waved goodbye and headed to the girls locker room to change into her team outfit. Mercedes looked over in the bleachers and saw her sister Charlotte with her new friend Ashya Peoples. "Ok everyone give it up for our cheerleading squad and their lovely coach Mrs. Turner!" couch Reeves said as the cheerleaders made their way out of the gym. Next was the step team. They came out to a song called Like This by a rapper named MIMS. Mercedes loved watching Bonita do her steps. She was very good. Mercedes was always trying to get her to try out for the cheerleading squad. Their uniforms were very pretty. They weren't the school colors. They were black with glitter that was a very bright blue. The girls wore skirts and t-shirts and the guys wore pants and long sleeve hoody shirts. The new routine was very original. Mercedes just knew that Bonita came up with it on her own. At the end of the pep rally everyone was leaving to start their two week Christmas break. Mercedes had just got outside when the girls caught up with her. "Hey Sadie!" Mackenzie said hugging her. "Hey Kenzie how are you?" she asked. "Good waiting for Elyssa to get out here so we can go shopping" Mackenzie said looking around for her. "Yeah I gotta start my Christmas shopping too" Mercedes said with look of thought on her face. "Ok I'm ready!" Elyssa yelled running toward them. "See ya later Kenzie!" Mercedes yelled as the two girls ran off. "Hey Charlotte need a ride home?" Mercedes asked. "No I'm going over to Ashya's and her mom will give me a lift home" Charlotte said as Ashya's mom pulled up. "It's freezing out here" Mackenzie stated hoping her thick fake fur coat would keep her warm until the bus got there. "I'm to excited to be cold" Elyssa said. "Why?" Mackenzie asked. "Because I'll find out if I got that job at the new hair salon today" Elyssa said as the bus pulled up. "So who all do you have to buy for this year?" Mackenzie asked. "Will there's my two sisters Kristine and Cloe, my seven brothers, you, Bonita, Mercedes, my aunt, and since she's coming for a visit my cousin Honesty, oh and there's also Charlotte" Elyssa said, "and that's why I need this job. So I can save up money". "Wow with that list you need two jobs" Mackenzie teased. The girls got off the bus and ran across the street from the mall to the new hair salon 'Glam Cuts'. Elyssa went up to the girl behind the counter and told her she had an appointment with the boss. "Mrs. Savol will see you soon" the lady said taking Elyssa's application. Elyssa sat down beside Mackenzie and they talked until the lady said Mrs. Savol would see her now. Elyssa walked in the huge office and shook Mrs. Savol's hand. "Please Ms. Blessings have a seat" she said pointing to a blue plastic chair. Elyssa sat down as Mrs. Savol opened her file. "Well I see you've been doing hair since you were five" Mrs. Savol said. "Yes ma'am it's my passion" Elyssa said. "You said you know fifty different styles already and are trying to learn three new ones" Mrs. Savol said. "Yes" Elyssa said with a little smile. "Any particular areas of hairstyling you like?" Mrs. Savol asked. "Yes I love braiding, dying, and washing" Elyssa said. "What time do you get out of school Ms. Blessings?" Mrs. Savol asked grabbing a pen. "Well right now we're on our two week break but, usually around two-thirty" Elyssa said. "Can you start at ten-thirty for the next two weeks Monday through Friday?" Mrs. Savol asked. "Yes" Elyssa said. "Then you have the job" Mrs. Savol said, "Welcome to Glam Cuts Ms. Blessings". Elyssa said thanks and ran out happy as could be. "I got the job!" she said, "hey instead of shopping today let's just go to my house. I gotta tell me aunt". They ran out of the salon and waited for another bus. "So how much does this job pay?" Mackenzie asked. "Well since the place is owned and ran by a wealthy family I'll get thirty dollars a day for showing up since I'm a student, I'll get twenty dollars every two weeks for my pay check, and plus whatever tips my customers leave me" Elyssa said. Mackenzie loved seeing Elyssa so happy. They got to Elyssa's house and she ran in screaming. "Aunt Destiny!". "What's so exciting?" her aunt asked. "I got the job at Glam Cuts" Elyssa said hugging her aunt. "That's great. I just made some hot chocolate, you girls want some?" her aunt asked. The girls got their hot chocolate and went upstairs to look through some catalogs for Christmas shopping.

Ashya's mom pulled up in front of their three story house and the girls ran in. "Come on you gotta see my new computer game" Ashya said as she opened her bedroom door. Charlotte looked around Ashya's room and it was very pretty in there. She looked around her computer and saw a big shelf filled with CDs. "Wow that's alot of CDs" Charlotte said. "Yeah they're mainly computer games" Ashya said. Charlotte went to take a few games off the shelf to look at. "No! don't do that!" Ashya said., "Just get one out at a time". Charlotte gave her a funny look but, since it was her room she obeyed. "Look at this game it's like a virtual horse ranch type game" Ashya said. Charlotte looked at the game and it almost looked real. "This is my favorite horse. Her name is Brownie" Ashya said as a light brown horse galloped across the screen. Just then a knock came on the door. "Come in" Ashya called. "Hey girls I'm making dinner. Do you wanna join us Charlotte?" Ashya's mom asked. "Uh not tonight it's my family fiesta tonight" Charlotte said. "We'll get your stuff together and I'll give you a ride home" her mom said and closed the door. "Let me use the bathroom and we'll go" Ashya said and rushed to the bathroom. Charlotte put her coat on and waited for Ashya to return. "Thanks for the ride home" Charlotte said and walked up the dirt path to her front door. She walked in and saw her sister La'Nita playing with her cabbage patch doll. "Hey Lita where's Sadie and Mom?" she asked. La'Nita pointed to the kitchen. Charlotte walked and saw pictures of horses laying on the kitchen table. "Are these the new horses we're getting?' Charlotte asked. "Yeah" Mercedes said. "Ok the first is an alkah teke named Angel's Glory" Mercedes said writing it down in there horse book. She took the page info from a vanilla folder about the horse. "Has she ever been bred?" Mercedes asked. "No" her mom said as Mercedes wrote it down. "Where did she come from?" Mercedes asked. "She came from the zoo downtown. I guess they're over crowded with animals and couldn't keep her" her mom said and Mercedes jotted it down. "Ok what about her medical history?" Mercedes asked. "Well she's always been healthy and she's had all her shots" her mom said. "Ok last question is she a race horse or a showcase horse?" Mercedes asked. "Showcase" her mom said. Mercedes finished the paper for Angel's Glory and moved on to the next horse. "This horse is a male american dream draft named Godly" Mercedes said writing his name and breed down. "He's been bred twice" her mom said as she wrote it down. They finished the papers on the new horses and put them in the record book. "Ok we got that done now who's racing this week?" Mercedes asked walking over to the scheduling board. "Well we have no showcases this week" her mom said, "but I do want Speeder to race and I want Quest in a gallop race". Mercedes wrote down that both horses would race Tuesday. "Ok well Charlotte let me go get your sister and we'll start on our fiesta dinner" her mom said and walked into the living room. "I'm gonna go take a nap before dinner" Mercedes said and went upstairs. "Ok let's see what ingratiates we need for dinner tonight" Mary said grabbing a pen and note pad. La'Nita went to the fridge and opened it. "What do we need Honey?" her mom asked. "We need one pack of tortillas, one head of lettuce, and two things of sour cream" she said as her mom wrote it all down. "Ok what do we need from the cabinet Charlotte" Mary asked. Charlotte opened the cabinet and looked. "We need one jar of salsa, ten packs of taco seasoning, a container of tomatoes, two boxes of taco shells, a bottle of Thousand Island dressing, a bag of cheese Doritos, and a bag of corn chips" Charlotte said as her mom wrote it down. "Ok lets go" Mary said as she put her coat on. They got to the store and divided the shopping list into two lists. Charlotte and La'Nita went to get the dry ingredients while Mary shopped for the other ingredients. Charlotte was in the chip and La'Nita was right next to her and in the cookie Isle. "Hey Charlotte" she heard someone say. She turned around it was Ashya's brother Kagen. He was very handsome. He had short reddish brown hair, blue eyes, and was a total sweety. "Oh hey Kagen" she said smiling. "What are you doing here?' he asked. "Just helping my mom shop for dinner tonight" Charlotte said grabbing a family sized bag of corn chips. "Oh yeah I'm just stocking up on sweets and I was wondering maybe we could hang out sometime" He said blushing. "Sure I'll call you and let you know" she said and went to get her sister.

Later that night while charlotte was doing dishes the phone rang. "Hello" Mary greeted as she answered the phone. "Yeah hold on" she said handing the phone to Charlotte. "Hello" she said. "Yeah Charlotte it's Elyssa" Elyssa said from the other end of the line. "Oh hi Elyssa" she said. "My cousin Honesty is coming to visit for Christmas and she is throwing an all girl slumber party for my friends at Skate World. Wanna come?" Elyssa asked. "Sure can I bring a friend?" Charlotte asked. "Sure" Elyssa said. "Ok see ya tomorrow bye" Charlotte said and hung up. She finished the dishes and went upstairs to see if Ashya was online. She signed on to her yahoo account and looked on her friends list to see if Ashya was on and she was. She clicked on her name and started typing a message.

HorsieQueen1042: Hey Shy what's up?

KittyGamer112: Not much just writing my latest blog.

HorsieQueen1012: Hey feel like going to Elyssa's slumber party tomorrow night at Skate World?

KittyGamer112: Who all will be there?

HorsieGirl1042: Will me, Elyssa, Bonita, Mackenzie, and Elyssa's cousin Honesty.

KittyGamer112: Ok sure sounds fun. I'll call you later and let you know what my mom says.

Ashya logged off and went downstairs to talk to her mom about the party. "Hey mommy" she said sitting down next to her on the couch, "I was wondering if I could go to a slumber party at Skate World with Charlotte and her friends". "What if you have one of your episodes?" her mom asked. "I'll explain to them that I'm just a little hyperactive" she said, "please mom". "Ok" she said hugging Ashya. Ashya ran upstairs and called Charlotte. "Hello" Charlotte answered. "Hey Care my mom said yes" she said. "Oh cool ok my mom and I will pick you up around five thirty make sure to bring snacks of any kind, your pajama's and sleeping bag" Charlotte said. "Ok bye" Ashya said and hung up the phone. Charlotte went to her closet and got her favorite pair of pajamas. She got out a pair of short jean shorts with butterflies on it, a purple long sleeve shirt with a crown on it, and a pair of pooh bear slippers and put them in her over night bag. Then she got out her sleeping bag which was black with white unicorns on it. As she gathered her things she smiled at the hope of seeing Kagen when they picked up Ashya tomorrow.

Charlotte got to Ashya's house around five thirty and knocked on the door. "Hey Charlotte" Kagen said as he opened the door. "Hey is Ashya ready?' She asked trying not stare at how good Kagen looked in his around the house shorts. "Hey Care" Ashya said coming down the steps with her night bag. They got to the skating rink around six and walked in. All the other girls were there. "Hey Care" Bonita said letting them in. "Did you guys bring any snacks?' Elyssa asked. "Yeah I brought as much chips as I could and candy" Charlotte said handing Elyssa a bag fool of stuff. "My mom made brownies and cookies" Ashya said handing Elyssa the plates and she put them on the snack table. 'Ok girls I'll go put some music on so we can skate" Bonita said. She started the music and the girls put their skates on. Ashya hadn't skated in a while but she eventually got use to it but the girls noticed she only skated for five minutes then took like an hour break each time. "In about an hour my cousin Honesty will be here" Elyssa told Mackenzie. "Cool" Mackenzie said, "I'm starving I'm gonna go snack on something" she said walking over to the snack table. Elyssa was watching Bonita skate dance when her cell rang. "Hello" she said. "Hey Lissie" she heard her cousin Honesty say from the other end. "Hey girl! where are you?" she asked. "I'm about an hour away from there" Honesty said. "Ok see ya when you get here" Elyssa said and hung up. "Ok girls let's go change into our pjs" Elyssa said. The girls got done changing into their night clothes and sat up their sleeping bags. "So tell us about your cosuin Elyssa" Bonita said eating a brownie. "Well she's the daughter of successful music Producer Robbie Blessings" she said. "Wow I never made the connection that he was your uncle" Mackenzie said taking a sip of her pepsi. "So has she met any big stars?" Ashya asked. "well she has met Angel" Elyssa said,"as a matter of fact Angels song Not for You was written by Honesty". "Doesn't her dad produce that new boy band 2Qute?" Bonita asked. "Yep and word has it Honesty went to school with one of them" Elyssa stated. "Wow I know that Sonico is such a babe" Charlotte said. The girls talked for while then there was a knock on the entrance door. "That must be Honesty" Elyssa said running over to the doors and looking out the window. She opened it and hugged her cousin. "Girl you're gonna get so pretty I'll just have to envy you" Honesty said coming in with a bag and a big trunk. "Everyone this is Honesty. Honesty this is my girlfriend Mackenzie" she started, "and this is Bonita, Charlotte, and Ashya". "Nice to meet you all and especially you Mackenzie" Honesty said, "well since everyone else is in their nighties then I guess I'll go change into mine" Honesty said. The girls chatted while Honesty changed. Honesty came out wearing a blue velvet pajama set. The bottoms were long and the top was long enough to cover her breasts and it came down to the top of her belly button. "Wow" Elyssa said. Honesty sat up her sleeping bag and sat down with the girls.

"So were you two close as sisters when you were growing up?" Ashya asked. "You didn't tell them?" Honesty asked. "I thought it would be better for you to tell them" Elyssa said. Honesty got in her bag pulled out a big photo album. "These are all the pictures of me and Elyssa when we were growing up" Honesty said. Bonita took it and opened it and they starting looking at the pictures. "Something must be wrong these are all pictures of Elyssa and a boy' Bonita said. "That's because until I was twelve years old I was a boy named Eric" Honesty said. The girls got really quiet. "So how did you find out that you wanted to be a girl?" Mackenzie asked. 'Just as I was growing up I never felt like a boy" Honesty said. "How?" Bonita asked. "Well when most boys were playing with cars and wrestling action figures I wanted to play with dolls and wear my mom's make-up" Honesty said. "When did you make your transition from boy to girl?" Charlotte asked. "Well when I was twelve. I went to my mom and dad and told them that even though god made me a boy I knew deep down I was a girl, so from then on I wore only girl clothes and did girl things" Honesty said. "When did you start changing physically?" Mackenzie asked. "I was about fourteen when I started taking pills to help my breasts grow and fifteen when my dad arranged for the surgery" Honesty said proudly. "I've always admired her for being true to who she knew she was" Elyssa said hugging her. "You should always be yourself no matter what anyone thinks" Honesty said. "So anyone hungry?' Bonita asked getting up. "Yeah I'm starved" Honesty said. Bonita put some chips, brownies and cookies on a plate and handed them to Mackenzie to set in the middle of the circle and she grabbed a soda for each girl. 'Ok Honesty do you like girl talk?" Bonita asked. "I live for it Hun" she said taking a chip from the plate. "Ok who goes first?" Bonita asked. "I'll do it?" Mackenzie said. "Ok Kenzie what's the sexiest thing you've ever done for Elyssa?" Bonita asked. "Well on our last date we were at her house and I gave her a lap dance" Mackenzie said and the girls giggled and whistled. "I was loving it" Elyssa said. "Ok your turn Bonita" Mackenzie said, "how steamy have things gotten between you and Bryan?". "Well I'm still a virgin but, we have done some oral stuff" Bonita said blushing a little. "Hey I got a great idea" Honesty said,"can all you girls wear make-up?". "Yeah" the girls answered and Honesty walked over to her trunk and opened it. In it was tons and tons of make-up. "You girls wanna play top model?" she asked. "Yeah!" the girls screamed excitedly."Elyssa come over here and while I'm doing her make-up you girls work on poses and walks" Honesty said as Elyssa walked over and sat down at a table next to her. "Ok what color eye shadow? Honesty asked. "I like that shimmery purple color" Elyssa said. Honesty put the purple eye shadow on her and added matching eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, and lip liner. Elyssa wanted her make-up to match her nighty which turned out to be how all the other girls wanted their make-up. What was weird is when she did Ashya's make-up she didn't want anything black added to her face. "Ok ladies picture time" she said getting out her camera. Each girl did a different pose for their picture. "Ok top model time" Honesty said having the girls line up as she gathered the pictures up. After hours of playing games and skating the girls called it a night. When she was sure everyone was asleep Bonita got her book out and wrote to her brother.

Dear Eric,

Hey bro! hope your doin good. I've been pretty good lately. I just spent tonight at a sleep over Elyssa's cousin put together for us. She's the daughter of successful musc producer Robbie Blessings. I think she's very brave. She's what they call transgender. She was born a boy, but knew in her heart she was a girl. I admire people who don't hide who they are for shame of other people not accepting them. Well I gotta go love ya bye.

She put the book back in her bag and took out her teddy bear and went to sleep.

The girls got up around eight and got ready to go home. Elyssa and Honesty got to Elyssa's house around nine thirty. "Hey Aunt Destiny!" Honesty said coming in the house. "Hey Honey" she said hugging her, "you girls hungry?". "Yeah a little bit" Elyssa said. "Ok well I'll make you girls some scrambled eggs and bagels" Destiny said walking into the kitchen. "Hey look at this outfit I wanna get Mackenzie for Christmas" Elyssa said showing Honesty a pretty red outfit. The bottoms were bell bottoms and the top was a long sleeve shirt with a glittery teddy bear on it. "Aw very cute" Honesty said. After they ate breakfast they went up to Elyssa's room. "So what all do you have planned for your birthday bash?" Elyssa asked. "Well I don't know I wrote down some ideas" Honesty said getting her faithful notebook out of her bag. Elyssa turned to the first page and saw karaoke. "What kind of karaoke?' Elyssa asked. "Well I was thinking of buying three different colored binders. One for solo female songs, one for solo male songs, and one for duet songs." Honesty said writing it down in her notebook. 'I also want to have a big fashion show of models wearing my designs" Honesty said. "You have designs?" Elyssa asked. "Yeah turn to the back of the notebook and look in the pocket" Honesty said. Elyssa flipped to the back of the notebook and pulled out pictures of outfits from the pocket. They were amazing. "Wow Honesty, you drew these?" Elyssa asked looking at each design again. "No my friend drew them but, they're my ideas" she said. Just then Elyssa's cell phone rang. "Hello" she said. Honesty just flipped through her notebook while she was on the phone. "What! I'll be right there!" Elyssa hung up and told Honesty she'd be back later. "What happened?" Honesty asked. "Charlotte's sister is in the hospital" she said and left. She got to the hospital and ran up to the maternity ward. When she got up there she saw Charlotte and the other girls. "Is she ok?" She asked. "We don't know yet" Charlotte said. They waited for what seemed like forever when the doctor came out. "Is my daughter ok doctor?' Mary asked. "Yes but, she's gonna have to deliver prematurely" the doctor said. "What about the baby?" Mary asked. "Well if it's taken care of properly it'll survive but, it coud be born with complications" the doctor said. "What complications?" Charlotte asked. "We're not sure but, as soon as we find out we'll let you know" the doctor said and went back to the delivery room. Mary was stunned. "It'll be ok Mommy" Charlotte said resting her head on her mom's shoulder. "Here Honey" Mary said getting into her purse and getting out some money, "go get you and your friends some snacks I'm gonna go call your dad". Charlotte signaled for the girls to go with her. They got to the cafeteria and the girls noticed Charlotte was really quiet. "What's wrong Care?" Bonita asked. "Just worried about Mercedes and the baby" she said. "I'm sure everything will be ok Care" Bonita said putting her arm around her shoulder. They got their snacks and headed back to where Mary was. "Did you get a hold of daddy?' Charlotte asked sitting down next to her mom. "Yeah he said he can be here within three hours" Mary said whipping her eyes with a tissue. "Has anyone called Chris and his dad yet?" Bonita asked. "Yeah they weren't home so I left a message" Mary said. A hour later the doctor came back out. "Is everything ok doctor?" Mary asked. "Yes Mercedes just delivered a baby girl. Mercedes is fine but. like we predicted the baby was born with some complications" the doctor said. "Like what?" Mary asked. "Well the baby has what is called brittle bone disease it's very common in babies born with dwarfism" the doctor said. Mary was shocked. "Now the baby will have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks maybe even months but, with the right treatment and therapy now and surgeries in the future she should be a semi healthy child by the age of at least six or seven" the doctor said. "Can we see Mercedes?' Charlotte asked. 'Yeah but, only immediate family" the doctor said as Mary and Charlotte followed the doctor to Mercedes' room.

They entered the room and saw Mercedes laying on the bed. She looked really weak from giving birth. 'Hey Honey" Mary said kissing her cheek. "Hey Momma" Mercedes said in a weak sounding voice. "How are you feeling Sadie?" Charlotte asked. "Little tired" Mercedes said, "Momma have you heard anything on the baby?". Just then the doctor that delivered the baby came in a fresh pair of scrubs. "Aw Ms. DeBoise, how are you feeling?' the doctor asked. "Tired" she responded. "Now I know you're wondering about your baby and I just wanted to say that you gave birth to a baby girl" he started, "but, she was born with dwarfism and come to found out she doesn't have brittle bone disease after all". "When will she get to leave the hospital?" Mercedes asked. "Well with enough rest you can go home within two more days and we want to keep the baby here for at least a week" the doctor said. "Ok" Mercedes said as a nurse came in. "Ms. DeBoise what would you like to name your little girl?" the nurse asked. Mercedes thought for a minute. "Miracle Styles" Mercedes said, "can I see my baby doctor?" Mercedes asked. "Sure I'll have a nurse come in here with a wheel chair to take you to see the baby" he said and left the room. About ten minutes later a nurse came by with a chair and took Mercedes to see her baby. She looked at her daughter and smiled. She was very tiny but so cute. "That's my baby. My Miracle" Mercedes said. As Mercedes was getting settled back in her bed Chris and his dad showed up. "Hey Sadie how is the baby?" Chris asked. She told him everything the doctor said and he was quiet for a long time. "You ok Honey?' Mercedes asked. "Uh yeah I gotta go" Chris said and left. "I better go see if he's ok" Mr. Styles said and left after his son. "Is he ok?" Mercedes asked. "I'm sure he'll be ok Honey" Mary said holding her daughter's hand. Around eight visiting hour was over and everybody went home. Charlotte got home and called Ashya. "Hello" Ashya's mom answered. "Is Ashya there?" Charlotte asked. 'Sorry Honey but, for some reason Ashya doesn't talk on the phone after ten" her mom said and hung up. Charlotte decided just to watch TV. Five days after Mercedes was released from the hospital she was going back to get her daughter. She thought she'd try to call Chris to see if he wanted to go with her. "You have reached the Styles residence. Sorry we're not home right now so please leave a message at the beep" the answering machine picked up. "Hey Chris it's Mercedes. I'm going to go pick up Miracle now, so if you wanna see her come by later" she said and hung up. She got outside and saw Bonita walking up the path to her house. "Hey Nita!" she said. "Hey where are you going?' Bonita asked reaching her. "To pick up Miracle. Wanna come?" Mercedes asked getting into her car. "Sure" Bonita said and got in the car. They got to the hospital and Mercedes didn't see Chris anywhere. "Ah Ms. DeBoise I take it you're here to get baby Miracle?" the doctor said greeting her. 'Yes" she said. She put Miracle in her car seat and made sure she was warm and strapped in good. On the drive home Bonita noticed how quiet Mercedes was. "So where was Chris today?' Bonita asked. 'I don't know. He's been really busy lately" Mercedes said trying not to show worry or anger for that matter. They drove into the driveway and the girls walked into the house. "Everyone look who's home" Mercedes said walking in. "Aww there's my grand baby" Mary said holding Miracle in her arms. 'Wow is that my niece?" La'Nita asked. "Yes she is" Mercedes said. "Well Sadie I'm gonna get home" Bonita said hugging her and leaving. Bonita got home and saw her Mom giving Caden his snack in the kitchen. "Hey Momma what's for dinner?' she asked. "Chicken patties and fries" her mom said. "Cool" she said kissing Caden on the cheek and running up to her room. She relaxed on her bed and called Mackenzie. "Hello" Mackenzie answered. "Hey Kenzie what's up?" Bonita asked. "Not much getting ready to go to Glam Cuts" Mackenzie said. "Oh cool have fun" Bonita said and hung up. Mackenzie grabbed her purse and started walking toward the bus stop.

She got to the salon and walked in. She saw Elyssa washing a girl's hair and waved at her as she sat down. After she got done with the girl's hair she told Mackenzie to come over and sit down. "How do you want your hair?" Elyssa asked kissing her on the cheek. "I want my curls gone" she said, "and I also want red highlights". Elyssa first washed Mackenzie’s hair. As she was straightening Mackenzie's hair Honesty came in. "Hey Honey" Elyssa said. "Hey you and your friends are still helping me tonight right?" Honesty asked sitting down. "Of course" Elyssa said as she washed Mackenzie's hair one more time. As she was putting the highlights in Mackenzie's hair she was shocked at who she saw walk in. It was her ex girlfriend Lyric Craft. "Oh my God" Elyssa said. "What?" Honesty asked. "That's Lyric" Elyssa said in a shocking voice. "That controlling little witch you dated two years ago?' Honesty asked. 'Yeah. I'm glad she cant see me over here" Elyssa said finishing Mackenzie's hair. After work Honesty and the girls picked up Bonita and went to Elyssa's house. 'Ok ladies lets get the karaoke songs in order first" Honesty said taking three binders and several pieces of paper out of her bag. "Ok so how do we do this?' Bonita asked. "Just organize them by artist alphabetically by hand and then later tonight I'll retype and print them" Honesty said. As the girls worked on the songs they noticed how quiet Bonita was. "Nita, you ok?" Elyssa asked. "Yeah just worried about Mercedes and the baby" she said. "I thought Miracle was ok" Mackenzie said. "She is. I just can't believe how Chris is acting" Bonita said. 'What's he doing?' Elyssa asked. "It seems like he's walking out on her and Miracle" Bonita said. "Why do you think that?" Mackenzie asked. "Well he left the hospital without even seeing Miracle the day she was born, never returns Mercedes' calls, and today when she went to pick Miracle up from the hospital he didn't even meet her there" Bonita said. "Wow I never thought Chris would turn out to be a jerk" Mackenzie said. Just then Honesty's phone rang. "Hello" she answered. "Oh hey daddy what's up?" she asked happy to hear from her dad. "Ok hold on let me grab my book and go out into the hall" she said and stepped out for a second. "So do you really think Chris will really walk away from his family?" Elyssa asked. "I hope not" Bonita said. "Ok thanks Daddy" Honesty said coming back into the room. "Ok girls here's what my dad has done for my party. Since Angel is to booked to perform at my party my dad got his group 2Qute to perform" Honesty said. "Hey Honesty think you could see if Sonico would dance with Charlotte at your party?' Bonita asked. 'Sure" Honesty said writing it down in her notebook. "Ok next thing my dad is letting me give you girls three hundred tickets to give away for my party" Honesty said. "How do we do that?" Mackenzie asked. "Well my party isn't until next week, so I'll put flyers and stuff up and tell people to come to one of you for tickets" Honesty said. Later that night after Bonita ate dinner she went upstairs to write to her brother.

Later that night after Charlotte helped put the kids to bed and put the gifts under the tree she went and talked to Mercedes. She walked into Mercedes room and she was putting Miracle's sleeper on her. "Hey Sadie, can we talk?' Charlotte asked standing in the doorway. "Sure Care, what's up?' Mercedes asked putting Miracle in her crib and covering her up. "It's about Ashya?' Charlotte stated sitting on Mercedes' bed. "What's going on?" Mercedes asked sitting down next to her. "Me and her brother Kagen did some research on how she acts and we think she may have OCD" Charlotte said. "Wow. Have you told her?" Mercedes asked. "We're not sure if we should tell her or her mom first" Charlotte said. "Well if it was my friend I would probably tell her mom first and see if she does anything about it" Mercedes said. "Thanks Sadie" Charlotte said giving her a hug, "Night Miracle". Charlotte went into her room and got on the computer real fast. She got on and saw that Bonita was on.

HorseQueen1042: Hey. Why aren't asleep for "Santa's arrival"?

shortygotskill: waiting for my mom to put Caden to bed so we can put the presents under the tree.

HorseQueen1042: Cool Well night.

shortygotskill: Night.

Bonita logged off and went to see if Caden was in bed yet. Bonita went into her mom's room and she was covering him up. "Can't wait for Santa?" Bonita asked. Caden shook his head and quickly went to sleep. After she helped her mom put the presents under the tree Bonita went upstairs to get ready for bed. Just as she was getting under the covers her cell phone rang. She looked at the time. It was midnight. "Hello" she answered. "Merry Christmas baby" Bryan said on the other end. "Merry Christmas Honey" she said. "I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out at the rink tomorrow. They’re having their Christmas skate party" Bryan said. "Sure our dinner should be done by the time you get off work" Bonita said. "Ok see you tomorrow baby" Bryan said. "Ok bye" Bonita said and hung up the phone. She thought of Bryan as she fell asleep. She woke to Caden squealing. She looked at the clock. It was eight in the morning. She got up and went into her mom's room. "Morning Momma" she said rubbing her eyes. "Did Caden wake you up?" her mom asked getting caden out of his crib. "Yeah" she said with a giggle. They went downstairs and Caden's eyes got big at all the presents he saw. Leanna put him down and he ran for the tree. "Here you go Caden" Bonita said handing him a little present and he started to unwrap it. 'Here Bonita this is yours" her mom said handing her a little present. She unwrapped it and it was a little box. she opened the box and inside it was a silver necklace that had her name on it. "it's beautiful momma" Bonita said hugging her mom. "Car" Caden said. "here's another present Caden" Leanna said handing it to him. After opening all their presents Bonita straightened up the living room. Just as Bonita had made a spot to put all of Caden's toys there was a knock on the door. Leanna opened it and it was Hope. "Hey Honey" she said as Hope hugged her and walked in. "Hey Hope" Bonita said hugging her. "Hey Nita" she said sitting down on the couch. 'Mommy!" Caden said running to her. Hope picked him up and hugged him. "Mommy's little prince" Hope said sitting him on her lap. "This is for you Hope" Bonita said handing her a present. She opened it and it was a wrap blanket. "It's for when your sitting outside on your balcony and wanna cover up" her mom said. "Well I brought presents too" Hope said reaching into her bag. 'Here Mom" she said handing her a present. She opened it and it was a cell phone. 'You said you got tired of waiting for the phones at the hospital to be free so now you don't have too" Hope said. Her mom kissed her on the cheek. "This is yours Bonita" Hope said handing her a bag. In it was a cute little backpack with butterflies all over it. 'Look inside it" hope said. She opened the bag and found a tiger print bangle bracelet. "Cool thanks Hope" Bomita said. "And now the best present for the best little boy" Hope said handing Caden to Leanna. She went out into the hall and brought in a power wheels ride in truck. Caden squealed and ran to his car. Hope put him in it and he moved it a little.

While Hope and her mom cooked dinner Caden drove his new teddy bear around in his new ride in truck from the living room to the laundry room and Bonita switched backpacks and stored her numbers in her new cell phone. At dinner they all caught up and laughed because Caden wouldn't eat any of the vegetables they gave him. "So Hope have you found a job yet?" Leanna asked. "I'm still looking Mom" Hope said. "I'm sure you'll find something Hope" Bonita said. After dinner Bonita went upstairs to get ready for her date with Bryan. She put her new dark blue jeans, her new black lantern sleeve shirt, and her new black uggs on. She also put on the necklace her mom gave her and the bracelet Hope Gave her. She put on her coat and went downstairs. "Mom! I'm going to the skating rink for Bryan's Christmas party!" she said grabbing her backpack off the couch. "Hey Nita" Hope said as she opened the door. "Yeah" Bonita said. "What are you doing tomorrow?" Hope asked. "Just going dress shopping for Honesty's party" she said. "I was wondering if around twelve tomorrow that you would go with me to my group counseling session" Hope said. 'Sure just pick me up on your way" Bonita said and left. As Bonita sat on the bus she took out her CD player and her favorite CD of a group called All-4-One. She put the CD in the player and put her headphones on. She put the CD on song four. It was called I swear. It was her and Bryan's song. She was relieved to have Bryan in her life. If it wasn't for him she'd be a wreck after everything she'd been through. As she got off the bus the song ended and she put everything back in her bag. She walked up the street to the skate rink and entered the building. She got her skates out of her bag and put them on. She rolled on to the floor and up to Bryan and gave him a hug. "Hey baby" he said giving her a kiss. She looked into his light blue eyes and smiled. "Wanna skate for a while?' he asked. "Sure" she said as he took her hand. They skated for about fifteen minutes just laughing and joking around. "So you hungry?" Bryan asked. "Well I could go for some nachos" Bonita said. "Ok you go to the table and I'll get our snack" Bryan said kissing her cheek and going to the snack stand. Bonita sat at the table and put her shoes back on. Bryan came back to the table and put the food down. He slid into the booth and sat beside her. As he was putting his money back in his wallet she noticed a picture of a dog. "That's a cute dog" Bomita said eating a chip from the nacho plate. "Yeah. His name was Sky" Bryan said taking the picture of his wallet. "Was?" Bonita asked. "Yeah I got him when I was about seven or eight. He was a full grown husky and nothing but, a big baby" Bryan said. "What happened?" Bonita asked trying not to sound insensitive. "Two years after I got him I was at school and my mom let him out so he could use the rest room and when I got home he was in the middle of the road in front of our house. He had been hit by a car" Bryan said with a sad tone in his voice. "I'm sorry Honey" she said holding his hand. He looked at his watch. "Dang. I gotta get ready for the next skating lesson. I'll only be twenty minutes" he said kissing her and leaving. She looked on the table and saw he left his picture of Sky on the table. She picked it up and got an idea.

She took out her binder and big bag of coloring pencils. She found a clean sheet of paper in her binder and took out her black drawing pencil. She looked at the picture of Sky and started drawing. She finished outlining and started coloring in the picture. She just got done coloring the eyes sky blue when she heard a girl call out Bryan's name. She looked up and saw a girl who had curly red hair and brown eyes. She knew it was Hailee. She was watching as the girl started to flirt with him a little. Bonita put everything in her back pack and walked out to the skate floor. "Almost done babe?" Bonita asked walking up to him. "Almost Honey" he said. Bonita kissed his cheek and walked back to her table. "I gotta go Hailee" Bryan said walking away without even looking at the girl. "So you must be Bonita" Hailee said walking to her. "And?' Bonita asked. "I was just wondering" Hailee started, "why Bryan is with a little scrub like you when he can have perfection like me". "Better a scrub then some little stuck up bitch" Bonita snapped back with anger in her voice. Hailee pushed Bonita and Bonita slapped her in her face so hard she almost fell. Hailee went to punch her but, Bonita dodged and kicked her down. Bonita got on top of her and started punching as hard as she could. The fight lasted about ten minutes and then two security guards broke them up. Bonita grabbed her bag and walked outside just as Bryan had told Hailee to leave her alone. "Bonita!" Bryan yelled running after her. "What happened?' he asked catching up to her. "do you want her Bryan?' Bonita asked. "What?" he said. "If you do then I'll just.." before she could finish her sentence he kissed her. 'Why would want her when I have a girl like you" Bryan said hugging her. 'I love you" she said hugging him. "I love you too. Which is why I got you this" he said getting a tiny little box out of his pocket. He opened it and inside was a beautiful silver ring with a pink heart shaped ruby in the middle. "Bryan it's gorgeous" Bonita said. "There's something I need to say" Bryan said. Bonita knotted her head. "I've dated a few girls since I was twelve and no one has made me feel like you do. Bonita I love that you're not afraid to be yourself and that you're so independent. I know you're the only girl I'll ever love so" he said getting down on one knee, "Bonita West-Stone, will you marry me?". Bonita was shocked but, knew she'd be crazy to say no "Yes Bryan, I will" she said. Bryan put the ring on her finger and got up and kissed her. "Our parents are gonna kill us" Bonita said. "Well we're not gonna get married for a while so, we just won't tell them until we ready to get married" Bryan said. Bonita kissed him again and smiled. "I love you Bonita" Bryan said. "I love you too Bryan" Bonita said. "I better get back in. I'll call you later" Bryan said kissing her cheek and going back inside the skating rink. She started waling toward the bus stop when she got a text message. She looked at her phone and it was from Mackenzie.

"Hey Nita meet us at the

Cafe on Wyoming Street"

Bonita knew that was only two blocks away from the skating rink so she walked there. She got there and saw all the girls setting at a table. She walked and sat down beside Elyssa and Makcenzie. "Pretty outfit Nita" Elyssa said. "I got it today for Christmas" she said as the waiter came to the table. "What can I get you girls today?' the waiter said. Elyssa looked up and was shocked. The waiter was her ex girlfriend Lyric. Staying calm she ordered "I'll have a slice of hot fudge cake". "I'll have a cup of Vanilla coffee" Mackenzie said. "I'll have a chocolate pudding swirl" Honesty said. "I'll have a hot chocolate with jumbo marshmellows and a small basket of your double chocolate chip cookies" Bonita said.

Lyric took their orders and left. "I can't believe she works here" Honesty said. "Why did you two break up anyway?" Mackenzie asked. "It was two years ago and I was hanging out with this crowd of I guess you could call them bad girls and I went to a party with them one night instead of hanging out with Lyric. So the next day she came to my house and my aunt wasn't home and she beat the hell out of me I was on bed rest for like a week. I broke it off with her after I healed" Elyssa said. "Wow" Mackenzie said holding her hand. "It makes you feel so powerless" Elyssa said. "Yeah I felt the same way" Bonita said. "Yeah I heard about what happened. Sorry" Elyssa said. "I'm not talking about my rape. Justice was served for that" Bonita said taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Then what are you talking about?' Elyssa asked confused. "When I was from ages I think four to ten my father physically, verbally, emotionally, and sexually abused me" she said. "Wow. Bonita I'm sorry what I went through is nothing compared to that" Elyssa said stunned. "Yeah the only thing that got me through it was my little brother Erick. Then one day when I was ten my dad and brother were out shopping for a new TV and my dad ran a red light and caused a six car crash. We got the call around eight that both my father and my brother were killed in the crash. I felt cheated because the day before my mom finally went to the police and told them what my dad was doing to me. I never really got justice on my father and I lost my brother" Bonita said whipping a tear away. The girls were quiet for a long time. "You're being quiet Charlotte" Honesty finally said. "Just thinking about what I'm going to tell say to Ashya" Charlotte said. "I thought you were gonna tell her mom" Bonita said thinking about Bryan to make her smile again. "No if it was me I'd wanna know first" Charlotte said. "So what are you gonna tell her?' Mackenzie asked. "I don't know me and Kagen are gonna decide when he calls tonight" Charlotte said smiling a bit at the thought of Kagen. "Kagen huh? you've hanging out with him alot lately" Mackenzie said. "Yeah. He's so cute and I think I may like him" Charlotte said. Lyric came back and gave the girls their orders. "Excuse me" Charlotte said, "Sorry I didn't order earlier but, can I get a bowl of chocolate soup and a thing of peanut butter cookies". "Do you want your soup thin or creamy?" Lyric asked. "Creamy" Charlotte said. "Hot or cold?" Lyric asked. "Hot please" Charlotte said. Lyric wrote it down and left. "Before we forget let's give each other our gifts" Elyssa said. "Ok who goes first?' Honesty asked. "I will" she said reaching into a big bag she had under the table. "This is Charlotte's" she said handing her a big Lisa Frank bag. She opened the bag and she first pulled out a big thing of beads and then a big box of stickers. "Wow thanks Elyssa" Charlotte said. "Now yours Bonita" she said handing Bonita a wrapped present. She unwrapped it and saw a box of fifty four Crayola coloring pencils and a big pouch of different flavored and colored lip glosses. "Thanks Elyssa" she said putting them in her back pack. "Ok and this is for Honesty" she said handing her a present. She opened it and it was a bottle of her favorite perfume called Lovely. "Thanks" she said hugging her. "Now the best for last" she said handing Mackenzie her present. Mackenzie opened it. It was a very pretty outfit. "Thanks Honey" she said just as Lyric had brought Charlotte her order. The rest of the girls gave their gifts and talked. A little while later Elyssa noticed the ring on Bonita's finger.

"Hey Bonita, nice ring" she said. "Thanks. Bryan gave it to me" Bonita said. "Is it a friendship ring?" Honesty asked. "No. More like an engagement ring" Bonita said. "What?" Mackenzie asked with shock in her voice. "Today at the rink he proposed. After the fight" Bonita said sipping her hot chocolate. "What fight?" Elyssa asked. "You know that girl Hailee?" Bonita asked. "Yeah" Mackenzie said. "We got into it over Bryan today and I won" Bonita said. "Are you guys seriously engaged?" Honesty asked. "Yes but, we're not getting married anytime soon" Bonita said. The girls finished their treats, paid the check and left. Bonita got home and told the girls she'd meet them at the mall tomorrow around five and they agreed. She went into her apartment saw that Hope was already gone. "Need some help cleaning Momma?' she asked walking into the kitchen. "Yeah can you put all the leftovers away please?" Leanna asked doing the dishes. Bonita put all the food away and went upstairs to her room. She sat on her bed and turned on her TV. She put her phone on the charger and laid back on her bed. She thought about what happened with her and Bryan today. She knew she couldn’t tell her mom because she would freak out big time. She also thought about how she had finally told about her dark past to her friends and how relieved she felt afterwards. She was just laying there in deep thought when her cell rang. "Hello" she answered. "Hey baby" Bryan said on the other end. "Hey sweety. What's up?" she asked laying back on her bed again. "Nothing just calling to see if you were ok after what happened today" Bryan said. "I'm fine baby just a little sore" she said. "Well I'll let you go and you just try to relax and I'll see after while" he said "Ok baby" she said with a big smile. "I love you" he said. "I love you too" she said and hung up. she put her phone back on the charger and just sat on her bed for a moment. She reached on a shelf above her bed post and grabbed a box of really tiny coloring pencils. She got her bag of pencils out of her bag and her new box Elyssa gave her. She sorted through her old pencils and put all the tiny ones in the little box with the others. She added the news to her bag and through the box away. Then she added her new lip gloss to her lip gloss pouch and put it all back in her back pack. Then she decided to take a hot bath since she was sore from her fight with Hailee earlier. After her bath she put on her favorite pajamas and went downstairs. "Color" Caden said as she reached the bottom step. "No I don't wanna color but, you can color a picture for me" she said petting the little boy on the head and going into the kitchen. She got a pepsi out of the refrigerator and sat down on the couch in the living room. She was watching TV when her mom came in the room. "Hey Honey can you put the laundry in the dryer while I put this young man to bed" Leanna said picking up Caden. "Sure Momma" she said and went into the laundry room. She took the all ready dry clothes out of the dryer and put them in a basket then put the wet clothes in from the washer. She saw that all the clothes in the basket were hers so she took them to her room. She went downstairs and threw her can away. Her mom came downstairs and sat down on the couch. "You ok Momma?" Bonita said sitting down next to her. "I'm just worried about Hope. I really hope she's trying to change" Leanna said. "I think she is. She even asked me to go to a group counseling session with her tomorrow" Bonita said. "She did?" Leanna asked. "Yeah I think you taken Caden from her made her realize she needed to change" Bonita said. "I hope so Honey" Leanna said. "Well goodnight Momma" Bonita said kissing her on the cheek and going upstairs. She got under her bed and took out a box. She sat in the middle of her bed and opened it. It was full of stencils and other art supplies. She got in her bag and took out her binder. She opened it to the drawing of Bryan's dog Sky and saw she still had his picture.

She took some letter stencils out of the box and picked the letters she needed to spell the dog's name. She took out a light blue marker and traced the letters above the picture she drew of Sky. Then she took a little bottle of clue out and filled in the letters with it. Then she took out a jar of light blue glitter and sprinkled it on the clue. Then she emptied the loose glitter back in the jar. Then she took the glue and filled in the dark spaces of Sky's fur. Then she took and sprinkled black glitter on it. The she put glue on the eyes and put dark blue glitter on it. After she was done she put everything up and laid the picture on the top of her dresser to dry. She sat back on her bed and got out the book she wrote to her brother in. She turned to a clean page and started writing.

Dear Eric,

Hey lil bro. It's been pretty interesting lately. Today I got into a fight with that girl Hailee over Bryan. After the fight Bryan proposed and I said yes. I know we're young but, we're not getting married any time soon and I know I won't find another guy like him. He makes feel like I'm worth loving. You should see the ring he gave me. Hope asked me to go to a group counseling session with her tomorrow. I'm glad she's trying to change for Caden's sake. After that I'm meeting the girls at the mall to shop for dresses for Honesty's party. Well gotta go love ya!

She put the book back in her back pack and went to bed. She woke up round nine the next morning. She went downstairs and into the kitchen. She didn't see her mom or Caden anywhere. She went to the refrigerator and saw a note her mom wrote on the door. It said she was called into the hospital and took Caden with her. Bonita got out a jug of milk and a glass from the cabinet. She took some bagels out of the bread basket and cut one into two parts. She put it in the toaster and got out the peanut butter. After her bagel was done she put the peanut butter on the top part and put it back together. She went into the living room and turned the TV on to the news. "In other news all of Dayton in gearing up for the hottest birthday of the year" the reporter said, "Honesty blessings, the daughter of famous music producer Robby Blessings it's turning eighteen tomorrow. She's having her party at Skate World. The party is said to begin at seven and end anywhere from one in the morning to five in the morning. Earlier this week our own Trisha Worthie sat down with Robby to get his thoughts on his daughter's party. Trisha". the TV switched to the other reporter. "Yes Just this passed Tuesday I sat down with Robby and here's the interview" Trisha said. The TV switched to the interview. "So Robby, are you excited about your daughter's eighteenth birthday party?" Trisha asked. "Yes I am. Honesty is a very good girl and she deserves this party" Robby said. "Any special plans for your daughter's birthday?" Trisha asked. "You never know" Robby said. After the news went off Bonita washed her cup out and went upstairs to get ready. She put on her favorite dark blue sweats and brushed her hair and teeth. She grabbed her back pack and headed downstairs. She got downstairs and wrote a note telling her mom where she was going incase she got home before her. She got in her bag and got out her lip gloss pouch. She searched through the bag until she found a vanilla flavored tub. She put some on and put it back in her bag. Just then the doorbell rang and she answered it. "Ready?" Hope asked as she opened the door. "Yeah" Bonita said stepping out and locking the door. The got in Hope's car and drove away. On the way to the counseling center they were very quiet. "I smell vanilla" Hope said. "It's my lip gloss" Bonita said with a little smile. The pulled into the parking lot of the center and parked. Hope took deep breath and got out of the car.

The walked into the center and up to the front desk. "Where is Dr. Shilla's group?" Hope asked. "Down the hall to your right" the woman behind the counter said. They walked into the room and Hope signed in. Bonita sat in the guest area and took out her CD player and CDs. As she started to listen to her Mariah Carey CD the meeting started. She watched as she saw Hope get up and start to talk. As she listened to her CD she thought about Bryan and tried to imagine them at Honesty's party. She looked over and was shocked to see that Lyrc was starting to speak. She didn't even know Lyric was in the group. She started speaking and Bonita turned off her CD player. "Hi My name is Lyric Craft and I have anger problems" she started, "My anger can become very violent at times". "Do you have a story you can tell us as an example?" Dr. Shilla asked. Lyric looked over at Bonita and Bonita turned her head. "Yeah I do" Lyric said taking a deep breath, "It was two years ago and I was dating a girl named Elyssa. One day she went to a party with some girls I didn't like instead of hanging out with me. So the next day I went to her house when her aunt wasn't home and beat her up". "What happened after that?" Dr. Shilla asked writing on a note pad she had on her lap. "Well Elyssa was on bed rest for a week and she ended our relationship. I was also put in the local juvenile hall for a month" Lyric said. "If Elyssa were here today what would you say to her?' Dr. Shilla asked. "I would say that I'm sorry for hurting her and that I hope she's happy and I would ask her if we could try to be friends" Lyric said. After the meeting Hope agreed to drop Bonita off at the mall. "Just let me go talk to Dr. Shilla for a sec" Hope said. Bonita was sitting down on a wooden bench outside the center when she heard some one call her name. "Bonita?". She turned around saw it was Lyric. "Hi. I don't know if you me but, my name is Lyric" she said. "Yeah you're Elyssa's ex-girlfriend" Bonita said. "Yeah um do you know if there's anyway way I could talk to her?'; Lyric asked. "Why?" Bonita asked concerned. "I really wanna apologize to her for everything I did" Lyric said and Bonita could see the sincerity in her eyes. "Here give her this" Lyric said handing her a piece of paper. "Ok" Bonita said and Lyric walked away. "Ready to go?" Hope asked. Bonita nodded and they left. On the drive to the mall Bonita had a question she had wanted to ask Hope for a while. "Hey Hope, can I ask you something?" she asked. "Sure" Hope said, "shoot". "Have you ever been in love?" Bonita asked. She always wondered because Hope was the only girl she knew who wasn't dating or interested in anyone that she knew of. "Yeah once" Hope said, "It was with Caden's father. We had met in high school and became basically clued together. We had been dating a long time when we had Caden and then he went away to Main to see his dying grandma". "What happened when he came back?" Bonita asked. "Well he never came back" Hope said. "Then what happened?" Bonita asked hoping for a good answer. "About three weeks after he left I got a letter. In it he said that he didn't have a grandma in Main he just didn't wanna be a father and that he didn't wanna be with me anymore. He also said he had met another girl at a local bar in Main" Hope said. "Wow sorry Hope" Bonita said. "Hey the only man I need in my life is my son" Hope said. Bonita nodded in agreement and looked out the window the rest of the drive. They pulled up to the front of the mall and Bonita got out. "Need a ride back home?" Hope asked. "No Honesty will probably take me home" Bonita said and walked into the mall.

Bonita saw the girls waiting in the malls lobby area. "Hey girls" she said walking to them. "Ready to go dress shopping?" Elyssa asked. "Yeah" Bonita said. Bonita looked over and saw Honesty sitting on a bench by the malls water fountain talking to a very cute guy. He had green eyes, short black hair, and she could tell he was about six feet tall. "Who's the cutie Honesty is talking to?" Bonita asked. "His name is Liam Williams. She met him at this college fair since her dad wants her to go to college out here" Elyssa said. "Well let's go shopping so we can leave them to talk" Mackenzie said and they walked off. "Honesty this has been the best passed week getting to know you" Liam said with a smile. Honesty was very intrigued by him. "Yeah I feel the same" she said. "It's like there's so much more to you then just this rich princess of hollywood thing" Liam said. "Yeah I'm not real big on the rich girl life style. That's why I wanna go to school out here" Honesty said. "Really what school?" Liam asked. "I don't know either Sinclair or write state" Honesty said. "Very good schools" Liam said with a smile. "You hungry?" Honesty asked knowing what she had to do before things got to far with Liam. "Yeah but, as a gentleman I will pay" Liam said standing up and taking Honesty's hand to help her up. They went to a burger stand and ordered to specials and a two cokes and sat down at a table. "If a girl you were interested in had a secret no matter what it was that you need to know would you want her to tell you?" Honesty asked. "Yeah why?" Liam asked taking a drink of his coke. "There's something you really should know about me before we move to the next level or if we do" Honesty said. "What?" Liam asked. "Well" Honesty said taking a deep breath, "eighteen years ago I was born as Eric Blessings" Honesty said. "So you were born a boy?" Liam asked. "Yeah but, I became a full blown female when I was fifteen" Honesty said. They were silent for a long time. "Well I can see you need to think about everything and hopefully I'll see you again sometime" she said and walked off to find the girls. She find them on the third floor of the mall in a store that sold really pretty party dresses. "Hey girls" she said. "Hey Honesty, where's Liam?' Elyssa asked. "He's thinking I guess. I told him" she said. "Well hey why just shop for a dress to get your mind off of it" Bonita said. Honesty smiled and started looking at the dresses. She spotted a black spaghetti strap dress. At the bottom the left side was long and frilly. She knew she had to buy it. "This dress is pretty" Honesty said. "How much is it?" Elyss asked. "the tag says hundred and eighty-four dollars" Honesty said. She took the dress off the rack and went to pay for it. "You guys find any dresses yet?" Elyssa asked. "I did. Look at this dress" Bonita said. It was white with a frilly bottom. It had a black bow around it and came with a pair of elbow length black gloves. "How much?" Honesty asked. "Ninety dollars" Bonita said. "Pretty dress for that much" Honesty said.

After they shopped they started to walk out of the store. "Hey Charlotte you didn't buy a dress?" Honesty asked. "No I'll just wear a dress I already have. I'm to nervous to shop" Charlotte said. "Why?" Bonita asked. "Today is the day me and Kagen are gonna tell Ashya" she said. "I hope everything turns out ok" Mackenzie said putting her arm around Charlotte to comfort her. On the way home the girls dropped Charlotte off at Ashya's. She saw Kagen on the porch. "Ready?' he asked. "As I'll ever be?" Charlotte said. They walked inside and saw Ashya sitting on the couch. "What is this about guys?' Ashya asked. Kagen took a deep breath and sat down beside Ashya. "Well Shy we're concerned about you" Kagen said. "Why?" Ashya asked. "You've been really worried lately" Charlotte said sitting down on the couch beside Kagen. "What do you mean?" Ashya asked confused. "Well you get paranoid really easy about weird things. Like the color orange" Kagen said. "That's a bad color Kagen!" Ashya said loudly. "What's so bad about it Ashya?" Charlotte asked. "If I touch or wear anything orange a family member will die" Ashya said. "What makes you think that?" Kagen asked. "I just know it'll happen" Ashya said not looking at her brother. "Ok another example is when we leave the house or go anywhere you always have to go to the rest room before hand" Charlotte said. "Yeah and most of the time you don't have to go" Kagen said. "I told you kagen, if I don't do that I'll get sick!" Ashya said with anger in her voice. "Why?" Kagen asked. "I just will leave me alone both of you!" Ashya screamed and started pulling her hair. "Stop Shy!" Charlotte said running to her and grabbing her hands. After they got Ashya to calm dawn they had her lay down on the couch. "Ashya we think you may be sick mentally" Charlotte said petting her head. "What do you mean?" Ashya asked. "We think you have a condition called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD" Kagen said. "What's that?" Ashya asked. "Well no one knows really what causes it but, they say your brain locks some how and unless you do things over and over and avoid like numbers and colors bad things will happen" Charlotte said. "I think we should talk to Mom and get you checked out" Kagen said. "Ok but, can I sleep for a while" Ashya said. "Yeah" Kagen said. After Ashya fell asleep Kagen and Charlotte walked outside. "I guess I better get home. It's getting late" Charlotte said. "Hey Care, do you have a date to Honesty's party tomorrow night?" Kagen asked. "No so far I'm going solo" she said hoping he was gonna ask her if he could be her date. "I was wondering I don't have anything to do tomorrow so if you want me to go I can" Kagen said looking down at the ground. "Ok sure" Charlotte said. "Ok well see you tomorrow then" he said and went inside the house. When she got home she saw Mercedes sitting on the couch watching TV. "Hey. Where is everyone?" she asked taking her coat off. "La'Nita is asleep and Mom took Andrew with her over to the Anderson ranch to play cards and Miracle in over there in her play pen listening to her little baby radio thingy" Mercedes said. "Ok I'm gonna go take a bath and then go to bed" Charlotte said and went upstairs. Mercedes went into the kitchen to finish the dishes. Just as she finished putting the dishes in the dish washer the doorbell rang. She started the dish washer and went to see who was at the door. She looked through the peep whole and saw that it was Chris. She opened the door and let him in. "We need to talk Sadie" he said. "Yes we do" Mercedes said. "First off I'm very sorry for the hurt of caused" he said. "I don't understand how you can hurt me like that and your daughter. We don't deserve it" Mercedes said with a little anger in her voice. "I know. It's just when I found out about the baby's condition it scared me" he said. "Why would it scare you?" she asked. "Because I'm impaired myself I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take care of a child" Chris said. "Chris, Miracle has two parents and you're gonna be a great father. You just gotta want to be a father" Mercedes said taking his hand. "I wanna be there for our daughter" Chris said, Mercedes smiled and kissed him. The next night at Honesty's party everyone was having a ball. Elyssa, Mackenzie, Bonita, and Bryan were sitting at a table resting from all the dancing they had been doing. "Oh hey I forgot to give you this" Bonita said handing Elyssa the piece of paper Lyric gave her the day before. "Elyssa opened it. "It's a number" she said. "Yeah. Lyric told me to give it to you" Bonita said. "You gonna call her?" Mackenzie asked. "I'm not even worried about it right now. Let's dance again guys" Elyssa said and they all hit the dance floor again. Charlotte and Kagen got there and joined the others on the dance floor. "Hey looking handsome Kagen" Bonita said. "Thanks" he said. Honesty was sitting in the area where they played the music with her dad. "Ready for the boys to come out?" Robby asked. "Yeah" Honesty said grabbing a mic and walking into the middle of the dance floor. Her dad cut off the music. "Ok first is everybody having a good time?" she asked. The crowd exploded in applauds. "Ok well I want everyone to sit down for a minute please" she said as everyone took a seat. "Ok before I make my surprise announcement I want my V.I.P.s to come to the floor with their dates" Honesty said. Elyssa and Mackenzie, Bonita and Bryan, and Charlotte and Kagen went to stand with Honesty. "Ok is everyone ready for my surprise?" Honesty asked and again the crowd exploded in cheers. "Well then without further ado please welcome the sexiest boy band 2Qute!' Honesty said as the boys came out on the floor and started performing. The crowd got up and started dancing again. "Hey Charlotte want a dance with Sonico?" Honesty asked. Charlotte looked at Kagen. "No I have a date" she said. "You go girl" Honesty teased as Charlotte went to dance with Kagen. Honesty stayed on the floor until the boys were done performing. "Ok now that the four hottest boys around performed for us dj play some slow songs for our couples here tonight and yes this is a couples dance" Honesty said as the dj played I Swear by All-4-One. "Bryan that's our song" Bonita said as they started to dance. "May I have this dance?" Honesty heard someone ask. She turned around and it was Liam. "Sure" she said taking his hand. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again" Honesty said. "I thought about what you said and it doesn't matter what's in the past. Now you are a beautiful girl and I'd be honored to be your boyfriend" Liam said. "Honesty smiled and kissed Liam.

The End.